It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Season 15: The Gang Explore Their Roots.

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A season of two halves, one which resembles the classic structure and one that moves more towards serialisation.

I did find it odd how the first few episodes of this season were very much reminiscent of older seasons in that each episode had a standalone quality but then the latter episodes moved towards serialisation and a focus on one storyline. That is not to say it didn’t work, however I do wish the season had decided to go one way or the other with it, as it is it works but it does feel a little jarring.

With regard to continuity I liked that the series progressed the running plot lines of the show and answered a number of questions fans have been asking for a while such as who is Charlie’s, played by Charlie Day, dad, it was a shame it wasn’t Frank, played by Danny DeVito, but I thought what the series ended up doing was actually better than having that be the case.

I thought for the most part the series still maintains its quality, being able to mock things like diversity casting and covid without fear of offending people on twitter. I found myself laughing a good number of times each episode of this season with only The Gang Buys A Roller Rink falling down for me.

Overall, another good season though maybe they should have shot it all in Ireland.

Pros.

It is still funny

It still keeps an edge

The reveal of Charlie’s dad

The emotion

Cons.

The roller rink episode

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Talladega Nights, The Ballet Of Ricky Bobby: A Real American Hero

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

NASCAR hotshot Ricky Bobby, played by Will Ferrell, is brought low after a humiliating defeat and must regain his former glory.

I think this film mostly still holds up, yes there are one or two yikes moments by today’s standards but for the most part this is still a good film.

I think at the heart of that is the fact that this is probably, in a broadly comedic sense, Will Ferrell’s most earnest film. Yes, in his dramatic work he has done more of this kind of thing but I am coming at it from a place of comedy, and within that genre Ferrell tends to play incredibly over the top characters that scream a lot, he doesn’t do that here, not really. I think though Ferrell’s Bobby is an eccentric out there character at his core he is likeable and that is why this film works, because of this his fall from grace and then resurgence become engrossing as you care about the character and become invested in his journey.

Moreover, I also think this film has a surprisingly strong supporting cast with John C. Riley, Leslie Bibb, Gary Cole, Michael Clarke Duncan, Amy Adams and Jane Lynch all giving incredibly strong performances that are both memorable but that also add key dynamics and elements to the film.

Sasha Baron Cohen’s villain is were some of the film’s more problematic elements come out. However, I think for the most part the film errs on the side of comedy and avoids bad taste issues. Cohen for his part is on top form and delivers a number of solid laughs.

Overall, despite a few troublesome moments this film still holds up.

Pros.

The wider cast

The more earnest performance from Ferrell

The ride it takes you on

Cohen

Cons.

Pacing issues

A few troublesome jokes that haven’t aged well

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Meet The Parents: Cats Do The Darnedest Things

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A young male nurse, played by Ben Stiller, meets his partner’s, played by Teri Polo, parents. Trouble ensues.

To some this film is a classic comedy, and whilst there are some solid and memorable gags, there are also some incredibly painful jokes that make you cringe so hard you almost turn the film off.

This film really is the origin story of Robert DeNiro as a comedy actor and he actually manages to be quite funny here. A lot of the jokes centre around misunderstandings and issues that he has with Ben Stiller’s character, but of the two he probably steals the show the most. Stiller has the everyman factor but DeNiro has the charm.

In terms of narrative this film is very, very familiar to the point of cliché. The plot beats head exactly where you think they will go, and the ending feels not only expected but also overly sentimental. I think with regard to the wider tone of the film, the sentimentality comes across as a little bit convenient and forced in.

Overall, a comedy film that has its moments but doesn’t fully hold up.

Pros.

Robert DeNiro

A few funny moments

Owen Wilson

Cons.

Ben Stiller tries his best but a lot of his jokes don’t land

Overly sentimental

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The Boss: The Peak Of McCarthy’s Humour

0.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

There seems to be noting worse in modern cinema than a film directed by Ben Falcone and starring his wife Melissa McCarthy. This film proves this rule to be true and is every bit as terrible as you would expect it to be.

