Tracker Pixel for Entry

Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Rise and Fall of National Lampoon

Cinema | October 8th, 2015

As the most likely audience members of “Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead,” hardcore National Lampoon fans of a certain age are the choirboys and choirgirls to filmmaker Douglas Tirola’s preacher.

Tracing the history of the magazine and its prolific mediated spinoffs, Tirola’s film at least scratches the surface of the rise and fall of the Lampoon empire, even if a comprehensive account couldn’t possibly fit in a single feature movie. Cramming together dozens of interviews, hundreds of illustrations and photographs, and seemingly thousands of scattershot thoughts, the documentary works best as a rough introduction to the anything-goes, decidedly politically incorrect worldview of the publication’s key personnel – most notably cofounders Henry Beard and Doug Kenney.

Beyond Beard and Kenney, Tirola struggles to keep straight for the viewer the many players and their roles, prominently featuring obvious personalities like Michael O’Donoghue and John Belushi while leaving others unexplored. Many key participants are introduced, but the breadth-over-depth tactic results in fleeting glimpses that will leave many viewers craving details on the volatile relationship dynamics that resulted from the dangerous cocktail of youth, ambition, intelligence, lust, and the consumption of mountains of drugs and oceans of alcohol.

National Lampoon’s sensational art direction, realized through scores of parody advertisements (like the floating VW Beetle image referencing Chappaquiddick), cartoons and illustrations (including work by Arnold Roth and Neal Adams), and a parade of unforgettable cover images (from the scathing William Calley/Alfred E. Neuman mashup “What, My Lai?” to Ed Bluestone’s iconic “If You Don’t Buy This Magazine, We’ll Kill This Dog”) begs to be the subject of its very own feature documentary, but Tirola shows as much as possible, blasting through one eye-popping snapshot after another. Fortunately, Michael C. Gross, who did more than any single person to shape the look and sensibility of the magazine’s graphic identity, is on hand as an important guide.

The distance of time illuminates some of the magazine’s less savory white male personality traits, from brutal misogyny to ugly racism (even when the intention is for the jokes to be on racists). Disappointingly, Tirola elects to gloss over these issues when some critique on the philosophy and evolution of comedy is sorely needed. When, for example, Anne Beatts shares a joke about getting into comedy the way Catherine the Great got into politics, the moment passes without any of the important context framing the conditions faced by the women who participated in a culture notorious for its regressive attitudes and practices. A shrug and a wink are pretty cold comfort.

Not surprisingly, Tirola devotes a considerable amount of time to the exploration of National Lampoon’s widest “superstar” breakthrough: the unexpected success of “Animal House.” Many of the personalities associated with the movie discuss its genesis and burnish its legendary influence on an entire genre.

The siren song of Hollywood dollars, not to mention the routine poaching of Lampoon talent by Lorne Michaels for “Saturday Night Live,” directly contributed to the decline and eventual demise of the magazine, and this partial explanation hovers over the later sections of the movie. The party and the story really end with the mysterious and much-debated death of Kenney, briefly memorialized on camera by friend Chevy Chase in a grim yet heartfelt lightning bolt of black comedy.

"Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is now available theatrically in select cities and on iTunes.

Recently in:

By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.com Ten North Dakota communities will participate in the nationwide No Kings Day of Peaceful Action on October 18. The grassroots movement is a nonviolent protest against President Trump’s…

By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu I would like to recognize some of the scholarly Germans from Russia from Canada and USA shared on the GRHC website. There are additional names not included here. If you have suggestions…

Friday, October 31, doors 8 p.m. show starts at 8:30 p.m.The Aquarium above Dempey’s, 226 N. Broadway, FargoThe annual Aquarium Halloween Cover Show is back and it is stacked. And this time there are a limited amount of presale…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com At the end of September, downtown Fargo said goodbye to another old friend; the Spirit Room closed its doors, marking the end of an era. The Spirit Room room has been a fixture downtown for the…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comThat old time religion, filled with love, is no longer good enough In the first “Inherit the Wind” movie about religion and evolution starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, and Gene Kelly, the…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gion and Nichole Hensenrickgion@gmail.com The wait is finally over. Those who have visited Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Cafe lately know about the recent major additions and renovations that have taken place over the past…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Dakotah Faye is a hip-hop artist from Minot, North Dakota, and he’s had a busy year. He’s released two albums. This summer he opened for Tech N9ne in Sturgis and will be opening for Bone…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Now available on Amazon Prime following its world premiere last month as the opening night selection of the Toronto International Film Festival’s golden anniversary, “John Candy: I Like…

By HPR staffsubmit@hpr1.com Mark the first weekend of October on your calendar. It’s the weekend of the Studio Crawl, which takes us all on a wonderful, metro-wide tour of our talented (and often wacky) arts community. On October…

Press release“Shakespeare with a sharpened edge.” To launch its 2025 – 2026 season, Theatre NDSU is thrilled to team up with Moorhead-based organization Theatre B to perform a co-production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By Ellie Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com When we are sick, all we want is a cure. You go to the doctor, they give you a pill, you take it for a bit, then you are cured. It happens. But unfortunately, it is not always the case. …

By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…

By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson@rocketmail.comMoral accountability and the crisis of leadership  As a recovering person living one day at a time for the last 35 years, I have learned not to judge others because I have not walked in…