The Onion Movie

Last updated

The Onion Movie
Onionmoviecover.jpg
DVD cover
Directed by James Kleiner
Written by Todd Hanson
Robert D. Siegel
Produced byGil Netter
David Miner
David Zucker
Michael Rotenberg
Starring Len Cariou
Larissa Laskin
Scott Klace
Steven Seagal
Sarah McElligott
Cinematography Maryse Alberti
Neil Shapiro
Edited byFrederick Wardell
Music byAsche & Spencer
Production
companies
Distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release date
  • June 3, 2008 (2008-06-03)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Onion Movie (released in some countries as News Movie) is a 2008 satirical American comedy film written by The Onion writers Robert D. Siegel and Todd Hanson. It was filmed in 2003 and released on June 3, 2008, direct-to-video. It is Rodney Dangerfield's final film role, prior to his death in October 2004.

Contents

Premise

The plot revolves around a fictitious Onion television news anchorman, Norm Archer (Len Cariou). He is forced to face a corporate takeover by Onion's perennial multinational, Global Tetrahedron. The media conglomerate is interrupting Archer's newscasts with product placement commercials for 'Cock Puncher', the company's action movie franchise, which is a 'whap right in the nutsack' for the veteran newsman. Onion news is described as "fair and balanced". The plot is a springboard for various comedy sketches featuring The Onion's satire. Vignettes include music videos parodies of Britney Spears ['Take Me From Behind' '...about love sneaking up on you...like...you know... from the behind.'] and Steven Seagal parodying the action hero genre he normally portrays as the world famous 'Cock Puncher'. The plot is interrupted by film reviewers and commentators weighing in on its progress, with one staging an immediate walkout of all African American audience members unless a positive portrayal of an African American is inserted into the plot.

Cast

Production

In 2003, New Regency Productions and Fox Searchlight Pictures were on board to produce and release a movie written by The Onion staff. Tentatively titled The Untitled Onion Movie, it was to be directed by music video director Tom Kuntz and Mike Maguire and written by then Onion editor Robert Siegel and writer Todd Hanson with the rest of the Onion staff. After delays and previews to test audiences, the film was suspended and eventually dropped by Fox. New Regency Productions continued the project.

On March 15, 2007, Scott Aukerman said that the Onion movie was at a "dead standstill". [1] Additionally, Onion, Inc. President at the time, Sean Mills, indicated The Onion was no longer associated with the film project. [2] [3]

In November 2007, then-President Sean Mills told Wikinews that the film was a dead project. [4] Although Fox Searchlight had an option to release it on DVD, there was no immediate announcement to do so. Eventually, the trailer appeared on the DVD for The Darjeeling Limited . [5] The trailer also appeared on The Comebacks , Hitman , Charlie Bartlett , and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem DVDs. [6]

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released The Onion Movie DVD on June 3, 2008. [7] The UK release's packaging styles the film News Movie, a.k.a. The Onion Movie.

Reception

The Onion's own non-satirical entertainment website The A.V. Club did not review the film. The site's film critic Nathan Rabin explicitly declined to review the film for his "Dispatches from Direct to DVD Purgatory" feature on poor-quality direct-to-DVD films because he wished to avoid a conflict of interest. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Seagal</span> American actor, martial artist, and filmmaker (born 1952)

Steven Frederic Seagal is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-law's dojo. He later moved to Los Angeles where he had the same profession. In 1988, Seagal made his acting debut in Above the Law. By 1991, he had starred in four films.

<i>Above the Law</i> (1988 film) 1988 action film by Andrew Davis

Above the Law is a 1988 American crime action thriller film cowritten, coproduced and directed by Andrew Davis. It marked the film debut of Steven Seagal, who was also a producer, and stars Pam Grier, Sharon Stone, Ron Dean and Henry Silva. Seagal plays Nico Toscani, an ex-CIA agent, Aikido specialist and a Chicago policeman who discovers a conspiracy upon investigating the mysterious shipment of military explosives seized from a narcotics dealer.

<i>Executive Decision</i> 1996 US action film by Stuart Baird

Executive Decision is a 1996 American action thriller film directed by Stuart Baird in his directorial debut. It stars Kurt Russell, Steven Seagal, Halle Berry, John Leguizamo, Oliver Platt, Joe Morton, David Suchet and B.D. Wong. It depicts the rescue of an airliner hijacked by terrorists, by a small team placed on the plane in mid-flight. The film was released in the United States on March 15, 1996 and grossed $122 million against a $55 million budget.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broken Lizard</span> American comedy troupe

Broken Lizard is an American comedy troupe that comprises Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske. They collaborate on the screen-writing, acting and productions of their films, with Chandrasekhar and Heffernan being the primary directors; the team however does not have any single leader and they work collaboratively when choosing material and writing projects.

<i>Napoleon Dynamite</i> 2004 film by Jared Hess

Napoleon Dynamite is a 2004 American independent coming of age teen comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt and Sean Covel, written by Jared and Jerusha Hess and directed by Jared Hess. The film stars Jon Heder in the role of the titular character, a nerdy high-school student who deals with several dilemmas: befriending an immigrant who wants to be class president, awkwardly pursuing a romance with a fellow student, and living with his quirky family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">20th Century Home Entertainment</span> American home video distributor

20th Century Home Entertainment is a home video brand label of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment that distributes films produced by 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, and 20th Century Animation, and television series by 20th Television, Searchlight Television, 20th Television Animation, and FX Productions in home entertainment formats.

"Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 3, 1992. The plot follows Bart continually getting in trouble, and how Homer is unable to give him any suitable punishment. Marge gets Homer to agree to make a punishment stick, and he forbids Bart to see the new Itchy & Scratchy movie for not watching Maggie, a punishment that Homer takes very seriously.

