For two full hours Wednesday night, thousands of fortunate New Yorkers were treated to an outdoor evening of laughs courtesy of some of Comedy Central’s most notable comedians. Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield would transform into ‘Comedy Central Park’ on this night for an event titled “Stars Under the Stars” featuring five of the country’s youngest and funniest joke-tellers. And with tickets free of charge, area residents were treated to a slew of performances that filled the open air setting with raucous laughter. 

 

A brief batch of rain poured down over Central Park less than an hour before show time, but guests in attendance would not be deterred from coming out in droves. Fortunately the rain allowed the humidity to dissipate for a bit, allowing the crowd to comfortably settle in to the alignment of white folding chairs provided and an assortment of picnic blankets they were able to bring inside. “Stars Under the Stars” would be hosted by oversized funnyman Gabriel Iglesias of Comedy Central’s “Stand Up Revolution,” who would formally open and subsequently pace the show between comedians, even performing an extended set at the very end of the night as the show concluded a bit on the earlier side.

 

 

Prior to Iglesias’ arrival and rousing ovation, comedian Dan Soder was out first to warm up the anxious audience. Despite his abbreviated set time, the deep voiced Soder’s deadpan delivery proved to be a revelation, offering a small glimpse at what appears to be a bright future for the young comedian. Out next was the fresh faced Adam Devine, familiar to most from Comedy Central’s “Workaholics” and his leading role in the film “Pitch Perfect.” Devine spent much of his set talking about the struggles of being recognized by fans on the street and talking to his cup of beer, after each punch line remarking ‘stupid,’ to almost reassure his sense of disbelief that the crowd was laughing at his jokes.

 

 

While the headlining comedians certainly have more name recognition, no one’s star shined as bright during “Stars Under the Stars” than Saturday Night Live writer, and rumoured replacement for Seth Myers on the Weekend Update desk, John Mulaney. His infinitely intelligent brand of jokewriting and his impeccable delivery had us positioned sideways, overtaken by uncontrollable fits of laughter. From his initial forays in stand-up comedy in ‘Murfursburough, Tennessee’ to a bout of spilled water on his pants and acting like it’s not urine, Mulaney’s seamless transition between premises and matter of fact justifications for each joke were both fluid and funny, and which our writing and recapping simply cannot do enough justice. As a behind the scenes voice on SNL Mulaney has shown his penchant for comedic brilliance through the mouths of other actors, but on this night it was on display for all to see.

 

 

To close the evening out, the last hour was provided by the heavy hitting duo of Jeffrey Ross and Amy Schumer, both veterans of the infamous Comedy Central Roasts and both with their own shows on the network. Ross, known as “The Roastmaster General,” delivered all of the shock value based jokes that you’d come to expect from the mop-headed funnyman, who referred to getting throat cancer from cunnilingus a sexual act now known as a ‘Michael Douglas.’ Ross’ no holds barred set brought up ten fans from the audience, some as young as twelve and thirteen, for a fun ‘speed roast.’ Going down the line, Ross would berate and insult each excited fan to their smiling delight. Although he closed his set playing guitar alongside a band that feel just a bit flat, the ovation given to Amy Schumer upon her arrival to the stage more than made up for it. Schumer’s biting blend of shock comedy managed to insult just about every race in attendance, while at times revealing the perils of female insecurity. No topic was off-limit for Schumer, which was no surprise considering the young comedian’s track record. Ejaculate. Her own vagina. Pooping. It was all fair game. And it was all wildly funny.

 

   

Comedy Central has a knack for discovering the undiscovered, evidenced by the longevity the network has had for developing talent. The collection of comedians at “Stars Under the Stars” reads like a list of modern comedy’s elite and the comics themselves surely performed as such. The fact that the show was both outdoors in Central Park and free for guests only added to one of New York City’s best experiences of the summer thus far, and certainly one of the most memorable.

– Jane Van Arsdale

Photos from the Comedy Central “Stars Under the Stars” Afterparty at the Empire Hotel Rooftop

 

 

 

 

 

Comedian Marc Maron is self-deprecating, real, and all inclusive but most importantly, he is very funny. In recent years, “Maron” as he is affectionately called by those close to him, has transcended his “Comedian’s Comedian” label and created a bold new career for himself. He is the host of the widely popular “WTF Podcast,” a new IFC television show named after himself and author of the book “Attempting Normal.” With this much on his plate you would think Maron would be full of excitement. But as is his general attitude, he feels he can screw it up at anytime.

