Tagged with comedy films

Review: Cyrus, 2010, dir. Jay and Mark Duplass

Review: Cyrus, 2010, dir. Jay and Mark Duplass

Can we really associate mumblecore to indie filmmaking any longer and remain completely honest after 2010’s Cyrus? While the movement-essential Duplass brothers, Mark and Jay, don’t relinquish the personality and character of the cinema that they champion, they do work with a cast that strikes a watermark far, far above what past entries in their … Continue reading

Review: 50/50, 2011, dir. Jonathan Levine

Review: 50/50, 2011, dir. Jonathan Levine

Writing a review for 50/50 presents something of a challenge to me. On one hand, I want to rave to high heavens about it; on the other, I don’t want to oversell it. Every word I write, therefore, walks a fine line between setting up unfair expectations that the film can’t hope to meet and … Continue reading

Review: Four Lions, 2010, dir. Chris Morris

Review: Four Lions, 2010, dir. Chris Morris

Who knew radical fundamentalist terrorism could be so hilarious? Chris Morris, the twisted and brilliant mind behind 2010’s Four Lions, came to that exact realization himself and put his ideas to celluloid with a tale of utterly incompetent homegrown Jihadists conspiring to carry out an attack in London. If at a glance the film’s premise … Continue reading

Review: Easy A, 2010, dir. Will Gluck

Review: Easy A, 2010, dir. Will Gluck

Did we need a Saved! for the Facebook and Twitter generation? If Easy A gets remembered for anything apart from Emma Stone’s excellent performance, as well as the supporting turns by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, it will be for the social networking metaphor the film presents in the alacrity with which the lies and … Continue reading

Review: Midnight in Paris, 2011, dir. Woody Allen

Review: Midnight in Paris, 2011, dir. Woody Allen

A review for Midnight in Paris requires no preamble simply because it’s the best movie Woody Allen has made in years, which alone should be sufficient reason to watch it in light of the director’s limp and joyless recent output. But a review that begins with the suggestion that Midnight in Paris far exceeds the … Continue reading

Review: Win Win, 2011, dir. Thomas McCarthy

Review: Win Win, 2011, dir. Thomas McCarthy

The career of one Thomas McCarthy so far has been marked by an interest in the stories of outsiders, people removed from the societal norm either of their own volition or out of necessity. So his latest picture, Win Win, marks something of a departure from 2003’s The Station Agent and 2008’s The Visitor; rather … Continue reading

Review: Paul, 2011, dir. Greg Mottola

Review: Paul, 2011, dir. Greg Mottola

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost at this point should be considered the premiere comic duo of our time. Is that fair to say?  These English lads– one of their country’s most beloved exports– constitute a twosome which functions organically and a dynamic that requires no employment of shtick to work; they’re funny, individually and together, … Continue reading

Review: Date Night, 2010, dir. Shawn Levy

Review: Date Night, 2010, dir. Shawn Levy

Taking an everyperson– that’s an everyman or an everywoman for you PC types out there– and throwing them into an extraordinary circumstance can provide a path to success in storytelling if the person spinning the yarn knows what they’re doing. In a way, I think we respond more to the everyperson than we do to … Continue reading