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• Title: Game Night
• IMDb: link

Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams star in this forgettable comedy as competitive couple Max and Annie who host a weekly game night for their friends Kevin (Lamorne Morris) and Michelle (Kylie Bunbury), and Gary (Jesse Plemons) and his girl of the moment. When Max’s more successful brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) hijacks game night with an elaborate murder mystery trouble ensues as “coincidentally” Brooks just happens to be kidnapped for real on the same night he hired actors to kidnap him as part of the game. And no one realizes it isn’t a game.

The script by Mark Perez (Accepted, Herbie Fully Loaded) offers some cheap laughs and chuckles, if you can swallow the absurd pretense. Lots of time is given to the relationships of the various couples, but it’s really only when all are involved and the crazy is turned up to 11 (such as throwing a priceless piece of art around a gangster’s mansion) that things get interesting.

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• Title: The Death of Stalin
• IMDb: link

Very often, comedy comes from tragedy. The Death of Stalin is an unusual film. The political satire set during the days immediately before and after Joseph Stalin‘s (Adrian McLoughlin) death in Russia, the film follows the infighting and backstabbing among Stalin’s most loyal subordinates who maneuver to control Russia following the party leader’s death.

Rather than assemble a Russian cast, director Armando Iannucci brings together a group of primarily English and American actors (including Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, and Michael Palin), allowing each to perform in his natural accent. The result only increases the absurdity of the proceedings which is counter-balanced by the darkness of Stalin’s policies.

While being one of my favorite forms of comedy, satire is hard which is the reason so few are made compared to the glut of physical and romantic comedies. Part satire, part political drama, and part farce, The Death of Stalin is an amazing and improbable piece of filmmaking that must be seen to be believed.

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