Usually when I see a movie on opening day, it’s a sci-fi / fantasy thing, or a comic-y thing, or at least a horror thing. Very, very rarely is it a comedy or a chick flick, rarely enough that I can’t think of any to name. And yet, there I was yesterday, sitting down to a showing of Date Movie. Which, y’know… the act of being a parody movie tends to elevate above the lowest common denominator level filled by your Kangaroo Jacks and your White Chicks and your Big Momma’s House 2s. So there’s that?

Seriously, when it was on, it was pretty funny. I especially dug the Mr. and Mrs. Smith bits, although I’m sure that’s based in part on how much I dug the real thing. And it’s fair to say that there were a lot of pieces, like the Big Fat Greek Wedding allusions, that I maybe didn’t find funny because I’m not as versed in the date movie genre as I am in some other ones. Or that my continuously evolving tastes have made me enjoy this kind of thing less. But I think it’s more likely that I know plenty enough, and the parody flick just isn’t nearly as good as it used to be. And that if I stuck Top Secret! in the DVD player, I’d be laughing for the whole thing all over again.

On the bright side, Alyson Hannigan is every bit as palatable to watch as she ever has been, plus she’s still pretty funny in her own right. On the not as bright side, boy can she not sing. I mean, a lot. But I love her anyway, so that’s okay.