January 22

I do love Steve Martin. One of the first films of this Genre-ary was Steve Martin in The Jerk. That was really funny. Cheaper by the Dozen, not so much.

According to IMDB, “With his wife on a book tour, Tom Baker finds his life turned upside down when he agrees to care for his twelve children while simultaneously also coaching his new football team.”

Wow. These kids were brats. That might be harsh, but why not try some discipline? They can’t have all suddenly turned into evil little harpies because they moved away. Both Steve martin and Bonnie Hunt also showed they couldn’t have been good parents because good parents do not just become selfish ones.

There is really not much of a plot in this movie and these kids were acting like a nightmare. None of it made much sense to me, and the idea of this many kids is just insane.

There were a couple giggles during the movie, but the most laughs I had were from the end credit bloopers.

Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt led the cast which included Tom Welling, Hilary Duff, Alan Ruck, Richard Jenkins, Kevin G. Schmidt, Piper Perabo, Jacob Smith, Morgan York, Liliana Mumy, Forrest Landis, Blake Woodruff, Brent Kinsman, Shane Kinsman, Wayne Knight, and Ashton Kutcher. There was a cameo from Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa as well.

This felt more like a sitcom than a feature length film. I was also not sure about the message of the film… outside of the “Do you really want children?” one.

I did not hate the film, but there were so many things about it that made me wonder.

And puke jokes… those are not for me.

January 21

I needed a film short tonight and so I went to YouTube to search up something and I found just the thing. I have had Abbott & Costello, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and the Three Stooges so far in this Genre-ary, but a comedy month is not complete with a little bit of Laurel and Hardy.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are comedic geniuses in the early days of film. Their slapstick performances rivaled the very best of the genre, and their characters were even more developed than some of their contemporaries.

In this short, Laurel and Hardy are trying to get to sleep on a cold, wintry night, but Laurel’s hiccups kept Hardy awake and was causing the dog to bark. They knew that they were not supposed to have a dog, and so they were panicking when their dog-hating landlord came knocking on their door.

Their physical comedy was tremendous as they were trying to get back into the house with the dog. It is an impressive feat with how they worked together.

The short ended with a shocking event that caught me off guard. Something that might have been considered funnier at the time than it is today.

With the exception of the ending, this was a hoot. These old short films concentrated on the laughs and never fail to provide them.

January 20

Last year, I decided to do a special Saturday where I watched a bunch of Adam Sandler movies that I had not seen before. I am not a fan of Adam Sandler, but I wanted to give it a chance. Most of the films were bad, but there were a couple decent/passable ones. One of the films that I did not hate was Netflix’s Murder Mystery with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. So with the Genre-ary in full swing, I decided that it would be a good time to watch the sequel, Murder Mystery 2.

This film is comparable to the first film. It had funny moments that I actually laughed out loud. Sandler and Aniston have great chemistry. I wish their chemistry transferred into a better movie. They could be wonderful together. As of right now, I would say that they were …ok.

According to IMDB, “Full-time detectives Nick and Audrey are struggling to get their private eye agency off the ground. They find themselves at the center of international abduction when their friend Maharaja is kidnapped at his own lavish wedding.”

Now, the story is quite silly with ridiculous situations. But after the last film, I came to expect it. This is a film that I can’t take serious but that was kind of stupid fun.

I smiled and laughed a lot during the film. It was similar to the first film and it was worth the time I spent to watch it. It was only 90 minutes and it flied quickly by. It had good pacing and several other characters that were fairly one dimensional, but fun.

This is not a good movie, but it is not bad either. It was okay.

January 18

The first film from silent film legend Charlie Chaplin that included sound was The Great Dictator. This movie was written, directed and starring Chaplin in a dual role. He played Dictator Adenoid Hynkel and a Jewish Barber.

At the beginning of the film, it lists that “Any Resemblance Between Hynkel the Dictator and the Jewish Barber is Purely Co-Incidental.”  This is really funny as the film is clearly mocking Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, without even trying to be subtle.

According to IMDB, “Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel’s regime.”

A biting satire, The Great Dictator condemns the ideas of the dictators as well as Fascism, antisemitism and hatred in the world. The final monologue given by Charlie Chaplin is very powerful and fits extremely well in our time as well as the early days of World War II.

Despite the dark tone of much of the movie, there is still some wonderful comedic moments and standout slapstick scenes. There is one where Hynkel is tapping a ball in the shape of the planet in the air around his office. It is a beautifully choreographed scene with plenty of metaphorical importance.

In his 1964 autobiography, Chaplin stated that he could not have done this movie had he known the true terrors and abominations that was being perpetrated by the Nazis during the Holocaust. There was references to concentration camps and ghettos in the film, but as of 1940, when the film came out, there was not the widespread comprehension of exactly what atrocities that had been going on.

This is a truly powerful film from one of the most iconic men of the time period. His work was inspirational to many future directors and creatives.

January 17

I had no idea that this was an Oscar winning film when I rented it on Fandango. The film was nominated for  Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It actually won Best Adapted Screenplay.

According to IMDB, “Two men reaching middle age with not much to show but disappointment embark on a week-long road trip through California’s wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.“

Paul Giamatti led the cast in his role as Miles. He does a sensational job as the struggling, emotionally distraught writer. I think it is sad that Giamatti did not also receive an Oscar nom since there were so many others for the film. He holds the film together.

Thomas Hayden Church did deserve the nomination that he received as Best Supporting Actor. He managed to be both a cheating jerk and a caring best friend with his role of Jack. We knew that Jack was doing some terribly rotten things, but his feeling for Miles helped keep him from being cast aside.

