<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Jumped The Snark]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://jumpedthesnark.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[skeim01]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://jumpedthesnark.com/author/skeim01/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Out of Curiosity: &#8216;The Love&nbsp;Guru&#8217;]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignright" title="Guru Pitka" src="https://i2.wp.com/i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2008/news/0804/gallery.summer_movies/images/love_guru.jpg" alt="" width="247" height="185" />So a couple months back I was adding some items to the Netflix queue and on a lark I decided to include <a href="http://www.lovegurumovie.com/site/index.html" target="_blank"><em>The Love Guru</em></a>, just out of sheer curiosity.  I never thought it&#8217;d actually come though, I assumed we&#8217;d keep bumping other more important things up to the top.  But then lo and behold one day the mail arrived and my roommate exclaimed &#8220;Guess what came?!&#8221;  Immediately I was overcome with a sense of immense guilt.  Yep, <em>The Love Guru</em>.  Still, even then, I was skeptical that I&#8217;d ever watch it.</p>
<p>But then I decided to give it a go, just to find how bad it might be.  And at a crisp 87 minutes, at least it&#8217;ll be quick and maybe not painless.  And then I thought, why not blog about it?  So here we go.</p>
<p><!--more  I watched it so you don't have to! Read on....--></p>
<ul>
<li>As I wrote the preceding paragraph the DVD menu loaded and I&#8217;ve heard the same grating Indian song probably 15 times now.  Not a good start.   At least this is Blu-Ray.  The stereotypes will be extra sharp!</li>
<li>Opening titles:  Well, there&#8217;s that song again.  Enough already.</li>
<li>00:45 &#8211; First appearance of the traditional Mike Meyers &#8220;Oh, hi, I didn&#8217;t see you there,&#8221; face.   See: Wayne&#8217;s World.</li>
<li>01:51 &#8211; Stephen Colbert as a hockey announcer.  Reminds me that I first had reservations about this movie when the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVdD0ZxPq_g" target="_blank">trailer</a> seemed to feature more funny moments from Colbert than Myers.  Oh, well, I guess I had concerns way before that.  Probably when I first heard Myers was combing an Indian Guru and Hockey.  How did it take so long for this dream combination?  So obvious!</li>
<li>03:25 &#8211; Justin Timberlake.  Oh, well, not even this movie could hurt his stock.</li>
<li>03:45 &#8211; At least Verne Troyer can look forward to a career in Mike Myers movies.</li>
<li>05:20 &#8211; 1st musical number: Indian tinged version of &#8220;9 to 5.&#8221;  Very reminiscent of the dance scene early on in the first<em> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmsi-QnDesw" target="_blank">Austin Powers</a>.</em></li>
<li>07:30 &#8211; Ah, the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002127/" target="_blank">Mariska Hargitay</a> joke.  Really?</li>
<li>07:50 &#8211; Hey, <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-october-26-2009/ecce-no-homo" target="_blank">John Oliver</a>!</li>
<li>08:50 &#8211; So far the movie has referenced Britney, Paris, Lindsey, Brad and Angelina.  Doesn&#8217;t realize that just name-dropping celebrities isn&#8217;t funny?  Oh, right.  Obviously not.</li>
<li>09:50 &#8211; Ugh, flashback scene in which they&#8217;ve CGI&#8217;d Myer&#8217;s face on a teenage boy&#8217;s body.  Just as creepy as it was in the trailer.</li>
<li>11:00 &#8211; Wonder if going cross-eyed is Ben Kingsley&#8217;s secret talent.</li>
<li>13:20 &#8211; Electric Company spoof.  You know, for the kids.</li>
<li>14:00 &#8211; &#8220;Guru Hathasmalvena&#8221; &#8211; Basically still riffing on &#8220;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXMF11zr1rk" target="_blank">Alotta Fagina</a>&#8220;</li>
<li>15:30 &#8211; Booger joke.</li>
<li>15:50 &#8211; Jessica Simpson joke.  Featuring Jessica Simpson.</li>
<li>16:10 &#8211; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bqt2Xhwg1g" target="_blank">Val Kilmer </a>cameo.  Sadly, I fear this will be the highlight.</li>
