Scary Movie 3

While the first two installments of this franchise were stinky garbage, the third qualifies as an improvement. A nonstop gag machine that takes shots at Signs, The Ring and the not-so- scary 8 Mile, the film has its share of good jokes and a lot of near misses. A Michael Jackson gag inspired by The Others had me rolling (it’s no wonder he tried to sue), and Charlie Sheen, veteran of the Hot Shots movies, brings some good deadpan to the proceedings. Director David Zucker (partly responsible for Airplane!) enlists the help of old pal Leslie Nielsen to play an absent-minded president, with somewhat funny results. The films best gags deal with Signs, including a stab at M. Night Shyamalan’s driver character that is brutally evil, but funny. While not a very good movie, it will get you laughing from time to time, and that’s an admirable quality.