Superhero Movie (2008) - Some light spots in subpar spoof

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Familiar spoof stars and a couple of new faces adjoin on this Scary Movie-franchise poster-modeled poster for Craig Mazin's Superhero Movie

Young Rick Riker is bitten during a high school trip by a dragonfly and attains superpowers, which he uses to attract the girl he is eyeing and fight the evil Hourglass Man!

Superhero Movie is written and directed by Craig Mazin (The Specials (2000)). It doesn't begin very well with some scenes in a school bus, and the ending is also pretty shabby.
A good deal of the spoof comedy's antics fall flat to the ground, and a good deal should simply have been funnier, - such as a scene with Tracy Morgan (Deep in the Valley (2009)) as X-Men's Dr. Xavier as well as Regina Hall (When the Bough Breaks (2016)) and Pamela Anderson (Home Improvement (1991-97)), which certainly had the potential.
Superhero Movie still has laughs for undiscriminating spoof lovers; they come from Leslie Nielsen (Day by Day (1988, TV-series)), Christopher McDonald (My Sexiest Year (2007)), who does well as the predictably ridiculous Hourglass Man villain, and from young Drake Bell (Jungle Shuffle (2014)) and Sara Paxton (Pepper Dennis (2006, TV-series)) as protagonist Riker and his blond flame Jill Johnson. Both are game and well-cast.
Superhero Movie's running time is buffed grotesquely with an extremely long gag reel and extra scene-crammed credit sequence.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 35 mil. $
Box office: 71.2 mil. $
= Flop (returned 2.03 times its cost)
[Superhero Movie premiered 27 March (Russia) and runs 86 minutes. David Zucker was originally supposed to have directed the film under the title Superhero!. Shooting took place around September 2007 in Vancouver, British Colombia, California and in Kansas City, Missouri, where the New York flyover transition shots were made. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release 21 and holdover hit Horton Hears a Who, to a 9.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 25.8 mil. $ (36.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 5.5 mil. $ (7.7 %) and the UK with 5.3 mil. $ (7.4 %). Mazin has left directing alone since the film and turned to writing several successful movies and miniseries Chernobyl (2019). Bell returned in College (2008); Paxton in Wizards of Waverly Place (2008, TV-series short) and theatrically in The Last House on the Left (2009); McDonald in Player 5150 (2008). Superhero Movie is rotten at 17 % with a 3.64/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Superhero Movie?

Forbidden Planet (1956) or, Freud in Outer Space!

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This wholly amazing landscape poster for Fred M. Wilcox's Forbidden Planet is just one of the remarkable posters that were made for it

In 2200, a spaceship full of randy men are en route to a mysterious planet, where Dr. Morbius and his beautiful daughter have lived alone for 20 years. But with the frightening knowledge of the Krell, a highly evolved native species extinct some 200,000 years, the fiendish subconscious of the doctor has manifested itself in a homicidal monster!

There are both laughable and thought-provoking aspects of Forbidden Planet. - An example of the latter is its theme of being able to create merely by thought.
Walter Pidgeon (Hit the Deck (1955)) is good as the inquisitive doctor, while Leslie Nielsen (Columbo (1971-75)) is a bit daft as the captain.
Forbidden Planet is considered a landmark science fiction film for its portrayal of humans traveling in a faster-than-light spaceship of their own making, taking place exclusively in space and on an alien planet, having a robot as an actual character in it, as well as being the first to use an exclusively electronic score. It is written by Cyril Hume (Ransom! (1956)), based on a story by Irving Block (Kronos (1957)) and Allen Adler (The Giant Behemoth (1959)), inspired by William Shakespeare's The Tempest (1610/11), and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (I Passed for White (1960)).

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 1.9 mil. $
Box office: 2.7 mil. $
= Big flop
[Forbidden Planet premiered 23 March (USA) and runs 98 minutes. The original 1952 screenplay by Adler and Block was titled Fatal Planet and took place on Mercury in 1976. Shooting took place exclusively in in-door sets in Los Angeles. Robby the Robot cost a steep 125k $ to create, about 7 % of the film's budget, and was later used in The Twilight Zone, along with other costume and props from the film. It was sold at an auction in 2017 for 5.3 mil. $, making it the most valuable movie prop ever sold at an auction, beating a 2013 sale of the Maltese falcon from The Maltese Falcon (1941). The film made 1.5 mil. $ in North America and 1.2 mil. $ abroad, only making it a big flop by Film Excess' standards, but reportedly it earned a handsome 210k $ profit. It was re-released on a children's matinee bill in 1972 in a version with 6 minutes cut out. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Special Effects, which it lost to The Ten Commandments. Pidgeon returned in These Wilder Years (1956), Nielsen in The Vagabond King (1956) and Anne Francis in The Rack (1956). Wilcox returned with I Passed for White (1960). Forbidden Planet is certified fresh at 98 % with an 8.2 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Forbidden Planet?

