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Buzz Feed
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
First-Time "Dude, Where's My Car?" Review 25 Years Later
On December 15, 2000, the world was graced with Dude, Where's My Car?, a stoner comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott. I was seven years old when this film hit theaters, so I figured what better time than right now, nearly 25 years later, to watch it for the first time while it's streaming on Hulu. Enjoy this ride with me. I guess we're walking since we don't have a I'm in the opening credits and already very confused. The terrible CGI ostriches really scream early 2000s comedy. Hey, it's a stoner comedy, so I'm sure there will be more psychedelic rule-breaking throughout the film, but it's already less grounded than I thought it would be. If I lie and pretend that I watched this whole movie, would you keep it a secret for me? OK I'll admit: The part where their "friend" went back into the closet like it was his bedroom got a chuckle out of me. So, this is going to be The Odyssey meets Dumb & Dumber. Or maybe just Dumb & Dumber for stoners. It's not UNFUNNY so far, just dumb 2000s humor. Ten minutes into the film, and we've got dog stoner humor. However much money Jackyl the dog is getting paid, it's not nearly enough. This movie is like if Pee-wee Herman's Big Adventure had the "I know you are, but what am I" joke three different times in the first 15 minutes. And I know the one "Dude/Sweet" joke from the movie trailer is still to come. My God. I feel like I'm losing my mind. Oh boy. Dated trans jokes aside, the plot fails to capture the same level of interest as The Hangover. The whole mystery of "where the car is" really isn't that interesting. Even Dumb and Dumber, with their trip to Aspen, felt more like something was happening. "Go ahead and laugh." I wish I could. What is this movie? I almost thought the opening credits weren't interstellar themed, because the alien posters at the opening were great planting and payoff. Here we go... Some celeb cameos to distract us from the fact that the dudes now have a car. Does the other one matter to the plot anymore? Does life matter anymore? WHAT IS HAPPENING? Okay, their commitment to kissing each other to outdo the car next to them sent me. Honestly, very subversive for a comedy of this time. The cop torturing the dummy and Chester coming to the dummy's defense got a legitimate laugh from me. Very stupid. Very funny. They found the car to go to the place they were already. It's amusing because they're stoners, but as a viewer, this is brutal to watch. This feels more like a sitcom episode than a movie. (So, it was a fake out. Somehow that's more annoying.) I also just realized Tommy is Charlie O'Connell, Jerry O'Connell's brother. They both have that same O'Connell face. Hey, it's as ridiculous as possible, but the alliance between Tommy and the Hot Chicks who are totally not aliens is at least pushing the plot forward. Also, I didn't recognize Jennifer Garner earlier. I guess this is where our heroes are at their lowest. A breakup. Back at their house. No car. And now, no twins. I'll give the movie credit. At its most ridiculous, it's actually quite funny. But, dude, this alien stuff is really as unfunny as unfunny gets. The pacing for this movie makes me want a nationwide ban on marijuana for screenwriters. That said, the whole fire extinguisher bit was right out of the Looney Tunes, and hilarious. I'm losing my mind. The repetitive jokes are a stoner's bread and butter. There are stakes. Kidnapped girlfriend(s) trope. But stakes. The "you can count on us," followed by groans, was another chuckle out of me. The velociraptor-like llamas are very funny. They resemble ostriches—very 2000s physical comedy. For the sake of my health, I'm gonna act like they didn't do the same repetition I might have to throw hands with my computer screen if they do another repetition joke. I am begging for this to end. It's a sweet-looking arcade, unfortunately, there's a terrible 2000s movie happening inside. Jennifer Garner is acting her heart out. I predicted the Rubik's Cube secretly being the Continuum Transfunctioner, but I don't feel proud of myself. Again, the movie has decent planting and it is so all over the place. End. I can't do it. I literally paused the movie. The only movie I recall that overuses the same joke format is Steve Martin's The Pink Panther. How can you use the same joke format more than five times in an 80-minute movie? I'm dead serious. There is nothing that can happen in the final 15 minutes that would get me to I'll watch it. FINAL THOUGHTS: Dude, Where's My Car? had a ton of potential, but accepted what it was, which might have been a mistake. The jokes were there as well as the ridiculousness. That said, beyond the racial stereotypes, transphobia, and overall stoner humor, there was a film that probably couldn't make it to theaters today — not because it's controversial, but because it's simply not a good enough movie to deserve a theatrical release. As a brain-off streaming pick? I can't deny that it's a fun ride down memory lane. What are your thoughts on Dude, Where's My Car? Maybe I don't fully appreciate it as a non-stoner. Share your thoughts in the comments below! Stream Dude, Where's My Car? on Hulu.