<li>16:35 &#8211; And Mariska Hargitay cameo!  Cause they use her name as a greeting.  Get it?!  Cause I don&#8217;t.</li>
<li>17:52 &#8211; I feel like this character is Austin Powers disguised with a wig, a beard, a prosthetic nose, and a sorta Indian accent.  I guess because that&#8217;s really what it is.</li>
<li>18:30 &#8211; Basically ripped off the &#8220;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvxe04wGmTw" target="_blank">mole</a>&#8221; jokes from Austin Powers.</li>
<li>19:20 &#8211; Oprah cameo.  This movie must be setting a record for cameos.  It&#8217;s already been like a whole season of <em>Will &amp; Grace</em> condensed into 20 minutes.</li>
<li>19:40 &#8211; Main character and his potential love interest on a plane.  I bet this was about the same point in which Austin Powers and Elizabeth Hurley were on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmLntuKis7E" target="_blank">Austin&#8217;s jumbo jet</a> in the first movie.  Maybe that&#8217;s a screenwriting tip I don&#8217;t know about.</li>
<li>23:00 &#8211; Oh, he&#8217;s going to keep traveling via a motorized pillow.</li>
<li>24:30 &#8211; Zamboni driver gets hit the face.  Twice!  LOL!  ROFL!</li>
<li>25:25 &#8211; Justin Timberlake&#8217;s character has a giant penis  Got it.</li>
<li>26:00 &#8211; Guru Pitka attacked by a rooster.  At least it wasn&#8217;t Verne Troyer again.</li>
<li>27:16 &#8211; Oh, close up on the crotch.  Seriously, we got.  Huge dick.</li>
<li>28:30 &#8211; I think if I was 13 I&#8217;d find this hilarious.</li>
<li>28:55 &#8211; Maybe I&#8217;d need to be 11.</li>
<li>29:05 &#8211; 8.</li>
<li>32:00 &#8211; Depends product placement?</li>
<li>32:30 &#8211; More toilet humor.  On a roll!</li>
<li>33:50 &#8211; Okay, I&#8217;m just going to say it, it&#8217;s weird enough to combine eastern philosophy and hockey, but Mike Myers, as an avid hockey fan, knows that there aren&#8217;t many Black stars in the NHL.</li>
<li>35:30 &#8211; Hockey montage.  Set to &#8220;Song 2.&#8221;  They really couldn&#8217;t find any song from this decade?</li>
<li>36:30 &#8211; Apparently Altoids is a sponsor of this movie.</li>
<li>37:40 &#8211; Referees don&#8217;t handout suspensions in the NHL!  This movie just lost all basis in reality.  I was totally with it up until now.</li>
<li>38:45 &#8211; Pitka holds Verne Troyer like an Oscar!  LMFAO!</li>
<li>39:00 &#8211; Troyer&#8217;s is office is on the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yoef73qh5Us" target="_blank">7 1/2 floor</a>, evidently.</li>
<li>40:00 &#8211; I probably shouldn&#8217;t complain about this, but I&#8217;m not so sure Guru Pitka&#8217;s teachings are very effective.</li>
<li>41:07 &#8211; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_SeaI2ALg4&amp;feature=related" target="_blank">&#8220;Bohemian Rhapsody</a>&#8221; callback!</li>
<li>41:30 &#8211; &#8220;Did you know a Dick Whithers at 85?&#8230;Well it does.&#8221;  Classic.</li>
<li>42:00 &#8211; Telma Hopkins as the no-nonsense, withholding mother.  Makes me wish I was watching <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORKyyHBy6JQ&amp;feature=PlayList&amp;p=637E3B82637E3AF2&amp;playnext=1&amp;playnext_from=PL&amp;index=92" target="_blank"><em>Bosom Buddies</em></a>.  Or at least<em> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP6MwkrJVwg" target="_blank">Family Matters</a></em>.</li>
<li>44:00 &#8211; Diarrhea noises.  Seriously.</li>
<li>44:30 &#8211; Ballgazing.  Maybe I needed to be in a frat to get this.</li>
<li>45: 10 &#8211; <a href="http://twitter.com/robhuebel" target="_blank">Rob Huebel</a>!  And Tosh.0?</li>
<li>45:20 &#8211; It&#8217;s sad how much legitimate comic talent is wasted  in this movie.</li>
<li>46:30- Bar fight.  Pitka smacked around by little girls.  Moving on.</li>
<li>47:36 &#8211; Apparently Roanoke (Romany Malco) has to confront his mother in order to change and win back both his wife and the Stanley Cup.  Still don&#8217;t understand why.</li>
<li>48:20 &#8211; Hand job joke.</li>
<li>49:10 &#8211; In a vacuum I&#8217;d probably find this interpretation of &#8220;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nJnZJcfCBQ" target="_blank">More Than Words</a>&#8221; pretty entertaining.</li>
<li>50:50 &#8211; Is that guy supposed to be Pitka&#8217;s roadie?  Or a PA breaking the fourth wall?  Can&#8217;t tell.</li>
