For this week's blog post, pick one of your favorite comedy films and write a review. Offer the following in your review of the film:
1. Plot Synopsis- Summarize the plot of the film. Be specific. Explain who the main characters are and and the conflicts they face. What is the overall theme of the movie?
2. Performances- Explain which actors/actresses gave the best or worst performances in the film. Refer to actors/actresses by their full name the first time they are mentioned, and by last name anytime you mention them afterwards. Describe their characters and what you likes or disliked about them.
3. Overall Criticism- Rate the film out of 5 stars (five being the highest rating). What did you find funny? What styles of comedy are present in the film? Explain.
Here is an example film review of We're the Millers.
Here is an example film review of We're the Millers.
Posts are to be 300-400 words and are due by 3pm, Friday, 3/28.
One of my favorite comedy movies of all time is Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
ReplyDeleteKing Arthur and his squire are on their way to recruit his Knights of the Round Table. On his way King Arthur runs into the Black Knight. They fight and even after the knight loses all of his limbs he still insists on fighting Arthur. Once they reach Camelot God, shown as a giant cricket, speaks to them and tells them to seek out the Holy Grail. Their first stop is a French castle where they meet a french guard who insults Arthur and his men. To get into the castle they create a Trojan Rabbit but forget to get into it when it enters the castle. The French retaliate by launching the rabbit back at them in a catapult. Arthur then decides to split up his men to find the grail. But then the fourth wall is broken when a modern day TV historian is murdered by one of the knights, launching a police investigation. Each of the knights encounter many dangers on their quests but they are reunited and are pointed to where the grail is located. The group is forced to fight man-eating rabbits at the mouth of the cave but with the help of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch they manage to defeat the rabbits. Once they enter the cave they are attacked by the Black Beast of Argh who kills Brother Maynard. Arthur and his fellow Knights manage to escape because the beasts animator suffers a fatal heart attack. This is when they stumble upon the Bridge of Death. Each member must answer three questions from the bridge keeper before they can cross it. Lancelot easily answers the questions but two of the other knights happen to fall into the chasm. Arthur manages to trick the keeper who then falls into the chasm himself. Lancelot gets separated from Arthur and ends up getting arrested by the police for the murder of the historian. Arthur and Sir Bedevere travel to where the grail is held only to come face to face with the Frenchmen from before. They are about to engage into combat when the police intervene and arrest both Arthur and Bedevere.
Graham Chapman, King Arthur, does a fantastic job at making the audience laugh. His reactions along with the ridiculousness of the entire movie are perfect for each other. This movie is very dumb in a funny kind of way and all of the actors do a very good job at bringing out the dumbness of it.
I would give this movie 4 stars out of 5. This movie uses a lot of parody to the original King Arthur story. His knights were supposed to fearless but in the movie they were always running from a fight. Also knights were supposed to be loyal and have manners but Galahad ends up being seduced by women and has to be pulled away by his fellow knights. Back in the medieval times during battles warring sides would launch livestock at each other and this is shown in the movie with a cow and the wooden rabbit being catapulted by the French guards.
Grown Ups, a 2010 film starring Adam Sandler and his lifelong friends, is funny spin on typical American families and their problems. Five friends return to their hometown to attend a funeral for their childhood basketball coach that brought them together and decide to rent a lake house for Fourth of July weekend and revisit their childhood memories. Doing dumb stunts, trying to make their children put their phones down and play outside, and battling with old middle school rivals, they come together closer as friends and family.
ReplyDeleteThe other main actors are Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider and David Spade, the only one of these mid-thirty year olds that doesn’t have a family. Lenny Fader, played by Sandler, faces the problems of his hometown friends thinking he’s too rich, getting called the nickname Hollywood throughout the film. Eric Lamsonoff, played by James, attempts to hide the oddness and behaviors of his family. Kurt McKenzie, portrayed by Rock, is a stay-at-home dad with a pregnant wife whose mother-in-law lives with their family. Rob Schneider plays Rob Hilliard who has been divorced and has three grown daughters. He also is married to a woman who is thirty years older than him and is around the age of Kurt’s mother-in-law. Marcus Higgins has no family, no steady job and is has a habit of trying to pick up girls. The friends often make fun of each other: Lenny for being rich, Eric for being overweight, Kurt for being useless around his house, Rob for having and older wife, and Marcus for being lazy.
