Off the Cuff Reviews Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002)

I find myself in a weird situation with this one. I know that lately in pretty much every review I've said the current movie is one of the more unique ones I've seen, and... yeah, that's the case here as well. I'll be getting in the specifics in a bit, but for now just now that Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002) is one of the most delightfully bonkers movies I've ever seen. It's stupid, it makes no sense, it's completely childish, and it's all the better for it. I almost have to throw every rule I have about critiquing something out the window for this one. This is going to be a task. Starring Steve Oedekerk as The Chosen One, Hui Lou Chen as Master Tang, Fei Lung as Master Pain / Betty, Ling Ling Tse as Ling and Jennifer Tung as Whoa.

Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002)

One thing that's important to remember going in is that this movie is at least partly comprised of old footage from a 1976 Hong Kong martial arts film called Tiger & Crane Fists or Savage Killers. I can't speak to the quality of that movie, as I've never seen it, and I'm not sure how much of this movie's plot is borrowed from the original source material. For the purposes of this review, I'm largely going to stick to the original content from Kung Pow itself. I may mention a few performances here and there, but otherwise, anything I talk about in this review, I will credit to Kung Pow since, shockingly, I really don't know which clips belong to which movie some of the time. I mean, in some cases, obviously certain scenes are Kung Pow originals, like the scene where he fights a cow, for example, but the movie does a surprisingly good job of blending Steve Oedekerk into the original film, and there are some shots I was certain were made specifically for this film before the credits sequence showed how they inserted Steve in. The fact that I was so impressed by certain moments just made it all the more obvious, however, when they simply uses a crude green screen insert.

Steve Oedekerk as The Chosen One

The writing in this movie is some of the sharpest I've seen in a satire, or even a comedy, period. There are a lot of really great jokes here, and they don't always go the obvious route. Going back to the cow scene, as soon as the cow started fighting by squirting its milk at The Chosen One, I was worried that would just be the whole joke, but it's not. They get a lot of material out of it, as a less intelligent satire would have just left the joke as 'The cow squirts milk on him'. They also get a lot of great material out of content from the original movie itself. There are certain jokes that play off the action off what's happening on screen, and a lot of them flat out ignore the context of what would be happening in the original story at that moment, but others certainly don't. I need to know what was happening in the original movie where the guy is dying in the bed and the other guy just keeps rubbing his chest. That needs an explanation. In general, the movie satirizes the martial arts genre really well. It hits a lot of the basic story beats, follows the typical 'Chosen One' narrative well enough, and lampoons enough of the tropes to hit that sweet spot a satire like this really needs to hit, where it makes fun of the typical cliches of the martial arts genre, but it's all coming from a place of respect. Even the fight scenes are hilariously choreographed. They're fast, energetic and completely silly. The entire movie can be summed up like that, actually. There's jokes coming at you constantly, so even if the odd joke doesn't land, the movie just carries on to the next joke like it wasn't even there. That's the power of a good comedy: it can make you forget when it's not doing its job.

Ling Ling Tse as Ling

I was all ready to go off about how obvious a lot of the dubbing is. From the first scene, it's completely apparent that not only are the lines dubbed, but that the voices really don't match the characters. Then, Steve Oedekerk opens his mouth and he's also dubbed and the whole thing becomes abundantly clear. It's meant to be like that. It's another satire of the horrendous dubbing seen in a lot of foreign movies. It takes a bit of getting used to, especially to commit to it for an entire feature film, but it really works for the script. Steve Oedekerk does the dubbing for pretty much every character, and he manages to get a lot of range out of his performance here. Every character has basically the right voice for the material and the wrong voice for the original actor's portrayal, even, strangely, his own, which, again, just makes the whole thing even better. It's not worth commenting on the way he portrays his own character; just like everything else in the movie, it's wonderfully over-the-top and ridiculous. The only actor that gets a unique dubbing is Jennifer Tung, who plays Whoa who, I'm pretty sure, is an original character for this movie. I know I said the line was a little blurry, but this is another instance where I'm pretty sure this was an original creation. Anyway, she does well in her role, although the inclusion of her character makes the need for... Mu-Shu Fasa a little redundant, since both characters play the same kind of character. You could have just had Whoa appear in that one scene to talk about the 'stars above' or whatever; adding another character like that just made the whole thing a little bloated.

Jennifer Tung as Whoa

In a movie like this, I usually reserve the final paragraph for the things I didn't like about the movie, but this is where I come back to that 'throwing all the rules for critiquing out the window' thing I mentioned before. For the most part, anything that could be seen as 'bad' about the movie actually ended up enhancing the experience overall. It goes hand-in-hand with the kind of movie this is. The crappy CGI? It had to be that way. The poor dubbing? Already brought it up. The bad green screening? Adds to the charm. From the outset, the movie lets you know that this isn't going to be the highest form of cinema and so doesn't even try to be. Even when things are 'bad', everything has a purpose and was done so for a reason. At the end of the day, the only things I can nitpick are the moments when the film breaks its own internal logic. I mentioned the Mu-Shu Fasa rendundancy, but there's also the moments where the original actor for whoever 'The Chosen One' replaced in this film is clearly still there and when Oedekerk hadn't refilmed certain shots. Those are mainly present in wide shots, but it was still noticeable in some areas. Even still, that's not a big list of negatives. And yet, critics gave this movie an 11% on Rotten Tomatoes. Granted, this isn't a 100% movie, it's not for everyone, but 11%? I hate to say 'they just didn't get the point', but they just didn't get the point. The fact that it is so stupid and non-sensical and 'bad' is why it's so amazing.