<li>51:50 &#8211; Scrotum jokes.</li>
<li>52:30 &#8211; Still making scrotum jokes.  And a penis joke.</li>
<li>52:45 &#8211; &#8220;Snappy&#8230;because alligators are snappy and at the same time I want it prompt.&#8221;  I get it.  It&#8217;s a homonym.  Are you sure this isn&#8217;t an Austin Power&#8217;s sequel?</li>
<li>54:10 &#8211; Stephen Colbert, doing yeoman&#8217;s work.</li>
<li>54:40 &#8211; Bangkok joke.  Troyer bangs the Guru&#8217;s kok.  Ha.</li>
<li>55:30 &#8211; Still don&#8217;t understand why Roanoke needs to confront his mother.</li>
<li>55:45 &#8211; Well, you have to give credit to JT for really committing to the role.  Too bad he couldn&#8217;t have just <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/72440/saturday-night-live-timberlake-monologue#s-p1-st-i1" target="_blank">hosted <em>SNL</em></a> instead.</li>
<li>57:30 &#8211; Oh, he can&#8217;t play hockey in front of his mother.  But don&#8217;t understand why this is a problem as she never came to his games before.</li>
<li>59:40 &#8211; These fake NHL game graphics are actually kinda amusing.  A Kings logo pumping bullets into the Maple Leaf, maybe NBC should use that this season.   A nice call back to the old <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljDf2him23I" target="_blank">Fox Robots</a>.</li>
<li>1:00:45 &#8211; &#8220;<a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xui49_cornershop-brimful-of-asha_music" target="_blank">Brimful of Asha</a>&#8221; by Cornershop.&#8221;  Oh yeah, I remember this song.  Always hated it.</li>
<li>1:01:45 &#8211; Penis joke.</li>
<li>1:02:00 &#8211; Verne Troyer is a midget joke.</li>
<li>1:03:00 &#8211; Could have used a few more Daily Show correspondents, past or present.  Ah, who am I kidding, that wouldn&#8217;t have helped.</li>
<li>01:04:50 &#8211; Looks like that&#8217;s the end for Colbert.  That&#8217;s a shame.  Lost the best part of the movie and still 20 min left.</li>
<li>1:05:15 &#8211; Why is game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals being played during the day?  Do your research!</li>
<li>1:07:15 &#8211; Motorized pillow returns!  About time!</li>
<li>1:07:30 &#8211; Dell Customer Service joke.  Perhaps my favorite moment so far.</li>
<li>1:10:00 &#8211; The last three minutes have kinda been okay!</li>
<li>1:10:15 &#8211; I bet Jessica Alba is nice in real life.</li>
<li>1:10:30 &#8211; And then a &#8220;wee wee&#8221; joke ruins it.</li>
<li>1:11:00 &#8211; Rob Blake doesn&#8217;t play center.  The hockey inaccuracies are appalling.  Myers should have known American audiences wouldn&#8217;t tolerate that.</li>
<li>1:13:30 &#8211; Verne Troyer is tiny.  Check.</li>
<li>1:14:30 &#8211; Elephant sex.  Srsly.</li>
<li>1:14:40 &#8211; Colbert returns.  But even he can&#8217;t save this.</li>
<li>1:16:15 &#8211; Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup!  Only in a movie.  Ha, take that <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=291024022" target="_blank">Leafs </a>fans!</li>
<li>1:162:20 &#8211; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO1j77mo6Vc" target="_blank">Mike Myers and Kanye West</a> cameo.  This movie just folded in on itself.</li>
<li>1:16:50 &#8211; And there we go, Deepak Chopra.  Only 10 minutes left, will be there be any more cameos???</li>
<li>1:17:30 &#8211; Verne Troyer is a Keebler Elf.  They just keep &#8217;em coming.</li>
<li>1:18:10 &#8211; I wonder if they&#8217;re going to do the<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O52pmTrkUPc&amp;feature=related" target="_blank"> Mega Happy Ending</a>.</li>
<li>1:19:05 &#8211; And goodbye Ben Kingsley.</li>
<li>1:19:20 &#8211; You know what this movie was missing?  <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZFOO28MhF8" target="_blank">A Bollywood rendition of &#8220;The Joker.&#8221;</a> Oh, wait, here it is.  Whew.  And for a second it seemed like he was going to nail Jessica Alba.  Crisis averted.</li>
<li>1:20:45 &#8211; Still going.</li>
<li>1:21:05 &#8211; Oh.  The end.  That&#8217;s it.  It&#8217;s sad that I was kinda hoping for more at the end.</li>
<li>01:21:20 &#8211; Outtakes?  Wait, the whole thing wasn&#8217;t an outtake?</li>
