BASEketball (1998)

Don't listen to what anybody says: This movie is hilarious. In every stupid, infantile, inappropriate, silly way. Directed by David Zucker (you know, the guy who's gone from making movies like this to making this) and starring Trey Parker and Matt Stone (you know, the guys who made that popular show), it follows two best friends who, fairly ignorant of their own immaturity and unsuccessful lives, invent a game that combines shooting hoops with base-running: Baseketball. Due to its average-joe appeal, it becomes a national phenomenon, and eventually Joe "Coop" Cooper (Trey) and Doug Remer (Matt) become owners of their team, The Beers. They get caught up in a plot by some evil guy (Robert Vaughn) to turn Baseketball into a commercial, money-based game like everything else. Also there are strains on their friendship. Also they like the same lady (Yasmine Bleeth, the worst part of the movie). The fairly simple plot leaves a lot of room for hijinks! And sight gags! And Reel Big Fish appearances!

Though they receive no writing credits, this is a very Trey/Matt kind of movie. I'm pretty sure most of their lines were ad-libbed. The fact that they got a special part written for their friend Dian Bachar also shows how much influence they had over the script. The game of Baseketball includes "psych-outs", which are defensive tactics a team can take to stop the shooting team from making baskets. Trey and Matt employ a lot of weird and gross psych-outs- hard to explain out of context but really funny in the movie. An added bonus is Jenny McCarthy as the ditzy-but-sexy heir to the Beers team. It is a pretty ridiculous, over-the-top, in many ways offensive movie, but it does not at all expect a lot of thinking to go into watching it. It's just really fun and underrated, and never fails to make me laugh. Could be because I idolize Trey Parker, but does it really matter why?

4.5/5

"Psyched Out"- The Supersuckers
"Take On Me"- Reel Big Fish (video)
"Warts On Your Dick"- DVDA/Trey and Matt's band (video- scene from the movie, watch out for Butts)