Melissa McCarthy is not funny; I feel like collectively we as humans know this and yet these films keep getting made. There is only so many fat jokes she can make before you’re pleading for the film to be turned off, really it is quite depressing that McCarthy has to degrade herself like this for a laugh. Watching her falling over isn’t funny, it just isn’t.

Moreover, the film’s sense of humour marches into the camp of annoying very early on and it never leaves. This film runs all of it’s ‘jokes’ into the ground by recycling them over and over again, most likely because they are too lazy to come up with anymore.

It is sad to see Kristen Bell and Peter Dinklage here as they deserve so much better than this.

Overall, this film should really be avoided at all costs and there should be some sort of legal agreement that McCarthy and her Husband won’t make films together anymore.

Pros.

If you turn it off and put something else on it really isn’t that bad

Cons.

McCarthy

The jokes

It wastes its supporting cast

It is repetitive

It is dull

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The Evil Dead: Is It Still Groovy?

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of young people go up to a cabin in the woods and boom a cult classic is born.

This is my first time watching The Evil Dead in a long time and I have to say it really holds up.

Part of what works so well about this film is that it nails the balance between comedy and horror splendidly, there are both laughs and scares to be had but neither comes at the expense of the other. Also there was an uncanniness to the dark humour a lot of the time that really served to mine the middle ground between the two aspects of the film.

The whole cast were good; however Bruce Campbell stole the show entirely. Obviously Campbell’s Ash is the main character for the franchise so it might be hard for him to steal scenes that are already given to him, but what I mean is that his performance is so instantly iconic that it is hard not to leave the film talking about him. His facial acting is off the charts and he manages to court both the everyman and the superhero like appeal.

My only criticism of the film would be that some of the claymation stuff towards the end of the film comes off as a little jarring. Yes, I know this film was made on a budget and is several decades old, but still when I saw the tongue of the Book of The Dead at the end it almost felt silly: luckily these sort of effects were only used sparingly.

Overall, a cult classic that still holds up.

Pros.

Campbell

The scares

The laughs

Nailing the tone

The makeup effects

Cons.

The stop-motion effects didn’t work for me

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Wanderlust: Aren’t Hippies Weird, Regressing Through Time

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Two, questionably, young go getters, played by Paul Rudd and Jennifer Anniston lose everything in the 2008 economic crisis and so decide to go and join a commune.

I understand that the rom-com genre is not really a place of originality but come on, I have seen this same film so many times before. It is a very predictable run away from your problems and join the circus sort of narrative structure and everything progresses in the way you would expect it to with little to no surprises.

Moreover, the way this film presents communes and those who dwell within them could be ripped straight out of a book of cliches as of course they are all wacky, have issues with boundaries and are into sleeping around. The last point I thought felt really forced into the narrative and when Anniston’s character does decide she wants to cheat on her husband it comes out of nowhere and doesn’t make sense from a character perspective.

The humour and the heart were all very genre standard neither particularly affected me in anyway.

Overall, yet another forgettable rom-com.

Pros.

Rudd has fun with it

It is watchable

Cons.

Reducing communes to a stereotype

The free love plot point

It was generic

It was too familiar

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Marry Me: Literally Saying Yes To The First Guy You See

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A singer, played by Jennifer Lopez, finds out on stage that she has been cheated on so agrees to marry a random guy, played by Owen Wilson, in the crowd. Rom-com plot beats ensue.

Both Lopez and Wilson are likeable actor so really this one should have been a slam dunk but there is just something about their relationship here that doesn’t work. Mainly this is down to chemistry and the fact the two of them don’t seem to have it at all and as a result you don’t buy their romance.

Moreover, when the film aims for heart and emotional resonance it often instead comes off as overly sentimental and more than a little cliché. The drama of the film reflects this and feels needlessly drawn out and over the top for the sake of it. The writers of this film were trying too hard.

