My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)
Stalker Superheroine Comedy
Unfunny Ivan Reitman comedy with Luke Wilson being stalked by his psychotic superheorine ex Uma Thurman
Comedies
The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse (2005)
TV Characters Enter the Real World
Film spinoff from the popular British comedy series sees the familiar characters entering the real world to meet their creators and deal with the cancellation of the show
Keeping Mum (2005)
Murderous Old Dear Black Comedy
Comedy in which reverend Rowan Atkinson’s home is invaded by murderous nanny Maggie Smith. A promisingly black idea ends up being delivered as a quaintly mumsy British rural comedy
The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz (2005)
Muppet Movie
The weakest of the Muppet movies where they are turned into the characters in a retelling of The Wizard of Oz
Summer Time Machine Blues (2005)
Japanese Time Travel Comedy
Witty and enormously clever Japanese time travel film. This readily homages Back to the Future but has a great deal of original fun of its own creating a series of hilarious temporal conundrums. One of the most entertaining films I have seen in some time
The Pacifier (2005)
Action Hero Becomes Babysitter Comedy
Vin Diesel seemed to fairly much kill his career off with this excruciating comedy in which he deflates his tough guy persona by playing off a bunch of kids
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
Gonzo SF
The big-budget film version of The Hitch Hiker’s Guide phenomenon is a disaster that fumbles Douglas Adams’s absurdist wit and blows everything up with big-budget effects and a pitch to American audiences
Un Mariage Sans Fin (2025)
Timeloop Comedy
Palm Springs was one of the funniest and most delightful variants on the Groundhog Day timeloop theme. This is a French language remake that relocates the story to the Moroccan desert
Fat Albert (2004)
Cartoon Characters Enter the Real World
One of a spate of films of the 90s/00s that adapted animated tv series in live-action – in this case Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Here all we get is the animated characters emerging into the real world for slapstick inanity
13 Going on 30 (2004)
Young Girl in a Woman's Body
Essentially a rehash of Big in which a tormented teen wishes she was thirty and wakes up as Jennifer Garner. Amiably average without ever finding the wistful charms that Big had
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
Ghostbusting Team/Cartoon in Live-Action
Sequel to the live-action Scooby-Doo, this is at least a better film than its predecessor, being more polished in its slapstick and effects but still has no more ambition beyond being a silly no-brain film
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Zombie Comedy
A warm parody/tribute to the George Romero zombie films that saw the emergence of Simon Pegg as a star. It also saw the zombie film move towards a more comedic emphasis, although few subsequent entries come with such good-natured humour
Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
Jules Verne Comedy Adaptation
Jules Verne’s classic adventure novel is turned into a comedy vehicle for Jackie Chan. One of Chan’s biggest flops, an overblown turkey packed with celebrity cameos and replacing Verne’s adventure with incredibly unfunny slapstick
Team America: World Police (2004)
Political Satire/Adult Puppet Show
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone conduct an hilarious parody of Gerry Anderson via real world politics and a very adult sense of humour
A Pass from the Back (2004)
Toy Footballer Comes to Life
Oddball German comedy in which a toy table footballer magically comes to life and becomes a star soccer player
D.E.B.S. (2004)
Lesbian Charlie's Angels Parody
An extremely witty parody of Charlie’s Angels (that also tapps the whole Austin Powers spy spoof fad). This amusingly rewrites the tv show in terms of lesbian attraction
The Stepford Wives (2004)
Android Housewife Replacements Comedy
Frank Oz conducts a remake of The Stepford Wives, which becomes a broad comedy take on the gender wars in the modern world
Comic Book: The Movie (2004)
Comic-Book Fandom Mockumentary
An hilarious mockumentary directed by Mark Hamill set at the San Diego Comic Con, this spoofs various aspects of comic-book fandom and includes assorted celebrities sending themselves up
Agent Cody 2 Banks: Destination London (2004)
Teenage Spy Comedy
A sequel to the teen spy comedy. This moves the action to England but amplifies everything else into inanely loud and noisy slapstick action
Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
Martial Arts Spoof
Stephen Chow excels himself in this comic take on the martial arts film. Sensational over-the-top fight sequences sit alongside Chow’s frequently sidesplitting comic hand.
Johnny English (2003)
Incompetent Spy Comedy
Spy movie parody with Rowan Atkinson as an inept agent who is constantly tripping over his own feet. It is Austin Powers reconceived as a Mr Bean film but offering little that is funny.
