We shouldn’t expect much from a Baywatch cinema adaptation and this film certainly lives down to expectations. Often the problem with movies based on TV shows is that the filmmakers try to stuff the TV show’s concept into a generic action comedy template and in the process lose the show’s essence and appeal. It’s the same deal here except that,
Read moreAfter the original Lego Movie became a box office behemoth there was no escaping a future filled with animated Lego figures spouting sarcastic quips. Now we have The Lego Batman Movie a cluttered, manic film stuffed with mostly superficial pop-cultural references that, while sporadically amusing, fails to live up to its predecessor. Here, Batman (voiced by Will Arnett) is having
Read moreWhy Him?, which stars Bryan Cranston, James Franco and Zoey Deutch, attempts to update the old-fashioned Father Knows Best-style comedy to the less wholesome digital generation. It also vaguely recalls Meet the Parents but while that film was genuinely funny and was able to cleverly balance quirky humour with familial warmth this movie subjects us to irritating characters and for
Read moreGrimsby continues the saddening downward spiral in quality for Sacha Baron Cohen’s films. Borat, although largely regurgitated from the segments on Ali G, was often hilarious, Bruno was intermittently funny, The Dictator was disappointing but had a few comical moments whereas Grimsby is depressingly simple-minded and predictable. The film ostensibly parodies both spy films and English soccer yob culture but
Read moreIt seems to be the year for comedians making semi-biographical films. We’ve had Carl Barron with Manny Lewis and now the much more obscene and inventive Top Five written and directed by and starring Chris Rock. Clearly drawing on his life and career, Rock plays much-loved but artistically unfulfilled stand-up comedian turned actor, Andre Allen. After making a bundle in
Read moreThis Friday on Ska’d for Life, Belle will be joined by stand-up comedian Helene Murray of Southern FM’s ‘Funny is the Apple’ (Fridays 2-3pm) – it will be a lesson in Ska (newbie alert!) featuring classic, sexist, hilarious and Aussie Ska tunes, as well as guaranteed laughs. NEW – gig guide at 7 pm – letting you know where the skank is at around Melbourne
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