film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
Ben Stiller is having another midlife crisis, and only his sincere, heartfelt performance saves this pile of unchecked white male privilege from self-parody. But only just.
I wish I could figure out what this would-be trippy space odyssey wants to say. I was hoping for sci-fi philosophy. I got nothing but lifeless nonsense.
Funny and sad and wise and wonderful… with an absolutely heartbreaking, career-changing performance by Bill Hader.
‘You got your sperm in my uterus!’ ‘No, I got my sperm in this little cup here. *You* got my sperm in your uterus.’ It’s the charming romantic comedy you’ve been waiting for!
In *Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,* Michael Cera is forced to battle, videogame style, his new girlfriend’s (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) ex-boyfriends in order to win her hand. This flick sprang from (among other films)…
In *Middle Men,* Luke Wilson invents porn on the Internet and then thinks it’s a bad idea, but no backsies, he’s stuck with the Russian mobsters who want his money and him dead… This flick sprang from (among other films)…
Ever since he was a kid, Jack Harris never wanted to be a pornographer…
Assumes that the viewer is a complete and utter fucking moron…
I’ve been convinced to give Dream Cast another try. (Thank my brother Ken, who posts comments here sometimes as “Ken,” if you’re happy to see this feature return.) This week: Midnight Run, the 1988 action buddy comedy starring Robert DeNiro as a bounty hunter and Charles Grodin as the mob accountant on the run he’s … more…
We all know how it is. You’d like to get out to see a new movie this weekend, but you neglected to buy Wolverine tickets two weeks ago and anyway, that Maypole you erected in the yard ain’t gonna dance around itself. But you can have something close to that multiplex experience at home with … more…
