Life - 1999 **

For a film with such a well known and rich cast, it's a pity that this didn't do much for me. Lawrence is a hardworking man about to start the job of a lifetime, and Murphy is a fast-talking con man. Circumstances under their control lead them to being arrested for a murder they didn't commit, and sentenced to 60+ years in jail. This they serve together, becoming firm friends, as well as bonding closely with other members of the farm where they are working. So many good actors here, but I only found myself raising a smile here and there. It just wasn't for me.

Almost Married - 2014 *

I think maybe film directors are really scraping the barrel now. There doesn't appear to be ANYTHING left for them to make a film about. This is the all time low.

Emily Atack plays Lydia, the gobby, chavvy fiance of Kyle. 

Kyle has recently got back from his stag do where most of the events are a blur. He's brought Lydia a gift, in the form of an STI. Lydia has no idea, except that it burns when she wees. Kyle must now try to convince Lydia not to have sexual relations with him until after the wedding (being on a course of antibiotics until then).

Whoever was paid to come up with this stupid story needs a smack over the head. It's utterly ridiculous, especially the 'twist' and deeply unfunny. In fact, it makes you squirm to watch it.

Gone Fishin' - 1997 *

'Gone Fishin' is not a good film. It's not funny, it's got Danny Glover in it (who cannot act for toffee) and it's just all round boring.
Two fishing enthusiasts go on a trip together to Florida and get caught up in a criminal ring when their car is stolen. I think putting these two actors together is a big mistake and I really didn't enjoy it.
Bad.

Meatballs - 1979 *

Bill Murray (annoying as ever) ruins scene after scene in the worst 'summer camp' movie ever.
Along the way, he embarrasses children, shouts a lot, letches after a fellow worker, plays immature tricks on people, and generally is a giant nuisance to everyone involved. Murray is not a good choice for this role, but then again, who would be?!

The Big Wedding - 2013 **

Considering the massive stellar cast I was disappointed at this rather unfunny 'comedy' about a motley crew of characters when all congregate together when a relative is getting married. Robert De Niro is the father who has to pretend that he is still happily married to Diane Keaton in order to convince his son's stepmother of the traditional ways of their family. In reality he has been in a relationship with Susan Sarandon for eight years.  What follows are a series of embarrassing moments as the wedding gets closer.
Its moderately okay, but it wasn't as good as I had hoped.

Take Me Home Night - 2011 **

A ghastly rom-com. None of the characters are likeable, they all seem to have one purpose in life - to get drunk and go to parties (except for Anna Faris who is the biggest attention seeker ever and keeps going on about having a letter from Cambridge but not wanting to open it).
There is the usual big, unfunny bloke with curly hair who doesn't have any aim or goal in his life, and there is the typical suit-wearing 'I'm quietly intelligent yet also a complete snob' bloke too.
All romantic comedies, or even comedies full stop nowadays are filled with stereotypical characters, and it really annoys me. Also, the woman that one of the pathetic men is after (usually one from school/uni/work/the one that got away) is not only a total b**** but also not much to look at. There, that wraps up the film. Lots of drinking, doing drugs, trying to get off with women who are horrible, and soul searching about how pathetic life can be.
Not what you would call an uplifting film.
2 stars for 'Video Killed the Radio Star' at the beginning.

Dirty Movie - 2911 *

Well National Lampoon seems to be heading for a permanent fall. This was just another shocking attempt at comedy that was as funny as a hernia.
The idea of a film about making a film (oh, and it's chokablok full of perverted jokes) has been done before so wasn't really a treat. The actors all looked like this was their last chance at fame before they got a 'normal' job, and to be honest I'm amazed this was even given DVD release. Horrendous.

Cattle Call - 2006 *

Except for the very funny 'Vacation' movies, National Lampoon is a bit of a damp squib. It's just a vague name that people associate with comedy when in actual fact the company send to churn out the most awful junk imaginable.
'Cattle Call' is no exception. It's quite literally horrendous with such an embarrassing story that it will make you weep. The idea of 'auditioning' women to be your girlfriend without them knowing just really annoyed me! It seemed utterly sexist and chauvinistic. It wasn't funny either.

Soapdish - 1991 **

For a film that had such a good cast it was surprisingly unfunny and over the top. Sally Field is the manic, obsessive star of a daytime television soap who becomes desperate after finding out that the company want to get rid of her. Robert Downey Jnr plays one of the writers, besotted with a member of the cast, and Whoopi Goldberg is Field's close friend and scriptwriter Rose.
There is obviously a reason why this isn't exactly an Oscar winner.

Grown Ups - 2010 **

In 'anticipation' of the new Grown Ups 2 movie, I thought I should watch the first one. Oh no no no, what a mistake. This was awful! Adam Sandler and Chris Rock, I command you to step away from Kevin James and David Spade this instant or your acting careers will be flushed down the toilet.
A group of old school friends mourning the death of their favourite coach, decide to spend a weekend together, honouring him, getting drunk, mucking around, being immature, disrespecting their wives and injuring each other in the name of 'masculinity.' It was boring, unfunny, and I barely raised a smile. It's not a nice 'feel good' film, more a warning to all those who think they are 'missing out' on being young and foolish, when in fact, they are just sad and pathetic. *sigh*

The Woman in Red - 1984 ***

Not a particularly funny film as Gene Wilder movies go, but still something to watch on a Sunday afternoon. Wilder plays Teddy, a happily married man who becomes besotted by a woman he sees at work. The whole film is basically about him trying to find ways to be close to her without his wife finding out. I thought it was a bit of a sad film, and portrays married men as idiots who can't control themselves.

