The Golf Specialist (1930) - Fields on the green is comedic gold

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W.C. Fields engaged with his golf club amid a general confusion in a delightful still from Monte Brice's The Golf Specialist

A rascally layabout, who attempts to steal money from a little girl, takes another man's flirtatious wife out on the tee to show her how a game of golf is played.

The Golf Specialist is a pre-Code comedy short directed by Monte Brice (Casey at the Bat (1927)), which was star W.C. Fields' (It's a Gift (1934)) first sound picture.

A part of this mostly studio-shot flick is pretty primitive; and especially the many sound gags are obviously a result of the recent advent of the novelty of sound on film, more so than they point to the future of comedy.

Most of the story takes place around Fields' first strike at the golf ball, which never succeeds due to various obstacles: a pie, flying papers and other ridiculous things. - One should be inordinately hard-boiled not to chuckle several times at Fields' grotesque routine there. - It is golden.

 

Watch a 2-minute clip from the short here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[The Golf Specialist was released 22 August (USA) and runs 20 minutes. Shooting took place in New Jersey. Fields' golf routine had been used in So's Your Old Man (1926) and again later in You're Telling Me! (1934). The film fell into public domain in the 1960s and can be seen and downloaded free and legally right here. Brice returned with Resolutions (1930, short). Fields returned in Her Majesty, Love (1931). 1,051 IMDb users have given The Golf Specialist a 6.3/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of The Golf Specialist?

Semi-Pro (2008) - A 70s Michigan basketball comedy for the Ferrell fans

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+ Best Michigan Movie of the Year + Best Sports Comedy of the Year + Career-Killer of the Year: Kent Alterman

The two personable co-stars pale in the sheen of Will Ferrell's ridiculousness on this simple poster for Kent Alterman's Semi-Pro

1970s Flint, Michigan: Local 'king of funk' Jackie Moon is a star with his hit song Love Me Sexy and his place on the Tropics basketball team. But now the future stands between death or the NBA for the team, who need to fight for survival.

Semi-Pro is written by Scot Armstrong (Road Trip (2000)) and directed by debuting Kent Alterman (After the Sunset (2004, executive producer)).
This comedy is a solid late-night pleasure; it lacks the great big screaming laughs that adorn Will Ferrell's (Bewitched (2005)) best comedies, but it still has a solid amount of chuckle-inducing scenes.
The film relishes its period setting, which is painted as male-chauvinist and uncontrolled compared to today's world, with Moon's promotion especially amateurish and pretty darn funny. 
André Benjamin (American Crime (2016, TV-series)), Woody Harrelson (I'll Do Anything (1994)) and Tim Meadows (Mr. Box Office (2012-13)) are also good here. Semi-Pro is a minor comedy nugget.

 

Related posts:

 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

Watch a red band trailer for the film here

Cost: 55 mil. $
Box office: 43.8 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.79 times its cost)
[Semi-Pro premiered 19 February (Westwood, California) and runs 92 minutes. Shooting took place in Michigan and in California, including Los Angeles, in and around February 2007. 7 weeks after the film's release, grizzly bear Rocky, who plays Dewie the Bear in the film, bit one its trainers in the neck, killing him. The film opened #1 to a 15 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more week in the top 5 (#5) and grossed 33.4 mil. $ (76.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 4.1 mil. $ (9.4 %) and Australia with 3.7 mil. $ (8.4 %). It was New Line Cinemas last film, before the company was absorbed into Warner Bros. Alterman has not directed or produced anything since, ending his more than 10 year career in films with the film. Ferrell returned in Stepbrothers (2008); Benjamin in 2 music videos and a TV-series before reaching the big screen again in Jimi: All Is by My Side (2013); Harrelson in Surfer, Dude (2008). Semi-Pro is rotten at 23 % with a 4.5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Semi-Pro?

The Longest Yard (2005) - A few laughs register in shallow, overlong MTV-produced sports comedy remake

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Adam Sandler and co-stars lined up in prison football gear on this testosterone-booming poster for Peter Segal's The Longest Yard

An ex-football star lands himself an extended prison sentence, and incarcerated in a middle-of-nowhere facility the warden has an idea of a quality prisoner's football team. A game against the guards looms in the distance.

