The endlessly quotable (‘The night the reindeer died’ stays with me!) Bill Murray holiday film, Scrooged hits 4K from Paramount Pictures just in time for the holidays. A riff on the classic Dickens’ tale, A Christmas Carol, Bill Murray brings the laughs in this delightful film helmed by the legendary Richard Donner. Murray plays Frank…
Tag: laughs
TAD 2023: UFO Sweden dir. Victor Danell
Do you want to believe? Young Denise (Inez Darl Torhaug) does. She remembers the night her father disappeared chasing down UFOs, and it’s been an obsession ever since. She’s grown to be a young woman, tech savvy in the mid-90s and is determined to find the truth of what happened. As she begins to cross…
One Piece: Season 1 – East Blue, Part 1
It’s hard to know where to start with anime, and with it all laid out before you on a streaming service like Crunchyroll, even with suggestions, it can be a little intimidating. But at Fan Expo this year, an anime called One Piece seemed to be everywhere, so that looked like a good place to…
UHF (1989) – Jay Levey
I discovered ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic with Eat It, and the first album of his I purchased was Dare To Be Stupid, which got played a lot. In fact, I know his song Yoda, better than the original on which it is based, Lola. In 1989, Yankovic wrote and starred in his only feature film to…
The Flash (2023) – Andy Muschietti
Yes, some of the special effects are terrible, and yes, the film seems to be played more for laughs than telling a dramatic and serious story, and the cameos, such as they are, seem a little wasted, and Ezra Miller can come across as severely unlikeable but having waited a few months since the film’s…
A House with Good Bones (2023) – T. Kingfisher
T. Kingfisher aka Ursula Vernon has entertained and creeped me out with each of the books I’ve read by her; three to date, with A House with Good Bones being the latest. Once again she introduces us to a relatable character, in this case entomologist Samantha who, when her summer dig is cancelled, decides to…
TIFF ’23: The Holdovers
Director Alexander Payne reunites with his Sideways star, Paul Giamatti in this earnest and laugh-out-loud dramedy that takes us back to the winter of 1970 and Barton, a boy’s prep school where Paul Hunham (Giamatti) teaches Ancient Civilizations and often finds himself clashing with not only his fellow teachers but his students as well, particularly…
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) – Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks skewers the legend of Robin Hood with his 1993 film Robin Hood: Men in Tights. None of the versions created are safe, and Cary Elwes is perfectly cast as the iconic hero that from its opening moments takes shots at everything, nothing is safe. Using the classic tale of Robin of Locksley coming…
Cocaine Bear (2023) – Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks settles into the director’s chair again and delivers a mostly entertaining comedy thriller, which is loosely based on a true story, Cocaine Bear. Featuring an all-star cast led by Keri Russell, the film swings from working brilliantly to just falling a little flat. But damn if Banks doesn’t swing for the fences. There…
Family Ties (1982) – Summer of ’82, I Never Killed for My Father, and Give Your Uncle Arthur a Kiss
Michael J. Weithorn wrote Summer of ’82 which first debuted on 27 October, 1982. Alex (Micheal J. Fox) is working his job at the local grocery store, Adler’s Grocery, and doing deliveries with Jennifer (Tina Yothers) when he meets Stephanie (Amy Steel) and loses his heart. But it’s not only his heart he loses when…
The Mind Reels 