The United Nations may have 193 member states, but many nations continue to exist despite the lack of recognition from the UN. While some of these unrecognized areas are subject to territorial disputes (Kosovo, Taiwan), many others, such as Freetown Christiania or the Principality of Sealand, function outside of other countries’ laws with little fanfare. Jack Black seeks to enter the world of bizarre eccentrics who form their own sovereign nations in the newly announced comedy Micronations from Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess.

Jack Black has been unafraid to throw his weight around for the purposes of comedy and/or self-defense. When last teamed with Hess, the duo turned Black into the Mexican luchador Nacho Libre, a masked wrestler who was often pummeled in the ring. Nearly a decade later, Hess plans on sending the School of Rock star into a very different type of battle, as Black’s character assumes the role of Head of Defense for the tiny nation of Valoria (population: 12), until the micronation finds itself in an overblown battle with the neighboring Wayne County, Nevada.

New Girl writers Robert Snow and Christian Magalhaes wrote the script. Brandt Andersen, Dave Hunter and Hess are producing the film under their newly launched banner Buffalo Film Company. Jack Black’s company, Electric Dynamite, and Damon Ross will also produce.

Jack Black is one of the most hit and miss actors working today. Without a doubt he can knock it out of the park, in both hilarious supporting roles and serious leads. But for every Bernie there is a Gullivers Travels. Still, there is something about his manic energy that lends his every role a certain watchability.

For his first big headliner of 2015, Black is hopping on The D Train, a comedy that popped up at Sundance and sees its first trailer debut today.

The D Train stars Black as Dan, a perpetually uncool dude struggling to put together the perfect high school reunion, only to find that no one wants to show. His solution might just lie with his polar opposite, Oliver Lawless (James Marsden), the face of a national commercial. But when Lawless agrees to return home for the reunion, Dan watches his life get quickly taken over by his new pal.

Written and directed by Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul (the writing duo behind Yes Man), the film co-stars the ever-hilarious Kathryn Hahn (She’s Funny That Way, Parks and Rec) and Jeffery Tambor (Arrested Development, Transparent).

So far The D Train has chalked up mixed buzz, but the Black/Marsden team up holds a lot of potential. Check out the trailer below.

Let’s get this out of the way straight away. Jack Black’s finest display of acting prowess is his 1996 Oscar nominated performance in the critically acclaimed blockbuster Mars Attacks in which Black stars as a plucky upstart U.S. Army soldier who valiantly attempts to defend the planet from the evil martians and in doing so, allows Pierce Brosnan to see less screen time. Knowing this, I entered viewing the 2012 hit film Bernie with confidence that Jack Black would shine bright as the lead role. Ladies and gentlemen, Jack Black surpasses his stunning performance in Mars Attacks by a considerable sum in this charming and very funny film.

Directed by Richard Linklater and co-written by Richard Linklater and Skip Hollandsworth, Bernie was recently nominated for Best Feature of the Independent Spirit Awards. I had intended to watch this movie when it came out in August but life got in the way and it sat unwatched on my laptop for nearly three months. I wish I would have viewed it when it came out so I would have this wonderful movie in my memory for that much longer. It was so good, my wife sat down half way through the film and loved it despite the fact she had no idea what was going on. So how did this film get this reviewer to blush in admiration? Dark comedy. A healthy tablespoon full.

The narration of the film is truly what makes it stand out amongst other films. Much of the flow and plot of the film is delivered by the people of Carthage, Texas where Bernie is set. The titular character, Bernie Tiede, played by a wonderfully in character Jack Black, is an assistant funeral director with a healthy appetite of generosity. He literally is the most well liked and respected individual in the entire town of Carthage. When he is not donating his time for the high school theater club or the local youth baseball league, he is helping various townsfolk with odd jobs and tasks. Bernie is loved by all. In act one of the film, the people of Carthage sit interview style in front of a camera and tell their favorite Bernie Tiede story. The film used a large amount of support characters and where many films have too many support characters that hinders their lead role’s command, Black utterly commands the screen even when he is merely the subject of Carthage’s stories. The state of Texas is itself a subtle character in the cast, as well as the townspeople who are unintentionally funny in their Southern gentry ways. Throughout the film, the support characters deliver some extremely funny lines in lieu of the dark situation unfolding in front of Bernie Tiede’s eyes.

