Jonah Hill

[7] In this satiric dark comedy from director Adam McKay (Vice, The Big Short), Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence star as astronomers trying to warn the planet of an extinction-level comet headed straight for Earth. Meryl Streep plays a Trump-like narcissistic president who at first doesn’t want news of the comet to tank her presidency, but then ends up using the crisis to try and …

[6] Writer/director Dean DeBlois wraps up the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy with a mostly satisfying finale. In this third film, young Viking Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his comrades discover a second, rare Night Fury dragon — and it’s a female. Hiccup’s dragon Toothless naturally falls in love with the new Fury, but when a nasty dragon-napper sets his targets on the two lovers, …

[4] This is the first miss for Judd Apatow, coming off a string of memorable comedy hits like The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Funny People features the usual array of wacky Apatow characters, but the personality and relationship patterns are disappointingly familiar. Funny People is obviously an attempt to make a deeper, more sophisticated film, but in the end, the only thing …

[6] Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum go undercover at college to bust another drug lord in a sequel that is admittedly and unabashedly more of the same. But the sequel is even more bromantic than the first, playing the relationship so serious at times, it’s not even comedy anymore. I gotta give these 21 Jump Street movies credit for helping remove the stick from straight …

[6] Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill star in this big-screen adaptation of the Fox TV show, about two young cops who go undercover at a high school to help find the supplier for a new, deadly drug. Young directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie) do well with Michael Bacall’s (Manic, Scott Pilgrim vs the World) screenplay, keeping things light, irreverent, and even …

[7] Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg co-wrote and co-produced this R-rated animated satire about a grocery store hot dog (voiced by Rogen) that discovers the truth about life outside the store’s sliding glass doors. But it’s an uphill battle to convince the rest of the grocery denizens that their idea of ‘heaven’ is actually the gnashing teeth of human beings! Sausage Party delivers all the naughty sexual …

[8] Jay Baruchel voices a pre-pubescent Viking who fancies himself a dragon hunter — that is, until he accidentally befriends one of the creatures and dubs him Toothless. That’s when How to Train Your Dragon becomes a romance between a boy and his dragon. I was not prepared for how much I would enjoy this movie — great script, endearing characters, well-choreographed (and sustained!) action …

[6] The Coen Brothers are at it again, this time with a wonky tale of 1950s Hollywood studio politics mixed with political scandal. Hail, Caesar! is scattershot in its narrative. Josh Brolin’s character is marginally the main protagonist. Brolin plays a gruff studio executive who can barely keep all of his stars and starlets in line while another job offer tempts him away from the …

[7] Martin Scorsese remakes Casino, only instead of the Las Vegas gambling backdrop, we now have the shady thievery of Wall Street. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Jordan Belfort in this true story of Belfort’s rise to highly successful stock-broker and his fall into federal crimes and drug use. The Wolf of Wall Street is three hours long, but it moves briskly and is never boring. …

[7] In this film based on a true story, Brad Pitt stars as Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, who introduced computer analysis of player statistics into recruitment strategy and forever changed the way baseball is played. Jonah Hill plays the shy, young economist who pitches the recruitment strategy to Beane. Both men were nominated for Oscars for their performances here. The film centers squarely …

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