Freaky Deaky

2012 crime comedy

Rating: 10/20

Plot: I don't really feel like writing a plot synopsis for this movie.

The parts don't come together for this one, a movie based on an Elmore Leonard story. Elmore Leonard's like a Hollywood goldmine. This has a semi-fun story, a bunch of semi-fun characters, and a semi-fun groovy 70's vibe. But it doesn't add up to anything that is much fun at all. When I found out that Crispin Glover and Andy Dick were playing siblings, I thought, "Uh oh. Brace yourself for the apocalypse, Shane." Glover, as expected, is the best thing about the movie. He's long-haired, sometimes plays Twister, and is perpetually stoned. The eccentric millionaire is a good role for Glover. Unfortunately, the movie's just as much about Billy Burke's character, a composite of every detective or hard-boiled copper from every other movie. Burke seems more tired than cool playing this walking cliché. Christian Slater plays a nutty bomb-maker and is exactly as good as you think he'd be. A funk soundtrack is cool, but a saxxy score is really dopey, and a few effects like page-turning transitions just seem like lazy attempts to make this whole thing cooler than it actually turned out. Chapter titles and a goofy made-up cereal won't trick anybody into thinking that "Charles Matthau" is a Tarantino pseudonym.

Who's the Caboose?

1997 mockumentary

Rating: 11/20

Plot: Documentarians get a grant to do a film on homeless people, but instead turn their attention to a young comedienne who is on her way to Los Angeles to try to get a television pilot.

I like Sarah Silverman. She's cute and generally funny. She's the very best thing about this--only possible exception is David Cross who is really funny and angry in a too-tiny role--which is good because she's the main character. She's so natural in front of the camera. Unfortunately, she and her character aren't in a movie where very much happens. Things approach mildly humorous, and the satirical look at Hollywood shallowness almost works. But this needs to let go a little bit, get a little more outrageous, or--at the very least--be funny. Kathy Griffin even keeps her shirt on. Andy Dick and that one guy are also in this.

The Cable Guy

1996 black comedy

Rating: 10/20

Plot: Steven, recovering from a break-up, has cable installed, and the titular character forces a friendship upon the poor guy. The relationship moves from inconvenient to annoying to threatening which reminds me of nearly every friendship that I've ever had.

Un Loco a Domicilio!

This is the perfect example of a movie that hits its peak right off the bat and then gets worse and worse as it goes. Considering that peak is the appearance of a Whammy from the game show Press Your Luck, that's probably not a good thing. The Broderick as a straight man to Carrey's wackiness works for a little bit although Carrey is, as you'd probably expect at this stage of his career, a bit much. Once we're through the exposition, this turns into an interesting enough story with these big clumsy comedy interruptions. The basketball scene, the Medieval restaurant scene, the Jefferson Airplane song. They're not all that funny--just really big. I do like how Carrey mimics the score though. And old people singing karaoke is always comedy gold. And this really is a who's-who of comedy legends--Jack Black, nearly tolerable in a couple scenes; Janeane Garofalo ("There were no utensils during medieval times hence there are no utensils at Medieval Times. Would you like a refill on your Pepsi?"); Kathy Griffin, all-too-briefly; Andy Dick, predictably the funniest person in the movie; director Ben Stiller playing two sort-of characters; Owen Wilson, also briefly; a tiny bit of David Cross; the omnitalented Eric Roberts. But it just doesn't work. It's already lost its way before it switches gears and gets ultra-dark in the last third, and it had already run out of gas before then. And trying to inject a little anti-television theme into the proceedings is really silly. There's a really nutty scene where a guy's television stops working so he picks up a book and starts reading. Come on. That's just nutty.

I had a hard time figuring out why I even bothered giving this movie a second chance. I think I saw it on a best "black comedy" list somewhere and figured I had missed something. Apparently, I only watched it because I wanted to see a large chunk of Sleepless in Seattle again.

Any Italian speakers want to translate that? Google tells me it's "A spot at home" which doesn't make any sense.

Run Ronnie Run

2002 comedy

Rating: 10/20 (Mark: 10/20)

Plot: The titular redneck frequently makes appearances on a Cops-like reality show, so a struggling producer decides to give him his own show where he gets arrested in different cities every week. It's a smash hit, and Ronnie has to adapt to a new celebrity lifestyle.

I laughed at this a few times, but I never felt comfortable doing it. It really felt like a blow to my dreams of being an elitist hipster. Elitist hipsters, by the way, will refuse to admit that this is just a slightly-more-intelligent Joe Dirt with performers slightly cooler than David Spade. David Spade would have trouble stuffing this much star power in his comedy. Seriously, look at this list of famous folk:

Jeff Goldblum. A bunch of others.

It's just missing Andy Dick, and I could have sworn I saw him, too. Couldn't find him in the credits though. Mark and I watched this after watching the lighthearted Mishima and had time for another piece of classic cinema. I demanded something "stupid" and ended up with this. It's definitely stupid.