Bad Moms

By now, the bro-com genre has been around for a while. R-rated. Dudes. Dick jokes. We get it. There have been some good ones (“Wedding Crashers,” “Old School,” “The Hangover”). “Bridesmaids” proved you could do a female bro-com. “Bad Moms” (2016) took it one step further, timewise, by moving toward a more grown-up edge. Instead of weddings or a college frat, we get moms and a middle school PTA. But it’s still funny. And there’s still dick jokes (seriously). And Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Bell absolutely kill in supporting roles. And the metaphorical birth of a new genre: the mom-com.

A Bad Moms Christmas

Apparently, “Bad Moms” was such a surprise hit (as if it was still a surprise that in 2016, there was a market for R-rated shock-comedies starring women) that the makers got Mila Kunis and everyone else back together to crank out a sequel in a little more than a year. Even better (as in not better), it’s Christmas themed. So we have “A Bad Moms Christmas” (2017) trying to catch lightning in a chimney. But whereas the original had just the right amount of mommy pathos, this one overdoes things (sequels always do) by pitting the moms against their moms.

Youth in Oregon

Terminally ill old grump played by Frank Langella wants assisted suicide, but his dysfunctional family guilts him into a drawn-out, painful death. Forgive the spoiler alert, but you really have no reason to watch “Youth in Oregon” (2017). Not unless your one of those chronic empathy junkies who draws energy from experiencing the misery of others. None of the main characters are worth cheering for, the comedy isn’t comic enough and there’s too much damn yelling. Meanwhile, I’m getting the sense Christina Applegate (Langella’s control-freak daughter) is getting all the roles Jennifer Aniston has the good sense to turn down.