FIrst Rule of Movie Club is: you don't talk about Movie Club. But you do share, because sharing is caring.
Steven Spielberg's The Fablemans might be the latest in a long legacy of artists making thinly-veiled autobio pics about their humble beginnings, but it's worth noting the great works that came before (and are mostly forgotten.) First and foremost is the late, great Carl Reiner's debut feature comedy, Enter Laughing- a sweet and hilarious look … Continue reading Enter Laughing
A century after Groucho, Chico and Harpo gave American Comedy some legitimate teeth with their anarchic blend of wordplay and eternal flaunting of authority, their films remain just as funny- and just as edgy- as ever. Animal Crackers, their second sound feature, is about as great as any entry point into that oeuvre. Full of … Continue reading Animal Crackers
Comedian Mitch Hedberg's reputation has grown since his early death in 2005, and it'll take you just a couple of YouTube clips to fall in love with his absurdist, stoner genius. Before he left us, however, he managed to write and direct a single film- Los Enchiladas- which screened at Sundance in 1999, and only … Continue reading Los Enchiladas
Michael Moore - you either love him for fighting the good fight with his uniquely American combination of schlubby everyman and left-wing moralist... or you hate him for destroying the purity of the documentary form... or who knows what you think, but you definitely think something about this guy. While his films realm from the … Continue reading Pets or Meat
For some people, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and the Marx Brothers are all kind of the same thing- cinematic comedy teams from the land before color, mostly interchangeable. But of course, that's wrong. The moronic slapstick of the Three Stooges is as lowbrow as it gets, funny only to those who think comedy … Continue reading The Cocoanuts
It's hard to deny the accusation of systemic racism in Hollywood when you watch a film like Purlie Victorious- it's such a sharp criticism of America, done in such a hilarious way, and so clearly still-relevant today that the only answer to the question why have I never heard of this great movie? is so … Continue reading Purlie Victorious (aka Gone are the Days!)
Todd Solondz followed up his Sundance-festival favorite, Welcome to the Dollhouse, with and even blacker black comedy where everyone is riddled with fear, anxiety, and depression in their constantly thwarted search for Happiness. How well this film holds up depends on your point of view. Solondz' deeply cynical attitude about every aspect of modern American … Continue reading Happiness
What better way to celebrate the utter disintegration of American Democracy than with humor? Specifically: one about a right-wing folk-singer running for office. Tim Robbins' Bob Roberts is great; it's not great filmmaking (pretty run of the mill stuff as far as that goes) and it's not the most original idea (borrowing heavily from Spinal … Continue reading Bob Roberts
If you needed just one example of the sexist double-standard prevalent in Hollywood, I doubt you could do better than looking at the great Elaine May- writer, director, comedian, victim. As the more daring and fearless half of the comedy team of Nichols & May, Elaine May has been intimidating men with her sharp wit … Continue reading The Heartbreak Kid
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