Comedy Films

500 Days Of Film Reviews Horror Comedy, Zombieland, Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin

Geeky college student Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has survived a plague that has turned mankind into flesh-devouring zombies. 

Columbus is now scared of everything.

Gun-toting Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), has no such fears. He is out for revenge and intends to slaughter as many zombies as possible. Just don’t stand in his way… or eat his Twinkies.

Together, Columbus and Tallahassee embark on a dangerous road trip, encountering feisty sisters, Wichita and Little Rock ( Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin), along the way.

500 Days Of Film Reviews Comedy, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Starring Ralph Fiennes

The Grand Budapest Hotel follows the adventures of Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes), a legendary concierge at a fabulous hotel from the (fictional) Republic of Zubrowka.

Set between the first and second World Wars, the film also tells the story of Zero Moustafa (played by both F. Murray Abraham and Tony Revolori) the lobby boy who becomes Gustave's protege and dearest friend.

500 Days Of Film Reviews Comedy, Bad Moms, Starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell

And Kathryn Hahn

From the outside, Amy (Mila Kunis) has a perfect life - a great marriage, over-achieving kids, a beautiful home and a fulfilling career. 

However she's over-committed and exhausted to breaking point. 

An encounter with PTA Queen Bee Gwendolyn (Christina Applegate) and her clique of devoted 'perfect' moms, pushes Amy over the edge. 

Along with two other stressed-out mums - Carla (Kathryn Hahn) and Kiki (Kristen Bell) - Amy embarks on a quest to liberate herself from conventional responsibilities and to have some much needed fun.

500 Days Of Film Reviews Comedy, Daddy’s Home, Starring Will Ferrell And Mark Wahlberg

Brad Whitaker (Will Ferrell) just wants his step-children to love him.

He tries everything to win Megan and Dylan’s affection and just cannot believe his good fortune when this devotion begins to pay off.

However, before he has the chance to enjoy his new Daddy status, Megan and Dylan’s biological father, Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) returns with one goal in mind - to win back his family at any cost.

500 Days Of Film Reviews Ghostbusters Starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth

Following the appearance of a ghost at an old house in New York, paranormal scientists Erin Gilbert (Wiig) and Abby Yates (McCarthy) together with nuclear engineer Jillian Holtzmann (McKinnon) are called in to investigate.

As more apparitions start to appear, they are joined by ex-subway worker and knowledgeable New Yorker, Patty Tolan (Jones).

Together, the four women form the Ghostbusters - ably (or, often, not so ably) aided by their receptionist, Kevin (Chris Hemsworth).

Can they save their city from impending paranormal apocalypse? 

500 Days Of Film Reviews 2012's Pitch Perfect Starring Anna Kendrick, Elizabeth Banks And Rebel Wilson

Freshman, Beca (Anna Kendrick), is persuaded to join The Bellas - her school's all-girl singing group.

Along with an eclectic bunch of other new recruits, she injects fresh energy into The Bellas rather tired repertoire.

However, Beca faces serious resistance from control freak traditionalist, Aubrey (Anna Camp)

Taking on male rivals, Barden’s The Troublemakers, The Bellas need to pull together if they stand any chance of making it to the a capella international finals. 

500 Days Of Film Reviews Adult Life Skills Starring Jodie Whittaker

Anna is stuck. Approaching 30, she lives in her mum’s garden shed - spending her days making videos, using her thumbs as actors.

A week before her birthday, her Mum serves up an ultimatum – move out of the shed and on with life.

Anna resists the idea. However, old school friend, Fiona (Rachel Deering), troubled eight year old, Clint, and the attentions of impossibly awkward estate agent, Brendan (Brett Goldstein), make her self-imposed isolation impossible to maintain. 

She has to confront what scares her most: the idea of moving on, following the death of her twin.

500 Days Of Film Reviews Danny Collins Starring Al Pacino

Hard living music star, Danny Collins (Al Pacino) deadens the pain of his life’s regrets with drugs and alcohol. 

