They don’t make cast-packed comedies like The Cannonball Run anymore. That doesn’t mean it’s all good, but it is damned enjoyable. Hal Needham and Burt Reynolds were coming off Smokey and the Bandit and Hooper, and this road movie was a fun next step. Originally designed as an action film for Steve McQueen, when the…
Tag: silly
The Addams Family (1991) – Barry Sonnenfeld
I remember enjoying The Addams Family from Barry Sonnenfeld when it came out in 1991, as it brought back memories of watching the original show on TBS in the evenings. I loved Raul Julia’s portrayal of Gomez, the family patriarch, and consequently, I figured it was time for a revisit. It’s definitely not aimed at…
Hill Street Blues (1987) – Norman Conquest, and Sorry Wrong Number
While Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) and Goldblume (Joe Spano) review officers for promotion alongside Mike (Richard Herd) Lt. Norman Buntz (Dennis Franz) is left in charge of the precinct for the day. Norman Conquest was written by Steve Bello from a story by Bello, Neil Eglash, Jonathan Lemkin and Micheal I. Wagner and it was…
Galactica 1980 (1980) – The Night the Cylons Landed Part I, and Part II
Troy (Kent McCord) and Dillon (Barry Van Dyke) pawn off the spacekids on Jamie (Robyn Douglass) when a new cylon fighter gets drawn into Earth orbit and is going to come down near New York, just in time for Halloween. The Night the Cylons Landed was a two-parter. The first episode aired on 13 April,…
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…
Muppets From Space (1999) – Tim Hill
I’m not going to lie, I was pleasantly surprised by Muppets From Space. I remember seeing some of the trailers when it was first coming out, and to me it looked like a big silly misstep. The muppets had really figured something out by interpreting literary classics with a Henson twist, but this seemed like…
The Mummy (2017) – Alex Kurtzman
I won’t lie, I loved the idea of Universal’s Dark Universe, a multi-cinematic excursion that ties all the classic Universal monsters together in some new dynamic way. But when I heard the reviews beginning to pour in about the first entry, which subsequently killed any plans for continuing the proposed universe I stayed away. Until…
Men at Work (1990) – Emilio Estevez
Emilio Estevez writes, directs, and stars alongside his brother, Charlie Sheen, Leslie Hope, and Keith David in a goofy comedy that allows Estevez to give nods to other films, like Rear Window and his own Stakeout. It’s silly, not entirely engaging, and it seems Estevez, even in his own films, likes to chew some of…
The BFG (2016) – Steven Spielberg
This one seemed like a surefire winner, you’ve got Spielberg working from a script by Melissa Matheson who wrote E.T. The story is adapted from Roald Dahl’s story, and Mark Rylance brings The Big Friendly Giant to life. But no matter how good, the computer-generated images were, combining the computer characters with live-action ones, specifically,…
The Mind Reels 