Special: Ranking College Humor's Most Underrated Comedies of the Last 10 Years

So this week College Humor released the results of their "Most Underrated Comedy of the Last 10 Years" poll with a list of the top 25 vote-getters. I decided it'd be fun to rank those 25 choices per my tastes. HERE is CH's list if you wanted to see it in full.

My scale is as follows:
1 = Not Good
2 = Had It's Moments
3 = Good Enough
4 = Very Good
5 = Amazing!!!

First off as you'd expect. Let's start with the ones I've never seen and thus can not rank:

25. Sex Drive

Grade: Never Saw

CH Rank: 24.

CH explanation: A movie about teenage hormones literally driving its characters across country? You're revving our comedy engines. With James Marsden as an uncharacteristically unlikeable homophobe, Clark Duke as the unlikely pick-up artist, and Seth Green presenting the sarcastic Amish, this movie fires on all cylinders.

24. Stardust

Grade: Never Saw

CH Rank: 23.

CH explanation: It's a true testament to the magic of Neil Gaiman that this adaptation conjured Claire Danes, Ricky Gervais, Michelle Pfeiffer, a pre-Daredevil Charlie Cox, a pre-Superman Henry Cavill, the voice of Ian McKellen, and Robert De Niro. Another spell cast by director Matthew Vaughn: it's truly fun for the whole family. Even with Robert De Niro doing the weirdest iteration of Shakespeare you've ever seen.

23. Black Dynamite

Grade: Never Saw

CH Rank: 18.

CH explanation: You don't see an American blaxploitation action comedy film every day -- or ever. That's what makes Black Dynamite a special addition to this list and to the pantheon of American films where President Richard Nixon is defeated in a kung-fu battle. (Still the only one?) What makes Black Dynamite really pop is how effortless the parody is: everything just feels dyna-right.

22. Hail, Caesar!

GradE: Never Saw

CH Rank: 17.

CH explanation: The Coen Brothers are the kings of detail and should be hailed for their very specific send-up of post-war Hollywood. This all-star comedy stars all the stars: George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johanson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and even Channing Tatum. It's the perfect marriage of silly and sophisticated in the Hollywood studio system, and has the weird, meandering shaggy nature that some of the best Coen Bros. films sport. It doesn't make for the most memorable story, but it's a fun ride.

21. What We Do In The Shadows

Grade: Never Saw

CH Rank: 10.

CH explanation: Vampires are categorically unfunny, unless of course, you group them up for a mockumentary horror comedy film, which is exactly what co-writers, directors, and stars Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi had the teeth to do. It's a smart, fresh, and funny send-up of four very unhip vampire roommates struggling to keep up in the modern world (and some werewolves - not "swearwolves").

20. Hot Rod

Grade: Never Saw

CH Rank: 8.

CH explanation: Hot Rod as a movie does to its audience exactly what protagonist, Rod Kimble (Andy Samberg), does to his stepfather Frank (Ian McShane) -- earns respect by kicking his ass. On the whole, Hot Rod is exactly what you've come to love and expect from The Lonely Island: offbeat, surreal humor. The greatest stunt the movie pulls off is how consistently it sticks the landing, even 10 years after its initial release.

19. The Watch

Grade: 1.

CH Rank: 21.

CH explanation: The bad boys of comedy (does anyone call them that?) teamed up for a suburban neighborhood watch group that no one should feel safe about. With Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Jonah Hill sharing the driver's seat, Richard Ayoade was left unsupervised to steal the show -- as an alien who has come to love the ways of human life, and oral sex. The movie's pretty solid, but underperformed for a number of reasons - namely, coming out at the EXACT wrong time: right after the tragic death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman. So, uh, not really the ideal time to release a movie about a group of neighborhood watch guys goofing around.

18. The World's End

Grade: 1.

CH Rank: 2.

CH explanation: This is Edgar Wright's icing on the Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz cake. It naturally follows a group of friends who discover an alien invasion during an epic pub crawl. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost do a lot of the hilarious heavy-lifting in this apocalyptic science fiction comedy. We'll drink to that!

17. The Grand Budapest Hotel

Grade: 2.

CH Rank: 4.

CH explanation: An underrated Wes Anderson film? Perhaps. But this ensemble cast, led by Ralph Fiennes, sets off on a nuanced adventure of Guess Who meets Dunston Checks In. Oh, and let's talk a little bit more about the cast, because it is completely insane:
Bill Murray
Jeff Goldblum
Willem Dafoe
Edward Norton
F. Murray Abraham
Owen Wilson
Tilda Swinton
Jason Schwartzman
Harvey Keitel
Saorise Ronan
Adrien Brody
...AND MORE! For real, even if the movie wasn't great (which it IS), it would be worth watching just to see some of the finest actors of their time making a film together.