Sandler, James and Rock all give a solid and humorous performance without trying to be too in-your-face. Schneider and Spade are sometimes too slapstick or scatological too many times for my taste. Overall, I really do enjoy the movie and give it 4 out of 5 stars. The families’ stories all relate very well and it seems that even though times have passed, these five men are still great friends and their jokes don’t miss a beat.
A cleverly constructed funny film that I find enjoyable to watch is the movie Balls of Fury. Randy Daytona, played by Brett Delbuno, is at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He is a finalist for table tennis, with his opponent being the German ping pong icon, Karl Wolfschtagg, played by Thomas Lennon. He loses the match, causing him to lose his father as well, after his father made a bet with servants of the criminal mastermind Feng, played by Christopher Walken. When Randy has grown up (adult Randy played by Dan Folger), he is asked to help FBI agent Ernie Rodriguez (George Lopez) to help bust Feng for gun smuggling. Feng holds a table tennis tournament, and Randy is the only way for the FBI to gather information on him.
ReplyDeleteRandy goes through training from a blind Chinese man named Wong, played by James Hong, and relearns how to master the game. Wong was the mentor of Feng; however Feng only completed half of his training. Randy successfully defeats all of his opponents but eventually has to play Feng. Feng creates his own rules, which, because of the electrical system attached to them both, causes Randy a lot of pain when he losses a point. With each point lost is more electrical pain to the loser of the point. However, since Feng only learned one half of his training, he had not learned about the “back hand”. Randy uses this to his advantage to defeat Feng and he falls into a river, frying the electrical circuit and killing Feng.
Randy, the protagonist in the movie, faces the internal conflict of once again playing ping pong after he had given up from losing his father over the sport. He also faces the external conflict between himself and the players of the tournament he plays in. Feng is a major antagonist in the film, only creating trouble for Randy and his friends. The overall theme of the movie is that in order to earn justice and do the things that benefit others comes at a cost, and that people can overcome their fears and regrets to do so.
Dan Folger gave an excellent performance in the movie. His acting skills are substantially good, and his facial expressions and tone of voice are my favorite characteristics of his. He played a good spontaneous and comical character who secretly wants revenge on the killer of his father. However, being a Christopher Walken fan, I believe he played his role the best in the film. He was definitely suited well for the part of a crime lord adopting Chinese customs. His speech pattern is what really brought his character together. George Lopez also played his part well. He definitely has the characteristics of an FBI agent who is hungry for adventure. No actors played their part poorly in this movie. The casting director(s) did their job correctly and efficiently.
I rate this film at least 4.5 stars out of 5. The plot was good, the characters were cleverly constructed, the actors did phenomenal, and the movie was beyond hysterical. I found Randy’s training and Wong’s teaching methods to be the funniest piece of the film. Within the film, slapstick comedy is used, mostly with Randy having pain inflicted upon him during various stages of the movie. Also, scatological humor is used. For example, Wong, because he is blind, had a ‘good night’ with Feng’s male sex slaves. Irony is also used. This occurs when Karl Wolfschtagg is killed right before the rematch between him and Randy. Overall, this movie is funny and clever, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys laughing.
One of the single best movies ever made is Billy Madison. Who is Billy Madison? Billy Madison is the 27 year-old son of Bryan Madison, a very rich man who has made his living in the hotel industry. Billy stands to inherit his father's empire but only if he can make it through all 12 grades, 2 weeks per grade, to prove that he has what it takes to run the family business. Billy is the main character. Eric Gordon, the man BIlly is trying to keep from stealing his father’s empire is also another main character. Eric is a weasel-like character. He is trying to destroy Billy in his quest to gain the company. On his quest Billy is also on a more personal quest and his pursuit of his third grade teacher, Veronica Vaughn. Eventually, Billy does not pass the 12th grade but ends beating Eric in a pentathlon and ends of giving the company to Carl Alphonse because he deserves it, Carl is a friend of Billy’s father. Billy also gets the Veronica in the end so it ends happily. The common theme of this movie I believe, is that hard work can go a long way, and putting your mind to something can really make a difference in your overall performance. Billy in the beginning of the film was a drunk and loved slacking off and never really accomplishes anything. But, after school straightens him out he starts being more responsible and grows up.