Virginia Madsen was strong as Miles’ love interest Maya. They had a sweet relationship that was on a slow burn as Miles attempted to get past his depression and his baggage from his previous marriage. Miles and Maya had a wonderful relationship that was worth cheering for.

Giamatti and Hayden Church had great chemistry too. You believed that they were best friends despite the fact that they did not seem to be much like the other one.

Sideways was a surprising enjoyable movie that was a much bigger one than I ever knew about. I am glad that I was able to get a chance to see it.

January 16

So it is Friday and I thought I would schedule the movie Friday, with Ice Cube and Chris Tucker, for the Comedy Genre-ary. After the surprise I had when I enjoyed Superbad, I had high hopes for Friday.

Sadly, this one was not for me.

I appreciate the efforts of Ice Cube and Chris Tucker. They made for a good pair, part of the buddy comedy that the film was about. John Witherspoon was the best part of the film for me.

According to IMDB, “It’s Friday, and Craig and Smokey must come up with $200 they owe a local bully or there won’t be a Saturday.“

I found this loud, not very funny and filled with the stuff I typically hate: drug, sex and bodily fluid and waste jokes.

There is a solid cast around Ice Cube and Chris Tucker. These actors included Tiny Lister Jr, Regina King, Nia Long, Anna Marie Horsford, Tony Cox, Anthony Johnson, Faizon Love, Bernie Mac, Kathleen Bradley, Vikilyn Reynolds, DJ Pooh, and Paula Jai Parker.

I did not like this film much.

January 14

Today’s Genre-ary entry is a special documentary hosted by Woody Harrelson that featured the 75th Anniversary of the Three Stooges. It seemed to be a old TV special from 2003.

The doc would show clips from the history of the Three Stooges as well as talking heads of celebrities such as Michael Chiklis, Cheryl Hines, Tom Arnold, Bobby and Peter Farrelly, Tracy Morgan, and Bridget Fonda.

I was unaware how much Curly was actually not with the Stooges. In my knowledge, the Three Stooges were Larry, Moe and Curly, but I did not know about Curly’s big stroke and death in 1951. The Stooges were active until the early 1970s, with others in that third spot, including Shemp Howard, Joe Besser, and Curley Joe (Joe DeRita).

The slapstick is utterly brilliant among these comedic geniuses. Watching the specificity of the way the Stooges would work together, no matter what threesome would be in the ensemble. The Stooges appealed to everyone with their slaps and pokes and bumps, all corresponding with a strange sound effect.

Woo woo woo woo….

January 11

I Used to Be Funny is a different type of comedy. It is definitely a dark comedy, one that would fall into the dramedy category, and it is a tough watch, because it deals with a couple of serious subjects that you would not expect in a normal comedy. It is handled with a deft hand and directed beautifully by Ally Pankiw.

According to IMDB, “Sam, a stand-up comedian struggling with PTSD, weighs whether or not to join the search for a missing teenage girl she used to nanny.“

That synopsis does not truly fit with the movie I just watched, and that is a good thing. Do not go into I Used to Be Funny with any preconceived notions because it hits harder as it revealed its actual story through the movie.

Rachel Sennott played Sam Cowell, who was a stand-up comedian and nanny. Sennott got her own start as a stand-up comedian as well, before moving along into an acting career. She does a really solid job in this movie, not only with the witty dialogue, but with the dramatic moments too. She had several serious moments in the film and she was extremely believable in each one.

There were some challenges in the narrative with a non-linear storytelling aspect. It was unsure at times when I was not sure what time it was, and you had to really be thinking about when it was.

Other than that, this was a really solid film that was both funny and traumatic. I pulled it up on Netflix this morning to watch it.

When I was trying to decide which genre to use this January in the Genre-ary, I was worried about comedies. One reason I was worried about choosing comedy as the Genre-ary gerne was because when comedy movies go wrong, they can be really tough to watch and I did not want to watch a month of terrible movies.

Super Troopers is exactly the kind of movie that I was worried about.

According to IMDB, “Five Vermont state troopers, avid pranksters with a knack for screwing up, try to save their jobs and out-do the local police department by solving a crime.”

I really disliked watching this movie. There were some funny moments, but I have never been a big fan of stupidity as comedy.

Juvenile dialogue and characters that were, in no way, even slightly believable as police officers. There was little story in the film and the characters were some of the most obnoxious and unlikable characters that I have seen in a long time.

There was a movie where this could have been funny, but this was not it. I grew to dislike this movie more as it progressed and it is why I really was not anxious to watch a bunch of comedies. I hope there are more good ones to come because I can’t take a month of this.

January 9

Today’s new movie for the Genre-ary was found on HBO Max and it was a sci-fi time travel film called Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel. It was a British film that had a definite flavor of Doctor Who.

According to IMDB, “While drinking at their local pub, three social outcasts attempt to navigate a time-travel conundrum.“

This was a decent little flick. It may not have been amazing and awe-inspiring, but it was engaging and fun. Anything with time travel can be problematic, but I think they handled that fairly well. I liked how the time travel future scenes in the bar were laid out and how they came back around at the end.

I am not sure I love the three lead actors. Chris O’Dowd was solid as Ray and I thought the desperation of Dean Lennox Kelly as Pete was good. I am not sure how I felt about Marc Wootton as Toby. The three of them had some good scenes as a trio, especially in the men’s bathroom.

Anna Faris was time traveler Cassie and she had an easy chemistry with Chris O’Dowd. I’m not sure I bought them as a couple, but they were solid together during most of their scenes.

The future scenes were all fun and creative. The variety of the futures that we saw were pretty decent and kept us guessing.

It was an easy watch that moved briskly and was engaging enough. It was not a perfect film, but it was harmless as a watch some afternoon or over the weekend.