Freaky Friday (2003)
Mother-Daughter Bodyswap Comedy
Enjoyable remake of the 1970s Disney comedy about a mother and daughter who swap bodies. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan nail the swapped roles to perfection
Scary Movie 3 (2003)
Genre Spoof
David Zucker takes over the reins of the franchise from the Wayans Brothers. With a lack of big scary movies in 2002 to parody, the film takes a scattershot approach, parodying any film at all
Evil Alien Conquerors (2003)
Stupid Alien Invaders Comedy
Comedy directed by Chris Matheson, co-writer of the Bill and Ted films, about two not very bright alien invaders. Imagine Dumb and Dumber meets Earth Girls Are Easy. A film that is wilfully silly
Agent Cody Banks (2003)
Teenage Spy Comedy
Another of the spy parodies that emerged following Austin Powers. Frankie Muniz is a high school teenager who is recruited as a spy. This proves a mildly amusing set-up that is delivered with surprisingly little wit
Inspector Gadget 2 (2003)
Cyborg Cop/Cartoon in Live-Action
A video-released sequel to the live-action Matthew Broderick film starring French Stewart. This is played as much more of a cartoon and amped to a maximum level of slapstick inanity
Bruce Almighty (2003)
Man Gains Godlike Powers Comedy
Comedy in which God appears to Jim Carrey and grants him His powers for one week. Expectedly the film is of zero theological depth and all about Carrey going completely over-the-top
Elf (2003)
Ungainly Christmas Elf Comes to New York
Jon Favreau directed Christmas film premised entirely around the premise of 6’3″ Will Ferrell as an ungainly Christmas elf. The film works entirely to the extent one has a tolerance for Ferrell’s screen presence.
The Haunted Mansion (2003)
Haunted House Comedy
Lightweight film based around the Disney theme park attraction that becomes a Eddie Murphy comedy where he and his family enter a big old mansion that proves to be haunted
Rectuma (2003)
Giant Rampaging Ass/Bad Taste Parody
The sort of film that might make Troma radioactive green with envy they didn’t make it concerning a giant rampaging ass. Mind-boggling and willing to be stupid and in frequent bad taste
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
Spy Movie Spoof
Third of the Austin Powers films and the point where the amusements of the other films topples over into a pandering indulgence to Mike Myers’ mugging, which is allowed to overtake the whole show
Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002)
Comic-Book Character
The second of the live-action Asterix films starring Gerard Depardieu, this is a visual delight that gets the comic-book’s nonsensical visuals down perfectly
I Spy (2002)
Spy Comedy/TV Series Remake
Painfully unfunny big screen revival of the 1960s spy tv series. This has been reduced to a series of plotless gags that involve Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson doing nothing except bickering with each other
Undercover Brother (2002)
Blaxploitation Spoof
Conceived in the aftermath of the Austin Powers films, this is a rather funny parody of the Blaxploitation film from Spike Lee’s cousin Malcolm D. Lee
Repli-Kate (2002)
Cloning Comedy
Comedy released under the National Lampoon banner in which a nerdy student accidentally creates a clone of his object of desire. This feels like a mash-up between Weird Science and a frat rat comedy
Scooby-Doo (2002)
Ghostbusting Team/Cartoon in Live-Action
The live-action film version of the popular Hanna-Barbera animated tv series. Despite James Gunn on script, this is not very good, a one-dimensional, no-brain film trying to look like a one-dimensional, no-brain cartoon
The Tuxedo (2002)
Spy Supersuit Comedy
Part of the sad depths that Jackie Chan’s career sank to after he was discovered by Hollywood. This is a spy film parody where he is a cabbie who places on a hi-tech tuxedo that turns him into a super-agent
Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002)
Martial Arts Spoof
Pitched as a parody of the martial arts moves in The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In actuality, this is a witless and unfunny comedy that only takes a 1970s martial arts film and dubs it with a laughtrack
Big Trouble (2002)
Nuclear Weapon Comedy
A flop comedy based on a Dave Barry novel about various characters trying to obtain a nuclear weapon. Despite a reasonable name cast, this becomes slapstick inanity in director Barry Sonnenfeld’s hands
Men in Black II (2002)
Alien Coverup Conspiracy Agency
Sequel that turns a witty original into overblown slapstick that never consists of anything more than absurd gags with aliens and technology popping up from behind everyday objects
Ted and Alice (2002)