16. The House Bunny

Grade: 2.

CH Rank: 25.

CH explanation: 2008 was a simpler time. Donald Trump was a TV host, American Idol hadn't peaked yet (see: Katharine McPhee in this movie), and the a reality show about an elderly man and his 3 young, blonde girlfriends living in his sex mansion was pretty popular - like, surprisingly popular. Popular enough that we got TWO movies centered entirely around Playboy as a brand within a year of one another (the other one was Miss March, which is properly-rated as "not good"). Also a service to her country is Anna Farris' pitch-perfect Playmate, falling from grace -- and landing directly on a steaming manhole cover.

15. Swiss Army Man

Grade: 2.

CH Rank: 22.

CH explanation: There aren't a lot of movies where farts and erections are funny for a full 95 minutes, but Swiss Army Man isn't a lot of movies. Paul Dano recalled to Stephen Colbert how he was pitched this movie, with Daniel Radcliffe as a flatulent corpse: "The first fart makes you laugh and the last fart makes you cry."

14. Goon

Grade: 2.

CH Rank: 13.

CH explanation: There aren't enough hockey comedies. Including Mighty Ducks 1, 2, and 3, hockey has typically only served as an inspirational sport. Enter Goon. Written by Jay Barchuel and Evan Goldberg and starring Sean William Scott and Liev Schrieber, Goon understands that the one-two punch of comedy is stunts on ice and locker room banter. You'll laugh so hard, you might knock a tooth out.

13. Reno 911!: Miami

Grade: 3.

CH Rank: 20.

CH explanation: The first of a few TV comedies to graduate to feature-length, Reno 911! brings its Comedy Central cops to the beaches of Miami. And in accordance with Miami's Law, a convention center that CAN be targeted for a biological attack WILL be targeted for a biological attack. Lieutenant Dangle and company bumble their way to success in an 80-minute episode that reads as a love letter to fans of the show -- and maybe as a ransom note to those unfamiliar.

12. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Grade: 3.

CH Rank: 11.

CH explanation: Walk Hard expertly walks the hard line of what makes a great parody: familiarity. The fake biopic's rockstar protagonist, Dewey Cox, is no stranger. He's basically Johnny Cash with a dash of almost every other popular musician of the time. The irony of the film is further enhanced by real, original, good music.

11. Keanu

Grade: 3.

CH Rank: 15.

CH explanation: In their first big-screen foray as a duo, Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key do what they do best: combining absurd premises and charming performances. Throw in a Mexican drug cartel, two identical assassins, and a kitten in a doo-rag and you've got yourself a movie that might as well be called Key & Peele: Hollywood. It's a fun film, it's got a cute cat, and it features two of our generation's greatest comedic minds doing what they do best.

10. ParaNorman

Grade: 3.

CH Rank: 19.

CH explanation: ParaNorman did a little bit of everything: 3D, stop-motion animation, comedy AND horror. Plus, a very surprising coming-out from the film's 18-year-old jock, voiced by Casey Affleck. It has all the makings of a classic children's movie (that's enjoyable for every other age, as well): ghosts, an actual witch hunt, sudden death, and adolescent camaraderie in the face of zombie adversity.

9. In Bruges

Grade: 4.

CH Rank: 9.

CH explanation: There's a reason Bruges tourism has spiked. That reason is this movie. Led by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson's terrific performances as Irish hitmen in hiding, In Bruges nimbly toes the Belgian cobblestone that connect witty dialogue and crime thriller elements. Plus, cursing with an Irish accent is never not hilarious.

8. The Nice Guys

Grade: 4.

CH Rank: 3.

CH explanation: It's everyone's favorite handsome hammer-wielding murder-driver, Ryan Gosling, and the guy everyone wants to pretend wasn't in Les Miserables, Russell Crowe! The Nice Guys knows exactly what it is -- The Odd Couple doing their best impression of True Detective. Or something like that. Regardless, The Nice Guys is a surprise delight - Ryan Gosling's constant physical ailments are hilarious (namely his attempt at breaking into a house), Crowe plays the tough-guy PI to a hilt, and their chemistry is perfect. But what really puts the film over the top is the Angourie Rice's breakout performance as Gosling's wise-beyond-her-years daughter.

7. Burn After Reading

Grade: 4.

CH Rank: 16.