The Longest Yard is written by Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air (2009)), based on the same-titled 1974 major hit, which also starred Burt Reynolds (Tempted (2001)), and directed by Peter Segal (Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)).
It is an MTV production made during the TV station's prime, which results in a shallow, lowbrow concoction, peopled with stars to cover the most vital movie-going demographics in North America: whites and blacks, with most coming from the younger generations. In line with MTV's concept it also features loads of music, both original songs and hits from past and present, noise and annoying music video type flash editing.
The Longest Yard made me laugh a couple of times, - mostly in scenes featuring the 'giant', Dalip Singh (Get Smart (2008)), who is treated as a freak and even subtitled, - and it curiously has Tracy Morgan (Why Stop Now? (2012)) as a gay prison cheerleader. But the movie is overlong, and it culminates in a football match that feels as long as a real football match.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 82 mil. $
Box office: 190.3 mil. $
= Minor flop (returned 2.32 times its cost)
[The Longest Yard premiered 19 May (Hollywood, California) and runs 113 minutes. Shooting took place in New Mexico and in California, including Los Angeles in and around July 2004. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, to a 47.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#4-#5) and grossed 158.1 mil. $ (83.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 8.2 mil. $ (4.3 %) and Australia with 8.1 mil. $ (4.3 %). The film almost certainly turned healthy profits later with home video sales and TV rights deals. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to two notches higher than this one. Segal returned with Get Smart (2008). Adam Sandler (Murder Mystery (2019)) returned with an uncredited cameo in Deuce Bigelow: European Vacation (2005) and starring in Click (2006); Reynolds in The Dukes of Hazzard (2005); Chris Rock (The Week Of (2018)) with a voice performance in Madagascar (2005), in Red Hot Chili Peppers music video Hump de Bump (2006) and physically in a movie in his own I Think I Love My Wife (2007). The Longest Yard is rotten at 31 % with a 4.78/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Longest Yard?

The Love Guru (2008) - Schnabel and Myers' vulgar belly flop is actually hilarious

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+ Silliest Movie of the Year + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year + Most Expensive Flop of the Year: 45.68 mil. $ range + Most Under-appreciated Movie of the Year

Colorful, kooky antics from five beloved stars are promised on this chuckle-inducing poster for Marco Schnabel's The Love Guru

Guru Sitka is the world's second greatest guru. A Canadian hockey team now wants to use his wisdom to win the Stanley Cup, all the while the guru falls in love.

The Love Guru is written by Graham Gordy (Rectify (2013, TV-series) and co-writer/co-producer/star Mike Myers (Wayne's World 2 (1993)) and directed by debuting Marco Schnabel (Brain Trust (2011, TV movie), writer). It is an outrageously silly film, which can be enjoyed (or not) according to personal humor and taste. If you are a Myers fan, you should be able to jump headlong into the embrace of this comedy, one of the nuttiest film to date.
The tomfoolery reaches previously unknown heights, (some would argue, lows), and although there are repetitive and uncool jokes and gags, I for one still find them fairly irresistible.
Ben Kingsley (Hugo (2011)) is funny as another guru, a part that also makes fun of his demure legacy as Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's masterpiece Gandhi (1982). Justin Timberlake (Black Snake Moan (2006)) is energetic and funny; Jessica Alba (Machete Kills (2013)) is sweet and lovely; the late Verne Troyer (Here Lies Lonely (1999)) is incredibly funny as the hockey team leader; and Romany Malco (The Duff (2015)) is charismatic and funny. Myers heads the pack and is incredible, infectious, fearless and visibly in love with performing here. A consistently happy, daffy energy runs through The Love Guru, which I personally favor over Myers' infinitely more successful Austin Powers sequels, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002).

