There’s Something About Mary

“There’s Something About Mary” helped launch the modern era of bro-humor comedies (“Hot Tub Time Machine,” “The Hangover,” Seth Rogen’s entire career). In 1998, mining humor from the mentally retarded, catching your scrotum in your zipper and mistaking semen for hair gel was somewhat taboo. Now you see all that and more in the trailer for a Will Farrell flick. But “Mary” deserves credit for shock-humor originality. Cameron Diaz nails her part. And admit it, some scenes are a hoot (franks and beans; the serial killer sequence; Ben Stiller mispronouncing Brett Favre’s name). Plus, the minstrel/soundtrack is prominent and excellent.

 

Tex

I like Kevin Dillon more than Matt Dillion, and Jennifer Tilly more than Meg Tilly, and Van Johnson more than Ben Johnson, and Ramon Estevez more than Emilio Estevez. Other than that, I liked “Tex,” a 1982 movie about teen angst in Oklahoma. Too bad every teenager can’t solve their problems with a gunshot wound. I would have liked it a lot more had I watched it in 1982, when I was 16. And if I’d been a girl. And if the movie had a plot. And if Matt Dillon had worked with a dialogue coach on his Yankee accent.