ReplyDeleteBilly Madison is by far my favorite character in this film. He is played by Adam Sandler. Sandler gives the best performance in the film. Sandler is a very good actor and I felt him being his hilarious, energetic, and youthful self was the perfect role for him. Billy has a lot of sarcastic humour. Many different kinds of humour are seen throughout the movie with Sandler. Another very funny character that shines in the little screen time he actually gets is the bus driver. He isn’t seen very much but he is played by Nick Fairley. Fairley plays the very angry bus driver and also the lover of the penguin that Billy tends to see when he is not “mentally stable”. I don’t know if it’s just my sense of humour or I’m having flashbacks to Tommy Boy but Fairley does a good job with the little screen time he gets and is hilarious while on screen.
This film contains many types of comedy. It contains slapstick comedy, scatalogical, farce, and my personally created type, dumb comedy. Dumb comedy is also present in things like Dumb and Dumber and Step Brothers. The material is just so dumb that it is hilarious. I would rate this film a 5 out 5 because personally, it matches my favorite style of comedy and Adam Sandler is one of my favorite actors of all time from a comedic standpoint.
~Jaden Winans~
My favorite comedy is also Grown-ups. It has a lot of talented and actors that we know and love. Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider play a big role in making this movie as funny as it is. The film tells a story of five childhood friends who won their high school basketball championship in 1978. They later reunite in three decades to mourn the death of their coach. Meeting at a lakeside cottage they rented when they were young, the friends also re-connect with each other, their spouses, and their children.
ReplyDeleteLenny, played by Adam Sandler, rents the lake house for the 4th of July weekend for his friends to stay at. While at the lake house, Lenny is annoyed that their kids would rather play video games rather than spend time outdoors, so he and the other friends are forcing their kids to play outside during their stay. Eric, played by Kevin James, has a small incident on a rope swing and injures a bird. The boys play a game they used to play as kid but the arrow impales Rob's, played by Rob Schneider, foot. The five then go to a water park where a lot of slapstick and scatological humor goes on like peeing in the pools and zip lining down into a shack. In the end Lenny and his son play 2 on 2 with his nemesis you could say to see who was the best Lenny throws the game because he thinks his children need to learn that you can’t always win. They all make jokes about each other throughout the movie. Overall the movie is enjoyable and it is very relateable to every day families. Although there are a lot of inappropriate touches to the movie, but it was very funny.
A comedy film I recently saw was The Muppets: Most Wanted. It stars Tina Fey as a prison guard who falls in love with Kermit, Ty Burrell as a French Detective and Ricky Gervais as Dominic Badguy. It also features all of our favorite Muppets like Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear.
ReplyDeleteThis move begins where the last one left off. The Muppets are trying to figure it out what to do next. At this point we get our first musical number, 'We're Doing a Sequel." The Muppets then run in to Dominic Badguy. He suggests that they go on a world tour. The Muppets agree and head to Berlin. While in Berlin Kermit meets Constantine, a notorious criminal who happens to be his Doppleganger. Kermit gets sent to the Gulag, a Siberian prison. There he meets the prison guard, Nadia(Fey). Nadia puts Kermit in charge of the Annual Gulag Review. Meanwhile, Constantine and Dominic begin robbing from museums in the cities they visit. Constantine is acting as Kermit. All the Muppets except for Animal and Walter fall for Constantine's act.
Back at the Gulag Nadia begins to develop feeling for Kermit. She knows he is innocent but will not release because she loves him. Kermiit begins to audition the prisoners for the talent show. This was one of my favorite parts of the movie. The priosners begin to sing "I Hope I Get It" from a Chorus Line. The whole audition montage is hysterical as the prisoners are all big burly men, like Danny Trejo.
