Some of the big moments are shock humor, like Steve Coogan exploding. But Tom Cruise's insane performance stands on its own. It's the rare gimmicky casting that transcends — it's like he's been let out of the Sea Org and is just working out all of his insanity.

I was just about to ACTUALLY that point. Thanks for making it for me. The backing music is Metric, but it's obviously Brie Larson's breathy vocal, not Emily Haines (who has a much more aggressive voice).

This really tested the limits of my tolerance for cringe comedy — I think in a good way?

Georgetown Day is a snobby K-12 close to the university — it's one of the places where senators send their kids. As goofy as the Congressman Jonah plot has been, that was actually a killer and believable detail.

Add to the pile his somewhat forgettable "The Campaign," in which Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis are puppets in a political game played by "the Moch Brothers," incredibly obvious stand-ins for the Kochs. The movie even ends with a congressional hearing, in which those plutocrats are finally called on the carpet,…

I laughed way too hard at Forte's delivery of the horrors he was committing with the #1 Cop mug. [Menacing stage whisper] "Storing my farts…"

Yes, it's me. I'm supposed to be finishing the book that grew out of my Slate series about prog rock, but instead I am here, in a comment section. It'll all work out.

Did I miss it, or did none of the dialogue suggest which party will control the Senate after the election? Because that's when our stupid electoral system really hits the reef.

Hello! I am That Guy, here to point out that Manny Pacquiao, the boxer, is also a member of the Philippine House of Representatives. I think the joke is that Jared identifies him by this weird trivia instead of anything sports-related.

As long as we're spoiling, that scene is in the movie and it's gripping. The late-stages Alice is watching a video that mid-stage Alice left her, and you see how much of a change Moore has pulled off.

The conference scene was a little hokey, but the set-up and context made it work for me. Had the movie stopped right there, it would have been a stand-up-and-cheer deal — hooray, she triumphed over adversity! Instead, even after she insists she is "not suffering but struggling," the plot continues and she declines…