Fei Lung as Betty

Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002) is genuinely one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had watching a movie. There's certainly better films out there, but for what this movie is, it's in a league of its own. Critically, I have to rate it a little lower than what I know in my heart the movie means to me subjectively, but I feel like I'm being fair enough on both counts. 9/10.

Off the Cuff Reviews Dogma (1999)

Religion is a hot-button subject at the best of times, so when a movie tries to exploit it for comedy, things can get dicey pretty quickly. There's a very fine line between satire and flat-out insulting a large percentage of the population, and especially with religion that line can be quite difficult or even impossible to navigate. Dogma (1999) pulls it off probably better than any film could, and I'm actually really impressed by it. I kind of thought I was going to like this movie after the first couple of minutes. I didn't know I was going to love it. Starring Ben Affleck as Bartleby, Matt Damon as Loki, Linda Fiorentino as Bethany Sloane, Jason Lee as Azrael, Salma Hayek as Serendipity, Alan Rickman as Metatron, Chris Rock as Rufus, Jason Mewes as Jay and Kevin Smith as Silent Bob.

Dogma (1999)

Alright, so what is it about this movie that gets the balance absolutely right? It's weird to say this, but it treats the Bible like any other text made for adapting to the screen. It keeps the basic stuff, but makes changes to the story that better suit the story they're telling. Adding in a 13th Apostle, Jesus' siblings, and they're able to explain it all in a way that, again, really suits the story. They're also able to poke fun at the Bible (and religion in general) while not coming across as either too aggressive or too evangelical, which is another tough line to walk. If you're a religious nut, you're probably not going to find loving this movie an easy task, but the movie explains in its first 30 seconds that it's not meant to be taken seriously (in the best way possible, mind) so if after that you're still upset with the liberties this movie takes, you're just hating for the sake of hating. In a weird way, I'd like to see more movies do this. I'm not a particularly religious person, but I was raised Catholic, so I'm seeing both sides here, and I really think more movies should tell stories loosely adapting the Bible like this. Not only is there a lot of potential for jokes and narratives, but there are many divisive issues that are worth discussing as a result, especially today.

Matt Damon as Loki and Ben Affleck as Bartleby

Because, yeah, this is a comedy, but the movie will slow down occasionally to discuss issues relating to religion without really offering an answer, which is honestly the best way to go about it in a theological discussion like this. Faith is something that I would never want to take away from someone, but I can see why people might not have any, and this film approaches this issue from a very intelligent angle. It doesn't pick one side and let it win against the other; it barely picks a side at all. It just raises the issues to let the audience think for themselves about the answers, which at the end of the day really is the central focus of the story. In that sense, this is a really rare thing for a comedy to do, and the fact that it works not only in tandem with the story, but also the jokes, is certainly impressive. And, when the comedy does come in, it's really well done too. Few jokes failed to get at least a smile out of me, and the majority got genuine laughs. It's not a laugh-fest 100% of the time, but it's not trying to be. It's the kind of comedy I really like to see, and even to write, where they'll take breaks and address what's going on with the characters, bring the energy down and get serious for a moment, and then when that moment's had the chance to breath, get back to the laughs. The devil made of s*** tried my patience at first, admittedly, but the pay-off by the end was good, so I can let it slide, so to speak.

Linda Fiorentino as Bethany

This film has a pretty extensive main cast, which would be an issue if not everyone was given enough time to be properly developed on their own terms, but they really are. Like with basically everything else in this movie, the balance was perfect. The central focus is on Bethany, and I really liked her character arc here. A more simple film would have had her journey go from athiest to Catholic when she learned the truth, but this movie takes a different approach. What was it... something along the lines of 'You can be who you were before, and who you need to be'... I don't know, I'm very much paraphrasing there, but that line sums up her journey wonderfully, and it's the type of character arc I wish we'd see more often. Linda Fiorentino does a fine job in the role, I just wish she emoted a little more. Don't get me wrong, when she needs to make a big choice in the emotion or the character, she does well, but in the majority of conversations, she's very one-note, and it did get distracting. The other focus is on Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as the disgraced angels. Angels in general are always interesting characters to develop, as there's a lot you can do with their lore, and the way they're presented here is interesting. This conversation about angels vs humans and why God seems to have more patience with humans is an especially intriguing story to tell, and Affleck delivers that monologue in particular wonderfully. Affleck and Damon do excellent jobs of playing off each other throughout, and they have great chemistry with each other. I like how naturally their characters sort of swap their intentions at around the halfway point, and there were moments that I really felt genuine sympathy for them, despite the things they'd done.

Alan Rickman as Metatron

The supporting cast are all excellent as well. Alan Rickman is, of course, brilliant. He finds that perfect balance between dignified and ridiculous, and, let's be honest, who else would you pick for the voice of God? This is actually the first role I've seen him in that wasn't Severus Snape. I have to say... I really miss him. Anyway, Chris Rock and Salma Hayek do really well here as well. They have their stand-out moments and never do anything to upstage any of the mains, and I especially like how reserved Chris Rock was while still coming across very Chris Rock-ish. Jason Lee does great as Azrael as well. His motivations made complete sense by the end, which I bring up only because I was worried they wouldn't be able to explain away why he was doing what he was doing. But, no, they managed it. But, of course, I can't not mention Jay and Silent Bob here. These are characters that had appeared in some of Kevin Smith's other work in the past, and I was concerned that these established characters would either be given no time to be reintroduced to new audiences here, or would be completely out of place in the world of Gods and demons. But, honestly, without these two, Dogma wouldn't be Dogma. They brought this extra level of humour and much-needed levity to the experience. Especially considering the heavy subject matter and stakes, you need Jason Mewes to say some perfectly delivered nonsense to cut the tension, and you need Kevin Smith's amazing facial expressions to react to the insanity of the story. I really want to check out other things these characters were in now, as I already love them.

Jason Mewes as Jay and Kevin Smith as Silent Bob

And I also love Dogma (1999). Maybe it's just because it's such a unique movie in terms of its subject matter and it pulls it off in a way that was both tasteful but also scathingly satirical... I can't not love a movie that comes together so intelligently. 9/10.

Off the Cuff Reviews Police Academy (1984)

It's amazing to find a movie that knows what it wants to be and is unashamedly, unapologetically going with it, no matter what. Police Academy (1984) is that movie. It's a movie that takes the very idea of a movie taking itself in any way seriously and tossing it out the window in favour of just being stupid. This is a stupid, stupid movie, and it's proud of that. Starring Steve Guttenberg as Carey Mahoney, Kim Cattrall as Karen Thompson, Bubba Smith as Moses Hightower, Donovan Scott as Leslie Barbara, G. W. Bailey as Lt. Thaddeus Harris and George Gaynes as Commandant Eric Lassard.

Police Academy (1984)

Now, don't get me wrong. When I say 'stupid', I don't mean that it's bad. Far from it. A movie is allowed to have ridiculous things happen and physics-breaking moments as long as it commits to it's own internal logic. When one of the first things that happens in your movie is a man drives a car with two wheels off the ground for an extended period of time, you should know what kind of movie you're in for and, at that point, it's really just a matter of personal preference if you like what that movie is or not. If you don't like it, I'm not going to hold it against you; it's just not your kind of film. Me? I was laughing. The movie had some really great comedic moments for me, and it was fairly consistent. Not every joke was laugh out loud, some maybe even fell flat, but the majority of them were solid. Mahoney's dry wit is pretty consistent, and some of the more outlandish moments land reasonably well. Then you have the jokes that rely too much on gross-out humour and shock value, where the punchline is just 'a dog humps his leg' or 'his head enters a horse's ass'. There are other gross-out jokes like that in here, but the reason these two in particular fail is because that's the extent of the joke. 

Steve Guttenberg as Mahoney

To that effect, I feel as though the script could have used one or two more rewrites. I don't know, it just feels a little messy to me. The movie jumps around a lot, and so it should; it has an awful lot of side characters with varied jokes to make around them, after all. The problem is, the movie loses a lot of focus as a result. There is barely any time devoted to Mahoney's 'I'm going to get myself kicked out' plot before he abandons it entirely, and that was the stuff I wanted to see more of. The bigger problem is that there are a lot of really short scenes that lead to a character-specific punchline and then the scene ends. The issue is, if that punchline doesn't land, the scene was pointless, especially since a majority of them really don't do anything to serve the overall story. There is also little-to-no time put into the relationship between Mahoney and Thompson before the movie decides they're in a relationship. Hell, I'd even say there was little-to-no time put into Thompson's character at all, which is a shame considering how well Kim Cattrall does in the role. Here's how I'd structure the movie: throughout the first and second acts you have Mahoney goofing around, trying to get himself booted whilst getting to know the other recruits (and you can tell their stories at the same time) and spending the most time with Thompson so we can see them actually getting to know each other. Through their bond, Mahoney decides he wants to stay (just like he does in the movie, but later in the story) only to finally get kicked out. The third act can pretty much stay as it is, I just think the first two acts could have used a tidy-up. The problem with making such a gag-heavy movie like this is that you still need to build a decent narrative around it, and if the narrative is weak, some of the gags lose something as a result.

Kim Cattrall as Thompson

I also feel like the movie's villain was just a little weak. Not in the sense that he's not a threat to the main character (even though he kind of isn't), or that his motivations are unclear, but mainly because there seemed to be a better pick for the villain role that the movie sets up only to do nothing with. The police chief in the first act, the one who's there for one scene then never appears again, the one that casually spouts some pretty racist, sexist comments like it's nothing; why wasn't he the main villain? You could easily have had him drop in semi-frequently to check in on the progress, and he could have been the bigger presence to really test Mahoney. Instead, we get the little weaselly Lieutenant with loftier dreams in mind, who can never really be a match for Mahoney. He does his job well enough, and G. W. Bailey is great in the role, but there really needed to be that bigger force driving that aspect of the narrative forward. Also, the movie gets a little confused with it's villain's motivations by the end. They make a point at the beginning of saying they want the cadets to quit on their own accord, rather than simply kicking them out, yet they delight in kicking out two cadets towards the end. This is what I was talking about earlier about a movie sticking to it's own internal logic; in general, nothing is truly a plot-hole until it does that.

G. W. Bailey as Harris

I don't want it to sound like I hated this movie, since, like I said, I didn't. I've been mentioning Mahoney a lot in this review so far and, aside from the fact that he's the main character, that's because Steve Guttenberg carries this movie. He was the perfect cast for the laid-back yet stern Mahoney, and he manages to capture the goofiness of the situations while also bringing it down to earth, which serves to make the entire thing more relatable to the audience. It's part of the reason why I wanted more of a focus on that aspect of the story; I wanted to see Mahoney truly tested, and I wanted to see more out of Steve Guttenberg as a result. The rest of the cast do their jobs really well. It's almost useless to point out individual cases since, in general, each character plays up their one character trait for either laughs or otherwise reasonably well. I do want to give a specific mention to Bubba Smith as Hightower, since he has the most range out of the rest of the cast. I like how they give him a bit more focus with the driving thing before we get some real emotion out of him in the next scene. Smith plays it all without going too over-the-top, and it's the perfect way to play this kind of character. Also, Michael Winslow, the guy that does the sound effects, is brilliant and I loved every scene he was in. They always knew exactly how to use him to full effect, and it was just really impressive to boot.

Bubba Smith as Hightower

So, overall, what did I think of Police Academy (1984)? Well, this review may have seemed pretty half-and-half in terms of positive to negative criticism, but at the end of the day, this movie's main goal was to make me laugh, and I did quite a lot, so I am leaning more towards the positive side of the critical response. It's one of those movies I can put on if I'm just looking for something light-hearted and silly to pass the time. How this spawned 6 sequels, I couldn't tell you, and, trust me, knowing my OCD I'm sure to get around to those eventually. 6.5/10.

Off the Cuff Reviews Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

It's amazing how fundamentally '80s' this movie is. You can really tell this was made in a specific time to appeal to a certain demographic, but there's something remarkable about that as well, and that's how gracefully this movie's aged. It still holds up quite well, and, in a weird way, it's sort of timeless at the same time. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) is one of those quintessential coming-of-age movies that everyone should watch when they reach their rebellious late-teens phase. It's also a movie that stands on its own outside of that target audience, and re-watching it again today has been a wonderful experience. Starring Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller, Alan Ruck as Cameron Frye, Mia Sara as Sloane Peterson, Jennifer Grey as Jeanie Bueller and Jeffrey Jones as Edward R. Rooney.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

One of the things that might be considered off-putting to people watching this for the first time is that it's not a very story-driven movie. Not a lot actually happens to our main characters, not very many obstacles pop up for them to overcome. The plot is essentially just them taking a day off from school and let's see what they do with it. And, like I said earlier, this isn't the first time I've seen this movie, but I do remember that being one of my big negatives before re-watching it today. Now, however... I don't know, maybe I've seen more movies and am a better judge, maybe I'm seeing the movie through new eyes on a re-watch, maybe I'm just smarter now, but I get it. It's not meant to be driven by the plot. It's the characters themselves that are the focus, and that's not to say the focus is 'let's see how the characters deal with the next thing the plot throws at them'. Watching the main characters on their big day off and seeing how they interact with each other along the way is the point. To that end, I'm really happy the movie presents itself like 'Ferris is skipping school just because he wants to' at the beginning only for him to reveal his true motivation later in the film through one of his classic 4th-wall breaks. It's a nice moment when it comes, and it goes a long way to explaining the why of Ferris.

Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller

Ferris himself is a really great character in and of himself, and he'd better be in order for this story to work. I was thinking about it as the movie was going, I was thinking 'Why do I like this kid?' When you really think about it, he doesn't give you a lot of reasons to like him in the first act. He's a slacker, he pushes his friends around and he's a serial liar. In almost any other story, he'd be treated in not necessarily an antagonistic role, but certainly not the hero character. I think the main reason it works here is through the use of the 4th-wall breaks where we get to see the real Ferris and we learn he's not mean-spirited or juvenile or pessimistic. In many ways, the audience falls for the same spell he puts on everyone else around him: he's a genuinely good guy, and you really do fall for his charms quite quickly. It's amazing how the reverse is true for the movie's antagonist, Rooney. When you think about it, the villain of a movie really shouldn't be a school principal trying to make sure someone isn't skipping school. However, not only do they do a great job of showing how mean-spirited he is right away, but the fact that he very quickly takes things way too far just has you rooting against him almost immediately.

Jeffrey Jones as Rooney

Overall, the movie is remarkably well written. It was surprising to learn the entire thing was written in just a week, John Hughes did an excellent job with this one. I love the dry sense of humour this movie has, and how unapologetic it is about just letting Ferris get away with so much while Rooney can never seem to catch a break. The simple visual joke of seeing the 'Save Ferris' mantra get so out of hand is amazing, though it does make me wonder why, if he's so popular and almost everyone wants to save him, does no one notice it's him singing in that parade. I can look past that moment for the joke, however, and the parade sequence is fun enough that it's easy to let it slide. There is one moment I can't accept, however, and it's when Ferris picks Sloane up from the school. If Ferris is such a smart kid, why does he kiss Sloane right in front of Rooney when he's pretending to be her father? It leads to a funny line from Rooney, but it still seems out of place for someone like Ferris who's thought through almost every contingency plan for getting caught. Anyway, the strength of this writing doesn't just come from the humour, but also from the character development throughout, specifically with Frye. I love his growth in this movie, it's such a compelling character to be hanging out with someone like Ferris, and I can forgive that Ferris himself doesn't get any character development or life lessons, since after the journey Frye goes through, it's just unnecessary.

Alan Ruck as Cameron

Every actor was perfectly cast in this movie. Matthew Broderick was the only ever pick for Ferris, and it's an interesting performance he gives. It's naturalistic when he's interacting with other people, but strangely reserved when addressing the audience. I was trying to work out why this is, and I think it's because you never need to use many varied facial expressions or inflections when you're talking to yourself, since you're not talking for anyone else's benefit. It's a strange way to describe it, but it really works. Alan Ruck is also perfect as Frye, and he has the perfect nervous energy you'd want for a character like this, but what's great about the performance is how all of it completely disappears when he's having fun or focusing on something other than his 'woes'. He's probably my favourite character in this movie, and a lot of that is down to Ruck. Mia Sara is also great as Sloane, I just wish we learned more about her character throughout the movie. Really, the only thing we learn about her is 'she's in the year below Ferris'. Other than her being on board with Ferris' ways, there's not much we know about her personally, and although it's not a big deal overall, it is something that would have added just that little bit more overall. I don't want to beat a dead horse with the rest of the cast, so I'll just say they're all great. Jennifer Grey, Jeffrey Jones, Charlie Sheen, Ben Stein, especially Ben Stein, they're all wonderful.

Mia Sara as Sloane

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) is one of those unique movies that is what it is and knows what it is, which is half the reason why it works so well. Check it out if you haven't already. Love it or hate it, you'll get a unique experience out of it either way. 8.5/10.

Off the Cuff Reviews Airplane! (1980)

I'm a comedy writer. I feel like most of you know this. I love writing comedies, coming up with jokes unique to the specific story/characters that couldn't be told in any other context. So, when a comedy comes along that shakes up all the predispositions for what a comedy can do, it hits me. Airplane (1980) is such a comedy. I'm in awe of this movie, and it is, simply put, one of the greatest comedies I've seen. Starring Robert Hays as Ted Striker, Julie Hagerty as Elaine Dickinson and Leslie Nielson as Dr. Rumack.

Airplane (1980)

One of the most impressive things about Airplane is the sheer variety of jokes it contains. At first, I thought we were mainly going to be getting jokes about the plane itself and the people on it, but there are some insane out-of-left-field jokes in this film. I can't remember if it was before or at the point where the girl scouts started glassing each other in a tavern, but at some point you just submit yourself to the madness. The weird thing is, I'm almost relieved so many jokes go as far as they do, as if only a few did, they would feel out of place and not at all funny. The opening couple of minutes really set the scene perfectly; a Jaws parody followed by two airport intercom announcers bickering over what the red/white zones are for as a thinly veiled way for their spat about an abortion to continue. After witnessing all of that in the first 90 seconds, you're in. Instantly. It was that fast. I was immediately on board and along for the ride, eager to see what ridiculous premise the next joke would base itself on. And I wouldn't be disappointed.

Robert Hays as Ted

The other impressive thing about Airplane is how quick the jokes come. I'm serious, it's a movie that never lets you stop to catch your breath. Every shot is either telling a joke, in the middle of a joke, or isn't a joke but is allowing for the next shot to set up its joke effectively. It's like the writers wanted to set a record for how many jokes they could cram into one <90 minute movie. And, it's not just the dialogue. There are so many sight gags that happen either right in front of you, or in the background while other dialogue is happening. Honestly, it was almost tiring trying to keep up with this movie. It was just joke after joke after joke with almost no let up, and the best part of all of this? Barely any joke falls flat. Apart from a few jokes that have either dated a little or are just a little too out there even for this movie, every single joke hits a bullseye. That's why I'm so in awe of this movie. I wish I could write something that told as many jokes as consistently and effortlessly as this movie did. I'm almost relieved that not many other films have attempted to do what this film did; it's more special because it's so unique.

Julie Hagerty as Elaine

The backdrop for all of this is an out-of-control plane, and they do manage to squeeze pretty much all the material out of this setting as possible. In terms of the plot, I feel like it's unnecessary to talk about it, since it really doesn't matter in a movie like this. The jokes are front-and-center here, but they never detract too much from the story being told, which is why, despite all the nonsense that's unfolding, you're still invested in whether or not this plane will get to the ground. A lot of the credit goes to the main cast, and I love the way this movie picked its actors. They seem to have gone for more of the typically serious or dramatic actors and basically just told them to do their usual stuff, which really helps the deadpan nature of this material shine through. If this script was given to typical comedy actors and they were allowed to ham it up, this movie would not have been nearly as wonderful as it is here. That's a big par of why so many of these jokes work: the actors are committing 100% to the situation, as half-assing it even a little would expose the, well, silliness of the whole thing. The supporting cast are also fantastic, and every single one of them gets at least one moment to shine. I just wish we get a little more closure on what happened to some of them in the denouement. Not all of them, but some which were given a focus early on, I feel like we could have gotten a couple more laughs out of them once the whole thing was over.

Leslie Nielsen as Dr. Rumack

The main focus of the story is on Striker and Elaine's relationship, and we get their story told in numerous flashbacks which, thankfully, don't detract from the main storyline on the plane like I was worried they would. Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty play these roles wonderfully, and their chemistry is great throughout. I'm especially impressed with Hagerty, since this was her first film role ever, and she nailed it. I love how they treated their story like something out of a Hitchcock movie; a lot of elements of this story really reminded me of Vertigo. I imagine this was the intention, and it just makes it so much better when we see their story unfold throughout the flight. Leslie Nielson's deadpan delivery is perfect at every moment, and I'm sure to be using 'Don't call me Shirley' in my everyday vernacular from now on. I'm running short on things to talk about with this movie, but, really, do I need to say anything more? I've talked about the jokes and the characters, nothing else really matters here. I can't talk about the plot in great detail, because it's a joke, I can't criticise any plotholes I may or may not have found, because any that show up are there for a joke that nails it, I can't talk about the soundtrack, because a lot of that is used for jokes as well... I feel like I'd just be repeating myself if I went on any further.

Otto

So, I'll just end it here by saying Airplane (1980) is indeed one of the greatest comedies I've ever seen. If you're a fan of comedy, or just want to laugh for 87 minutes, check it out and, I promise you, you will not be disappointed. 9.5/10.

Off the Cuff Reviews Clueless (1995)

If a movie, or any piece of media really, can take a subject matter that inherently disinterests me and make it fun and entertaining, that gets you big points in my book. I couldn't give two s***s about most movies that use high school drama, and especially the high school drama of snobby rich kids, as the focus of their narrative. Clueless (1995) manages to make it funny and investing and not at all annoying. The main character of this movie is an entitled, spoiled, somewhat ditzy teenager and she never got on my nerves. I can't stress enough how impressive that is to me. Starring Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz, Stacey Dash as Dionne Davenport, Brittany Murphy as Tai Frasier and Paul Rudd as Josh Lucas.

Clueless (1995)

So, why is it? Why don't I have a similar guttural reaction to this movie than I do with other teen romance movies? I think it's probably because it clearly understands how high school students operate, or at least did back in the 90s. I hear the writer did a lot of research in Beverly Hills high schools, and it really shows. In other, less intelligent, high school movies, you always see the same basic tropes: you've got the different cliques that everyone falls into and never leaves ever, the popular girls walking around like they own the place, a romance that's ridiculously played up and far too melodramatic for how old the kids are. Those tropes are all in this movie as well, but what makes them work is that they're not the focus; they're just there. The kids interact and are generally pleasant with people outside their immediate cliques, the romances are given a big scale by the kids themselves, but the movie never makes it appear bigger than it actually is. Granted, you've still got the popular girls walking around like they own the place, but in any other movie these characters would be the one-dimensional, snobby villain characters manipulating everyone around them to make sure the protagonists never become popular and the social hierarchy can be maintained. I honestly cannot emphasise enough how much I hate how formulaic these high school dramas can be.

Breckin Meyer as Travis

In this movie, the popular girls are actually given characters and depth and it means they're all the more relatable. That's something that other high-school dramas miss; since the rich girls are just there to be the rich girls, it stops you from connecting with them and it's just not fun to watch. Here, we see everything: their everyday lives, their inner monologues, and the fact that these popular girls mean well and aren't out to ruin someone's day for the sake of it, it's a lot more believable. I need to stop talking about this movie through the lens of other high-school dramas I hate and just talk about it as a movie. Anyway, something else that helps this movie out is its sense of humour. It's part of the thing that helps Cher remain so likeable throughout: the movie is completely self-aware of the kind of character she is. The movie never really tries to present itself as a hyper-realistic look at a normal high school, which is part of what makes what I was talking about in the above paragraph so bizarre. The research was done to get the lingo and behaviour of the different types of kids accurate, and to make the jokes about them land even harder. No high school in history has given a student an applause break for given an Oscar-style speech for having the most tardy days of any other kid in the class. And, while the movie is presented through the lens of this popular rich girl, it's surprisingly snarky about the kind of person she is, and those jokes at her expense, and the expense of people like her, is honestly the best part of the movie. The one visual gag of about half a dozen girls with bandages on their noses/chins due to their recent plastic surgeries is probably what encapsulates this movie for me: it's not trying to be super accurate, but just accurate enough so the sense of humour the movie's going for can work as well as it does.

