Dinner for Schmucks (2010)

Dinner for Schmucks (2010)

[5] A business man (Paul Rudd) is invited to a clandestine 'dinner with idiots' in which he's encouraged to bring the weirdest, most bizarre guest he can find for the rest of the business partners to gawk. Everyone brings a…
Kaboom (2010)

Kaboom (2010)

[4] Queer cinema pioneer Gregg Araki (The Living End, Mysterious Skin) serves up a brightly colored teen sex comedy by way of Twin Peaks with a Dr. Strangelove finale. Like most of Araki's films, there are nice scenes here and…
The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)

The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)

[5] I'm at a loss for this one. I saw the movie, but I'm still not sure what it's about. There's a town that sabotages drivers, all so the community can trade auto parts among themselves and hand the drivers…
The Lady Eve (1941)

The Lady Eve (1941)

[7] Barbara Stanwyck's a card shark and Henry Fonda's a naive millionaire. They meet and fall in love aboard an Atlantic cruise in Preston Sturges's The Lady Eve, a romantic comedy made tolerable with its sizzling sexual teasing and moderate…
Mister Roberts (1955)

Mister Roberts (1955)

[6] Henry Fonda is caught between a beleaguered WWII cargo crew and their vindictive captain in this oddly cheerful, lightweight drama directed by John Ford and Mervyn Leroy. James Cagney hams it up as the nutcase captain while William Powell…
Crocodile Dundee (1986)

Crocodile Dundee (1986)

[7] Formulaic romantic comedies don't usually fly with me, but when you place a genuine, sincere element into the formula, an element like Paul Hogan, it sometimes doesn't matter how old the story is. And I have to credit Hogan…
Four’s a Crowd (1938)

Four’s a Crowd (1938)

[7] It's surprising Errol Flynn didn't make more screwball comedies, because he's completely at home in this 'who's duping who' comedy, outrunning the guard dogs, shaking hands with people in side-by-side moving cars, and carrying on romantic telephone conversations with…
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

[7] The Muppets have my blessing to reinterpret any piece of literature they want (except maybe Naked Lunch). It's fun to see which characters are played by which Muppets, and all my favorites are featured in The Muppet Christmas Carol,…
Annie Get Your Gun (1950)

Annie Get Your Gun (1950)

[6] This movie version of Irving Berlin's musical is chintzy fun kept afloat by cartoonish performances from leads Betty Hutton and Howard Keel. Watching the movie at this end of the feminist movement can be frustrating. While Annie Oakley is…
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

[5] Claude Rains is gold in all his scenes as the god-like Mr. Jordan, but I find the movie's playfully fatalistic view of love and self-purpose too saccharine to swallow. Robert Montgomery is also good as the deceased boxer who,…