Pauly Shore Is Dead

Last updated
Pauly Shore Is Dead
Pauly Shore Is Dead film.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Pauly Shore
Written by Kirk Fox
Pauly Shore
Produced byPauly Shore
StarringPauly Shore
Ashley L. Anderson
Pamela Anderson
Camille Anderson
Adam Sandler
Eminem
Charlie Sheen
Ben Stiller
Production
company
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • January 2003 (2003-01)(Slamdunk Film Festival)
  • October 4, 2004 (2004-10-04)(United States)
Running time
82 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Box office$11,000 [1]

Pauly Shore Is Dead is a 2003 American mockumentary comedy film directed, produced, co-written by, and starring Pauly Shore. The film is a fake documentary that begins as a semi-autobiographical retelling of Shore's early success and dwindling popularity in the late 1990s, after which it documents Shore's (fictional) attempt to fake his own death in order to drum up popularity for his films. It features many cameos.

Contents

Plot

The film begins as an autobiographical look at Shore's early professional successes on MTV and as the star of a series of '90s comedies. Shore's film career leads to his taking a starring role in a vehicle on the Fox Network, in which he plays the slacker son of a millionaire. The pilot of the series turns out to be a commercial and critical failure, and Shore becomes a pariah virtually overnight, with his friends distancing themselves from him for fear that it will tarnish their own careers. Shore is ultimately reduced to living in his mother's attic and watching BackDoor Sluts 9 starring his ex-girlfriend, who will no longer see him. He spends his last $84 on a hooker—who does almost nothing for him and his life simply gets worse and worse.

One night, Shore is visited by the ghost of his mentor, comic Sam Kinison, who encourages Shore to fake his own death as a means of revitalizing popularity in Pauly Shore films and merchandise. Shore decides to go through with the plan, which initially works: Once word of his "death" breaks, celebrities eager for the residual publicity begin appearing on television in large numbers to declare Shore a comic genius and lament his early death. Shore, eager to bask in the publicity, begins appearing in public wearing a disguise; he is quickly outed, arrested, and sent to prison.

In prison, Shore is attacked by one of his former fans, "Bucky from Kentucky," a redneck whose world view was shattered when he learned that Shore had willingly put his own fans through the ordeal of thinking he was dead. Shore survives the attack, which causes him to realize that even though he was no longer as famous as he once was, he still had fans who loved him. Shore and Bucky have a heart-to-heart about the nature of celebrity, and Shore decides to start his career over.

After getting out of prison, Shore sets about making Pauly Shore Is Dead to chronicle his own rise and fall, using information he has gathered from years in Hollywood to blackmail various B-list celebrities into appearing in cameos; he reserves the information he has on A-list celebrities for the planned sequel.

Cast

As Themselves

Reception

Pauly Shore Is Dead received mixed reviews, with a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a notably higher rating than his oft-panned '90s films. It was a box office bomb, however, earning just $11,000 after a very limited release to theaters in Sacramento, California. [1] It won the Audience Choice Award from the Slamdunk Film Festival (for Shore's direction).

Related Research Articles

Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports or the entertainment industry, their position as a political figure, or even from their connection to another celebrity. 'Celebrity' usually implies a favorable public image, as opposed to the neutrals 'famous' or 'notable', or the negatives 'infamous' and 'notorious'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Kinison</span> American comedian (1953–1992)

Samuel Burl Kinison was an American stand-up comedian and actor. A former Pentecostal preacher, he performed stand-up routines that were characterized by intense sudden tirades, punctuated with his distinctive scream, similar to charismatic preachers. Initially performing for free, Kinison became a regular fixture at The Comedy Store where he met and eventually befriended such comics as Robin Williams and Jim Carrey. Kinison's comedy was crass observational humor, especially towards women and dating, and his popularity grew quickly, earning him appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Late Night with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live. At the peak of his career, Kinison was killed in a car crash.

<i>The Quick and the Dead</i> (1995 film) 1995 film by Sam Raimi

The Quick and the Dead is a 1995 American revisionist Western film directed by Sam Raimi, and starring Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, and Leonardo DiCaprio. The screenplay was written by Simon Moore, but includes contributions from Joss Whedon. The story focuses on "The Lady" (Stone), a gunfighter who rides into the frontier town of Redemption, controlled by John Herod (Hackman). The Lady joins a deadly dueling competition in an attempt to exact revenge for her father's death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pauly Shore</span> American comedian, filmmaker (b. 1968)

Paul Montgomery Shore is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker best known for his roles in 1990s comedy films. Shore began as a stand-up comedian at the age of 17, before becoming an MTV VJ in 1989. This led to a starring role in the comedy film Encino Man in 1992, which was a modest hit. He followed this with leading man vehicles, including Son in Law (1993) and Bio-Dome (1996). Shore provided the voice of Robert "Bobby" Zimuruski in A Goofy Movie and its direct-to-video sequel, An Extremely Goofy Movie.

Anthony J. Barbieri is an American comedic writer and performer. He is known for his appearances as the Jimmy Kimmel Live! character "Jake Byrd".

