User reviews

I thought it was very funny, and (Hollywood) Brian Lynch is definitely a rising star in the film community. I can't wait to see what he has to offer for the Scary Movie series, and any other writing/directing ventures he may be involved in.

I also love his work with angrynakedpat.com (notably Patchouli), which always keeps me laughing (well, if not laughing, grinning heavily)

Did somebody, maybe me, forget to push my laugh button before ``Big Helium Dog'' began? It's a comedy, and I know people who think it's a funny one, and intellectually I can appreciate some of the stuff they're trying to do--but of course intellectual appreciation is deadly to comedy, which needs to originate at a more elemental level of the being, and arrive at the mind only after the laughter begins. On that more visceral level, I found it less a comedy than a curiosity.

The title, "Big Helium Dog", refers to expensive bad loud big budget Hollywood movies and I guess this movie is supposed to satirize those types of movies, but it feels more like a bad episode of Saturday Night Live on acid. It has an extremely low budget and unlike other more talented directors Brian Lynch cannot make it look like anything other than an extremely low budget movie. In fact, it plays like it was directed as a do-it-yourself project, following instructions that omitted a few steps, and yet the movie has some charm. Michael Ian Black is the engine that drives the movie and he does a good job at it, but he is not enough to save it from the pits of comedy hell.

There is a plot, which somehow arrives at a conclusion, but the movie doesn't tell a story so much as move from one 'skit' to another. I felt they were too busy being hip and ironic to connect at the simpler level where comedy lives. They were brought down by their own self-protective devices. It's not cool to seem to want to be funny, and so the modern strategy is to adopt the pose that you are funny by not seeming to want to be funny. The audience laughs because the performers are being hip by trying to be funny without seeming to try to be funny. Thus everybody has an irony orgy and goes home, if not satisfied, at least unexposed as unhip.

There are many unexplained mysteries in the world. The Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, crop circles... and now we have another: How did this movie ever get made? It is poorly shot, poorly acted, and poorly written.

As has unfortunately become increasingly prevalent, the writer, either out of stupidity or lack of talent, has chosen vulgarity over humor. Instead of making the viewer laugh, he makes him cringe. To make matters worse, the filmmakers also take a few pathetic potshots at the Catholic church, using crude irreverence in place of wit.

Now, it is customary in any review to at least give a brief outline of plot and character. Unfortunately that is not possible in this case. This film (which luckily is not currently available in any form) has no semblance of plot whatsoever. It is a collection of tenuously linked, poorly written comedy sketches. There have been other films, of course, written to this formula -- Kentucky Fried Movie, The Meaning of Life -- but these pictures make up for what they lack in plot with an abundance of humor. The same can not be said for Big Helium Dog.

If you were to read the other reviews written about this movie, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was one of those films that polarize opinion -- you either love it or hate it -- but this isn't the case. Without exception, all the positive reviews have been posted by the filmmaker and his friends. Don't be fooled. If this movie is ever released (unlikely), don't hand over your money.

Hmmm, I guess I should end on a positive note... hmmm... I'll get back to you...

I will admit this comedy isn't for everyone. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but based on some of the reactions already posted here, there are those who just didn't get it. If you enjoyed any of Brian Lynch's comics, you'll definitely enjoy this film, the comedy is in the same vein. So if you want to know what kind of randomness you're getting yourself into, read some of his other stuff.

Of everything that I saw at Vulgarthon, this and the ANP cartoon were the best by far, just by the sheer fact that I couldn't stop laughing. That's all you need in a comedy.

That and an audience with a sense of humor.

Okay, this movie just plain sucked. The plot was stupid, the characters were stupid, heck the whole movie was stupid. Well I didn't really watch the whole movie, I walked out on it about 30 minutes into it. Not worth wasting my life watching it; better to slowly kill myself by going outside for a smoke.

I will admit it had some funny parts, but those were very scarce. Why I let my brother drag me to the Vulgarthon to see crap like this...I will never know. Avoid this movie like the plague.

All in all I'll give it a 2/10.

This film is great. It's like a long sketch comedy. The humor pushes the limits, but is very clever and funny. I can't wait to see this film again. There were some very original ideas. The writer of this film should have a bright future in film or as a sketch comedy writer.

It may be a stupid, stupid movie. Hell, it's so stupid it makes Dude, Where's My Car? look downright erudite. But Big Helium Dog can also be very funny, depending on your sense of humor. Me, I find it very funny. Here is a test. If setting your cat on fire is funny to you or if throwing your grandma down a flight of stairs to her death is funny to you --- then you will love this movie. If you love Jesus and like Cop movies - then this will be a good one for you as well.