He enjoys the trappings of his extremely successful career and yet, beneath the ridiculous layers of fake tan, he is deeply unhappy.

An unexpected gift from long-time manager and friend, Frank Grubman

(Christopher Plummer) shocks Danny into considering what his life could have been like had he taken a different path.

Danny moves into a hotel in New Jersey, visits his estranged son and makes a firm friend in Hilton manager, Mary (Annette Benning).

Can he make amends before it is too late?

500 Days Of Film Reviews The Nice Guys Starring Russell Crowe And Ryan Gosling

In 1970s Los Angeles, down-on-his-luck private eye Holland March (Ryan Gosling) and hired enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) realise that they must work together to solve the case of a missing girl and the seemingly unrelated death of a porn star. 

During their unconventional investigation, they uncover a shocking conspiracy that reaches up to the highest circles of power.

500 Days of Film Reviews Whit Stillman’s Adaptation Of Jane Austen’s Love & Friendship

Fleeing a scandal involving married man, Lord Manwaring, in London, beautiful widow, Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) finds refuge at Churchill -  her brother-in-law’s estate.

Whilst there, she decides to secure a husband for herself and her daughter, Frederica (Morfydd Clark).

Lady Susan has designs on her sister-in-law’s brother, the handsome and eligible Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel). Meanwhile, she persuades a horrified Frederica of the need to marry the wealthy but ridiculous Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett).

However, Lady Susan’s plans are at risk from DeCourcy’s disapproving family at Churchill and Lady Manwaring’s hysteria in London. 

Can she avoid the denouement of denouements?

500 Days Of Film Reviews The Hilarious Comedy, Sisters, Starring Amy Poehler And Tina Fey

Sisters, Maura (Amy Poehler) and Kate Ellis (Tina Fey), are summoned back to their childhood home in order to clean out their bedrooms before their parents (Dianne Wiest and James Brolin) sell the house and move into a retirement complex. 

Once home, both sisters feel a sense of nostalgia and a desire to recapture their glory days.

They decide to throw one final high-school-style party for their classmates. What could possibly go wrong?

500 Days Of Film Enjoys Robert De Niro In The Intern

Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro) is a 70 year old widower who wants more from his retirement than well, just retirement. 

As a result, Whittaker decides to apply to become a ‘senior’ intern at a trendy online fashion website. 

Assigned to help the company’s increasingly frazzled founder, Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway), Whittaker initially feels out of his depth. 

However, the more he observes the business, the more he realises that his experience is still relevant and that he still has something important to contribute.  

500 Days Of Film Reviews Florence Foster Jenkins And Finds A Charming And Poignant Tale Of Courage And Passion 

Director, Stephen Frears’, latest film tells the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Streep), the legendary New York heiress and socialite who obsessively pursued her dream of becoming a great opera singer. 

The voice she heard in her head was beautiful, but to everyone else it was awful. And yet, they loved her.

Her “husband” and manager, St Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant) an aristocratic English actor, was determined to protect his beloved Florence. 

However, when Florence decided to give a public concert at Carnegie Hall in 1944, St Clair knew that he could no longer shield her from the truth.

500 Days Of Film Reviews Everybody Wants Some!! And Finds Great Fun, Great Music And Some Extremely Tight Trousers

When freshman pitcher, Jake (Blake Jenner), moves into a house with his college baseball team, he realises he has entered the unknown.

This aint high school - college is a whole new game and, until he earns teammate status, he is a nobody.

Time to adapt or die (socially).

Living off campus, there are only two rules: no alcohol and no girls allowed upstairs. Those rules are broken within minutes as, in the days before classes begin, the baseball team set out to have as much outrageous fun as possible.

For, deep down, each one of them knows, crazy days of freedom are numbered.

500 Days Of Film Reviews Grandma Starring The Wonderful Lily Tomlin

Having just broken up with her girlfriend and still grieving the loss of her life partner, Elle Reid (Lily Tomlin) is faced with the arrival of her granddaughter, Sage (Julia Garner). 

