VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: National Lampoon presents Dorm Daze 3: Transylmania (2009)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: National Lampoon presents Dorm Daze 3: Transylmania (2009)

Clio: 3.4/5 stars (compared to 3.4 for DD1, 3 for DD2), 7.4/10 (compared to 8 for DD1, 6.2 for DD2).
Carolyn: 4/5 stars (same as other 2), 7.7/10 (compared to 8 for DD1, 7.6 for DD2).
Native ratings: 2.6/5 stars Netflix (compared to 3.7 for DD1, 2.7 for DD2), 3.7/10 IMDB (compared to 4.4 for DD1, 3.7 for DD2).

So it seems that Carolyn & I liked this better than the first movie in the “trilogy”. It’s funny that this is a trilogy, because the movies have little to do with each other. They called the 2nd one Dorm Daze 2 even though it took place on a cruise ship. At least for this one they dropped the “Dorm Daze” from the title, but how would people who liked the first 2 movies know about and find this? The only real way is Movie Connections on IMDB, under the “Followed By” section. Weird.

Dorm Daze 1 was about misunderstandings and plots.  Dorm Daze 2 was about capers and a theft.  Dorm Daze 3 was about vampires.

It had some of the same characters from the other Dorm Daze movies, but this is no longer called Dorm Daze.  It had a recap of the characters and the setup for why they were going to Romania.  And vampires!  Don’t forget vampires.

Directed by: David Hillenbrand (Dorm Daze 1-2, mostly a music developer, we haven’t seen the other 7 things he directed), Scott Hillenbrand (Dorm Daze 1-2, we haven’t seen the other 7 things he’s directed)
Written by: Worm Miller (Dorm Daze 1-2, we haven’t seen the other things he’s written), Patrick Casey (Dorm Daze 1-2, we haven’t seen the other things he’s written)

They had some of the same characters as Dorm Daze 1 and 2:
Oren Skoog (we haven’t seen his work) as Rusty / king vampire Radu.
Jennifer Lyons (3 eps of That 70’s Show, Can’t Hardly Wait, 2 eps of Night Stand) as Lynne.
Tony Denman (Fargo, 2 eps of King Of The Hill) as Newmar.
Patrick Cavanaugh (1 ep of Thundercats (2011), 1 ep of Batman: The Brave And The Bold, 1 ep of Six Feet Under, 1 ep of Frasier) as Pete.
Paul Hansen Kim (1 ep of Andy Richter Controls The Universe, 1 ep of 3rd Rock From The Sun) as Wang.
James DeBello (Cabin Fever, Scary Movie 2, Trip in Detroit Rock City, enthusiastic guy in American Pie) as Cliff Richards.
Patrick Casey as Mike
Worm Miller as Brady.

Some characters were missing with no explanation, but since this is college, one can assume that people drift apart year-to-year. Most notably, Lynne’s counterpart Marla (the “other hot chick” of the 2-hot-chick group in Dorm Daze 1, who became fat in Dorm Daze 2), was absent. Foosball was also not around.

And some new characters:
David Steinberg (Epic Movie, Willow) as Dean Floca. Unfortunately, this was his last movie, as he committed suicide in 2010.
Natalie Garza (1 ep of Dexter, haven’t seen anything else) as twin sister, Lia.
Nicole Garza (1 ep of Dexter, haven’t seen anything else) as twin sister, Danni.
Musetta Vander (The Cell, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Wild Wild West, 1 ep of Frasier, 1 ep of Xena) as Teodora Van Sloan, the vampire hunter. Incredibly sexy. She’s like a slightly younger Catherine Zeta-Jones!
Irena A. Hoffman (Four Christmases) as Draguta Floca, the dean’s daughter.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0936471/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: National Lampoon presents Dorm Daze 2 (2006)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: National Lampoon presents Dorm Daze 2 (2006)

Clio: 3/5 stars, 6.2/10.  I am unsure what I thought. It was an entertaining mess.
Carolyn: 4/5 stars, 7.6/10.
Native ratings: 2.7/5 stars Netflix (compared to 3.7 for Dorm Daze 1), 3.7/10 IMDB (compared to 4.4 for Dorm Daze 1).

Carolyn:  I think I liked the first one slightly better, but this one didn’t disappoint.  Dorm Daze 2 seemed to have more structure than Dorm Daze 1, and a more memorable plot, but I think Dorm Daze 1 was more fun. If Dorm Daze 1 was about misunderstandings and plots, Dorm Daze 2 was about capers and a theft.

Clio:  Interesting, I kind of felt like this one had less structure and was more all over the place. But that could easily just be my mood at the time of watching.

Anyway, during Dorm Daze 1, Clio was reminded of The Pink Panther. But it was more subtle in the original. This sequel took that feel even further, actually involving a stolen diamond.

Come to think of it…………. I don’t think there were any Dorms in this movie. And the 3rd movie in this trilogy dropped “Dorm Daze” from the title altogether, so I guess they eventually acknowledged how loosely coupled this so-called “franchise” is.

Still liked it though. Good laughs. Very underrated on IMDB if you are a comedy lover.

