Movie Reviews
Film and television reviewed the way I’d want to read them — with a rating that means something, an honest accounting of what works and what doesn’t, and craft notes for writers who want to understand how the machinery operates.
Each review includes a craft notes section for writers — specific observations about structure, character, world-building, and what the film does that you can actually use. Not theory. Technique you can steal.
Comedy (98)
May 15, 202650 First Dates (2004) — Review
50 First Dates is one of the more substantive Adam Sandler romantic comedies and the second major collaboration between Sandler and Drew Barrymore. Peter Segal directed. George Wing wrote the screenplay. The film was released in February 2004. It grossed approximately one hundred ninety-six million...
May 19, 2026A Christmas Story (1983)
Nine-year-old Ralphie dreams of getting a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas in 1940s Indiana, despite warnings he'll shoot his eye out.
May 17, 2026A Shock to the System (1990)
Egleson's 1990 dark comedy. Michael Caine as an executive who discovers he can kill his way to the top and nobody will notice. The cleanest 90s satire of corporate culture.
Jun 6, 2026Abigail (2024)
Kidnappers grab a twelve-year-old ballerina who turns out to be a centuries-old vampire. A gleefully gory, fun 7/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
May 15, 2026Airplane! (1980) — Review
Airplane! is one of the great American comedies of all time and one of the most substantial parody films in commercial cinema history. Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker directed and wrote the screenplay. The film was released in July 1980. It grossed approximately one hundred seventy-one...
May 19, 2026An American Werewolf in London (1981)
John Landis' 1981 horror-comedy. Rick Baker transformation effects won first Best Makeup Oscar. Blue Moon, Bad Moon, Moondance.
May 19, 2026Annie Hall (1977)
Woody Allen's 1977 romantic comedy. Diane Keaton title role. Won Best Picture against Star Wars. Defined modern romantic comedy.
May 15, 2026Baby’s Day Out (1994) — Review
Baby's Day Out is one of the more interesting commercial failures in 1990s American family cinema. The film was released in July 1994. It grossed approximately seventeen million dollars in its initial American release on a production budget of approximately forty-eight million dollars. The American...
May 16, 2026Bad Boys (1995, 2003, 2020, 2024)
Bad Boys is the buddy cop franchise that defined Miami action cinema for three decades. Michael Bay directed the first two films. Adil El Arbi and Bilall...
May 19, 2026Bad Santa (2003)
A drunken con artist working seasonal Santa jobs robs department stores on Christmas Eve and reluctantly bonds with a strange child.
May 15, 2026Bedazzled (1967 / 2000) — Contrast Review
The Bedazzled property exists in two substantial film adaptations across approximately thirty-three years. The 1967 British production directed by Stanley Donen and starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore is one of the great British comedies of the 1960s. The 2000 American remake directed by Harold...
May 16, 2026Bee Movie (2007)
DreamWorks 2007 Jerry Seinfeld animated comedy. The meme afterlife has substantially exceeded the original commercial reception.
May 19, 2026Beetlejuice (1988)
Tim Burton's comedy about a deceased couple haunting their old house and hiring a deranged bio-exorcist to scare out the living family.
May 19, 2026Being There (1979)
Hal Ashby's 1979 satire with Peter Sellers as gardener mistaken for political sage. Final film of Sellers' great period.
May 19, 2026But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)
Jamie Babbit's 1999 American satirical romantic comedy about a high school cheerleader sent to a conversion therapy camp by her parents who fall in love with another resident. Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall star in the canonical queer-cinema cheerleader film.
May 18, 2026Casino Royale (1967)
1967 non-Eon Bond spoof with David Niven, Peter Sellers, Woody Allen. Multiple directors, chaotic production, cult oddity.
May 19, 2026Catch-22 (1970)
Mike Nichols' 1970 Heller adaptation. Alan Arkin as Yossarian. Substantial source material that the film handles only partially.
May 19, 2026Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
A magazine columnist who has fabricated her domestic Connecticut life must host a war hero and her publisher for Christmas.
May 18, 2026Click (2006)
2006 Frank Coraci comedy with Adam Sandler as a workaholic who gets a magic remote that fast-forwards through his life.
May 19, 2026Clueless (1995)
Amy Heckerling's 1995 Beverly Hills Emma adaptation. Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd debut. As if. Whatever. Defined 1990s teen aesthetic.
May 19, 2026Dazed and Confused (1993)
Richard Linklater's 1993 last-day-of-school 1976 ensemble. Affleck, McConaughey, Adam Goldberg breakthroughs.
May 17, 2026Deathtrap (1982)
Lumet's 1982 stage-play adaptation. Caine, Reeve, Cannon. Ira Levin source. The script doubles back on itself three times. The least-known great Lumet film.