Back at the world tour Walter, Animal and Fozzie Bear are caught in Constantine's room looking through his stuff for proof that Constantine is not Kermit. They believe that Miss Piggy is in danger because Constantine proposed to her. She said yes because she believes that he is Kermit. Walter, Animal and Fozzie escape and attempt to rescue Kemrit. They show up at the Gulag the night of the review and attempt to free Kermit. With some help from the prisoners they succeed. Nadia is heartbroken and goes after them.
They arrive in London the day of the wedding. They plan on rescuing Miss Piggy but their plans are foiled by detectives, Jean Pierre Napoleon(Burrell) and Sam Eagle who arrest Fozzie and Kermit. Constantine almost escapes with Miss Piggy but Kermit and Fozzie manage to free themselves and save her, with some help from the other muppets. Nadia shows up and lets Kermit be free. The final scene is the Muppets performing at the Gulag.
I enjoyed the performances in this film. Fey was my absolure favorite as Nadia. She made me laugh, she made me cry. Burrell is known for taking on extremely goofy roles and this one was no exception. I always find Gervais boring, mo matter what he does but he was okay in this. All three of the stars had to perform musical numbers, which they did fantastically. All of the Muppet performers did a great job as well. There was also many celebrity cameos from some my favorite stars, like Tom Hiddleston and Stanley Tucci.
Overall I enjoyed this movie. My only problem was that the ending seemed a little rushed. I loved the musical numbers and celebrity cameos. I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.
Ted is a very hilarious film about John Bennetts teddy bear, Ted. All John wanted was a friend and his wish was granted on Christmas morning when he found Ted under the tree. He is a walking, talking teddy bear and can do anything any average human can do. Ted has been by John’s side ever since. Ted challenges the relationship of John and his girlfriend Lori of four years. Ted won’t leave John’s side, but Lori wants to further the relationship with John. Lori and John’s relationship can’t really be furthered if Ted sleeps in the same bed as them and John does everything with Ted. Now that John is all grown up he has to act like it and stop living his childhood all over again.
ReplyDeleteJohn Bennett was played by Mark Wahlberg and not very well done. His part was very boring and too much like a little kid. Although Ted who was played by Seth MacFarlane was done very well. His parts were very humorous never dull.
I would give this film a four out of five stars. I took a star off because of the terrible acting by Mark Wahlberg. Overall this movie was very funny and I enjoyed it.
Olivia
One of my favorite comedies is Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. Jim Carrey stars as Ace Ventura and does an excellent job throughout the entire movie.
ReplyDeleteThe movie begins with Carrey climbing a mountain to rescue a raccoon on a cliff. However, he is unable to capture the raccoon and it falls to its inevitable death. While on the mountain he finds a monastery full of monks where he becomes one. While he was there an Englishman named Greenwall, played by Ian McNeice, wants Carrey to go to Africa to recapture a rare white bat, Shikaka, for the Wachati tribe. In return for his services, McNeice would give Carrey thousands of dollars. The bat is needed for a wedding ceremony between the Wachati and Wachootoo tribes. The Wachati believe the Wachootoo have taken the bat. If Carrey can’t figure out who really took the bat then there is going to be a war between the two neighboring tribes.
In my opinion, Jim Carrey’s performance in this movie is absolutely hilarious. There is a lot of scatological humor. One example is when Carrey is in a mechanical rhino, spying on who he thinks may be responsible for the stealing of Shikaka. The machine malfunctions and starts to overheat. When he tries to leave, the latch breaks. Carrey then leaves the mock rhino by squeezing out of a little hole that is in its butt. This scene is being watched by a group of tourists who actually believe it is a rhino giving birth! They received quite a shock when Carrey popped out. Another example is when Carrey eats all of his meal and then continues to lick his bowl clean, only to find out the bowl is made out of bat poop.
I would give this movie four out of five stars overall. It is very funny, the plot flows, and the actors do a very good job of keeping you on your toes.