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) - Brooks wrongly castigated last directorial effort

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The classy-fun poster for Mel Brooks' Dracula: Dead and Loving It

QUICK REVIEW:

Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula (1897) and its adaptations into cinema are the basis of this spoof.

Dead and Loving It is a warm-hearted crazy-comedy from some of the old guys in the profession: Master co-writer-director/producer/star Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles (1974)) and Leslie Nielsen (Airplane! (1980)). Especially Nielsen's aura of comicality and Brooks' verbal comedy make the laughter roar here, while Peter MacNicol (24 (2007), TV-series) as Renfield is a bit tame.
The film contains lots of gags and fun, and it gives the Dracula world a serious squeeze in the butt. It is co-written by Brooks, Rudy De Luca (Silent Movie (1976)) and Steve Haberman (Life Stinks (1991)), and directed by Brooks as his last film in that role.
Dracula: Dead and Loving It is simply fun!

Related review:

Mel Brooks: Blazing Saddles (1974) or, The Black Sheriff of Rock Ridge

Try not to be amused while watching the trailer for the film here - I dare you!

Cost: 30 mil. $
Box office: 10.6 mil. $ (North America only)
= Uncertainty
[But certainly a big flop, and probably even a huge flop. Dead and Loving It was met with contempt by critics at home, (its Rotten Tomatoes critics' average is just 3/10), and audiences stayed away from this otherwise undemanding serving. Only few foreign figures are out, (the film made 0.4 mil. £ in the UK, 148k paid admission in France, 16k in Portugal), which makes it impossible to determine the film's final commercial result. - How did it do in Germany, and in South America, for instance? That would be interesting to know. It was a sorry end to Brooks' career as a filmmaker, - but at least audiences today don't wholly agree with the harsh critics of '95: Dead and Loving It has an IMDb score of 5.7.]

What do you think of Dracula: Dead and Loving It?

Creepshow (1982) - Fun, campy horror anthology from King and Romero

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The morbidly festive poster for George A. Romero's Creepshow

QUICK REVIEW:

With a framing story about a voodoo-practicing boy, whose father throws his Creepshow comic out, 5 ghoulish stories are served: SPOILER About a living corpse, who wants his cake; a meteor, which transforms a fool into a Plant Man; a jealous millionaire, who favors monitored drowning; a monster from the North Pole in a crate; and finally one about a neurotic city magnate with a bug problem ...

- Particularly this last story is a true nightmare for all of us who can't stand tingling insects, (in this case cockroaches.) 
Creepshow is an anthology horror movie homage to 1950's horror comic, written by horror maestro Stephen King (Christine (1983)) and directed by master horror director George A. Romero (Dawn of the Dead (1978)). Its stories are deliberately corny and sensationalist with some holes here and there.
The film boasts several stars: Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild (2007)), Leslie Nielsen (The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)), Ted Danson (Cheers (1982-93)), King gives a highly physical performance as the fool, and E. G. Marshall (Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)) amuses as the unlucky magnate in the final story, which also showcases Romero's keen satirical talent.
The lighting throughout is refreshingly high-key Bavaesque, the animations are cool, and Tom Savini's (Martin (1976)) special effects are somewhat crude but effective. The film is a joy (especially for a horror-fan.)

Related reviews:

George A. Romero: Dawn of the Dead (1978) or, Mall of Death!

Watch the awesome original trailer here

Cost: 8 mil. $
Box office: 21 mil. $ (US only)
= Box office success
[The film is labeled a sleeper hit. Including other territories (which I can't find numbers for, except that nearly 350,000 people paid admission in Spain) and video, TV and merchandise, Creepshow must surely have been a great source of income for Warner Bros. It took First Blood's #1 spot at the US box office and was Warner's top horror film of the year. It got one official sequel in 1987 and a direct-to-DVD unrelated sequel in 2007.]

What do you think of Creepshow?
Other horror anthologies that you like or dislike?

Airplane! (1980) - The deadpan/spoof/crazy-comedy classic!

