OrigamiDoug

I really tried to like this movie after reading the great reviews and hearing that it was one of the funniest films of all time over and over. But I just couldn't. I watched the whole movie without so much as cracking a smile. It wasn't that I didn't understand the jokes. On the contrary, I saw the point of every joke and why it was supposed to be funny, but I just didn't think it was humorous in the slightest. All told, I have watched this movie three times all the way through thinking maybe I had missed something or it would just "click" one time, but it didn't. I honestly have no idea why anyone would think that this is one of the greatest comedies ever or even think that it's funny.

I see I'm the first American to write a review of this show, so I'll try to do a good job at representing my country. Quite simply, Black Books is the funniest show I've seen in years, if not the funniest I've ever seen. When I heard Bernard spout the line above to a group of skinheads outside his bookshop, I laughed so hard that I missed the rest of the scene. Thanks to Comedy Central for airing the first series of this show (and the second coming up in August), for I would probably have never seen it if they had not. Most British sitcoms (Britcoms?) I've seen have been funny, but I usually forget about them rather quick (probably due to the cultural differences) but Black Books stuck with me so much that I was forced to buy a bootleg VHS of the first series. Luckily, the tapes included the outtakes and running commentary for each episode on a separate tape so I wouldn't have to buy a region-free DVD player to see them (which I probably would have done!). I fear that I'm rambling now, so I'll just conclude by saying that if you have not seen this great series, then see it!