Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult

Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) – The opening scene is inspired and the finale has its moments, but apart from that, this film is mostly unfunny, sometimes cringe-worthy, and not particularly memorable or worthwhile. 5

Outpost

Outpost (2008) – Quality set design and photography result in good atmosphere and build-up (even if they did get carried away with the desaturation); disappointingly, however, when it comes time for the payoff, the film devolves into predictable slasher-type business without much sense or purpose. 5

Hell Comes to Frogtown

Hell Comes to Frogtown (1988) – Nobody’s ever going to accuse Roddy Piper of being a great actor, but everybody else does a pretty good job; the highlights are an impressively solid female protagonist and a certain wry sense of humor that keeps the film from feeling too stupid; in all, it’s an entertaining entry in the post-apocalyptic genre. 6

The Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin (2011) – It’s extremely well put together (if self-indulgent), but the story is quite predictable and the film doesn’t work hard enough to engage the audience (and here’s yet another film where the dog is the best detective of the lot); the highlights are the animation and the very dynamic, very satisfying (but utterly absurd) action scenes; while it may be true to the source material, alcoholism-based humor doesn’t play well these days. 6

The Muppets

The Muppets (2011) – Despite the many accolades, this isn’t quite the Muppet movie I’ve been waiting 15 years for; the humor is uneven and the songs are average, but the real problem is that the movie spends too much time with non-Muppet characters, including Walter, a half-breed, illusion-breaking abomination I hope never to see again; the film is at its best when it focuses on the real Muppets, who provide the funniest parts of the film as well as some interesting and melancholy self-reflection on the Muppets’ real-world history. 6

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear

The Naked Gun 2½ (1991) – It has its moments, but it shamelessly recycles many of the good gags from Police Squad!; even worse, it takes a big step into dumbness, as a lot of the deadpan, subtle humor has been replaced with clowning, mugging, slapstick, and overt buffoonery - movies like this are a dime a dozen. 5

TV: Police Squad!

Police Squad! (1982) – This proto-Naked Gun is wildly uneven, but at its best, it does a great job with its straight-faced sight gags and non sequiturs; it’s not a classic, but it deserved a lot better than six episodes (although even in six episodes, the recycled jokes and story formula were wearing a little thin). 6

WEB SERIES: Fallout: Nuka Break - Season One

Fallout: Nuka Break (Season One) – This fan-made web series has the same great attention to detail as the original short, with very good production quality and a particularly good job on the weapons; the acting is solid for this sort of thing, but the script is generally just fair, although the finale starts to send the story in some interesting directions. 6

Fallout: Nuka Break

Fallout: Nuka Break (2011) – This fan-made short features remarkable attention to detail and excellent use of in-game sound effects; on the whole, it’s impressive, but it would have been nice to see a bit more creativity with the script. 6