Rogue Cinema - 42 Story House (2007)

42 Story House (2007) - By Brian Morton
Posted on Sunday, July 01 @ Mountain Daylight Time by Duane

One guy, one house and one camera, that's the criteria set on Todd W. Langen for the new movie, 42 Story House. Now, that might sound like a recipe for disaster, and, if you read Todd's website, 42 Story House.com, but in reality, this is one of the most creative ideas (and movies) I've seen in quite some time.

The premise set, this movie then becomes a series of short comedy pieces starring Todd, in his house. The beauty of these is that, each is different (although some follow a theme) and there is a thread tying them all together in the form of Todd, with an equipment case reappearing over and over asking 'is it time?'...and when it's finally time, I have to admit, I laughed out loud. I could spend a lot of time telling you about each short, but that would ruin the movie for you, so let me just touch on some of, what I consider to be, the funniest.

Neighborliness 1 Evil 0: This is the story of a man, his neighbor and a plot to take over the world. Can one man doing yard work stop an alien invasion? The answer is much simpler than you might think!

When Toilet Paper Rolls Find Out: What would you do if you found out that you and your kind were being used strictly to wipe the asses of another race? That's right, rebel! A toilet paper uprising engulfs Todd's house and the rolls are armed! Danger comes in all shapes.

A Salute To Fatalism: This is one of the shortest of the lot and one of the funniest!

Egg-icide: A depressed egg tries again and again to kill himself because his female lady egg has rejected him. This funny short with a twist ending will have you laughing too!

There are others too that are all equally as good, Todd has a series of breakfasts, all with different themes. There's a series of bad days, and one of the worst strings of stand up comedy ever in the short, Unclear On The Concept. While every short isn't a home run, you try to make 42 short comedy pieces and make every one a masterpiece! Todd W. Langen has taken a challenge on himself and performed remarkably with 42 Story House. If you need a laugh, 42 Story House is designed to either sit and enjoy as a long form movie, or you can skip around and watch just the stories you want to. I preferred it as one long movie, personally, and the short featuring a drunken God had me both laughing and identifying with Todd, sometimes life can only be explained by the fact that God must be drinking today! I'm giving 42 Story House 4 out of 4 cigars, because it's a rare thing from one guy with a camera to make such consistently great shorts...even with a year to kill. Let's all hope that Todd locks himself in that house for another year, with a bigger budget, maybe he can add a few stories to that already great house!! So, until next time, when we'll see if Todd has any rooms to rent in that 42 Story House, remember that the best movies are bad movies.