ROTTEN TOMATOES: 25 Favorite Films with Broken Lizard!

25 Favorite Films with Broken Lizard!

RT catches up with the comedy troupe as they take their latest film to Slamdance.

by Jen Yamato | January 16, 2009

Page | 1 2 3 4 5

After a successful run of studio comedies (most recently, 2006's Beerfest), the Broken Lizard gang is returning to their indie roots with the self-produced Slammin' Salmon, a restaurant-set comedy co-written by and starring all five members (and directed by Lizard and first-time helmer Kevin Heffernan). Rotten Tomatoes caught up with the Lizards en route to Park City, Utah, where they'll premiere Slammin' Salmon at the Slamdance Film Festival, to find out their 25 Favorite Films of all time!

The members of Broken Lizard (Super Troopers, Club Dread, Beerfest) -- also known as Steve Lemme, Erik Stolhanske, Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, and Paul Soter -- have been friends since their college days, and it shows; when RT sat down to chat with the Lizards about their favorite films, they chimed in over one another with their favorite movie quotes, recollections of man dates past, and of course, plenty of good natured jabs. Slammin' Salmon, in which a heavyweight champ-turned-restaurateur (Michael Clarke Duncan, letting loose) pits his wait staff against each other in a Glengarry Glen Ross-style contest, marks the Lizards' return to independent film; they hope to land distribution after their premiere at Slamdance. (And in case you're wondering, having come face to face with Super Troopers fandom at a live, Rocky Horror-style version of the flick, they are indeed in the scripting phase of Super Troopers 2.)

Below, get to know your favorite Broken Lizards as we hear each member's five favorite films -- making this a very special installment of RT's 25 Favorite Films with Broken Lizard.

Steve Lemme

Jaws (1975, 100% Tomatometer)

My favorite film of all time is Jaws, for a number of reasons. I think it's a perfect film; everything about it works. Obviously, the music --- there are not many theme songs that actually elicit an emotion. From the floating barrels, the scene where Sheriff Brody's on the beach, and stuff keeps blocking his view while he's trying to see what's going on and you're in the audience [cringing]...additionally, my dad took me to see it in the theater when I was seven; he's from Argentina and I guess he didn't understand the rating system. The R rating meant nothing to him at the time. He bought me a Jaws movie poster afterwards and I stuck it in my bathroom and shut the door, and I didn't open the door again for two years. I thought that when I opened the door, water and a shark would come pouring out and eat me. For the longest time, I couldn't go in swimming pools.

[Editor's note: Jaws is actually rated PG.]

Braveheart (1995, 76% Tomatometer)

Number two is Braveheart. I choose that as my second because I didn't sleep that whole night, I was up for 24 hours after seeing it because I couldn't believe they killed Braveheart at the end.

RT: Movies really mess you up, don't they?

Erik Stolhanske: You refer to being thrown out of a castle window...

[Pause. Stolhanske "raises the roof."]

Lemme: That's a very inside Braveheart joke. And yes, Stolhanske raised the roof, and his face is turning beet red. Braveheart is both a love story and an action movie...and at any moment I thought they were going to rescue him and they never rescued him. Same with his wife: Okay, they're not gonna cut her throat, they're not gonna cut her throat -- WHOA! They cut her throat! She's scanning the horizon for Braveheart, any second now Braveheart's going to come save the day...it's awful.

The Matrix (1999, 86% Tomatometer)

Number Three would be The Matrix; I saw it opening day, Friday morning at 10 a.m., then saw it in the final screening that day, and four more times in the theater. It's just an amazing movie.

Grease (1987, 83% Tomatometer)

Number four would be Grease, which I saw ten times in the movie theater [and recently]; Paul [Soter] had never seen it, so we went to a revival when it came out again.

Paul Soter: I had never seen it! I had three older sisters, so I was like eh, girl movie. But Lemme talked me into going, on a date. [Fun fact: three of five Broken Lizards named a favorite film that they'd seen on a man date with Soter.]

Lemme: I went as the Fonz for Halloween one year and put Vaseline in my hair, which was a mistake, because it took like two months to get it out.

Jay Chandrasekhar: And he couldn't go to the bathroom because of the shark to wash it out.

The Sting (1973, 91%), The Natural (1984, 83%)

And Number Five is a tie [the other Broken Lizards groan]. It's The Sting and The Natural. And that's it.

Next: Erik Stolhanske takes it back to the seventies...

Next Page >>

Page | 1 2 3 4 5

(1-20 of 26 posts) | Reply

jokerboy1991 writes:
on Jan 16 2009 07:56 PM

Thats a great list. It seems a lot of the interviewes really like Being There, which is awesome and if anyone here doesn't know yet there re-releasing it and its going to be on Blu-Ray. I like Broken Lizard despite Club Dredd and Dukes of Hazzerd sucking (I thought), I think Super Troopers and Beerfest were funny. I hope Slamming Sammy is funny. This must have been such a fun interview.

