Category Archives: Often downright silly

2014, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Aliens from outer space, Barely Acceptable Trash, Bizarre, Crude Talk, Disguises, Fun waste of time, Kanopy streaming, Often downright silly, Sight Gags, Vulgar

Australiens (2014)

From KANOPY:

At the age of 10, Australian-born Andi Gibson had what she describes as a close encounter with a flying saucer. 17 years later, an airborne extra-terrestrial armada launches a nation-wide assault on Andi’s home country. Bloody hell, this is gonna be a long night.

From KANOPY you can stream this awful comedy that lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes

Now and then I find a film that is so BAD that it is comically GOOD. Probably this farce was made by teenagers or Martians. Most of the actors seem to be teenagers. Sprinkled in are some equally inept adults.

After reading newspaper accounts of events in this currently very troubled planet,  such tongue-in-cheek comic relief just at bedtime might induce a more peaceful sleep.

2007, Acceptable for teenagers, Accidental Death, Amazon Prime, Amusing banter, Bathroom Humor, Blackmail, British Comedy, British Slapstick, Coarse manners, Comedy, Drug trip, Eccentric cast of characters, Embarrassing episodes, Exaggeration Comedy, Father-daughter relations, Gay theme, Good Brother - Bad Brother, Jealousy, Mother-son relations, Nudity, Often downright silly, Romance, Satire, Uncategorized

Death at a Funeral (2007)

From Amazon Prime:

As the mourners at a British country manor struggle valiantly to “keep a stiff upper lip,” a dignified funeral devolves into a hilarious, no-holds barred debacle of misplaced cadavers, indecent exposure, and shocking family secrets. This classic farce blows the lid off the proverbial coffin as “the film’s delicious comic flourishes are served up by an outstanding cast” 

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1.5 hour comedy film.

Although there is an American 2010 all-Black version of this film, the Amazon version is the British 2007 all-White version.

British slapstick is not for everyone. For example, there is at least one  outlandish scene (this one involving human excrement) that could seem distasteful.   Nor is it certain that the treatment of a gay theme from 15 years ago would be  completely acceptable in 2022. These days the extensive nudity will probably not raise an eyebrow.

Among the British actors that might seem familiar, there are:

  • Matthew Macfadyen (Howard’s End, MI-5) as the grieving son Daniel.
  • Peter Dinklage (the dwarf actor in Game of Thrones) as  Peter, who claims to be the lover of the deceased father.
  • Alan Tudyk (Arrested Development) as Simon, who spends most of the time in a drug-induced haze.
  • Rupert Graves (Inspector Lestrade in Sherlock ) as Robert.
  • Peter Vaughan (Maester Aemon in Game of Thrones ) as Uncle Alfie, who spends most of the time on the toilet.
  • Peter Egan ( Martin Hughes in Unforgotten) as Victor.

Possibly not as funny as Monty Python.

 

2021, Acceptable Sci-Fi, Acceptable Science, Allegory, Autistic Technocrat, Bizarre, Black humor, Comedy, Could Be Hard To Watch, Cover-up, Depressing, Eccentric cast of characters, Exaggeration Comedy, Extramarital Affair, Farce, Government cover-up, Greed vs Common Good, Mayhem, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Often downright silly, Panic Attacks, Personal Betrayal, Political Satire, Satire

Don’t Look Up (2021)

From Netflix:

Two astronomers go on a media tour to warn humankind of a planet-killing comet hurtling toward Earth. The response from a distracted world: Meh!

From Netflix you can stream this 2 hour 18 minute long complete film.

According to Miriam-Webster, “allegory” is a story in which the characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life or for a political or historical situation.  In the case of this film, the news that a comet hurtling toward earth will destroy mankind, which a superficial world treats as “fake news” could possibly stand for climate warming (which the Master of the Republican party declared was simply a “Chinese hoax”) or for a pandemic (Why get vaccinated against some illness that will disappear in a day or so?).

Leonardo DiCaprio provides a splendid performance as Dr. Randall Mindy, an all too human scientist trying to warn the world but who succumbs to his sudden fame and the allures of the unbalanced Brie Evantee (played by Cate Blanchette).