On Wednesday night, Marc Maron made an appearance at Barnes & Noble in New York City’s Union Square for an intimate reading, discussion and book signing of “Attempting Normal.” At 7pm, the upper level of the mega bookstore was at capacity with fans holding copies of the book waiting with baited breath for the comedian to arrive. And after a fittingly funny introduction, Maron hit the stage to a rousing applause and cheers. He took a few moments to rap with the crowd, which felt similar to his one sided conversations with listeners that lead off all of his weekly podcasts. Maron then casually began the evening’s readings which would cover a wide scope of what we can expect from this hilarious book.

The first reading covered Maron’s very early days in the stand-up comedy business, having to drive and open up for infamous road comic Frankie Bastille. Marc’s rapid delivery style transported us inside the car and onto the stage beside the comic who Maron referred to as a criminal, going city to city avoiding both police and attorneys. Drugs, awkward stage introductions and more uncomfortable events brilliantly filled this story which was a pleasure to hear aloud from the author himself. After a few minutes of Maron’s trademark banter he launched into two hilarious tales of his only encounters with hookers- very cheap hookers. Both of these stories took place during his time as a comedian starting out in Boston and he was sure to make several mentions of the tough Boston attitude, shady neighborhoods and of course that fantastic accent. These two stories alone make the purchase of the book worthwhile.

Maron kept the seriously funny readings going with stories including: cooking Thanksgiving dinner at his mother’s house and dealing with her odd eating habits, and an essay about having a baby as an older man with his now fiancé. Every word that came from his mouth showed just how relatable Maron is to the everyman. The audience interaction continued during the Q&A where truckloads of belly laughs were heard as Maron fielded questions about his father and feud with Jon Stewart. Marc Maron may be just like us but he is one hell of a funny guy. “Attempting Normal” is available right now wherever books are sold. Lock the gates.

- Jay Rubin

Director Lynn Shelton is doing some truly amazing things with a genre that many have felt has become stale. When any auteur decides to take on the ‘Romance’ genre, several piles of baggage come along with it- especially amongst a male film reviewer. Will it be sappy, predicable, and a waste of time? These are questions that seem to pop up with films that fit into said genre. Bad romantic comedies and dramas have become the norm and therefore those fears are far from unfounded. Shelton knows these trappings and has created a drama-comedy hybrid so smart that it has reinvigorated this paint by number movie formula. The film, “Your Sister’s Sister” (R) may have a story you have seen several times before, but it’s bones are made from a different animal altogether.

The basic, spoiler free plot follows Jack played by Actor/Director Mark Duplass (The League, Jeff Who Lives At Home) a thirty-something who is still in mourning over his recently deceased well liked brother. The sullen and troubled character is invited to a remote cabin by his best friend Iris played by Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, The Five-Year Engagement)- the former girlfriend of his brother- to finally get his head together. Enter, Iris’s sister Hannah portrayed by Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married) and you have a character driven dialogue piece that perfectly fills all of its ninety one minute running time.

The secret to “Your Sister’s Sister” lies in it’s structure. In full disclosure, this film takes place in basically only one location. It is not a typical romantic flick which stuffs tons of set pieces into it to prevent the audience from getting bored. Most if not all of the action takes place in a cabin in the middle of the woods. Therefore each actor was tasked with creating the film’s comfortable atmosphere through dialogue, and emoting through facial expression. Digging a little further, we discovered that Shelton did not have a true script for the movie and that Blunt, DeWitt, and Duplass were given scene outlines in order to move the story from A to Z, but had free range to improvise their way to reach each scene’s resolution.

In doing so, each scene feels completely authentic and real. The audience will feel like they are the fourth person at the cabin taking part in conversations from funny banter to emotional fights. Some of the prime examples of this occur when the actors are simply sitting around the table eating various meals throughout the film. Because of Shelton’s masterful eyes these seemingly mundane set pieces are electric and highly engaging. Several major plot points are exposed during these meals, revealing past sexual misadventures or witnessing a blowout fight, which shifts the plot on the drop of a dime. It’s important to note that these innovative film devices would not work without masterful performances by it’s actors.