I love that sort of humor, the strange little non-sequitur moments that show the filmmakers weren't trying to make something that everyone would "get." I'm talking about things like the animated sequence of the Knights of the Round Table being chased by an animated beast in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, only to be saved by the animator having a heart attack. Or the giant penguin Adam Sandler hallucinated about during his lowest moments in Billy Madison. Big Helium Dog is full of moments like that; in fact, the movie is little more than a clothesline upon which moments like that hang like soiled boxers. For me, that's a cinematic treat akin to fried cheese.

So I'm sure you're wondering why, if this is such a stupid (though funny) movie, why do I want it so badly? Two reasons. One, a friend once said that 'stupid-funny' is the ultimate test of a relationship. If you could find a woman who would watch Billy Madison or Monty Python with you, from beginning to end, without rolling her eyes, then she was a keeper. A movie with that kind of power should be available on DVD, period.

Two, every other crappy movie gets a DVD release. Every single TV series gets a DVD release. So where is this DVD? It has some pretty big names in it? Michael Ian Black of the TV show `ED' is in it and Director of Clerks, Kevin Smith, also makes an appearance as do some other very recognizable people.

Sometimes the DVD gods smile on the unlikeliest of films. Helium Dog needs to somehow manage a release, even if it is bare-bones, it needs a DVD presentation.

Truly the greatest story ever told.

The performances were all great, but a few stood out, like Kevin Smith and Michael Ian Black. Every time Smith came on screen, I busted at least three guts. The camera really does love him. Black was great too, I cannot see anyone else being Huber, I do not think it would work as well as it did for him. Also, the chick who played Chastity [Natalia Cigliuti?], it was great to see at least one good thing come from Saved By The Bell: The New Class. Besides providing a continuing career for Dustin Diamond.

I loved the way it was set up structurally. Being raised on Sesame Street, my attention span only lasts about, wait, what was I talking about? But, it was truly a film for those of us with 20-second attention spans. And the method worked well. Hell, the whole damn movie worked well.

The self-awareness of the movie played perfect. Most of the time when a flick tries to talk about it self, or has a character addressing the audience, it falls flat on its face.

I loved the ending; it just kept going and going. Just when you thought it was over another scene would pop up. Some will say it is stupid, but I am one of the minority that thinks if something like that is funny the first time, it will be funny the next thousand times. Like on Letterman, some of the gags we does night after night after night, but I laughed harder each successive time.

And since everything above this probably makes little to no sense, I will give Big Helium Dog the highest praise I can give anything. I wanted to own a copy right after seeing it. So I can watch it over and over.

Keep an eye on the is Lynch fellow, his day of fame is coming.

Random juxtaposition of images and knowingly politically incorrect attitudes are not funny in themselves. Brian Lynch is talentless and I'm glad the Jim Henson Company dropped his Muppets script. This film is an atrocious waste of celluloid. The acting is pathetic, the script so self indulgent you wonder why didn't Brian Lynch just get some hand lotion and Kleenex and avoid wasting everyone else's time and the direction is....wait, WHAT direction? This is fourteen hours of my life (well, two that felt like fourteen) that I can't ever have back. I'd be more content knowing I wasted them walking around my town or sitting on my sofa. Brian Lynch does not understand comedy, he just wants to. The Cigarette Fairy? Kevin Smith as an arty director? Using big words to sound like intelligent comedy? These are not the marks of a comedic auteur. Avoid it!

I never knew a movie could be this bad. And I've seen Pauly shore movies. The movie is a total mess with absolutely no plot. The film tries to come off like Kentucky fried movie but fails in every way. There is no originality and the jokes are just forced and not funny. The film follows around some idiot who has no common sense and doesn't understand anything that goes on around him. And while it starts moving into the story there are repeated interruptions by some guy from the old television series "The State" who keeps saying he's sorry that the film is so bad. Even Kevin Smith who I'm a big fan of can't save this film, but it shows one thing. Anybody, even people with no talent, can make a film.

Remember KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE or AMAZON WOMEN FROM THE MOON? Huh? You don't? You best be playin'! For real? Well go out and rent em, homes! BIG HELIUM DOG follows a similar formula which is a loosely connected narrative that gives birth to hilarious non sequitur sketches filled with absolutely bizarre characters. Think MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL for the 90's indie film scene. Or don't, but rest assured, it's just as chaotic and random.

