Mars Attacks (1996)

mini review

"Mars Attacks" (1996) gleefully spends it's 90-minute runtime being completely ridiculous.

Tim Burton knew his film was going to be bonkers and didn't shy away from it in the slightest. 
If anything, he let his movie be self-aware of how silly it is, and that made it excellent.

Now, by no means is "Mars Attacks" good. By all metrics, it's pretty terrible: No likeable characters, no sound track, terrible CGI (thought that might have just been a sign of the times), and a series of plot contrivances that were, well, contrived.
But put all of that together, and somehow that ridiculous mess becomes something perfectly watchable.

It was clearly designed to be an homage to the B-list alien-invasion "horror" movies of a bygone era, and in many ways also feels like a parody of "Independence Day" (1996), which, considering they share the same release year, isn't outside the realm of possibility.

The aliens only speak in weird barking sounds, like the muppet aliens, and the goofy "translator" device that the humans develop may or may not somehow be translating the exact opposite of whatever the aliens are actually saying.
Jack Nicholson plays both the President of the United States and a somewhat inscrupulous developer in Las Vegas, both of whom behave like they're stoned the entire time, while Pierce Brosnan plays a scientist who is too accepting and curious for his own good.

The day was saved by an idiot teenager and horrible yodeling country music, a la the common cold in "War of the Worlds."

This really isn't a movie worth watching more than once, but it's absolutely worth it for its campy nature and absurdity.
Give it a watch when you've got a night off, you'll enjoy it.