One of my favourite comedy shows growing up was How to Irritate People. I have watched that show about a million times (and I really don’t think I’m exaggerating) and I still find it hilarious!

I first saw a video of this comedy show when I quite little and, having already been brought up watching Monty Python, I didn’t need much encouragement to watch it again and again. Now some of the sketches are so ingrained in my brain that I can’t always immediately distinguish between Python and Irritate…

I’ve done a bit of research and discovered that Irritate was a precursor to Monty Python. Anyone who was alive and conscious at the time will tell you that this was John Cleese and Graham Chapman just testing the waters with their particular brand of insanity, just a taste of what is to come with Monty Python and all that followed after Python’s success. To me, How to Irritate People is bloody funny and anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together should watch it for a jolly good laugh… A game of ‘eye spy’ will never be the same again!

(*And if you’re wondering, yes, I would love a copy of the DVD for my birthday)

This is quite a common theme and I’m sure a lot of these ideas have been covered by people far more knowledgeable than I, but I thought I would add my 2 cents worth

Growing up I loved Disney, as did every other kid, and part of me still does. I may be jaded about love and not believe in fairy tales but I do still want to believe in magic. So I do But in the process of growing up I did a course at university which opened my eyes quite a bit. The course was Contemporary Popular Culture and the best part of it was the “Disney is evil and has brainwashed you” section. The funniest part was watching how angry the students got when the lecturer trashed a huge part of their childhood (I sometimes wonder how these people survive in the real world if they refuse to look beyond the obvious and can’t workout that the lecturer was merely pushing the envelope to get us to think and question… the entire point of doing a BA!!! But I digress…)

So here are my brain farts on Disney (some original Faeron, some not…) :

Beauty and the Beast: Succumbing to Stockholm Syndrome… It’s ok, so long as it gets you a husband! (this, so-long-as-it-gets-you-a-husband theme is quite common in Disney)

Aladdin: Don’t work hard kiddies, steal stuff and a Princess will fall for you… Of course she believed you were a Prince at the time of said falling and by the time she realised what you really were it was too late and she had invested. In other words, pretend to be what you aren’t and then by the time the lies fall down you’ll be trapped. Oh wait, I think I may sound bitter here

The Little Mermaid: My favourite Disney movie! But… Getting a wave to splash dramatically behind you while you sing about growing legs and stalking a man is really difficult. Have you ever tried it? It really isn’t that easy. And the whole dramatic hair flip as you gracefully burst out of the ocean… No… Long hair is very rarely graceful when you are emerging from the ocean, best not to attempt that.

(And I know both of these Mermaid points as a result of years of attempting to accomplish them, both in the swimming pool and the ocean… The only part I got right ever was the stalking – oh, wait, I wasn’t supposed to admit that out loud )

The Lion King: Well aside from the fact that there are no people in Africa… and the bad guy has a British accent (yes America, we do notice these things). I don’t think this movie tried to teach us anything too bad. I even met a guy in Zanzibar who said “Asante sana, squash banana”

(But I assume that was because some obnoxious tourist once asked him to and he got a good reaction from the other idjit tourists around so he continues say it…)

There are so many other instances of stupid women in Disney movies. I mean, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White both get woken up by true love’s kiss… They never met the guy! And in Sleeping Beauty’s case, he’s how much younger than her?!?

But I think Disney has redeemed itself and isn’t all evil. Have you seen Enchanted? Do yourself a favour and watch it! Amy Adams is the luckiest girl in the world because she gets to play a real-life Disney Princess (I secretly hate her for that, but can’t think of a more perfect actress to play the part).

But why I love this movie and why I think it redeems Disney, is because they made fun of themselves and made fun of the entire genre of animated fairy tales that they created and became famous for.  It’s a funny and whimsical Disney movie while still being intelligent.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about awful movies (I’ve seen some recently, and I am not amused). And it started me thinking about how you can get awful movies that are just bad but you can also get awful movies that are truly awesome. I decided to dedicate some time to this topic and actually do some research into it (first time for everything )

My two nominees for Most Awesome Awful Movie Ever right off the top of my head are:

Drum roll please…

• • • • Spaceballs
      • Team America

I love these movies. They are awful, epically so, but so much fun!!!

So now, I want to hear your nominees. I will watch them all (if I can find them) and write a review on them. I’ve already started with my two nominees. I’ve also created a new page for this search.

After I’ve watched the movies, we’ll have a poll. I’m so excited for this I love awesome awful movies!!!

Leave a comment below for your nominees please.

K’thnxBye

How can I describe Burlesque? It’s much like Coyote Ugly, but the director attacked the movie with a bedazzler!

I don’t have a problem with movies having similar plotlines, and “young woman from a small town trying to make it big” is normally a good heart warming story.But  Burlesque was just a copy… It even had the lead’s flat being broken into and her super secret stash of money being stolen.

Burlesque isn’t a carbon copy of just Coyote Ugly either, it blatantly borrows from movies like Chicago and Moulin Rouge. Not paying homage to, not taking inspiration from, but stealing and copying elements almost exactly!

Unfortunately Burlesque is unoriginal and uncompelling. I didn’t even really enjoy the big musical numbers towards the end of the film because they were just not what I think of as burlesque performances.

Oh and I didn’t even mention acting in this review because I’m not sure if there was any… Which upsets me because Cher has an Oscar and I adore Stanley Tucci.

Oh well, Burlesque is sparkly and shiney and mindless. Watch it if that is all you are looking for on a lazy nothing-to-do rainy afternoon. That’s what I did.

Recently I watched Eat Pray Love. Now you don’t really have to try very hard to work out what the film is about and not much in the film is particularly ground breaking or thought provoking. Liz, played by Julia Roberts (whom I love as an actress!), gets divorced and finds that her life is empty and meaningless. So she sets off, in true chick flick style, on a round the world trip to find herself. Guess what, she does.

So why watch this film? I’m not really sure to be honest, the characters weren’t exactly new and the whole storyline of learning to love yourself isn’t really all that inspiring, or again, that new. But there was something that I liked, something sweet and endearing about the film that made me smile. I also found myself craving good Italian food

So to go with some more cliche, Eat Pray Love is is a nice stop-and-smell-the-roses film. I’m happy that I added it to my journey through life. And remember, life is a journey, not a destination.

OK, I’ll stop now… I’m annoying myself too