May 15, 2026Destination Wedding (2018) — Review
Destination Wedding is one of the more interesting unconventional romantic comedies of the late 2010s and one of the more substantive late-career Keanu Reeves performances in mainstream cinema. Victor Levin directed and wrote the screenplay. The film was released in August 2018. It grossed...
May 19, 2026Don’t Look Up (2021)
Adam McKay's 2021 climate-denial satire. DiCaprio, Lawrence, Streep, Hill. Heavy-handed but the targets earn it.
May 17, 2026Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Kubrick's 1964 Cold War satire. Sellers in three roles, Scott as Buck Turgidson. The film that established what political satire could do on film.
May 19, 2026Elf (2003)
A human raised by Santa's elves travels to New York City to find his biological father, an embittered publishing executive.
May 19, 2026Evil Dead II (1987)
Sam Raimi's part-remake, part-sequel where Ash returns to the cabin and battles increasingly absurd demonic forces.
May 19, 2026Fright Night (1985)
A teenager discovers his new neighbor is a vampire and seeks help from a washed-up TV horror host.
May 18, 2026Get Shorty (1995)
1995 Barry Sonnenfeld crime comedy adapting Elmore Leonard. Travolta as Miami loan shark who becomes a Hollywood producer.
May 19, 2026Heathers (1988)
Michael Lehmann's 1988 dark teen comedy. Winona Ryder, Christian Slater murder high school cliques. Pre-Columbine context shifted reception.
May 11, 2026Home Alone (1990) — Review
Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci fresh off Goodfellas, and Three Stooges traps wrapped around a John Hughes Christmas movie about loneliness. Home Alone reviewed at 7.5/10.
May 11, 2026Home Alone 2 (1992) — Review
Tim Curry at the Plaza, the Pigeon Lady, and the rare sequel that surpasses a very good original. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York reviewed at 8/10.
May 11, 2026Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) — Review
Rick Moranis at his peak, practical effects that put CGI to shame, and Disney back when it made original family adventures. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids reviewed at 9/10.
May 19, 2026Idiocracy (2006)
Mike Judge's 2006 dystopian satire. Average man wakes in 500-years-dumber future. Cult standing built through home video.
May 19, 2026In the Loop (2009)
Armando Iannucci's 2009 spin-off from The Thick of It. British and American officials bumble toward Middle East war. Tucker.
Jun 6, 2026Innocent Blood (1992)
John Landis fuses the vampire film with the mob movie in a fun, tonally chaotic horror comedy. A messy, entertaining 6/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
May 19, 2026Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Karyn Kusama's 2009 American horror comedy with screenplay by Diablo Cody about a high school cheerleader possessed by a demon who feeds on her male classmates. Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried star in the substantially reappraised feminist horror landmark of the late 2000s.
May 19, 2026Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
A small-time thief stumbles into an LA acting career and a noir investigation, with Robert Downey Jr. as narrator across the Christmas season.
May 19, 2026Knives Out (2019)
Rian Johnson's 2019 Agatha Christie homage with contemporary wit. Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc. Launched continuing franchise.
May 19, 2026Krampus (2015)
A dysfunctional family's hostile Christmas attracts the attention of the anti-Santa demon Krampus, who arrives with monstrous helpers.
May 18, 2026Liar Liar (1997)
1997 Tom Shadyac comedy with Jim Carrey as a defense lawyer cursed to tell the truth for twenty-four hours after his son's birthday wish.
May 19, 2026Logan Lucky (2017)
Soderbergh's 2017 NASCAR heist. Tatum, Driver, Daniel Craig. Working-class Ocean's Eleven. Coca-Cola 600 setting.
May 18, 2026Look Who’s Talking (1989)
1989 Amy Heckerling comedy with John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Bruce Willis voices a sarcastic infant narrator.
May 18, 2026Look Who’s Talking Too (1990)
1990 sequel with Travolta, Alley, Roseanne Barr as new baby. Diminishing returns on the talking-baby concept.
May 19, 2026Love Actually (2003)
Multiple intertwined London relationships unfold across the five weeks leading up to Christmas, from the Prime Minister to schoolchildren.
May 19, 2026M*A*S*H (1970)
Robert Altman's 1970 Korean War satire. Sutherland and Gould as wartime surgeons. Spawned the TV series. Anti-war through black comedy.
May 19, 2026Mean Girls (2004)
Mark Waters' 2004 high school satire. Tina Fey screenplay. Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams. The plastics. Cultural reference standing.
May 16, 2026Megamind (2010)
DreamWorks 2010 animated superhero comedy. Will Ferrell as the supervillain protagonist. Substantial engagement with genre conventions through inversion.
May 16, 2026Michael (1996)
Nora Ephron's 1996 angel comedy with John Travolta. Gentle commercial work that uses spiritual material as premise rather than substantial engagement.
