Bio-Dome (1996)

(In French, On TV, February 1999) This serves magnificently well as a reminder that some movies are made to be seen on television. It’s free, so you can’t feel ripped off. It has commercial breaks, so you can take reading breaks. It can’t be fast-forwarded, so you’re stuck seeing all of the movie in more-or-less linear time. Bio-Dome (starring the ungreat Pauly Shore) is easily one of the stupidest comedies I’ve seen (waaay stupider than Dumb & Dumber, for instance) and also easily one of the less funny. Granted, the French translation takes away half the jokes and drowns the rest in the too-loud rock soundtrack, but there are things that aren’t affected by inept translation and the development of the good basic premise (two losers lock themselves up in a scientific experiment) is one. Bio-Dome is actually so bad that it starts being sporadically watcheable despite itself about half an hour in the movie. There are occasional flashes of good comedy (the unlocked door, for instance) but nothing that really makes it worthwhile.