Baseketball [DVD] [1998]

I personally invented the game of baseyball as a kid, but that sport never seemed to catch on. Maybe I should have incorporated a form of defense along the lines of BASEketball's- the Psyche Out. When a player is ready to shoot the ball, you can do almost anything in order to psyche him out - and the guys come up with some incredibly funny defensive plays as this movie progresses. And the league itself comes stocked with buckets full of laughs in and of itself - what with teams such as the Roswell Aliens, Miami Dealers, New Jersey Informants, L.A. Riots, and San Francisco Ferries. Each team's cheerleaders are also a sight to behold, as is the wild pageantry that surrounds each game - what other sport gives you Dozen Egg Night and Free Range Chicken Night? Tons of professional sportscasters make cameo appearances to talk about the sport - Jim Lampley, Dan Patrick, Kenny Mayne, Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Tim McCarver, Pat O'Brien. The film's cameos don't stop there, though. The only thing more amazing than the number of recognizable faces that turn up here - including Robert Stack, Dale Earnhardt, Reggie Jackson, Ernest Borgnine, Kato Kaelin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Victoria Silvstedt (not to mention the future voices of Mr. Garrison and Eric Cartman) - are the crazy things they got most of these guys to say. I guarantee you've never seen a segment of Unsolved Mysteries like the one featured here.

Can the sport of BASEketball survive the onslaught of commercialization brought to bear upon it by Dallas Felons owner Baxter Cain (Robert Vaughn)? Remer falls prey to the glories of money and fame (taking it to ridiculous extremes), and the Beers team falls apart as Coop and Remer clash over tradition vs. money - and over the affections of Jenna Reed (Yasmine Bleeth). And what of young Joey and the other sick kids Jenna cares for? And will the Beers ever win that elusive Denslow Cup?

I love BASEketball. This is a film you can watch over and over again, always discovering even more subtle jokes and gags lurking in the background. As for Parker and Stone, they make for a great team in front of the cameras; Parker in particular is really quite a good actor. (I might also mention the fact that Parker's and Stone's band D.V.D.A. contributes a memorable song to the soundtrack - and, no, I can't tell you what the band's initials stand for - not here, anyway). Sure, the humor is a little on the crude side at times, and some people just won't get it, but this movie is absolutely hilarious and a cult classic for many of us. South Park fans should definitely enjoy the oddball humor of BASEketball. If you ask me, it's one of the funniest movies ever made.