I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

In the '80s, the fat guy who is always eating was a staple of low-end comedies like this one. I can only assume that we are supposed to laugh at this: "Look, it's a fat guy! And he's eatin! Har-har!" I guess you have to hand it to the producers of "Joysticks" for adding the additional comedic twist of making their version of this stock character absolutely repulsive. His hair is so greasy it appears wet, his shirt, stretched over his massive gut, is as filthy as a dishrag. He eats cookies covered with tomato sauce.I could not stand to look at this character, and he is in almost every scene.Did I mention this is supposed to be a comedy?The plot: pretty boy runs a video arcade. Evil businessman played by Joe Don Baker, known for classics like "Charley Varrick" and "Walking Tall", wants to shut him down for reasons the movie seems to have forgotten to include. There is also a group of multi-coloured '80s punks, the Vidiots, that the pretty boy wants to kick out: thus the stage is set for not one but two video game tournaments, in which the players use massive joysticks, the knobs so large the players' hands rest upon them like they are crystal balls.There is, of course, also a "nerd" "character", such a stalwart of these movies that there is nothing to say about him except for his being in the movie.This movie really taxed me. There is no tension whatever to be had in watching people play Pac Man, or if there were, the filmmaker certainly has no idea how to show it, so those sequences are merely boring. The rest of the movie disgusted me more than anything else. There's a little nudity, of course, and the movie also supplies perhaps the most repulsive and unconvincing transvestite I have ever seen. The evil businessman has two moronic henchmen - don't they all - and in a movie this bad, someone has to dress up in drag, so it may as well be them.I was really glad it was over, and hopefully I'll forget about it as soon as possible.

A&E should have a "Making of Joysticks" biography. I'm sure it would be hilarious. I can picture it now. The producers say: "Porkies is a big hit and videogames are making millions a year. Can you write a script that incorporates all of that to make money?" So the writers throw everything in but the kitchen sink: Valley girls, punk rockers, conservative villains looking to stop the fun, a pretty surfer hero, a nerd named Eugene, a fat video game jock, hottubs in vans, screenshots of classic video games. It's an 80's hottub time machine.What makes this film even more fun is the magic it produces when some viewers either get it, and laugh hilariously, or don't (such as my wife) and say "This is so stupid" and walk off in disgust. It's like Beavis and Butthead. Some get it, and some don't. That's the genius of it. This film will be watched by historians a hundred years from now when analyzing the destruction of American culture or perhaps what made it great. Teens now are worried about starving to death the day they hit the job market or think their "smartphones" make them smart. No. We had it better back then. A lot better.

I love eighties movies of all kinds, yet I have been neglecting the great eighties sex comedy for a while. I decided to finally catch up on some of them, and I figured JOYSTICKS wasn't a bad place to start.The local video arcade is the greatest hot spot in town for the teens, but it's not too popular with the richest man in town. Can the manager's grandson (who runs the place, since his grandfather is out of town), his nerdy co-worker, and the arcade's gaming champion stop him from shutting it down for good? Even if it's not the greatest, JOYSTICKS still manages to entertain despite itself. It's your stereotypical eighties comedy, with lots of sex jokes, boobs, and all the caricatures you'd expect to find (the fat guy, the nerd, the suave guy, the punk, etc.). This kind of familiarity gives JOYSTICKS a very comfortable feeling, like homemade cooking.Fans of eighties nostalgia will have a lot to love as well, with a classic soundtrack filled with cheesy tunes (including a title song), as well as all (or at least most of) the arcade games you can remember. The film does have its funny parts, and they're funny in the "that's-so-stupid" kind of way.However, for every funny part, there are at least two jokes that fall flat on their face. This leads to some groan-worthy moments where you wonder why they would even put a joke like that in the film. For one, there's the rich guy's daughter, who they try to make funny by making her voice squeaky and making every third word she says, "Like." There are also the bumbling nephews who go into the arcade incognito with one of them dressed in drag.JOYSTICKS really isn't that great, but it provides for a fun night of late twentieth century nostalgia. I'm being really generous by awarding it a 7/10, but no one can deny how fun it is.There are obviously better eighties comedies out there, but this one will still entertain in a C.H.U.D. II: BUD THE C.H.U.D. kind of way.

The dubious honors given this film are entirely justified. This is, without question, among the most moronic comedies ever made. Quite interesting as a time capsule of the early 1980s, however, and a real gas for anyone who was a youngster at that time. The plot concerns a popular video arcade in danger of being closed down by nogoodnik Joe Don Baker. Who cares about that, though......you rented this to see boobs. Right? Singular boobs. Pairs of boobs. Sets, groups, and crowds of boobs. Yes...JOYSTICKS is a veritable Wall of Boob, and while you're busy boobing it up, you can also enjoy the most sophomoric humor ever be offered up in a teen sex comedy. As an extra bonus, there's a gang of comically over-the-top "punkers", the likes of which were commonplace as guest villains on T.V. crime shows throughout the 80s(tri-color frightwigs, bondage gear, lots of chains...yeah, you remember...)Shamefully fun trash, if you don't mind hitting the kill-switch on your brain for 90 minutes. Wakka Wakka Wakka.4/10