Before Spy the current state of comedy at the cinema was sad. With clunkers like The Duff, Hot Tub Time Machine 2, and Get Hard we are collectively due for a good belly laugh. Thank goodness for Spy, which is funny, empowering, and avoids the slippery slope of mean comedy. Having fun with the James Bond types, Spy takes place …

Good sequels can be hard to come by. Too often filmmakers essentially reproduce the first film, or deviate too far from what audiences initially fell in love with; the balance between maintaining the essence of the first film with creating newness is difficult. As a huge fan of 2012’s Pitch Perfect, I am happy to report that Pitch Perfect 2 …

Few cinematic experiences are as painful to endure as a bad comedy. Dramas can have poor acting and invasive scores, or soap operas incoherent plots, but their shortcomings pale in comparison to the embarrassment of a joke that fails to land. Though Hot Pursuit is not the worst cinematic experience I have had this year, its lack of actual comedy …

Russell Crowe chose a doozy of a film for his directorial debut. He has worked on other films previous to The Water Diviner, but this is his first feature length narrative film. Not only does the film span two countries, one war, and two love stories, but Crowe also chose to star in the film. In the end his performance …

Some stories are too good to be true. The premise of True Story is almost too neat, too convenient, to be true, but it is. Michael Finkel (Jonah Hill) is a New York Times investigative journalist at the height of his career, when he is caught fabricating a story. All of the pieces are true, but rather than present them …