Category: Comedy
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Peace, Love and Misunderstanding: Peace, Love, Dope!
Peace, Love and Misunderstanding – 2012 Director Bruce Beresford Starring Catherine Keener, Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Olsen, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chace Crawford, Nat Wolf, Kyle MacLachlan Screenplay by Christina Mengert, Joseph Muszynski I’ve never been a fan of Jane Fonda, but then, she’s never been this bad. I can’t speak with total authority, though. A few years ago, when she made…
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Seven Psychopaths: Sam Rockwell out-Walken’s Walken.
Seven Psychopaths – 2012 Written and Directed by Martin McDonagh Starring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits, Abbie Cornish, Olga Kurylenko The craziest notion in the film Seven Psychopaths is the idea that Colin Farrell is any sort of writer. I can buy the alcoholic part, even if it’s a cheap stereotype…
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Forgotten Gem: High Fidelity is like singing in your sleep
High Fidelity – 2000 Directed by Stephen Frears Starring John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Lisa Bonet, Jack Black, Todd Luiso, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, Catherine Zeta-Jones Screenplay D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, Scott Rosenberg and Cusack taken from the novel by Nick Hornby Mix tapes. They’ve been lost in time, replaced playlists on iTunes. It’s not the same. There was a time…
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Butter finds liberals guessing what conservatives do
Butter – 2012 Director Jim Field Smith Starring Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Olivia Wilde, Rob Corddy, Ashley Greene, Alicia Silverstone, Hugh Jackman, Yara Shahidi, Kristen Schaal Screenplay Jason Micallef Dear Jennifer, I want to talk a little about the first movie your production company has graced the world with. I will address each of my topics with its own bullet…
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To Rome with Love – Rented by mistake
\To Rome with Love – 2012 Written and Directed by Woody Allen Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Alec Baldwin, Penélope Cruz, Woody Allen, Roberto Begnini, Judy Davis, Greta Gerwig, Allison Pill, Flavio Parenti, Alessandro Tiberi, Alessandra Mastronardi When my wife told me she rented To Rome with Love, she seemed kind of curious. She no doubt had seen the…
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Frankenweenie: Where everyone looks dead, and the dog is.
Frankenweenie – 2012 Directed by Tim Burton Starring Charlie Tahan, Frank Welker, Winona Rider, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Landau, Martin Short, Robert Capron, Atticus Shaffer Screenplay by John August Tim Burton has occupied this strange place in Americana as “macabre for the family.” His mixture of preciousness, precociousness and comedy has been imitated, but not as often as his…
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Django Unchained: If Samuel L. Jackson doesn’t win an Oscar, there is no justice
Django Unchained – 2012 Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington, Leonardo DiCaprio, Don Johnson, Walton Goggins, James Remar, Michael Parks, Dennis Christopher There is a scene that resonates deeply. On the way into Candyland, Jamie Foxx’s freed slave, Django, rides along a group of men in chains.…
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Pitch Perfect: Hits almost every note
Pitch Perfect – 2012 Director Jason Moore Starring Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Skylar Astin, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Ben Platt, Adam Devine, Freddie Stroma, Hana Mae Lee, Alexis Knapp, Ester Dean, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, John Benjamin Hickey Screenplay Kay Cannon based on the book by Mickey Rapkin One thing that film makers and media…
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The Watch shoots mostly blanks
The Watch – 2012 Directed by Akiva Schaffer Starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Rosemarie DeWitt, Richard Ayoade, R. Lee Ermey, Will Forte, Billy Crudup Screenplay by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jared Stern A few weeks after the marketing campaign began for The Neighborhood Watch, a tragedy occurred in Florida that created a huge national stir. That…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 