Comedy Sequels Prove Lightning Won’t Strike Twice

For my movie-going entertainment, nothing is better than a good comedy. And so, when announcements of sequels to my favorite funny movies are made, I get excited. I hope the key members of the original will be back, and that random throw-away lines will be expounded upon. I hope that the movie recaptures the magic of the original, and provides its own laugh. And, generally speaking, that doesn’t happen.

Recently, Nicholas Stoller, director of funny movies such as “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “The Five-Year Engagement,” and “Neighbors,” spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the art of directing a comedy sequel and crafted rules for directing a comedy sequel, rules which include “the story should be different, but the themes should be the same” and “cut out the fan service.” While I respect Mr. Stoller’s work, both “Get Him to the Greek” and “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising” show that directing a comedy sequel inevitably leads to these fatal flaws. Let’s take a look.

MCU Films, Ranked (Updated Fall 2019)

I wanted to give my quick thoughts as to what the best Marvel Cinematic Universe (“MCU”) movies are. Please note that the list below is in worst-to-first order. Sorry, Thor. Feel free to disagree or tell me how wrong I am in the comments!

Reboot Fever

As I’ve mentioned in the past, reboots (like, say, “Girl Meets World“) never match the expectations of a rabid fan base, usually because they’re trying to please the original fans while also attempting to woo new fans and cater interest in new characters. But, since reboots are de rigueur these days, I thought I’d throw out a few that I’d like to see (or certainly would watch before I’d ever come near the new “Gilmore Girls.”)