SHORT CUTS: MARTIN SHORT UNLEASHED

Midway through Inherent Vice, Paul Thomas Anderson’s woozily intoxicating adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel, there is an interlude of such demented sleaziness it almost jolts you out of your bemused neo-hippy stupor and into another, more manic universe. It’s a showcase for Martin Short as a randy coke-sniffing dentist called Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd in a double-breasted purple velvet suit and paisley kipper tie, and a reminder of what a pleasure it is to see Short, one of those actors whose mere p...