<li>01:21:40 &#8211; Oh, it was just one outtake.  And just an improvised Verne Troyer is small joke.  At least in this instance it was Troyer making the joke.</li>
<li>01:22:35 &#8211; Going to watch all these credits.  The movie could still redeem itself, you never know.</li>
<li>1:23:35 &#8211; Craft Service by Star Grazing.   And I thought the zings were over.</li>
<li>1:24:59 &#8211; Oh, you can bet I&#8217;m going to pick up the soundtrack.</li>
<li>1:25:20 &#8211; Well, maybe I&#8217;ll just download it on iTunes.  Not sure if I can wait to go to the store.</li>
<li>1:26:40 &#8211; &#8220;This motion picture is inspired, in part, by real people, institutions and events.&#8221;  Really?  Do the three <em>Austin Powers</em> movies count as real people, institutions or events?</li>
<li>And it&#8217;s officially over.  Not even a tease for the sequel!  What a gyp!  Totally had me until then.</li>
<li>Ah, still can&#8217;t stand this song under the menu.</li>
</ul>
<p>Let&#8217;s, just to be masochistic, take a look at the special features.</p>
<ul>
<li>What&#8217;s the difference between a blooper and an outtake?</li>
<li>A featurette on how they made the hockey scenes look authentic.  Or tried to.  But if they really wanted it to seem authentic they wouldn&#8217;t have let the Leafs win the cup.  Ha!  Piling on the Maple Leafs for no real reason is way more fun than watching this movie.</li>
<li>You know, they did do a pretty good job with the hockey scenes.  Kinda wish they just cut out all the Guru Pitka scenes.  Then they would have had a real film on their hands.</li>
<li>I will not be watching Deleted and Extended Scenes.  My sense of wonder does have its limit.</li>
<li>Okay, Bloopers are flubs and sneezes and nonsense words, and Outtakes are jokes that didn&#8217;t make the cut  But then what are the Deleted and Extended Scenes?  So confused!</li>
<li> &#8220;Mike Myers and the Love Guru: An Inside Look.&#8221;  Do I want more of this.  Well, sorta.  I feel like I&#8217;m owed some kind of explanation.</li>
<li>Alright, well that was 87 minutes (+ bonus features) of my life that I&#8217;ll never get back.</li>
<li>That all being said, still holding out hope for <em>Wayne&#8217;s World 3</em>.  Or at least a <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/19309/saturday-night-live-simon" target="_blank">Simon</a> movie.</li>
</ul>
<p>Final thoughts:</p>
<p><em>Wayne&#8217;s World</em> is still one of my all-time favorite movies, one I continue to quote often, and despite my increasing distaste with the <em>Austin Powers </em>franchise with each subsequent installment, I still cherish the first one (in fact, I think I originally saw it in the theater twice in three days).  However, for the past ten years Mike Myers has been disappointing me.  Not counting <em>The Cat in the Hat</em> or his voice work in <em>Shrek</em>, <em>Guru</em> is really the first Mike Myers movie since <em>Goldmember</em>, but really, it&#8217;s just a variation on a theme, the exact sensibility that ruined the last two Powers films.  Outside of a <a href="http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/buzz-log-mike-myers-basterds.html" target="_blank">surprisingly good cameo</a> in<em> Inglourious Basterds</em>, Myers hasn&#8217;t really impressed since the original <em>Austin Powers</em>, all the way back in 1997.  After portraying all these characters I think it&#8217;s time for Myers to step out from behind the fats suits and the makeup and do something a little less broad, something a little more real like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmFVeeLL01c" target="_blank"><em>So I Married An Murderer</em></a>.  He needs to throw out the Austin Powers playbook and lose the disguises, or else he&#8217;s going to end up in <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/norbit/" target="_blank"><em>Norbit</em></a>-land.  Much like I still hold out hope that one day Weezer will return to the glory of <em>The Blue Album</em> and <em>Pinkerton,</em> I maintain an affection for Mike Myers, and hope to one day once again laugh with him and not at him (although with <em>The Love Guru</em> it was less laughing at the movie and more frustrated head shaking).  I&#8217;m still crossing my fingers for a Mega-Happy Ending.</p>
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