Alicia Silverstone as Cher

A lot of the jokes themselves are honestly really well-written. I had two laugh-out-loud moments in roughly the first minute, and I was hooked from that moment. Part of what makes this movie work is Alicia Silverstone's narration throughout, without which there would always be just that little something missing. I'm not sure what it is, but it really works. It could just be as simple as Alicia Silverstone making this role completely her own, and she absolutely does that. The last thing I saw her in was Batman & Robin, and holy f***, is this a marketed improvement. It seems weird to say, since it's a character that's been done a lot, but I really can't imagine anyone else in this role. The script obviously helps a lot, but Silverstone finds a way to add so much depth to this character while putting on the persona of the classic 'popular girl' character. The entire cast do really well in this movie, even if I wish Wallace Shawn got a little more to do. I, of course, need to mention Paul Rudd. He does such a great job at playing the 'regular guy' character, and his performances are just so completely natural that for a second you forget he's acting. He doesn't get a chance to be as comedic as I know he can be here, but he plays an excellent 'straight man'.

Paul Rudd as Josh

Okay, so what isn't so great about this movie? Well, I do wish it was funnier. I know I just gushed about how funny some of this writing is, but notice I use the phrase 'some of this writing'. It's not that there are some jokes in here that fall completely flat, but there are big chunks of the movie that don't really have any comedy in them, mainly in the back half. When there need to be the more character-driven moments, they don't feel the need to put in any character-based jokes, and just a few in some of these sequences would really have gone a long way. I guess, because I like the movie's sense of humour so much, I wanted more of it, and I really didn't like the 'screaming in the car' sequence. There could have been some great lines in that sequence, but they stuck with screaming, and it was the one part of the movie where I was just not amused by any of it, even if the pay-off with the narration did make me laugh by the end, it wasn't worth it to get there. Also, I know I mentioned that the movie shies away from doing what other high school dramas do, which is why it was so disappointing when a few of those familiar elements cropped up here. The main one is the rival popular girl who gets, at most, three exchanges with Cher and all of them are bratty and unnecessary to the movie overall. I just don't get what the point of this character was, she does nothing for the story and nothing to drive the characters forward, even as the closest thing this movie has to a antagonist, so what's the point of her? The movie also didn't quite sell me on Cher & Lucas' relationship by the end. Silverstone and Rudd had such great chemistry as a brother/sister dynamic, even if they weren't technically brother and sister, that when it switches to a more romantic thing, it comes off as creepy, especially when you consider the high school/college student component to it. I understand the movie was based off a Jane Austen novel, but not everything translated well to the setting they chose.

Brittany Murphy as Tai

In the end, Clueless (1995) is a fun time, and I would probably see it again, if not just for the fact that I'm surprised by how well this movie stacks up against other movies in its genre. It's not one of my favourites, but I liked it fine. I imagine I'll get to worse high school dramas in due time, and expect a scathing outburst when that happens. 7.5/10.

Off the Cuff Plays Crash Nitro Kart (2003)

After Naughty Dog abandoned the Crash Bandicoot property, the series was in a weird state of limbo. Games were being released, but the games were really struggling to find an identity. As I've discussed before, Wrath of Cortex was a mess, failing to mix the familiar aspects of the franchise with newer ideas, and I'll get to the future main series games later, but for now, I'd like to talk about one of the games that got the closest to capturing the spirit of the Naughty Dog era. Crash Nitro Kart (2003) is the spiritual successor to Crash Team Racing, and while it definitely doesn't stick the landing, it does the most right. Crash Nitro Kart is a cartoon kart racer developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Universal Interactive.

Crash Nitro Kart (2003)

After hearing about their racing prowess, Emperor Velo XXVII kidnaps the Bandicoots and Team Cortex and forces them to race in the Galaxy Circuit for the entertainment of his subjects. He promises their freedom should they win, and the destruction of the Earth should they refuse. That's really all there is to the plot, and the boss encounters make more sense here than in CTR as a result, but the story still isn't a huge focus here, nor should it be, so it's fine. The general gameplay is exactly the same as in Crash Team Racing, and the controls are all the same, but there are a few additions here to spice things up a little bit. The main addition is the team mechanic. The four teams are Team Bandicoot, Team Cortex, Team Oxide and Team Trance, and should your teammates be in close proximity to you during a race, your Team Attack meter will build, and once it fills, you get an endless stream of weapons for a short amount of time. There are also a few changes to the track design, namely an anti-gravity component to some of the tracks, which adds to the nature of the locations being alien in nature.

