Coming to America (1988)

Direceted by John Landis and starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall this is  a comedy. It follows Prince Akeem played by Eddie and his Man Servant Semmi played by Aresenio Hall as they come from Africa to America to find a Queen. The lead actors play several roles in the film and they play it for laughs and it really works for me.

This is a fish out of water comedy with Eddie and Arsenio not fully understanding America or how things work. There is the love story as the Prince finds his Queen and you have the usual it is not what he is but what he says that causes a problem. Some of the jokes have seeped in to pop culture references like Sexual Chocolate a song sung half way through the film. And the constant references to McDowells compared to McDonalds are funny especially right at the end.

With support from James Earl Jones as Akeem's father, Madge Sinclair as his mother, Shari Headley as the love interest, Allison Dean as her sister and John Amos a their father. I think that this film is hilarious and still works today, there is also a nice little reference back to Trading Places, overall this is a fun filled 4 star recommend from me and I think everybody should see it.

Burke and Hare (2010)

So I had no real want to see this film but it was there so I watched it and it was actually really funny, Andy Serkis and Simon Pegg with Jessica Hynes and Isla Fisher made an interesting couple of couples and the rest of the cast are a who's who of British comedy and acting with parts for Tom Wilkinson, Stephen Merchant, Tim Curry, Paul Whitehouse, Bill Bailey, Christopher Lee and Ronnie Corbett all come together under John Landis direction to actually make a positive fun film of a really dark subject matter.

The story itself is based on the true tale of Burke and Hare the Grave robbers turned murderers in Edinburgh and how they provide cadavers for the medical profession in Edinburgh back in the 19th century. I have to say that when I heard it was going to be a comedy I was put off immediately because why would you want to feel sorry for a couple of people who murder people for profit but John Landis makes you like them. I think a lot of that is to do with the fact that Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis are just so nice you enjoy there performances and therefore like the characters.

I will say 4 stars for this, it is worth seeing and as long as you watch it as a comedy and not as a historically accurate piece it is a lot of fun.

Twilight Zone the Movie (1983)

Having had the chance to see the first half of the original season from the 1950's I was interested to see the 1983 film. I have to say that I was seriously disappointed, I have seen this before but it was actually that bad i had forgotten I had seen it. So the film is split in to 4 with separate stories that do not interlink and there is also an opening scene starring Dan Ackroyd which was a highlight even though it was not very good.

The Twilight Zone to me has been about this is the world the characters live in, whether it is real or not and the twist at the end is based upon the audience perception of what is normal. However each of these segments seems to be a normal person in our world gets either moved or finds themselves in a weird and wonderful world and they are all quite drastic, obviously what you need for the big screen.

I was very disappointed with this film, with none of the segments being very good for me so a 1 star film and well worth avoiding. I would recommend the original TV Series as so far it is awesome and most of the 15 or so episodes I have seen are worth watching.