Category: Comedy

  • Definitely, Maybe (2008)

    It’s never too early to romanticize the past, particularly when it involves affairs of the heart. Amid today’s app-friendly hookups, where a potential relationship is a mere swipe right away, perhaps it is inevitable that a romantic comedy like Definitely, Maybe would turn to the not-so-distant and ostensibly simpler 1990s, back when the Internet was…

  • The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)

    When you have real-life brothers portraying brothers, you’re bound to elicit some interesting dynamics. That’s the case with The Fabulous Baker Boys. A modest box-office success upon its 1989 theatrical release, it chiefly earned raves at the time for a memorable star turn by Michelle Pfeiffer. But the movie holds up, thanks to its richly drawn…

  • Romance on the Big Screen

    This week we commemorate the 95th anniversary of that fateful day seven members of the George “Bugs” Moran gang were mowed down, deep-dish Chicago style, by four of Al Capone’s Tommy gun-wielding henchmen. Or to put it another way, this Wednesday marks Valentine’s Day. As such, it seems as appropriate a time as any to…

  • The Last Detail (1973)

    There is no doubt that screenwriter extraordinaire Robert Towne wrote The Last Detail with his friend Jack Nicholson in mind. As 1st Class Signalman Billy “Badass” Buddosky, one of two Navy lifers tasked with escorting a young midshipman to the brig, Nicholson was gifted with a meaty role that enabled him to demonstrate his full…

  • Killer Joe (2011)

    Brutal, pulpy and lurid. That sums up the irresistible allure of Killer Joe – provided, that is, you find deep-fried perversity to be irresistible. The second collaboration between director William Friedkin and writer Tracy Letts (their first being 2006’s Bug) serves up trailer-trash noir as savage as it is savagely funny. You will be forgiven…

  • Female (1933)

    The car-manufacturing magnate at the center of Female is one tough cookie, a take-no-prisoners mogul by day and take-no-guff seductress by night. That, in a nutshell, sums up the vitals of this 1933 comic gem. The movie is funny, the dialogue whip-smart, and dependable director Michael Curtiz doesn’t outwear things, with the picture clocking in…

  • Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

    Back in the day when Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay were still pals, they stumbled upon a winning formula for comedy with 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, which goosed TV newsrooms while simultaneously skewering the Dumb American Male over a fire pit. The humor was silly, largely improvisational, and devoted to a spirit…

  • The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

    There isn’t much middle ground when it comes to how one feels about writer-director Wes Anderson. His meticulously fussy visual style, offbeat humor and unflagging quirkiness have won both ardent fans and equally ardent detractors; one viewer’s delight is another’s eye-rolling preciousness. The Grand Budapest Hotel, quintessential Anderson, will not woo the unconverted. As with…