Granted, it's been too long of a time for me to give BIG HELIUM DOG a thorough review, but I still feel as though I can give it my highest recommendation. Rarely these days do you see comedies that don't play to a certain, bankable sensibility or that are tailored to a particular demographic. That's really the charm of films like this or AIRPLANE- it's broad absurdist nature make it enjoyable to anyone with a sense of humor, and not just a specific age group. Now, I can't remember if this would be cool to show your mom, but if she's cool like the mom on "Family Ties" then you should be all set.

As of this writing, BHD isn't available on any format. If it ever does, however, I strongly encourage you to check it out. (cue "Reading Rainbow" book review bumper music)

That's not a bad thing, but I kept missing so many lines cause I was laughing. Remember in that movie, Airplane, when there was a joke like every minute? Yea, it's like that, but not on an airplane. I loved this movie. I wish I could see it again, hopefully I will one day. I've heard rumors of a dvd release. Ok, so plot. This film has it. Charlie lost his friend Ray and is struggling to get over it. And there's Satan, making himself a media star. And there's Martin Huber, played by the rocking Michael Ian Black, in a field of cows... Can't fully explain that. There's so much great material in this movie, it's hard to really describe it without ruining some of the jokes. The opening, without any details, is by far one of the funniest openings to a film I have ever seen. Within five minutes, if you're not in pain from laughing, well then, you have no comedy heart. Matt K, the lead, turned in a wonderful performance. The guy is just plain lovable. I smell the next Robert Hayes, but with less made-for-tv credits to his name. The film also managed to have a killer soundtracks, with songs from bands such as The Vandals. This energetic music fit the frantic and fun tone of the movie. With the release of the film not set in stone, I doubt a soundtrack will ever see the light of day. But if I ever get a complete track listing, I'll be as sure as heck making my own copy and possibly a few more to sell on ebay. I haven't seen a movie quite like this one before, and I doubt I will again, unless writer/director Brian Lynch decides to film a Big Helium Dog 2. One can only hope. In the meantime, I suggest taking any chance you have to see this flick. You'll be missing out on a great one. Do it for Timmy Jax (that's a movie reference, you'd get it if you've seen Big Helium Dog, so try to and we'll all be able to laugh together).

I saw this movie at Vulgarthon 2002.

I have to say I can't agree with any of the negative reviews. It's too damn funny. It's a fun sketch comedy film about... well basically not much. The story goes off in to so many sketches it would be hard to describe all of them. Brian Lynch

should write for Saturday Night Live and bring the show back to being funny.

The movie's main star Matt Kawczynski is hilarious as Charlie. He does a great job! He has some of my favorite lines in the movie. Especially his pick up lines for women. Haha. It's great. I thought everybody deserves some kind of award

for their performances. Top Notch! I still quote that movie to this day. Hope one day Brian releases a DVD... it deserves one. If you get a chance somehow to

see this movie DON'T PASS IT UP! And don't listen to the stupid whiney dumb

reviews for it, its great!

This movie answers the age old question, "Just what is a big helium dog?" Ok, well it actually doesn't do that, but it does answer the question, "What is 89 minutes long and awesome?" And that answer is Big Helium Dog...which I suppose kind of answers the first question. Whatever, the point is I caught this movie at a festival last year, and it is some seriously funny stuff.

Basically, Big Helium Dog takes everything you think you know about comedies, straps it to a monkey and shoots it into outer space. It breaks every rule, side steps every tired cliche, flies from tangent to tangent, and somehow ties it all together in the end. The result? A kinetic, absurd, and flat out hilarious sketch comedy movie.

The writing is great. The cast is great. The naked guy from Super Troopers is great. It's rare that a movie actually dares to do its own thing. What's even more rare is when one succeeds so wildly.

I saw this movie at the 2005 Vulgarthon in LA, and dude it is one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. I might be alone here, but try to follow me, you go to a movie, everyone laughs at something thats kind of funny so you laugh too, but Big Helium Dog is like... well to me... i laughed because it was really funny, not because everyone else thought it was.

Bryan Lynch is genius. How he came up with BHD is still beyond me. I love him right now.

How anyone can give this a bad review is beyond me. I mean have you really seen it? How can it be bad? It's too funny!

I cant wait for this to come out on DVD (hopefully it will)

I will be the first person in line to get it.