Alien Visitor Comedy
Amiably good natured if unchallenging comedy where Dawn French engages in a relationship with an alien visitor
The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
Lunar Comedy-Thriller
Huge flop comedy for Eddie Murphy in which he plays a nightclub owner on The Moon. There is an almost good SF film hiding inside and depiction of a surprisingly detailed Lunar culture but the unnfunny comedy elements kill it
The Hot Chick (2002)
Gender Exchange Comedy
Adam Sandler produced film that is a variant on the bodyswap standard in which Rob Schneider and Rachel McAdams switch bodies. Much crass humour ensues in between a good-naturedly all-inclusive message
The Master of Disguise (2002)
Disguise Expert Comedy
Hardly anyone remembers Dana Carvey, Mike Myers’ co-star in Wayne’s World. This was Carvey’s attempt to copy the Austin Powers films and is regarded as a bad movie
Pootie Tang in “Sine Your Pitty on the Runy Kine” (2001)
Funky Incomprehensible Superhero
Film based on a Saturday Night Life sketch with Lance Crouther as a superhero who speaks a nonsense babble
Kate & Leopold (2001)
Time Travel Romance
Lightweight and likeable Meg Ryan romcom in which she is romanced by a chivalrous and perfectly mannered Hugh Jackman travelled through time from the 19th Century
Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001)
Doctor That Can Speak to Animals
A sequel to the Eddie Murphy Dr Dolittle remake. This is still an insult to the original stories but under director Steve Carr at least proves a more amiable comedy than the first film did
Black Knight (2001)
Modern Man in Mediaeval Times Comedy
An uncredited adaptation of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court with Martin Lawrence as a hip modern African-American man thrown back to Mediaeval times
Shallow Hal (2001)
Man Suddenly Sees Ugly Girls as Beautiful Comedy
Farrelly Brothers comedy where Jack Black is hypnotised by Tony Robbins and 300 pound Gwyneth Paltrow as beautiful
Down to Earth (2001)
Afterlife Mixup/Race Reversal Comedy
Remake of Heaven Can Wait/Here Comes Mr Jordan as a vehicle for comedian Chris Rock where the heavenly body mix-up now becomes about a black man ending up in a white man’s body
Elvira’s Haunted Hills (2001)
Bimbo Horror Hostess/Genre Parody
The second film outing of US horror hostess Elvira, which is construed as a parody/homage to the Roger Corman-Vincent Price Edgar Allan Poe films. Everything is overrun with Elvira’s cheesy puns and double entendres
Wu Yen (2001)
Mischievous Fairy
Frenetic Hong Kong comedy about fairy enchantments involving all the cast undergoing gender reversals
On the Nose (2001)
Severed Head Predicts Horse Races/Comedy
Irish-made comedy with Robbie Coltrane who has a Aborigine head in a jar that can predict horse races
Just Visiting (2001)
Time Travel Comedy
The US remake of the French time travel comedy Les Visiteurs. With a script by John Hughes, this imports the original film’s stars but misses its comedy charms by a mile
Evolution (2001)
Rapidly Evolving Alien Lifeforms/Comedy
Ivan Reitman comedy that is essentially a rehash of his earlier hit Ghostbusters but where instead of ghosts he has a team investigating rapidly alien lifeforms at a meteor crash site
The Animal (2001)
Man with Animal Transplant Parts Comedy
One-gag comedy where Rob Schneider receives transplants of various animal parts and ends up exhibiting animal behaviours – usually at the most inopportune time
Scary Movie 2 (2001)
Genre Spoof
The first of the Scary Movie sequels. The Wayans Brothers extend the gag beyond the slasher movie to take on the ghost story and exorcism film while aiming squarely for Lowest Common Denominator humour
I Was a Teenage Faust (2001)
Pact with the Devil Comedy
A very lightweight made-for-tv comedy where a nerdy teen signs a pact with a desperate agent of The Devil who offers him cool and the girl of his dreams
Shaolin Soccer (2001)
Flying Martial Arts and Soccer
Hilarious Stephen Chow directed/starring film where he parodies The Matrix et al with Buddhist monks using flying martial arts moves to aid a failing soccer team
The Man Who Sued God (2001)
Man Sues the Churches Comedy
Australian comedy where Billy Connolly sues God for all the supposed Acts of Gods on insurance forms
Mr. Accident (2000)
Gonzo Comedy
The third and final film to date directed, written by and starring Yahoo Serious where he plays an accident prone man obsessed with alien life
Bedazzled (2000)
Pact with the Devil Comedy
US remake of the British comedy where Brendan Fraser is a schmuck who sells his soul to The Devil who twists the wording of each wish. The bite of the original is lacking
2001: A Space Travesty (2000)
