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Flash Movie Review: The Naked Gun
HUMOR IS SUCH A FLUID EMOTION; at least I think so. With the different styles of humor, not everyone finds the same things funny. For example, I do not much care for slapstick or physical types of humor. Where someone trips or falls down a flight of stairs, I do not find the humor in such things. However, I know a person who cannot stop laughing at such things. A friend of their’s slipped on the way down a staircase, and wound up bumping all the way down on their backside! My friend could not stop laughing; though, they at least were able to get these words out between the guffaws, “Are you ok?” Oddly, I used to love the cartoons of a road runner bird versus a coyote. If you are not familiar with them, the coyote would come up with different kind of traps to capture the bird, but they would always backfire. The reason I loved this cartoon was not for these scenarios but the inventions and ingenuity the coyote used in setting the traps. And as you know, in cartoon world, the character never dies; so no matter how many explosions, falls, and fire bombs the coyote experienced, they always survived. MY TYPE OF HUMOR IS MORE esoteric. One may need to think about it or imagine it as it is being told to you. I also enjoy stories where certain words or phrases can have two meanings a/k/a double entendres. One liner jokes is another form of humor that I am fond of, from the likes of Rodney Dangerfield to Joan Rivers to Don Rickles, for example. As I grew older, I discovered the art of story telling humor, and especially satire. i had a relative who had such a dry sense of humor that I always loved. It takes real skill to spin a story and make it both relatable, funny, and at times absurd. Now, though I do not have a problem with profanity being used by some comedians, I strongly dislike when “dirty” and derogatory words are peppered throughout one’s act. Referring to females with the “B” word is not funny to me. If I am at a comedy club or attending a comedian’s concert, I used to feel awkward when everyone around me was laughing while I just sat still with no emotion coming out of me. When I became an adult, I learned how to fake a laugh and put an amused look on my face. Gratefully, I don’t do that anymore because I am not intimidated by being the only person not reacting to a comedian’s joke. Not that it was an issue for me while watching this action, crime comedy reboot. FOLLOWING IN HIS FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS, A detective uses his special skills to try and save the world. With Liam Neeson (Marlowe, In the Land of Saints and Sinners) as Frank Drebin Jr., Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl, City Hunter) as Beth Davenport, Paul Walter Hauser (The Luckiest Man in America, Queenpins) as Ed Hocken Jr., Danny Huston (The Crow, The Dead Don’t Hurt) as Richard Cane, and CCH Pounder (RoboCop 3, NCIS: New Orleans-TV) as Chief Davis; this slapstick satire worked because of Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. Having Liam in this role was genius because of his tough serious guy persona, and the chemistry between him and Pamela made it easy for each to play off of the other. I liked the way the story brought in elements of the original franchise, and the jokes and gags were non-stop. Not necessarily my type of humor for the most part; however, there were a few times where I chuckled during a scene. All in all, this picture was a short and tidy piece that accomplished what it set out to do. Nothing new or astonishing, just a bit of nostalgia that hoped it would get a laugh out of the viewer.
2 2/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Fifty Shades of Black
How often than not do you hear a child focusing and repeating a new word they heard somewhere. If it was not an appropriate word, parents used to scold and tell the child it was a “bad” word. What I noticed was the sterner the parents’ reprimand, the more the child would not let go of the word. At least that is what I used to see several years ago. I notice now parents try not to react or place a negative connotation on the word; they simply explain to their child that the word is not something that people say in public. I recall this one time while sitting on the train, across from me sat a mother with a child sitting in her lap. The child was taking great pleasure in repeating a slang word for flatulence over and over again. Though the mother was not reacting to her child’s vocalizations, the little boy was looking at everyone sitting around him. It appeared as if he was trying to get a reaction from anyone within earshot. I think part of the reason there were no reactions was the majority of people were plugged into their electronic devices, listening to music. This experience was fascinating because I was surprised for such a young age this little boy was trying to get a rise out of the audience around him, so to speak. Essentially the child was using shock value to get a reaction. It was the exact same method the writers were doing in this parody. USING the best selling novel Fifty Shades of Grey as a blueprint this comedy was co-written by and starred Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie franchise, A Haunted House franchise) as Christian. The cast also included Kali Hawk (Couples Retreat, Get Him to the Greek) as Hannah, Fred Willard (American Wedding, Roseanne-TV) as Gary and Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch-TV, Holy Man) as Mrs. Robinson. You could imagine with a cast like this, one would expect this comedy to be a real hoot. It was in fact one of the worst films I have seen recently. I just wanted to know if Florence knew what she was getting into when she agreed to her role. First let me talk about it being a parody. Maybe if it focused on the Fifty Shades story it would have helped instead of making fun of other celebrities and films. Secondly the humor was so dreadful and infantile; I did not find anything worthy of a laugh. It seemed as if Marlon was perfectly content to write a script that never went beyond the lowest and simplest form of cracking a joke. I understand the book was an adult read, so I get the idea this spoof would have its share of adult related themes. But c’mon how many times does one have to keep doing the same type of blue humor? I felt like I was stuck in a room with a bratty kid who just learned how to say the word “poop.”
1 star
moviejoltz 