Spoof

TROPIC THUNDER — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, Buddy Movie, Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, Cult Film, Filmmaking, FOUR STARS, Hollywood, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!, , Spoof, War, War Fantasy

October 23, 2023

A heady blend of outrageous Grand Guignol comic set pieces and fast-twitch dialogue, “Tropic Thunder” walks a fine line of…

HIGH ANXIETY — SHOCKTOBER!

BDSM, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Comedy, FIVE STARS, SHOCKTOBER!, Spoof, Video Essay, Women's Cinema

October 15, 2023

Dedicated to “the Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock,” “Mel Brooks’s “High Anxiety” (1977) arrived as a polished comedy behind Brooks’s…

KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE

British Cinema, ONE STAR, Reviews Blog, Spoof, Video Essay

February 9, 2015

The times have changed. There was an era five years ago or more when director/co-writer Matthew Vaughn’s gloomy deconstructionist spoof…

AIRPLANE! — CLASSIC FILM PICK

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Comedy, FIVE STARS, Spoof, Video Essay

March 17, 2014

It took a team of three writer/directors (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker) to run with the comic baton…

A HAUNTED HOUSE

Capsules Blog, Spoof, TWO STARS

January 13, 2013

Mining the spoof genre he helped reenergize with the “Scary Movie” franchise, Marlon Wayans comes up short with a well-worn…

HIGH ANXIETY — CLASSIC FILM PICK

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Comedy, FIVE STARS, SHOCKTOBER!, Spoof, Video Essay, Women's Cinema

June 12, 2012

Dedicated to “the Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock,” “Mel Brooks’s “High Anxiety” (1977) arrived as a polished comedy behind Brooks’s…

JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN

Capsules Blog, Comedy, Franchise, Spoof, THREE STARS, Video Essay

October 17, 2011

While it doesn’t live up to the quirky physical comedy the incomparable Rowan Atkinson is capable of, this follow-up to…

CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL — NYFF 2011

Capsules Blog, Cult Film, Documentary, Filmmaking, FIVE STARS, New York Film Festival, Road Movie, Rock 'n' Roll, Satire, , Spoof

October 12, 2011

One of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema gets his due in a comprehensive love-letter documentary that…

OSS 117: LOST IN RIO

Capsules Blog, Comedy, French Cinema, Spoof, THREE STARS

May 2, 2010

Boosting its rejuvenation of the ’60s French spy spoof franchise, this sequel to “OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies” (2006)…

BLACK DYNAMITE

African American Cinema, Blaxploitation, FOUR STARS, Martial Arts, Reviews Blog, sex, Sexploitation, Spoof

October 15, 2009

Thanks to its crafted use of dialogue, perfectly timed jokes, funky score, and hilarious sight gags, Scott Sanders’ lovingly executed…

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN — CLASSIC FILM PICK

Black and White, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Comedy, FIVE STARS, Podcast, sex, Spoof

April 2, 2009

Mel Brooks caught comic lightning in a bottle with his appropriately black-and-white spoof of James Whale’s 1931 classic horror film.…

TROPIC THUNDER

Black Comedy, Comedy, FOUR STARS, Horror, Political Satire, Reviews Blog, Satire, SHOCKTOBER!, , Spoof, War

August 11, 2008

A heady blend of outrageous Grand Guignol comic set pieces and fast-twitch dialogue, “Tropic Thunder” walks a fine line of…

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Capsules Blog, Comedy, Spoof, TWO STARS

November 19, 2006

Christopher Guest. Eugene Levy, Bob Balaban, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, and Harry Shearer struggle to flesh out their goofy characters…

SCARY MOVIE 4

Capsules Blog, Comedy, Franchise, Spoof, TWO STARS

April 25, 2006

High production values and seemingly endless celebrity cameos only moderately elevate the scattershot satire of the Scary Movie franchise. Cole…

A MIGHTY WIND

Comedy, FOUR STARS, Music, Musical, Reviews Blog, Spoof

May 7, 2005

Director Christopher Guest teams up recurring cast members from his past ensemble comedies (“This Is Spinal Tap,” “Waiting For Guffman”…

COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA