Derek Zoolander: Male Model (1996)
The short film that introduces the character of Derek Zoolander, first shown at the 1996 VH1 Fashion Awards.
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Strong and Moving!
Just perfect...
It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Five years before Ben Stiller shot one of his trademark films Zoolander, the character was already introduced in two short films: Derek Zoolander University and this one. It's basically a very short (under three minutes) spoof of a male model who makes up for his lack of brains with an additional pot of vanity.Stiller does an okay job at the character, but even at the 2:30 mark , this short film feels like it really shouldn't have gone much longer before it would have started to drag. He shows us great body, his apartment, his room-mates, his dance moves and of course his catwalk performances. If you liked the feature film, give this one a chance, otherwise stay away. You're not missing too much.
This is one of the shorts that is included on the DVD of the ZOOLANDER movie. I laughed almost non-stop during the running time of about three minutes. Ben Stiller is great [though not as great as he is in the ZOOLANDER movie] and even though a lot of the jokes used here are also used in the ZOOLANDER movie, it's still one of the funniest shorts I have ever seen. If you haven't seen this yet, go rent or buy the ZOOLANDER DVD now and watch it. This short is worth the price of the DVD alone.
The ZOOLANDER movie is pretty damn good, but you shouldn't miss this great short, which was largely improvised and originally aired on the VH-1 Fashion Awards. Stiller's gift is that he can make fun of something--in this case, male models--while also exhibiting a true affection and knowledge of the subject. Poor dumb Derek genuinely means well--he even wants to open up a model school to teach kids his patented "looks". Hopefully this and the other short will be available on the ZOOLANDER DVD at some point because everyone needs to see it!