Molly Eichel

Horror-comedy Cooties is one of those ideas that works better in theory than it does as a full feature-length film.

Jim Gaffigan opened a segment of his 2006 Beyond the Pale stand-up special by telling his audience he wanted to talk about Jesus.

WRITER and director Leslye Headland clearly loves romantic comedies. It’s why she can deconstruct the genre, then reconstruct it for her second film, “Sleeping With Other People.”

Director Daniel Barber has a talent for sussing out the brutality intrinsic in the everyday. In 2009’s Harry Brown, Michael Caine played a Cockney retiree who avenges his best friend by taking on the hoodlums who live in the same council estate. It was revenge both Caine, and cane, style.

It should have been time to stop when the gorilla got to second base with Lizzy Caplan. That’s when I should have turned off Showtime’s Masters of Sex, the 1960s-set drama about sex researchers - Caplan’s Virginia Johnson and Michael Sheen’s William Masters - that ended its third season last Sunday.

In the opening salvos of Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon, contributors from far and wide sing National Lampoon’s praises. Meatloaf, a contributor, says the brand was so intellectual that Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller could have been a part of the staff.

The first season of FX’s Fargo could have continued past its 10-episode run. We could have continued to follow the life of ace detective Molly Solverson (the incredible Allison Tolman) as she solved crimes in tiny Bemidji, Minn. - although there can’t be that many murders in Bemidji, so it might get old watching Molly solve petty crimes.

Goosebumps is a movie oddly targeted at two very different demographics. The first target is kids, hence the PG rating. The second is millennials in the 25-35 age range who grew up with the source material, the series of books written by R.L. Stine. The books had titles like The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena and Go Eat Worms! and featured affable lead characters who experienced just enough scares to satisfy the elementary-school set.

Langhorne native Jesse Vile brings a very Philadelphia story to ESPN’s excellent 30 for 30 documentary series when Prince of Pennsylvania premieres at 9 p.m. Tuesday. The film also screens as part of the Philadelphia Film Festival on Saturday and Nov. 1.

Sometimes, Christmas with the family is not all snowflakes and sugar cookies, but it’s worth sucking it up through the barbed comments and mini-disasters to do it anyway. That’s the overarching message behind Love the Coopers, an early (even pre-Thanksgiving) entry in the Christmas-movie genre.

Purveyors of quality television have been relying on singular personalities not only to star in shows but to create them and be their defining voice. Some of the best TV of 2015 - FX’s Louie starring Louis CK; Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer; and Netflix’s Master of None, written by Alan Yang and Aziz Ansari, but starring Ansari and relying heavily on his already established comedic voice - are a few of the offerings of this auteur TV.

Thanks to a Drexel University professor, Matthew Broderick is helping out Philly-area dogs without even coming to the region. Broderick is the star of Sylvia, playing on Broadway at the Cort Theatre, about the intense bond between a man and his dog (who happens to be played by a woman).

Sarah Koenig, host of the mega-popular podcast Serial, has this infuriating habit of ending each episode with a cliffhanger or piece of information that changes everything. (It’s infuriating because it means I have to wait to hear what happens next.) In the first episode of Serial’s second season - the second ep comes out today - about controversial Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, Koenig ends by calling up the Taliban. They answer - and the episode ends.

Drew and Jonathan Scott know why people show up in droves to see them talk about home improvement. And only part of it is home improvement.

After the success of The Hangover, Zach Galifianakis could have spent the rest of his comedy career playing a detached-from-reality man-child in big-budget comedies. If it worked once in The Hangover (not to mention two sequels), why not keep the dough rolling in by playing the weirdo sidekicks of attractive celebs (such as Robert Downey Jr. in Due Date) and comedy superstars (such as Will Ferrell in The Campaign)?

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I have more education than my husband but that doesn’t mean we’re not equals.

I was never a particularly devout Jew, but after Charlottesville and Squirrel Hill, I feel more connected to my religion than ever before.

Former NBC10 reporter Kristen Welker is the fourth hottest person in Washington, according to the Hill.

As Philly gets ready to end COVID-19 rules, I realize government routine gave my work-from-home life structure and helped create bonds with my colleagues.