(Reply to this)

UmbrellaLandFood writes:
on Jan 16 2009 08:40 PM

i like farva's movie picks the most
strangelove is prolly on my top five

(Reply to this)

blattman writes:
on Jan 16 2009 08:48 PM

I am so glad Airplane made their list. Good variety

(Reply to this)

ledawg writes:
on Jan 16 2009 10:44 PM

Wow, excellent all around. Personally I think everything they touch turns to garbage, but hey that's me.

(Reply to this)

Weed17 writes:
on Jan 17 2009 04:39 AM

i hated beerfest. excuse me if i am not an usual run of the mill stupid man joke loving stooge. i do like beer tho :] hvnt seen super troopers, but i heard its good

(Reply to this)

lestatthevampire writes:
on Jan 17 2009 07:56 AM

Dude, even in interviews these guys are tight. They are a great comedy team.
BTW... Jokerboy is right. Saw Being There last weekend. AMAZING movie. If I had seen it like ten years ago after graduating high school I probably would've went searching the world for meaning. It's a movie that is a state of mind.

(Reply to this)

He's a Cockapoopoo writes:
on Jan 17 2009 08:01 AM

Husbands! Five Easy Pieces! I looked up to Erik before when he busted through P 90 plyometrics on one leg, but he's taken on a whole other level of cool. I'm so amped I'm gonna spend the next few hours ripping into reviewers that gave Husbands a rotten.

(Reply to this)

Mr. Bo Ziffer writes:
on Jan 17 2009 09:01 AM

Very cool list. I like a lot of variety, but I can agree with the repeats these guys threw out (Reservoir Dogs, Spinal Tap, etc.). I'm really looking forward to Slammin' Salmon.

(Reply to this)

Hamboner writes:
on Jan 17 2009 09:10 AM

They make 40,000 bottles of beer a day. I drink 40 off the line, AND I'M THE *** HOLE?!?

(Reply to this)

Hamboner writes:
on Jan 17 2009 09:18 AM

You have to dominate the swordfish, only then can you saute it.

When Michael Clark Duncan said that line in the trailer I couldn't stop laughing for about 5 minutes.

(Reply to this)

Spitknot420 writes:
on Jan 17 2009 09:26 AM

You know "Jaws" was actually rated PG when it was released

(Reply to this)

tomwaitsjr writes:
on Jan 17 2009 11:57 AM

Braveheart at 76%? WOW.

Thanks Jen. You put a lot of work into this and it shows.

I've seen their films, and just found them mildly nice. My juvenile friends who still think they are in college, however, absolutely love them . . .

(Reply to this)

~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Jan 17 2009 12:29 PM

Well, surprisingly great picks from Paul Soter. Airplane! and Crimes and Misdemeanors are amongst my favorites of all time too, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy Butch Cassidy. Reasonably good picks from the rest, too. I wasn't expecting anything too high-brow, and they didn't deliver anything too high-brow.

I've seen Super Troopers and I quite liked it. Beerfest was pretty good fun as well. However, most seem to agree that those are their best works, and I seem to have unintentionally avoided their less-loved works. So I guess I can't be an accurate judge of them. I'll probably see Slammin' Salmon at one point or another, though.

(Reply to this)

magnolianights1990 writes:
on Jan 17 2009 04:28 PM

In reply to this comment (#2261109)
Dude, why do you have pennywise as a picture?

You'll scare the hell out of kids.

(Reply to this)

nathanpoitras writes:
on Jan 17 2009 05:30 PM

Definitely more taste than talent with that group.

(Reply to this)

SterlingCinematic writes:
on Jan 17 2009 06:19 PM

Hey you know who has sexy breasts? Megan Fox. check her out.

(Reply to this)

SterlingCinematic writes:
on Jan 17 2009 06:20 PM

In reply to this comment (#2262345)
Hey you know who has sexy breasts? Megan Fox. check her out.

(Reply to this)

rle4lunch writes:
on Jan 17 2009 07:26 PM

So glad Breaking Away made it. That is one really, good, movie.

(Reply to this)

Mr. Bo Ziffer writes:
on Jan 17 2009 09:02 PM

In reply to this comment (#2262263)
Red hair . . . Pasty white skin . . . Mangled teeth . . .
He kind of looks like me.

(Reply to this)

jorel1114 writes:
on Jan 18 2009 12:39 AM

These guys really suck at life...there's a reason that their movies consistently don't make money...it's because they're not funny. I get that maybe starting out things would be slow, that you'd build a cult following. but they've actually gotten worse with time. What a bunch of asshats

(Reply to this)

Jaws (1975, 100% Tomatometer)

Braveheart (1995, 76% Tomatometer)

The Matrix (1999, 86% Tomatometer)

Grease (1987, 83% Tomatometer)

The Sting (1973, 91%), The Natural (1984, 83%)

Related Links

Sundance Film Festival 2009

Related Articles

Most Discussed

Latest News

Latest Interviews

Latest Features

Sponsored Links