Forget Sarah Marshall, but don’t forget “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” Continue reading
Tagged with comedy films …
“‘Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre’ Is Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie By the Numbers”
When too much of a good thing is actually too much, and not enough of a separate good thing isn’t enough. Continue reading
You Need To Watch The Most Realistic Vampire Hunter Movie On Netflix ASAP”
Vampire hunting, let me tell you, that’s a job that’ll suck you dry. You’ll work ’till set of sun. It’s a high stakes gig. Vampire pun. Continue reading
“Ease Your COVID Anxiety with Natalie Morales’ Charming Slice of Screenlife, ‘Language Lessons'”
Here’s a lesson in filmmaking language: It’s hard to make a screenlife movie interesting. But this one is! Continue reading
“Thunder Force’s Lame Superhero Comedy Continues Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy’s Losing Streak”
Ben Falcone married Melissa McCarthy and man, he has given a masterclass in riding coattails ever since. Continue reading
“‘Superintelligence’ Can’t Figure Out How To Craft A Joke, Even With Melissa McCarthy Leading The Way”
Wouldn’t you know it, there is nothing either super or intelligent about this sucker. Continue reading
“‘Chasing Dream’: Johnnie To’s Latest Is A Heartfelt, Giddy Genre Mashup”
It’s true: I did in fact manage to land one virtual film festival gig this year. Continue reading
“The Film Stage Show Ep. 396 – ‘Palm Springs’ (with Andy Crump)”
Appropriately enough, here I am talking about “Palm Springs” again…and again…and again. Continue reading
“‘‘The High Note’: Dakota Johnson & Tracee Ellis Ross Have Chemistry, But White Faces Intrude On Black Spaces”
“But she’s got high notes, she’s got high notes / She’s got high apple pie, in the sky notes.” Continue reading
“‘The Trip to Greece’ Holds Steve Coogan Accountable Like No Other ‘Trip’ Before”
And if anyone can hold Steve Coogan accountable, it’s career Welshman Rob Brydon. Continue reading
Review: Greener Grass, 2019, dir. Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe
And you thought my obsession with “Lemon” was a sign of twisted character! Continue reading
“Mister America Is A Mockumentary That Feels Unsettlingly Real”
Not the Noah Baumbach movie starring Lola Kirke and Greta Gerwig, but rather the grimy, unpleasant, ultimately hilarious big-screen version of a Tim Heidecker and Greg Turkington bit. Continue reading
“Great Movie Moments in Farting History”
Let me tell you: I had a real gas writing this piece. I trumpeted my enthusiasm the whole time I worked on it, no ifs, ands, or…buts. I can do this all day, by the way. Continue reading
“‘The Day Shall Come’ And The Myth Of The Black Nationalist Terrorist”
The day shall come! In fact, it already came! It’s done. It’s gone. You missed it. What the hell, why weren’t you paying attention for the day. Continue reading
“The Death of Dick Long Might Be So Profane It’s Profound”
I have exactly less than no idea how to talk about this movie without giving away its dark, disgusting, hilarious secrets. Continue reading
Review: One Cut of the Dead, 2019, dir. Shinichiro Ueda
Remember when Amazon kinda sorta almost ruined this film by putting a pirated version up for sale on their site? And no, I am not bringing this up for any specific reason, no sir. Continue reading
“Christian Bale’s Chubby Dick Cheney Impersonation Is the Only Interesting Thing About Vice”
I tried, guys. I promise you I tried. Oh, how I tried to give Vice, the new Adam McKay movie, a fair shake; tried not to read the movie as “The Big Short, but wicked extra, and also obnoxious.” But I couldn’t, because that’s exactly what it is, times ten, and don’t let any clever types try … Continue reading
“‘Never Goin’ Back’ Is One Of The Raunchiest, Most Satisfying Comedies In Years”
Welp, A24 isn’t really doing much to promote Augustine Frizzell’s excellent Never Goin’ Back, so I guess it’s up to me, a critic, to champion this gross, tender, raunchy, outrageous, sweet-hearted, and absolutely hilarious film. (It’s one of my favorites of the year. And one of the best I saw at this year’s Independent Film Festival … Continue reading
“How the Director of The Spy Who Dumped Me Made a Graphic, Funny, Feminist Action Film”
Upfront, I didn’t have high expectations for The Spy Who Dumped Me; I don’t have faith in studio comedies, and I especially don’t have faith in studio action comedies, because they tend to treat the action with indifference and just joke through fight scenes where characters reasonably should be taking matters seriously. But Susanna Fogel isn’t fucking … Continue reading
Review: Eighth Grade, 2018, dir. Bo Burnham
“Hey,” says the movie, “let’s all go back in time to our adolescence, when our skin resembled pizza bathed in grease and battered with a meat hammer, and everything we liked actually in retrospect really, really sucks, and social interaction felt as risky as giving yourself a half dozen paper cuts and sticking your limbs … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 