DANCE FLICK

The latest Wayans' Brothers genre spoof is right on the money, and hilariously entertaining... that is if you just decide to stick to the movie trailer which is about the perfect length for this kind of movie.

Genre spoofs like Scary Movie, Epic Movie, and the like have just about as short a shelf life as you could come up with for a theatrical release. That said, they are always amazingly timely. It is impressive when movies can be mocked on the big screen mere months after they hit the pop culture radar (in this case, a scene mocking Twilight makes it in). But just a few months after that, the reference is dated, alas, as soon as the next round of movies come and go in theaters.

In addition to Twilight, other movies that get ribbed in Dance Flick are everything from the obvious Step Up 2: The Streets, to Save the Last Dance, to Dreamgirls (see? talk about after the fact). There's even a full on high-school cafeteria song and dance scene ripped from Fame (which would seem after the fact, if it weren't for the fact that the NEW version of that film will be hitting theaters soon). But because this is a Wayans Brothers movie, the song is not longer "Fame!" but "Gay!" (which is funny for a couple verses, then unfortunately goes on for the full length of a song).

And that's what these movies are like... a joke may be good, but it is beaten into submission until it isn't funny anymore. Then there are characters that aren't funny to start with, like David Alan Grier's grotesquely obese Sugar Bear (whom we see in many close-ups as well as an overly extended dance scene). Blech.

But there were are couple moments that made me guffaw, and credit goes entirely to Amy Sedaris and Kim Wayans for showing up. Wayans' Ms. Dontwannabebothered shows the new white girl (Shoshana Bush) around her new performing arts school and the ways she slinks out of the scene (after doing a lewd little dance) cracked me up. But it is Sedaris who crosses the line completely and steals her brief moments in the movie as Ms. Cameltoé (accent over the "e"). Yes, she is the dance instructor, and yes she does that eyes-blinking-independently things. But as the camera pulls back and shows her in her leotard, the Wayans don't let you look away. And the audience screams with laughter.