Showing posts with label comedy. Show all posts

Rediscovering Mrs. Brown's Boys

Taking a few minutes off from present wrapping to bring you a little something. No, it's not a preview of the Doctor Who Christmas Special, "The Husbands of River Song," that airs Christmas Day. No, it's not the posts I'm working on about "Heaven Sent" and "Hell Bent" or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "Maveth." Those are on hold due to the sheer craziness of the last few weeks. Work is done...mostly. Christmas shopping is done...just in time! But I wanted to share this.

The last Christmas present I bought, and the biggest decision I had to make, was Mrs. Brown's Boys. I know almost nothing about this series. Last year, or maybe even the year before, my family sat down to a Christmas episode. I have no idea what channel was playing it, but since it wan't censored, I'm guessing it wasn't PBS, our old go-to for introducing us to over-the-pond TV series. Now, usually it's Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon, but public television still brings us the occasional surprise, like Doc Martin.

As for Mrs. Brown's Boys, I have a feeling if we hadn't been channel surfing that night then we would have never heard about it. I haven't heard a whisper since. The memories came flooding back the second I saw the DVD set cover, though. (The Blu-ray isn't available for the U.S., unless you have a region-free player.) I remembered that I couldn't stop laughing, my ribs hurt by the time it was over, my cheeks were sore, and I was dehydrated, like a great episode of Whose Line is it Anyway? I loved it. I hope the rest is just as funny. I will absolutely be watching this with the gift recipient, my father, or I'll just steal it for a while.

I gathered a few clips here so you can see if this is a comedy for you.

Mrs. Brown's Boys
The Complete Series


Price: ~ $78
# of Discs: 8
Runtime: 749 minutes
Release Date: November 3, 2015
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THE WALKING DEAD
La-Bibbida-Bibba-Dum
Bad Lip Reading Video

Tonight on The Walking Dead, hilarity ensues. Zombies talk, a governor sings, fish have psychic powers, and Andrea is fixated on banjos...

Have you ever seen the Bad Lip Reading videos on YouTube? They're so great that I can watch them dozens of times, like an episode of Friends, except these make no sense at all. The NFL one was the first I saw and the best. But "The Walking and Taking Dead" just surpassed it for what I assume is a little nod to David Morrissey's time in the musical mini series Blackpool, which I still need to see. I've watched a clip here and there over the years because David Tennant was in it. I wish it would come to Netflix streaming, but I guess I'll have to buy it now. Two of my favorite guys are in it, so I can't put it off for too much longer.

I would have mentioned this when it was uploaded earlier in the week, but I was busy writing a post about TWD that I've been putting off for months. I also spent my free time watching the video over and over and making a few clips to use in place of a few Win8 system sounds. I would have saved a couple minutes on one of them and downloaded the official ringtone if I'd noticed the mention in the description. I think I'll buy it anyway, because these people deserve to be compensated for so much laughter.


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I May Be Zany


I remember having an intense dislike for Hi Honey, I'm Home. My family and I "watched" this when it aired on ABC in the '90s. I would call this refuse, slime, filth, muck, but I never want to associate this bag of crap - no, that makes me think of Paul Rudd on Friends - with The Princess Bride. Hmm, hideous swamp beast? Yes, I think that fits. It must have been the only thing on in that time slot, because we regularly made fun of it and wondered how it could possibly exist. I thought it couldn't be worse than I remembered. It is. What 14 minutes of this show got out of me was one small smile, two heh's, and a whole lot of brain leakage.

I watched this today only because, instead of The New Adventures of Old Christine, Lifetime was having a marathon of Dance Moms. I'd rather kick myself in the face.

