​'Trey didn't have a car': 'Airplane!' director David Zucker on humble origins of 'South Park' empire



The creators of "South Park" didn't always know it would become a hit — let alone one of the longest-running shows in the history of television.

Just ask Hollywood veteran David Zucker, who hired Trey Parker and Matt Stone shortly before the duo — and the foul-mouthed kids they created — became household names.

'They were also unsure of if "South Park" would ever work.'

Zucker — who directed seminal spoof comedy "Airplane!" along with his brother Jerry and the late Jim Abrahams — recalled that when he first met the University of Colorado grads in the mid-1990s, they were still very much struggling filmmakers.

Ride share

"They came to my office and I met with these guys, and Trey didn't have a car," Zucker said.

Despite their precarious finances, the duo already had a feature film under their belt — 1993's "Cannibal! The Musical" — as well as animated short "The Spirit of Christmas," which would soon land them a deal for "South Park."

Impressed with their talents, Zucker hired Parker and Stone to do a video for Universal executives commemorating the studio's recent purchase by Canadian beverage giant Seagram.

The duo turned in "Your Studio and You," a side-splitting send-up of 1950s industrial videos crammed with cameos by the likes of Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, and Michael J. Fox.

Hedging their bets

Zucker remembered the young newcomers in 1997 when casting the leads for his longtime passion project, "BASEketball." By then Parker and Stone had made a second film, "Orgazmo," a comedy about a Mormon missionary (Parker) turned porn star turned superhero. With a $25 million budget and major studio backing, Zucker's project represented a major step up.

And while the two were then deep in production on the show that would launch their careers, they assumed it would die a quick death once it aired. So they agreed to star in "BASEketball."

"They were also unsure of if 'South Park' would ever work," said Zucker. "This was a hedge against, you know, Trey having to get his car fixed."

Upon premiering in August 1997, "South Park" was an instant hit, requiring Parker and Stone to shoot "BASEketball" while simultaneously maintaining their grueling TV schedule.

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Rookie year

While Zucker had already written a script for "BASEketball" — inspired by an actual sport he and some friends "invented on my driveway" during the 1980s — he relied on his Gen X collaborators to punch it up for the younger "South Park" fan base.

"They probably wrote about a third of it, and you know, a lot of that stuff, because I didn't know what kind of language went on between ... 20-somethings," Zucker explained. Both the actors were in their late 20s at the time.

One of Parker and Stone's most significant additions to the script was helping with the "psych-outs" — tasteless insults "baseketball" players hurl at an opponent in hopes of making him miss a shot.

All-star lineup

Such tactics were never used by the real-life players, whom Zucker described as "all these guys who later became, you know, heads of studios and heads of agencies" — a roster including director Peter Farrelly ("There's Something About Mary" and "Dumb and Dumber"), former CAA head David "Doc" O'Connor, and former Fox Television Group chair Gary Newman.

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1998: "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone star in the movie "BASEketball." Getty Images

Zucker noted that he is emphasizing the "psych-out" element in a new "BASEketball" pitch: a reality show featuring teams of comedians playing the sport while tearing each other down.

As for his old "BASEketball" buddies, Zucker said he recently visited their office to get a 10-minute preview of their new movie, "Whitney Springs," a live-action comedy musical starring rapper Kendrick Lamar as a black man working as a slave re-enactor at a living history museum who discovers his white girlfriend's ancestors "owned" his ancestors.

"They showed me 10 minutes of it, and it looks great," said Zucker.

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'Alien' director Ridley Scott trashes modern movies: 'Most of it is s**t'



Veteran director Ridley Scott didn't mince words when asked to describe the state of modern filmmaking. In fact, he needed just four letters: "s**t."

The ornery 87-year-old — the force behind iconic movies like "Alien," "Black Hawk Down," and "Gladiator" — brought down the hammer of justice during a public Q and A with his son Luke in London this week.

'I think a lot of films today are saved and made more expensive by digital effects, because what they haven't got is a great thing on paper first. Get it on paper.'