Related post:

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]  

 2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 62 mil. $
Box office: 40.8 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.65 times the cost)
[The Love Guru was released 20 June (USA, Croatia) and runs 87 minutes. Shooting took place in Canada, including Toronto, and in Los Angeles from September - November 2007. The film opened #4, behind fellow new major comedy release Get Smart and holdover hits The Incredible Hulk and Kung Fu Panda, to a 13.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 32.2 mil. $ (78.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 2.5 mil. $ (6.1 %) and Australia with 2.1 mil. $ (5.1 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1/4 star review, translating to 3 notches harder than this one. IMDb's users have currently placed the film at #74 on IMDb's Bottom 100 list, sitting between 2001: A Space Travesty (2000) and Turkish youtuber comedy Enes Batur Hayal mi Gerçek mi? (2018). Schnabel never returned to directing; instead he has slowly returned to writing and producing for TV. Myers returned in Inglorious Basterds (2009) but has not led a movie since The Love Guru, (an announced Austin Powers 4 could change that fact.) The Love Guru is rotten at 14 % with a 3.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Love Guru?

Cars (2006) - Idiotic, loud sports drama animation

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+ Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

Powerful visuals on this poster for John Lasseter and Joe Ranft's Cars

QUICK REVIEW:

Lightning McQueen is a solo-driving race car star, who falls off the transportation truck and ends up in an abandoned small town, where he learns something about friendship and teamwork, before SPOILER he triumphs completely at the mega-race.

Cars is an almost unendurable movie; intolerably loud and overwrought, and seemingly based on the dubious core value that everyone wants to be famous and # 1.
This rather flat and illusory representation of people and the world is then exposed to a carpet-bombing of mostly American accents, whereof especially the stereotypical Southern ones are gratingly awful.
The story is wildly predictable and sentimental. It doesn't lift the task of getting us to feel any empathy for cars. The idea is in some way just too ridiculous... - What was Paul Newman (Torn Curtain (1966)) doing lending his voice to this film, which became the last of his career?
The one thing that can't be taken away from Cars is its animation, which is incredibly handsome. - But that is, of course, not enough, seeing as Cars is the last exclusive Pixar film (before their merger with Disney), the animation studio that brought us Toy Story (1995) and many other endearing classics.
It is directed by John Lasseter (Toy Story), with (according to IMDb) co-director Joe Ranft (Finding Nemo (2003), voice actor). Lasseter is busy with Cars 3 right now ...

Related reviews:

John Lasseter: Bolt (2008) - Hollywood dog road adventure fun for the whole family! (executive producer)

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

The Incredibles (2004) - Unwanted animated action slam-dunk (executive producer)

Watch the trailer here

Cost: 120 mil. $
Box office: 461.9 mil. $
= Big hit
[Cars made 60.1 mil. $ in its opening weekend in the US, where its run landed on 244 mil. $ (53 % of the total gross). It was # 1 for two weeks before Click and then Superman Returns overtook the spot. It was even beloved by US critics and twice Oscar-nominated, (Best Animation and Best Song.) Cars was the biggest animated hit of 2006 in the States and the second biggest worldwide, behind Ice Age: The Meltdown. The spin-off merchandise has grossed a stunning 10 Bil. $ in the first 5 years since the release of the film, which has spun a sequel, a spin-off and soon a second sequel.]

What do you think of this huge, glistening money machine?

Caddyshack (1980) - And you thought golf was boring?

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The wacky poster for Harold Ramis' Caddyshack

QUICK REVIEW:

Caddyshack presents the life of a golf club: An assisting grass-responsible is chasing gophers, a rich Jew threatens to buy the establishment, and a young caddy is fighting to get the club's college grant.

Caddyshack is an outrageous crazy-comedy with deadpan-champ Chevy Chase (Community (2009-14)), a darkly comedic, sleazy Bill Murray (St. Vincent (2014)), and choleric Rodney Dangerfield (Back to School (1986)) in his film break-through. - And there's slapstick comedy in it too!
This sports comedy classic is co-written and directed by the recently passed on Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day (1993)).

Bill Murray, early in his career, in Harold Ramis' Caddyshack

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 6 mil. $
Box office: 39.8 mil. $ (North America only)
= Huge hit
[Caddyshack was the 17th biggest film at the US box office of the year. It has since grown in popularity. It has been shown on the Golf Channel, and it is Tiger Woods' favorite movie (!). Initially, the only country outside North America where the film was a hit, was in Denmark.]

What do you think of Caddyshack?
If you've seen the derided 1988 sequel, what do you think of it?