Change Your Image
holme-1
Reviews
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
It's funny the third time!
I'm not a strict critic when it comes to comedy movies and I don't have much taste. My friend told me that this was a disappointment but I found it quite funny. Its not all the same jokes and I thought the character Mini-Me was funnier than ever. There are some gut-bustingly funny scenes IMO that make this movie quite worthwhile. But the bad part of it is Goldmember himself. Goldmember was unfunny about 97% of the time. The jokes the writers made about him being Dutch just made no sense at all, and not in a funny way either. As for plot, there wasn't much of one, but plot in a comedy hardly matters to me, for me its a must for horror and drama movies, but not comedies. I like it slightly better than the first Austin Powers, but it doesn't match up to the excellent "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me".
Grade: B+
Legally Blonde (2001)
Weak comedy with a few humorous moments
Since I'm a guy, its obvious that I would be immediately prejudiced to chick flicks like these and I'm still waiting to be surprised with one that is so funny that my gut bursts. Even though its a comedy, it didn't succeed well in its purpose, at least to me it didn't. There were some bright and funny spots, but the overall production didn't succeed to rank high in my book(its not a book with high expectations in comedies either). The comedy is also too cute and what was funny was few and far between. Reese Witherspoon's sharp wit helps the film out somewhat, but I just didn't see what was so hilarious about this production.
Overall: D+
Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002)
Great Movie, but ending could've been better.
I love comedies with humor that is so incredibly stupid, and this is no exception. The grossly mis-timed dubbing is hilarious! I don't care if its childish, stupid, etc. As long as I LOL several times, I call the film good or great. If I ROFL, I consider it a classic. Basically, you don't have to make a huge effort to make me laugh. The unrealism of this movie is very funny, the only thing that could've been improved was the ending.
Grade: B+
Rat Race (2001)
Great Semi-Remake of "Its A Mad Mad Mad World"
There were plenty of hilarious moments in this film, it was overall a great effort but I'll list the pros and cons:
Pros:
1. Seth Green and Vince Vieluf are one of the great highlights of this film. The disasters they get into due to their own stupidity are hilarious!
2. Cuba Gooding Jr. was also a great highlight in this film who is referred to as "the bonehead referee" because he made possibly the worst call ever made in football history. His disasters are also great.
3. Even though Rowan Atkinson doesn't get the largest role, he is hilarious as the Italian narcoleptic. The hilarity mostly has to do with his bizarre character.
Cons:
1. John Cleese doesn't get enough screen time and this is one of his least funniest roles I've seen so far. Maybe if he had been given some extra minutes he could've done much better.
2. The duo of Whoopi Goldberg and Lanei Chapman just doesn't seem to be all that funny. Its just the things that happen to them.
3. The ending in this one unfortunately lacks humor. The ending of "Its A Mad Mad Mad World" was 100 times better than this ending.
Overall, a great film, but not as good as "Its A Mad Mad Mad World"(1963). Grade: A-
Zoolander (2001)
Hilarious Comedy!
I'll admit it, I'm a Ben Stiller fan. I have never seen him do poorly in a comedic performance. This is some of his best work. His character's utter stupidity provides many laughs. Will Farrell also does a great job as Mugatu. Overall, this is a great parody on the fashion industry and fashion itself.
Grade: A+
Punchy Cowpunchers (1950)
Hilarious spoof of westerns
The stooges dealing with bad guys was the greatest theme in the Shemp era and it almost always worked out successfully. This is no exception. The stooges trying to act tough in front of three of the killer Dillons was hilarious!
Grade: A
Mystery Men (1999)
An extremely underrated film
I thought this movie was hilarious when I first saw it and even bought it. I'm surprised that there is so much controversy over this film, because everyone did great performances, especially Ben Stiller as Mr. Furious. Quotes like "I need a compass to show me which way the wind shines." are just a small fraction of the hilarity in this film.
Grade: A+(One of my favorite comedies of all time)
Half Shot Shooters (1936)
Excellent short
I have to disagree with whoever puts down this one because I think there are many hilarious moments! The conflict the stooges have with their sergeant is hilarious! This theme would later be revisited in "Boobs In Arms" (1940). One of the best Curly shorts.
Grade: A+
Outer Space Jitters (1957)
Horrible
This is one of the worst Besser shorts there is. The jokes are stupid and corny. There was a funny moment or two, but that's it! In this one, Joe is as annoying as ever and only gets hit once, with a waterbag while Moe beats on Larry as much as he pleases! Sci-fi and stooges do not mix well, as proved in this clunker.
Grade: F
Bubble Trouble (1953)
A Step Up from "All Gummed Up"(Warning: May contain spoilers of "All Gummed Up" and "Bubble Trouble")
"Bubble Trouble" is a great step up from "All Gummed Up" since much has been corrected. The first thing that was corrected in this remake was the original's poor set-up. In the original, the bubble gum cake scene was tacked on at the end, but its fixed in this one since the bubble gum scene is placed in the middle, where it should've been in the first place. Another problem was that there wasn't too much excitement to be had here. This was fixed in the remake with a new ending which lasted 5 minutes in which the stooges are attacked by Mr. Flint, which is fast and funny. Overall, one of the most successful of the 1953-1956 remakes.
Grade: B+
Vagabond Loafers (1949)
Classic remake of classic and popular original
This remake almost does as well as "A Plumbing We Will Go" itself! The maze of pipes scene is redone real well with Shemp. There are also some new added plumbing scenes which are quite funny. The new plot addition was great, and adds even more excitement than just an episode in home disaster. The only problem with this one is that most of the footage with the hilarious Dudley Dickerson is from "A Plumbing We Will Go". But overall, an excellent remake well directed by the masterful stooge director Edward Bernds.
