Better Late Than Never for Vintage Paula Shore in "The Guest House"

My dad sent me an article earlier today about a movie on Netflix called "Guest House". I watched it, and while it certainly isn't the best movie I've ever seen, it did make me laugh. The movie is very simple, it's 84 minutes long and the people involved seemed to be having fun when they made it. My main takeaway from this movie was Pauly Shore. Shore is the guest in the new house of the young couple, and Shore is doing his thing here. And that is what I want to touch on today.

Pauly Shore has his warts, I'm sure he had/has some issues he has to deal with and he continues to play the same character over and over and over again. He is, and will always be, The Weasel. That was his persona in the 90's, especially when he would appear on MTV. He was always "wheezing the juice" and calling himself "The Weasel". That is how I grew to know him and that was who he played in his roles in the movies. He went so far as to call himself The Weasel in the movie "Encino Man". Along with the MTV appearances, "Encino Man" really vaulted Shore into the spotlight. You couldn't turn on any music channel or go see a comedy without some kind of Pauly Shore influence. And let me tell you, as a kid, I loved "Encino Man", and it was all due to Shore being in it. I thought he was the funniest dude in the world. That continued when I saw "Son in Law" and "In the Army Now". Shore got to do his thing and it worked for a time. It wasn't until I saw the movie "Bio-Dome" that I felt a little too old for his schtick. I was kind of over the whole "Weasel" thing. It wasn't until he showed up on an episode of "Workaholics" that I remembered what made him so funny to me. But in that single episode he was kind of making fun of himself. He didn't want to be that guy anymore it seemed.

Then I saw "Pauly Shore is Dead" and I kind of got back into Pauly Shore's whole deal. He was doing a sendup of The Weasel and I was here for it. I like when actors are able to make fun of themselves. It shows humility and humor. Shore didn't do much after that movie, but he did do a short film where he played Richard Simmons. I was kind of hoping for a full length movie, but what we got in that eight minute movie was pretty great. I wrote about it on this site when the short film came out. I was truly blown away by what Shore did in that short amount of time. I couldn't see anyone other than Shore playing Simmons in a biopic. I really wanted it to happen, but it didn't, and it looks like it will never happen. But then I saw "Guest House" today, and he reverted to The Weasel, but in a good way.

The Weasel was needed for this movie. It wouldn't have worked any other way. He is all boozed and drugged up throughout this entire movie, and the viewers need him to be funny. I was a little relieved that he went back to what made him so famous. I kind of like seeing this older Weasel. Sure, he is too old to be doing this type of thing, but that is what makes his performance work in "Guest House". He is supposed to be pathetic. We should not be looking to him as the savior of the movie. He is the one who starts all the conflict and we, the viewer, are supposed to be annoyed by him. The Weasel is annoying and kind of lame. Shore does that great here.

What I love most about Pauly Shore is that he is okay to be pigeonholed as The Weasel. Other actors look at being typecast as a bad thing. Shore understands that this character he can do so well is what will keep him working. He has found his niche and he has made it work his entire career. He doesn't have to take on different stuff. We don't need him to do dramatic stuff. He doesn't need to be some "revelation" in an award worthy movie. What he does works for comedy and he does it as good as anyone in Hollywood. I appreciate that from him. He doesn't care and that is a nice thing.

Like him or not, Pauly Shore has found what he does best and he has run away with it. He will be more appreciated when he's not acting anymore, and I'm sure he's okay with that. I guess I'm just here to say, I'm a Pauly Shore fan and I don't want to hide from it anymore. Now maybe I'll go revisit some of his earliest roles. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Take a Little Time and Go Watch "The Court Jester"

In Saint Louis we had freezing rain overnight. This caused school closures, some businesses taking the day off and sports activities being pushed back. But, on Monday's I grocery shop for the family. It is what I have been doing since I became the at home parent. And since grocery stores are seemingly never closed, I did my duties as usual.

When I got to my first stop they had a sign on the door saying they did not open until 11am. I got there at about 20 till, so I sat in my car and played on my phone. While scrolling social media I saw a story about the unauthorized short film "The Court Jester". This is the short where Pauly Shore plays Richard Simmons. By all accounts, Simmons had not given this his blessing, so that is why it is considered an "unauthorized" biography. In reading this story, it was on Uproxx, I did read that Shore said Simmons was coming around to almost giving it his blessing. They screened it at, I believe, Sundance, and it got an ovation. I have been curious about this since I first read a week ago that Shore was playing Simmons in a biopic. I have always been an unabashed fan of Shore's. He came into my movie watching life at the best time. When I was a pre teen, "Encino Man" and "Son in Law" came out during the prime of pay per view, and I watched those movies over and over and over again. I never knew why I was so enthralled by these movies as a kid. But when I became an adult and a father, it hit me. Pauly Shore is what drove me to watch these movies. There was no one funnier than him to me at the time. This was before I got into "SNL". Then I started to watch Sandler and Farley and Rock. Those became my favorites. But for a good long while, I was a big fan of Shore's. I have semi followed his career since I first watched him. I like the movie "Pauly Shore is Dead". I think it is a solid mocking of his career. I was stoked when he was a special guest star on "Workaholics". Listening to him on "WTF with Marc Maron" was very eye opening. I sought out movies like "Bio Dome", "Jury Duty" and "In the Army Now". I was pretty enthused when he appeared on the "Comedy Bang! Bang!" tv show. While his stuff is never serious, or even very good, I find it to be like comfort food for me. It is nice to sit back and turn my mind off and laugh at his nonsense. So when "The Court Jester" was announced, I thought it was going to be a comedy.