It had some of the same characters from Dorm Daze 1, but it didn’t rush through the introductions of the characters as much. They basically rushed through the set up of how they are on a cruise ship doing a school play. Much like a war movie, if you can’t follow a lot of people easily, it may get confusing. Just go with it…

Directed by: David Hillenbrand (Dorm Daze 1, mostly a music developer, we haven’t seen the other 7 things he directed), Scott Hillenbrand (Dorm Daze 1, we haven’t seen the other 7 things he’s directed)
Written by: Worm Miller (Dorm Daze 1, we haven’t seen the other things he’s written), Patrick Casey (Dorm Daze 1, we haven’t seen the other things he’s written)

They had some of the same characters as Dorm Daze 1:
Gable Carr (her career went nowhere) as Rachel.
Patrick Cavanaugh (1 ep of Thundercats (2011), 1 ep of Batman: The Brave And The Bold, 1 ep of Six Feet Under, 1 ep of Frasier) as Pete.
James DeBello (Cabin Fever, Scary Movie 2, Trip in Detroit Rock City, enthusiastic guy in American Pie) as Cliff Richards.
Marieh Delfino (we haven’t seen her in anything) as Gerri Farber.
Tony Denman (Fargo, 2 eps of King Of The Hill) as Newmar.
Danielle Fishel (she was in 147 eps of Boy Meets World, but I didn’t watch that show) as Marla.
Paul Hansen Kim (1 ep of Andy Richter Controls The Universe, 1 ep of 3rd Rock From The Sun) as Wang.
Jennifer Lyons (3 eps of That 70’s Show, Can’t Hardly Wait, 2 eps of Night Stand) as Lynne.
Chris Owen (Sherman from The American Pie movies, suicidal freshman in Van Wilder, A Midsummer’s Night Rave, klepto kid in Can’t Hardly Wait) as Booker McFee.
Patrick Casey as Mike
Worm Miller as Brady.

And some new characters:
Larry Drake (American Pie 2, Dead Air, Johnny Bravo, Green Lantern: First Flight, 2 eps of Justice Leage, 1 ep of Firefly, 1 ep of Six Feet Under, 1 ep of Batman Beyond) as Dean Dryer.
Vida Guerra (Not Another Celebrity Movie) as Violet.
Jeremy Howard (2 eps of Breaking Bad, Men In Black 2, Galaxy Quest) as Eli.
Kip Martin (hmm, he wasn’t Silas from Weeds or Stiffler’s cousin, we haven’t seen his work) as Stukas.
Richard Riehle (Santa Claus in A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, Smiley Face, Extracted, The Beach Party At The Threshold Of Hell, Office Space, Hatchet, Mysterious Skin, Palindromes, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, 1 ep of The Legend Of Korra) as Captain Bunkley.
Nicolas Shake (he’s barely been in anything) as Dante (crazy black dude who poisoned people).
China Shavers (Not Another Teen Movie) as Robin Daniels.
Charles Shaughnessy (4 eps of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, 4 eps of Duckman, 1 ep of Gargoyles, 1 ep of Jackie Chan Adventures) as Professor Rex Cavendish.
Jasmin St. Claire (actual porno star) as Mrs. Bunkley / Summer Solstice.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458438/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: National Lampoon presents Dorm Daze 1 (2003)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: National Lampoon presents Dorm Daze 1 (2003)

Clio: 3.4/5 stars, 7/10.
Carolyn: 4/5 stars, 8/10.
Native ratings: 2.8/5 stars Netflix, only 4.4/10 IMDB.

A crazy dorm caper full of convoluted misunderstandings and plots. It actually reminded us of The Pink Panther 1 (1963) … Except that we liked it (and consider the 1963 Pink Panther movie to be the worst of all 11 Pink Panther films).

It started out with a rushed intro of the characters that felt like it wasn’t going to be that good, but then it started getting better and better.. And it never let up on the comedy or the twists.

Nothing was super sophisticated, but there’s one important thing to note: This is NOT a National Lampoon college-aged sex comedy. This is actually more of a “chase the money” caper. Closer to Pink Panther than American Pie. It was a bit of a surprise.

Yes. A surprising amount of people from Can’t Hardly Wait and Detroit Rock City – 2 of our favorite comedy movies.

James DeBello (Trip in Detroit Rock City, which we JUST watched, Cabin Fever, Scary Movie 2) as Cliff Richards.
Tatyana Ali (Jawbreaker, Ashley Banks in The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air) as Claire.
Tony Denman (Fargo) as Newmar.
Danielle Fishel (Boy Meets World) as Marla.
Courtney Gains (Back To The Future, Can’t Buy Me Love, Children Of The Corn) as Lorenzo the Black Hand (the bad guy).
Edwin Hodge (Take Me Home Tonight, which we JUST watched) as Tony.
Jennifer Lyons (Can’t Hardly Wait, which we JUST watched) as Lynne.
Chris Owen (klepto kid in Can’t Hardly Wait, which we JUST watched, Sherman from The American Pie movies, suicidal freshman in Van Wilder, A Midsummer’s Night Rave) as Booker McFee.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362511/combined