60/60 Review #13: The Kentucky Fried Movie.

It's time to get into the first review for "Comedy" Month, transitioning from the bizarre world of Brazil to the bizarre world of... Kentucky? So, I wasn't sure what to expect going into this movie. This one was recommended by Jason Soto, and the last movie suggested by Jason for this was Plan 9--the only movie that got a mostly negative review on the list thus far. That's not to say Jason and I never agree. We actually agree fairly often. And then I was told from all sides to lower my expectations for the film, which kinda didn't make me feel too much better about it. But I'm glad my expectations were super low, otherwise I might not have enjoyed it like I did.

There's really not anything I can say plot-wise... because there isn't one. If you've never seen the movie, it's basically a string of skits. It's made by the same people as Airplane!, so it's that type of goofy comedy. The closest it gets to a full-length film is the second "act"--or the middle 30 minutes--which is a parody of Enter the Dragon.

To me, the gags were hit or miss. The majority of the film was fun, and none of it was really bad--just a different brand of humor. I honestly don't have too much to discuss about this film. Honestly, what can you say about a skit film? So I'm gonna talk about my five favorite skits. But before I do that, I just wanna discuss A Fistful of Yen: Despite this lasting the longest of all the skits (slightly over 30 minutes), it wasn't super fascinating. I've seen Enter the Dragon, so I knew the jokes. The action was fun, as it should be. The best part is probably the middle, but the skit as a whole isn't very cohesive. It also starts to sink a bit at the end when it goes into parodying The Wizard of Oz. Overall, it was good, but it wasn't my favorite. That being said, these were (in order):

5) A.M. Today (6min 5sec): This began a running gag about people getting hit with a random arrow that went throughout the whole film. The rest of the skit is OK, particularly the animal segment, but the set-up of that arrow gag is the best part.

4) United Appeal For The Dead (1min 42sec): This was a very bizarre and dry comedy skit. It was basically a commercial for how death didn't have to be the end. This family brings their dead son home and takes him to different events, despite him being a rotting corpse. There's a lot of visual humor here, but the best part is the very dry narration of the commercial host (Henry Gibson).

3) The Wonderful World Of Sex (4min 55sec): This has a couple on a date putting on a record after finishing their meal, and the record starts narrating exactly what they need to be doing sex-wise and, thus, becoming a very meta, self-fulfilling prophecy. And as most of you probably know, I like meta stuff, so this was a really fun segment for me.

2) Feel-A-Round (4min 52sec): This was probably one of my favorite skits. It involves a man going into a theater to watch a movie, and he's warned that the film is in "Feel-A-Round." He starts watching the film as an usher stands behind him, and depending on what the actor or actress says on the movie depends on what the usher does. For instance, if the actor gets something spilled on him, the usher will spill something on the guy. I found this segment particularly noteworthy because of the massive trend of 3D lately and how we're even getting into 4D Motion Boxes or whatever they call them. It probably wasn't social commentary back when they made it, but it totally is now, and that was really good and funny.

1) Courtroom (7min 37sec): This is in two parts, but I'm talking about both here, which is why I combined the times. These segments are actually the ones with the most simple humor, but the humor that made me laugh the most. There's a trial going on for a car wreck and somebody is being prosecuted. The type of humor here is the type where a guy can tell the witness to follow him across the room, and the other lawyer will say "Objection, he's leading the witness!" Or one lawyer asks the witness what his shirt is made of, and the other says "Objection, his shirt is immaterial." In other words... puns. I know a lot of people hate them, but I think--if done right--they can be hilarious. And these were.

Anyway, that will probably about do it for this review. On the whole, the movie was entertaining. Like I said, it's pretty hit or miss depending on what kind of humor you like. It's very silly, which is sometimes good and sometimes not. It hasn't been my favorite of the list, but it also hasn't been my least favorite. So to that I say... Jason, you've redeemed yourself.


I Am McLovin!