Liar Liar (1997)

Liar Liar (1997) poster
Rating:
Man Cursed with a Truth-Telling Wish Comedy

A film with a children’s movie premise – an amoral lawyer is forced to be honest for a day when his kid makes a wish – is over-taken by Jim Carrey in full over the top mode

A Life Less Ordinary (1997)

A Life Less Ordinary (1997) poster
Rating: ★★½
Kidnapping & Angelic Intervention Comedy

Danny Boyle eccentricity with Ewan McGregor as an inept kidnapper and Cameron Diaz as his more astute abductee. A head-scratching comedy that also throws gun-toting angels into the mix

Little Evil (2017)

Little Evil (2017) poster
Rating: ★★
Step-Parenting the Antichrist Child Comedy

The director of Tucker and Dale vs Evil returns with a comedy that spoofs The Omen about an average guy trying to step-parent the Anti-Christ child

Long Story Short (2021)

Long Story Short (2021) poster
Rating: ★★½
Comedy Where a Man Skips Ahead Through His Life

A light fantasy comedy from Australia in which Rafe Spall finds he is moving ahead through his life one year at a time every few minutes

Looks That Kill (2020)

Looks That Kill (2020) poster
Rating: ★★★½
Teen With a Face That Kills People Comedy

A film about a teen whose face kills anyone who looks at him. This is a romantic comedy that overspills with originality, quirkiness and a really dark sense of humour.

Love and Death (1975)

Love and Death (1975) poster
Rating: ★★★½
Russian Literature Screwball Parody

Rather funny Woody Allen film where he takes to spoofing Russian literature and does some hilarious visual gags and one-liners. Comes with minor fantasy elements including spoofing The Seventh Seal

Love Potion No 9 (1992)

Love Potion No 9 (1992) poster
Rating: ★★
Scientists Devise Love Potion Comedy

A comedy based on the hit song starring a then unknown Sandra Bullock as a nerd scientist who synthesizes a Gypsy love potion that causes anyone she gives it to to fall in love with her

Lucky Encounter (1992)

Lucky Encounter (1992) poster
Rating: ★★
Hong Kong Ghost Child Comedy

A frenetic Hong Kong slapstick comedy about hoodlums trying to obtain a stash of money from a house that is inhabited by a ghost boy

Mannequin (1987)

Mannequin (1987) poster
Rating:
Romance with a Mannequin Come to Life

It is hard to believe this ever received a greenlight, a film in which Andrew McCarthy falls for a storefront mannequin (Kim Cattrall) who comes to life. The comedy has an excruciating inanity

Mannequin on the Move (1991)

Mannequin on the Move (1991) poster
Rating:
Romance with a Statue Comes to Life

A sequel to the Mannequin, the inane comedy about a romance with a storefront dummy come to life. Here Kristy Swanson plays a princess who is turned into a statue before being awoken in the present

The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999)

The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999) poster
Rating: ★★
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

Maxie (1985)

Maxie (1985) poster
Rating: ½
Possession by Flapper's Ghost Comedy

Light fantasy comedy where Glenn Close plays a housewife who is possessed by the ghost of Maxie, a Hollywood starlet who is determined to revive her career

Me and Him (1988)

Me and Him (1988) poster
Rating:
Man and His Talking Penis Comedy

A comedy in which Griffin Dunne’s penis begins talking to him. Contrary to expectation, most of the film is PG-13 but some of the films attitudes and unfunny routines are fairly mind-boggling

Meatballs III: Summer Job (1987)

Meatballs 3 Summer Job (1987) poster
Rating:
Teen Comedy/Angelic Intervention

Unrelated to the Bill Murray film in anything but name, this is a moronic teen summer camp comedy in which Patrick Dempsey is aided in trying to lose his virginity by angel Sally Kellerman

Meatballs Part II (1984)

Meatballs Part II (1984) poster
Rating:
Summer Camp Comedy/Alien Visitor

No-one is pretending that the Bill Murray summer camp comedy Meatballs was a masterpiece but it looks a work of art in comparison to this unfunny sequel, which also throw in a stiff E.T. lookalike

