Popular reviews

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  Review by Joe ★★★★★

  "And nobody's any the wiser."

  The movie that birthed a million sitcom episodes and comedy sketches, but I think its power goes even deeper than that, watching this movie is like swimming among the Platonic Comedy forms, everything is funny but also Funny.

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  Review by Evan T ★★★½

  Prime Laurel and Hardy tomfoolery, complete with delightful musical numbers and cartoonish gags, but ultimately hindered by one too many overcooked jokes. They’ve never dated as well as Chaplin or Keaton, but that doesn’t stop them from bringing their own delectable, Vaudevillian charm to the table.

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  Review by Cormac 👑 ★★★ 10

  Project Zero for every second gag and bit in the book, I found myself feverishly tracing its comedy roots with glee first (every double act under the sun would be paying dividends in a world of any law and order), and actually laughing at these done-to-death-and-then-once-more-for-good-measure sequiturs of silliness second.

  That being said, it has granted me the divine gift of a new favourite insult. So, fair warning; don’t cross me unless you want “inflated tadpole” brandished every time I see your name from here on out.

  (P.S. Does there even exist a better cinematic comfort food than the Pre-Code jewel in all of its shaggy, calm-before-the-storm fruits? On second thoughts, I can't say I even want to know.)

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  Review by Paul Elliott ★★★★½ 2

  Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's most ingenious and hilarious work is frequently more found in the shorts they made during the final days of silent cinema, the exception being The Music Box which they made with James Parrott in 1932. And although they went on to make almost thirty full-length sound films, Sons of the Desert and Way Out West are widely recognised as the best during this period, and from my standpoint, this is the most favourable out of the two. 

  While the writing by Frank Craven features some amusing back-and-forth, it does feel a little old fashioned and awkward. Admittedly it's not helped by the absence of an actual plot other than the comedy duo wanting to go…

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  Review by Anna Imhof 🌸 ★★★★½ 3

  "Charley tells me you're from Los Angeles. What part?"
  "All of me."

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  Review by Will Sloan ★★★★★

  A bone-simple and rigorously unsentimental comedy about two men trying and (SPOILER) failing to lie successfully to their wives. 68 breathtakingly pure minutes with the gods of mugging.

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  Review by Nolio ★★½ 4

  Sons of the Desert is a comedy film about.. domestic violence?

  I get it, the year is 1933 and this kind of stuff was probably funny back then. Frankly, the humor really didn't work for me a lot of the time. There were some pretty funny slapstick moments though, and I chuckled a handful of times at those. A lot of the film consists of long, drawn-out jokes that seem to never end. Then again, some of these jokes are funny while some seem a bit forced and wooden.

  Laurel and Hardy are two names that I still have to familiarize myself with, as this is the first project by them that I've seen. They do have decent comedic chemistry,…

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  Review by Justin Decloux ★★★★

  Comedies were better when they were 60-minutes and incredibly quiet.

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  Review by Wesley Stenzel ★★★★

  Incredibly strong broad comedy where every joke and every scene is nearly perfectly constructed. It’s structurally marvelous and energetically performed — the duo’s stage background is immediately evident, as they’re both masters of comedic timing and fourth wall breaks. My only complaint: it’s a little sad to watch a comedy like this on a laptop at home, because it’s easy to see how the jokes would be a hundred times funnier in a crowded theatre.

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  Review by Andy Fell ★★★½

  Und gefühlt ist es wieder Freitag 18:20 Uhr im Jahr 1980. Die Family 👨‍👦‍👦👨‍👩‍👦‍👦👨‍👦‍👦hat sich vor dem Fernseher 📺 versammelt. Eingeschaltet ist die ARD. Upps. Da muss doch tatsächlich jemand aufstehen und den zweiten Knopf - von oben gesehen - drücken und schwupps wie von Zauberhand erscheint das 2.Programm auch bekannt als ZDF. Und ja - unsere Fernbedienung hatte früher noch zwei Beine 😳. Meistens traf es den, der in der Nahrungskette ganz unten war - den Jüngsten 😫.

  Heute läuft die Dick-und-Doof-Folge Sons of the Desert hierzulande bekannt unter dem Titel Hilfe wir sind ertrunken oder Die Wüstensöhne.

  Stan und Ollie sind Mitglieder in einem Männerclub - den Wüstensöhnen (Sons of the desert) und würden gerne zum alljährlichen Treffen…

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  Review by theironcupcake ★★★★½ 4

  Happy New Year's Eve, everybody! After getting into the party spirit with Laurel & Hardy (and also the Queen, Mae Busch), I'm posting a list of 11 albums I particularly enjoyed this year. Granted, I didn't listen to nearly as much new music as I intended to, but here's what has stuck with me the most, roughly in order:

  1. Hana Vu - Public Storage (the music video for "Keeper" was my own indication that I would love the album as much I do, but if you want more convincing, here are some live performances of "Public Storage," "My House" and "Maker")
  2. Pearl Charles - Magic Mirror
  3. Shelley FKA DRAM - Shelley FKA DRAM
  4. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee…

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  Review by PUNQ ★★★★ 2

  Probable the best movie Laurel & Hardy ever made! I love this one. A lot of silly stuff with one the greatest ends in comedy history! Just the sight on Laurel's wife spoiling her man by fluffing his hair just like he normally do is just an iconic Stan Laurel moment for me! And the war in Oliver's Hardy's home just as fantastic!