I can hardly articulate how important this movie was to me as a kid. I probably watched it dozens of times. This along with Super Mario Bros. 3 and They Might Be Giants’ Flood is essentially my childhood
My dad and I bonded over this movie when he took me to the theater to see it when I was seven years old. From that day and for the next twenty-seven years until his passing, any time we came across something particularly disgusting, one of us would do the “Ewwwwwww” face. Also, Eggs Erroneous came up more often in our home than it probably did in any other home in America.
Perfect words for the national mood of anyone with an IQ above room temperature. We're all scared underneath, but we have to just bucker up and keep moving forward. Real courage isn't not being afraid, it's doing what needs to be done, in this case just continuing to move forward, in spite of your fears.
I remember seeing the teaser trailer for “Ernest Goes to Camp” and thought it made for an interesting short film but it didn’t do a thing in selling the movie.
I went to school for 7th and 8th grades at a private school down the road, "spittin' distance" as locals there might say, from the campground where some of this was filmed in eastern Tennessee, at Montgomery Bell State Park.
I totally recognized the place when I saw the film a couple years later. My family had moved north to Lexington, Kentucky, coincidentally where Jim Varney is from. I spot familiar landmarks much to the amusement of my coworker while we watched through the film after hours at the Loews theater to make sure the reels were assembled correctly before the film had it's Friday grand opening. I'd been a fan of the Earnest commercials, so I was more excited about this goofy connection than maybe I needed to be, as up until then I thought everything made in the U.S. was filmed in LA or NYC. I had a lot to learn. Seeing something on the big screen filmed in a place I used to roam around on occasion felt electric, and even though I've been in Vancouver B.C. for over twenty years now, I still have that giddy reaction to seeing local landmarks, bridges, woods, skylines, or shorelines in a film or TV show. But I digress.
A couple years after Earnest had gone to Camp, while I worked as a cook at Charlie Brown's restaurant during my freshman year of college at the University of Kentucky, Jim Varney rolled in sporting a suit jacket and a Jon Water's style mustache and sat at the bar to get a bite. I managed to cook him up a chicken burger without making him sick, so I'd call that a win. I didn't have the balls to ask for an autograph, though he called me out from the brick sweatbox alcove where I grilled meat paddies there behind the bar to tell me the grub'd been tasty. I glowed over regaling that anecdote to all my friends and acquaintances for a good while after, and yet again here now.
I'm a nostalgic fan of the film for the actor, the character as a brand, the location despite that bible thumping, money laundering academy, and the time I managed to not give a comedic thespian food poisoning.
I love the Armond White name-check, followed by you parodying White by using a movie you like as a club to beat a totally unrelated film/filmmaker you don't like.
"I was shocked and disgusted to discover that 1987’s Ernest Goes to Camp is not available legally through streaming in God’s own United States."
This is indeed disturbing news. I jumped on the chance to buy an Ernest DVD Triple Feature at a reasonable price, someone must have screwed up with that listing!
Further research suggests that:
1) it's not available for streaming
2) the Blu-Ray versions are surprisingly expensive [but still in print]
3) the DVD versions are not all that hard to come by
DVD? Does anybody still watch that format? It's so grainy!
Except ... I was willing to buy it on VHS, if that was the only option ... so I'm good.
I hope you are wrong, but I fear that you aren't far from the truth. I'm going to play the optimist and trust that at least 2 more of them will prove to be "entertaining enough" for my tastes.
But did you spend all day in your underwear watching this movie? Did you sit and count your hair and burp your Tupperware because you're not busy now anyway?
I cannot stress how important Varney singing "I sure am glad it's raining, so they can't see the tears in my eyes" was to the development of my musical taste.
“I don’t want to sound like Armond White writing about Adam Sandler but Jim Varney is the only true genius our country has ever produced.”
Oh, yeah, this is the good shit right here! Just put it in my veins!
