29 Best Comedy Releases on Fubotv
Mean Girls
SimilarAustin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999),
Bend It Like Beckham (2002) Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Bring It On (2000), Bugsy Malone (1976), Chicago (2002), Enchanted (2007), Italian for Beginners (2000), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Mary Poppins (1964), Paris Can Wait (2016), Shall We Dance? (2004), Shrek (2001), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), The Holiday (2006), The Party (1980), The Party 2 (1982), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971),
Watch afterPoor Things (2023), Saltburn (2023), Society of the Snow (2023), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Wonka (2023),
StarringJon Hamm,
The Broadway adaptation defangs its best characters in a misguided effort to appeal to a new generation of viewers.
Paramount’s new version of Tina Fey’s cult classic Mean Girls boasts a tagline many Millennials found downright offensive upon debut: “This ain’t your mother’s Mean Girls!” The movie, based on the Broadway musical adapted from the original 2004 film, makes it abundantly clear that it’s aimed directly at Gen Z from its very opening moments, which look like a vertical phone video straight out of TikTok. Fey, the writer of both versions of Mean Girls, hasn’t been without her fair share of controversies over the twenty years since the first film premiered. In a clear effort to avoid upsetting younger audience members who have grown up with more sensitive media, Fey kneecaps many of her own best jokes. The updated script is a wobbly attempt to satisfy fans of the original without offending newcomers. The set-ups where there used to be jokes still remain, but they’re empty husks strung together by mostly forgettable songs. Though not without its unique charms, the musical Mean Girls is glaringly unfunny.
The music, written by Fey’s husband and frequent creative collaborator Jeff Richmond, does little to make up for the chasms where cutting punchlines have been removed. Richmond can write excellent, hilarious songs like the ones in 30 Rock and Girls5eva, but his compositions here are basic and feel uninspired. Most of the sincere songs revolve around bland messages about self-esteem that lack any insight into the actual emotional experiences of teenage girls. Emo outcast Janis ‘Imi’ike (Auli’i Cravalho, Moana), formerly a supporting character, gets what feels like four separate songs about the power of Being Yourself. Only “Sexy,” a playful number about Halloween costumes performed by ditzy beauty Karen Shetty (Avantika), stands out. Continue Reading →
Landscape with Invisible Hand
Similar2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), 9 Songs (2004), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Annie Hall (1977), Apocalypse Now (1979),
Blade Runner (1982) Boys Don't Cry (1999) Contact (1997), East of Eden (1955), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991),
Jackie Brown (1997) Manhattan (1979), Mars Attacks! (1996), Mary Poppins (1964), Metropolis (1927), Predator (1987), Random Harvest (1942), Solaris (1972), Stalker (1979), The Elementary Particles (2006),
The Name of the Rose (1986) The Outsiders (1983), The Science of Sleep (2006), The Silent Partner (1978), The Thirteenth Floor (1999), To Die For (1995), War of the Worlds (2005),
Watch afterBarbie (2023) Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023), Shortcomings (2023), The Equalizer 3 (2023),
StudioMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
Cory Finley is obsessed with money. His characters have nice things or want them. They live in beautiful houses or enviously plot to get them. Even in the year 2036, with aliens living on (or, more precisely, about two miles above) planet Earth, people still fret over money and try to make scads of it. That’s the state of things in his latest, Landscape with Invisible Hand. It’s a title with the same bespoke aestheticism as the stuffed ocelots and oversized chess pieces his characters own. It feels seemingly designed to scare off less curious viewers. While the film has an awful lot of plot, the undergirding is the same. As in his 2017 debut Thoroughbreds, his follow-up Bad Education, and even his episodes of the abysmal miniseries WeCrashed, the drama comes from the idea of what money does to the soul. Continue Reading →
Jules
SimilarA.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Mars Attacks! (1996), Predator (1987), Stalker (1979), War of the Worlds (2005),
Watch afterBarbie (2023) Blue Beetle (2023),
Oppenheimer (2023) Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023), Shortcomings (2023), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023),
In a media landscape with fewer and fewer options actually targeted toward adults (often tied to the death of the mid-budget movie), audiences take the scraps they're given and make the best of them. This is the space that Jules occupies, a sci-fi fairy tale about the specific loneliness of senior citizens who feel isolated, ignored, and afraid. It’s also a thin, often ham-fisted take on a tale that could have had real legs in more capable hands. Continue Reading →
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Despite their hue, not all TMNT films deserved to be greenlit.
Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back in 1984. Now almost 40 years later, what started as a comic book has inspired seven movies, five television series, and countless amounts of merchandise. This week the four ninja tortoises return in a new animated incarnation, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Considering I’ve been a fan of the Turtles since six years old, this seems like the perfect time to put an official rating on four decades of movies. Some are gnarly, some tubular, and there’s always a whole lot of cowabunga.
Writers Note: This list doesn’t include the recent Netflix installment Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, a TV-movie crossover Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or the live recording of the 1990 Coming Out of Their Shells stage show. That one you can catch on YouTube, although I don’t know why you would. Continue Reading →
You Hurt My Feelings
StudioFilmNation Entertainment,
The white lie at the center of You Hurt My Feelings isn’t harmless, nor does it spiral out to reveal lie upon lie, turning a marriage into a house of cards. Instead, it lies somewhere less explored: a trivial thing whose impact is understandably real. It’s a fine line to walk, but Nicole Holofcener does just that, and with a razor-sharp wit to boot. Continue Reading →
Beau Is Afraid
SimilarBrazil (1985), M*A*S*H (1970), Mars Attacks! (1996), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Big Blue (1988),
Watch afterKillers of the Flower Moon (2023),
StudioA24,
If there’s anything Ari Aster wants you to understand after watching his newest film, it’s that he’s funny. With just three feature films under his belt, Beau Is Afraid marks both a massive departure from his previous films and a solidifying of his style. It’s a movie about terror, without a ton of interest in being terrifying. More specifically, it’s a movie about the absurdity of fear and the ridiculousness of human nature. And yeah, it’s definitely about moms, too. Continue Reading →
Animal Control
For some, the hyper-vocal smug handsome guy archetype quickly wears out his welcome. That’s likely why so many seem allergic to Ryan Reynolds these days. For this writer, however, that kind of performer is like catnip. So Joel McHale’s newest sitcom turn as Frank of Seattle’s Animal Control Division is very welcome indeed. Alas, the show wrapped around him sparks more ambivalence. Continue Reading →
Rugrats
The Christmas industrial complex quickly consumes the whole of pop culture. One can barely slip the surly bonds of October 31st before being inundated with a whirlwind of tinsel-tinged music, decorations, and of course, T.V. specials. There’s nothing wrong with that! While the totality of it can be overwhelming at times, even for enthusiasts, there’s something downright pleasant about a big communal celebration touching the whole of society in some way, including our favorite television shows. Continue Reading →
Abbott Elementary
Andor (Disney+)
It’s strange how politics and bureaucracy are, in part, what made the Star Wars prequels such a stultifying affair while they give Andor a jolt that’s a large part of its charm. Nonetheless, thanks to excellent performances from the likes of Denise Gough as Imperial officer Dedra Meero and Kyle Soller as disgraced space cop Syril Karn, that was the reality of 2022. Continue Reading →
Babylon
SimilarLucky Number Slevin (2006), Maria Full of Grace (2004), My Own Private Idaho (1991),
Watch afterAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), The Whale (2022),
Babylon is a frenetic crash course in Hollywood history that plays fast and loose with most of its facts. However, it still paints a vivid portrait of Tinseltown from its birth to the behemoth it is today. You won’t find the meticulous and mind-boggling commitment to detail of Mank (most of Margot Robbie’s costuming looks more 2010s than 1920s). Still, director and screenwriter Damien Chazelle is less interested in getting everything right than translating that history into something an audience can feel in their bones. Continue Reading →
The Fabelmans
SimilarAlex Strangelove (2018), Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), Dead Poets Society (1989), The Outsiders (1983), The Party (1980), The Party 2 (1982),
A little over 24 hours after seeing it, there are two sequences in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans that I've run on repeat back and forth. One dramatic, the other comedic—both illustrate the strengths of Spielberg's semi-autobiography. Continue Reading →
The Least of These: A Christmas Story
SimilarEdward Scissorhands (1990), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992),
Few movies have as much misdirected nostalgia surrounding them as 1983’s A Christmas Story. Directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepherd’s folksy writing, it met with modest box office success (not nearly as much as the decidedly different Porky’s, Clark’s other film released the same year) but was just as quickly forgotten. It wasn’t until more than a decade later, once it made its way to basic cable, that it found a devoted audience. However, the audience didn’t consist of near-senior citizens who found something familiar in its 1940s small-town setting, but younger viewers far removed from that time. Continue Reading →
