Andy Ritcher Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Andy Richter-whose latest project "Obsession" is in theaters today. 

Andy Richter's Filmography Ranked:

13.My Boss's Daughter (D)

12.Dr. Dolittle 2 (C-)

11.Big Trouble (C)

10.80 for Brady (C)

9.Semi-Pro (C+)

8.Scary Movie 2 (C+)

7.Madagascar (B-)

6.Blades of Glory (B-)

5.Elf (B)

4.Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (B+)

3.Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (B+)

2.Obsession (A-)

1.Pootie Tang (A)

Top Dog: Pootie Tang (2001)

Sine your pitty on the runny kine! Sepatown! Sadatay! Wahdahtah! These are the wise, immortal words of the legend known as Pootie Tang. The impact he's made through his work as a philanthropist, musician and crime fighter will never be properly measured and the world would be a much better place if there more people like Mr. Tang in it. 

Bottom Feeder: My Boss's Daughter (2003)

One of the most unsung staples of the 2000's were comedy movies that came out during the winter or late summer that just completely ate shit in their pursuit of laughs. My Boss's Daughter very well could be my personal favorite example of this long forgotten breed of movie as it's basically a series of loosely connected bits with a romantic subplot where absolutely nothing works. What make this misfire particularly disheartening is that was it directed by comedy legend David Zucker. How the guy behind Airplane!, The Naked Gun and Top Secret! managed to make something so brutally unfunny is one of those mysteries that will never produce an answer that makes any sense. 

Most Underrated: Pootie Tang (2001)

Blaxploitation spoof Pootie Tang is about as niche as comedy gets and its status as a minor cult classic among the people that stumbled upon it on home video or VOD following its disastrous theatrical run in the summer of 2001 proves that. I'm proud to be part of this small group that will champion this movie whenever the opportunity arises. There are honestly only about 15-20 movies that I've ever seen that have me laugh harder than Pootie Tang and one scene in particular is a surefire bet to make me cackle to the point where tears are streaming out of my eyes every single time I see it. Even in the far wackier creative climate of the early 2000's, it's hard to believe that a movie like this was able to secure funding from a major studio and I'd like to thank whoever at Paramount was responsible for greenlighting this for allowing a genuine miracle to happen on Earth. 

Most Overrated: Madagascar (2005)

Admittedly, including Madagascar here is kind of a stretch as it's not aspiring to be much more than a goofy movie for kids and it does a perfectly fine job of delivering on that front. However, it's pretty widely considered to be a classic in the 2000's animation space, and I just think it's too minor of a movie to have such high praise placed upon it.  

Some Thoughts on Obsession Since I Didn't Review It After I Saw It in March:

Does the horror genre have its next ascending star filmmaker in Curry Barker? Time will tell, but Obsession is a mighty promising sign that the 26-year-old that started out making sketch comedy videos on YouTube with his longtime creative partner Cooper Tomlinson-who also appears here in a key supporting role-under the name that's a bad idea is well on his way to becoming one of the genre's most exciting filmmakers. His first feature to play on the big screen (his 2024 feature debut Milk & Serial is available on YouTube) is a really well-constructed piece of work that does wonders with its simple premise revolving around an awkward "nice" guy's (Michael Johnston) wish for their longtime unrequited crush (Inde Navarrette) to fall in love with him going horribly wrong. Barker does an incredible job of walking a tonal tightrope that frequently switches between dark/cringe comedy and hardcore horror throughout while Johnston and Navarrette deeply commit to making this forced relationship feel nauseatingly uncomfortable from the very moment the wish is granted until it reaches its inevitable horrific conclusion. The story goes to some very twisted places (there are three scenes in particular that caused the sold-out festival crowd that I saw it with to go fucking bonkers) so I'd urge horror fans to check this out as soon as possible before the spoilers are shouted all over the internet rooftops.