There Is Something About Mary: Gross Out Comedy At Its Lowest

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of creepy guys obsess over a girl, played by Cameron Diaz, and she is unfortunate enough to pair off with one of them at the end.

This review is mainly going to come down to sense of humour, which like many things in the world is subjective, so just know that though I found it to be repugnant in many ways, and possibly the produce of teens trying to out gross there friends and then writing the whole thing down on paper, doesn’t mean you will feel the same way. Comedy can be hard to judge.

There is nothing wrong with physical comedy, gross out comedy or even edgy comedy when done right but here it is done wrong, just plain wrong. There is nothing funny, at least not to me, of having a long drawn out sequence of a chap, played by Ben Stiller, getting his nethers caught in his zip, yet the film focuses on it for a really long time. I honestly struggle to see how anyone other than a young teen could find this film funny.

On top of this you have the uncomfortable level of sexism that permeates the film coupled with the message of having Mary end up with a guy who is only slightly less creepy than the other men pursuing her, the normalisation of that whole concept is troubling and should be viewed as a black mark next to the film.

Overall, icky, sexist and better left in the past.

Pros.

Diaz is trying her best and does have a few well delivered comedic lines

Cons.

It is creepy

It isn’t funny

It is gross out for the sake of it

The ending sends a very troubling message to the audience

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Scream: Meta Comedy At It’s Most Obnoxious

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Clearly Wes Craven wasn’t done with meta comedy after New Nightmare and so takes it to the nth degree here much to the detriment of the film.

As a teen I really enjoyed the Scream series the first film was probably one of my favourite if not my favourite slasher films, however times have changed and I regret to inform you it does not hold up at all. So much so that I actually prefer Scary Movie a film that was designed to parody this film more than the film itself.

I understand the film wants to be knowing and mock the genre but it does it in such an obnoxious way. Rather than point out tropes and go against them the film just turns them up to eleven, tell me is that parody or continuation? A good example of this is Sidney Prescott’s, played by Neve Campbell, aversion to sex. Yes, the final girl is supposed to be pure and viriginistic, grossly sexist I know, but the film is aware of this trope and rather than subvert it, it just features it more prominently does that constitute parody?

Most of the characters are written as incredibly one note and have one stereotypical narrative role to play, yes again I know this is probably done knowingly but it doesn’t excuse the shabby job done here, they could have flipped it or done something different but no. This type of character is perfectly encapsulated in Gale, played by Courtney Cox, a reporter who will do anything for a story and who doesn’t really care about anyone but herself, for most of the film she is written in the shrew architype then they try to shove in a love plot to make her less hateable and honestly it is insultingly poor writing and character construction.

Also I question whether this film is even a slasher film as barely anyone is killed herein, once again in a further aspect the film is surpassed by the spoof version of itself.

Overall, entirely a rose tinted glasses affair, that which upon further inspection in the cold light of day falls apart easily.

Pros.

A few funny moments, some intentional some unintentional

The killer reveal

Cons.

One note characters

Not in any way subverting the tropes

The weird sexual focus on Sidney and her virginity

It is too meta for its own good

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Red Rocket: Sleaze In The America South

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A retired porn star, played by Simon Rex, must move back in with his wife’s family as he dreams of ways to get rich quickly.

I applaud this film for giving us a complex lead, in many ways Rex’s Mikey is a deeply flawed individual as he is a predator and a user of people however he also has moments of warmth and the film kind of wants you to root for him whilst also criticising him. However, unlike in film’s of the past where the dirtbag protagonist seems to get away or even be rewarded for their actions here Mikey does face the consequences. It is nice to see a protagonist that is not cut and dry morally, it will upset some online for sure.

I thought for the most part the film was very engaging and kept a good pace, though I will say the start is a little slow, however by the time it hits the start of the second act the pacing is much better. Additionally, I liked the open endedness of the ending, in some ways it can be seen as a defeat for Mikey but in other ways it is more of an easy to overcome setback. I would like to see a sequel to see where the character goes from here.

Overall, a morally complex film which examines the underbelly of society.

Pros.

