LAST CHRISTMAS is a lugubrious exercise in muddled storytelling. Billed as a romantic comedy, there is little humor to be found as the romance between a klutz who’s lost her way in life, and the handsome stranger who pops in and out of that life fails to ignite past the infamous friend zone. The klutz… Read More »
A SIMPLE FAVOR
With A SIMPLE FAVOR, Paul Feig takes a very dark turn into neo-noir by way of a deliciously wicked social satire. There’s nary a hard-boiled detective in sight, but at the center of the film’s mystery, there is an enigmatic femme fatale to rival any from the golden age of that genre. The humor, courtesy… Read More »
GHOSTBUSTERS
There are many, many things to love about the GHOSTBUSTERS reboot, and one of them is that it is equally good whether you are a fan of the 1984 version, or if you’ve never heard of it. Director and co-writer (with Katie Dippold) Paul Feig, the man who brought us THE HEAT (co-written with him… Read More »
SPY
When I reviewed BRIDESMAIDS, I spent a great deal of my verbiage on Melissa McCarthy’s supporting performance. Rarely had I seen an actress, or actor for that matter, so fearless, so sure of him- or herself, and with such a preternatural gift for discovering humor in the most unexpected places. She was nominated for an… Read More »
BRIDESMAIDS
There is more than a whiff of suspicion that the powers that be viewed an early cut of BRIDESMAIDS and made the unfortunate decision to hedge their bets. Rather than embrace a sharp, funny film about the many stages, and even more permutations, of female friendships, one that was unafraid to include the ribald, the profane,… Read More »