My favorite comedy film has to be Just Go With It. Just go with it is a hilarious movie starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Anniston. The plot of the story is that Sandler is a plastic surgeon that uses his old engagement ring to get with women. Sandler gets himself into trouble when the only woman he has feelings for finds the ring and thinks he is married. Instead of telling the woman the truth, Sandler makes up a big lie. He makes his assistant from his job(Anniston) his fake wife he is divorcing. Once the lie is almost over and the woman believes Sandler about his bad marriage, Anniston answers her phone infront of Sandler and the woman to talk to her kids. Once the woman found out they had kids, she immediatly wants to meet them.
ReplyDeleteSandler then pays Annistons children to pretend to be his kids for a day. But the little boy had a plan all along. He told the woman that his father (Sandler) promised to bring them to Hawaii but never did. So it turns out that the lie gets even bigger and they all fly to Hawaii for vacation. After spending time time with his Anniston, Sandler grows strong feelings for her, even though his wedding was the next day! Sandler called the wedding off and expressed his true feelings for Anniston. They all flew home from a long vacation and Sandler and Anniston end up getting married.
My favorite actor in the movie is Adam Sandler. Sandler is my favorite actor because he is just such a funny person. Sandler would have to be my favorite actor in general because he makes every movie hilarious. Overall this movie is a great laugh and very enjoyable.I give this film a five out of five stars because it is just a great movie.
Disney’s newest musical, Frozen, is a family-friendly and very comedic film. It stars Kirsten Bell as Princess Anna and Idina Menzel as Queen Elsa. It also features Josh Gad as Olaf the snowman and Jon Groff as Kristoff, Anna’s love interest.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the movie we learn Elsa has magical freezing powers. On the day of her coronation Anna asks her for her permission to marry Prince Hans, who she has just met. This causes Elsa anger and makes her lash out. She freezes the whole kingdom then runs off into the snowy mountaintops. Anna goes after her and along the way she meets Kristoff and his reindeer Sven and also Olaf. In the end, Anna brings back Elsa to the kingdom and she unfreezes it. Anna also finds out that Hans, Santino Fontana, is the villain.
I think Olaf was the most comedic part of the film for many reasons. One reason is because his lines are very funny. For example, one line he says is “Some people are worth melting for.” He says this while standing next to a fireplace. Another line was “Oh look I’ve been impaled.” He says this while looking down at himself with an icicle stabbed through him. Another interesting part in this film that is unlike other Disney films is the princess isn’t saved by the prince she’s saved by her sister.
I would give this movie a four star rating because it made me happy and sad, but mostly happy. The actors were great and vocally talented as they have all been on Broadway previously. The Oscar winning score was composed by Robert Lopez and Kirsten Anderson Lopez. The type of comedy used in this film is farce. Overall, everything in this film was excellent and I had an awesome time watching it.
ReplyDeleteThe Pirates Of The Caribbean the black pearl , the main plot about the movie is about how to get rid of the curse because all the pirates are turning into skeletons. Pirates of the Caribbean is a sweeping action-adventure story set in an era when villainous pirates scavenged the Caribbean seas. This roller coaster tale teams a young man, Will Turner, with an unlikely ally in rogue pirate Jack Sparrow. Together, they must battle a band of the world's most treacherous pirates, led by the cursed Captain Barbossa, in order to save Elizabeth, the love of Will's life, as well as recover the lost treasure that Jack seeks. Against improbable odds, they race towards a climactic confrontation on the mysterious Isla de Muerta. Clashing their swords in fierce mortal combat, Will and Jack attempt to recapture The Black Pearl ship, save the British navy, and relinquish a fortune in forbidden treasure thereby lifting the curse of the Pirates of the Caribbean.
Jonny Depp was an amazing actor in the movie because he knows how to play his part very well. the person i think that was not so great was the girl who played elizabeth because she would always get in the way of things and she got kidnapped so by that they got off track in the movie and she’s just not that great of an actress. The one i liked was Jonny Depp because he is a great actor and he is amazing and he is great.
