Category: comedy
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Pixels [2015] ★★½
If you grew up playing Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Centipede and other arcade games, then “Pixels” is probably the movie event of the year for you. I mean who wouldn’t want to see all these characters on the big screen? And the movie gave me a lot to cheer for: a fresh concept and clever…
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Magic Mike XXL [2015] ★★½
As one who didn’t like the first “Magic Mike” movie, I didn’t mind this one so much. For one thing, I knew what I was in for: more half naked dudes going wild in front of the ladies. And yet deep down inside, “Magic Mike XXL” is just a buddy movie. Channing Tatum reprises his role…
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Unfinished Business [2015] ★½
Vince Vaughn deserves better than this terrible comedy about a small business owner and his two stupid associates (Tom Wilkinson and Dave Franco) who travel to Europe to close the most important deal of their lives. Sounds like a setup for a wild, raunchy ride. But the air goes out of that balloon pretty damn quick. Ken Scott,…
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Aloha [2015] ★½
Good directors tend to screw up. If you admire Cameron Crowe and his movies (Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous) like I do, you’ll be rooting for him to score another bull’s eye with his latest effort. But it’s clear from the very first moment that “Aloha” is a complete misfire: a tiresome, dull romantic comedy/drama about a…
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Minions [2015] ★★★
It’s difficult to talk about “Despicable Me” without mentioning the Minions. Family audiences have turned these unusual characters into a certified smash. I’m not surprised. Five years have turned the first two “Despicable Me” movies into a DVD babysitter for kids. Eventually, the Minions had to get their own vehicle. So what if it comes…
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She’s Funny That Way [2015] ★★
I like Peter Bogdanovich. In the early 1970s, when he made “The Last Picture Show”, “Paper Moon” and “What’s Up, Doc?”, he was ranked alongside Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. But things didn’t go quite as planned, especially in the last 20 years. Now he’s directing another screwball comedy that feels a lot like recycled…
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While We’re Young [2015] ★★½
Noah Baumbach, who made an impressive directorial debut with “The Squid and the Whale” over a decade ago, continues to tell unusual stories with an enjoyable little film called “While We’re Young”. The overall result may not be as good as Baumbach’s previous movies, but it still works quite well. Ben Stiller gives a finely tuned performance as…
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Spy [2015] ★★★
As far as spoof movies go, “Spy” is one of the funniest I’ve seen in years. It’s also a perfect vehicle for Melissa McCarthy, who gives it her very best and succeeds with flying colors. And yet I have to admit: I feared that we might have seen all the funniest bits in the trailer; fortunately, I was wrong.…
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Entourage [2015] ★★½
Let’s face it: Big screen adaptations of popular TV series rarely work. Remember “The X Files”? Or maybe “Sex and the City?”. Well, here’s the good news: “Entourage” does work. Not all the time, but for someone who wasn’t expecting much, I actually had a good time watching it. I knew I would derive some pleasure from…
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Danny Collins [2015] ★★★
If you like, you can think of “Danny Collins” as the anti-blockbuster. It’s the opposite of an Event Movie for the summer season; instead, it’s an old-fashioned star vehicle, fashioned for the particular screen persona of Al Pacino, who can usually play these roles in his sleep, but adds something special every single time. As such, the movie…
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Pitch Perfect 2 [2015] ★★½
It doesn’t break any new ground, but “Pitch Perfect 2” provides lively entertainment as it builds on a template that’s familiar to anyone who’s seen such movies as “Bring it On” and “Step Up”. Once again, the people behind this comedy use an engaging cast and a selection of popular songs (energetically recreated by several choral groups)…
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La Famille Bélier [2014] ★★★
I’m a bit late coming to this movie, but having heard good feedback, I was looking forward to it. It’s easy to see why now. “La Famille Bélier” is a charming, funny film with winning performances; in short, a crowd-pleaser. Louane Emera (a semi-finalist in the second season of The Voice France) plays Paula, a young girl…
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Hot Pursuit [2015] ★★
Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family”) can be funny. Reese Witherspoon is a great actress who can play comedy or drama equally well (see “Walk The Line”). They both deserve a better vehicle than this mildly funny, forgettable comedy that shamelessly rips off every road movie ever made. Witherspoon plays Cooper, a by-the-book San Antonio cop assigned to escort Daniella (Vergara),…
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Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 [2015] ★
As if the 2009 original wasn’t endurance test enough, the sequel further cheapens the talents of Kevin James (once upon a time he was actually funny), reprising his role as Paul Blart (or fart), the famous mall cop who finds himself facing more bad guys, this time in… Las Vegas (how original!). Even Raini Rogriguez,…
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Get Hard [2015] ★★
Will Ferrell can find the dumb fun in anything. Whether he gets naked and shows his private parts or not, he makes me laugh. And he does it in good movies (“Elf”, “Old School”, “Anchorman”, “Talladega Nights”, “Blades of Glory”) and horrible movies (“Bewitched”, “Kicking and Screaming”). Hell, Ferrell is funny when he just drops into a movie for a…
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The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [2015] ★★½
It’s called “The Second Best” for a reason: it’s basically the same movie as the 2012 original, minus the element of surprise. But who would want to miss the chance to see Brit acting royalty nailing every nuance in this comedy laced with genuine emotion? Not me that’s for sure. There’s Dame Judi Dench, who is now a buyer of …
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The DUFF [2015] ★★½
Given my low expectations for any movie featuring high school kids, I was pleasantly surprised by “The DUFF”. Lindsay Lohan hit it big in 2004’s “Mean Girls”. Emma Stone did the same in 2010’s “Easy A”. “The DUFF”, a teen comedy loaded with killer laughs, does the same trick with Kody Keplinger’s novel. Director Ari Sandel plugs in live…
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Magic In The Moonlight [2014] ★★½
The best thing about being a Woody Allen fan is the certainty that if you don’t fully appreciate his latest film, he’s already got another one in the oven. Following the unprecedented audience reaction to “Midnight in Paris” and “Blue Jasmine“, Allen has conceived a new character-driven story set in 1928 France. It isn’t Allen’s…
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The Wedding Ringer [2015] ★★½
If you follow this blog regularly, you probably know that I’m not a big Kevin Hart fan. Which is why I approached “The Wedding Ringer” with very low expectations. But unlike some of his other recent comedy vehicles (“Ride Along“, “Think Like A Man Too“), this one actually offers laughs, plus a compatible costar in Josh Gad. And…
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Mortdecai [2015] ★
It’s early in the year, but I defy any 2015 comedy to be as stupid, slack and boring as “Mortdecai”. Johnny Depp is embarrassingly bad as an art dealer who must traverse the globe with the support of his manservant Jock (Paul Bettany) to recover a stolen painting. Clumsily directed by David Koepp, from a…
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