CH explanation: The great part of the film is that it's ostensibly about the intelligence community in Washington DC, but every single character is too stupid, uninformed, or distracted to realize what's going on - which leads to one of the most bizarre and incredible endings of any film ever - JK Simmons desperately trying to understand what ANYONE in the film was actually trying to accomplish:

6. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Grade: 4.

CH Rank: 7.

CH explanation: Andy Samberg and The Lonely Island aren't alone on this regular-rated list of underrated movies. The trio takes the mockumentary format in ONE DIRECTION and gives us something to BELIEVE in -- the hilarious failures of a larger-than-life popstar, Conner4Real (Samberg). Featuring a soundtrack that could easily make its way up the Billboard charts if literally anyone else's name was attached to it.

5. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

Grade: 4.

CH Rank: 12.

CH explanation: A few rules of thumb: never meet your (meatball) heroes and your favorite kid's book will not be your favorite adult movie. The exception to both rules is Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. But directors/writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller specialize in this kind of thing exactly - making a terrible-sounding adaptation that winds up being far better than you could have ever imagined (we're still in shock 21 Jump Street AND its sequel turned out as incredible as they did). The movie is full of heart, tons of incredible laughs (Andy Samberg's turn as a giant manbaby who becomes one with a giant roast chicken is something to behold), and honestly holds up a lot better than a good number of Pixar films.

4. MacGruber

Grade: 5.

CH Rank: 14.

CH explanation: Okay, here's the thing: MacGruber is maybe THE best comedy of the last 10 years - so, in this author's opinion - y'all messed up. While the sketches on SNL were funny, many people were unsure how the quick, under 5 minute sketches would translate to a feature-length film - and Will Forte 'n crew proved they knew exactly what they were doing, brilliantly sending up action movies and action heroes with the woefully incompetent MacGruber, who manages to accidentally murder his entire elite team, constantly begging to let him suck bad guys' dicks to get out of tricky situations, and have sex with his dead wife's ghost. Also, Val Kilmer plays one helluva villain.

3. Role Models

Grade: 5.

CH Rank: 6.

CH explanation: You can't spell crude without Sean William Scott and Paul Rudd. Well, you can, but it's just not the same. The pair gets into all the trouble it can as they fulfill their requirements for community service, forcing them to LARP with Augie, Christopher Mintz-Plasse in his first post-Superbad role. The film begs the question: is jail really worse than a medieval live action role-playing game?

2. Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil

Grade: 5.

CH Rank: 5.

CH explanation: Y'all sure love your horror comedies, with Tucker & Dale topping the list of movies that can make you simultaneously pee yourself from Laughter & Fear. It gets gory in all the good ways and did "for killer rednecks what Shaun of the Dead did for zombies." High praise for two murderous(ly funny) hillbillies, if you discount its Midnight Audience Award win at SXSW.

1. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Grade: 5.

CH Rank: 1.

CH explanation: Another underrated Edgar Wright film, according to you. More like Scott Pilgrim vs. The Rest of This List. Michael Cera stars as 22-year-old Scott Pilgrim and BOY does he know how to play a lanky, awkward slacker -- and bass. The film is visually dazzling, levels up on crafty and clever dialogue, and includes pre-Captain America Chris Evans, pre-Captain Marvel Brie Larson, a post-Superman Brandon Routh! . Scott Pilgrim defeated 7 evil exes and 49 not-evil movies to secure its place as the most underrated comedy of the last 10 years. That's pretty Bob-Omb.

Special: Christmas CD 2016

Hey everyone!! It's another holiday season which means another edition of "What's A Partridge? What's A Pear Tree?" the annual Christmas compilation I create. Here's this year's CD (volume 9) (LINK) and the tracklisting is below. If you want past years click HERE which is a link to last years Volume 8 as well as a link to volume 7 and prior. And again the obligatory "I own none of this music or ones in linked articles"

1. Suckerpunch - This December
2. The Matches - Happy New Year
3. Go Radio - O Holy Night
4. The Downtown Fiction - Forgot It Was Christmas
5. The Holidaze - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
6. Divided By Friday - All I Want For Christmas Is You
7. Hawk Nelson - Silent Night
8. All Hands On Deck - Snowflakes & Heartbreaks
9. Courage My Love - Last Christmas
10. Bowling For Soup - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
11. Alcoa - Blue Christmas
12. Sophomore - Wonderful Christmastime
13. Count Your Blessings - Too Much Eggnog
14. Shelbyville - Leave It To Christians To Ruin A Perfectly Good Holiday
15. Relient K - Handel's Messiah
16. Less Than Jake - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
17. Taking Back Sunday - Merry Christmas, I Missed You So Much
18. In Her Own Words - Yule Shoot Your Eye Out
19. Lee Corey Oswald - A Chill Time To All And To All A Chill Time
20. MxPx - Auld Lang Syne

Special: 2016 Oscars Roundup!

