Role Models (2008)

Comedy Rated R

Paul Rudd is the reason to see this raunchy, fairly smart dumb comedy from writer-director David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer, The Ten). He plays a misanthropic energy-drink salesman so hilariously bitter about the state of the world – and his pathetic place in it – he turns self-hatred into a sardonic art form. After

Bruno (2009)

Comedy Rated R

“Cohen holds up another mirror to American society, and if anything we’ve only gotten uglier since Borat. Or maybe we’re just uglier when it comes to homosexuality.

Whatever Works (2009)

Comedy Rated PG-13

Can we finally identify Woody Allen’s insistence on reusing the older man/younger woman storyline as pathological? It’s central once again in Whatever Works. The decision isn’t maddening because of its offensiveness or lack of creativity (though both gall), but in this case because it squanders a golden acting opportunity for Larry David. David plays Boris

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Comedy Rated PG

If Mel Brooks has a masterpiece, it’s this homage to the Universal horror movies of the 1930s and ’40s. Victor Frankenstein’s grandson Frederick (Gene Wilder, whose hairdo suggests he’s already been struck by lightning many times before) picks up where the infamous mad scientist left off, resulting in a towering, tap-dancing monster (Peter Boyle). Fans

La Cage aux Folles (1978)

Comedy Rated R

At once dated and timeless. The fabulous 1970s fashions don’t hold up too well, but what still resonates is the movie’s empathetic attention to what it’s like if your sexual identity doesn’t neatly fit into traditional norms. Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) and Albin (Michel Serrault) have been a committed gay couple for more than three decades

Away We Go (2009)

Comedy Rated R

“What a pleasure to see a couple who genuinely love each other in a movie – and what a surprise to see them in a movie directed by Sam Mendes.

Zombieland (2009)

Comedy Rated R

“A superior zombie comedy – and the competition in that genre is stiffer than you might think.

Observe and Report (2009)

Comedy Rated R

“…an occasionally amusing, persistently disturbing comedy that at times plays like a bipolar disorder episode from the inside out.

Funny People (2009)

Comedy Rated R

“…as interested in dissecting the psychology behind the jokes as telling them.

Yes Man (2008)

Comedy Rated PG-13

“…another chance for Jim Carrey to unleash his inner anarchist – and I was surprised to realize how much I’ve missed the guy.