Humor | the m0vie blog

433. City Lights (#54)

Posted on August 30, 2025 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, with week with special guest Síomha McQuinn, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.

This week, Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights.

In a city, a tramp has a series of unlikely encounters with an eccentric millionaire and a blind flower girl that set in motion a series of bizarre and unlikely adventures.

At time of recording, it was ranked 54th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: blind flower girl, charlie chaplin, cinematic history, city, City Lights, early cinema, episodic structure, filmmaking influence, Great Depression, Humor, imdb, new york, podcast, production, síomha mcquinn, silent cinema, silent film, social commentary, Tramp | Leave a comment »

417. Laapataa Ladies (Lost Ladies) (#—)

Posted on April 13, 2025 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This week, Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies.

A mishap on a train involving a set of matching wedding veils leads two brides to end up in the wrong locations. As the families try desperately to set things right, reconnecting the lost ladies with their soon-to-be husbands, each of the two brides embarks on a surprising journey that teaches them something profound about the human condition.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: cinematography, cultural complexities, gender identity, Humor, imdb, india, indian cinema, Kiran Rao, La Pata Ladies, Oscar submission, podcast, societal critique, The 250, two brides | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Throw Momma From the Train

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Darren

Throw Momma From the Train feels like something of a dry run for Danny DeVito. The actor had previously directed a cable television movie, The Ratings Game, but Throw Momma From the Train represented his theatrical directorial début. While not nearly as effective as his follow-up, the classic War of the Roses, Throw Momma From the Train sustains itself with an interesting premise and two charming lead performances that help cover for a script that isn’t anywhere near as darkly comic as it would like to think that it is.

Snatching DeVito from the jaws of victory…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, billy crystal, danny devito, DeVito, Flintstones, hitchcock, Humor, Kate Mulgrew, Larry, Miami-Dade County Florida, Owen, Ratings Game, Recreation, Strangers on a Train, Throw Momma From the Train | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Campaign

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Darren

The Campaign is hardly the most complex piece of political satire ever written. In fact, the movie suffers a great deal because its observations about political corruption feel fairly superficial. The relationship between donors and politicians, and the sway that what the movie terms “big money” has over elected officials, are hardly cutting insights into the way that lobbying and electioneering actually works. To be fair, there is something in the way that the movie parodies the tendency of US elections to get incredibly dirty incredibly fast, but The Campaign ultimately winds up feeling a little superficial.

That’s not to say that there aren’t moments of wit to be found here. Both Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis are skilled comedians, even when the material isn’t necessarily up to scratch. And in order to make fun of the extreme rhetoric that such campaigns may involve, the movie occasionally pushes itself into the realm of the surreal. However, its observations and its targets seem so obvious that the movie can also be remarkably frustrating.

A candid(ate) look at the electoral process?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Brady, Campaign finance, Campaigns and Elections, Dylan McDermott, Eric McCormack, Ferrell, film, Galifianakis, Humor, Knife Fight, Official, Political campaign, Political corruption, Political satire, politics, republicans, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, United States, will ferrell, Zach Galifianakis | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: My Cousin Vinny

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Darren

My Cousin Vinny still works after all these years, I think, because it’s pretty broad and universal in its humour. It’s essentially two types of fish-out-of-water film blended together, simultaneously documenting a street-smart guy tangling with the red tape of legal bureaucracy, and offering a standard city-slickers adventure with “Noo Yawker” Vinny and his girlfriend adjusting to life in the Deep South. My Cousin Vinny is funny and frank, but never offensively so. It’s aware that it’s trading in caricatures and stereotypes, but never seems too mean in its portrayal of anybody.