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Reviews
Cheers (1982)
The Ultimate in Comfort TV
I was born in 1985, so I was obviously far too young to appreciate this during its original broadcast. However, in the decades following, I've probably seen every single episode at least two or three times - whether it be from reruns in syndication or watching this on streaming services as an adult.
Maybe saying so is beating a long-dead horse, but this truly is one of the greatest American sitcoms of all time. Every single member of the cast is fantastic, even as multiple major characters came and left the series during its run. The comedy writing is still amazingly fresh and holds up surprisingly well for a show that debuted well over 40 years ago.
I will say that I vastly prefer the former Diane years to the latter Rebecca, at which point the show started getting a touch more zany/goofy. Even still, I appreciated the reinvigorated dynamic Kirstie Alley (who sadly left us too soon) brought to the show. It's a charming, fulfilling watch from the very start to the very end.
An unmatched American classic!
Better Off Dead... (1985)
Surprisingly abysmal
Considering this has a 7.1 rating on IMDB (which should be a reasonably good movie), I was utterly astonished at how not good it is. Like REALLY not good. Bad, even. I feel guilty calling it "garbage", but it's garbage.
The plot makes entirely no sense, there were zero laughs, and every last one of the characters are one-dimensional 80s clichés.
I understand that audiences from that era were generally less sophisticated, but really?
Most of the jokes are a blend of Airplane!-esque absurdism (with a fraction of the effort) and cheap physical gags that appeal to young children. About 30% of the movie is literally just stunt doubles...doing stunts on a grainy zoom lens from half a mile away.
The PG rating is a good indicator of the kind of humor to expect.
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021)
Hysterical absurdist comedy!
Okay, I'm not going to lie. I was super drunk when I watched this. In fact, I'm still drunk. And I probably will be for several more hours.
That being said, this was probably the funniest movie I've seen in a LONG time. Maybe it's the pandemic, or maybe it's Reba McEntire emerging from the ocean as an angel mermaid or whatever for absolutely no reason. Dude I don't know what the hell is going on, but I loved it.
The vibe of this movie is basically Wet Hot American Summer meets Austin Powers. If you're not into absurdist humor, you aren't going to like it. If you're not into Kristen Wiig, you won't enjoy it. Simple enough? Maybe you need more convincing?
Well that's too bad, because there are fried baby eagles on the menu and you're just a sad sack eating hot dog soup at talking club.