"Well, right now I'm finding mediocrity, we're drowning in mediocrity," he responded when asked about his own moviegoing habits, according to Yahoo.

Smurfy's law

Pretentious? Maybe, but it becomes more understandable if you consider the recent crop of multiplex mistakes foisted on the public, suggested the Guardian. The newspaper cited the recent "Smurfs" movie as well as the widely criticized live-action "Snow White" remake — which used "CGI dwarves [that] looked like semi-melted CGI gonks" — as evidence for the prosecution.

Director Ridley Scott on the set of the movie 'Alien,' 1979. Photo by Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty Images

During the sit-down at the British Film Institute Southbank, Scott said that this mediocrity prevails despite more movies being made than ever.

"The quantity of movies that are made today, literally globally, millions. There's not thousands, there's millions, and most of it is s**t," he declared.

Numbers game

The "Blade Runner" director then shared the math behind that determination.

"Eighty to 60% eh, 40% is the rest, and 25% of that 40 is not bad, and 10% is pretty good, and the top 5% is great," he explained, as if writing on a chalkboard. "I'm not sure about the portion of what I've just said, but in the 1940s, when there were perhaps 300 movies made, 70% of them were similar, for example."

Harrison Ford and Ridley Scott on the set of 'Blade Runner.' Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

Man in the mirror

Still, there is at least one talented director still working today, affirmed Sir Scott.

"So what I do, and it's a horrible thing, but I've started to watch my own movies, and actually they're really good. And also, they don't age."

Scott continued his rave review, admitting that he was shocked by the quality of his own work.

"I watched 'Black Hawk [Down]' the other night, and I thought, 'How the hell did I do that?' But I think that occasionally there's a good one that will happen, it’s like a relief that there's somebody out there who's doing a good movie."

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Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

Scott then turned to a trend currently irritating moviegoers of all ages: directors attempting to save bad scripts with excessive CGI.

"I think a lot of films today are saved and made more expensive by digital effects, because what they haven't got is a great thing on paper first. Get it on paper," he said.

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'Hood' rich

Not everyone is ready to embrace this curmudgeonly view — even coming from a legend like Scott.

While Scott makes "a few" good points, his rant is "really rich coming from the director of 'Robin Hood,'" entertainment writer Natasha Biase told Align.

"He must have amnesia about some of his own movies," the writer added.

As for Hollywood, it seems to have forgotten how to get butts in seats.

A decrease in movie quality seems to be at least part of the reason about half the amount of tickets were sold in 2024 compared to 2004.

Scott told the audience that his favorite meal is yogurt and blueberries, because he "got over food years ago."

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'Triumph of the Heart': An unflinching depiction of what it means to follow Christ



The current landscape of Christian cinema is more desert than garden. Too many films settle for pandering and saccharine depictions of the faith, as if doing the bare minimum to attract what they assume is a captive audience. Meanwhile, moviegoers thirst for stories that challenge them with reality of the Christian life.

With the success of "Sound of Freedom," "The Shift," and "Cabrini," Angel Studios has shown that viewers will show up for more nuanced, high-quality fare, but most "faith-based" films still seem content to take as little risk as possible.

As Kolbe, Marcin Kwaśny embodies an ordinary man who makes the extraordinary decision to pick up his cross and follow Christ, whatever the consequences.

This was all in my mind as I attended the premiere of "Triumph of the Heart." I wasn't sure what to expect; word of mouth has been strong, but would it live up to the hype? I'm happy to answer that question with a resounding yes.

Greater love hath no man ...

"Triumph of the Heart" tells the incredible true story of the Polish Catholic priest and newspaper publisher who would become Saint Maximilian Kolbe (Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1982). Arrested and sent to Auschwitz in 1941, Kolbe volunteers to take the place of a prisoner condemned along with nine others to die in the camp's starvation cell.

As the men cope with despair, starvation, and ideological division, Kolbe's humanity and their shared Polish identity forge a brotherhood that allows them to face down evil and die with honor.