Inferno Island

So, yeah, the tracks are all based on original alien worlds, and while they are great to look at, especially for the time, I feel like there is something lost there. I stand by what I feel about the original Crash Team Racing; the fact that the tracks are based on levels from the Crash trilogy isn't what makes the designs so great, but it doesn't hurt either. Seeing the familiar locations made the environments more interesting to look at, even when there wasn't a lot happening on screen. There's still a lot of variety amongst the tracks regardless, so it's fine overall, it's just not as interesting, and really doesn't help the worlds feel like they belong in the world of Crash Bandicoot (and I have no idea why Tiny gets a track themed all around him on an alien planet where they've never seen him before). A big upside is that all the music is fantastic. The main theme is excellent, and does a perfect job getting you hyped up for the game to come, and all the tracks have the perfect music accompanying them. Some of them aren't as high energy, but it strangely works. The Deep Sea Driving theme is really relaxing and it's amazing. The high energy tracks are, of course, excellent as well, with Thunder Struck, Electron Avenue and Hyper Spaceway being highlights.

Deep Sea Driving (2003)

I did mention that the gameplay was incredibly similar to the original game, and when it is, it's fantastic, but there are a few differences that do drag things down a little. The karts are lighter than in CTR, meaning that turning is a little looser, and the turning arc is wider, which wouldn't be a problem if not for the fact that occasionally the tracks are narrower, meaning that it's impossible to avoid ramming into walls in some places. Whenever there were tight turns in CTR, the tracks were wide enough to compensate, and it doesn't always feel like that's taken into account here. The karts being lighter also means that jumping takes a lot longer, and even little jumps off hills give you big air, but it feels like you lose more acceleration than speed you gained with the boost. Acceleration in general feels a lot weaker here than in CTR, even with the acceleration-heavy characters. Ramming into walls specifically, which, you'll recall, happens a lot, feels like it takes forever to recover from, as not only does it take a while to build speed again, but you seem to stick to walls a lot more, and turning off them takes a lot more effort than before. Hopping on the spot to turn takes forever, based on both the lighter karts and the weakened acceleration. See, when these slightly worse elements from the original add together, it feels like hell overall. As for the track designs, I'm a little torn. Some tracks are unique, exciting and incredibly fun to race through, and others are a little bland, and occasionally un-fun, especially with the tracks that are almost 100% comprised of right-angle turns. These are especially impossible with the wider turning arc. Anti-gravity racing, though a great idea, also comes with its negatives. Jumping off a boost from an anti-gravity segment into a regular segment, seems to be impossible, but it's more than that. Sometimes the anti-grav is fluid and feels integral to the track design (Deep Sea Driving and Hyper Spaceway, for example). Other times, it can be disorienting and janky (Tiny Temple and... Deep Sea Driving again). In the Teknee overworld, the anti-gravity is so curved, it actually makes the kart think it keeps hitting a wall, killing momentum. And, I guess, the fact that every track in this game is being redone in the upcoming Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled without sacrificing anything or making the tracks feel unfinished speaks volumes.

Clockwork Wumpa

The Adventure Mode is remarkably similar to CTR's campaign, to the point where the only thing that seems different about it is the reduced number of tracks. You've got your Trophy races, CNK Tokens, Crystal grabbing, Relic Races, all that jazz. The bosses are really well designed, however, and it makes the fact that they aren't unlockable even more weird. In fact, the character roster in general seems a little weird. Zam and Zem are the worst decisions anyone ever made, especially with the amount of existing Crash characters that aren't available. One of the new features in Adventure Mode is you pick a team and can switch between any of the three in any race, all with different stats. In theory it's a great idea, and it makes the varied cutscenes depending on which team you pick even more interesting, but since you're likely going to prefer how one character controls over the other two, you might as well just pick the one character. Overall, since Adventure Mode is remarkably similar to CTR, it's mostly fun, with one key element that ruins the whole thing: the final boss race against Velo. Velo himself is well designed and a fun character to antagonise you throughout the campaign, but he is way too broken in the final race. Not only does he have an endless supply of items, and his two minions have the same, but his rolling bombs he fires at key points in the track seem to have a homing element, and always roll at precisely the right angle, even if you swerve long after he's fired the bomb. Not only that, but once you get in front of him, unlike any other boss in any racing game, he gains access to weapons that fire in front of him, specifically the over-powered homing missiles. With every other boss, the challenge is getting in front of the boss with the boosted stats and keeping the lead, but Velo's race turns into a challenge of getting the right random items to protect yourself or gain access to the shortcuts that put you far enough in front of Velo where his missiles do nothing. It's not fun and it ruins the game for me.

Emperor Velo XXVII

However, the core racing is still fine at its core, and the multiplayer aspect is still fun enough for me to call Crash Nitro Kart a fun game overall. I've enjoyed my many, many hours I've funneled into this game, and I'm glad it's being given as much representation in the upcoming remake as it's getting. It just pales in comparison to the racing game that preceded it. As for Crash Tag Team Racing... I'll get to that one later. 6.5/10.