Meet Dave (2008)

Meet Dave (2008) poster
Rating: ★★½
Eddie Murphy as a Spaceship Comedy

Off-the wall Eddie Murphy comedy in which he plays an alien spaceship disguised as a human come to Earth. All the fun comes from watching Murphy’s wacky antics, which buoy it up over its weaker moments

Meet Mr Lucifer (1953)

Meet Mr Lucifer (1953) poster
Rating: ★★
The Devil Stirs Mischief Via TV

One of the forgotten comedies from UK’s Ealing Studios, this rails against the evils of the then new medium of television where The Devil contrives to make people miserable by getting them to watch tv

Meet the Spartans (2008)

Meet the Spartans (2008) poster
Rating: ½
Parodies of Various Films

The painfully unfunny films of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer are movie parodies, mostly a random assortment of films and celebrities of the last six months run over with crude and vulgar jokes. In this case, they take on parodying principally 300

Mega Time Squad (2018)

Mega Time Squad (2018) poster
Rating: ★★★
Guy and Various Temporal Copies of Himself Comedy

There have been some very sophisticated time paradox films in recent years. At complete contrast, this is a comedy that has a great deal of fun with the premise of a guy and assorted temporal copies of himself running about

Men in Black 3 (2012)

Men in Black 3 (2012) poster
Rating: ★★
Alien Coverup Conspiracy Agency

One hardly greets the attempt to generate another entry out of this franchise with any enthusiasm. This mostly consists of tired and familiar gags, where maybe the most generous compliment you can pay is that it is better than Men in Black II was

Men in Black: International (2019)

Men in Black: International (2019) poster
Rating:
Alien Coverup Conspiracy Agency

The original Men in Black was a witty parody of alien coverup conspiracies; the sequels became slapstick films about pop-up aliens and gadgets hidden behind everyday things. This offers little that is new

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) poster
Rating: ★★★
US Army's Psychic Warfare Division Comedy

Film based on the supposed Psychic Warfare Division of the US Army. Based on a non-fiction book, this is played by director Grant Heslov as a broad farce and sits on an uncertain line as to whether the powers are real

The Mermaid (2016)

The Mermaid (2016) poster
Rating: ★★
Mermaid Comedy

Stephen Chow has proven himself a comic genius in his directorial works of the 90s/00s. Unfortunately, as he has gained mainstream acclaim, his films have started to disappear under their big-budgets. This is sort of a version of Splash! by way of the fad for madcap Hong Kong slapstick

A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982)

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982) poster
Rating: ★★½
Period Sexual Rondeau Comedy

One of Woody Allen’s slighter films, a sexual rondeau set at the turn of the 20th Century, although mostly riffing on Allen’s familiar sexual neuroses. Contains minor fantasy elements.

Mr India (1987)

Mr India (1987) poster
Rating: ★★★
Bollywood Invisible Superhero Comedy

A Bollywood film about an invisible superhero, this is sparing on effects but should be seen for the lunatic entertainment value it offers, including several surreal song and dance numbers and much frenetic slapstick

Mom and Dad Save the World (1992)

Mom and Dad Save the World (1992) poster
Rating: ★★
Adventures on a Planet of Stupid People Comedy

Films about stupid people are rarely funny – this concerns a whole planet of stupid people. Despite reasonable production values, there is little that raises even a mild smile in this comedic take on Flash Gordon

The Monitors (1969)

The Monitors (1969) poster
Rating: ★★
Alien Invasion Comedy

Comedy about aliens who have invaded Earth and keep broadcasting commercials to tell how wonderful life is. You feel like this should be great satire but instead the film flounders about without any plot tapping a 60s counter-culture vibe before finding it doesn’t have anything to say

Monkey Business (1952)

Monkey Business (1952) poster
Rating: ★★
Formula That Causes People to Revert to Adolescence Comedy

The only film that Marilyn Monroe will be written about for on this site. A classic screwball comedy about the accidental discovery of a formula that causes all who take it to revert to adolescence. Much madcap malarkey ensues but it does get very silly

The Monkey’s Uncle (1965)

