Moron Movies

If I were a nicer person with, like, empathy and stuff, Moron Movies would probably make me sad. There’s nothing inherently sad about the premise – it’s a collection of independently made short-form comedy sketches. However, you could also make Auschwitz sound like summer camp in the Catskills if you refer to it as “A gathering of people of the Jewish faith.” Speaking in general terms hides the sadness that lies within. Such is the case with Moron Movies, a movie made by a Pennsylvanian housepainter named Len Cella. Let me elaborate on that. Filmed, directed, written, edited, starring, and everything else by Len Cella. There are no extras, nobody else did camera work while he acted, Len is the only willing participant in this entire film. All sketches take place in his empty home or backyard. The only other people in the whole movie are people who were driving or walking by his home in one 10-second sketch where he decided to point his camera out the window. On top of this complete isolation there’s something else immensely sad about the movie – Len Cella’s comedy. It isn’t funny… which makes this whole movie hilarious. No explanation of what you’ll see does it justice. Take 15 seconds to watch this clip and you will understand.

No, that’s not a stupid clip I took out of context. That IS Moron Movies. I could have picked “Bowling Ball Imitation” in which he dons a black-colored paper plate with three holes in it on his head and rolls around his yard. I could have picked “Cheapest Airline Seat” where he simply points the camera at a picture he made of a rocking chair on the wing of a plane. Or, I could have just shown “Jell-o Makes A Lousy Doorstop” which goes exactly how you’d picture it. This is a completely fair and representative clip.

Oddly, this is what makes Moron Movies amazing. It has an addictive quality to it where you just become overwhelmed with how insanely devoid of humor each sketch is and have to see the next one because you think to yourself “Well, clearly there cannot be anything more insane than that little nugget of crazy I just watched.” and, without fail, the next sketch will top it in every way.

On top of the humor being hilariously non-existent, attempts at humor are either darkly bitter, like where he shows his child’s crayon drawings and laments about how shitty it is, or it’s very perverted uncle, like where he assumes the role of a teacher, teaching the viewer how to spot a nice ass.

An odd side note about Moron Movies is the fact that it might be one of the more well-known movies on CinemAIDS. You may have even seen it, or parts of it, if you happen to be in your late twenties or older. It made the rounds on not one, but two big network shows at the time. It was showcased as “Silly Cinemas” on TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes with Ed McMahon and Dick Clark (the word “moron” was apparently just too harsh for prime time TV). But, the only reason it was even played on that show is because of the pull one of Len Cella’s fans – Johnny Carson. Carson played it on The Tonight Show as a recurring gag and reportedly loved it, presumably for the same reasons we love it here at CinemAIDS – it’s funny to laugh at.

The big question is “Is he completely comedically inept or is he self-aware and is just master of being so not funny that it’s funny – a king of antihumor?”