Jackasses (Jeff Tremaine, 2002/2006/2010/2022)

[oldsheperd]

Jackass 3-D. I was completely in the dark about this movie coming out until I saw the ad on TV last night. All I gotta say is "Hell Yesss!"

[willoneill]

Jackass 3-D. I was completely in the dark about this movie coming out until I saw the ad on TV last night. All I gotta say is "Hell Yesss!"

I wholehearted agree. If ever a movie gave me exactly what I paid for, and greatly exceeded my expectations doing so, it was both Jackass films. Can't wait for for 3.

They lose style points for Jackass 2.5, however, which was just a cash grab from material that should have been bonus features on the Jackass 2 dvd.

[mfunk9786]

Trailer

Does it make me a philistine if this is my most anticipated movie of the year? These films are obviously not the recipients of much respect, but I find their guerilla style fascinating: there are stunts that illicit shock, nausea, fear; and in some cases, downright childish wonder. This group has managed to find a tone that would be impossible to duplicate. It's never too dark, it's never too mean, and no one makes any claims that they aren't frightened to do some of the things they do: their fear is right up there on screen beforehand, and their pain or disgust afterward is well documented. It would be no fun to see a film full of manly men performing painful stunts and then telling everyone how they didn't hurt, and they were never scared. The Jackass crew are occasionally visibly shaking in trepidation leading up to particularly dangerous deeds, but they somehow never turn down the opportunity to do them. In fact, some of the most interesting moments in the first two films involve someone coming up with an idea of something particularly painful or traumatic to do to themselves while the rest of the group tries to advise them against doing it. The group never overstay their welcome, there are a ton of stunts crammed into these relatively short films, each split up with a title card and a person announcing what you're about to see - there's no pretension, no dissolves, no impression that they need to do anything for a movie that they wouldn't have done for a TV show or a video they're just shooting to show off to their friends, and that's the charm of this whole enterprise in my opinion.

All that being said, I fully expect to have to close my eyes or turn away at some point. There was a moment involving self-inflicted papercuts in the first film that I still can't watch to this day, and I've never been all that thrilled by scat humor (and am therefore not expecting to make it through the port-a-potty slingshot shown in that trailer). But there is no other film franchise that I've had similar theatrical experiences with: someone vomited into the aisle during my screening of the first film, and someone fainted in their seat during the second. I'm wondering if the addition of the unavoidable 3D quease factor might result in an actual death-by-vulgarity during my much-anticipated screening of the third.

EDIT: Whoops, didn't realize there was already a thread for this one, sorry to the mod that had to sort things out, my search had come up empty.

[Mr Sausage]

I'm not a fan of Jackass, and I doubt I'll ever see the newest movie, but I'll say that I loved the stunt from one of the two films where one of the guys gets the shit beat out of him by a female muay thai fighter. Oddly entertaining to watch an unassuming little Asian girl knock a full-grown man around like he was no more than a child.

[mfunk9786]

That's a great example of why I enjoy these so much. You'll only live once: you're not going to get beaten up by a female muay thai fighter, your friend isn't going to get beaten up by a female muay thai fighter; but these fellows are doing it willingly, to make people laugh no less! And if it's out there, I can't not at least try to watch. It might be strange and juvenile to see Steve-O try to wear a poisonous jellyfish as a hat, but now that I've said that, I can't understand why you wouldn't want to see it.

[kaujot]

I'm not in the least bit ashamed to say I spent a pretty big portion of my weekend watching the show on MTV, as well as both movies on Comedy Central (it was after midnight, so they didn't censor anything), the retrospective show (Spike Jonze, Tremaine, and Knoxville just talking about how it came together etc) and then the making of 3D.

[domino harvey]

I never saw the first one or much of the series, but Jackass 2 had a real sense of novelty and invention in most of the stunts that I was won over. Can't say it's the kind of thing I would seek out or rewatch, but if someone put this new one in front of me, I would leave the room

[Mr Sausage]

I'll admit these films are bizarrely fascinating, but I'm unlikely to ever go out of my way to see them. Much like I never watched the show on my own, but would happily watch an episode at a friend's house if he insisted I see it. Tho' I would've preferred to go through life without having watched a man make an omelet by swallowing all the ingredients and then vomiting them up into the hot pan for cooking.

[mfunk9786]

Domino, do you mean you wouldn't leave the room? Otherwise your post had quite the twist ending.

[domino harvey]

Get out of the house, the call is coming from upstairs

[Fiery Angel]

Get out of the house, the call is coming from upstairs

spoiler tags, please

[David M.]

"Terror Taxi" from the second film is one of the funniest things I've ever seen in a movie.