May 15, 2026Midnight Run (1988) — Review
Midnight Run is one of the great American films of the 1980s and one of the most substantially underrated buddy action comedies in commercial cinema history. Martin Brest directed. George Gallo wrote the screenplay. The film was released in July 1988. It grossed approximately eighty-one million...
May 15, 2026Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) — Review
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the funniest film ever made. The statement is defensible. The film has more quotable lines per minute than any comedy that came before it and most comedies that came after it. The Pythons made the film in 1974 on a budget of approximately four hundred thousand...
May 15, 2026Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) — Review
Monty Python's Life of Brian is one of the great religious satires in cinema history and the production where the Monty Python comedy troupe reached its highest individual creative achievement. Terry Jones directed. All six Pythons wrote the screenplay. The film was released in August 1979 in the...
May 18, 2026Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983)
1983 Terry Jones comedy sketch film. The Pythons tackle life's stages from birth to death. Mr. Creosote and the Crimson Permanent Assurance.
May 16, 2026Mortal Kombat (1995)
Mortal Kombat is the rare video game adaptation that understood what it was. Paul W. S. Anderson directed in what amounted to a launching pad for his...
May 16, 2026Mousehunt (1997)
Mousehunt is one of the funniest physical comedies ever produced and one of the most overlooked. Gore Verbinski directed in his feature debut. Adam...
May 18, 2026My Cousin Vinny (1992)
1992 Jonathan Lynn comedy with Joe Pesci as a New York personal-injury lawyer defending his cousin in rural Alabama. Marisa Tomei Oscar.
May 19, 2026National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Clark Griswold's plans for a perfect family Christmas at home unravel through extended-family chaos and a frozen pool.
May 19, 2026Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Soderbergh's 2001 Rat Pack remake. Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Roberts, Gould. Las Vegas casinos. Effortless cool. Two sequels.
May 16, 2026Office Space (1999)
Mike Judge's 1999 cubicle satire. Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, Stephen Root as Milton. The most accurate film ever made about American office work.
May 19, 2026Patch Adams (1998)
Tom Shadyac's 1998 Hunter Adams biopic. Robin Williams as the unconventional doctor. Sentimental but the source story holds.
May 15, 2026Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) — Review
Planes, Trains and Automobiles is one of the great American films of the 1980s and the most substantial Thanksgiving holiday production in commercial cinema history. John Hughes directed and wrote the screenplay. The film was released in November 1987. It grossed approximately fifty million dollars...
May 16, 2026Police Academy (1984-1994, all seven films)
Police Academy is the comedy franchise that defined the rapid-decline model of sequel filmmaking. Hugh Wilson directed the 1984 original, which made...
May 19, 2026Re-Animator (1985)
Stuart Gordon adapts H.P. Lovecraft's story about a medical student who develops a serum that revives the dead.
Jun 6, 2026Renfield (2023)
Nicolas Cage's gloriously unhinged Dracula anchors a comedy about escaping a toxic boss, undercut by an overstuffed plot. A flawed, fun 6/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
May 18, 2026Risky Business (1983)
1983 Paul Brickman comedy with Tom Cruise as a Chicago teen who turns his parents' empty house into a brothel for one weekend.
May 16, 2026Rush Hour (1998, 2001, 2007)
Rush Hour is the buddy cop trilogy that made Jackie Chan a Hollywood leading man and Chris Tucker an A-list comedy actor for a brief window of his career...
May 19, 2026Scrooged (1988)
A cynical TV executive producing a live Christmas Carol broadcast is visited by three spirits who confront his soul.
May 17, 2026Seven Psychopaths (2012)
McDonagh's 2012 Hollywood meta-comedy. Farrell, Rockwell, Walken, Harrelson. A screenwriter cannot finish his screenplay. McDonagh's second feature.
May 17, 2026Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Donen and Kelly's 1952 musical comedy about the talkie transition. Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds. The musical other musicals measure against.
May 19, 2026Slap Shot (1977)
George Roy Hill's 1977 minor league hockey comedy. Paul Newman as player-coach of dying franchise. Hanson Brothers, violence as entertainment.
May 17, 2026Some Like It Hot (1959)
Wilder's 1959 cross-dressing comedy. Lemmon and Curtis on the run, Monroe in her last great performance. Nobody's perfect.
May 19, 2026Stalag 17 (1953)
Billy Wilder's 1953 WWII POW camp drama. William Holden won Best Actor. Source for Hogan's Heroes. The German camp informer.
May 19, 2026Sugar & Spice (2001)
Francine McDougall's 2001 American crime comedy about a high school cheerleading squad that robs banks to support their leader's pregnancy. Marley Shelton and Mena Suvari star in the cult-classic cheerleader heist comedy.
May 19, 2026The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's meta-horror about college students at a remote cabin who discover their ordeal is engineered.