This is one of the strangest movies I have ever seen... but that is not always a bad thing. One thing can definitely be said about this movie and that is originality, you've never seen, and never will see, anything else quite like it. If you go into this movie with an open mind and a light heart you will love it, as I did. It is very funny and there are scenes from it that will stick with you for awhile ("Bang, got you!"). I definitely recommend this movie to anyone with an open mind, you will love it. But if you are the kind of movie-goer who enjoys movies that stay within the set patterns of modern film-making (even those as major as not "cutting" scenes out that hold information that you seemingly need to know to "understand" the movie). This is brilliantly written (I have no idea how someone can write something this odd) and directed, and Michael Black's portrayal as the narrator is excellent.

OK, don't listen to anything brodiebruce_405 just said,(my opinion, don't report me)Big Helium Dog has truly got to be one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. The first time I saw this was at the March 28th Vulgarathon (fabulous time by the way)and now i have this EXTREME craving to see it again. I love anything politically incorrect and so of course, this movie completely filled that need to see controversial material. And the random (and hilarious)things were beautiful, for example, the cows where Micheal Ian Black was standing and extra stripper footage(mmm gotta love those strippers). All the little flukes made it all more enjoyable too. OK, so yes some of the acting was pretty terrible, but thats a little part of what made the movie good. This is a most definite must see for all View Askew fans...or just about anyone who likes a good laugh. I give big ten. :)

This movie was awesome! I also saw it for the first time @ V-thon 05 (I also had a blast) The narrator of this movie was awesome. I loved the way this movie was shot. And the guy playing Jesus was amazingly funny! Kevin Heefernan was genius in his role as the devil. I heard that the entire Broken Lizard crew was in this, but I didn't see Jay C. in it. (Thorny from Supertroopers) I heard that he was in it, but his scenes got cut. Jerks! I liked Kevin Smith in the director roll it was good times.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone. Pending a DVD release. God I hope it happens soon. I need to see this movie again!

Bryan Lynch has made a terrific film here that combines all that is great about satire, sketch comedy, and the introspective, dialogue heavy films of the 90's. Perhaps some people watch Big Helium Dog expecting just to find another Kentucky Fried Movie or Kevin Smith film, but this is a truly original film that takes bold risks and creative twists. Many times the comedy is overtly silly, in the style of Monty Python, and other times more satirical like modern American sketch comedy. The plentitude and diversity of jokes though makes for a deeply satisfying and hilarious experience. Now I only wish they would hurry up and release this on DVD.

Can't wait for the DVD. Anything with Helium and Dogs is cool, especially when they are big. And i like Cigarette Fairys. Director Brian Lynch did an amazing job with this flick. He really showed what he was made of this this movie. I found it really funny putting all of those people in his movie. Especially the greats like Kris VanCleave (who made a breathtaking performance as the Immense Gay Trucker) and Blanchard Ryan (who was simply genius in his portrayal as the beautiful dancer). If you have not seen this flick yet (which is probably likely), go get A Better Place on DVD and check out the trailer/teaser footage on the disc. You will be amazed at the cinematography deployed in this movie. And Brian Lynch (the genius behind the camera) shows how versatile he is by jumping in front of the camera.

If you like Fairys, Gay Truckers, Helium, or just Big Dogs, then you're like me, and you should check out Big Helium Dog as soon as possible.

I saw this movie, and speaking as a completely unbiased viewer, I would like to be completely DIRECT as I WRITE my review:

SHEEEEEEEEEEEEER GENIUS. Everything about this movie is better than anything you have ever seen. Period, end of discussion. Good God, it rocks harder than the hardest rock in all the land.

Brian Lynch is super cool and smells great. I'd wager.

I had been looking forward to this movie for some time now and I was not disappointed at all. I saw it at Kevin Smith's Vulgarthon 2000 and the entire audience loved it. The movie runs very much like skit comedy and stars Michael Ian Black (The State), Kevin Smith and many others. There was not one moment of non laughter in the audience and that is incredibly tough to do. It was written very well and I truly hope it can find its way to the DVD format b/c I would buy it in a second. Great job Brian Lynch! I can not think of enough good things to say about this movie but it's hard to describe it without giving away any funny parts. Words do not do this film justice.

Big Helium Dog is one of the funniest movies I've seen in the past few years. The simple story, about a guy who is trying to reconcile his feelings after the death of his best friend, is encased in a series of related, and unrelated tangents. The structure was described by the director, Bryan Lynch, as reminiscent of an episode of Sesame Street. While that is true, his comments should be expanded upon. It's Sesame Street on crack. This is a wildly funny movie that is somewhat reminiscent of "Hollywood Shuffle" in structure. When it is released, make sure to stay through the closing credits or else miss an unbelievably funny sequence that is highlighted by a great line from Gary Dell'Abate (of Howard Stern fame). I cannot wait to see this one again.