In that vein narratively this film is deeply uninspired and comes off as feeling predictable and played out right from the start, you know the beats of this film as you have seen them in other, better, features.

Overall, fine but nothing more.

Pros.

The actors are both charming

The film is unintentionally hilarious

It is watchable

Cons.

The actors have no chemistry together

The film has strong pacing issues

It is cliché and predictable

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What Happens In Vegas: Just When You Think The Rom-Com Can’t Sink Any Lower

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Two deeply unlikeable characters, played by Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, unwittingly get married in Las Vegas and then have to stay together for legal and financial reasons.

There are moments where this film is just straight up sexist and homophobic in its humour, and I get that it did not come out in the socially charged times of the current year, but did anyone ever think this was okay? Every time the film makes one of these jokes I either cringe or think what was the point? Do they just have to use slurs and stereotypes to try and be funny because they have nothing else?

In terms of laughs, yeah this film doesn’t have any. I chuckled a few times but it was not deliberate on the part of the film.

In terms of plot this film is incredibly generic and predictable, you know where this is going right from the start and rather than try and surprise you it just goes there. Every cliché and trope of the genre is trotted out here in a vein effort to drown you in a sea of mediocrity.

Neither Diaz nor Kutcher are likeable here and both come off as varying degrees of annoying, self-involved and obnoxious.

Overall, this really is the bottom of the barrel for the rom-com genre.

Pros.

It is watchable

Cons.

Diaz and Kutcher are both annoying

It is vapid and generic

It is toxic

The relationship doesn’t feel believable

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Liar Liar: The Origins Of So Many Gifs

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Lawyer Fletcher Reede, played by Jim Carrey, is unable to lie after his young son, played by Justin Cooper, wishes one full day of honesty upon him. This causes some problems for Fletcher.

As a child and teen I was a huge Jim Carrey fan, and I lost my way over the years only really coming back on board now because of Kidding, but as I rewatched this I remembered why I liked Carrey so much when I was younger. He plays the everyman so well; you can’t help but root for him and like him. It is almost impossible to hate a Jim Carrey character.

I found this film to be both heart warming and funny in equal measure, with enough memorable moments to confine this film to the classic conversation. I wouldn’t say every joke landed, as they often came on thick and fast, but more hit than missed.

I thought Carrey was on top form here and firing out of all comedic cylinders.

Overall, a comedy film that holds up and is arguably one of Carrey’s best, let down only by a slow pace and a predictable plot.

Pros.

Carrey

The jokes

The heart

Cons.

The pacing

The predictable nature of the plot

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Book Of Love: Don’t You Just Hate It When Your Novel Gets Turned Into Porn?

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Henry, played by Sam Claflin, is an author of an unsuccessful book. However, one day it begins rocketing through the Mexican bestsellers list and as such Henry must travel to the country in order to do press for the book, during which time he meets Maria, played by Veronica Echegui, his translator and the two develop feelings for each other.

No one will say to you this is the next great rom-com because it really isn’t. It will not set the world on fire, but it is watchable. You have seen this film many times before of course, as the plot beat for beat feels taken wholly from other genre films, but translated in a slightly worse way.

I enjoyed Sam Claflin, he rarely can do wrong, I thought his uptight uber British Henry had quite a few funny moments throughout the film. I do think there are a number of times when Henry borders on becoming stereotypical, but luckily the film never pushes him that far.

Claflin and his co-lead Echegui don’t have much chemistry together on-screen which gradually becomes more and more of a problem as the film goes on. Luckily by the end of the film it has given up on any semblance of logic and just starts throwing things at us, which even though it doesn’t make sense makes the film interesting.

Overall, a very bog standard rom-com, you have seen this before.

Pros.

Claflin

A few funny moments

It is watchable

Cons.

The leads have no chemistry

It is too familiar

It has pacing issues

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