Category: comedy
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Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World [2012] ★★½
This enjoyable take on the end of the world benefits from the presence of Steve Carell who plays a lonely, heartbroken man who fears that his last days on earth will be as crappy as the rest of his life was. Then he meets his downstairs neighbor Keira Knigthley and together, they decide to go…
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The Watch [2012] ★★
I love Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill. These guys are funny. So why isn’t “The Watch” any good? Start with the silly premise: Suburban husband Stiller manages a Costco, where one his employees is murdered one night in a highly mysterious manner. The local police are morons, so this pushes Stiller to form his own…
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The Perks Of Being A Wallflower [2012] ★★★
If you’ve read the book version of “The perks of Being a Wallflower”, you already know what it’s about. I had the advantage of not knowing anything when I saw it today, which made it all the more enjoyable. What seems to be a typical coming of age movie (at least from its trailer) turns out…
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The Campaign [2012] ★★½
Will Ferrell is the go-to guy if you want to laugh your-self silly. He could just stand there staring at you and get you giggling. Then there’s Zach Galifianakis, a smart actor with a natural clown’s gift for playing dumb. Both actors rip off each other with inspired lunacy in “The Campaign”, playing candidates for an upcoming…
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Ted [2012] ★★★
Sometimes a comedy movie just clicks. Welcome to one of those times. “Ted”, from director Seth MacFarlane (the wacky dude behind TV’s “Family Guy”) fires off big, fat, raucous laughs as if it had an endless supply. It doesn’t. The film limps a bit in the final stretch and doesn’t know when to quit. A small price…
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2 Days In New York [2012] ★★½
Amusing but uneven follow-up to the 2007 movie “2 Days In Paris” finds Julie Delpy’s family coming to visit her and her boyfriend (Chris Rock) in New York. We previously met Delpy’s character Marion in the first movie, in which she traveled to Paris with her American boyfriend Jack (Adam Goldberg), who could barely handle her…
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Bernie [2012] ★★★
Jack Black’s presence generally makes any movie worth seeing, and this is no exception. Want more proof? “The School Of Rock”, “Be Kind Rewind” and “Tenacious D”. In “Bernie”, a strange movie directed by Richard Linklater , Black plays a beloved mortician. I say beloved because he is so good at what he does, and everyone…
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Casa De Mi Padre [2012] ★★½
Will Ferrell is having the time of his life in this enjoyable B movie (the opening logo is proof that it’s strictly a B production), playing Armando Alvarez, a Mexican rancher hot for the fiancee of his brother (Diego Luna) and trying to deal with a drug lord , played by Gael García Bernal. Yes Ferrell…
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The Magic Of Belle Isle [2012] ★★½
Since multiplexes are crammed with lousy movies this month (with the exception of the solid “The Amazing Spider-Man), you might want to run to your nearest DVD store and get this feel good, family friendly film. Plus the fact that it stars the great Morgan Freeman is reason enough to check it out. It’s not…
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The Three Stooges [2012] ★★
To call this movie pointless wouldn’t be unfair. After all, if you’re a die hard fan of the original stooges, why bother with a replica when you can still catch the real deal on DVD right? But Hollywood and The Farrelly brothers had other plans. Instead of a biopic that might explain how Moe, Larry and…
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Wanderlust [2012] ★★
I don’t want to sound like a party pooper, but “Wanderlust” is one of the few Paul Rudd movies that I couldn’t enjoy. Now don’t get me wrong. The man is still a pleasure to watch. But I couldn’t care less about the plot or its outcome. The best thing I can derive from it…
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The Dictator [2012] ★★
As someone who, swimming against the current, doesn’t care much for Sacha Baron Cohen and his alter egos, Borat, Ali G and Bruno, I still wanted to give the guy another chance to impress me. I certainly couldn’t have predicted a movie as lame and mediocre as “The Dictator”. Why? Because it wussies out on…
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Project X [2012] ★½
A lot of times, while I’m watching a bad movie, several questions arise: “What the hell is that?” or better yet: “What the hell were they thinking?” That’s exactly what I asked myself while suffering through “Project X”, which is anything but funny, as some might lead you to think. I think “tragic” would be…
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Men In Black 3 [2012] ★★½
Says it isn’t so. Are they actually releasing a third Men In Black movie even though part two was a total disaster? Seems like it. But here’s the good news: the sequel nobody asked for is actually pretty enjoyable. Why? It’s not that the characters got more interesting; Will Smith is still Will Smith, while…
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The Five Year Engagement [2012] ★★½
Here’s the thing about comedies: Even when the script is freighted with formula, the right actors can keep it afloat, even airborne. That’s where “The Five Year Engagement” really lucks out, even though it goes on for two hours (that’s too long for a comedy in my opinion). For that, all credit to Jason Segel, who’s…
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Dark Shadows [2012] ★★★
Good news Tim Burton junkies, “Dark Shadows” lives up to its hype. For the summer, Burton serves up the gothic soap opera that aired on Television from 1966 to 1971 about a young man who, following a curse, turns into a vampire. A recipe for disaster? You’d think. Instead, “Dark Shadows” is a thriller-diller from start…
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21 Jump Street [2012] ★★★
Just when I was ready to effing scream if I had to sit through another lame comedy, along comes “21 Jump Street” to make me a believer. That’s right, the movie is gut-bustingly funny. It’s raunchy, reckless, and ready to party. What’s not to like? I’ve never been a fan of Channing Tatum, but he is surprisingly…
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Friends With Kids [2012] ★★½
“Friends with Kids” is a strikingly original comedy with serious undertones. Judging from the cast, it may sound like another “Bridesmaids”, while in fact it’s not. Some moviegoers may be disappointed with the lack of “vulgarity”, but I was not. This is a movie that takes its time, as it covers a long time in…
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Comme Un Chef [2012] ★★½
I’ve been in the grip of a bad cold for almost 4 days; I somehow managed to work a little bit on my blog, but I hadn’t seen a movie since Tuesday (which in my book is about a century). By Friday afternoon I was frustrated, so I did what I’ve always done when I’m feeling…
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Goon [2012] ★★
I’ve tried to make my peace with what is known as “The New Vulgarity”, as Hollywood has jumped on the R-rated comedy bandwagon, but it isn’t always easy. Luckily enough, Sean William Scott (a.k.a “The Stiffmeister) gives it his best as a hockey player whose main function is to beat up the players on the other…
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