Category Archives: Comedy

Young Adult review

Directed by Jason ReitmanWritten by Diablo CodyIn a high school reunion movie (it's a genre, you know) Mavis Gary would be the antagonist, the lady who was the mean girl as a teen and is still a bitch 20 years later—even though she's by many societal standards a success. The closest we've seen to her…Read More

The Muppets review

Directed by James BobinWritten by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller, based on characters by Jim HensonThe appeal of The Muppet Show is hard to quantify. I'm not talking about the Muppets themselves. It's easy to see why people like them, the cute puppets adored by all ages. But the TV show specifically, the one that…Read More

The Rum Diary review

Directed by Bruce RobinsonWritten by Robinson, adapting the Hunter S. Thompson novelThis is telling: two posters from The Rum Diary, the brand new movie starring Johnny Depp as Paul Kemp, the hero of Hunter S. Thompson's Puerto Rico-set novel. There's this onewhich hides Depp but plays up hotel-room carnage. Playing to fans of The Hangover,…Read More

The Trip (2011) review

Directed by Michael Winterbottom Weirdly, this film has no credited writer. Maybe not so weird. It's very possible that the picture was entirely improvised by the two leads, Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan, both of whom were in Winterbottom's Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story. Something else people should know: The film is an…Read More

Crazy, Stupid, Love review

            Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa Written by Dan Fogelman Oh, I had high hopes for Crazy, Stupid, Love. The directors' previous work includes Bad Santa and I Love You Phillip Morris, both genre-pushing in their own ways. And then there's this cast, which assembled for a romantic…Read More

Bill Murray’s movies

Through the rest of July and August, there's a Bill Murray film festival happening here in Halifax. Every Friday night you can check out one of his movies down at the waterfront: Outdoor movie joy. The big ones are represented, including Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day and Rushmore. This week I wrote a piece in The…Read More

Horrible Bosses review

Directed by Seth Gordon Written by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein If you've seen the trailer, you know the deal. Three buddies, Nick (Jason Bateman) Dale (Charlie Day) and Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) complain to each other over beers that they each have the world's worst boss. Nick's boss Harken (Kevin Spacey,…Read More