Shanghai Knights (2003)

Shanghai Knights starts off quite slowly with ornate, candle-litpictures of China -- as if director David Dobkin (Clay Pigeons) hopedto make another version of The Last Emperor or Raise the RedLantern. But have no fear. Before long things will pick up and JackieChan will kick butt again. read more...

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• Funny ▶ Yes please
• Boldness ▶ Bold, aggressive, unrepressed, cathartic or expressive actions

Identity Thief (2013)

It only makes sense that she would be promoted to leading roles, which could be a mistake. What if she's better as a character actress? What if the entire movie is a joke about her weight and appearance? read more...

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• Funny ▶ Yes please
• Sympathetic ▶ I want to know or care about the characters
• Boldness ▶ Bold, aggressive, unrepressed, cathartic or expressive actions
• Comfort Level ▶ Settled, reassured, comforted or resolved

The Bad News Bears (1976)

In the original The Bad News Bears, Walter Matthau stars as Morris Buttermaker, who becomes the unwitting coach of a team of misfits and outcasts (fat kids, nearsighted kids, Mexican kids, Jewish kids, foul-mouthed kids, etc.). He recruits a girl, Amanda Whurlizer (Tatum O'Neal), for a pitcher, and a unwieldy motorcycle punk Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley), who both significantly improve the team's chances of winning. It suddenly occurred to me halfway through this that I was watching a W.C. Fields movie. Matthau was the perfect Fields for the modern age. He's a beer-swilling, grumbling curmudgeon who, when faced with the kids, develops a look on his face as if a dog just piddled on his best polyester suit. It's not long before the "David vs. Goliath" formula kicks in, but Matthau's perfectly restrained, brilliantly comic performance holds it together. read more...

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• Funny ▶ Yes please
• Comfort Level ▶ Settled, reassured, comforted or resolved

Monkey Business (1952)

Perhaps the greatest Hollywood director who ever lived, Howard Hawks knew instinctively how to use certain actors. A year before he made his masterpiece Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, he made this superb comedy starring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers with Marilyn Monroe in a scene-stealing supporting role that helped establish her screen persona for all time. Grant plays an absent-minded professor who stumbles upon a youth formula that restores vitality but causes you to act silly; both Grant and Rogers get a chance to go crazy. Monroe plays a sexy secretary who goes for a ride in Grant's snazzy new convertible and acts as the object of his desire for an afternoon. read more...

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• Funny ▶ Yes please
• Sympathetic ▶ I want to know or care about the characters
• Romantic Love ▶ Happily ever after
• Comfort Level ▶ Settled, reassured, comforted or resolved

The Time of Their Lives (1946)

One of Universal's most lucrative properties in the 1940s was the comedy team Abbott and Costello, the epitome of the straight man/funny man team-up. To many, they were just a poor man's version of Laurel and Hardy, who had come from the silent screen as well as the stage, and knew to put artistic pauses in their work. Abbott and Costello merely charged ahead though, hammering away and looking for the next laugh. read more...

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• Funny ▶ Yes please
• Brainy ▶ Don't make me think
• Optimistic ▶ Yes please
• Sympathetic ▶ I want to know or care about the characters
• Moralistic ▶ Yes please
• Rules ▶ Escapable or can be transformed
• Comfort Level ▶ Settled, reassured, comforted or resolved
• Takes itself Seriously ▶ No thanks
• Originality ▶ Stories I know and love