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The iconic poster poster for Jim Abrahams, David and Jerry Zucker's Airplane! makes me laugh all by itself

The majority of the passengers and personnel on a route airplane contract sudden food poisoning, so that a former hunter pilot with practically no skills for flying a major airplane has to step in for the ailing pilot.

This the first disaster movie spoof/satirical comedy by co-writer/directors 'ZAZ', Jim Abrahams (Mafia! (1998)), David Zucker (Scary Movie 3 (2003)) and Jerry Zucker (Ghost (1990)), is an incredibly funny film, even though I personally might find that Abrahams' Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993) has even more laughs.
The style is the same though: A bombardment of gags and jokes and funny moments. The trio managed to cast a string of great male actors formerly unconnected with comedies for Airplane!, and they made them play their ridiculous lines and characters straight: Leslie Nielsen (Spy Hard (1996)), Lloyd Bridges (Bear Island (1979)), Peter Graves (Biography (1994-01, TV series documentary)) and Robert Stack (Uncommon Valor (1983)). Especially Bridges and the master of deadpan-comedy, Nielsen, carry many of Airplane's funniest moments.
Airplane! especially spoofs the disaster films Zero Hour! (1957) and Airport (1975), and references numerous other known films of different genres.
The ZAZ-trio more or less founded the spoof genre in American films here with this nonperishable delight.

Related post:

Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Be reminded of some of the fun of Airplane! in its pretty long trailer here

Cost: 3.5 mil. $
Box office: 130 mil. $
= Blockbuster (returned 37.14 times its cost)
[Airplane! was released 2 July (USA) and runs 87 minutes. The ZAZ trio bought the rights to remake Zero Hour! for 2.5k $, from which they got the basic plot structure for the film. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from June - August 1979. Nielsen brought a whoopee cushion onto the set to keep his cast mates off balance. The film made its budget in its first week of release domestically and became the year's 4th highest grossing film. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this review. The ZAZ trio returned united with Police Squad! (1982, TV-series) and theatrically with Top Secret! (1984). Robert Hays (Dr. T & the Women (2000)) returned in Angie (1979-80) and theatrically in Take This Job and Shove It (1981), Julie Hagerty (Instant Family (2018)) in The Day the Women Got Even (1980, TV movie) and theatrically in A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982). Airplane! is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.38/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Airplane!?

2001: A Space Travesty (2000, video) - Nielsen and Goldstein's sci-fi spoof flop

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The undeniably silly-looking but also worryingly inept poster for Allan A. Goldstein's 2001: A Space Travesty

A clone of Bill Clinton has taken over the governing of the United States of America, and agent Dick Dix has to solve this by bringing back the real Clinton from his imprisonment on the Moon.

Travesty has little to do with Stanley Kubrick's (The Shining (1980)) science fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), which the title parodies, and it is populated with b-actors in c- and d-material, incomprehensible gags and embarrassing 'comedy'. The only remedy in the SF spoof/farce is Leslie Nielsen (Airplane! (1980)), the wonderful Danish/Welsh/Canadian actor turned comedian.
Brooklyn-born director Allan A. Goldstein (Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994)) is a fringe director if there ever was one.The film is scripted (poorly) by Italian Vince Di Clemente (The Lost World (1998), additional dialogue) and Alan Shearman (The Shrimp on the Barbie (1990)).
2001: A Space Travesty is not worth writing home about. A film mostly for Nielsen completists.

Related posts:

Mentioned film: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) or, Humanity and Space

Watch Leslie Nielsen enter space in this 4-minute clip from the film

Cost: Estimated 26-45 mil. $
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown (likely a mega-flop)
[2001: A Space Travesty premiered 31 October (Tokyo, Japan) and runs 99 minutes. It was shot from July - September 1999. It wasn't released theatrically in many countries, including the US, where it was rolled out direct-to-video. Nielsen himself allegedly called his experience on the film, "the worst experience I have ever had." The film must have been a huge commercial bomb as well, although without any numbers, it is impossible to say just how big of a flop it really was. Goldstein returned with One Way Out (2002, video) and theatrically with Pact with the Devil (2004). Nielsen returned in The Wonderful World of Disney (2000, TV-series), Pumper Pups (2000, TV-series) and theatrically in Camouflage (2001). 10,797 Rotten Tomatoes users have given 2001: A Space Travesty an average rating of 2.2/5.]

What do you think of 2001: A Space Travesty?