Comedy

American Ultra

  • Title: American Ultra
  • IMDb: link

American UltraThe tail end of the summer movie season is pretty much a crap shoot. While I was pleasantly surprised with the under-appreciated The Man from U.N.C.L.E., director Nima Nourizadeh‘s stoner-action comedy is more what I’ve come to expect from this time of year. American Ultra isn’t a bad film, but it’s not all-together a good one either. A hodgepodge of ideas from both better and worse movies, American Ultra is an occasionally enjoyable B-movie mess.

Jesse Eisenberg stars as stoner convenience clerk Mike Howell with a girlfriend (Kristen Stewart) too good for him, friends (most notably John Leguizamo) just as mentally-challenged, and a brain full of secret CIA training which has been locked away for years until the most over-the-top Topher Grace ever captured on film decides to have Howell killed by agents that make the bad guys in Hudson Hawk look like Bond villains.

Activated by the former leader (Connie Britton) of the project, Howell soon finds himself with the ability to instinctively kill in a variety of bizarre ways without ever understanding exactly how, why, or what he’s doing. Dumb, but at least it looks cool on camera.

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Clipped – Reunion

  • Title: Clipped – Reunion
  • IMDb: link

Clipped - Reunion

Clipped closes out it’s First Season with a high school reunion finale for most of the employees of the barber shop. Along with introducing us to the prom date Danni (Ashley Tisdale) dumped in favor of A.J. (Mike Castle), and allow Ben (Ryan Pinkston) to confront an old bully (or at least attempt to), “Reunion” also reveals Charmaine’s (Diona Reasonover) secret wish to have been a cheerleader in high school.

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Clipped – Free Wednesday

  • Title: Clipped – Free Wednesday
  • IMDb: link

Clipped - Free Wednesday

In “Free Wednesday” both the main story and B-story play on ongoing themes of the show’s First Season. The episode gets it’s name from an embarrassing event from Ben’s (Ryan Pinkston) high school years which is brought up by the passing of a former high school teacher (Larry Miller) who collapses from a heart attack outside the barber shop after Ben berates the elderly man. The lack of Ben’s remorse doesn’t sit well with the rest of crew, but his attempt to rectify the situation by attending the man’s funeral only ends in more embarrassment for everyone involved.

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Clipped – The Gambler

  • Title: Clipped – The Gambler
  • IMDb: link

Clipped - The Gambler

Mothers and marriages are the major themes of “The Gambler” as Buzzy’s (George Wendt) co-workers discover that his gambling addiction is not only getting him in hot water at home but possibly also costing his mother who relies on her son to pay for her medication. Ben’s (Ryan Pinkston) closeness to his own mother will play into the company poker game, both as the butt of jokes and as a way for A.J. (Mike Castle) and Mo (Matt Cook) to force their boss’ hand. At the same time the marriage of one of the Doyles makes Joy (Lauren Lapkus) question her own marriage and begin looking at Mo in a new light.

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Clipped – Mo’s Ma

  • Title: Clipped – Mo’s Ma
  • IMDb: link

Clipped - Mo's Ma

In an episode that introduces Dot-Marie Jones as Mo’s (Matt Cook) mother the barber struggles with the news that his parents are getting a divorce after 30 years of marriage. Although Mo can’t see a reason why the marriage is ending ,his co-workers strongly suspect it may having something to do with Mo’s mother being more attracted to the fairer sex. This, of course, leads to plenty of cheap lesbian jokes as the characters dance around the issue without sharing their suspicions with Mo for most of the episode.

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