Adam McKay may be second only to Judd Apatow in the big-screen comedy department.
McKay, alongside former tag-team partner Will Ferrell, directed "Anchorman" and its sequel, "Step Brothers," "The Other Guys" and "Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."
Not a bad resume. Except these days the progressive McKay is more likely to wag his finger at audiences then make them howl.
McKay's career changed dramatically after he detached from Ferrell and started leaning into his hard-Left ideology. That gave us 2015's "The Big Short," an anti-capitalist screed, the anti-GOP "Vice" (2018) and the Climate Change fearmongering epic "Don't Look Up" (2021).
He's a full-time culture warrior now, and he shoves that agenda down our collective throats. Other McKay projects include "We the Economy: 20 Short Films You Can't Afford to Miss" and "Succession," HBO's coal-black takedown of the Murdoch empire.
McKay's activism doesn't stop at the big or small screen. He's also a big-time funder for the Climate Emergency Fund - at least $4 million's worth.
If you don't know that group's name, you've seen its handiwork. Their eco-radicals have been invading museums for years, attempting to damage priceless works of art to push a Climate Change message. Listen to us, or else.
Yes, a mainstream Hollywood director is funding a group hell-bent on destroying artwork, and the usual suspects in the entertainment press have little interest in calling him out - Variety, Deadline.com, The Hollywood Reporter, or TheWrap.com. If he's been pressed by a single Legacy Media reporter on the morality behind the Fund's destructive work, it's yet to be uttered, let alone gone viral.
Now, McKay is back with a new project that just debuted on Netflix. And he's playing the hits once more.
"Thrash" is like a bad "Sharknado" ripoff without the tongue-in-cheek giggles. A South Carolina town is preparing for a Category 5 hurricane, but a few unwise souls ignored the experts' advice and stayed home. The waters swamp the levees and bring a crush of bull sharks into the town.
Mayhem ensues. It's like an Al Gore fever dream brought to life.
To be fair, the premise works just fine as a B-movie template, but producer McKay can't leave well enough alone. He stuffs the film with eco-hysteria, floods the screen with fluttering U.S. flags (it's our fault that Climate Change exists, not China's), and even includes a MAGA-style villain for our bemusement.
That's a foster dad who loves country music, guns, and depriving his children of the steak dinners he hides from them in a secret refrigerator. Think he'll be fish food before the end credits roll?
McKay's projects usually get feted by critics and awards voters alike. He won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for "The Big Short," and "Don't Look Up" inexplicably landed a Best Picture Oscar nomination. So did "Vice."
Not this time.
"Thrash" has a 36 percent "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with even liberal critics aren't buying the story's eco-panic.
"Sometimes, even great actors have to pay the bills with a Sharkicane flick, but that doesn’t mean you need to waste your time." - RogerEbert.com
Bad reviews won't stop Hollywood suits from teaming with McKay. His next project? A limited series based on the Jeffrey Epstein saga. If you think that will focus more on President Bill Clinton and Bill Gates than Donald Trump, you don't know how McKay machine rolls.
