The Dead Don’t Die

The “Scary Movie” franchise does such an effective job of mocking horror movie conventions, it’s hard to watch “The Dead Don’t Die” (2019) and feel like you haven’t heard these jokes before, because in some cases, you have. Adam Driver and Bill Murray are small-town cops confronted with a slow-motion zombie apocalypse. That’s because zombies walk slow (which is the kind of gag you might see in this movie) but also because the story kind of drags, like a corpse’s partially severed limb. It’s very close to being hilarious (especially Tilda Swinton’s scenes), but ends up too clever by half.

While We’re Young

There’s this movie. A married couple’s having a wee bit of a midlife crisis. They meet this twentysomething couple. Hijinks. Absolutely. Do. Not. Ensue. Before you realize it, “While We’re Young” (2015) stops being a comedy (if it ever was one) and gets really weird (but not weird enough to be the good kind of weird). It’s trying to make a point – or 100 points – but it can’t focus enough to explain what the fuck it’s exactly talking about. And gee, it stars Ben Stiller, one of my favorites (cue sarcastic sound effect). Ya know, some hijinks woulda been OK.