Freddy Got Fingered - 2011 **

For such a cult film with a massive following I thought this was going to be hilarious, but in all honesty I can't understand what all the fuss was about, and only raised a smile a couple of times throughout the whole film. Tom Green overacts, but not in a clever, 'I'm taking the mickey out of this kind of film' way, more in a total lack of understanding what funny means. The famous quotes you hear bandied about come swift and fast, without really standing out (give me Bogart's last line in 'Casablanca' any day) and I was left straight-faced by the whole film.

Don't Tell Mum the Babysitter's Dead - 1991 **

The scariest thing about this film is Christina Applegate's massive eyebrows which take over most of her scenes with abject force.
The movie itself is a bit stupid. It's I suppose trying to follow along the same sort of lines as 'Weekend at Bernie's' and while that was hilarious from start to finish, this one fails miserably and doesn't deliver any sort of humour to it's audience. A mother leaves her five children at home alone for 2 months while she goes on vacation, and during that time (well, to be honest, about 2 days after she's gone) the babysitter dies. Keen to have the place to themselves and not worry their mother, the siblings make a pact not to tell her what has happened and instead try to run the house themselves for the remainder of the time, making more and more mess and mistakes as they go along. It's not funny.

Van Wilder: Party Liaison - 2002 **

'Van Wilder' is just not a funny film. Ryan Reynolds is awful and since Tara Reid went on Big Brother expressing herself as such a vapid and dull human being I can't say I was impressed by either of them. Van Wilde has been going to school for 7 years, and he's doing just fine. He's not actually doing any proper work, but he's getting a lot out of the social and party scene which comes with each year of new talent. He's the kind of guy women hate who thinks he can just snap his fingers and you come running. Tara Reid, plays a boring, journalistic nerd who has no romantic interest in him and just wants stories for her newspaper. They meet, they get on, then they don't, then they do, she's got a boyfriend, he's single but wants her, bla bla bla. The typical American formula for all rom-coms. Boring.

I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell - 2009 *

Oh dear. When will they learn to not make comedies out of bestselling books. Apparently the book is hilarious, which is a good thing really because the film is not. If anything, it was very depressing and doesn't portray men in a good light at all. They are either totally sex-crazed to the point where they want to sleep with anything that moves or they have a massive problem with women full stop and slag them off mercilessly at every opportunity. Not exactly a comedy. Just a worrying journey into what happens when you drink too much beer and let your 'friends' organise your stag night.

Teaching Mrs Tingle - 1999 *

Not a black comedy, as comedy implies that it's supposed to be funny. But it's not, and none of these people can act. Even sweet little Katie Holmes is ridiculously overcast in this bizarre film about revenge on a teacher by 3 students who all despise her. Helen Mirren shouldn't have lent herself to this shocker. It's hideously bad.

Boudu Saved From Drowning - 1932 ***

I'm strugglnig to come up with something good to say about this film, except that it was done by Jean Renoir. Other than that, this film was desperately disappointing, and even more so because I had waited years and years to see it. It was unfunny, uninteresting and generally uninspiring.
The film revolves around a tramp named Boudu who decides to end it all by drowning himself. Fortunately he is rescued by a nice family who try to look after him and lift his spirits but not before he has completely taken over their home and driven them up the wall.
Very sad to feel this way about the film especially seeing as 'Un Partie de Campagne' was so beautifully done.

Bridesmaids - 2011 **

I thoroughly disliked this film. I hear that people are raving about it and calling it original, well I guess it is, but that doesn't mean it's any good. Wills and Kate reportedly went to see it and found it very funny, so I'm not sure what I'm missing.

All the characters were deeply unlikeable especially the lead blonde woman who comes across as a very selfish human being. The bride is weird, the other bridesmaids just sort of fade into the background, and the men have the most ridiculous accents you have heard. Am not sure either why Matt Lucas (who is British down to his socks) is being paired with a 'sister' who has a heavy Australian/South African accent. Something isn't right there. I do despair for modern comedy I really do, it just seems to be disappointment after disappointment.

Friends with Benefits - 2011 **

I watched 14 films this weeked, and the first was this 'comedy' from last year.

Now I love Mila Kunis, I think she's gorgeous, but Justin Timberlake really needs to stick to singing instead of trying to make people laugh because he DOESN'T.

People are branding this film as though it's a new and exciting idea for romantic comedy - the whole 'friends can sleep together without having any feelings for each other' is certainly not new.

Before you've even pressed play you know how the film is going to be, and that's the sad state of American comedy these days, that you can almost predict everything that is going to happen.

Kunis meets Timberlake at work. They are both damaged from previous relationships and believe that they can have meaningless sex without getting attached to each other. Of course that's not going to happen. More likely is that someone is going to get seriously hurt, considering the constant referral to how 'damaged' they are every half an hour. That's not even a spoiler, but just a general feeling I got about 15 minutes getting into the film.

The actors don't really seem to connect with each other, and there isn't much chemistry, and the film isn't even particularly funny. It's old hat. It's been done (I'm not sure where but surely it has??) and you are taken on an almost pointless trip that you really don't want to go on.

I haven't seen 'No Strings Attached' yet but have heard it's a bit like this? Not sure if I dare.