My all-time favorite comedy would have to be SpongeBob Squarepants the movie. Squarepants and his best friend, Patrick Star, go on a life threatening journey to save Squarepant’s boss, Mr. Krabs. Squarepant’s arch enemy, Plankton, has devised a plan to turn King Neptune on Krabs. Plankton steals Neptune’s crown and hides it in Shell City. Plankton frames Krabs and has Neptune freeze Krabs where he stands. Squarepants knows Krabs never do such a thing and asks Neptune for time to find his crown. Squarepants is allowed a few days to find Neptune’s crown and save his boss.
ReplyDeleteThe duo set out to reach Shell City and find the crown. They face many large obstacles on their journey. Those include the abyss full of monsters. There is no bridge and have to go to the bottom, face the monsters, and make it back up the other side. Squarepants and Star quickly overcome their fears and reach the bottom of the abyss. There, they met the monsters of the deep. They made good friends with the monsters and they led the duo out of the abyss saftely. Other obstacles include Dennis, sent by Plankton to kill them and the Cyclopes, the owner of a sea gift shop. The theme of the movie is even if you are young or small, you can still achieve great things.
Squarepants, in my opinion gave the best performance. He was very comical and sold the leading role. He overcame many obstacles and had a stunning performance. Squidward Tentacles gave the worst performance. He did not seem into it and was quite disappointing. I would rate this film a complete five out of five stars. One of the opening scenes with Star and the flag was the best part of the movie. This was an example of toilet humor because of the flag in his butt crack. There is also slapstick humor with a mild amount of violence. I recommend this film for everyone that is anyone.
~Dean
A comedy that I find pretty funny is Step Brothers, a film featuring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. These two middle aged men meet when their parents have get married and start to live together. Both characters are single, without a job, and still live with their parents. Will Ferrell plays the role of Brennan in the film while John C. Reilly plays the role of Dale. These two characters face many conflicts with themselves, step parents and parents throughout the movie. Brennan and Dale both struggle to find jobs and to settle personal relationships with the new people in their lives.
ReplyDeleteJohn C. Reilly and Will Ferrell both play hilarious roles in my opinion. The simplicity and creativeness of the film made me laugh extremely hard. The movie is extremely quotable I think. I think Reilly and Ferrell are both played exceptionally well in the film. A role that I think wasn't played very well was the role of Alice Huff, Dale's brother's wife, who was played by Kathryn Hahn. I think her role had room for improvement. Hahn's role wasn't very likable in the film, and that's probably why I didn't enjoy her in the film. Dale's dad, Robert Doback was played by Richard Jenkins. His part in the movie was exceptional in my opinion. He acted like a father in real life in most cases. Brennan's mom, Nancy Huff was played by Mary Steenburgen. Steenburgen played the role of a caring, stereotypical mother in the film.
My overall rating on the would be four out of five stars. Although I find the movie extremely funny and quotable, there are some flaws present. One of the types of comedy present in the film is slapstick. Most of the parts where I laughed was when something totally outrageous and ridiculously dumb happened. Another type of comedy in the film was scatological humor. This is shown in many places in the movie also.
One of my favorite comedy movies of all time is Horrible Bosses. Its so funny! I could watch it everyday over and over again and still laugh.
ReplyDeleteThe movie Horrible Bosses is about 3 guys who absolutely hate their bosses and want to kill them. Their life is pretty much hell with their bosses around always making them miserable and hating life. The 3 main characters who try to kill their bosses are Jason Bateman who plays Nick Hendricks, Charlie Day who plays my favorite character Dale Arbus, and Jason Sudeikis.
My favorite character Dale is always funny. Hes like the odd baller in the group. Hes pretty much the funny dumb random guy that makes the movie funny. My favorite part of the movie is when after they rob Kurts bosses house. While that was happening Dale accidently snorted his bosses crack. Dale was all gitered up from it so Kurt and Nick made him stay in the car to be a look out while they went and investigated Nicks bosses house. The funny part was was when Dale was sitting back in the seat and pulled the seat up out of nowhere singing the songs they call me Stacy or something like that!
I give this movie a 5 star rating because everyone did a great job acting and it kept me always interested to keep wanting to watch more.