Stiff Upper Lips

Stiff Upper Lips

Impact Pictures etc.

12 June 1998

Parody, Historical Comedy
DVD
C-

I can see what they were going for, but it just didn't click for me.  Gary Sinyor directed and co-wrote.

Spaceballs

Spaceballs

MGM etc.

June 24, 1987

Sci-Fi, Parody
DVD
B-

I'd of course heard of this movie since the time, and had several of the jokes spoiled, but I never actually sat down and watched it before.  Like most Mel Brooks movies, it's uneven, but on balance it's funny and amiable, especially the much missed John Candy as a mog (man-dog).  The very '80s music, (including the title song) aside, the movie doesn't feel as dated as it should, with even jokes about Rambo and early-release VHS (and key-cards!) still accessible, at least to someone my age and over.  I've tagged everybody I could.

In Smog and Thunder

In Smog and Thunder

Studio Unknown

January 20, 2003

Parody, War Comedy
DVD
C

I could see someone finding this parody of war documentaries, here with Northern and Southern California battling for obscure reasons, hilarious but it just didn't quite click with me.  Sean Meredith directed.

Loaded Weapon 1

Loaded Weapon 1
New Line Cinema
February 5, 1993
Parody, Crime Comedy
DVD
C-

This isn't bad for what it is, sort of a low-rent (but still celebrity-filled) entry in the Naked Gun genre, but I didn't laugh once in fifteen minutes.  Gene Quintano directed and co-wrote.

Black Dynamite

Black Dynamite
ARS Nova
October 16, 2009
Parody, Action
DVD
C

This blaxploitation send-up has the look and feel of something from the '70s (not much exaggerated), but unfortunately I didn't find it that funny, other than that everyone, including BD's aunt and his teenage self, refers to him as "Black Dynamite" in one-on-one conversations.  (Or one-on-three in the case of the orgy scene.)  I recall both I'm Gonna Git You Sucka and Undercover Brother as funnier, but it's been a long while, especially for the former.  Scott Sanders directed this and co-wrote with Byron Minns, who plays Bullhorn, and Michael Jai White, who's BLACK DYNAMITE.