Table 19

I got to the end of “Table 19” (2017) with Anna Kendrick and was wondering if anybody felt the “Breakfast Club at a wedding reception” vibe (it wasn’t subtle), so I Googled some reviews (even though, to avoid confirmation bias, I usually don’t read reviews) and, like, EVERYBODY got the “BC” references – but not in a good way. Ahem. Buzzkill. So, anyway, all I know is that I always stop at some point during a movie to fetch dessert from the kitchen. Tonight, I had a brownie and ice cream sitting in the fridge. The ice cream ended up melting.

Mother’s Day

Garry Marshall died a few months after the release of “Mother’s Day” (2016) and I can assure you, he took no sitcom-style plot conventions with him to the grave. They’re all here: the younger and sexier second wife, the wacky parents, the sassy black friend, the wedding scene, the hospital scene, the graveyard scene. He did everything but have Fonzie jump a shark again. But that was Marshall’s gift. He could take boilerplate romantic comedy material and pan fry it in enough schmaltz to clog an artery, yet it would always come out satisfying (not great, satisfying). It’s cinematic comfort food.