comedy

– By Cate Marquis – The hit musical comedy THE BOOK OF MORMON makes a return to the Fox Theater, May May 29-June 3. Written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the guys behind “South Park,” and Robert Lopez, it is one of the funniest Broadway musicals in recent years but not the typical musical….

– By Mark Glass – RATING: 3 out of 5 stars (R) As a reminder, my ratings aren’t always about the overall artistic merit of the covered film. In the case of intentionally dumb, gross comedies like this, or other niche fare, I tend to award stars on how good a job they do in…

– By Cate Marquis – Director Stephen Frears’ funny, charming VICTORIA AND ABDUL was inspired by a real event late in the life of Queen Victoria, when the aging British monarch had her mood brighten by the arrival of a visitor from India, much to the dismay of her advisers and her son, the crown…

– By Cate Marquis – When divorce laws loosened and sexual mores changed in the ’60s and ’70s, there was a spate of “why marry” films. Although they had contemporary settings, the comedies generally followed the outline of 18th century bedroom farce, with warring couples, bed-hopping and true love winning in the end. Director/writer/star Lake…

– By Mark Glass –   THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD has all the first-rate action and humor of Deadpool without needing to know superhero lore to get the jokes. After many films, the first time I truly enjoyed a Ryan Reynolds performance was in last year’s hilarious spoof of all things Marvel and superheroesque, DEADPOOL. He…

– By Mark Glass –   LOGAN LUCKY’s redneck variation on Ocean’s Eleven and other slick caper flicks makes crime pay – at least for the viewers. If light-hearted heist films like OCEAN’S ELEVEN or THE ITALIAN JOB (either the originals or re-makes of both) were stripped of their glamorous settings and star power, this…

– By Cate Marquis –   Charming and warm, the Israeli comedy “The Women’s Balcony” entertains but also captures an appealing feeling of community, and even family, that being part of a religious congregation can bring. It is no small feat. That sense of a close, happy congregation was inspired by screenwriter Shlomit Nehama’s own…

– By Cate Marquis – Sometimes one role can define an actor’s career. Sam Elliott plays such an actor in late life, facing his own mortality and coming to grips with his life and career, in the sometimes funny, sometimes touching drama THE HERO. THE HERO is an intimate personal drama that draws on universal…

Writer/director Edgar Wright (SHAUN OF THE DEAD) delivers the kind of summer movie you hope for – action-packed, light, with a bit of humor – in BABY DRIVER. Car chases and a non-stop jukebox music soundtrack help drive this highly entertaining flick, which shares its title with a Simon and Garfunkel song. This delightful summer…

I confess to being predisposed to admire films in which an actress who rose to stardom largely on her beauty dives into a role that seriously downplays, if not obscures, the looks that made her famous. The most stunning conversion along those lines was Charlize Theron’s adopted dumpiness for her Oscar-winning role in Monster.  Before…