Grade: A
Income Tax Sappy (1954)
Classic stooge short
This is a classic. Even though Shemp doesn't get as much screen time as many would hope, Benny Rubin as Mr. Cash, Moe, and Larry make up for it big time. In the scenes Shemp is in, he shines. It confuses me why Shemp doesn't get that much screen time. Even though he had a stroke in 1952, he recovered within weeks of it. I guess director Jules White and writer Abner Singer wanted Moe and Larry to shine more for once. There are so many classic lines and exchanges in this and Moe is especially hot tempered. This short is a must-have for any stooge fan who likes Shemp or the episodes he was in.
Grade: A+
Wham-Bam-Slam! (1955)
Weak remake of hilarious original
This is one of the worst remakes because most of the new footage consists of tired old gags that we've seen many times before. There is one piece of new footage that is a great exception though. The new ending was extremely lame and I would've preferred the original ending over this ending. Shemp looked very ill and he just didn't seem to be quite there in the new footage. A very weak remake overall.
Grade: D
Shot in the Frontier (1954)
Weak effort
This short has the most basic plot ever, and the fighting throughout this short drags on and gets tiring after a while. Also, Moe's wrath seems to be extremely limited in this short, another strike against it. The fighting does have funny moments which helps, but not enough.
Grade: D+
Loose Loot (1953)
The best remake ever
This is the best of the remakes, a classic. Only the first five minutes are new footage and the next 10 minutes is stooge heaven! The new footage is hilarious and mayhem-filled. This is as good as the classic original "Hold That Lion!"(1947). From 1953-1956 many of the Shemp shorts were quite weak with some exceptions. This is one of the exceptions. I also find this to be the best of the remakes because in most of the remakes, only a 1/3 of the short was new footage.
Grade: A
The Hot Scots (1948)
One of Shemp's best
"The Hot Scots" was an excellent short from beginning to end. Shemp seems very open to abuse since he takes a lot of it in this one. The fright scenes are hilarious. Edward Bernds once again does a great job in directing. One of my favorite stooge exchanges is in this one. Also, the stooges being gardeners in the beginning was quite funny.
Grade: A+
Guns a Poppin! (1957)
Weak remake of "Idiots DeLuxe"
This remake of "Idiots DeLuxe"(1945) that had Curly this time is redone with Joe Besser. There were a few good scenes, like the gunfight scenes, but that was it. The ending is one of the weakest in a stooge short ever. You must see it to believe how weak it was. The other scenes are either old footage or rehashed scenes that were originally in "Idiots DeLuxe" with Joe Besser. These scenes were also redone quite poorly. Overall a very weak effort.
Grade: D
Uncivil War Birds (1946)
A very controversial effort, but I really liked it
This short is very controversial because many people really like it and many people hate it. I for one really like it. I liked this one because they tried something new, and there was some great visual humor and gags. Curly turned in a great performance despite illness. Moe and Larry also do a great job in this short. I also think the supporting cast did a great job too.
Grade: A-
Saved by the Belle (1939)
One of the weakest Curly-era efforts
This short seemed pretty weak to me. The problem is too many things that were supposed to be funny failed to make me laugh. There were a few good parts as there are in any Curly short, but this one just had too many unfunny scenes for a stooge short.
Grade: D+
Dudley Do-Right (1999)
Very weak and stupid movie
This movie I found to be very weak. The jokes are so lame and uninspired. I guess the guy who played Snidley Whiplash was okay in his role, but that's it for good things about this film. Also, Brendan Fraser I think should stick to doing "The Mummy" movies, he was even funnier in that than in this film which is meant to be a comedy! Besides, Dudley-Do Right was a side cartoon for the Rocky And Bullwinkle show along with Peabody and Sherman and those fairy tales. If only Jay Ward were alive today he would've made this film something respectable.
Grade: D-
Blunder Boys (1955)
The last classic Shemp short
This is sadly Shemp's last classic. But this one is in my top 5 favorite Shemp films! Shemp turned in a great performance, and so did Moe and Larry. Their introductions are just too funny! Catch this one on AMC sometime, you won't be disappointed!
Grade: A+
The Yoke's on Me (1944)
Interesting short
Many people may hate this short only because there is some political incorrectness. But I'm a type of person who does not base reviews on political correctness and I think it is silly to do so. Now lets get to my review. In my opinion, this was quite a funny short, Curly's dance makes this short worth watching! I also remember watching this one at age 9 and loving it. I love the "goose" conversation the stooges have, it is hilarious. The only negative part of this short is when Curly tries to kill a goose(previously done with a duck in "A Ducking They Did Go")which is an old gag. Still a short worth adding to your collection.
Grade: A-
No Dough Boys (1944)
A great WWII short
This is another great short from the stooges. The stooges look quite strange in this, especially Curly. I loved the fight scene and the acrobatics scene. Its still nice to see some Nazis get beaten around though. Overall, almost perfect, but there are better wartime shorts they did.
Grade: A
Fiddlers Three (1948)
Good short
This is a good short, but it is a little too much like "Squareheads Of The Round Table" which was a classic. The "Nursery rhymes" scenes were good, especially the Simple Simon one! I find the remake a little better, but this is also good.
Grade: B
All Gummed Up (1947)
Great short, almost a classic
This short was great, seeing the stooges having to eat their own horrible mixtures of stuff is hilarious! The only thing that prevents this short from becoming a classic is that the ending seemed tacked on and this was fixed in the remake "Bubble Trouble" which isn't nearly as good as this.
Grade: A-