For years, Armageddon was certainly the most surprising movie to receive admission into the prestigious Criterion Collection. Technically it hasn’t been supplanted, but what if Criterion really did put out a special edition DVD of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s The Landlord – you know, that hilarious little sketch that put Funnyordie.com on the internerd map. I’m not sure if the whole company is endorsing it, but on the Criterion blog (”On Five”), there’s at least acknowledgement and support for the recent “Criterion Edition” clip of The Landlord, featuring a commentary track (and video) from Ferrell and McKay.

The video itself is pretty funny, though it goes on way too long. They really should have stopped commenting when the short ends. Instead, they ramble on about Ferrell’s ego and then ultimately get serious and thank the fans for making it so popular. Also, it would have been more interesting or appropriate to the Criterion model to be more than simply a commentary. Maybe ten years ago commentary and Criterion were synonymous, but not anymore. Where is the film historian/professor? Where is the new interview with Pearl McKay? I love the reference to Rick Baker, but otherwise isn’t this a bit of a missed opportunity, as well as an overdone one?

If the Judd Apatow backlash has really begun, it seems to be affecting the Ferrell/McKay team by proxy.