Jennifer Lawrence plays an increasingly frustrated and exasperated Kate Dibiasky, Dr. Mindy’s gifted doctoral student.

As far as an over the top  (if not to say bizarre)  role as President Orlean of the USA  goes,  Meryl Streep is the perfect “air head.” She even wears a MAGA cap.

When the screen finally goes black, do not stop watching.  Credits rolling by on the screen are interrupted several times by continuations of the story.  Watch the fatalistic silliness right up to the very end.

Is this depiction of a threatened end of the world really a comedy?

2016, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Amazon Prime, Amusing banter, Barely Acceptable Trash, Coarse manners, Comedy, Contract Killing, Crude Talk, Eccentric cast of characters, Exaggeration Comedy, Explicit sex, Father-daughter relations, Friendship, Gay theme, Often downright silly, Outrageous Behavior, Quirky, Sex Scenes, Violent, Vulgar

Nice Package (2016)

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From IMDB:

A wannabe professional thief, his gay best friend, a sexy hostage, some thugs and a mystery package everyone wants.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 38 minute complete film.

If vulgarity, goofy characters, tongue-in-cheek violence, satiric sex scenes, and absurd conversations are your thing, this barely acceptable trash will hopefully provide you with some laughs.

Motto: I LOVE TRASH!

2020, Abduction, Action sequences, Amnesia, Bad Acting, Barely Acceptable Trash, Brother-Sister relations, Conspiracy, Corny, Detective, Ends in Cliff Hanger, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Government cover-up, Government human experiment, Government mind-control, Human experimentation, Kidnapping, Lesbian Theme, Love Triangle, Marital Infidelity, Maudlin, Mother-son relations, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Often downright silly, Paranormal theme, Plane Disappearance, Religious Nonsense, Short-lived suspenseful episodes, Sometimes seems silly, Suspense

Manifest (2020)

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From Netflix:

When a plane mysteriously lands years after takeoff, the people onboard return to a world that has moved on without them and face strange, new realities.

From Netflix you can stream two seasons of this fairly awful series. Season 1 has 16 episodes and season 2 has 13 episodes.  Every single episode lasts exactly 42 minutes, which may have been the only technical achievement of the series.

Holy Maudlin!  There were enough tears shed during this slop opera to irrigate California.

Holy Unbelievable! Find yourself in a tight spot?  Just invent some miraculous paranormal intervention.

Holy Gullible! How on earth could I watch all 29 episodes expecting to be satisfied with the ending.  Perhaps it is because I LOVE TRASH.

MISS!

2018, Abuse of Women, Acceptable Trash, Addiction, Adultery, B-movie, Bad Acting, Bloody scenes, Brother-Brother relations, Bullying, Conspiracy, Controlling personality, Corny, Corruption, Cult Brainwashing, Detective, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Eccentric cast of characters, Eccentric Detective, Emotional abuse, Ethical struggles, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Flashbacks, Frame someone for a crime, French, Good Brother - Bad Brother, Imperfect, Improbable details, Jealousy, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Often downright silly, Outrageous Behavior, Police Corruption, Prison, Problematic Ending, Psychiatrists, Psychological Drama, Revenge, Romance, Sex Offender, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Predator, Sometimes seems silly, Suspense, Troubled Personality, Unjust crime conviction, Violent

The Break (2018)

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From Netflix:

Soon after arriving in Heiderfeld, inspector Yoann Peeters is called to the scene of a suspected suicide and begins uncovering troubling details

From Netflix you can stream the 10 episodes of Season 2 of this French (English subtitles) crime soap-opera.  Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.

SECOND REVIEW: Please note that there is already a review for Season 1 which is dated 2016.  To appreciate Season 2 you should first watch Season 1.  My review for Season 1 raves positively and might now be taken with a grain of salt.  It is still true that I was so taken with the plot, characters, and mystery that I once again binged on the series. However, this time let me be a bit more critical.

For adjectives describing this strange-fest consider: exaggerated, corny, repetitive, histrionic,  improbable, riddled with inconsistencies,  and ending in a questionable conclusion.  How’s that for damning with praise?

