Cult Classic: And due to its late-night energy, it works perfectly as a midnight movie.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Five years before playing a married couple in Home Alone, Catherine O'Hara and John Heard are in this film, and they both end up in the mob chasing Paul (and there's a brief shot of them talking to each other).
Jerkass Woobie: Paul. At first he comes off as a pretentious yuppie and Casanova Wannabe who drops everything for a prospective late night sexual tryst with a beautiful woman he just happened to meet.note And after meeting Kiki, probably expects some sort of three-way with her and Marcy Then he quickly hits an enormous streak of bad luck. While he goes off a couple of times during the movie, he is just desiring to go home or at least spend the night someplace safe, which is exactly what The Big Rotten Apple and its midnight Kafka Komedy showcase is denying him. By the end of the film, he is even fearing he will be lynched by angry [SoHo] natives for reasons he can barely understand.
Older Than They Think: In addition to the Kafka references, a great deal of material from the first twenty minutes was taken to some degree from Joe Frank's radio monologue "Lies". Frank sued, but apparently admired the direction Joseph Minion took his ideas.
Pretty much the premise behind all of the segments, and lampshaded in the Aladdin one. Examples are listed below.
Michael: Do you guys ever think that maybe we think about movies more than the people who made the movies?
Declaring Marty McFly's mother Lorraine to be a hardcore sadist who can only orgasm when danger is involved.
Katie: First we learn that Lorraine is like a danger-slut. She only falls for George in the first place because he's injured, and then in the alternate past, Marty gets injured and she falls for him.
Katie (to Soren): Why don't you just admit that Batman is a violent, malajusted sociopath who's using his parents' death as an excuse to work out his aggression!?
Mario is a dick with a moustache, and Princess Peach would be better off with Bowser.
Katie: He maintains sevenfunctioningcastles. Do you have any idea how long that takes?
Soren: She invaded a kingdom, stole his property, and destroyed Jabba. She's a terrorist.
The group eventually comes to the conclusion that Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell had an obsession with Zack Morris and killed his girlfriends.
Claiming that Sonic the Hedgehog is a sociopathic thrill-junkie that only cares about humiliating Robotnik, who is actually a benevolent inventor that builds protective robot suits for animals in order to keep them safe.
Apparently, the Federation is a stagnant dystopia that goes around screwing with alien cultures out of boredom.
Subverted here. After Katie makes a seemingly convincing case that Ursula from The Little Mermaid is only looking out for Ariel by trying to teach her that life is hard and that you need to sacrifice to gain what you want and succeed (in comparison with King Triton's bullying overprotective authoritarianism), Soren completely undercuts this by pointing out that even if this is true Ursula cheated by hypnotising Eric with her magic. This ensured Ariel could never succeed no matter how hard she tried or what she sacrificed, completely undermined her own supposed lesson and still meant that she was the villain.
In the same episode, Michael points out that in any other story, Gaston would be the hero: he's rescuing a girl suffering from Stockholm Syndrome from an abusive Beast. Sure, he locks up her father in an insane asylum...but, well, he is crazy.
When debating which alien invasion would be the most terrifying, Dan admits to having gone to therapy as a child... after watching ET The Extraterrestrial. His points are that E.T. shares a psychic bond with Elliot, and has effectively been brainwashing him throughout the movie. And his species, outside of this, are dwelling on a dying planet (hence the expedition to bring back plant life), and have telekinetic abilities that could potentially neutralize an army, making an invasion scenario entirely plausible.
Diagnosed by the Audience: Dan vaguely concerning his lack of social skills throughout the series and Michael more specifically when his taking Ritalin is mentioned. Katie also has a special song meant to calm him down.
Michael: They named the handicapped kid after his handicap?
Dan (mocking): Oh, is that funny, little Ritalin-o? Take your pill. (serious) Oh, take your pill.
Draco in Leather Pants: Invoked: if a character being discussed is supposed to be villainous or malevolent, the group will usually find some way of making them seem like the real hero of the story.
Hilarious in Hindsight: In the Super Mario Bros. episode, Michael thinks that Bowser wants to eat Peach "to get...princess powers, or something." A few years after the series ended, and the idea of Bowser getting Peach powers has gone viral with the Bowsette meme.
Ho Yay: The boys can be very... friendly with each other.
According to the real Daniel O'Brien the characters of Soren and Dan are "accidentally falling in love".
From the Secretly Most Ridicules Moments episode.
