“Scary Movie 4,” and the franchise the bred it, is one of the worst examples of this sub-genre. It’s a lazy, hackneyed, and utterly irritating mess that relies on different movies references for laughs without spinning it into comedy. Feature someone who looks like Napoleon Dynamite, spoof some recent current event, perhaps have a pop culture figure spoof themselves and expect laughs; and that’s just the first five minutes alone. But that’s just not how it works.
Tag Archives: Comedy
Jopog Manura, (My Wife is a Gangster) (2001)
Jin-Gyu Cho‘s film is a very unusual little entry. It’s basically all over the map in terms of the genres, and is really never what you expect it to be. The premise reads like a sitcom, except with violence and mystery a la “La Femme Nikita.” Sure, in some places that could lead to an awfully messy film, but “My Wife is a Gangster” surprisingly works. Eun Jin is a mob boss named Big Brother, who was given the tag of a legend after taking on a group of men to defend a friend in combat. But after so many years of acting like a man and grimacing, she finds her long lost little sister and now must stick by her while she dies. Her sister wants one thing for her: she wants her to get married.
Hatchet (2006)
How many slashers movies have there been in the last few years that were worth a damn? Beyond “Leslie Vernon,” I can’t think of a single great slasher film that has made this slasher freak drool with sheer glee. “Hatchet” comes close to inspiring some foaming at the mouth, and I’m glad. As a horror nut that basically scours horror sites far and wide, I’ve heard about “Hatchet” almost non-stop. And thankfully, it’s lived up to its hype somewhat. “Hatchet” is a slasher comedy that really does admirably aspire to become a classic, and it succeeds in garner the horror comedy status from minute one. Not only is it a damn good and gory little slasher flick with a mean bastard of an axe killer, but it’s also pretty sharp and funny.
Idiocracy (2006)
“And the number one movie in the country was called “Ass.” And that’s all it was for ninety minutes. And it won Oscars…”
Our current society needs to be spoofed. In our current state it should analyzed, satirized, and cast into the darkness, because you’re all idiots, and you need to know that. You’re reality show watching, God fearing, literacy phobic, sadistic, consuming, ignorant drones, and someone needs to fill you in on that. “Idiocracy” is a step in the right direction as it’s a merciless satire on our society which is, by the way, currently run by pure idiots. It’s not surprising that “Idiocracy” wasn’t a hit because, risking repetition, movie goers are idiots as stated above, but it’s thankfully been praised among the movie geeks as a bonafide cult classic, a term that Mike Judge has become synonymous with.
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
The Beatles are now and have always been four men who carried with them a presence that is hard to pin down or describe. Something about these fab four, these mop tops always inspired an attraction from music lovers and fans around the world. It doesn’t matter what they did or do, people responded and they came in droves to watch the four do what they did best. The transition to film is rarely a successful venture for a musical star. Many times you’ll see a singer anxiously trying to act and failing or just pretty much supplying a string of mediocre performances. “A Hard Day’s Night” makes no bones about itself. It’s a vehicle, a promotional tool, and of course a way for fans to see the Beatles without going to a concert.
Random Lunacy: Videos from the Road Less Traveled (2007)
Very few people in life have the ability to drop everything, be rid of all sorts of city life vices, and go on the road to live the life they want to. Very few people actually have the courage to do so, and risk losing their family in the process. Poppa Neutrino is one of those people. He’s a man who isn’t rich or famous, or even that well known, but at the end of the day he can tell us that he’s lived his life how he’s wanted to, and no one can take that away from him. This is the subject of the latest documentary from the directing team of Victor Zimet and Stephanie Silber.
The Simpsons Movie (2007)
For my money, “The Simpsons” is quite possibly one of the best television series ever created, with “Seinfeld” a very close second. “The Simpsons” and I have a long history together. I’ve been a hardcore fan since the Christmas premiere on FOX so many years ago, and I followed the series religiously up until its dissension into sheer mediocrity so many years ago. There’s only so much I can take in terms of being a hardcore fan, and it’s not a secret that “The Simpsons” have fallen in terms of wit and brilliance that spawned such a revered classic.