Blunt, DeWitt, and Duplass produce some of the best onscreen performances this writer has seen all year. Duplass’ range is outstanding. For the past two years I have been accustomed to watching him on ‘The League’ where he is usually sarcastic and very funny. But in “Your Sister’s Sister,” he instead explores his dramatic side to my overall delight. Blunt and DeWitt meanwhile, are extremely believable as sisters. Several scenes have them in bed having frank adult conversations, while at the same time appearing as wide eyed little girls. All of these performances and excellent direction have truly paid off. Sometimes it’s important for a director to create a structure not seen previously in order to show us what we’ve been missing on the silver screen. “Your Sister’s Sister” does this and then some making it a must see for all audiences, as this picture truly transcends tired labels.

- Jay Rubin

“Your Sister’s Sister” is rated R, starring Emily Blunt,  Rosemarie DeWitt, and Mark Duplass, has a runtime of 91 minutes, and will be released in limited theaters on Friday, June 15th.

In just a few short years, actor Jason Segel has managed to successfully transition from comedic supporting player to Hollywood leading man and accordingly, there’s been no dearth of feature films since said transition upon which his face lends itself as the main attraction. With the underwhelming “Jeff, Who Lives At Home” already (albeit in limited) released in 2012, this Friday marks Segel’s return to a more traditional style which suits him in “The Five Year Engagement” (R).

The film follows the travels of Tom Solomon (Segel) and Violent Barnes (Emily Blunt), beginning from an awkward proposal right at the couple’s one year mark to the ebbs and flows of couplehood- familial predicaments, career adjustments, temptation, and all the while, the stress of planning a wedding. While the couple seems ideally suited together, their motives begin to stray as their careers pull them in differing directions. And when Tom’s sacrifice for Violet’s career brings him from beautiful San Francisco to the blustery winters of Ann Arbor, Michigan for longer than the couple had planned, he begins to resent her and can no longer find happiness in simply floundering by her side, as his fiancé pursues her own passions.

That’s not to say that the film isn’t funny- it is- but there are plenty of situations inherent in “The Five Year Engagement” that manage to hit close to home for anyone who has ever dated someone long enough. While Blunt’s English accent takes a bit getting used to as the counterpart to the All-American boy, Segel, the pair play quite believably off of each other, and the intimate moments seem natural and endearing. Segel’s unwavering fearlessness in his humor is perhaps what makes him so likable to both genders- he’s just raunchy enough to get males in his corner, but also consistently vulnerable and teetering on a less masculine version of the boyfriend/husband stereotype that women root for him just as habitually. If anything, Segel’s character here plays a little bit too closely to his whiny, broken down loser in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and to his ‘Marshall Erikson’ character on “How I Met Your Mother.” Like those roles, here he remains the antithesis for how ‘real men’ are ‘supposed to act.’ But Segel’s film career certainly appears to be flourishing, and if it ain’t broke, there’s no need for fixing.

While the leads certainly do a capable job of garnering audience support that they’ll eventually wind up together, this film is carried comedically by an outstanding supporting cast- the highlight of which is ‘Parks and Recreations” Chris Pratt, a perfectly casted foible as Tom’s buffoon of a brother Alex, who delivers punch line after punch line of belly laughs which pace the film nicely. ‘Mad Men/Community’ vixen Alison Brie’s turn as Violet’s sister Suzie also holds up her end with the trio exceptionally well. Blunt and Brie’s extended suggestive conversation in front of Suzie’s two young children, hidden beneath their stellar imitations of Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster and Elmo, is perhaps the film’s (suprisingly) funniest moment. Other notable appearances from Mindy Kaling, comedians Kevin Hart, Brian Posehn, and SNL alum Chris Parnell (a hilarious stay at home father, who knits his own massive and intricate sweaters), highlight just a few of the film’s familiar faces.

The film isn’t entirely a comedy because it’s not always funny, nor is it entirely romantic either. In fact, I’m hesitant to even dismiss it by labeling it as a romantic comedy altogether. “The Five Year Engagement” is instead a partially sappy relationship movie that manages to actually produce some substance of male and female authenticity, with just enough ridiculous antics and entertaining characters to keep you laughing at points during the full two hours. If you’re expecting ‘Sarah Marshall,’ you might be disappointed. But temper your expectations a bit, and they might just get exceeded.

