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306. Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (-#52)

Posted on October 3, 2022 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Raymond Creamer, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

So this week, Troy Miller’s Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd.

Years before they embark on a cross-country roadtrip, lovable idiots Harry Dunne and Lloyd Christmas strike up an unlikely friendship in high school. However, they quickly find themselves drawn into their principal’s sinister scheme to embezzle money by exploiting the school’s students to create a privately-funded special needs class.

At time of recording, it was ranked 52nd on the list of the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The Bottom 100 | Tagged: ableism, cinemythology, comedy, comedy prequels, Dumb and Dumber, dumb and dumberer, gags, jim carrey, jokes, podcast, prequels, racism, raymond creamer, Sketch comedy, spoof, The 250, The Bottom 100, the farrelly brothers, troy miller | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! On How “Black Widow” Demonstrates the MCU’s Humour Problem…

Posted on July 27, 2021 by Darren

So, as I have mentioned before, I am launching a new video series as a companion piece to In the Frame at The Escapist. The video will typically launch with every second Monday’s article, and be released on the magazine’s YouTube channel the following week. This is kinda cool, because we’re helping relaunch the magazine’s film content – so if you can throw a subscription our way, it would mean a lot.

With the release of Black Widow earlier in the month, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at the film. In particular, the use of humour in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general and in Black Widow in particular. In its best moments, the Marvel Cinematic Universe uses humour to enrich and deepen its themes. However, in Black Widow, it undermines them.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: agency, black widow, comedy, humour, improv, in the frame, jokes, natasha, omar ahmed, the escapist, video | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Black Widow” and the MCU’s Humour Problem…

Posted on July 19, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release of Black Widow last weekend, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at one of the film’s biggest issues and one of the biggest issues with the MCU in general: the question of tone.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is funny. It has always been funny. This is part of what distinguished it from a lot of its comic book movie contemporaries when it was released. However, as the universe has progressed and evolved, the “house style” has tended towards ironic and self-aware punchlines. Sometimes this approach works beautifully; many of the best Marvel Studios films are also the funniest. However, it can also serve as a distraction that lowers the dramatic stakes and undermines key character beats.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: black widow, comic books, dramatic, escapist magazine, humour, in the frame, jokes, Marvel Cinematic Universe, punchlines, stakes, the escapist, video | Leave a comment »

80. Deadpool 2 – This Just In (#183)

Posted on May 26, 2018 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney and with special guest Graham Day, This Just In is a subset of The 250 podcast, looking at notable new arrivals on the list of the 250 best movies of all-time, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.

This time, David Leitch’s Deadpool 2.

At time of recording, it was ranked the 183rd best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: Deadpool, deadpool 2, fridging, graham day, jokes, r-rated, x-force | Leave a comment »

In Good Humour: The Calamatous Case of the Comedy Classics…

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Darren

The wonderful lads over at Anomalous Materials are running a tournament over the summer to find the best comedy of all time. Think of it as a world cup, for film nerds. However, the competition – like our quad-annual footie fest – has had its share of upsets. Most notable in an early round where Galaxy Quest triumphed over Some Like it Hot or the trumping of Arsenic and Old Lace by A Fish Called Wanda another day (the same day The General went home empty handed, losing to Mrs. Doubtfire) or Bringing Up Baby getting trounced by Little Miss Sunshine. There are more borderline cases, with The Apartment beating The Circus or The Great Dictator losing to The Graduate. However, the only victory for a “classic” classic film I could find was that of City Lights over A Christmas Story. This sparked a bit of discussion between those taking part (which is, in fairness, the rather wonderful thing about events like this), but it got us wondering: Is comedy a fickle mistress? Has what the audience expected from a comedy changed dramatically with the times? Are what many consider to be “classics” of the genre subject to this winds of change and popular taste?