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MaryAnn’s quick take… Goes well beyond the typical mindless array of slapstick and humiliation to reach disgusting new depths of coarseness. Not just appalling, but actually dangerous. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): hated Daddy’s Home; this one looked worse

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

I was going to skip Daddy’s Home 2. The first one was appalling, and did not demand a sequel, and this one looked worse. Life is too short, even for a film critic, to give in and see every idiotic movie. But then a critic friend asked me to attend a press screening with her — you know, as moral support — so I did. As my self-sacrificing good deed for the day. And I’m actually glad I ended up seeing the movie after all. Not because it’s good: dear god in heaven, no.

The holiday movie season is in full swing this weekend with a yuletime-set sequel to a recent raucous comedy…again. Yes, it was barely ten days ago when a really early cinema gift arrived at the multiplex, Bad Moms Christmas. Well there are a couple of differences, this new flick is a follow-up to a 2015 release rather than the more recent, just over a year old Bad Moms. Plus the matriarchs’ antics are a tad more adult-themed, since both films garnered much-deserved “R” ratings for raunch. The new arrival is the more “family friendly” PG-13 (it might be even more wholesome than the first one, since there’s less talk of fertility). However both recent installment deal with the chaos and conflict initiated by the visit of the grandparents (Moms had one grandpop’ while this one doesn’t have a granny’ till the last moments). So, put those shopping lists...

Paramount Pictures has released the first trailer and three photos for Daddy's Home 2, the studio's comedy sequel that continues the story from the 2015 smash hit Daddy's Home. Returning from the original comedy are Will Ferrell as Brad Whitaker and Mark Wahblerg as Dusty Mayron, along with Linda Cardellini as Sara and Scarlett Estevez and Owen Vaccaro as the kids Megan and Dylan. This sequel also brings two new cast members into the fold, Mel Gibson and John Lithgow, portraying Dusty and Brad's fathers.

In the Paramount Pictures sequel to the 2015 global smash, father and stepfather, Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) and Brad (Will Ferrell) have joined forces to provide their kids with the perfect Christmas. Their newfound partnership is put to the test when Dusty's old-school, macho Dad (Mel Gibson) and Brad's ultra-affectionate and emotional Dad (John Lithgow) arrive just in time to throw the holiday into complete chaos. Alessandro Ambrossia...

Daddy’s Home (again!) and this time, he’s brought a raft of new friends.

Two years ago, director Sean Anders recruited The Other Guys (read: Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell) for Daddy’s Home, a light-hearted comedy that defied expectations to become one of 2015’s sleeper hits. A $240 million haul at the box office was enough to warrant a sequel, and this time round, Wahlberg and Ferrell will be joined by Mel Gibson and John Lithgow, who will play each of their character’s respective parents. Cue the fireworks.

That’s a rivalry that begins to take shape in today’s first-look trailer for Daddy’s Home 2. Indeed, the addition of Gibson’s Mr. Mayron was welcomed by Mark Wahlberg, who hinted that Dusty won’t take too kindly to the sudden influx of competition.

“I thought it was brilliant, the right choice. Everyone was throwing names around for that.

Michael Barker, John Krasinski, Margo Martindale, Sharlto Copley, Thomas Bernard Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

At the Sony Pictures Classics première at Cinepolis Chelsea for John Krasinski's The Hollars, written by People, Places Things director Jim Strouse, Krasinski and his stars, Margo Martindale and Sharlto Copley, talked ice cream and pretzels, Alexander Payne, Rod Steiger, a Le Cirque lunch for John Wells's August: Osage County, tightrope and tire swings.

Sharlto Copley: "I had a really personal bond with the two actresses playing my daughters." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Richard Jenkins with Anna Kendrick, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Josh Groban, Mary Kay Place, Randall Park, Charlie Day, Isabela Costine and Didi Costine round out the cast for John Krasinski's directorial follow-up to Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, based on David Foster Wallace stories.

Emily Blunt, producer Allyson Seeger, Ron Claiborne, Devika Bhise (Matt Brown's The Man Who Knew Infinity), Sarah Megan Thomas,...