Porky’s: The One Size Fits All Edition

Nary a film fan didn’t heave a tremendous sigh of grief at the untimely passing of director Bob Clark last month in a tragic car crash in California. In a career spanning four decades, Clark racked up an eclectic CV of films, including one of the great underrated horror classics (1973’s Black Christmas, recently bastardized in a crap remake – discover the original!) as well as a true American classic, 1983’s A Christmas Story. Sure, there were a few outright clunkers (Rhinestone, anyone?), but for the most part the director’s assured eye and surprisingly deft hand at any material brought a certain truthful charm to just about everything. Yes, even serial killers. And that most frightening of all creatures… the teenage boy, at the center of 1982’s legendary Porky’s.

Legendary? It’s not exactly high art, far from it, but at the time of its release Porky’s was just about as raunchy as anything you could see outside of a triple-X theater. Though by today’s terms (American Pie, There’s Something About Mary), most of its jokes seem pretty tame, Clark’s ode to every young man’s horniest high school years set the bar pretty high for the rash of smutty teen comedies to come. And though the plot is razor-thin (An anti-racism subplot features and, while timely for the 1950’s setting, it never really gels), the crack comic timing and depth of and dedication to every crass, over the top gag is solid. Couple that with a strongly written overtone of male bonding, and you’ve got more than a randy teen sex romp… you’ve got probably one of the shrewdest insights into the adolescent male psyche ever committed to film. (One that ends each chapter with “BOOBIES!” and then farts.) This new special edition out today includes a commentary and looking-back featurette recorded with Clark prior to his death, as well as trailers and more.

Other recommended titles for May 22nd: The 40-Year-Old Virgin: Special Edition; Can-Can; Flags Of Our Fathers/Letters From Iwo Jima; The Magnificent Seven: Season 2; Mythbusters: Collection 1; Peter Sellers Gift Set; Rio Bravo: SE; Roots: 30th Anniversary Edition; Scrubs: Season 5; Summer School: Collector’s Edition; The Third Man (Criterion); True Grit: Special Edition; Venus

—Nicole Campos

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 7:50 pm by nic campos and is filed under DVD New Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.