The first thing you should know about Marcel Pagnol's 1938 comedy, The Baker's Wife, is that it's very, very funny. The second thing you need to know is that it's also sweet and humane, especially as this story of adultery in provincial France comes to its end. My wife and I saw it at the … Continue reading The Baker’s Wife at the BAMPFA
Category: Comedy
The Big Bad Fox & the joys of simple animation
B Animated family fare Written by Benjamin Renner and Jean Regnaud Directed by Benjamin Renner and Patrick Imbert Note: I saw this family comedy last year before it screened at the SFFIM Festival. It never got a theatrical fun in the Bay Area. It appears it won't get one. But it will be available on … Continue reading The Big Bad Fox & the joys of simple animation
The Kid Brother Blu-ray review
If people know about Harold Lloyd at all, they think of Safety Last. Or maybe The Freshman. But for my money, his penultimate silent, The Kid Brother, is his masterpiece. It has several of the funniest, brilliantly designed, extended comedy sequences ever filmed. But it's more than just a very funny movie. It makes you … Continue reading The Kid Brother Blu-ray review
It Happened One Night one afternoon at BAMPFA
Almost every Wednesday afternoon at 3:10, BAMPFA screens a film with a lecture or discussion in one of their In Focus series. This Wednesday, I finally got to one. Perhaps that's because they were screening Frank Capra's 1934 classic It Happened One Night. But also because I believe that screenwriters don't get enough credit, and … Continue reading It Happened One Night one afternoon at BAMPFA
Saturday at Noir City…plus Laurel and Hardy
Saturday was a crazy day of moviegoing. Not only did I watch four Noir City feature films at the Castro, but I also caught four Laurel and Hardy shorts on the other side of the bay. And the crazy thing is I had previously seen seven of the eight films. With some of them, I … Continue reading Saturday at Noir City…plus Laurel and Hardy
Stan & Ollie: The time two clowns cried
B- Biopic Written by Jeff Pope Directed by Jon S. Baird This is absolutely the least funny Laurel and Hardy movie I have ever seen. Of course, it's not a real Laurel and Hardy movie. It's certainly not a comedy, although it has many laughs. Stan & Ollie is a mostly sad story about the … Continue reading Stan & Ollie: The time two clowns cried
You know what you’re getting when Swimming with Men
B Comedy Written by Aschlin Ditta Directed by Oliver Parker Note: I saw this British comedy at last year's Mill Valley Film Festival. I incorrectly assumed it would get an American theatrical release, and therefore, I wrote the review below. I have recently discovered that it's streaming on Vudu, Google Play. and Amazon Prime. So … Continue reading You know what you’re getting when Swimming with Men
Chaplin Diary, Part 20: We end with A Countess from Hong Kong
And so we come to the end of our survey of Charlie Chaplin's work as a director. His last movie, A Countess from Hong Kong, made in 1966 and released in 1967, is easily his worst. Countess stands out among Chaplin's films in several ways. It's his only color film, and the only one financed … Continue reading Chaplin Diary, Part 20: We end with A Countess from Hong Kong
Some Like It Hot: The Criterion Blu-ray
I'm not sure if Some Like It Hot really is, as the American Film Institute declared in 2000, the best American film comedy of all time. It certainly belongs in the top 10. There are comedies with a higher laugh-to-minute ratio, and others that have more to say about the human condition. But I doubt you could find … Continue reading Some Like It Hot: The Criterion Blu-ray
Chaplin Diary, Part 19: A King in New York
With his last starring film, A King in New York (1957), Charlie Chaplin finally remembered that he was first and foremost a clown. For the first time since The Great Dictator, he's made a movie that is more than sporadically funny. And yet he manages to give it a serious side as well. Which isn't … Continue reading Chaplin Diary, Part 19: A King in New York
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