So, after a lengthy hiatus (4 or 5 months?), the Top and Bottom 5 returns today! Will it return with regularity? Who knows? Should it? That's for you to decide!

Today's topic of discussion will be Spoof Films; a personal favorite of mine. There is no genre more opposite of the bell curve in all of filmdom. Lots of highs, tons of lows, almost nothing in the middle. As a result, there are many to pick from for both my top and bottom sections so I decided on additional criteria. I have to have seen them within the past 10 years, and they had to be spoofs of something specific (either a single film or a genre, not one of the recent movies that spoofs everything recent and popular, i.e. Meet the Spartans)

So, without further adieu...

The Top 5

5) Loaded Weapon 1 - As the name suggests, a parody of Lethal Weapon. Samuel L. Jackson and Emilio Estevez do a hilarious job of lampooning a series that had an early tendency of taking itself way too seriously. William Shattner and Tim Curry as villains are hilarious and cameos by James Doohan, Dennis Leary, Whoopi Goldberg, and Bruce Willis are all well placed. Also hits a little on Silence of the Lambs and Basic Instinct, but mostly faithful to Lethal Weapons 1 and 2.

Tim Curry, disguised as a Girl Scout to gain Whoopi Goldberg's confidence.

4) Austin Powers - The last time Mike Meyers was funny in person...Seems like just yesterday, but it was indeed 12 years ago that this fabulous parody of Bond films appeared in theaters. Playing the suave 60's spy who suddenly awakens to find himself left behind by the present day, Austin Powers is both very funny and it actually manages to throw in a little character development; something most parodies and spoofs don't bother to do. This one is less a spoof movie and more a movie that happens to be a spoof. The ridiculous names are so reminiscient of Bond, you can almost see Ian Fleming turning over in his grave, wishing he'd come up with them. Alotta F_agina springs to mind

Even better though, was Meyers's portrayal of super villain Dr. Evil, especially when he begins going through therapy with his son

3) Monty Python and the Holy Grail - A spoof of the silly medieval romance stories of the day as well as the Camelot story as a whole. My favorite of the Python productions, Holy Grail details King Arthur's adventure's gathering of knights for his roundtable at Camelot and the subsequent quest, delivered by an animated and irritated God himself, to recover the Holy Grail. Mix in an intractable Black Knight, a giant wooden rabbit, a three headed giant, a castle full of virgins, and the horriffic Rabbit of Caerbannog and you have yourself scene after scene of memorable quotes and hilarity.

Arthur and his knights, contemplating their entrance to a French castle.

2) The Naked Gun - Leslie Nielsen at his finest and the finest spoofing of detective films that money can buy. Nielsen, as Detective Frank Drebin, works to uncover a plot to murder the Queen of England, on hand in LA to see a Dodgers game. Full of more double entendre than even Austin Powers, The Naked Gun manages to be funny from the breakup of a meeting of Heads of State from hostile nations start all the way to the marching band/steamroller finish. And the car chase scene is a damned c!assic

1) Blazing Saddles - How could you go any other direction than Mel Gibson's masterpiece? The old west tale of a frontier town in desperate need of a new sherriff. When Bart rolls into town, racial and ethnic jokes the likes of which wouldn't be screened today ensue. Gene Wilder's portrayal of the drunken "Waco Kid" is perfect and a great compliment to Cleavon Little.

"Isn't anybody gonna help that poor man??"

The Bottom 5

5) Spaceballs - When I was a kid, I loved Spaceballs, I really did. And there are still a few scenes in the movie that are hilariously poignaint about the culture surrounding the Star Wars movies. The scene where Dark Helmet is playing with the toys springs to mind. Still, overall, this is one of Mel Brooks's worst films, though its subject matter should have made it one of his best. Eventually, it ceases to be a parody and just becomes a long string of penis jokes.

Pretty much this is what Spaceballs devolves into.

4) Hot Shots - Admittedly, I'm not a fan of Charlie Sheen. However, all on its own merits, this movie sucked. Full of unfunny jokes and actors who looked and sounded like they'd never been on film before, this is one of the suckiest movies I've ever seen, to say nothing of spoofs as a group. The lone bright spot, and the reason this movie doesn't occupy slot #1, is the fantastic work of Lloyd Bridges as Admiral Benson. From shouting at a painting he's mistaken as a window to constant talk of his war injuries, he saves the movie from being a total disaster.

3) UHF - Whoever decided giving Weird Al Yankovich the chance to do a movie should be beaten. He's as bad as Carrot Top and Tom Green, but more loud and annoying. The parody of how late century American TV was basically split into haves (VHF) and have nots (UHF) just never went anywhere and the supporting cast was boring and unfunny. I know this has since become a cult ****c, but I just don't get it.

2) The Naked Gun 2 1/2 - Despite a silly title, this follow up to #2 on the top 5 list is basically a rehash. Same jokes, same sequences, just now, instead of the greatness of Ricardo Montalban as your villain, you have to put up with Robert Goulet. I simply don't have anything good to say about this obvious cash in that did nothing new from the original.

1) Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me - So much was right about the first Austin Powers film, and SO much went wrong with the sequel. From the stupid villain additions of Mini Me and Fat Bastard to the stupid protagonist addition of Heather Graham, nothing new in this movie worked and nothing old was still fresh enough to elicit laughs. Did I mention that Heather Graham is the flattest actress on the face of the Earth? I think I did (and know, I'm not talking about physically ) And it's no different with the third movie. The series goes from sort of smart and very funny, to stupid and gross and in record time.

Everybody thinks midgets are funny, right?

Okay, enough from me. Until next time.

Edit: Unbelievable that cl assic and fa gina are both censored words...