Like an American sprinter against Usain Bolt, Seth Rogen’s Sausage Party starts off quickly (and humorously), but it fails to win the gold medal due to the actor/writer’s problem of not knowing when to reel in the bizarre comic situations (a trait perhaps caused by his close association with pal Adam Sandler) and not push…
Movies often attempt to capture the breadth of a whole life fully lived, but few do so with little more than a single breath. That’s the aim of the lovely little short Bernie and Rebecca, which elliptically plays the part of a comedy at either end of its running time, while segueing sweetly into more…
Recipient of a Golden Globes nomination for Best Actress in a musical or comedy, Lily Tomlin (“Grace and Frankie” TV series) may be a bit over-the-top as the tough, outspoken, and cantankerous 70-something Elle in Paul Weitz’ (“Little Fockers”) Grandma, but she is also very funny and very real. If you’ve heard of tough love…
“A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” — Jane Austen, “Pride and Prejudice,” Chapter VI Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale, “Total Recall”), the main protagonist of Whit Stillman’s (“Damsels in Distress”) period comedy Love & Friendship is determined to get what she wants…
Me Before You belongs to a much-maligned genre. It features young adults and is based on a novel aimed at that demographic (like “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Twilight”); its focus is a young woman’s experience of a complicated relationship with her fellow generic archetype (like “The Notebook” and “Dear John”); the relationship features…
If cinematic quirkiness exists on a spectrum that ranges from charming to obnoxiously grating, then surely try-hard rom-com 3rd Street Blackout is pushing towards the latter end. Every character in the movie speaks and acts as though they know they’re in a quirky indie flick, but there’s no meta subtext at work as a result….
Evidently filmmaker Garry Marshall cannot seem to get away from his tediously formulaic playbook of themed movie-making and certainly the tepid and toothless Mother’s Day reinforces this cinematic sentiment. Marshall is determined to exploit these cornball conveyor belt holiday-based movies that shamelessly boast an all-star cast, shallow sentimentality, heavy-handed and forced nuttiness and the gimmickry of…