“The Five Year Engagement” is rated R, starring Jason Segel and Emily Blunt, has a runtime of 124 minutes, and is released in theaters everywhere Friday, April 27th.

- Jane Van Arsdale

Starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, 21 Jump Street is the not-so-remake of the 1980’s television show that is a stark contrast to its gritty predecessor. The film opens up with the two main characters in high school with Hill cast as the stereotypical loser (Schmidt), consistently ridiculed by “cool” kids like Tatum (Jenko). Seven years later, the two find each other training in the same police academy, where Schmidt’s brains and Jenko’s athleticism brings them together as allies and eventually close friends. After graduating from the academy, they become partners and after botching their first arrest, they are transferred to 21 Jump Street, a division where young-looking officers are put in high schools to investigate undercover missions. Their first mission is to unearth more information about a new synthetic drug distributed inside a local high school, to infiltrate the dealers, and to find the drug’s source. Initially, Schmidt and Jenko enter high school, eager to prove themselves as cops. But as their return to school nears, Jenko looks forward to reliving his high school glory days while poor Schmidt worries about re-enacting the same torture he experienced during his first go round.

To their surprise and in a comedic comeuppance, Schmidt ends up becoming part of the popular crowd (led by Dave Franco, younger brother of James) and falling for his co-star in the school play (Brie Larson), while Jenko finds common ground with the chemistry nerds. The hilarious antics and dirty humor are non-stop throughout the film, especially when the brothers in blue unintentionally try the drug on their first day of school. Even more surprising perhaps is the fact that Hill and Tatum play perfectly off each other as polar opposites in terms of their personality and their physicality. But the foibles certainly share the same levels of immaturity and goofy humor, highlighted throughout the film and managed to keep us rollicking with laughter for most of the movie. Additionally, the film has a fantastic comedic supporting cast led by character actors Rob Riggle, Ellie Kemper, and Chris Parnell, all cast as part of the school’s staff, and Ice Cube playing the tightly wound police captain of the 21 Jump Street division.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of this comedy is the self-mockery, of the characters and their respective stereotypes, and of cinema itself. In one car chase scene, Schmidt shoots a truck labeled “flammable” and as the action music reaches a climax and the truck doesn’t explode, Schmidt comments in surprise since it always works in the movies- a tongue in cheek reference to the sometimes ridiculousness of Tinseltown. Heading in, we weren’t sure what to expect from this movie, since it’s a remake (in name only), but the comedy delivers and the distinction between the film and the original series allows the film to thrive on its own, rather than being merely a shadowy parody of the original.

“21 Jump Street” is rated R, starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, has a runtime of 109 minutes, and is released in theaters everywhere Friday, March 16th.

- Terry Ballou

Fans of improv and sketch comedy may rejoice! The famed Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre which has ruled the roost in chelsea for over ten years is expanding to a new location in the east village.  Now dubbed “UCB East,” this theatre will carry on the art of improvisational comedy in the space the Two Boots Pioneer Theater once occupied- great news for the space, as the Pioneer was well loved by fans of fringe and cult cinema. So it is refreshing to see a like-minded organization move into the space.

The fantastic news was revealed at this year’s Del Close Marathon, during their annual press conference. UCB founders Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh told the crowd on hand that UCB East would be the home to a variety of different types of comedy- both improv and stand-up. But take note the group’s long running Sunday show ASSSSCAT, will remain at the original Midtown West location.  Fans of the group’s short lived Comedy Central show called “Hot Chick’s Room” will be relieved to know that signage was fully on display for the sketches wherein a couple is looking to move into a house where the former owner installed a “Hot Chick’s Room,” or a room literally filled with hot woman. So who knows if this room will actually exist inside the club, or if it is just a nod to longtime fans.

Being a fan of all things comedy, we are quite interested to see how this place will look inside on opening night. By establishing a new club they are not only providing fans a new place to visit, with cheap extremely funny comedy every night, but they are providing a venue for up and coming comedic minds to hone their craft. LocalBozo.com will be at the UCB East on opening night to give you the full scoop. For now you’ll just have to salivate over the picture above. I will leave you with the wise words that UCB teaches all of their new students to get them ready for the world of improv, “Don’t Think.”

