Category Archives: Comedy

I am serious…and don’t call me Shirley.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016) Movie Review

After a string of boisterous, and often dangerous, benders at family gatherings, brothers Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron) Stangle are asked by their family to bring respectable dates to their sister Jeanie’s (Sugar Lyn Beard) wedding in Hawaii. Who they find, however, may prove to be even more boisterous than the Stangle brothers themselves.

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As is common with most comedy films, Mike and Dave features characters who are Continue reading Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016) Movie Review

Swiss Army Man (2016) Movie Review

Swiss Army Man begins with Hank (Paul Dano) about to hang himself, a corpse washing upon shore, and lots and lots of farting. The movie is, in short, a story of friendship between a stranded man and a corpse. This corpse, named Manny (Daniel Radcliffe), has special bodily abilities that have the capacity to help Hank find civilization again.

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The film initially holds a tone, and some early shots, that are reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s more subdued works. It is quirky, endearing, and strangely blunt. However, as the film progresses it becomes apparent that this is a film with an authorial stamp of its own.

Radcliffe is fascinating as the deadpan human tool. Manny’s lack of worldview makes up much of what Continue reading Swiss Army Man (2016) Movie Review

Central Intelligence (2016) Movie Review

Two high school peers: one, Calvin (Kevin Hart), is destined for greatness, and the other, Robert (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) is relentlessly bullied into submission. 20 years later, Calvin is at a dead end job with no hope of upward mobility and Robert is looking to reconnect. Only, this seemingly innocent encounter promises to be something much more impactful on Calvin’s life.

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This is the basic setup. Hart plays the straight man and Johnson plays the odd man. Johnson here plays a character with Continue reading Central Intelligence (2016) Movie Review

The Lobster (2016) Movie Review

In The Lobster, David (Colin Farrell), upon being abandoned by his wife for another man, attends a hotel in which he must fall in love in 45 days or else be turned into an animal of his choosing. The movie is as surreal as the premise sounds, but it is also something beyond the mere surreal, which is an alleyway that can quickly lead to becoming a gimmick.

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Director Yorgos Lanthimos’ usual brand of awkward yet matter-of-fact line readings dominate The Lobster. Characters present so much on their face while still concealing Continue reading The Lobster (2016) Movie Review

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) Movie Review

The “Style Boyz” are a juvenile hip-hop crew comprised of Lawrence (Akiva Schaffer), Owen (Jorma Taccone), and Conner (Andy Samberg). After power trips get the best of them, Conner transforms his brand into Conner4Real, becoming a one-time star in the process, Lawrence gets fed up with the power feud and retires to a small farm and a scraggly beard, and Owen gets relegated to the literal background role as Conner’s DJ.

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The opening credit song pretty much tells the whole story: Conner is “So Humble” in the sense that he has no idea what the word means. This threatens to ruin his career and all of his relationships, and the plot plays out accordingly from there.

Popstar plays as a mockumentary, but one can’t go in with the godfather of music mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap, in mind, as the two films couldn’t Continue reading Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) Movie Review

The Nice Guys (2016) Movie Review

In The Nice Guys, two private investigators, one licensed (Ryan Gosling) and one unlicensed (Russell Crowe), go after the same lost woman who has strange ties with the adult film industry.

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Shane Black directs this 1970s crime noir comedy. The film visually feels like a Continue reading The Nice Guys (2016) Movie Review

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) Movie Review

Mac and Kelly Radner (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) sell their house under contractual escrow, so they must ensure that nothing in their neighborhood screws up their chances of moving out. Three college freshman (Chloe Grace Moretz, Kiersey Clemons, and Beanie Feldstein) ditch the inherent misogyny of Greek life by creating their own sorority conveniently located next door to the Radners.

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This is Neighbors 2, and, based on its premise, it is Continue reading Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) Movie Review

Darkman (1990) Movie Review

Sam Raimi’s Darkman is an early superhero film in which scientist Peyton Westlake (Liam Neeson) is brutally attacked and left for dead by the mob. Heavily scarred and bandaged, the faceless Westlake becomes the Darkman, and, using his scientific research on artificial skin, assumes others’ identities in order to exact revenge on his attackers.

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This film, in spite of being inescapably ’90s in aesthetic, is an Continue reading Darkman (1990) Movie Review

Adult Swim, Anti-Comedy, and Cringe Humor: What’s the Appeal?

Note: This in an in-depth article on Anti-Comedy and Adult Swim programming. If I mention a given show, short film, or feature film, there is a strong chance that I will be giving spoilers for that video, so be cautious. Also, this is a multi-page article; the links to subsequent pages sometimes get lost at the bottom of the page.

 

Anti-Humor. Anti-Comedy. Meta-Humor. Non-Comedy. Whatever hyphenate you want to use to describe the brand of comedy that is purposefully not funny or otherwise lacking in traditional comic structure.

Anti-Comedy, as I will refer to it throughout the rest of this article, is a highly divisive form of comedy (my fascination with the divisive is well founded). Some dismiss it as destructive to quality comedy or simply lazy. Others can’t digest it as something humorous or necessary.

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Late-night television programming block Adult Swim, launched in 2001 as a complement to Cartoon Network’s children’s programming, has harnessed these alternative forms of comedy to seeming success. With shows like Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!The Eric Andre Show, and the short film series of Infomercials, Adult Swim has Continue reading Adult Swim, Anti-Comedy, and Cringe Humor: What’s the Appeal?

Entertainment (2015) Movie Review

The opening shots of Entertainment are largely static. The Comedian (Gregg Turkington, essentially playing in this film a fictionalized version of himself and his comedic alter-ego Neil Hamburger), stands in an airplane fuselage, looking down. He watches as a clown, Eddie the Opener (Tye Sheridan), prepares for a set at a prison.  He looks on dour-faced as the clown “wows” the crowd of prisoners by simply bouncing a ball and clapping his hands.

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The first spoken dialogue in the film comes from a tour operator who encourages The Comedian and others to “by all means, go ahead and wander.” Yet the film does the opposite. Continue reading Entertainment (2015) Movie Review