Hey everyone, the Oscars are tonight so it's time for me to give you my picks for what movies I think will win the awards tonight and who I think should win them. My ranking shows the order I would vote. (LW) represents the likely winner and (NS) indicates a film I have never seen.

Best Picture:

I was on board when they increased the number of pictures that could be nominated from five to a high of ten. We have eight this year but all indications are that this is a four-horse race between The Big Short, The Revenant, Room and Spotlight. I'm going to say The Revenant will likely win the award tonight but in reality Oscar voters may be swayed away from giving director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu back to back wins after taking home the top prize and best director last year for Birdman, which opens the door to indie darling Spotlight to take top honours. The Big Short was favourited early on but has since cooled meanwhile Room is being propped up by it's excellent acting and is likely a long shot to walk away with Best Picture. Overall this is a great list of candidates, all the movies I've seen I have enjoyed one way or another.

My ranking:
1. The Big Short
2. Spotlight
3. The Martian
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
5. Room
6. The Revenant (LW)
7. Bridge Of Spies
8. Brooklyn (NS)

Best Actor:

This category is all about Leo, to say he's just a favourite would be doing him a disservice. I am willing to put money down the Leo is finally making a speech with a gold statue in hand by the end of tonight. Damon in The Martian was a lot of fun but he's not a real contender here, nor have we heard a ton about Cranston's role in Trumbo. Redmayne won last year for his turn in The Theory Of Everything but despite early festival buzz The Danish Girl's prospects have cooled off quite a bit, so much in fact it missed out on a best picture nod despite getting more nominations than Brooklyn. If there is a chance to upset here it's Fassbender's portrayal of Steve Jobs in the movie of the same title. It is the acting branch of the Academy that votes on these and they clearly have enough love for the film to give it it's only two nominations. But in the end it all comes back to the grizzled Leo that put his body and mind through hell and back filming The Revenant that is going to win the award and rightfully so.

My ranking:
1. Leonardo Dicaprio (The Revenant) (LW)
2. Matt Damon (The Martian)
3. Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
4. Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)
5. Bryan Cranston (Trumbo) (NS)

Best Actress:

Similar to Leo in the male category, the actress category is really a one pony show. Brie Larson plays a kidnapped woman forced to live in a shed for 7 years where she becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child she must now raise on her own. Ronan's turn in Brooklyn seems to be the top contender other than Larson as both Lawrence and Rampling basically got in because some of the other heavy contenders (Mara, Winslet, Vikander) ended up in the supporting category. That leaves Blanchette's role in Carol as a longshot. Blanchette has a lot of accolades and golden trophies already so I'm sure the Oscar voters would rather give a statue to one of the rising stars for more hyped performances.

My ranking:
1. Brie Larson (Room) (LW)
2. Cate Blanchette (Carol) (NS)
2. Jennifer Lawrence (Joy) (NS)
2. Charlotte Rampling (45 Years) (NS)
2. Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) (NS)

Best Director:

Inarritu seems poised to win back-to-back awards for The Revenant after his Birdman victory last year, I didn't pick him then and he won so I'm picking him now, so with my luck that means he'll now lose. The sentimental pick will see Miller get a statue but the directors have long been a stingy bunch not willing to give a vote to a sentimental favourite over someone more deserving and although Fury Road was wonderful, no one can deny what Inarritu was able to accomplish in his film. The other 3 nominees are all first time directing nominees, McCarthy co-wrote Up and was previously nominated for that while he and McKay are both also nominated in writing categories for co-writing their films this year, Spotlight and The Big Short respectively) Lenny Abrahamson has long been an indie favourite but with his direction in Room he takes a step to the forefront of directors.

My ranking:
1. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant) (LW)
2. Adam McKay (The Big Short)
3. George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
4. Lenny Abrahamson (Room)
5. Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

Best Supporting Actor:

Everyone loves a villain, so that bodes well for the man who went toe-to-toe with Leo in The Revenant, unfortunately for Tom Hardy he's got a long and great career ahead of him and as I said earlier the acting branch of the Academy tend to be sentimental folks and if you saw the Globes you know where this is heading... Sylvester Stallone's return to the Rocky franchise whee he takes a young Creed under his wing is very deserving of a nod and a win tonight. Ruffalo and Bale were pieces that stood out among great ensemble's but they didn't carry their leads as well as Hardy, Stallone or the fifth nominee Mark Rylance who played an assumed Russian Spy being defended by Tom Hanks in Spielberg's Bridge of Spies.

