Tag Archives: Comedy

Are The Procedure (2016) and The Procedure Part 2 (2019) Hidden Gem Movies? — Diamonds in the Rough

May 1, 2020 Alex Brannan 1 Comment

Diamonds in the Rough (DitR, /dɪ’tər/) takes some of the most derided, divisive, controversial, financially catastrophic, and meme-worthy movies and tries to find the silver lining. Bad movies don’t always start as bad ideas, and flops aren’t always flop-worthy. DitR seeks to find the good within the bad, because the world could use some positivity. And when all else fails, making fun of bad movies is oh-so satisfying.

In this first installment of Diamonds in the Rough, we look at The Procedure and The Procedure Part 2, two psychological horror/comedy short films from director Calvin Lee Reeder. And boy oh boy is this a rite of passage episode! If you can get on board with these two shorts, then you can get on board with pretty much anything this series is going to contend with (although, this is no guarantee).

The Procedure

IMDb: 5.6/10 (209 ratings)
Letterboxd: 3.1/5 (373 ratings)

The Procedure Part 2

IMDb: 5.6/10 (16 ratings)
Letterboxd: 3.2/5 (36 ratings)

The narratives of The Procedure and The Procedure Part 2 are spare enough that I can outline them here in full (Content Warning: non-violent torture. Also, spoiler alert).

In The Procedure, a man leaving work (Christian Palmer) is shot with Continue reading Are The Procedure (2016) and The Procedure Part 2 (2019) Hidden Gem Movies? — Diamonds in the Rough →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Tag (2018) Movie Review

June 15, 2018 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Tag is a movie about tag. The children’s schoolyard game. It is quite sincerely about this, and nothing else. Based on a real-life Wall Street Journal article, the film follows an annual game of tag played by a group of five grown men.

One is a wealthy businessman (Jon Hamm). One is an unemployed stoner (Jake Johnson). One is so dedicated to the game that he gets employed as a janitor just to instigate a tag (Ed Helms). One is a self-professed paranoid man who also happens to take everything that comes at him with the chill demeanor of a Hannibal Buress (Hannibal Buress).

And one is a fitness guru who has never been tagged in the 30 year history of their game (Jeremy Renner). This year, however, he’s Continue reading Tag (2018) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

I Feel Pretty (2018) Movie Review

April 20, 2018 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

I Feel Pretty takes on a familiar cinematic conceit—think Big or body-swap comedies—where a woman named Renee (Amy Schumer) hits her head in an accident during SoulCycle and wakes up in the body of a perfectly gorgeous woman. At least, that’s what she thinks in her head.

In reality, nothing about her outward appearance has changed. Armed with the delusion that she has become a physically different person, however, she Continue reading I Feel Pretty (2018) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Drama, Love It

Don’t Think Twice (2016) Movie Review

August 26, 2016 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

The improv comedy world is filled with community and “yes-and.” It is about being of one mind. What happens, then, when that camaraderie is put in jeopardy by success, or a lack thereof?

Mike Birbiglia’s sophomore feature is an industry ensemble piece that explores the nuances of an entertainment medium that is often Continue reading Don’t Think Twice (2016) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Bad Moms (2016) Movie Review

July 29, 2016 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Amy Mitchell (Mila Kunis) is always running late. She works at a hipster coffee company. A hipster coffee company with employees that don’t respect her and don’t work as hard as her. She has two children and a child husband. A child husband who cheats on her online with another woman. When Amy gets fed up with the infuriating mundaity of suburban motherhood, she…does things. Most of them involve parental irresponsibility and middle-fingering the dictatorial PTA president (Christina Applegate). Oh, and plenty of slow motion montages.

Given the premise of this film, I have no real reason to Continue reading Bad Moms (2016) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Like It

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016) Movie Review

July 7, 2016 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

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.

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 →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Love It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

The Nice Guys (2016) Movie Review

May 20, 2016 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

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.

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

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Leave it, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) Movie Review

May 19, 2016 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

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.

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

Comedy, Film Philosophy / Editorials

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

May 6, 2016 Alex Brannan 1 Comment

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.

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? →

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All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Drama, Indie Films, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Entertainment (2015) Movie Review

May 6, 2016 Alex Brannan 1 Comment

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.

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 →