Stop! That! Scary Movie! 

I grew up in a comedy boom. In the aughts, there was an abundance of theatrically released comedies. Adam Sandler was winding down his hot-streak from the nineties with Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and The Waterboy; which made room for Judd Apatow to takeover theaters as the comedy king.

Apatow produced some of the biggest comedies of the aughts. You could guarantee there would be 2-3 big-budget comedies every year, and the auditoriums were always packed with a crowd ready to laugh. There are still parts of Step Brothers I can recite verbatim, just because it was always on. After a few years, Apatow's films kept getting longer and longer, until 2009's Funny People ran a gargantuan two hours and twenty-six minutes! That was about the time audiences turned on Apatow's approach to just let the camera roll and let the actors riff and riff and riff and riff…

Once we entered the 2010s, there was a steep drop off, and we didn't see nearly as many big-budget comedies. I have to imagine it was because all of the money was being funneled into superhero films. It seems the trend is continuing well into the 2020s.

That's why I always make it a point to go to comedies in the theater. I will happily spend my money to support comedy wherever I can, and the theater is always the easiest (and cheapest). Here's my round-up of a few summer comedies I've seen in theaters.

The Breadwinner follows Nate (Nate Bargatze), a top salesman at his local TOYOTA DEALERSHIP, because you gotta pay for this film somehow. He supports his family of five on his own because he lives in Tennessee and the cost of living is lower there? But when his wife, Katie (Mandy Moore), sells her organizational invention on Shark Tank, Nate is forced to learn how to be a parent while Katie is in South Korea developing her business.

One of my favorite things is when you watch a movie and can see some exec digging through the garbage and pulling out a dusty, crumpled script, mumbling to himself, “Oh this one's from the nineties, but it's still good. You just gotta dust it off.” You can't convince me that this wasn't a hold over from Adam Sandler's film career. It screams Sandler from the rival of the film being very Shooter McGavin-esque, all the way to the crazy roofer that you could picture being played by a nineties Rob Schneider.

All they did was update it to the 2020s, and populate it with moments from Bargatze's standup. They even go as far as to play bits from his standup specials at the end that made it into the film, like his joke about egg types and his bit about roofers.

All in all, I don't need a comedy to tread new ground, and this one was so familiar, it felt like a warm bath. I laughed at some moments (mainly whenever Will Forte was on-screen), and I was genuinely surprised at how funny Colin Jost was as Nate's neighbor, Conor. He seemed to be channeling Phil Hartman from Jingle All The Way, the sleazy neighbor hiding behind a charming exterior.

RATING: 3/5, WATCH IT AT HOME ON A LAZY SUNDAY WHILE NURSING A HANGOVER

Where do I begin? I can't say it's a disappointment, because I had absolutely no expectations for this film coming into the theater. I have a varied experience with the Scary Movie franchise, I have fond memories of watching these while at sleepovers with friends and laughing hysterically at Chris Elliott's character, “Take my strong hand”.

I think it was during COVID when I went through all the Scary Movie films again, and I was embarrassed. Turns out, they're just filled with cheap jokes that either didn't age well, or were never funny.

I never want a film to fail, so I went in with an open mind. The Wayans were back for this film, so I was hopeful that it would be funny. I was also looking forward to see what it had to say about legacy sequels. Turns out, it doesn't have a whole lot to say about anything.

I wish I could give you a summary of this film, but it disappeared quicker than that raccoon trying to wash cotton candy in a pond.

The film is framed using Scream (2022), which is now two Scream films ago and four years ago, which makes this film feel immediately dated. It also ties in a little bit of Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025). We're introduced to a new group of teens, the children of Cindy(Anna Faris) and Brenda (Regina Hall). The biggest issue of this film was that we don't get enough Cindy and Brenda, the two shining stars of this franchise.

If there's two reasons to watch this film, it's Cindy and Brenda; but I don't think their combined charm would get me to rewatch this absolute mess of a feature film.

RATING: 1/5, SKIP

My most recent watch, just saw this gem last night.

This film follows two Stank Rail attendants, Tess (Ginger Minj) and DeeDee (Jujubee) as they leave their now-defunct rail-line to work for the Glamazonian Express railway. Everything is going fine until a stormaganza takes out the brakes and nothing can stop this crazy train as it barrels towards a Make-a-wish field trip.

This film is absolutely insane. Nothing in the film is taken seriously, which can be a hard line to walk; if you don't care what happens, why should I? Luckily, the gags fly at you faster than a bullet train, so you're not left to sit there ruminating on the purposefully thin plot.

The gags are over-the-top and get wilder as the film progresses. It was a nice change of pace to see something so gleefully silly in theaters. Its style of humor reminded me of Mel Brooks' films; which is something I haven't seen in very many movies, probably because it's so hard to pull off. For the most part, I think the film succeeds; Page, myself, and the rest of the auditorium were laughing throughout the film.

RATING: 3/5, SEE IT BEFORE IT'S PULLED TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE BLOCKBUSTERS

Obviously, this isn't all the latest and greatest comedies in theaters, and I know there's more to come, but I wanted to take a moment to talk about the state of comedy. With each of these films, the auditoriums were less than half full. I'm sure it's different elsewhere, but it's kind of a bummer to see the audience decline like this.

Maybe it's rose-colored glasses, but I don't think audiences care for comedies like they used to. As a comedy writer, it's a bit disconcerting. If there was ever a time to need laughter, it's when gas prices have ballooned to $5/gallon in Illinois.

Right now, we're in a horror boom. In my opinion, we've been in that horror boom since Ari Aster's Hereditary (2018). Since then, studios like Blumhouse and A24 have taken bigger and bigger swings with horror IP. Now with the success of Backrooms and Obsession, I think this trend will continue for a while.

Don't get me wrong, I'm so glad to see horror get critical praise, it's been sidelined by critics for so long. I think it's interesting to see these genres fluctuate over the years and see where the audience preference falls. I think this horror boom will see the continued decline of superhero films' performances at the box office (obviously Avengers: Doomsday will be just fine). Maybe we'll see a rebound in the next few years and big-budget comedies will have their comeback. Until then, I'll be in the theater for every last one; good or bad.