I loved the original Chris Weitz dramedy “About A Boy.” It’s easily one of my favorite comedies of all time and one of the rare Hugh Grant performances I can stomach. It’s not a surprise that the US would seek to adapt it in to a television show, I’m just saddened it’s on NBC in America. I mean, could you have picked a more incompetent channel with no idea how to handle new series’? In either case, “About a Boy,” granted it lasts more than one season, is a decent adaptation of the movie, but doesn’t do anything with the concept at all. For some reason the writers have completely side stepped the narration, and have eliminated a ton of interesting supporting characters from the series.
Tag Archives: Comedy
The Jimmy Stewart Show: The Complete Series (DVD)
This is a television sitcom, but basically on Jimmy Stewart’s terms. A sitcom that really side steps the live laugh track, “The Jimmy Stewart Show” is a pastiche of Stewart’s old fashioned sensibilities, with a touch of new world mentality that creates a unique and quaint culture clash. Stewart doesn’t mind breaking the illusion every now and then, opening the series with two introductions, narrating the early episodes to help establish characters, and in one instance Stewart’s wife (Julie Adams) asks “Why can’t we get along like those families on TV?” To which Stewart quickly glances at the camera with a smirk. “The Jimmy Stewart Show” won’t be for everyone, but it’s definitely not a terrible series, either.
Teen Titans Go!: Mission To Misbehave, Season 1, Part 1 (DVD)
So someone realized at the Cartoon Network that there was really nothing else they could do with the “Teen Titans.” It was a fantastic show, albeit an acquired taste, but it ended when it had to end. The Titans defeated their biggest foes, there was a huge war, they came out victorious thus it ended its narrative. So someone took out all of the anime, chibi, and goofy comedy from the series, omitted the action, science fiction, and rich characterization, and basically just decided to feed us “Hai Hai Puffy Ami Yumi” all over again, except with the Teen Titans in place of Japanese pop stars. Goody.
5 Things We Love, and 5 Things We Hate About “Space Jam”
I am very surprised that “Space Jam” continues to garner such a cult following, even to this day. I remember watching it for the first time back in 1996 and leaving it thinking “That kind of sucked.” Even years later, I remember it as a movie that did nothing but pander to audiences, push massive merchandise, and worked as a PR tool for Michael Jordan who’d garnered some poor fan fare after his foray in to baseball. “Space Jam” is not that good a movie.
Even in my current love for nineties nostalgia, you’d have to argue very hard for me to buy the movie on DVD or Blu-Ray. And I almost bought a bag of old pogs on online, a few days ago. In either case, Warner is hoping to cash in on fans of the first movie by creating a sequel tentatively titled “Space Jam 2.” This installment will apparently star Lebron James, in place of Michael Jordan.
1996’s “Space Jam” was a goofy movie, with a paper thin plot, and lackluster comedy obviously constructed by a committee of corporate suits, Jordan’s PR team, and some writers who built the perfect publicity machine for Air Jordan, all the while selling off some Looney Tunes crap with McDonald’s.
That said, we have our fond nostalgia for the movie, however minuscule, so here are 5 Things We Love, and 5 Things We Hate About “Space Jam.”
Sorority Party Massacre (2014) (DVD)
You have to give it to “Sorority Party Massacre.” Not many slashers these days have the balls to rip off the entire prologue to “Scream” wholesale. There’s even a long drawn out scene where the young victim is taunted by the caller. Except rather than the audience groaning “Aw, they killed Firestarter,” this time they’ll be saying, “Oh someone killed the girl with the dog. Some dude with a mask. Okay, then.” If that’s not bad enough, “Sorority…” is one of the most tonally inconsistent horror movies I’ve ever seen. It’s never sure if it wants to be a horror comedy, or a horror movie. And even the most distracted viewer will notice immediately.
Reel Zombies (2008): Special Edition (DVD)
Many zombie fans will be quick to compare David J. Francis and Mike Masters’ mock documentary set amidst the zombie apocalypse to “Diary of the Dead.” Truth be told, I was prepared to consider it a knock off during the first twenty minutes, but that would be a disservice to “Reel Zombies.” Directors Francis and Masters don’t offer any pretension about their film and are pretty straight forward in its premise and how they’re not even remotely trying to offer social commentary. There’s no message about racism, or sexuality, or the government, it’s just a straight forward horror comedy. “Reel Zombies” won’t be accused of re-inventing the wheel, but even with its flaws, it’s a damn good horror comedy.
Barefoot in the Park (1967)
The big screen adaptation of Neil Simon’s play is not only one of the best romance comedies I’ve ever seen, but is also one of the very few romance comedies to make me laugh hysterically. The pairing of Jane Fonda with Robert Redford is a master stroke, and the pair as lovelorn newlyweds reveal a hidden often underrated comedic timing that makes the movie as much of a slapstick comedy as it is a sweet tale of reality dawning on two just married lovers that find life rearing its head toward them slowly.