The morality

Rex

The ending

The supporting cast are all doing a good job

Cons.

A few minor pacing issues

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Dickinson: Overview

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Hailee Steinfeld stars as famed poet Emily Dickinson. However this is not wholly a period piece.

So as Dickinson draws to a close I am left divided. Torn. There were good elements here and a few episodes where the show really sung however, there was also a myriad of problems some of which only became more apparent and egregious as the series went on. As this is an overview of the show itself and all of its seasons I won’t be talking specifics about any one episode particularly instead I’ll tackle it more broadly.

I think the things Dickinson does right are two fold, firstly it taps into the immense talent of Steinfeld and gives her a lot of room to flex her acting chops and secondly it has a strong visual identity that lends itself quite nicely to the screen and leads to some very memorable moments such as when Emily takes a carriage ride with Death, played by Wiz Khalifa.

However, what Dickinson does wrong is largely down to the writing. Firstly the major issue with the show is that about a third of its episodes could be cut and it would make no real difference to the storyline of the show as there is so much filler that to chop it down would probably make it better, this show had no business being ten episodes a season. Secondly, and this one might be controversial, Dickinson is incredibly preachy, at times it gets to the point where it feels like the show is trying to shove the political agenda of it’s writers down your throat and that can of course be off putting.

Overall, I think this series is watchable but it could have been so much more if the political agenda wasn’t there and if the season were smaller perhaps five or six episodes so the writers don’t have to produce so much filler.

Pros.

Steinfeld

The visual style

It is watchable

Cons.

The preaching

The pacing

The humour never really landed for me

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The Breaker Upperers: Taking The Awkwardness Out Of Ending Your Relationship

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Jen, played by Jackie Van Beek, and Mel, played by Madeleine Sami, run a business where they break up couples.

I enjoy quirky comedies and this was just the ticket for me. I thought it was frequently funny as well as quite heart-warming. The film has a nice message of remaining optimistic in life and staying open to love. It managed to balance heart and comedy well giving each both room to excel whilst also knowing how far to go with the sentimentality before it would be overly so.

I thought both of the leads were good though I would probably say Sami stole the show for me and just pipped it to be the breakout here. Sami’s Mel is easy to root for and her enthusiasm is heart not to be infected by.

Though it was only a small cameo I loved that Jemaine Clements was in this film, though it was only one scene Clements was terrific and his whole scene had me laughing continuously, my one regret for this film is that they didn’t use him more.

Overall, a comedy film that makes you laugh and feel, very sweet.

Pros.

Clements

Sami

The humour

The heart

Cons.

A slight case of pacing issues

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Death To 2021: 2022 Doesn’t Look Much Better

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A comical stand-up of major world events from 2021.

For the most part I thought this was good, it made me laugh several times though not every joke landed. Moreover, I also appreciated the fact that though it covered some hot button issues it never really came down hard on one side or another politically and just tried to lampoon everything, that is how comedy should be.

In terms of the fictional talking head characters created for the special I thought Hugh Grant’s MBE wielding combater of the woke had many strong comedic lines and Cristin Milioti’s QAnon tinged Kathy Flowers once again stole the show. It is a huge shame that the world has yet to learn about Milioti’s fantastic comedic chops enough to land her leading roles in comedy films, hopefully soon that will be rectified.

My only real criticism would be that there were pacing issues in parts and not all of the jokes landed, these two things weren’t major issues but they did team up and when they did it led to a few bad segments where unfunny jokes were stretched out for far too long.

Overall, a funny stand up to an otherwise quite troubling year.

Pros.

Grant

Milioti

The jokes

It never chose one side politically

Cons.

Pacing issues

A few bad jokes

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Don’t Look Up: A Gender Swapped Trump

0.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of scientists and astronomers must convince the world that a giant asteroid is about to wipe them out.

This was a deeply unlikeable film it seems to be just over two hours of Adam McKay being smug. The runtime in and of itself is excessive and indulgent but that could be remedied if the film had something interesting to say, but it does not. The film makes a lot of rather obvious and on the nose political points about how Hollywood saw America during the Trump presidency, honestly all of these points have been made before and though the film gender swaps the president role it is incredibly obvious what it is trying to say. It is several years out of date.

