Waiting for Guffman

Guest's mockumentary tracks visiting drama teacher Corky St. Clair's biggest challenge: creating a workable musical revue celebrating his Missouri town's sesquicentennial using only local players.

"...auto-shop also-ran Johnny Savage (Keeslar); and grizzled town taxidermist Clifford Wooley (Arquette). Among the six players, there's not one..."

March 28, 1997 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Best in Show

In Guest's parodic hands, the Westminster Dog Show goes to the hounds.

"...and Jane Lynch. It's fitting that satirist Christopher Guest (Waiting for Guffman) should release this potent, sublimely ridiculous film..."

Oct. 13, 2000 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

A Mighty Wind

Christopher Guest and his recurring cast of players give Sixties-era folk music a gentle poke in the ribs.

"...Begley Jr. and Parker Posey. Master mockumentarian Guest’s latest effort doesn’t exactly skewer its subject, the sometimes precious, frequently..."

May 9, 2003 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

The Independent

"...an assisted-suicide advocate with a skintight gold lamé nurse's uniform and an M-16, to make an intellectual case for..."

Feb. 1, 2002 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

The Foot Fist Way

Faux documentary about a strip-mall kung-fu sensei without the sense to come in out of the pain has moments of laugh-out-loud greatness but also much dopiness.

"...Bostic, Spencer Moreno and Carlos Lopez IV. My tolerance for the mockumentary form of comedy has curdled somewhat in..."

June 6, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Almost Heroes

"...artists (he wrote or co-wrote This Is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, and The Big Picture)) has joined their..."

June 5, 1998 Movie Review by Russell Smith

Another Classic Summer of Films at the Paramount

Casablanca and Breathless open the season May 22

"...of Congress has announced the opening week of screenings for its annual Summer Classic Film Series...."

April 9, 2025 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Drop Dead Gorgeous

This parody of beauty pageants in the flyover states takes the form of a mockumentary filmed at Minnesota's Sarah Rose Miss Teen Princess America Pageant.

"...parody of flyover-state beauty contests feels like a bad made-for-TV movie of the week. Jann does his best with..."

July 23, 1999 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Head of State

"...and Lynn Whitfield. On stage, Chris Rock is a force to be reckoned with, a shrewd and sharp-tongued stand-up..."

April 4, 2003 Movie Review by Steve Davis

SXSW Film Review: Alien On Stage

Classic horror and British pantomime delightfully mix

"...— enthusiastically and with sold-out box-office to boot — for the little amateur theatrical troupe that could...."

March 19, 2021 Screens Post by Marc Savlov

A Closer Look at the Paramount Lineup

Spike Lee, Amy Heckerling to present films

"...we direct your attention to the newly released slate for the Paramount's annual Summer Classic Film Series? The print's..."

May 15, 2012 Screens Post by Kimberley Jones

Unnatural Disaster

Harry Shearer gets serious about how bad engineering flooded Nola

"...For most of the world, what happened to New Orleans..."

April 16, 2011 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Movie Titles for 1997

"...PREVIEW (M.B.) 1/31/97 AIR BUD 2.0 (R.S.) 8/1/97 AIR FORCE ONE 3.0 (M.S.) 7/25/97 ALBINO ALLIGATOR 2.5 (M.S.) 1/31/97..."

Jan. 9, 1998 Screens Feature

The Stink Is All Over

The BS Improv & Sketch Comedy Fest Takes Over Austin

"...to town 30 improv troupes from around the country for six days of workshops and showcase performances – a..."

April 17, 1998 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

A Few Faves From the Paramount Summer Classic Film Series

Immortal gems of the cinema help us define a classic

"...theatres and keeps it lighting up screens and imaginations for decades to come? With over 100 titles, from childhood..."

May 24, 2019 Screens Feature by The Screens Staff

Fall Films

"...Catherine O'Hara on 'For Your Consideration'..."

Nov. 10, 2006 Screens Feature by Liz Welch Tirrell

Get Folked!

An interview with the men behind the Folksmen.

"...curiously reserved during the South by Southwest media sessions for their new improv film, A Mighty Wind, maybe in..."

May 9, 2003 Screens Feature by Marc Savlov

Control Freaks

Film Top Tens

"...however, doesn't differentiate between generic categories. Narratives, documentaries, and foreign films are all equally eligible for inclusion in our..."

Jan. 9, 1998 Screens Feature

The Lighter Side

Todd Smiley is the gaffer in Austin

"...chuckles like a good West Texan. I wrinkle my forehead in the forgiving light. But Todd Smiley is a..."

Feb. 27, 2004 Screens Feature by Courtney Fitzgerald

Something Completely Different

Comedy writers Bob Odenkirk and David Cross took everything they’d learned from past comic masters and made their Mr. Show variety show into something completely different.

"...Monty Python's Flying Circus, then back to the States for Saturday Night Live, to Canada for SCTV, and hang..."

Oct. 8, 1999 Screens Feature by Ron Deutsch

A Whole Lotta Lava Going On

Winter/Spring Movie Sneaks

"...the biggest movie event of 1997 -- and all before tearing off the January page of our new calendars...."

Feb. 14, 1997 Screens Feature by Marjorie Baumgarten

Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd

"...Guest’s past few films (which Levy also co-wrote) – Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind –..."

June 20, 2003 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

DVDanger: The Atticus Institute

Or, in defense of found footage and mockumentaries

"...Found footage and the mockumentary format has become the entry point for low-budget filmmakers. Unfortunately,..."

Jan. 24, 2015 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

A Ball of Illusion

At the Krewe of Illusions Mardi Gras Ball in Lake Charles, just try to figure out where the queens end and the back-pieces begin...

"...fandango, regal promenade, and perhaps even a tetch tongue-in-cheek Waiting for Guffman thrown in for good measure – heralded..."

Feb. 8, 2008 Qmmunity Post by Kate X Messer

Articulations

A painful week for friends of the theatre with the passing of educator and director Gil Sharp and producer, director, and actor Don Phillips, Jr.

"...The first week of April was painful for friends of the theatre, with the passing of two..."

April 11, 2003 Arts Column by Robert Faires

Master of the Improbable

When someone says something can't be done, trust Turk Pipkin to say 'Wanna bet?'

"...Countless audience members had done the same in his performing days, whenever he'd announce from the stage that he..."

Oct. 29, 2004 Books Feature by Robert Faires

The Film That Launched a Thousand Faces

"...Graduated to: Party Girl, Waiting for Guffman..."

May 30, 2003 Screens Feature by Kimberley Jones

Festival Snapshots

The Toronto International Film Festival

"...On this continent, the most formidable showcase for new films from around the world is..."

Sept. 20, 1996 Screens Feature by Marjorie Baumgarten

One in a Crowd: Found Footage 3D

Horror-comedy offering Texas Chain Saw rarity among incentives

"...Show tack closer to the dry, wry humor of Waiting for Guffman. That said, we can't tell you too..."

Oct. 17, 2014 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

The Odyssey: A Rock Musical

This adaptation of Homer's epic is faithful to a fault and rough around the edges

"...the point of earning itself a bit of that Waiting for Guffman charm. Some community theatre is highly accomplished,..."

Sept. 3, 2010 Arts Review by Elizabeth Cobbe

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