- Alan Smithee

The variety show is one a corner stone of American pop culture.  The tradition lives on once a month at the Park Slope mega bar, Union Hall.  Arden Myrin (Working, Mad TV, and Chelsea Lately) and Lisa Delarios have joined forces to bring us, “The Party Machine.”

The duo hit the stage in full force, brandishing Extreme Gulp mugs ready to get the party in full effect.  This month’s “Party Machine” theme was Back to School.  Both Myrin and Delarios, were clearly excited about this year’s fall fashions and showed the audience a fall fashion slide show.  We all learned that the now popular “Jeggings” were created mere months ago, and never existed before that.

Every party (machine) needs music to shake your ass too and Monday night was stacked with both musical and comedic talent.  Casey Jost and Jay Miller, the two “brothers” as they called themselves, attacked the crowd with hyped of versions of nursery rhymes.  Also on the music tip, Adira Amram, along with her back up dancers lit up the stage with a rousing rendition of a non-coincidentally titled song “Party Machine.”  The song was extremely catchy and the lyrics were hilarious. It should be the theme for next month’s show.  Adira, gets points for bringing back the mid nineties C&C Music Factory vibe, while at the same time playing a Cheeseburger Kazoo. That’s fucking class.

The next act up was introduced as a magician, which instantly gets me excited for some reason.  I guess it was a result of many viewings of David Copperfield specials when I was a kid. But I digress, as it was an obvious comedic ruse.  Henry Zabrowski lurched onto the stage as a character that I can only describe as a man with horrifyingly oversized hands.  Zabrowski went through an extremely funny list of people who he has maimed with his monstrous hands.

Variety Shac troupe member and New York comedy scene regular Andrea Rosen workshopped some great new material about new indie band names that have to be a complete sentence in order to be hip and girls that are true sluts.  Meanwhile, Joe Mande talked about his youth in a rough school by teaching the thugs how to secretly gamble using a dreidel so that they wouldn’t strangle him.

The first special guest of the night is a major headliner- Todd Barry. He hit the stage with a purpose.  A purpose not to tell any jokes, since his name was left off of the Union Hall chalk board for the shows line-up.  Instead he went on a ten plus minute riff on everything from mocking the two vivacious hosts and trying to get free clothes from a jacketed chap in the front row.  Barry, who will be opening for Ricky Gervais at an upcoming Chicago date, is a fantastically talented comedian and seeing him live is an absolute must.  Even with no prepared jokes this guy had the crowd literally rolling.

The Party Machine really outdid themselves on Monday night.  After a jam-packed line -up, this crowd got more then it deserved.  But, the show was not over yet.  Myrin took to the stage to introduce the final guest of the evening- Louis CK.  CK, who was most likely coming from another club in the city, killed it as soon as he took the stage.  This guy relates so well to audiences with his great stories that always end with a rounding pop of true belly laughter.  This is most likely why he is regarded as one of the country’s premiere stand ups. He also has a wildly funny show on the FX Network, titled Louie.

As for the hostesses of the evening, Myrin and Delarios are both engaging and talented performers.  They take on absurdist comedy and make it work tenfold.  If you are a fan of comedy, music, and Brooklyn bar basements then you have to head over to next month’s show. It will be Friday, October 15^th at Union Hall in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  The theme is Halloween Party!  The cost is $5.00, and after this month’s amazing show with great special guests, you would be a moron- a real creep not to attend.

-  Alan Smithee

LocalBozo.com is always looking for upcoming events for New Yorkers and tries to bring them to you first, albeit with our tainted slant on them.  The New York Comedy Festival is just around the corner- returning in the fall (November 4-7) to some of the most historic venues across the City limits- The Beacon Theater, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Town Hall, to name a few.  This year’s festival is the 7^th Annual and we are pleading with you to get your tickets right away, before you no longer have the option to do so.

One year ago, the New York Comedy Festival boasted names like Dane Cook, Ricky Gervais, Tracy Morgan, Artie Lange, Mike Epps, Patton Oswalt, Bill Maher, and Andy Samberg.  And while the lineup in 2010 is less star-studded to a degree, seeing some of the most successful stand-ups of today removed from the confines a dingy comedy club and into some of New York’s time-honored sites is an unparalleled experience.  The events are all is priced similarly to what you would already be paying inside a small club with a standard two drink minimum.