<i>Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star</i> 2003 film by Sam Weisman

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Sam Weisman and starring David Spade, Mary McCormack, Jon Lovitz, Craig Bierko, Alyssa Milano, and Rob Reiner. Spade portrays a child actor who fell into obscurity as an adult and who attempts to revive his career by getting a part in Rob Reiner's next film. In addition, the movie shows Dickie interacting with numerous former child stars, played by over two dozen actual former stars lampooning their careers, such as Leif Garrett, Barry Williams, Corey Feldman, Emmanuel Lewis, Dustin Diamond, and Danny Bonaduce. The film also marked Tony Dow and Adam Rich's last feature film before their deaths in 2022 and 2023 respectively, as well as Fred Berry's last feature film to be released in his lifetime before his death less than two months after its release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fake Shemp</span> Someone who appears in a film as a replacement for another person

A fake Shemp is a type of body double who appears in a film to replace another actor or person, usually when the original actor has died, or is unable or unwilling to reprise their role. Their appearance is disguised using methods such as heavy make-up, filming from the back, dubbing in audio and splicing in past footage from the original actor's previous work, using a sound-alike voice actor, or using partial shots of the actor.

Atuk is the name of an unfilmed American screenplay, intended to be a film adaptation based upon the 1963 novel The Incomparable Atuk, by Canadian author Mordecai Richler. It is essentially a fish out of water comedy of a proud, mighty Inuit hunter trying to adapt to life in the big city with satirical elements on racism, materialism, and popular culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perez Hilton</span> American blogger (born 1978)

Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting tabloid photos over which he has added his own captions or "doodles". His blog has garnered controversy for its attitude, its former practice of outing alleged closeted celebrities, and its role in the increasing coverage of celebrities in all forms of media.

<i>The Criminal</i> (1960 film) 1960 film by Joseph Losey

The Criminal is a 1960 British neo-noir crime film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Stanley Baker, Sam Wanamaker, Grégoire Aslan, Jill Bennett, and Margit Saad. Baker plays Johnny Bannion, a recently-paroled gangster who is sent back to prison after robbing a racetrack, with both the authorities and the criminal underworld looking for the money.

A faked death, also called a staged death or pseudocide, is the act of an individual purposely deceiving other people into believing that the individual is dead, when the person is, in fact, still alive. People who commit pseudocide can do so by leaving evidence, clues, or through other methods. In fandom slang, pseuicide is faking a suicide. Death hoaxes can also be created and spread solely by third-parties for various purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitzi Shore</span> American comedy club owner

Mitzi Shore was an American comedy club owner. Her husband, Sammy Shore, co-founded The Comedy Store in 1972 and she became its owner two years later. Through the club, she had a huge influence on the careers of up-and-coming comedians for many decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pauly D</span> American DJ and television personality

Paul Michael DelVecchio Jr., known as Pauly D and DJ Pauly D, is an American television personality and DJ. He is best known for being a cast member of MTV's reality show Jersey Shore.

<i>Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star</i> 2011 film by Tom Brady

Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star is a 2011 American black comedy film directed by Tom Brady, produced by Happy Madison Productions, distributed by Columbia Pictures, written by Adam Sandler, Allen Covert, and Nick Swardson, and starring Swardson, Christina Ricci, Edward Herrmann, Kevin Nealon, Don Johnson, and Stephen Dorff. It tells the story of a man-child whose reserved parents were famous porn stars and plans to follow in their footsteps.

Second Fiddle is a 1939 American musical romance film directed by Sidney Lanfield, starring Sonja Henie, Tyrone Power, Rudy Vallée and Lyle Talbot and released by 20th Century Fox. The score was composed by Irving Berlin. The screenplay, based on George Bradshaw's story Heart Interest, involves a Hollywood publicity agent who falls in love with a new actress he helped to discover. The film combines a parody of the extensive search for an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind with a Cyrano de Bergerac–type plot. It is sometimes known as Irving Berlin's Second Fiddle.

<i>The Task</i> (film) 2011 British film

The Task is a 2011 British horror film directed by Alex Orwell, written by Kenny Yakkel, produced by Christopher Milburn and Courtney Solomon, and starring Alexandra Staden, Victor McGuire and Adam Rayner. The film, inspired by MTV's Fear, was produced by After Dark Originals and released by Lions Gate Entertainment on 28 January 2011.

<i>Casino Raiders II</i> 1991 Hong Kong film

Casino Raiders II is a 1991 Hong Kong action drama film directed by Johnnie To and starring Andy Lau, Dave Wong, Jacklyn Wu and Monica Chan. Despite the title, the film is the third installment in the Casino Raiders film series, following Casino Raiders (1989) and No Risk, No Gain (1990). The films in the series are unrelated in plot and merely share the same principal actor of Lau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bucky Barnes</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally introduced as a sidekick to Captain America, the character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Captain America Comics #1. Barnes' original costume and the Bucky nickname has been used by other heroes in the Marvel Universe over the years.

Craig Gass is an American actor, comedian and impressionist best known for his roles in King of Queens, Family Guy, American Dad, Sex and The City, and for auditioning as Jackie Martling 's replacement on The Howard Stern Show coming in second place losing to Artie Lange. Craig is also known for his comedy special Craig Gass: The Worst Comedy Show Ever.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stucky (fandom)</span> Depictions of a relationship between Captain America and the Winter Soldier

In fandom, Stucky is the pairing of Steve Rogers and James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, fictional characters who appear in comic books and related media produced by Marvel Comics. The pairing is a manifestation of shipping, a phenomenon in fandom wherein individuals create fan works that depict a romantic or sexual relationship between two characters whose relationship in the source material is typically neither romantic nor sexual; Stucky is an example of slash, a genre of fan works that focus on same-sex characters. In accordance with shipping naming conventions, Stucky is a portmanteau of "Steve" and "Bucky".

References

  1. 1 2 "Pauly Shore is Dead". Box Office Mojo.