Sage is in trouble. She is pregnant but in no position to have a baby. She has an appointment scheduled for an abortion but she does not have the 630 dollars that she needs to pay for the procedure. 

The trouble is, neither does Elle.

The two women have until sundown to find the money and so spend the day paying unannounced visits to old friends and flames to try to scrape together the cash. 

Their journey rattles old skeletons, digs up old secrets and makes both Elle and Sage reassess their lives.

Twenty Years Since Its Release, 500 Days Of Film Reviews The Coen Brothers Classic Movie, Fargo

Car salesman, Jerry Lundegaard (William H Macy), is in deep financial trouble.

However, he has a plan. 

He decides to hire two men to kidnap his own wife in the belief that his wealthy father-in-law Wade Gustafson (Harve Presnell) will pay the ransom.

Jerry will then use this money to pay off his kidnappers and settle his debts.

What could possibly go wrong? 

500 Days Of Film Reviews Eddie The Eagle Starring Taron Egerton In The True Story Of Britain’s Unlikely Olympic Hero 

Eddie The Eagle is the inspirational story of Eddie Edwards who set out to become Britain’s first Olympic ski jumper at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

Against the odds, and with the help of washed up former ski jumper Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman), Eddie takes on the establishment and touches the hearts of millions. 

Despite coming last (by quite some way) Eddie embodied the true spirit of the Olympics. After all, as the founder of the games, Pierre de Coubertin, famously said: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”

500 Days Of Film Reviews A Rocking Meryl Streep In Riki And The Flash

Riki Rendazzo (Meryl Streep) is a hard-rocking singer and guitarist with a band called The Flash. 

Music is her passion and her dream but it has also demanded many sacrifices and, these days, barely pays the bills.

When her ex-husband Pete (Kevin Kline) calls to tell her that their daughter Julie (Mamie Gummer) is in trouble, Riki gets straight on a plane and heads back into a world where she has music of a different sort to face.

500 Days Of Film Reviews New Zealand Horror Comedy, Housebound

Bad tempered delinquent, Kylie Bucknell (Morgana O'Reilly), is forced to return to the house she grew up in when she is placed on home detention. 

This punishment is made all the more unbearable by the fact that she has to live there with her mother Miriam. 

Unable to go beyond the front gate, she has to wait for hours on end to use the telephone - all the while listening to her mother’s ludicrous theories that the house is haunted. 

Kylie initially dismisses her mother's superstitions as nothing more than a conscious distraction from a life occupied by boiled vegetables and small-town gossip. However, when she hears strange noises she, herself, begins to wonder if the house is possessed by a hostile spirit.

500 Days Of Film Reviews 21 Jump Street And Finds A Funny And Sweet Action Movie

Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are an unlikely and underachieving pair of rookie cops.  

When Deputy Chief Hardy (the brilliant Nick Offerman) decides to get rid… reassign them, the friends find themselves in 21 Jump Street. Here, they are tasked with bringing down a high school synthetic drug ring.

However, on their return to high school they find that the rules have changed - and both are in way over their heads.

500 Days Of Film Reviews Hail, Caesar! And Finds A Loving And Amusing Homage To Hollywood's Golden Age

In the latter years of Hollywood’s Golden Age, it is up to Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) to fix the problems at Capitol Pictures Studio.

He has to find actors for movies at a moment's notice, save movie stars from themselves and hide all this drama from the prying eyes of Hollywood’s gossip columnists (twins played by the glorious Tilda Swinton). 

Mannix is the oil that keeps the film studio running. However, some problems prove easier to solve than others, as Eddie discovers when top movie star, Baird Whitlock (a goofy George Clooney), is kidnapped by a mysterious group called The Future.

500 Days Of Film Reviews Frances Ha And Finds A Quirky, Funny And Irresistible Film

What do you do when life suddenly moves on without you?

