mirthless

In “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” it’s deployed as a flat, mirthless inside joke — another pat reference, unfunny and predictable, charged with a yawning desperation to please.

Of course, SAG voters also thought “House of Gucci” was perfetto last year too, while their slightly more restrained academy counterparts weren’t as gaga for Ridley Scott’s mirthless meatball of a movie.

The brothers Nelson approach “O Come All Ye Faithful” with a pair of billy clubs, beating upon each syllable as if playing a mirthless game of Whac-a-Mole.

The expression tugged at my lips, taut and mirthless.

“The FBI is not the Gestapo,” Finder said, with a laugh as dry and mirthless as the desert surrounding her.