Showing posts with label slapstick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label slapstick. Show all posts

See Spot Run (2001) Review

See Spot Run (2001)
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Is SEE SPOT RUN a great movie? NOT REALLY. Is it entertaining? Yes, I must admit it made me laugh quite a bit. It's really a slapstick farce with a blonde David Arquette mugging it up like the world was coming to an end. He plays a dog-fearing mailman who has his own devices to elude the dogs on Bleeker Street, "Canine Alley." Agent 11, a canine FBI agent, is targeted by mob boss Paul Sorvino (humorously so), so he is sent to witness protection for canines in Alaska, or he's supposed to be. A crooked agent sets 11 up, and the mob's hit men (especially funny is the late Joe Viterelli who plays mobsters with unabashed fun) go after the dog to kill him. 11 manages to escape to where else? Arquette's mail truck, where he is instantly adored by cute little Angus T. Jones, the son of the hottie (Leslie Bibb) Arquette is mooning over.
Michael Clarke Duncan has nice moments as 11's "partner" who can't seem to function without the pooch in his life. There are lots of predictable gags and even though the showdown in the pet store is incredibly goofy, it is funny. So if it makes you laugh, it succeeds as entertainment if not a great film!

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A mailman takes in a stray dog only to learn that it's an FBI drug-sniffing canine that has escaped from a witness protection program and is now targeted for assassination by a crime boss.DVD Features:Audio Commentary:Feature-length audio commentary by Director John WhitesellFilmographies:Cast career highlightsInteractive MenusMusic Video:"As Long as You're Loving Me" - Vitamin CScene AccessTheatrical Trailer


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Mchale's Navy (1964) Review

Mchale's Navy  (1964)
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"McHale's Navy" was a military situation comedy that aired on ABC from 1962-1966. Basically the show was a naval version of Phil Silver's classic "Sgt. Bilko" show, where the main character is a con artist who is out to make a buck and almost always ignores regulations. This time the main character of Lt. Commander Quinton McHale was played by Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine ("Marty"), and that Oscar might well explain why this was one of the few television shows in the Sixties to get to do a theatrical film. Still, the timing of this film is strange since McHale commands a World War II P.T. boat and the commander of the most famous P.T. boat in history was assassinated in Dallas the previous November.
So, you must be asking yourself, what sort of plotline too big for the small screen did they come up with to justify a theatrical film? Well, it seems the crew of P.T. 73 bet their money on the wrong horse in a race, so now they need to raise the money to cover their loses. The result is a long string of bits where the crew tries to raise the money, involving lots of slapstick and funny dialogue. In other words, just like the television show, only 93 minutes long, so fans are going to enjoy this movie while others sit and slowly shake their heads. The result is certainly a lot better than the pathetic 1997 film version (this film gets 4 stars to ensure it is two stars better than that film) and is actually a bit better than your standard "McHale's Navy" episode.
Fans of Tim Conway should enjoy his scene stealing antics as Ensign Charles Parker, while long suffering Captain Wallace B. Binghamton (Joe Flynn), known to the boys as "Old Lead Bottom," suffers indignities at every turn because he is always a day late and several dollars short. Veteran character actor Carl Ballantine plays Lester Gruber and future televison star Gavin MacLeod is "Happy" Haines. My favorite was always Billy Sands as "Tinker" Bell, obviously because of the attendant irony.

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F Troop (Television Favorites Compilation) (1965) Review

F Troop (Television Favorites Compilation) (1965)
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Joining televisions other military comedies of the day was this overlooked gem. The thing that set "F Troop" apart from "Hogan's Heroes" and "McHale's Navy" was the fact that, while not politically correct, it was fair. The brave men of Fort Courage were as inept, sometimes moreso, than the Indian tribes of the area.
Led with a gentle hand by Captain Wilton Parmenter (Ken Berry), F Troop had a bugler who couldn't bugle, a soldier in the guard tower who couldn't see, and a cannon that usually caused damage to the fort when fired. He was ably assisted by Sgt. O'Roarke (Forrest Tucker) and Corporal Agarn (Larry Storch). Berry was adept at physical comedy, much like Dick Van Dyke he came from a dancing background. Storch was an over-the-top stand-up comic whose routine often lent itself to some fun moments in the show. Tucker was the stalwart Marshal Dillon type. Although a con-man, he had a soft spot for both Agarn and the Captain.
This collection gathers six episodes, 3 color and 3 black/white. The transfers are generally very good with minimal screen noise. The black and white episodes look a bit better, but only because of the oversaturated color of the other episodes.
Overall, for the price this is a great piece of nostagic entertainment.