This is the dilemma facing Frances, a young New Yorker training to be a modern dancer. 

Her best friend Sophie has decided to move in with her boyfriend, Patch, and the revelation has hit Frances - and hit her hard.

You see, she doesn’t really like Patch - he is (as Frances kindly tells Sophie) “the kind of guy who buys a black leather couch and is like ‘I love it’”. But, perhaps, it isn't Patch himself but the inconvenient idea of Patch that upsets Frances.

With the loss of Sophie, Frances finds herself cast adrift. She throws herself towards her dreams even as she realises the unlikelihood of them ever coming true. She needs to discover her place in the world.

And so we go on a journey with Frances - in the hope of finding what will make her happy in her career, in her friendships and in her life.

500 Days Of Film Reviews Frank And Finds A Poignant And Wonderfully Offbeat Comedy

Stuck in a dull job and still living with his parents, Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) is desperate for change.

He wants to be a songwriter and musician but can’t seem to create anything original.

When Jon joins an avant-garde pop band, led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank (Michael Fassbender), who hides his face behind a huge fake head, he believes he is finally about to make it big. 

However, Jon soon finds that he is out of his depth and terrorised by bandmate Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal). 

500 Days Of Film Reviews While We’re Young And Finds An Entertaining Story Of Life And Youth

Josh and Cornelia Srebnick (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) are a middle-aged couple living in New York. 

As content as they both appear on the outside, inside something has stalled. Something is missing.

They just can’t seem to move forward.

Having tried but been unable to start a family, Josh and Cornelia begin to lose touch with friends their own age.

Then they meet young, free-spirited Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried). Josh and Cornelia  are immediately taken with the young couple’s lifestyle. They seem effortlessly cool and spontaneous. They embrace life and live it to the full. 

Inspired, Josh and Cornelia throw their old friends aside and begin to follow the hip young couple. 

However, can the group sustain their friendship despite the 20 year age gap? Are Jaime and Darby really as cool as they seem?

500 Days Of Film Reviews Goosebumps And Finds A Monster Movie That's Fun For All The Family 

When Zach (Dylan Minnette) moves with his mother Gale (Amy Ryan) from New York to the sleepy town of Madison, Delaware, he despairs that nothing exciting will ever happen to him again.

Things only start to look up when he meets Hannah (Odeya Rush), the friendly and yet mysterious girl next door.

However, Hannah’s father (Jack Black) - equally mysterious but much less friendly - tells Zach to stay away.

Undeterred, the two teens become friends. So, when Zach hears Hannah’s blood curdling screams one night, he does not hesitate to come to her rescue by breaking into her (rather forbidding) house.

What he finds there will unleash horror and chaos on the entire town. 

Happy Groundhog Day!

Just kidding... it is, of course, actually the 3rd of February. 

I watched Groundhog Day last night for what must be the millionth time. I just love this film so much.

Of course, I am not alone. So many people love this movie - and for so many reasons.

Here are just ten of them:

500 Days Of Film Reviews Galaxy Quest And Finds A Hilarious Sci Fi Spoof And A Classic Performance From Alan Rickman

Since the cancellation of their cult Sci Fi television show, the cast of Galaxy Quest have fallen on hard times.

They are now resigned to opening shopping centres and signing autographs at Sci Fi conventions.

However, everything changes when an alien race (called the Thermians) mistakes them for real astronauts. The Thermians have watched Galaxy Quest and believe the show to be based on factual “historical documents”.

The Thermian race is under attack from the evil General Sarris (Robin Sachs) and they believe the Galaxy Quest team is their only hope. As a result, they have recreated every aspect of the show and have come to Earth to collect the unsuspecting crew.

Can Galaxy Quest Commander, AKA actor Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), and his jaded crew confront evil and save the day?

Will Nesmith keep his shirt on? Will Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver) keep stating the obvious? Will Dr Lazarus (Alan Rickman) repeat his catchphrase without bitterness?

Tune in to find out...