My ranking:
1. Sylvester Stallone (Creed) (LW)
2. Tom Hardy (The Revenant)
3. Christian Bale (The Big Short)
4. Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
5. Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Best Supporting Actress:

This award is likely headed into Vikander's trophy room for The Danish Girl, though the academy also would likely want to make a small nod to Ex Machina as well. Vikander plays the wife of Redmayne's cross dressing character who as you can imagine deals with quite a bit. My favourite performance from this category is Winslet's advisor to Steve Jobs. She tries her best to humanise someone with very little human qualities and sticks with Jobs through thick and thin, though she's never afraid to stand up to him when needed. Mara got knocked down to supporting actress in the eyes of the Academy but this is her 2nd nomination in 4 years, she's got a great career ahead of her and like Hardy they'll likely hand to award off to someone else more deserving this year. The final nominees are McAdams in Spotlight and JJL for The Hateful Eight, both are ensemble pieces which is difficult to get noticed amongst all the other talent.

My ranking:
1. Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)
2. Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) (LW)
3. Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)
4. Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight) (NS)
4. Rooney Mara (Carol) (NS)

Best Animated Feature Film:

It still shocks me that Inside Out missed out on a best picture nomination so it is perhaps no surprise that I fully expect this film to win and think it should as well. The only other nominee I've seen is Shaun The Sheep which had it's moments but is nowhere near Inside Out's pedigree. If there's an upset here it looks to come in the form of Anomalisia, an animated film from the mind of Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind).

My ranking:
1. Inside Out (LW)
2. Shaun The Sheep
3. Anomalisia (NS)
3. When Marnie Was There (NS)
3. Boy And The World (NS)

Best Adapted Screenplay:

I'm a big fan of movies made from source material that doesn't have much of a story, the perfect example of this is Michael Lewis books. Books based on math and money and something tells me the Academy is going to right their wrong when they didn't give Moneyball the prize a few years back by giving it to The Big Short this time around, It also helps that it's been cleaning up the writing awards on the circuit coming into tonight's show. Playing potential spoiler is Drew Goddard's adapting The Martian and Emma Donoghue's take on Room. Carol and Brooklyn also get nods but we're yet to hear much buzz on those nor have I seen them to comment.

My ranking:
1. The Big Short (LW)
2. The Martian
3. Room
4. Carol (NS)
4. Brooklyn (NS)

Best Original Screenplay:

Inside Out was funny, heartwarming and original. The knock on it is that no animated feature has ever won this award so I'm not expecting that to change. Spotlight won the award from the Writer's Guild so it appears to be the favourite. Bridge Of Spies has the most star-power with the Coens co-writing but it appears to be the biggest long shot. If you like underdogs than you might want to be cheering for Ex Machina or Straight Outta Compton's only nomination (for their very white writers).

My ranking:
1. Straight Outta Compton
2. Inside Out
3. Spotlight (LW)
4. Bridge Of Spies
5. Ex Machina

Best Original Score:

This is a tough one to call seeing as the favourite is probably 80 year old Ennio Morricone work on the Hateful Eight, but voters might want to see Carol walk away with something and give it to Carter Burwell who surprisingly has never won. Johann Johannsson is nominated for Sicario the year after being nominated for The Theory of Everything but it seems like he's a distant third. John Williams nailed another nomination for his work on the Star Wars franchise but this was likely nothing more than a props to him. Thomas Newman's work on Bridge of Spies is the other man in the race.

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
2. Sicario
3. Bridge Of Spies
4. The Hateful Eight (LW) (NS)
4. Carol (NS)

Let's stop here before we get into the technical categories. Mad Max, should and will win the awards they are nominated for... Except for the following: The Revenant should and win the cinematography prize and The Big Short should win for film editing but it's likely this award will stay in Max's hands.

I'm also not going to be talking about the short awards, documentaries or foreign language pieces since I haven't seen any of them. As far as original song goes I can blindly pick one but that seems pointless. If you really want me to then the song from The Hunting Ground.So look at that, we've gotten to the end of the awards. Let's finish up by having me rank the films I've seen with more than one nomination...

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
2. The Big Short
3. Inside Out
4. Spotlight
5. The Martian
6. Mad Max: Fury Road
7. Steve Jobs
8. Room
9. The Revenant
10. Bridge Of Spies
11. Sicario
12. Ex Machina
13. The Danish Girl