Intergalactic Farce
Supposedly an Airplane-styled movie parody that takes on 2001: A Space Odyssey (although this soon gets forgotten), this is one of the most painfully unfunny films ever made
The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)
Rejuvenation Formula Comedy
Sequel to the Eddie Murphy remake of The Nutty Professor. That film’s tour-de-force was a scene with Murphy playing all the members of his family. Here the family have been brought to the fore. Murphy’s performance and the effects are expectedly great but the plot is all over the place
Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000)
Gonzo Stoner Film
A bizarrely surreal, anything goes comedy as two bros set out to find their car after a night partying. This feels like Repo Man as though directed by the Farrelly Brothers after they had inhaled a few bongs
What Planet Are You From? (2000)
Alien Visitor Comedy
A sex-changed version of My Stepmother is an Alien in which Garry Shandling is an alien come to Earth to breed with a woman. Despite being directed by Mike Nichols this is as lame as it sounds and stumbles through tired routines that were not even funny the first time around
Bio-Cops (2000)
Hong Kong Zombie Comedy
Hong Kong comedy with a police station under siege from zombies. The emphasis is more on comedy than the horror element
Little Nicky (2000)
The Devil's Son Comedy
The Adam Sandler comedy and its pitch to the most vulgar common denominator is an acquired taste. This not very funny effort casts Sandler as The Devil’s Son
Scary Movie (2000)
Genre Spoof
The first in a popular series of comedies, this spoofs the recent hits of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer in the most vulgar and witless way possible
The Specials (2000)
Superhero Parody
An obscure parody about a team of inept and dysfunctional superheroes that was one of the earliest works from a then unknown James Gunn (who not only writes but stars as one of the superheroes)
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
Spy Movie Spoof
The second of the Austin Powers films is less sharp in its parody of the James Bond film and more focused on a series of broad scatological gags. Mike Myers owns the show in a trio of entertainingly gregarious performances
Mystery Men (1999)
Bumbling Superheroes Comedy
A superhero parody about a group of reject superheroes with useless powers. Despite moments of amusement, this fails to quite come off
Deal of a Lifetime (1999)
Pact with the Devil Comedy
Incredibly unfunny comedy in which a teenager sells his soul to the Devil. As The Devil, Kevin Pollak lets all stop loose in a mind-bogglingly over-the-top performance
Dogma (1999)
Angel War/Catholic Irreverence
Kevin Smith makes a film about Catholicism. Smith’s irreverent humour caused considerable controversy when the film came out, although this is also an interesting and thoughtful work that does make a number of thoughtful theological points
Muppets from Space (1999)
Muppet Movie
The third and one of the better of the generally insipid Muppet movies produced following Jim Henson’s death. This tells the story of Gonzo’s origins as an alien where the film borrows spoofs the then-popularity of tv’s The X Files
Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? (1999)
Coming of Age Story/Eccentric Psychic Father
Eccentric Coming of Age story set during the 1970s punk era where, among the usual other funny travails, the protagonist’s father starts demonstrating psychic abilities
Breakfast of Champions (1999)
Kurt Vonnegut Adaptation
Disappointing adaptation of the Kurt Vonnegut novel from Adam Rudolph that substitutes Vonnegut’s satire for clumsy, ham-fisted farce that never gives us any clear idea what it is satirising
Dudley Do-Right (1999)
Cartoon in Live-Action
A live-action film adaptation of the old animated tv show with Brendan Fraser in the title role as a bumbling mountie. This drowns in excruciating slapstick and one-dimensional pantomime caricatures
The All New Adventures of Laurel & Hardy in “For Love or Mummy” (1999)
Two Idiots vs a Mummy
Bizarre effort in which actors play Laurel and Hardy who are engaged in a comedic caper against a mummy. The film is all excruciating knockabout slapstick
My Favorite Martian (1999)
Alien Visitor Comedy/TV Series Remake
The big screen remake of the 1960s sitcom about a wacky alien visitor. However, this all of the original’s amusements promptly gets buried under frenetic slapstick and cheap CGI gags
GalaxyQuest (1999)
Star Trek Parody
An extremely funny parody of Star Trek that sends up both the show, the actors and the fandom. A very witty and knowing script that has definitely been written by fans