Jun 6, 2026The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)
Roman Polanski's affectionate Hammer parody is more gorgeous gothic fairy tale than laugh-out-loud comedy. A charming, uneven 6.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
May 19, 2026The Final Girls (2015)
Todd Strauss-Schulson's 2015 American meta-horror comedy about a grieving teenager and her friends pulled into the 1980s slasher film starring her dead mother where the cheerleader and counselor characters are stalked by a masked killer. Taissa Farmiga and Malin Akerman star in the canonical 2010s meta-slasher.
May 11, 2026The Hangover (2009) — Review
Reverse-mystery structure, Galifianakis as Alan, Mike Tyson on the air drums, and the taser scene that never stops being funny. The Hangover at 10/10.
May 19, 2026The Holiday (2006)
Two women in unhappy relationships swap homes for Christmas across the Atlantic and find new romance during the holiday.
May 16, 2026The Land Before Time (1988)
The Land Before Time is the children's film about dinosaur grief that traumatized an entire generation. Don Bluth directed it. Steven Spielberg and George...
May 16, 2026The Mask (1994)
The Mask is the film that made Jim Carrey a superstar and one of the most successful CGI-comedy hybrids of the early digital era. Chuck Russell directed...
May 16, 2026The Naked Gun (1988, 1991, 1994, 2025)
The Naked Gun is the spoof comedy franchise that defined what the genre could be at its highest level. David Zucker directed the first three films. Akiva...
May 19, 2026The Player (1992)
Robert Altman's 1992 Hollywood satire. Tim Robbins as studio executive. Opening tracking shot, sixty-five star cameos.
May 19, 2026The Santa Clause (1994)
A divorced father inadvertently kills Santa Claus and discovers a contractual clause requiring him to take over the role permanently.
May 19, 2026The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Two Budapest shop employees who can't stand each other are unknowingly falling in love through anonymous correspondence.
May 19, 2026The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974)
Jack Hill's 1974 American exploitation film about a feminist journalism student who joins a college cheerleading squad to write an expose and finds genuine friendship with the team. Foundational entry in the cheerleader subgenre and one of the strongest Hill productions of the 1970s.
May 19, 2026Three Kings (1999)
David O. Russell's 1999 Gulf War heist. Clooney, Wahlberg, Ice Cube, Spike Jonze. Stolen Kuwaiti gold, Iraqi refugee crisis.
May 19, 2026Trading Places (1983)
Two wealthy commodity brokers bet on whether a homeless con artist and an Ivy League executive can switch places, with the climax at the New Year's Eve trading floor.
Jun 6, 2026Vamp (1986)
Grace Jones dominates a slight neon-soaked eighties horror comedy in a wordless, mesmerizing turn. A stylish cult 5.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Vampire’s Kiss (1988)
Nicolas Cage delivers one of the most committed and bizarre performances ever as a yuppie who thinks he's turning into a vampire. An essential 6.5/10 at Master of Worlds.
May 19, 2026Violent Night (2022)
Santa Claus is trapped inside a wealthy family's compound as mercenaries take them hostage on Christmas Eve, and he fights back.
May 19, 2026Wag the Dog (1997)
Barry Levinson's 1997 political satire. Hoffman and De Niro fabricate a war to bury a presidential scandal. Mamet co-wrote.
May 18, 2026Wedding Crashers (2005)
2005 David Dobkin comedy with Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as divorce mediators who crash weddings to pick up bridesmaids.
Jun 6, 2026What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement turn four vampire flatmates into one of the best horror comedies ever. A very funny 8.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
May 15, 2026While You Were Sleeping (1995) — Review
While You Were Sleeping is one of the great American romantic comedies of the mid-1990s and the production that established Sandra Bullock as a major American film star. Jon Turteltaub directed. Daniel G. Sullivan and Frederic Lebow wrote the screenplay. The film was released in April 1995. It...
May 17, 2026Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Zemeckis's 1988 live-action-animation noir. Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Roger and Jessica. The technical achievement nobody has matched.
May 16, 2026Yes Man (2008)
Yes Man is the Jim Carrey comedy where Carrey plays a man who has to say yes to everything for a year. Peyton Reed directed. Carrey plays Carl Allen, a...
May 15, 2026You’ve Got Mail (1998) — Review
You've Got Mail is one of the great American romantic comedies of the late 1990s and the second major collaboration between Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, and Nora Ephron. Nora Ephron directed. Nora and Delia Ephron wrote the screenplay. The film was released in December 1998. It grossed approximately two...
May 15, 2026Young Frankenstein (1974) — Review
Young Frankenstein is one of the great American comedies and the highest achievement in Mel Brooks's filmography. The film was released in December 1974. It grossed approximately eighty-six million dollars worldwide on a production budget of approximately three million dollars. The commercial...