[oldsheperd]

I have both movies, the series boxset and the unreleased footage dvd. In addition I have all of the Wildboyz dvds which IMO is highly under-rated.

[oldsheperd]

Caught this on Saturday. Altogether pretty good. A lot of stuff was "been there done that". The scene in the bar with all the little people was clever. The Irving Zissman and his granddaughter was creepy and didn't work all that well. I guess this is the last one?

[LQ]

I guess this is the last one?

It made 50 million dollars this weekend, so perhaps not.

[HarryLong]

According to NPR this morning SOCIAL NETWORK cost $50 million and took in about $20 million its first weekend; JACKASS more or less reversed those numbers...

[lacritfan]

I guess this is the last one?

It made 50 million dollars this weekend, so perhaps not.

Johnny Knoxville was on Jimmy Fallon and confirmed there will be a 3.5 coming out next year.

[mfunk9786]

That's only a DVD release comprised of outtakes and little new footage.

[bearcuborg]

Jackass Foreer

Kinda difficult to not feel that something is lacking. I had no idea Johnny went full Jim Jarmusch.

[Drucker]

We don't appear to have a Jackass thread, which is a bit disappointing. In anticipation of the new film, a friend has told me I need to see the 3-D version.

Does anyone here have the blu-ray? If so, can you only watch it with Anaglyph glasses? Or does the disc have a 3-d option that can be used with 3d glasses that come with the TV?

[swo17]

Briefly looking into it, it would appear that the 2011 Blu-ray release is unfortunately not on 3D Blu-ray, and the only way to watch it in 3D is on the DVD with anaglyph glasses

[Mark L.]

If you’re in New York City, there’s a free 3D showing at the Museum of Moving Image at around 5 today!

[knives]

Hang out with new wife or go to see Jackass for free. Life is full of tough decisions.

[Finch]

What about taking her to the movie? I'm sure there's far worse movies to take the wife to than Jackass Forever.

[DarkImbecile]

This group has managed to find a tone that would be impossible to duplicate. It's never too dark, it's never too mean, and no one makes any claims that they aren't frightened to do some of the things they do: their fear is right up there on screen beforehand, and their pain or disgust afterward is well documented. It would be no fun to see a film full of manly men performing painful stunts and then telling everyone how they didn't hurt, and they were never scared. The Jackass crew are occasionally visibly shaking in trepidation leading up to particularly dangerous deeds, but they somehow never turn down the opportunity to do them.
...
All that being said, I fully expect to have to close my eyes or turn away at some point. There was a moment involving self-inflicted papercuts in the first film that I still can't watch to this day, and I've never been all that thrilled by scat humor (and am therefore not expecting to make it through the port-a-potty slingshot shown in that trailer). But there is no other film franchise that I've had similar theatrical experiences with: someone vomited into the aisle during my screening of the first film, and someone fainted in their seat during the second.

Jackass Forever was quite fun, especially with a fairly packed midnight Thursday preview crowd who were fully invested but still appropriately horrified in the right moments. This entry features at least two of the most inspired bits in the entire franchise, and like the others felt both unending while you're in the middle and too short when the credits start to roll.

To expand on mfunk's first point above, the unabashedly juvenile, fascinatingly machismo-free humanity on display is only made deeper and more involving in the fourth installment by the repeated acknowledgement of the cast's age and the damage they've endured. Knoxville's silver hair and various members' missing teeth, limbs in slings, and diminished capacity to recover from being brutalized (physically and psychologically) by their stunts make their camaraderie and affection for each other all the more charming, and the admiration bestowed upon them by the appropriately masochistic new cast members all the more bittersweet.

That said, as to mfunk's second point, the real tightrope in making it through these movies is awaiting the moments you're not sure if you'll be able to watch, and man does Forever deliver on that front: I didn't think it could get worse than a skit involving a heavyweight MMA fighter, but that bit escalated multiple times until a pogo stick was brought out, which was the scariest thing I've seen in a theater in quite some time. If it makes anyone more inclined to risk a viewing, there's less of the scatological humor in this entry, though far more penises and scrotums than in any prior entry, in addition to gallons of pig semen.

My single favorite bit, though — up there with Beehive Tetherball, Slip'n'Bowl and Electric Avenue — is called "Silence of the Lambs":

Spoiler

After setting up a bit where Knoxville will be interacting with a giant western diamondback rattlesnake with the other guys as audience members, he and the crew lock the door, turn off the lights, and don night-vision goggles. They pretend to release the snake into the room before torturing their buddies with stun guns, trash can lids, and frying pans, before herding them toward an unlocked door that opens onto a room packed with more traps. The psychological effect of this horror show on a couple of the guys is both understandable and remarkable.