Asterix and Obelix Vs. Cesar (1999)
Comic-Book Character
The first of the live-action films based on the famous comic-books set during the Roman period, starring Gerard Depardieu who seems born to play the part of Obelix
Wild Wild West (1999)
Western Spy Film/TV Series Remake
The big screen remake of the 1960s Western/spy mashup tv series is transformed into an overblown and painfully unfunny Will Smith vehicle that loudly signals it is taking none of itself seriously
Inspector Gadget (1999)
Cyborg Cop/Cartoon in Live-Action
A live-action adaptation of the popular animated series, one of the spate of such films made after the live-action The Flintstones. Amiably silly and frequently slapstick fun that proves to be exactly what one expects of it
Top of the Food Chain (1999)
Alien Invasion Spoof
Canadian-made parody of a cheesy 1950s SF film that emerges more wittily amusingly than most Deliberately Bad SF Films
Blast from the Past (1999)
Out of the Nuclear Fallout Shelter Comedy
A comedy with the amusing premise where Brendan Fraser is raised in a nuclear fallout shelter since the Cuban Missile Crisis and emerges into the present for the first time, mistaking it for a post-apocalyptic world
The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999)
Alien Anthopolgist Studies Human Mating Behaviour
There is an appealingly satiric concept here – a parody of a nature documentary looking at human mating rituals from an alien perspective where everything is constantly being misinterpreted in terms of an animal behaviour – but what emerges is mostly a one-gag film
The Muse (1999)
Modern Muse/Hollywood Satire
Albert Brooks film with Sharon Stone as a Greek muse. This suggests a Woody Allen whimsy crossed with something of Robert Altman’s The Player and its satire on Hollywood with real-life celebrities playing themselves
National Lampoon’s Men in White (1998)
Genre Spoof
An excruciatingly unfunny spoof of Men in Black that was shoved out using the name of National Lampoon magazine. A painful viewing experience.
Senseless (1998)
Sense-Heightening Drug Comedy
Comedy vehicle for Marlon Wayans in which he becomes a test subject for a sense-heightening drug. Marlon’s natural comic energy far exceeds the slightness of the premise
A Knight in Camelot (1998)
Scientist Time Travels Back to Camelot Comedy
A modernised version of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court with Whoopi Goldberg as a physicist who time travels back to Camelot
Extraordinary Visitor (1998)
Divine Visitor Comedy
Quirkily appealing Canadian fish out of water comedy where John the Baptist is sent to present-day Newfoundland just before the turn of the millennium to prevent the End of the World
Addams Family Reunion (1998)
Kinky Perverse Family
The big screen Addams Family films ended with the death of Raul Julia. Subsequently the rights were sold to Saban Entertainment who made this cheap, terrible direct-to-video film with a new cast
There’s Something About Mary (1998)
Stalker Black Comedy
The Farrelly Brothers have become known for their crude and rude humour but this stalker comedy is one they hit with all barrels firing and has become regarded as a modern comedy classuc
The First Night of My Life (1998)
Millennium Comedy
Spanish comedy produced to celebrate the turn of the millennium in which the fates of several people wind together on the eve of the end of the century
Practical Magic (1998)
Modern Witches
Chick Flick with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as two sisters from a family of witches. The film never really settles on a consistent tone between comedy, thriller or romance and veers all over the place
Dr Dolittle (1998)
Doctor That Can Speak to Animals
Complete and utter bastardisation of Hugh Lofting’s charming Doctor Dolittle stories, which are turned into a modern comedy with Eddie Murphy and talking animals doing lots of pee and poop jokes
Flubber (1997)
Absent-Minded Professor Remake
Remake of Disney’s The Absent-Minded Professor where the charms of the original are buried under an excess of twee – where the professor now gets a cute robot assistant and the flubber becomes sentient
Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery (1997)
Spy Movie Spoof
The first of Mike Myers’ Austin Powers films is at times extremely silly and scatological but does offer a knowing and witty parody of the James Bond films. The result became a cult phenomenon
Deconstructing Harry (1997)
Writer's Self-Analysis Comedy
A Woody Allen film in which he plays a writer on his way to receive an award. The film drifts in and out of a series of vignettes and stories he has written, including a number of fantastic interludes, with highly amusing effect