The Naked Gun

The Naked Gun (1988) – Yes, it’s frequently dumb, but it’s also so unrelentingly ludicrous and shamelessly absurd that it’s often very funny; Leslie Nielsen is solid as a comedy straight man, and the film is worth seeing if for no other reason than that his performance here, building from his role in Airplane!, utterly shattered his three decades’ worth of reputation (and career) as a dramatic actor. 6

Planet Hulk

Planet Hulk (2010) – Hulk-does-Gladiator-in-space is kind of silly on the face of it, but it’s a nice change of pace from the usual Hulk stories, and while it’s predictable, it’s also quite satisfying; a World War Hulk follow-up would be nice. 6

Flight of the Living Dead

Flight of the Living Dead (2007) – It’s a decent concept with a bad script and poor execution, and it doesn’t work as horror, action, or comedy; it’s got a great collection of character actors, but too many irritating, clichéd characters, and it wouldn’t have been enough anyhow. 4

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) – It’s completely ludicrous but so entertaining, with good pacing and fun, creative action scenes; IMF has to be the worst-run spy organization ever, what with making their “best agent” go rogue in three out of four movies and moles popping up with the frequency of a carnival game. 7

TV: Robot Chicken - Season Five

Robot Chicken (Season Five) – The bottom line, I suppose, is that I was entertained, although the show is getting low on funny jokes (and whenever that happens, they lean extra-hard on crudity, gay jokes, and over-the-top violence); there’s some good stuff  here, but the proportion of sketches that don’t involve somebody dying horribly is at an all-time low. 6

Immortals

Immortals (2011) – Tarsem Singh has given viewers reason to expect striking visuals and sub-par storytelling in his movies, and this, his weakest film to date, is no different; it looks good (although the CGI is overmuch) and the god fights are kind of neat, but it bears no real resemblance to Greek mythology, it’s reminiscent of 300 much too often, its characters are one-dimensional, and the story is plodding and dull. 5