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I imagine some people have a lot of trouble explaining Tim Robinson. I think I can. He is the new champion of anti-comedy. Anti-comedy is almost a performance art unto itself and would suggest a uniquely higher level of understanding of what is funny and what is not, and then taking what is not funny and making it funny. It feels almost accidental, but it isn't. The original master was Andy Kaufman, and since his untimely death in 1984, he's had many unsuccessful imitators. We very nearly had a second-coming in Tom Green, until he took things completely over the line with Freddy Got Fingered, a film that strived to be a surrealist masterpiece and ended up being the Pink Flamingos of the 21st century. But now, in 2025, we have Tim Robinson and I think he's just about mastered this difficult technique. Perhaps by sheer virtue of the fact that he looks supremely uncomfortable at all times. He's the human embodiment of a caged rat being poked incessantly with a stick. There's a level of fear and confusion, mixed with a hair-triggered rage that could ignite at any moment. He looks and behaves like the most maladjusted human on earth. Then you take that person and make him a full-fledged comedian. Perhaps this is part of his comedic routine, but whatever it is, he's got that Kaufman "It" factor that's needed.

Enter, Friendship. If ever you needed to know what a Tim Robinson movie would be like, this is what it is. Some would say it's a 90-minute I Think You Should Leave skit, and you'd very much be right. This is a dark comedy about why grown men shouldn't have bromances. That said, it's 97 minutes of exactly how far Tim Robinson can take that premise. The sky isn't even the limit here. Robinson explores obsession and insecurity through the eyes of a man who has zero control over his impulsive thoughts. The rest of the cast looks on in terror, especially Paul Rudd, who approaches the role similarly to how he did in I Love You, Man. But a classic Judd Apatow-universe comedy this isn't. This is Tim Robinson's unhinged world and we are all held hostage.

I haven't laughed this hard in a movie theater in a decade. Studio comedies are dead. Comedy movies, in general, have dried up worse than the Mojave Desert. A24, I can attest, might be about to change that, and they have the right man to do it. If we could get a Tim Robinson comedy movie once a year, I'd be very happy.

Conclave has become more prescient of our near future than anyone thought in 2024. In the weeks ahead, this is a must-watch. Conclave is, above all else, a film that shows the political nature of electing a pope. Even the most devout Catholics understand how messy and cutthroat this process is. It's eerily similar to our own democracy in electing a President. So much of this film is thought-provoking in how it examines the all too-human and imperfect qualities that make up the world's cardinals. The questions are asked: Is it wrong to desire the papacy? Must the pope be without sin? How far would you go to prevent a morally obscene cardinal from becoming pope? It's really an eye-opener to how this whole process works.

Matched with the subject matter are incredible performances by almost everyone involved. I mean it. I can't think of a major player who didn't absolutely wow me here.