Craig Eric Sheffer is an American film and television actor. He is known for his leading roles as Norman Maclean in the film A River Runs Through It, Aaron Boone in the film Nightbreed, Joe Kane in the film The Program, and Keith Scott on the television series One Tree Hill.

<i>LolliLove</i> 2004 American film

LolliLove is a 2004 American mockumentary co-written by, directed by and starring Jenna Fischer. The film satirizes a hip, misguided Southern California couple who decide to make a difference in the lives of the homeless by giving them lollipops with a cheery slogan on the wrapper.

<i>Idiocracy</i> 2006 film by Mike Judge

Idiocracy is a 2006 American science fiction comedy film directed by Mike Judge and co-written by Judge and Etan Cohen. The plot follows U.S. Army librarian Joe Bauers, who wakes up five hundred years in the future after a botched government hibernation experiment to find himself in a dystopian society run by corporations, where evolution has made humanity stupid because the benefits of technology made it unnecessary for people to be intelligent and physically fit to survive. The cast includes Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Crews, David Herman, Justin Long, Andrew Wilson, and Brad Jordan.

<i>The Foreigner</i> (2003 film) 2003 American film

The Foreigner is a 2003 American action thriller film starring Steven Seagal. The film was shot entirely in Warsaw, Poland, and was the first of a long string of direct-to-video films released starring Seagal from 2003 to 2009. The film recouped its budget from the US home video market alone.

<i>Little Miss Sunshine</i> 2006 American dark tragicomedy road film

Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American tragicomedy road movie directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris from a screenplay written by Michael Arndt. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, and Alan Arkin, all of whom play members of a dysfunctional family taking the youngest (Breslin) to compete in a child beauty pageant. It was produced by Big Beach Films on a budget of US$8 million. Filming began on June 6, 2005, and took place over 30 days in Arizona and Southern California.

<i>Attack Force</i> (film) 2006 American film

Attack Force is a 2006 American science fiction action thriller film directed by Michael Keusch, and also written and produced by Steven Seagal, who also stars in the film. The film co-stars Lisa Lovbrand and David Kennedy. The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on December 5, 2006.

<i>Pistol Whipped</i> 2008 American action film

Pistol Whipped is a 2008 American action film directed by Roel Reiné. The film stars Steven Seagal, and was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on March 4, 2008.

<i>Urban Justice</i> 2007 film directed by Don E. Fauntleroy

Urban Justice is a 2007 American vigilante action film directed and shot by Don E. FauntLeRoy. The film stars Steven Seagal, who also producer, with a supporting cast of Eddie Griffin, Carmen Serano and Danny Trejo. It was released direct-to-DVD in the United States on November 13, 2007.

<i>12 Rounds</i> (film) 2009 film by Renny Harlin

12 Rounds is a 2009 American action film directed by Renny Harlin and produced by WWE Studios. The cast is led by John Cena, alongside Aidan Gillen, Steve Harris, Gonzalo Menendez, Brian J. White, Ashley Scott, and Taylor Cole. The film was released to theaters in the United States on March 27, 2009.

<i>Whip It</i> (film) 2009 film by Drew Barrymore

Whip It is a 2009 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Drew Barrymore in her directorial debut and written by Shauna Cross, based on her 2007 novel Derby Girl. The film is co-produced by Barrymore and Barry Mendel. It stars Elliot Page as a teenage girl from the fictional town of Bodeen, Texas, who joins a roller derby team. The film also stars Barrymore, Alia Shawkat, Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern, Carlo Alban, Landon Pigg, Jimmy Fallon, Kristen Wiig, Zoë Bell, Eve, Andrew Wilson, Juliette Lewis, and Ari Graynor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Rabin</span> American film and music critic (born 1976)

Nathan Rabin is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for The A.V. Club, a position he held until he left the Onion organization in 2013. In 2013, Rabin became a staff writer for The Dissolve, a film website operated by Pitchfork Media. Two of his featured columns at The Dissolve were "Forgotbusters" and "Streaming University".

<i>Futurama</i> (season 5) 5th season of Futurama

Futurama's fifth season is composed of the TV edits of the four direct-to-video films, split into four episodes each. While the films were originally released between November 27, 2007 and February 24, 2009, the TV edits began airing on March 23, 2008 and concluded after 16 episodes on August 30, 2009. These episodes were the first produced for Comedy Central, after their negotiations with Fox for syndication rights gave the opportunity to create new episodes.

<i>See How They Run</i> (2022 film) 2022 film by Tom George

See How They Run is a 2022 comedy mystery film directed by Tom George, written by Mark Chappell and produced by Damian Jones and Gina Carter. The film stars Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson, Reece Shearsmith, Harris Dickinson, and David Oyelowo.

References

  1. "The Fun Bunch: Do you believe in inevitabilities!?: 2007 That Other Paper Article".
  2. Learmonth, Michael (March 26, 2007). "Onion launching video newscast".
  3. "20 Movies Not Coming Soon to a Theater Near You". Archived from the original on June 10, 2007.
  4. The Onion: An interview with 'America's Finest News Source'
  5. Shankbone, David, "An interview with The Onion" Wikinews, November 24, 2007.
  6. Peter Kafka (March 2, 2008). "The Onion Movie - Debuting At A DVD Player Near You - Silicon Alley Insider". Alleyinsider.com. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
  7. "Onion Movie The UNRATED DVD". iTunes . June 3, 2008. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  8. Rabin, Nathan (June 16, 2008). "Dispatches From Direct To DVD Purgatory: Miss Cast Away, American Crude and Death Of A Dynasty". The A.V. Club . Retrieved February 21, 2016.