Comedy

Comedies do not usually perform very well at the Oscars, with very few winning in the acting categories and even fewer winning Best Picture. In the mid-1930s, though, it was impossible for the Academy to ignore the massive success of the screwball comedy genre. The genre, which blended comedy, romance and completely ridiculous situations, continued to be popular until the end of the decade, culminating with Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday in 1940.

The first half of Crazy, Stupid, Love had the potential to become the first real grown-up romantic comedy that I’ve seen in years. All my hopes were dashed during its second half when it loses all of its initial appeal.

Cal (Steve Carell) finds out that his wife, Emily (Julianne Moore), wants a divorce, on the way back from a night out together. If that wasn’t bad enough, Emily also confesses that she has had an affair with her co-worker, David (Kevin Bacon).

The Change-Up is the classic tale of two men who don’t truly appreciate what they have until it’s ripped away from them by a magical fountain that causes them to switch lives. Okay, maybe the last bit wasn’t so “classical,” but the basis of this story is nothing we haven’t seen before.

I once overheard a girl in one of my college English classes talking about her upcoming teaching career. She raved about having her summers off, the tenure she gets in three years and a day, but spent less then a minute talking about her goals for her students.

Elizabeth Halsey, as portrayed by Cameron Diaz, in the hilarious comedy, Bad Teacher, substitutes movies for books, takes no interest in her students and sleeps at her desk either stoned or nursing a hangover, which is exactly how I imagine that same girl now runs her classroom.