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After accidentally leading a cavalry charge into victory, Private Wilton Parmenter becomes a hero and is given command of Fort Courage. Here, his group of cavalrymen bumble through fighting their enemies and working with the local Hekawi Indians to sell items to tourists.

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Slapstick Encyclopedia (1917) Review

Slapstick Encyclopedia (1917)
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This must have been a labor of love! A collection of over 50 silent comedy shorts, nearly 16 hours of silent comedy! Lots of little jewels here - rare Harold Lloyd, Langdon, Hardy, silent film comediennes, etc. The music is new and appropriate. The booklet is first rate, as is the packaging and artwork. At a dollar a film, you are getting your money's worth especially since many of these are not available on DVD elsewhere. Many of these films I have never heard of and I have been watching silent films for twenty years.I found more than 95% of them to be very entertaining. Some of them are close to a hundred years old and provide a rare glimpse into a world that would have been lost if it was not for the camera. If you love silent films, this is heaven! Occasionally crude, very physical slapstick (which I never got but apparently early immigrant audiences loved) is here but plenty of fun gags, cute visual humor, early "sit com" type humor can also be found here. The title "Slapstick Encyclopedia" is misleading as many of these films are not slapstick, they are early comedy shorts. Some are so sophisticated that I realized that I had underestimated the makers and audience back then. My only beef is that it is hard to navigate. Once you start one of the shorts, you are stuck watching the whole thing - you can't go to a particular scene. If you want a specific scene, you have to watch the whole film. You can easily find a film (there are 8-12 films on each disc) but you can't go to anything speciifc in the film. A minor complaint for the best, most entertaining purchase I have made all year. I definitely got my money's worth - and then some - here. The prints range from excellent to average - nothing is unwatchable. Most are from the Blackhawk series of films. Highly recommended to all silent film lovers!!

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The clowns of the American silent screen bring laughter to a new generation in this wonderful box set, featuring 53 short films from the era's funniest comic talents: Laurel and Hardy, Fatty Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon, Will Rogers, Ben Turpin and more. Meticulously prepared for DVD with fresh new musical scores, "Slapstick Encyclopedia" is a unique collection of silent comedy gems.

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Down Periscope (1996) Review

Down Periscope (1996)
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This is without a doubt one of the funniest sea movies ever. Yet it got mediocre reviews when it came out. Kelsey Grammer plays a renegade sub captain who gets his first command not on a nuclear sub, but on a mothballed diesel rustbucket, destined for scrap after some wargames guaranteed to deep-six his naval career.
But Captain Dodge (Grammer) has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. He even gets the best from his mutinous crew and by the pirate scene (priceless) I was pretty much slumped on the couch, laughing my keester off. We like this one so much we watched it twice in a row.
Yeah, it's another submarine film (I can't resist them!) and this one is...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED--even if it's not yet on DVD.

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Kelsey Grammer sails from TV's "Frasier" to the big screen in this screwball comedy co-starring Lauren Holly and Rip Torn.Veteran skipper John Dodge (Grammer) will never be a textbook officer, but he's a brilliant seaman who's always wanted to command a nuclear submarine.Unfortunately, Admiral Graham (Bruce Dern) would rather sink the fleet than give Dodge his own boat.So Dodge is given the helm of a diesel-powered WW2 sub crewed by a collection of maladjusted, mistake-prone misfits. Then he's tagged "the enemy" in a crucial war game, and ordered to take on the U.S. Navy's best.Batten down the hatches for unstoppable hilarity that takes 200 years of naval tradition¿and throws it all overboard!

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