The conflict arises when Bernie is taken advantage of for his genuine friendliness by a cold old woman named Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine). Bernie loses his freedom as Mrs. Nugent becomes dependent on Bernie and starts to smother him. The audience watches as Bernie slowly starts to become a caged bird looking for a way out. I won’t give away much more plot other than it’s a dark comedy because this film would suffer in my eyes if the audience knew too much about it. The main conflict scene provides Jack Black a vehicle to show off some of his acting chops which may come to a surprise to some, but this dude can act. He becomes Bernie Tiede in a way only an actor who conducted lots of research could do. Black was unsurprisingly nominated for an Indie Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for this film. I hear some of you asking, “Well, does he sing in it like all of his other films of late?” Yes, yes he does. But not in a forced way like in his world renowned performance in the mega blockbuster super hit Nacho Libre which grossed over 6 trillion dollars. The singing done by Black in this film is very organic and it fits perfectly with the film because it’s what Bernie Tiede would have done.

I loved this movie. I could see this movie going down as one of the best dark comedies of recent memory. I don’t even really have anything bad to say about it. It is possible that someone may not “get” the film but that is no fault of Bernie. That’s the uneducated yokel’s problem. Some viewers may find the beginning set-up to be a bit dry, but the humor pays off in the end.

While watching The Big Year I was both disappointed and pleasantly surprised. The disappointment was, with comedy superstars such as Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson, that it wasn’t as funny as I had anticipated it would be. The pleasant surprise was that it still turned out to be a very good movie.

The Big Year is about three men trying to find their calling in life and they all have one thing in common, birding. Stu Preissler (Steve Martin) is a very successful business man who fears moving on with retirement. Brad Harris (Jack Black) is 36, broke, divorced, hates his full-time job at Dell, and his dad disapproves of his birding heavily. Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson) or “Bostick”, as everyone calls him in the movie, holds the previous year’s record for birding (732 species) and is willing to put his whole life on hold to defend his title. These three, along with other characters in the movie, are on a mission to find what makes them truly happy.

The rules of having a Big Year are simple. Whoever sees the most birds in one calendar year in the United States is the champion birder. To count the bird, all you have to do is see it, or hear it, if you’re good enough. The whole competition is based on the honor system and, surprisingly enough, nobody cheats. The winner of the Big Year is printed in Birder Magazine and goes down in history as the person who saw the most birds in one year.

Throughout the movie, no one wants to admit that they are going for a Big Year. For fear of stronger competition, they all keep their mouths shut and claim they are in it for the sport. Preissler and Harris meet on a boat while looking for gulls and quickly become friends. Bostick makes nice with the duo, but ultimately tries to sabotage them every chance he gets. This soon becomes an issue for Preissler and Harris and, upon discovering that they were both going for a Big Year, team up to not only beat Bostick, but beat his world record.

Throughout The Big Year it feels like Preissler, Bostick, and Harris are trying to escape their old lives but can’t quite seem to break free. Preissler’s two associates at work won’t leave him alone and they claim that a large business deal will fall through if he doesn’t come back immediately. On top of that, he is sacrificing valuable family time beings his grandson was born in the same year as the competition. Harris is broke and he has to maintain his full time job whilst traveling at his credit cards’ and disapproving family’s expense. Bostick, who might be the most die-hard birder, sacrifices his marriage by abandoning his wife while she is having hormone treatments. Each character has their own quirks to work out but it makes the viewer ask themselves: What would I sacrifice to follow my dream?

All in all this was a surprisingly entertaining movie that takes you on an adventure all around America. The best parts may have actually been the editing, the soundtrack, and the birds and locations you get to see. The character development is good, but the back-and-forth of the movie can be a little distracting. Above all, I will say, almost everyone can relate to the characters’ struggles. The Big Year is a fun movie to watch with anyone and is entertaining from the opening and all the way through the ending credits.