2010’s lineup is centered around the only area appearance of Rosie O’Donnell (11/5 at Town Hall) as the biggest star in town ($44.50-$57.50), but the week opens on Thursday November 4^th. Highlights of night one include the hilarious Louis CK (11/4 at Carnegie Hall; $35-$55), and Kevin Hart (The 40 Year Old Virgin; “Kevin Hart: I’m a Grown Little Man”) at The Beacon Theatre (11/4; $42-$57).

Night 2 of the Festival features the aforementioned O’Donnell, “Community’s” Joel McHale at Carnegie Hall (11/5; $37.50-$69.50), Adam Corolla (“The Hammer,” “The Man Show”) live at Caroline’s in the first of two nights and five total performances (11/5; $51.25), and Margaret Cho at the Beacon Theatre (11/5; $42-$72).

The highlight for us comes on Saturday, November 6 with “Parks and Recreation’s” own funnyman Aziz Ansari (above) making an appearance at the Beacon Theatre (11/6; $44-$57), with a performance titled “Dangerously Delicious.”  The final night of the Destival, Sunday, November 7^th, is capped off by Nick Swardson (Grandma’s Boy; Blades of Glory) at Town Hall in a performance titled “Barely Live” (11/7; $42.50-$52.50).

The 2010 lineup is hardly packed with mainstream comedians during a time where the funniest people are saving their best for the internet (ahem!).  You may not know them all by name, but you will certainly recognize their familiar faces and flanked by lesser known comics like Gabriel Iglesias, Luis Jimenez, and Maz Jobrani, the 2010 New York Comedy Festival is certainly taking shape as a treat for New Yorkers who like to laugh in larger venues.  And if you don’t like to laugh, go to New Jersey.

-  Jane Van Arsdale

My biggest problem with the movie though, was how badly I wanted to like it.  You would be hard pressed to find a bigger fan of SNL and its history than this writer, and the fact that the movie bombed so badly, both critically and at the box office was a real disappointment to me.  And the fact that Andy Samberg pal and Lonely Island member/SNL writer Jorma Taccone directed the film, makes it even more troubling considering the amount of time that I spend singing SNL’s praises.  Maybe some of these writing teams need to take a page from LocalBozo.com’s Web Shots team (shameless plug) and make comedy movies (gulp) funny.

Some four weeks later and after months of promotion in seemingly every outlet, the Adam Sandler penned “Grown Ups” was released.  Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Selma Hayek, Maria Bello, Steve Buscemi, Colin Quinn?  That is a cast chock-full of big names, all of which have achieved moderate to tremendous levels of success at different levels in the industry.  But again, the jokes in this movie were literally non-existent.  I mean they really bombed.  Now the movie was PG-13, so cursing was at an absolute minimum, which can really be a detriment to any movie aspiring to be funny.  But seeing a middle aged David Spade and Rob Schneider try to act with the same adolescent charm that they had in their primes induced more “Douche Chills” for me than laughs.  I spent more of the movie wondering how David Spade could be such a pimp in Hollywood rather than doing anything that resembled laughing.  Although I did get a funny text message during the movie that made me smirk, the jokes actually in this movie all seemed to fall flat.  Chris Rock may be the best comic on the planet but he can sink a movie faster than a racially charged Mel Gibson rant.  Similar to MacGruber, I am a big admirer of James’ & Rock’s, and I desperately wanted to like this movie too.  But again, it just wasn’t funny.  Unfortunately, Adam Sandler has seemingly coasted on his reputation from his first few movies.  And while audiences still seem to care about him, I find the days of him getting the hottest girl on the planet, being the incredible athlete, and glorifying a funny looking old person have been played so many times in all of his movies that I’ve stopped caring.

Even Toy Story 3-D managed to make me laugh more than the aforementioned two movies.  It also got me choked up as Andy had finally grown up and was heading off to college leaving his toys (Tom Hanks & Tim Allen) behind.  The slate of recently released comedy movies that I chose to see made me regret dropping the $13 (Yes, a movie is actually $13) each time (I did like Toy Story, however).  Perhaps I should have chosen “Hot Tub Time Machine” and “Get Him to the Greek” instead.  One thing is for sure, the stench in the theater that fateful day was not some rank flatulence, but a poorly made and completely unmemorable comedy film.

-  Jane Van Arsdale