So what is so watch-worthy?  For one thing the cast consists of some of the more peculiar non-Hollywood characters I have ever seen.  All names hereafter are the character names because it is unlikely that any of the French and Dutch actors will be familiar.  Dany Bastin is the center of attention as the accused.  He is a skinny young man whose entire body is marked by a severe case of psoriasis.  When was the last time you saw an actor with truly repellent skin? He, his brother Christian, his brother’s wife Zoe, and his mother all seem to be underfed, sub-intelligent, unattractive, poverty-stricken  members of some lower order of humans.  Astrid du Tilleul is the wealthy, nasty, dissolute, drug addict murder victim. Her jealous sister Astrid and Astrid’s husband are the oddest looking pair of scheming and murderous morons to hit the screen.  Even dumber are some of the police officers.  At least one officer, Marjorie, is, however,  honest despite her physical unattractiveness.  Not so honest is her partner.

On and on and on goes the series. Yet somehow I was eagerly drawn to each episode (like a moth to a burning candle?)  If my description has not yet turned you away from this mess,  just have fun watching the exaggerated set of unlikely events.  You won’t know “who done it” until the very end.

2012, Acceptable for teenagers, Acceptable Trash, British Comedy, Comedy, Dysfunctional Lives, Eccentric cast of characters, Exaggeration Comedy, Lot's of Fun, Mayhem, Netflix Streaming, Often downright silly, Outrageous Behavior, Sight Gags, Slapstick, Sometimes seems silly, Vulgar

Cuckoo (2012)

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From IMDB:

Cuckoo is every parent’s worst nightmare – a slacker full of outlandish, New Age ideas.

From Netflix you can stream 5 seasons of this outlandish British TV series. Each season consists of 6 or 7 episodes, each episode lasting about a half hour.

Talk about fun trash! Remember that British humor is a bit more bawdy, over the top, and uses slapstick more than American humor. At times the humor may seem a bit puerile.

In each season some newcomer invades the home of Ken and Lorna Thompson and their two children Dylan and Rachel. In season 1 the invader is Rachel’s surprise new hippie husband Cuckoo (yes, that is his name). In seasons 2,3 and 4 Cuckoo’s naive son Dale replaces Cuckoo. In season 5 Ken’s long lost sister Ivy Mittelfart takes over.

Probably the best comedian in the cast is Kenneth Collard who plays the very eccentric Steve.  Steve is the wacko who claims to be Ken’s best friend and who in fact drives Ken nuts.

Ivy is played (embarrassingly) by Andie MacDowell.  Not once do I claim that the acting is especially good.  But what trashy fun!

I LOVE TRASH!

2018, Barely Acceptable Trash, Bisexual theme, Brother-Sister relations, Comedy, Eccentric cast of characters, Exaggeration Comedy, Fashion, Gay theme, Improbable details, Lot's of Fun, Love Story, Netflix Streaming, Often downright silly, Outrageous Behavior, Quirky, Remarkable Costumes, Romance, Witty dialog

Schitts Creek (2018)

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From IMDB:

When rich video-store magnate Johnny Rose and his family suddenly find themselves broke, they are forced to leave their pampered lives to regroup in Schitt’s Creek.

From Netflix:

After their business manager loots their family fortune, the Rose family relocates to the town of Schitt’s Creek, which they once bought as a joke.

From Netflix you can stream 4 seasons of this nutty series. Each season has 13 episodes. Every episode lasts for 21 minutes except that in season 4 episodes 7 through 12 last 22 minutes and episodes 13 (the finale of the 4 seasons) lasts 25 minutes.

Only for special streaming offerings do I apply the category “Barely Acceptable Trash”.  If ever there was a series that deserved such an accolade, this series hits the target. Of course, the title probably is a bit of a hint.

In addition I have invented the category “Exaggeration Comedy” to prepare you for utter and fun nonsense. Guarantee: you will either love or hate (i.e. probably be offended by) this offering.