It is not. I read the Uproxx story and Shore said as much himself. He took this role in this short seriously. He didn't want to poke fun at Simmons. That was never his, or the filmmakers and writers intention. The Uproxx story, nicely, added a link to watch the short. Since I still had ten minutes before the store opened, I clicked the link and watched the eight minute short.

I loved it. I thought it was pretty excellent. They told a nice, heartwarming story. There is this worker for "The Ellen Show" who is a little heavy and nondescript. The short starts with a shot on this worker staring at a donut and a song plays where the only lyric is, "DONUT". He is then snapped back into reality and told to give Simmons a copy of his DVD to promote on the show. All the while people keep asking who he is, and if he is new. He tells everyone that he has worked there for seven years. He doesn't make it in time to hand over the DVD, and the people on the show are furious with him. During this time, Simmons goes on the show and does his schtick. Anyone who has the slightest clue of who Simmons is knows what I am talking about. And Pauly Shore absolutely nails every aspect of Simmons. He looks like him, he's built like him, he has the same mannerisms and voice as Simmons. He is as upbeat as I remember Simmons being. It is a pretty fantastic impersonation. Eventually Simmons runs into the worker and they have an incredible heart to heart. And Shore nails what it must have been like to have a one on one conversation with Simmons. And there is no poking fun or jokes or anything that could be perceived as cruel. Shore does Simmons as one of the nicest, most comforting people you could ever meet. It was pretty amazing to see him transform into this character.

I highly recommend checking this out. It is only eight minutes, like I said before, but it packs a punch. I was happily shocked at Shore's ability to pull it off. I'm curious if they will make a full length feature. But for now, I have "The Court Jester". And that will do just fine. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Whatever Happened to Pauly Shore

Over the weekend my wife and I watched "Encino Man". It was my weekend to pick the movie and I am still on my kick of movies that I loved as a kid. I have kind of run the gamut on sports movies from back then. We have either watched them all, or my wife has seen some that I used to adore. So "Encino Man" was more along the lines of something I cherished.

This movie does not hold up in my opinion. For an 85 minute long movie it feels long. It is too scattered. They couldn't fit every idea they may have initially wanted in the end. Brendan Frasier was good, so were some of the smaller role cast members, but all in all, "Encino Man" is not as great as it was in my child's brain.

The big reason I loved this movie, why it held so much weight for me, was Pauly Shore. When I was 10 and 11 years old there was no one funnier than Shore. I watched pretty much all of his movies. Obviously I loved "Encino Man". But I also watched "Son in Law" on almost a daily basis for a couple months. I saw "BioDome" in theaters. I may be one of the few people who actually enjoys, or enjoyed, I haven't seen it in ages, "In the Army Now". I even watched "Jury Duty" the week it came out on video at Blockbuster. I went through it all with him. He was my guy. As I got older I moved on to, what I consider, funnier, smarter comedians and actors, but Shore has always held a place for me. I simply like the dude as an actor.

After this recent "Encino Man" viewing I got to thinking, where and what has Shore been up to lately. The last time I made it a point to listen to him talk was when he was on "WTF with Marc Maron". I've always been an in and out listener to "WTF", but when Maron has someone on that I want to listen to, I make sure to download the episode. This was an eye opening interview. Shore really let it all out. He told his story. I grew to like him even more after this podcast appearance. I kind of understood why he did what he did when he did it. It all made sense to me. Then on some rewatch stuff I noticed he was in an episode of "Workaholics". He played this tortured, captured version of himself. The guys get him out and party with him, but his appearance on the show was purely fan service, and I have to imagine the "Workaholics" guys love him. This made me want to see more, or hear more from him. I have yet to see "Pauly Shore is Dead", but it is on my list. I hear it is a good movie, and Shore is more than game at poking fun of himself. He's in an Adam Sandler movie I want to see called "Sandy Wexler". I understand that movie is on Netflix forever, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. And I guess he does a good amount of voice work in animated series. So the guy stays working.

Everyone needs to remember that there was a time, mostly the early to mid 90's, where Shore was one of the biggest comedy stars in the world. He was everywhere and he was funny. He found a niche and ran with it. I would walk around my house as a kid, and I still do it now, and tell people to "not weaze the juice". I'd also call myself the "Weasel". I'd say "heeeyyyy budddyyyyy" so much that I am certain it annoyed people. This was all because of my fandom of Shore. He was my guy until I discovered "SNL". And I have found myself wondering why he was such a hit with me when I was a young kid since Friday. I think it is his brand of comedy. He appeals to kids. He says weird stuff that sounds funny and 10 and 11 year olds love it. I fully believe my son, who is 11, would think Shore is hilarious. And this is not a knock. I think if a comedian or a comedy actor can find something that works, they should run with it. Shore's comedy just happens to be juvenile, and that is totally fine.

Since watching "Encino Man" I feel like I want to go back and watch some of the movies I mentioned above. I don't think they will hold up, "Encino Man" was very bad, but who knows. Maybe it will make me relive some of my childhood memories when I watched these movies over and over again. But I do want to say, I am, and always will be, a Pauly Shore fan. He still makes me laugh. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.