A humble saint

Not since Paul Roland’s "Exemplum" have I seen such a truthful and realistic depiction of Catholicism. These characters are far from perfect, and that includes Kolbe himself. He smokes, he has regrets, he makes mistakes. But he’s also relentlessly hopeful, courageous, and brave in his faith in Jesus Christ, which empowers him to be a source of light for his fellow cellmates who struggle to maintain their dignity.

This is no sanitized depiction of sainthood. As Kolbe, Marcin Kwaśny embodies an ordinary man who makes the extraordinary decision to pick up his cross and follow Christ, whatever the consequences.

Sherwood Fellows

The weight of despair

The actors playing the other prisoners are equally astounding, making you feel the weight of their despair and claustrophobia in the confinement of the hellish, one-window bunker.

Especially impressive is Rowan Polonski’s Albert, who gets the film’s central arc. As he mourns the life with his wife that he passed up to fight in the war, he struggles to accept the inevitability of death and resist the temptation of suicide. It's a dark but layered portrayal of suffering that took me aback like nothing I've ever seen in a Christian film.

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Keystone-France/Getty Images

As camp commandant Karl Fritzsch, the man who condemns the prisoners to death, Christopher Sherwood makes a chilling antagonist. But the more deadly foe is Satan himself. He never shows up, except for some artistic shots of a snake peppered throughout the third act, but his presence is tangible as the heroes grapple with despair. All of which makes Kolbe's admonition to “finish the race” (as seen in the movie's trailer) ring with such emotional power as they reject Satan and embrace the hard way out.

Trusting in God

Writer/director Anthony D'Ambrosio has created a deeply Catholic film. That D'Ambrosio himself struggled with anxiety and insomnia while bringing this story to life comes as no surprise; this is a movie that exudes the painful uncertainty that comes with trusting in God's plan.

"Triumph of the Heart" is also a triumph for Christian/Catholic cinema, a profoundly moving examination of the suffering that often accompanies the pursuit of holiness. I can only hope its example inspires other filmmakers to bring the full richness of the Christian faith to the big screen; the possibilities are endless. For now, go see "Triumph of the Heart." The hype is real.

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Trump's tariff blitz targets foreign films to save Hollywood's struggling movie industry



President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the United States is moving to impose a hefty tariff on foreign flicks to save the nation's struggling film industry.

Trump stated in a post on Truth Social that he had authorized the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative "to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands."

'The key concern, of course, will be how this might affect U.S. movie sales around the world.'

"The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated," Trump wrote. "This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat."

He argued that the foreign films pushed "propaganda."

"WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!" Trump declared.

The president told reporters that "Hollywood is being destroyed." He, in part, blamed "grossly incompetent" California Governor Gavin Newsom (D).

"Other nations have been stealing the moviemaking capabilities from the United States," he stated. "If they're not willing to make a movie inside the United States, then we should have a tariff on movies that come in."

In response to Trump's tariff announcement, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick confirmed that the administration is "on it."

In January, Trump named actors Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, and Jon Voight Hollywood's "special ambassadors," tasked with bringing filmmaking back to the U.S.

"They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK — BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE! These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!" Trump stated.

At the time of Trump's announcement, Gibson told Variety, "I got the tweet at the same time as all of you and was just as surprised. Nevertheless, I heed the call. My duty as a citizen is to give any help and insight I can."

A Friday report from Deadline stated that Voight has been meeting with union representatives and studio executives to better understand Hollywood's challenges.

In April, Voight's manager, Steven Paul, told NBC News that Voight planned to soon present Trump with a list of ideas to revive the nation's movie industry. Those proposals reportedly include incentives for infrastructure investments, job training, and tax code alterations.

According to Politico, state Sen. Ben Allen (D) and "a person close to the White House" have attributed the foreign film tariffs to Voight.

Allen told the news outlet, "To be honest, at first blush I generally see this as a positive development. Unlike a lot of the other items on Trump's tariffs list, we know that TV and movies can be made 100% in the USA right now and at a very high caliber."

"The key concern, of course, will be how this might affect U.S. movie sales around the world," he added.

A rep for Voight did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Rolling Stone.

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