All the actors are well chosen. Consider a few of the regretfully  unforgettable characters:

  •   Father Johnny Rose is a suited, never wrong, oblivious bungler.
  •  Mother Moira Rose never wears the same outfit twice (just as does the villain in “What/If”). Each outfit she wears is purposely an exaggerated, outrageous spectacle. Also in each appearance she wears a different wig from her wig wall. Ignore the fact that the family has supposedly lost all their money, are living in two rooms, and yet Moira has some 52 different outfits (in addition to her wig wall)!
  •  Daughter  Alexis Rose minces her way through all the series. There is hardly a moment that she doesn’t speak and move in an affected, cutesy way.  Probably at first you may find her constant mannerisms annoying.
  •  Son David Rose, as far as his mannerisms go, is a carbon copy of his sister. David is bisexual although he spends most of the series being gay.
  •  Patrick Brewer and David open a store selling pampered people personal products. Eventually they are gay lovers. Patrick is the perfect sensible, open, sincere, normal foil to David’s personal style.
  •  Roland Schitt is the mayor of Schitt’s Creek. He is played by Chris Elliott. Just in case you can’t place his face, recall that in “Everybody Loves Raymond” Raymond’s brother marries a girl whose parents are religious fundamentalists and whose brother Peter MacDougall is a total annoying loser. Chris Elliott played that brother in “Raymond”. Is that paunch which Chris sports in “Schitt’s Creek” for real?

Why on earth would I waste my time watching this dysfunctional family at work?  Well, at the end of day, lying in bed, and not wanting to think a single rational thought, these episodes are a hoot. And you must remember:

I LOVE TRASH!

2014, Action Film, Action Hero, B-movie, Barely Acceptable Trash, Bloody scenes, Car Chase, Digital Effects, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Mayhem, Often downright silly, Psychedelic Visual Effects, Ridiculous plot, Strange Ending, Violent

Lucy (2014)

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From NetFlix:

In this action-thriller set in Taiwan, a young woman forced to become a drug mule for the mob develops superhuman abilities when the narcotics she’s carrying in her stomach accidentally leak into her system.

Way back in 1968 a certain subset of our population would ingest some psychedelic substance and sit for hours watching the flashing colors in the film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” But now welcome to the 21st century where you could do the same participant-watching with the mostly visual film “Lucy.” And it might as well be called a digital-visual adventure because the plot and many impossible action sequences are straight out of vaudeville.

Whatever was Morgan Freeman thinking? Scarlett Johansson at least has a history of appearing in strange films. For example, she was the voice of a computer (Samantha) in “Her”. Also she was a predatory alien in “Under the Skin.” Let us hope these actors made a lot of money while diminishing their reputations.

So why did I bother finishing the film? There are two choices: a) I was bored out of my mind, or b) I hoped that eventually the film would make sense, alas!

You probably don’t have the time for this psychedelic wonder.

2011, 2012, Acceptable Trash, Action Film, Action Hero, Amnesia, CIA, Complicated, Computer geeks, Conspiracy, Corruption, Imperfect, Love Story, Mediocre, Netflix Streaming, Nothing special, Often downright silly, Political Suspense, Ridiculous plot, Somewhat ridiculous plot, Suspense, Terrible acting, Thriller, Unrealistic, Violent

XIII: The Series (2011)

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From Netflix:

A highly trained former secret operative cannot remember his past. To rediscover it, he must take on missions from those he cannot trust.

Each of season one and season two offer 13 episodes. All 26 episodes may be streamed from Netflix. Would you really do that?

Stuart Townsend (who was Jack McAllister in the TV series “Betrayal”) plays Agent XIII, a super human who almost never loses a fight, who leaps onto running trains, who comes back from torture with nary a scratch, and so on. Remember the old weekly movie series: At the end of episode N our hero is in a terrible jam and about to perish. At the beginning of episode N+1 our hero moves on the next challenge. Just suspend disbelief and watch XIII and his sidekick Jones (played by Aisha Tyler) battle moles in the CIA, a corrupt ex-President, sadistic assassins, paranoid survivalists, and the list goes on.

If you can do other things (such as fold laundry) while you watch one of the innumerable episodes, at least the time spent will not be a complete loss.