National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)::rating::4.5::rating::4.5::rating::4.5

T hroughout the Vacation movies, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) functions as a kind of cheerful, benevolent weapon of mass destruction. His ambition is simple, but noble: To act as catalyst for the greatest vacation, holiday gathering, or whatever ill-fated event the screenwriters have devised for him. His currency as a husband and father is measured solely…

ByTodd WoffordDecember 21, 20220Comments

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The Fabelmans (2022)::rating::5

W hen he directed Jaws in 1975, Steven Spielberg was hailed as a wunderkind and an overnight sensation. The truth is that Spielberg had been cranking out movies for most of his young life. As a precocious teenager, his amateur oeuvre was both irresistibly innocent and sweepingly ambitious: A spate of homemade Westerns and WWII battle epics…

ByTodd WoffordDecember 16, 20220Comments

Latest Laughable

Ticket to Paradise (2022)::rating::2

I f they handed out a generic award for Best-Looking Movie of 2022, Ticket to Paradise would be on the noms list. As a squabbling, middle-aged couple, George Clooney and Julia Roberts are as photogenic as ever. Their daughter? Beautiful, as you would expect. The locations? You couldn't CGI something prettier. Hell, even the chittering, man-eating dolphins…

ByTodd WoffordDecember 14, 20220Comments

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Tár (2022)::rating::4.5

A s we meet Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett), somewhere in the deep of middle age, she's already a woman with nothing left to prove. When she sits for an interview at The New Yorker Festival (where Adam Gopnik plays himself), Tár's résumé is read aloud, and her accomplishments are stunning. She's an EGOT winner, and…

ByTodd WoffordDecember 9, 20220Comments

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Bad Santa (2003)::rating::3.5

P ut simply, Bad Santa is as crass and cringey as anything Hollywood has ever produced. At its core is Willie (Billy Bob Thornton), a department store Santa who radiates boozy rage like stench from a rotten egg. Even the flies that buzz around his head are probably drunk. It was an enormous gamble for…

ByTodd WoffordDecember 6, 20220Comments

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Black Adam (2022)::rating::2.5

B lack Adam plays like a cinematic paradox. It delivers visual spectacle that's ambitious and expensive, but at the service of lazy, uneven storytelling. As the title character, Dwayne Johnson shows all the charisma and gravitas that made him a durable superstar. At the same time, his acting and wrestling legacies serve as distractions--this never feels…

ByTodd WoffordDecember 2, 20220Comments

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Lethal Weapon (1987)::rating::4.5

L ethal Weapon may not be the source of cop-themed movie tropes, but it certainly elevated a bunch of them into cinematic institutions: Partners on opposite ends of the spectrum, with one guy an amiable family man, the other a slobbering maniac. A police chief who's always fed up with their shenanigans. A stone cold villain…

ByTodd WoffordNovember 29, 20220Comments

Greatest The Podcast

This is Spinal Tap (1984)::rating::5

It's such a fine line between stupid and clever..." David St. Hubbins T ruer words have never echoed through the hallowed hallways of pop culture history. Our entire modern mythology is dominated by a pantheon of gods who totter between redoubtable genius and pure idiocy. Perhaps no film has better captured that savage balancing act with…

ByTodd WoffordNovember 24, 20220Comments

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Spirited (2022)::rating::3

I f you've seen the trailers, posters, or billboards for Spirited, let's see if your first impression synchs with mine: At first glance, this movie looks like concentrated donkey doo. It's another twist on A Christmas Carol, which the world needs like a ski boot to the Nutter Butters. Even more egregious, this modern take stars Ryan…

ByTodd WoffordNovember 23, 20220Comments

Laughable The Podcast

BASEketball (1998)::rating::2.5

W hat am I gonna do, knock this movie for being stupid? BASEketball is the cinematic equivalent of a fart machine. It couldn't be prouder of how dumb it is, like a sweaty frat boy showing off his brand new trucker hat/beer bong. The key lies in your own tolerance for BASEketball's idiocy, which flows like…

ByTodd WoffordNovember 17, 20220Comments