I can hardly articulate how important this movie was to me as a kid. I probably watched it dozens of times. This along with Super Mario Bros. 3 and They Might Be Giants’ Flood is essentially my childhood
I bet we could have a drink and get along
My dad and I bonded over this movie when he took me to the theater to see it when I was seven years old. From that day and for the next twenty-seven years until his passing, any time we came across something particularly disgusting, one of us would do the “Ewwwwwww” face. Also, Eggs Erroneous came up more often in our home than it probably did in any other home in America.
From this movie:
"I'm scared, Sarge!"
"We're all scared, son."
Perfect words for the national mood of anyone with an IQ above room temperature. We're all scared underneath, but we have to just bucker up and keep moving forward. Real courage isn't not being afraid, it's doing what needs to be done, in this case just continuing to move forward, in spite of your fears.
I remember seeing the teaser trailer for “Ernest Goes to Camp” and thought it made for an interesting short film but it didn’t do a thing in selling the movie.
I went to school for 7th and 8th grades at a private school down the road, "spittin' distance" as locals there might say, from the campground where some of this was filmed in eastern Tennessee, at Montgomery Bell State Park.
I totally recognized the place when I saw the film a couple years later. My family had moved north to Lexington, Kentucky, coincidentally where Jim Varney is from. I spot familiar landmarks much to the amusement of my coworker while we watched through the film after hours at the Loews theater to make sure the reels were assembled correctly before the film had it's Friday grand opening. I'd been a fan of the Earnest commercials, so I was more excited about this goofy connection than maybe I needed to be, as up until then I thought everything made in the U.S. was filmed in LA or NYC. I had a lot to learn. Seeing something on the big screen filmed in a place I used to roam around on occasion felt electric, and even though I've been in Vancouver B.C. for over twenty years now, I still have that giddy reaction to seeing local landmarks, bridges, woods, skylines, or shorelines in a film or TV show. But I digress.
A couple years after Earnest had gone to Camp, while I worked as a cook at Charlie Brown's restaurant during my freshman year of college at the University of Kentucky, Jim Varney rolled in sporting a suit jacket and a Jon Water's style mustache and sat at the bar to get a bite. I managed to cook him up a chicken burger without making him sick, so I'd call that a win. I didn't have the balls to ask for an autograph, though he called me out from the brick sweatbox alcove where I grilled meat paddies there behind the bar to tell me the grub'd been tasty. I glowed over regaling that anecdote to all my friends and acquaintances for a good while after, and yet again here now.
I'm a nostalgic fan of the film for the actor, the character as a brand, the location despite that bible thumping, money laundering academy, and the time I managed to not give a comedic thespian food poisoning.
Also, this clip of Varney meeting Williams is a hoot: https://youtu.be/O1qsluCGP6E?si=gOtF-A-1E3hJ6Qv4
I love the Armond White name-check, followed by you parodying White by using a movie you like as a club to beat a totally unrelated film/filmmaker you don't like.
"I was shocked and disgusted to discover that 1987’s Ernest Goes to Camp is not available legally through streaming in God’s own United States."
This is indeed disturbing news. I jumped on the chance to buy an Ernest DVD Triple Feature at a reasonable price, someone must have screwed up with that listing!
Further research suggests that:
1) it's not available for streaming
2) the Blu-Ray versions are surprisingly expensive [but still in print]
3) the DVD versions are not all that hard to come by
DVD? Does anybody still watch that format? It's so grainy!
Except ... I was willing to buy it on VHS, if that was the only option ... so I'm good.
Looking forward to the rest of this series.
This really is a great movie. Don't bother reviewing the next 9. They get progressively terrible.
I hope you are wrong, but I fear that you aren't far from the truth. I'm going to play the optimist and trust that at least 2 more of them will prove to be "entertaining enough" for my tastes.
But did you spend all day in your underwear watching this movie? Did you sit and count your hair and burp your Tupperware because you're not busy now anyway?
I cannot stress how important Varney singing "I sure am glad it's raining, so they can't see the tears in my eyes" was to the development of my musical taste.