A huge comet will hit the earth and destroy all life within months. The good news: It's a movie, and a metaphor for the climate crisis. Rather than months, in real life we have a few years to fix the problem. This year's Sloan Science in Cinema Prize goes to Adam McKay, the writer and … Continue reading Sloan Science & Don’t Look Up
Category: Comedy
Finally! Wild rock comedy Get Crazy comes to Blu-ray
If you love the rock'n'roll of the 60s, 70s, and early 80s, and if you can laugh at your own absurdities, you'll get a kick out of Get Crazy. Never heard of it? This wildly absurd 1983 comedy came and went far too fast. The music is good too. Get Crazy takes place on New … Continue reading Finally! Wild rock comedy Get Crazy comes to Blu-ray
Soviet bureaucracy & Vietnam: Two nights at BAMPFA
Over the last weekend I watched two interesting films at the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA). Both presentations involved actual live people along with moving pictures. My Grandmother Friday night, my wife and I attended a screening of the 1929 silent Soviet comedy, My Grandmother, with musical accompaniment by a little-known jazz duet called … Continue reading Soviet bureaucracy & Vietnam: Two nights at BAMPFA
Three cinematic views of the Pray Away the Gay movement
Tuesday night I watched the new Netflix documentary, Pray Away, directed by Kristine Stolakis. It's a very good film, that won't be seen by as many who need to see it. This is the third feature-length film I've seen about gay conversion therapy, where Christian fanatics (I assume that in real life there are Jewish … Continue reading Three cinematic views of the Pray Away the Gay movement
The Producers on Blu-ray
A desperate has-been Broadway producer (Zero Mostel) and a timid, neurotic accountant (Gene Wilder in his first major role) plan a bit of larceny that will make them a fortune - if the play they produce flops. But if it's a hit, they'll go to jail. No wonder they select a play called Springtime for Hitler. … Continue reading The Producers on Blu-ray
Fun stuff on Criterion, Part 2: Chaplin & Méliès
Last week I told you about a Preston Sturges series available on The Criterion Channel. This week, I'm telling you about two other series on the Channel intended just to entertain. One is about the most loved comedian of all time. The other was one of the first filmmakers to use the medium to tell … Continue reading Fun stuff on Criterion, Part 2: Chaplin & Méliès
Fun stuff on Criterion, Part 1: Preston Sturges
Criterion offers the important works of Bergman, Tarkovsky, and Antonioni. But movies aren't entirely intended to make you feel miserable. In the middle of March, The Criterion Channel adds three series spotlighting great auteurs who used their genius to make people laugh. The first, and the only one yet streaming on the Channel, is Preston … Continue reading Fun stuff on Criterion, Part 1: Preston Sturges
The Mimic can’t copy a good movie
C- Comedy Written and directed by Thomas F. Mazziotti Red Square Pictures advertises this new movie as a comedy. That kind of makes sense. It's not realistic enough to be a drama. It has no suspense or thrills. Jaunty background music reminds you to laugh. And although it is "Based on a true story," it's … Continue reading The Mimic can’t copy a good movie
What’s leaving Criterion when January ends
More than 75 movies will disappear from the Criterion Channel at the end of the month. Here are some that I recommend you watch before February. One brilliant filmmaker, Bill Plympton, stands out on this list. A Idiots and Angels (2008) A man so rotten he pushes a tear of empathy back into his eye … Continue reading What’s leaving Criterion when January ends
2 overlooked Shanghai comedies
In June of 2019, I wrote an article about the excellent comedies that came out at the turn of the current century - funny movies from 1998 to 2000. Strangely, I forgot to include one of my favorites, Shanghai Noon (2000). I liked it so much that, after seeing it in a theater, I bought … Continue reading 2 overlooked Shanghai comedies
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