With Date Movie , the filmmakers pivoted to a rapid-fire assault of pop-culture references.

In just 83 minutes, the film drags in bits and pieces from My Big Fat Greek Wedding , Meet the Fockers , Hitch , Legally Blonde , and Bridget Jones's Diary . 🎭 Critical Savaging vs. Box Office Success

(2006) represents a fascinating, highly criticized turning point in the history of American cinematic parody. Directed by Aaron Seltzer and written alongside Jason Friedberg, this film marked the formal beginning of a widely maligned era of spoof films. 🎬 The Cultural Shift: From Parody to "Reference"

Instead of crafting clever subversions, the movie relies heavily on bringing in characters that simply look like celebrities or other movie characters (such as Napoleon Dynamite or Michael Jackson) to repeat famous actions devoid of a new punchline.

Widely panned as one of the worst comedies of the 2000s for its reliance on gross-out humor and lazy gags.

The success of Date Movie greenlit a conveyor belt of similar low-effort parodies from the same creators, including Epic Movie , Disaster Movie , and Meet the Spartans .

While the film made money, it catalyzed the slow death of the spoof genre.