Jacques Tati deserves his own special throne in the pantheon of comic star/auteurs--not quite beside Chaplin and Keaton, but not far behind them. If you’re not familiar with Tati, now is your chance to make is acquaintance. His five features (six if you include the made-for-TV, shot-on-videotape Parade) will play this month at at the … Continue reading Jacques Tati
Category: Comedy
Paths to Paradise in Niles
My wife and I drove to the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum to catch a screening of Paths to Paradise last night. As I suspected, big fun. As is Niles' custom, the evening started with speakers, introductions, and two short comedies--in this case Harold Lloyd's "Chop Suey & Co." and Monty Banks' "Chasing Choo Choos." … Continue reading Paths to Paradise in Niles
Arab Labor Comes to American TV
Last summer I raved about Arab Labor, a very funny Israeli sitcom shown at the Jewish Film Festival. Now the Link TV satellite network will broadcast the show the way it was meant to be seen--at home in weekly installments. The series starts this Saturday night at 7:00. Amjad, an Arab reporter working for a … Continue reading Arab Labor Comes to American TV
Burn After Reading
[B] Espionage comedy Written and directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen The Coen brothers are back to their old tricks, mining the dark comic prospects of a crime gone wrong. While Burn After Reading lacks the humanity of Fargo and the blazing, non-stop lunacy of Intolerable Cruelty, it still provides 95 very entertaining minutes. … Continue reading Burn After Reading
Humboldt County
Comedy-drama Written and directed by Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs Movies that start as broad comedies and turn serious seldom work. The transition is tricky, especially if you don't layer in enough reality between the big laughs before the drama begins. Yet first-time writers/directors Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs pull it off beautifully in Humboldt … Continue reading Humboldt County
Ping Pong Playa
Sports Comedy Written by Jimmy Tsai and Jessica Yu Directed by Jessica Yu We all know the sports movie formula: Plot twist puts lovable loser(s) into a situation where he, she, or they must rise over adversity, get over the mental block that's been holding them back, train tirelessly for the length of a montage, … Continue reading Ping Pong Playa
Viva
Spoof Written and directed by Anna Biller Anna Biller wants to out-auteur Charlie Chaplin. Not only did she write, direct, and co-produce this parody of late sixties/early seventies exploitation flicks, but she stars in the title role. She also wrote some of the songs, animated a drug-induced dream sequence, and designed the sets and costumes. … Continue reading Viva
Get Smart
Action Comedy Written by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember Directed by Peter Segal I approach films based on old TV shows with suspicion, but the comic potential of Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart lowered my guard. But while Get Smart has its charms, it doesn't fulfill that potential by a long shot. Carell wisely … Continue reading Get Smart
Postal
Very broad satire Written by Uwe Boll and Bryan C. Knight; based on the video game Directed by Uwe Boll Postal starts with a promising scene for an intentionally offensive comedy. Two terrorists in an airliner cockpit (presumably on 9/11) discuss how many virgins they'll get in the afterlife. It turns out they've been given … Continue reading Postal
Juno
Dramatic comedy Written by Diablo Cody Directed by Jason Reitman The last thing I expected before the year ended was a comedy about unintentional pregnancy that was more truthful, more insightful, and just plain funnier than Knocked Up. I found one. You could go to movies for years and not find anything as good as … Continue reading Juno
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