Confess, Fletch
StarringJon Hamm,
StudioMiramax,
Jon Hamm is a darn good comic actor, and he's a darn good comic actor with range. In Top Gun: Maverick for instance he played Naval Airboss Cyclone's abiding sternness and exasperation with Maverick for solid straight man work. Confess Fletch—which Hamm leads as unlicensed detective Irwin Maurice "Fletch" Fletcher (previously played by Chevy Chase in 1985's Fletch), by contrast, sees the Mad Men star go quietly goofy to strong effect. Even in a film packed with colorful and more openly eccentric weirdos, Hamm's Fletch is an odd man. Continue Reading →
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
SimilarBring It On (2000), Die Hard 2 (1990), Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995), Godzilla Raids Again (1955), Hitman (2007), Live Free or Die Hard (2007), Night at the Museum (2006), Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004),
Watch afterDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Jurassic World Dominion (2022),
In practice, most video game movies don’t have to worry about sequels. The likes of Assassin’s Creed and Warcraft failed to make anywhere near enough money to justify follow-ups. But there are still theatrical video game movie sequels here and there, now including Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Continue Reading →
Dog
Watch afterDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022),
StudioFilmNation Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
The love of an animal can be transformative. The mix of companionship and responsibility that taking care of a pet entails can help create stability in an otherwise chaotic life. So it's no surprise that several movies explore the relationship between humans and canines. Continue Reading →
Astrid & Lilly Save the World
Into every generation, a teen horror drama is born: one series in all the media landscape; a chosen show. It alone will wield the quips and metaphors needed to fight the supernatural villains, social pressures, and other various youthful troubles. To stop the spread of standard high school melodramas and the swell of their number. It is...the newest supernatural young adult T.V. series. Continue Reading →
The King's Man
SimilarBatman Forever (1995),
Bend It Like Beckham (2002) Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006), Mary Poppins (1964), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005),
Watch afterEternals (2021), Free Guy (2021), Nightmare Alley (2021), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021),
StarringRhys Ifans, Robert Aramayo,
Studio20th Century Studios,
Early in the King's Man, Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes) reads a newspaper chronicling the human cost of the then-nascent World War I. The headline for all this carnage reads "When will this misery end?" It’s fitting since I found myself constantly asking myself the same question as The King's Man dragged on and on. For some reason, a franchise that’s previously leaned heavily on anal sex jokes and Elton John beating up evil henchmen wants to get serious in the most superficial way possible. Continue Reading →
Licorice Pizza
SimilarLet the Right One In (2008),
Watch afterNightmare Alley (2021), The Power of the Dog (2021), West Side Story (2021),
StudioBron Studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
Paul Thomas Anderson set out to make a love story with Licorice Pizza, and ended up creating his most joyful flick to date. Seemingly lacking is the dark heart so many of his stories contain, whether it’s in the wildly toxic relationship between designer and muse in Phantom Thread or brutal depictions of loss and loneliness in Magnolia. Instead, Licorice Pizza has a lightness he hasn’t truly approached since Punch-Drunk Love. Continue Reading →
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
SimilarBring It On (2000), Free Willy (1993), Hellboy (2004), Night at the Museum (2006), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), Superman Returns (2006),
Watch afterEternals (2021), Free Guy (2021), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021),
StarringShohreh Aghdashloo,
StudioBron Studios, Columbia Pictures,
One of the few moments of genuine humanity from Ghostbusters: Afterlife comes before the movie starts. In the press screening intro video, director and co-writer Jason Reitman shows up to tell everyone to please enjoy the movie. Then he briefly mentions the high stakes pressure of taking up the mantle of a beloved film property from his father, Ivan Reitman. Continue Reading →
The French Dispatch
SimilarBorat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006),
Boys Don't Cry (1999) Driving Miss Daisy (1989), My Own Private Idaho (1991), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004),
Watch afterDune (2021), The Power of the Dog (2021),
StarringFisher Stevens, Owen Wilson, Toheeb Jimoh, Willem Dafoe,
StudioSearchlight Pictures,
This review is part of our coverage of the 2021 Chicago International Film Festival. Continue Reading →