The Spinoff
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
‘A big, brave thing': Janine Morrell-Gunn on What Now's huge pivot
The children's television veteran shares her life in television. A year-and-a-half ago, beloved local children's series What Now made the hugest swing of it's television tenure. After four decades as a live studio show, the series pivoted to be digital-first. YouTube became the primary platform for the show, with short videos being uploaded regularly and a pre-recorded episode packaging it all together still airing every Sunday morning on TVNZ2. 'We did a big thing and a brave thing,' says Janine Morrell-Gunn, executive producer of What Now and director of Whitebait Media. 'After 42 years on television, it's been tantamount to moving the Titanic.' Aside from moving to a smaller studio, there's also been a refresh of the hosting dynamic. What Now is now helmed by a 'crew' mostly in their early 20s, who take turns hosting the studio show and competing in a range of challenges together. 'It has really changed the whole culture of the show, which I think is much closer to reflecting young people and how they live their lives,' says Morrell-Gunn. She admits that the new era of What Now initially spent time trying to 'out-beast Mr Beast' with the likes of dramatic helicopter stunts, but have now settled into simpler shortform quiz formats and lo-fi crew set-ups. And having worked on everything from Spot On to The Son of a Gunn Show, Morrell-Gunn remains passionate about celebrating local kids. 'Kids seeing themselves on screen, hearing their voices and having their own humour and sensibilities showcased is so important,' she says. 'We need to keep seeing kids from all cultures accepting, playing, and enjoying each other.' And, before you ask, there's still plenty of room for gunge – the new era of What Now also comes with a fully mobile gunge tank, which is still traversing the motu gunging kids to this day. 'Whatever gunge means, it's joyful,' says Morrell-Gunn. Speaking of joyful, we asked Morrell-Gunn to take us through some of her most treasured television memories, including what Michael Jackson had to do with Jason and Thingee's Big Adventure. My earliest TV memory is… Watching The High Chaparral, which is a Western from way back in the day. That's how old I am – the show aired in the late 60s. The reason I remember it is because I was terrified behind this chair watching it. The show I would rush home from school to watch is… We didn't watch TV very much after school as kids, but I do remember Romper Room which was a preschool show. They'd do a song where kids would run around the studio with these little wooden horses between their legs. I knew a girl Eden who got on the show and she took her horse and started hitting the lights in the studio. I don't know why they didn't edit in those days. A TV moment that haunts me is… We made Jason and Thingee's Big Adventure on the weekends while we were working on other things during the week, and we had so much fun. But my haunting memory was that we included various video clips from the Son of a Gunn Show throughout, and one of them was montage with a young group of dancers who were dancing to 'Beat It'. When it was about to come out we got a message saying 'have you cleared the Michael Jackson song?' We hadn't, so we re-recorded a soundalike using session musicians. I thought we had sorted it out, except that the original version with Michael Jackson was somehow put out on the VHS. I've lost a lot of sleep about that because I could see the headlines – 'Michael Jackson sues Christchurch woman' – but we lived to tell the tale. My earliest TV crush was… Definitely David Soul from Starsky and Hutch. He went into singing and I bought his 45 from the local record shop for 99 cents. No one who reads this will remember any of this. My TV guilty pleasure is… I did have a big Schitt's Creek moment. So many people had said to watch it and I couldn't get through the first couple of episodes, and then suddenly those 80 episodes just went like that [Morrell-Gunn snaps her fingers]. I could not get enough of it – I'd just keep tapping on the table and say 'go again, Jason'. I remember feeling very much out of control. My favourite TV character of all time is… Well, my husband. I've enjoyed him on everything that he's ever done. I just think he has this beautiful, real and really relatable way about him. So he is my pick. My favourite TV show I've ever been involved in is… That's a hard one for me, because they're all your babies. 2kaha was a show we made on Saturday mornings and I loved the Māori sensibility, it had a really great energy about it. Bumble was also something special. I just love the kindness of that show, there was real joy in that and innocence to it. You never know what impact your shows ever have, but I remember getting this mail from a mum thanking me because she could put her child in front of Bumble and finally have a shower. And then there's Brain Busters – making the te reo Māori version of Brain Busters just melted my heart. The TV project I wish I could be involved in is… I'd love to have worked on Adolescence. I think it's just stunning what they achieved. From the execution of that idea through the script, to the groundbreaking style of storytelling, to the messaging and the timeliness and the need for it in society… it was just a fabulous piece of content. My controversial TV opinion is… This isn't controversial, but I've always been a champion for children's content. I think that we always get the thin end of the wedge, and that young people deserve the same range and diversity of local content across all genres. Children's television often feels last in a long, long line. A show out there I won't watch, no matter how many people say I should… I don't watch any real-life murder crime series. The family love them and I'll take a look if I'm wandering through the room, but only because I'm fascinated by the technique – how slow it takes, how much is recapped, how they interview. But it's never going to have a happy ending. The last thing I watched on television was… We just waited for that last episode of Mob Land, and loved that. Also just finished My Friends and Neighbours. And then Nine Perfect Strangers, based on the Lianne Moriarty book with Nicole Kidman. We love the dramas.