First Season, $25.99

Second Season, $37.99



Complete Third Season, $29.99

Complete Fourth Season, $47.99


 

Bonus: Did you love Clark Gregg (Agent Couson) in the Marvel movies? He's in Old Christine and makes the most out of every scene, as do Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hamish Linklater, Wanda Sykes, the rest of the cast, and all the guest stars. Just hilarious.
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Unmissable Movies ~ Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

I am so bad at remembering things, even when they're fresh in my mind. I would make a terrible reviewer, so what I write are not reviews but pleas - actually, think of them as demands - that you go to a movie, watch a TV show, or listen to a band. I strongly recommend not missing Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. If you have an IMAX near you, don't pass up the chance to see it with the loudest, clearest speakers on the largest, prettiest screen. I went last weekend with four other family members, all of whom didn't have particularly high expectations. We all left as enthusiastic fans with huge smiles on our faces.

I can't get into all the detail I would like since I've seen it only once and my mind is Swiss cheese (speaking of which, G4 has been playing Quantum Leap lately!), but I can certainly say it was incredibly entertaining and highly nerve-wracking. Any fan of thrilling action, awe-inspiring stunts, and terrific fun needs to see this movie. There were so many adrenaline filled scenes. The packed theater jumped in unison at a sudden collision, which was inevitable but perfectly executed at an unexpected point. We groaned at every bone-shattering leap, and Tom Cruise's heart in the throat moments on the side of the Burj Khalifa produced audible gasps.

Ghost Protocol was also a lot funnier than should be expected of a spy thriller, mostly courtesy of the effortlessly hilarious Simon Pegg with help from malfunctioning tech and Jeremy Renner as the new guy with a haunting secret. Tom Cruise doing his own stunts is sheer madness and oh so entertaining. And Paula Patton is a gorgeous ass-kicker. Each of these likeable main characters has chemistry with the others and an important part to play, and no one is indestructible or faultless. One of the best scenes early on involves a holographic screen, a device that projects sound, and a green field agent who almost blows it. This is a tremendously good time with a wonderful sense of humor. I just read a comment from someone who thinks it was unnecessary. I completely disagree. If a movie is too heavy there is nothing really to relate to, no one to identify with. Injecting humor into a serious situation will be more effective in getting me to care about what happens and gives the characters personality.

I always remembered the first Mission Impossible for giving me nightmares after killing Emilio Esteves in the elevator shaft. I saw the second movie maybe a few times, but only because I had nothing better to do. I don't think I ever even watched more than a few bits here and there of the third installment. But Ghost Protocol, with its ability to blend comedy into the action without making the characters ridiculous, I am proud to say I love. Congratulations are in order for Brad Bird (The Incredibles) and all the talent for catapulting MI4 into my favorite movies by the halfway mark. That doesn't often happen. I probably won't get to see it again before it's out of theaters, but I sure as hell want to.
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I'm Living with Lord Voldemort

In Last Man Standing, the response to that line of "...he sounds like a very caring father," really makes no sense. What sounds caring? Lord or Voldemort? Because that seems to be the only information he's working with there. I wonder how much was cut out of that conversation. It might be funny if over the last thirteen years there hadn't been seven Potter books and eight movies. Not to mention countless commercials. Being so clueless really isn't even worthy of a sympathy chuckle.

I like Tim Allen, but this looks to be a completely average comedy made of bits of Home Improvement and 8 Simple Rules, only with less laughs and heart (RIP John Ritter), and countless others I'm sure. I would be surprised if any originality surfaced. But I've seen maybe two minutes of the show, so I will try to reserve actual judgment for the first episode, since there's a chance it's just incompetent editing. That's if I can be bothered to watch. Right now I'm thinking, "M-E-H. Meh." Please, surprise me.
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Linguistic Hilarity #2

Thanks go to funnyman John Clarke for contributing (and to The Prop for tweeting) his top ten to Two Paddocks today and, in doing so, introducing me to The Two Ronnies. I had to stop watching after a few videos, because I was laughing so much it hurt. He recommended "Fork Handles." I followed up with "Mispronunciation" and "Pismonuncers Unanimous," which reminded me of Victor Borge's "Phonetic Punctuation," and "Inflationary Language."
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