The Monkey's Uncle (1965) poster
Rating: ★★
Teenage Inventor/Disney Comedy

One of the wacky inventor live-action comedies Disney made in the 1960s, a sequel to The Misadventures of Merlin Jones where Tommy Kirk variously adopts a chimpanzee and tries to sleep-coach football jocks

Moon Man (2022)

Moon Man (2022) poster
Rating: ★★½
Last Man Alive Abandoned on the Moon Comedy

Comedy from China about a man abandoned on the Moon, the last person left alive in the aftermath of the destruction of the Earth

Morons from Outer Space (1985)

Morons from Outer Space (1985) poster
Rating: ★★
Idiotic Alien Visitors/Genre Spoof

Comedy about stupid alien visitors largely construed as a vehicle for popular British comedy duo Mel Smith and Griff Rhys-Jones. Some witty SF in-jokes among a haphazard script

Mouse on the Moon (1963)

Mouse on the Moon (1963) poster
Rating: ★★★
World's Smallest Country Launches a Moon Mission

Quirky and charming sequel to The Mouse That Roared in which the world’s smallest country decides to launch a mission to the Moon and accidentally end up winning the Space Race

Movie 43 (2013)

Movie 43 (2013) poster
Rating:
Anthology of Bad Taste Comedy Skits

An anthology of comedy skits that sets out to be in as bad taste as possible – you are left astounded how far a film has to go to offend in this post-South Park era. That and wondering if the producers had kidnapped some of the stars’ family members to force them to participate

Mr Vampire II (1986)

Mr Vampire II (1986) poster
Rating:
Hong Kong Hopping Vampire Comedy

The first of several sequels to the hopping vampire hit. While the original was an adept and clever blend of fantasy and comedy, this promptly heads for loud and noisy slapstick

Mr Vampire 4 (1988)

Mr Vampire 4 (1988) poster
Rating: ★★
Hong Kong Hopping Vampire Comedy

Fourth in the popular hopping vampire saga that spawned six films and an uncredited copycat series, all blending a manic mix of comedy, fantastique moves and Eastern beliefs

Mr Vampire (1985)

Mr Vampire (1985) poster
Rating: ★★★★
Hong Kong Supernatural Comedy

Hong Kong hopping vampire film that produced a string of sequels. The original is the best, a clever, fast-paced blend of comedy, supernatural and traditional Eastern beliefs

Mr Vampire 1992 (1992)

Mr Vampire 1992 (1992) poster
Rating: ★★½
Hong Kong Hopping Vampire Comedy

The last of the popular Hong Kong comedy series about hopping vampires. While the other sequels became very silly, this goes out on an inspired final note

Mr Vampire III (1987)

Mr Vampire III (1987) poster
Rating: ★★
Hong Kong Ghost Comedy

Third in the popular series of Hong Kong hopping vampire films. As in the previous entry, a frenetic slapstick element dominates

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) poster
Rating: ★★
Muppet Movie

The first of the insipid Muppet movies made following Jim Henson’s death, directed by his son Brian. This twists the Muppets out of shape to fit them into a retelling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

The Muppets (2011)

The Muppets (2011) poster
Rating: ★★★½
Muppet Movie

Surprisingly fun revival of the Muppets that reboots the series after the insipid entries of the last few years and succeeds by going back to recapture the sly double-level of humour that Jim Henson patented

Muppets from Space (1999)

Muppets from Space (1999) poster
Rating: ★★
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

The Muse (1999)

The Muse (1999) poster
Rating: ★★½
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

My Favorite Martian (1999)

My Favorite Martian (1999) poster
Rating:
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

My Stepmother is an Alien (1988)

My Stepmother is an Alien (1988) poster
Rating: ★★★
Alien Visitor Comedy

1980s icon Kim Basinger displays unexpected comedy talents in this tale where she is an alien romancing Dan Akyroyd. Throwaway fluff but it has a comedic silliness that is undeniably appealing

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996) poster
Rating:
Old SF Movie with Laugh-Track

Film spinoff from tv’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 and its deplorable habit of inserting jokes into old films. Here it is the turn of This Island Earth, which is a far better film than the attempt to send it up here