Tagged with satire

Review: Hail, Caesar!, 2016, dir. Joel & Ethan Coen

Review: Hail, Caesar!, 2016, dir. Joel & Ethan Coen

Let’s get one thing outta the way: Hail, Caesar! is minor Coen brothers. It is not No Country For Old Men, though if we are using that as the yardstick separate “minor” Coens from “major” Coens, then nearly every film they have made since 2007 falls into the former category. You can instead lump Hail, Caesar! in with A Serious … Continue reading

Review: Top Five, 2014, dir. Chris Rock

Review: Top Five, 2014, dir. Chris Rock

“At times, Top Five feels like a live wire. That thrumming volatility comes as no surprise—it’s a product of Chris Rock’s bluntly indelicate comic inclinations—but damned if the film’s arrival isn’t, for better or worse, the very definition of “timely.” Writer, director and star Rock orchestrates scenes in which he’s beaten on camera by white … Continue reading

Review: In the Loop, 2009, dir. Armando Iannucci

Review: In the Loop, 2009, dir. Armando Iannucci

If one word describes In the Loop, Armando Iannucci’s 2009 political satire, it’s almost certainly “scathing”. If two, that and “unforgiving”. Going further would only yield an entire novella of words meant to convey intense discontent or outright anger, and indeed the only declarative statement I can make about the film in the positive is … Continue reading