Category: comedy
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The House [2017] ★★½
In a summer filled with sequels and reboots, it’s good to encounter a raunchy comedy that delivers on its promise. To make a long story short, I don’t ask much from a comedy: I want it to make me laugh, and “The House” does just that. I know what Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler are capable…
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Baywatch [2017] ★★
Nobody was expecting a masterpiece, but director Seth Gordon’s failure to give this big screen adaptation of the TV hit “Baywatch” any reason to exist will most certainly rank as one of the year’s biggest disappointments. The 90’s show starring David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson (who both have a cameo here) wasn’t revolutionary in any way,…
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Ranking the Spider-Man Movies
“SpiderMan: Homecoming” is coming in July, which makes this the perfect time to rank the Spider-Man movies. One of the most popular superheroes of all time, “Spider-Man” finally made his debut on the big screen in 2002. I already mentioned in a previous post that Spider-Man 2 (2004) is my favorite film so far. But…
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Going In Style [2017] ★★½
It’s not groundbreaking, it has a good amount of “old people” jokes, but it’s also fun to watch. That’s “Going in Style” in a nutshell. Director Zach Braff has never worked with legendary actors before, but I think he’s done a good job, turning this predictable heist movie into a real crowd-pleaser. You can probably connect…
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Get Out [2017] ★★★
It came out of nowhere. First time director Jordan Peele, working with a tight budget (around $5 million), has managed to craft one of the year’s most profitable horror/slasher/comedy/satirical movies ($149 million at last count). So what’s all the fuss about? On the surface, it sounds like a mix between “Guess who’s coming to dinner”…
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CHIPS [2017] ★★½
You don’t walk in to see a buddy cop movie starring Dax Shepard and Michael Peña with high expectations. Personally, I don’t ask a lot from a raunchy comedy: I want it to entertain me and “CHIPS” does exactly that. The ultimate joke of the movie is that two officers from different backgrounds team up to bring…
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Paterson [2016] ★★½
To say that writer/director Jim Jarmusch makes unusual movies would be the understatement of the year. Sometimes, the result is unforgettable, as in “Stranger than Paradise”. Sometimes, you just want to turn the damn thing off, as in “Only Lovers Left Alive” (sue me). “Paterson” falls somewhere in between: it’s a quiet, intriguing look at…
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A Dog’s Purpose [2017] ★★
The greatest trick “A Dog’s Purpose” tried to pull was convincing its audience that “no animals were harmed during the making of this film”. Prior to the film’s release, a video emerged online, showing a German Shepherd being forced into a water tank to shoot a scene. I tried to ignore this incident as I…
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The Kid Brother [1927] ★★★★
Today I take a trip down memory lane. One of my earliest memories was watching “Harold Lloyd’s World of Comedy”, a compilation of silent comedian Harold Lloyd’s very best moments. Lloyd actually edited the film himself, in 1962, exactly 40 years since his first feature film “Grandma’s Boy” was released. But there’s no doubt in my…
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T2 Trainspotting [2017] ★★★
It took writer John Hodge and director Danny Boyle 20 years to cook up a sequel to “Trainspotting”, one of the most talked about movies of the 90’s and a cult classic. Ewan McGregor, Johnny Lee Miller and Ewen Bremmer were in their mid-20’s when the first film was released. Now they’re all back in “T2”,…
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Fist Fight [2017] ★★½
I did not expect to laugh as much I did. Director Richie Keen usually specializes in made-for-TV comedy (“It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”), which means this is his first feature film. Though it has that “TV” feel, I have to admit: “Fist Fight” is likable and funny, even as it covers familiar territory. It earns…
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The Lego Batman Movie [2017] ★★★
To say that Lego Batman was the funniest character in 2014’s “The Lego Movie” would be an understatement (at least for me). Naturally, they had to give him his own “Lego” movie, and it’s everything I hoped it would be: fast-paced, action-packed and a lot fun to watch. But all this wouldn’t mean a damn…
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Why Him? [2016] ★★½
You don’t walk in to see a movie called “Why Him?” with high expectations, which is why I’m about to cut this movie some slack. It’s crude and unashamedly nasty, but it made me chuckle, and that’s why I can’t completely dismiss it. Bryan Cranston is the last person I expected to see here, playing…
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The Edge Of Seventeen [2016] ★★★
Teen movies have been around since forever, hitting their peak in the 80’s when the late, great John Hughes cooked up some of the most memorable and quotable films of all time. “Sixteen Candles”, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, “Pretty in Pink” and The Breakfast Club” have acquired a cult following ever since they were released.…
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La La Land [2016] ★★★★
Hollywood has always had a soft spot for musicals. “The Broadway Melody” in the 1920’s, “Singin’ in the Rain” and “An American in Paris” in the 1950’s, “Oliver!” in the 1960’s and “Chicago” in the early 2000’s. In 2011, french director Michel Hazanavicius hired Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo to star in his film “The Artist”,…
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Demain Tout Commence [2016] ★★★
Omar Sy has developed an irresistible persona as a comedian, which has served him well in such films as “Les Intouchables” and last year’s underrated “Chocolat”. In that context, his latest film, “Demain Tout Commence”, is a charming, funny and touching family melodrama with another winning performance by Sy. In short: it’s a crowd-pleaser. Sy…
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Boo! A Madea Halloween [2016] ★
10 thoughts that went through my head during Tyler Perry’s latest abomination “Boo! A Madea Halloween” (cool title, huh?). This can’t be as bad as all the previous Madea movies. I mean it’s a Halloween movie and it should be at least enjoyable. Right? Uh oh 5 minutes into this movie and I already cannot…
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Storks [2016] ★★★
As someone who had no idea what to expect from this animated feature, I actually left the theater with a smile on my face. This movie is a treat for kids (the screening I attended was packed with kids and they all cheered and applauded at the end) and, I daresay, for adults as well.…
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Café Society [2016] ★★½
Woody Allen’s love letter to Hollywood and New York in the 1930’s is everything you would expect from the man himself: beautiful cinematography, endless movie references and an elegant production design. And yet, “Café Society” is nowhere near his best work. It’s far from being a disaster; in fact I had a good time watching…
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Bridget Jones’s Baby [2016] ★★½
Not quite as good as the 2001 original (confession: I’ve seen it over a dozen times), and far from being as bad as “The Edge of Reason”, “Bridget Jones’s Baby” falls somewhere in between. By trying to replicate the success of the first film, this sequel falls a bit short, but I still had a…
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