Violent Night movie review: ho ho holy shit
Many movies have attempted to replicate the festive insouciant brutality of Die Hard. No movie has come closer to this lofty goal than this dementedly delicious nightmare before Christmas.
grossout
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm movie review: punching way the hell up
A work of breathtaking audacity. This is as perilous as comedy gets, and it’s very, very funny, often shockingly so. Sacha Baron Cohen’s scathing cultural strikes land like extinction-level asteroids.
Like a Boss movie review: it doesn’t quite fall down on the job
This instantly forgettable fluff lazily relies on too many unfunny slapstick and grossout tangents. But real humor blossoms in the terrific performances and in a fast, funny, and surprising feminism.
Jane Fonda in Five Acts documentary review: the political is her personal
An extraordinarily intimate and perceptive new biography of the legendary actor and activist. Fonda reveals insecurities and anxieties that are achingly raw and very personal, but which many women will see themselves in.
The House with a Clock in Its Walls movie review: good witches and not-so-good witches
Charming entry-level spookiness and nicely old-fashioned eeriness for budding fright fans. A disarmingly goofy Jack Black and a vamping-it-up Cate Blanchett meet in a comic middle that is perfectly pitched.
The Happytime Murders movie review: schlock puppets
Ugly, sordid, and proud of it, with less than no justification. “Meet the Feebles meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit” conveys a far greater sense of dignity, cohesion, and purpose than this witness movie deserves.
Dog Days movie review: a mangy mongrel of a movie
Two rom-coms, a grossout comedy, a family drama, and a platonic May-December melodrama, all connected by stilted humor, sloppy schmaltz, implausible human interaction, and — least convincingly — dogs.
Revenge movie review: better served unhot
This rape-revenge action horror is solid as pure grindhouse exploitation. But the rendering of its rage-fueled female protagonist is too salacious for this to ever be considered feminist.
Blockers movie review: the kids are all right
It’s oddly structured, doesn’t seem to know whom its audience is, and indulges in too much distracting grossout humor. But the sex-positive message and the delightful cast make it just about worthwhile.
Daddy’s Home 2 movie review: the father away, the better
Goes well beyond the typical mindless array of slapstick and humiliation to reach disgusting new depths of coarseness. Not just appalling, but actually dangerous.
