Christopher Lawrence is the movie critic for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
clawrence@reviewjournal.com … @life_onthecouch on Twitter. 702-380-4567
There’s awkward, and there’s AWKWARD. The difference between the two, between what can be hysterically funny and what can be cringe-inducingly tedious, is best illustrated by watching the FX comedies “Louie” (10:30 p.m. Thursday) and “The Comedians” (10 p.m. Thursday).
Sure, the whole thing makes zero sense. If it were possible to make negative sense, this latest sequel would do just that. But if nothing else, “Furious 7” gives fans exactly what they want.
With seven installments that have so far raked in nearly $2.4 billion, it’s one of the biggest franchises in movie history. It’s also one of the most convoluted.
As a statement on America’s racial divide, the movie is every bit as confusing and ineffective as Starbucks having its baristas write “Race Together” on your triple venti soy no foam latte.
Despite brief stops at Caesars Palace and Planet Hollywood Resort, most of the movie takes place in Naked City and the Golden Gate.
A British soldier (“Unbroken’s” Jack O’Connell) is trapped behind enemy lines in Belfast in the middle of vicious sectarian violence.
In addition to coming off like a more lifeless version of last fall’s Keanu Reeves vehicle “John Wick,” “Run All Night” feels a lot like every “Liam Neeson with a gun” movie — which is sadly becoming every Liam Neeson movie.
Queen Victoria wasn’t bad. And Queen Elizabeth I was a bit of a saucy minx back in her day. But the United Kingdom has never seen a true cleavage-baring sex bomb quite like Elizabeth Hurley’s Queen Helena in “The Royals” (10 p.m. Sunday, E!).
The sequel, which catches up with a group of British seniors living in India, is devoid of pretty much everything that made the original feel so, well, original.
“American Crime” is a compelling, thought-provoking new ABC drama from John Ridley, the Oscar-winning writer of “12 Years a Slave.” And, really, when was the last time you had a thought provoked by a network drama?
The con artist tale is witty, charming and so sexy it makes “Fifty Shades of Grey” feel like a two-hour cold shower. Well, technically “Fifty Shades of Grey” makes “Fifty Shades of Grey” feel like a two-hour cold shower, but I digress.
Apollo Robbins, credited as “con artist adviser/pickpocket design,” created 40 bits of thievery for the new Will Smith movie.
So you weren’t invited to be in the audience for the 87th Academy Awards (5:30 p.m. Sunday, KTNV-TV, Channel 13). That doesn’t mean you have to watch them from your couch in that ratty old bathrobe with your friends Ben & Jerry.
There’s a free-for-all set in a church that may be the most violent thing I’ve ever seen. Picture the craziest movie fight you can remember. Multiply it by any five minutes from “The Raid: Redemption.” Double that. And imagine Quentin Tarantino guest directed it. Then set it to some Skynyrd.
Granted, I’m not exactly the movie’s target audience, because I have both a Y chromosome and a healthy respect for women. But sitting through “Fifty Shades of Grey” is like watching paint dry. And then watching that paint get spanked.
