UHF

Best Comedy and Parody   January 6, 2009
This is comedy in it's purest form. Side-splitting parody and daring, out-there over the top silliness! Best of all, it's entirely harmless. Several levels above 99% of all other Hollywood movies. Wierd Al has you rolling on the floor without the use of sexual or biological humor.

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One of My Favorites   December 22, 2008
This has been one of my favorite films for years. One that it always seemed like everyone else missed seeing. It has some great parodies of other films and popular music. Even Heraldo Rivera gets the spanking he deserves, if you are old enough to remember the things he did before becoming a "serious journalist". Lots of clean-cut goofiness. Years ago I put the janitor's speech on my telephone answering machine - a parody of the movie Network. There's also Rambo and Indiana Jones, and on and on. I guess you have to be a bit of an old timer to remember TV's with VHF and UHF on the dial. That's even older than when channel 17 was out Atlanta with Scarlet O'Hara's ads and Bill Tush. Egad!

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A Long Time Ago in A Galaxy in Some Crazy Guy's Head   November 30, 2008
This is a funny movie. It is part satire and part homage; and it works. There are some lulls, and some skits don't go over so well; but, on the whole it will entertain you and make you laugh. I saw this film in the theater when it was first released many years ago. It has aged well and is even funnier in spots. Weird Al is his usual dorky, idiosyncratic self playing the dispirited manager of his Uncle's broken down UHF station. The supporting cast is just as good , especially Michael Richards as the brain damaged Stanley the janitor who loves his mop more than life itself and Kevin McCarthy as the scheming villain who will stop at nothing to maintain his dominance as the king of trash television. It's a goofy, quirky, dopey, funny movie, with a happy ending that is actually believable. I wonder why Weird Al never made another.

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The Trouble With Being Funny   November 10, 2008
It's not uncommon for pop stars to get ahead of themselves and decide to make a movie. The Beatles did it, Prince used to do it and The Spice Girls made a complete mess of it. But what of Alfred Matthew 'Weird Al' Yankovic and his first and only motion picture? Any film involving a musician requires caution ('Hearts of Fire', anyone?). Even its status as a 'one off' suggests failure. However, 'Weird Al' is not your average pop star and, accordingly, 'UHF' is not a mere star vehicle intended solely to soothe a rampaging ego at the expense of the audience. It's better than that. And smarter, too.
First things first. Weird Al can act. Not in a Russell Crowe 'watch me disappear' kind of way, or even in a manner that's likely to trouble voting members of the Academy any time soon, but he gets the job done. Secondly, he's smart enough to share the laughs around. In particular, Michael Richards in a pre-Kramer role is terrific as the mop-loving Stanley. And while it would be possible to talk about 'story arcs' and so on, the only true test for a film such as this is whether it makes you laugh. On this level, 'UHF' is a complete success.
Yankovic clearly relishes the opportunity to work on a bigger comedic canvas and lets his imagination run wild. Mostly, it works.
I would have been a teenager when I'd last seen it. Back then, it seemed hilarious. Because Weird Al rarely relies on that day's newspaper to make a joke, age hasn't wearied it. 'UHF' remains that most rare of movies: one that's genuinely funny and made with a genuine passion for film-making. It's also criminally overlooked. Granted, it's not 'The Godfather' or even 'Purple Rain' but that's precisely the point. It's a film worth returning and one that deserves some, albeit belated, respect.

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Funny and entertaining   October 11, 2008
If you are a fan of Weird Al then you will enjoy this movie. It is funny and light. Don't expect a movie that makes you think or get emotional. UHF is just fun and exactly what a person needs on Friday night with popcorn and family around the tube. Great fun.

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