The+Genius+of+the+Frat+Pack

Thanks to //Superbad,// one might say that Jonah Hill and Michael Cera are the two next big stars in comedy. Others name Seth Rogen and the Knocked Up crowd the kings of the genre. Those movies have skyrocketed to the tops of “favorite movie” lists the world around. But all of these movies seem to be missing something. They’re funny, sure, even laugh-out-loud-double-over-and-cry-it’s-so-funny at times, but I feel like the classics still reign supreme. No, I’m not talking about //Animal House, Caddyshack//, and //Blazing Saddles//. I’m talking about the Frat Pack movies. The Frat Pack. That group of 40s-age actors who make movies as if they’re about 20. You’ve seen their faces. You’ve seen their movies. You’ve seen their big jiggling guts at times. These actors include Ben Stiller, the leader of the pack, Owen Wilson, his right-hand man, and the rest of the players: Will Farrell, Luke Wilson, Steve Carell, and Vince Vaughn. Everyone has their favorite Frat Pack member (mine is Owen, both pre and post-suicide attempt), but only when these childish men are together do they really shine. Who can forget their classic films? //Zoolander// and //Anchorman// are probably the most oft-quoted films of the 2000s. //Old School// brought aging baby-boomers back to their youth (“I’m goin’ STREAKINNN!”). //Wedding Crashers, Dodgeball,// and //Starsky and Hutch// are the three other Frat-Pack movies—all good and popular, but they don’t compare to the other three. My own personal favorite is the classic, quintessential Frat Pack movie, the one that started it all: //Zoolander//. This somewhat idiotic yet heartwarming story of a male model who is brainwashed to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia is one to have you laughing all the way through. One of the many reasons I love this movie is the fact that it has so many great awkward little details that make the movie so much better. For example, the fact that Derek Zoolander cannot turn left. It’s ridiculous that someone isn’t an “ambiturner,” as they put it in the movie, but that’s just the thing: it’s //supposed// to be ridiculous. The sheer impossibility of so many things that happen in the movie is what makes it such a good movie. Remember when they are discussing how all of the major assassinations in American history have been committed by male models? We all know that couldn’t really happen, but why not laugh at the idea of it? This movie, though most people in the civilized world have seen it, is a classic that I believe deserves a rewatch. You could even start impressing your friends with Blue Steel, Magnum, and Le Tigre looks. But be careful; don’t listen to the song “Relax.” It might be a brainwashing trick for you to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia. I don’t want the next thing I write for the paper to be his “eugoogly.”