Moreover, this is the big film that Jennifer Lawrence used as her comeback to acting, after to quote her ‘audiences got sick of her’, well that isn’t about to change anytime soon as her character here is incredibly annoying and is written as a one note flat character. Her character is given nothing to do beyond freak out, and that quickly gets tiresome. Furthermore, the film features Jonah Hill being equally as annoying, only the film doesn’t seem to realise this and instead thinks he is being hilarious and quick witted, not only does this film prove to you that Hill should stay in drama roles it also shows you how desperately this film wants to be something like The Wolf Of Wallstreet.

Overall, a smug film that is too busy giving itself a pat on the back to do anything else.

Pros.

Leonardo DiCaprio is trying his best

A few funny moments

Cons.

It is smug

It is incredibly on the nose

It has pacing issues

Lawrence is awful

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Yes God Yes: Chat Rooms, The Portal To Self Discovery

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A catholic school girl, played by Natalie Dyer, learns the importance of self-love after she gives in to sin.

I thought this film was in many ways genius, I think for a long time the sex comedy genre has been heavily male dominated and in recent years we have seen more sex comedy films told from the female point of view and this is much needed, this is one of those films. I think it is important to do this to demystify ideas around female sex and masturbation and in many ways these have been stigmatised within society.

I would say the film is funny about three quarters of the time, not every joke lands but enough do that it still works as a comedy. In terms of the dramatic elements I think the film does a good job of making us see the repressed world of this catholic school girl just looking to explore her sexuality and shows the adversity she faces.

Dyer does a good job here and does more than enough to distance herself from her other role of Nancy Myers on Stranger Things, I think there is a believable naivety here and a believable innocence that really plays into the performance and makes it seem more genuine.

Overall, an important film for many reasons but one that doesn’t totally stick the landing.

Pros.

The female focus

Demystifying female sexual experiences

The jokes

The ending

Cons.

Not all the jokes land

Pacing issues, it may have worked better as a short

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Reno 911 The Hunt For QAnon: Trapped At Sea With Conspiracy Theorists

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Reno County Sheriff’s Department try and hunt down the leader of QAnon.

I will preface this review by saying that before this I had never seen any episodes of Reno 911 so if there were references and call backs to things that happened in previous episodes and specials of the show I will not have got them.

Did this special make me want to go back and watch the show? Maybe. I appreciated that though the focus of the special was on a very contemporary issue with QAnon it did not feel dated. However, I didn’t find it particularly funny either, there were one or two funny moments but on the whole a lot of the jokes fell flat for me.

There is not a lot to say about this one because it was just fine, it was watchable but not very funny. Did it need to exist? Probably not as I doubt it is likely to spark much renewed interest in the show, but I was never a fan so what do I know.

Overall, it was very watchable, but not very funny.

Pros.

It is very watchable

It doesn’t date itself

It is relatively well paced

Cons.

A lot of the jokes don’t land

It doesn’t justify its existence

The ending feels weak

True Memoirs Of An International Assassin: The Shlub And The Model

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Kevin James’ character is mistaken for a famous assassin and forced into a dangerous situation.

Honestly, I only really watched this film as a means to turn my brain off, at no point before, during or after was I under the impression that it was going to be/ or was good. However, it is not as bad as you might expect it to be, it is fairly tame and harmless. It is neither good nor bad, rather just watchable.

James brings an everyman sort of appeal to the role which for parts makes the character more accessible however, at other times James’ portrayal borders on the irritating, we understand he is being presented to us as weak willed and as something of a coward but sometimes he is almost caricature like in this respect.

The romantic relationship between James’ character and Zulay Henao’s Rosa comes across as Hollywood wish fulfilment at its most egregious, once again we are presented with an almost cartoon like pairing of the model and the shlub and are asked to believe it, well in all honestly it is starting to get more than a little trite.

Overall, it is fine nothing more nothing less.

Pros.

It is watchable

A few funny moments

Cons.

James

The romantic pairing

It drags on

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