Michael: Before there was the Joker, a weird looking dude with face scars had to go into a store all like "Green hair spray and lipstick please". Katie: And a nurse uniform and wig, you know, just in case. Soren: I've got one. Michael: A wig or a nurse's uniform? Because I'd like to see you in either.
In the James Bond episode Soren and Katie are staring deeply into each other's eyes, clearly about to kiss, when Michael ruins it by trying to make out with Soren. It's Katie who pushes him away.
In the Christmas episode Michael drinks hot coco but spits it out.
Katie: Hot? Michael: Thanks, you too. We should sex later. *Points at Soren* Us too. Soren: *fistpumps*
From the same episode.
Michael: Let's see some boobs. Katie: Michael, I'm not showing you my boobs again. Michael: Not you! *first points at Soren but changes his mind to Dan* Dan show me boobs or I will concuss right now. Dan: Okay. Which one do you want? Michael: Either one. Dan: That's...that. *shows left nipple* Michael immediately regrets asking, but Katie makes a "not bad" face, and Soren tries to look uninterested but leans over and stretches his neck a bit to get a better look.
From the 4 Worst Lessons Disney Taught Us episode.
Michael: What about Beauty and The Beast? It taught us not to judge a book by it's hairy, ill-tempered cover. *pets Dan's chin, with Dan stretching his neck a bit and smiling*
In the Pixar episode Dan gets lost in his thoughts, which gets Michael excited.
Michael: Did I win already!? I'm in his head! Soren, check him for boners!
Also from the Pixar episode.
Dan: I had you guys though. Michael: I'm still totally cocked buddy! Katie: *looks at Michael's crotch* Ohh my god, he is. Dan: Thanks man.
In the "6 insane stereotypes" episode Dan is mysteriously wearing a hoodie Soren wore in an earlier episode. Soren Bowie later explained on tumblr that (the character) Dan was cold and forgot his jacket, so Soren took off his hoodie and let Dan wear it. This has apparently happened more than once.
In the Genie episode Daniel absentmindedly puts a finger in his food and starts "fingering" it in an oddly sexual way, then waves it around until he notices the food stuck to him, and finally licks his finger. Michael and Katie don't care, but Soren watches the whole thing very intensely.
In "Why Star Wars is racist" Daniel complains that nobody cares about the robots in Star Wars. Soren isn't paying attention to the conversation and thinks Daniel is talking about himself, so somewhat offhandedly he says "Don't be silly, Daniel. I cares." Both Michael and Katie act like that is kind of a big thing for Soren to say, but Daniel seems to think Soren was talking about the robots and continues rambling on about Star Wars. Michael and Katie look at each other like they can't believe nothing more came of it.
From the "Friends" episode.
Michael: I had no idea my overt sexuality bothered you so much. Daniel: How!? My last column was about that! Michael: I'm Handsy McSackgrab!? LIBEL!
In "Why Movie Cops Are Terrible" Daniel wants to know which Se7en victim Soren thinks he is. He ends up guessing Soren thinks he Pride because she's pretty. In other words, Daniel thinks Soren thinks he's pretty.
From the "4 insane Simpsons theories" episode.
Dan: I have a lot of nerdy, obscure evidence to support this! Katie: Okay. Try not to get a boner, but go on. Dan: I'll get a boner if I damn well please! Soren: *looks excited, then seems to remember that Michael and Katie are present and calms himself down*
In "The Horrifying Truth About Living Inside a TV Show", Soren tells Dan that his Safe Word is Star Wars - in a tone of voice that suggests he should have known this already.
In "Why every 80's sitcom killed off the mom" Daniel talks about how 60% of Americans thinks about "the big D" (divorce) all the time. The others think he's talking about his own penis and Soren suddenly gets very stiff and warns Daniel to be careful with what he says next. The whole thing plays like Soren was worried Daniel was about to talk about their relationship.
Dan: It's a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah. Micheal: It's Gamera. (Beat) And I actually haven't seen Godzilla vs. Sodomy. But that sounds awesome!
Ron the Death Eater: Invoked: if a character they are discussing is supposed to be seen as the hero or otherwise benevolent, the group will usually find some way of making them seem like the bad guy.
. After Katie makes a seemingly convincing case that Ursula from The Little Mermaid is only looking out for Ariel by trying to teach her that life is hard and that you need to sacrifice to gain what you want and succeed (in comparison with King Triton's bullying overprotective authoritarianism), Soren completely undercuts this by pointing out that even if this is true Ursula cheated by hypnotising Eric with her magic. This ensured Ariel could never succeed no matter how hard she tried or what she sacrificed, completely undermined her own supposed lesson and still meant that she was the villain.