What’s Going On?

Ageing famous musician Herb McGwyer is hired to perform at a private party by fans on a remote island for a huge fee, only to find out that there is only one fan – Charles. Not only that, but Herb’s old bandmate Nell Mortimer has also been hired without his knowledge, complicating matters additionally in that they were not just bandmates.

In Front Of The Camera

The film stars Tim Key, Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan. Tim Key and Tom Basden are long-time friends and colleagues in the British comedian scene, both were stand-up comedians and have worked together on numerous projects, including BBC sketch show Cowards and Anthonya short film about Santa Claus crashing his sleigh and the brutal survival battle he and one of his elves then have to go on. To go through some of their credits – Peep Show, Plebs, Inside No. 9, After Life, various Alan Partridge shows, The Detectorists and more.

Carey Mulligan is a much bigger star than either of these two and a high-profile actor from films like Drive, Never Let Me Go, Shame, and more and presumably Mulligan was attracted to this film because she believed in it rather than the fame and money it could bring.

Behind The Scenes

The film is written by Tom Basden and Tim Key. Basden has written the BBC show Here We Go, as well as working on Plebs, Gap Year and has written for many sitcoms like Peep Show and Fresh Meat. Key has fewer writing credits but has contributed to many interesting projects, and as his stand-up comedy is mainly comedic poetry, he has published books of his poems, as well as winning the 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Award.

The film is directed by James Griffiths, who has primarily worked in TV, directing episodes of Black-Ish, Episodes and Free Agents, as well as directing the original short film that The Ballad of Wallis Island is based on.

Does It Work?

Tom Basden and Tim Key bring a particular kind of humour to all of their projects, and it won’t be for everyone. Key is immediately incredibly awkward as Charles, or rather makes the audience and everyone else awkward, his eagerness and constant need to make gentle quips could be either irritating or endearing (both in reality and in the film). Tom Basden as Herb is almost equally immediately unlikeable, despite the fact that we would surely see his point – a famous musician who is being rowed to a gig where he has to wade through several feet of water, as there is no dock or jetty, does not scream professionalism. Despite Charles’ genuinely annoying behaviour at times, you cannot help but absolutely love him. This is a man who follows what he loves, lives a relatively simple existence. He has found and lost genuine soul-mate type love, but carries on enjoying life. The interaction with Herb and Nell helps to bring him out of the semi-isolation he has landed himself in is one of the joys of the film.

Carey Mulligan is very good as the third part of this unusual dynamic – she does bring a husband, but he conveniently goes away for several days – and we can see the ways in which she sees things differently from Herb, especially as to how things ended between them. But ultimately, the key relationship is not between Herb and Nell but between Herb and Charles. Basden and Key are both fantastic, and while sometimes Key’s range can feel limited (and looking at his other acting performances, that may well be true), what he can do, he does brilliantly.

The film avoids any number of clichéd ways to go – avoiding rom-com tropes and the like. Charles’ constant references to “we” and a partner who is clearly not around are painfully ignored by Herb for as long as possible. The understated sadness of Charles is very rarely ever visible on the surface, and ultimately, while he has sadness within him, he isn’t sad; his existence now is not merely lamenting what he has lost. There are other clichés that the film avoids, which would be spoilers and as such avoided here, but lead to a refreshing feel of the film.

Rating: (3.5 / 5)

The Ballad of Wallis Island is a charming, funny and emotionally touching film that anyone could enjoy but for some people who click with the style of comedy, will love.

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In Front Of The Camera

The film has a large ensemble cast, lead by Gabriel LaBelle as the show’s creator and mastermind Lorne Michaels who is trying to wrangle some of the most unreliable and unpredictable people in the country to make a show. Willem Dafoe plays the positively sinister Dave Tebet; an NBC executive who can choose to cancel the live broadcast. There are too many actors to list here but particular attention should go to Matt Wood as John Belushi who is so incredibly convincing you think its they’ve just put footage of the real Belushi into the film, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase who is so unlikable you want to punch him for most of the film and Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster, writer and Lorne Michael’s wife, sort of, who bursts with confidence and the ability to wrangle Lorne.

Behind The Scenes

The film is directed and co-written by Jason Reitman who is probably best known for directing Juno but also has great films like Up In The Air, Young Adult and more. Reitman has also done some work on SNL before.

Does It Work?

The film takes place almost entirely in the ninety minutes before the first live broadcast. The show is scheduled for 90 minutes but is estimated to be running at double that judging by all the acts they have, major cast member John Belushi hasn’t signed his contract, Chevy Chase is upsetting everyone with his ego, a llama has arrived and there are a million problems any one of which could sink the show. Many of the people involved are now well known as being difficult to work with – John Belushi is uncontrollable, Chevy Chase is not always popular with other cast members, guest host comedian George Carlin could not be relied upon in any way to not swear – or worse – on live tv and everyone seems to delight in poking the person from Standards and Practices, essentially the censor.

The film, especially the first half, will make you dizzy. Long unbroken shots follow Lorne as he tries to keep the show on track, snippets of conversation form a background hum of not quite discernible talking. Every five seconds someone is shouting about a delivery, a problem with costume, a phone call, a meeting. It feels exhausting just trying to keep up as the audience how anyone could handle making this film or the tv show behind it is hard to imagine.

The question is repeatedly asked – what is this show? It’s not a sitcom, it’s not a variety show, it’s not a sketch show like Monty Python, there were no stars in the cast and it’s often suggested, sometimes outright stated, nobody wants the show to succeed. When we see glimpses of some of the other things NBC is broadcasting, like the dire variety show The Rumpus Room you can see why SNL would be challenging and surprising. Milton Berle, a superstar from the early days of television whose nickname was Mr Television, hangs around the studios seemingly unimpressed with the show and everyone involved. He is a very concrete symbol of old television or perhaps television just before SNL. In a hugely uncomfortable moment talking to executives, affiliates etc, Lorne Michaels describes it as the first show made by the first generation who grew up on television. As brilliant as previous performers might have been television was a new medium for them.

As well as the various conversations about art, censorship, ambition, etc the film is very funny. Classically trained actor, playwright and opera singer Garrett Morris’ odyssey of trying to work out what his place is in this show, as the only non-white member of the cast he feels out of place and complains about only getting to play hoodlums and pimps – the end of this journey culminates in one of the funniest moments of the film. Nicholas Braun pulls double duty as the oddest of the odd performers Andy Kaufman and loveable puppeteer Jim Henson. Kaufman is never not in character and seems to wander the building not knowing where he is meant to be. Henson’s incredibly gentle demeanour sits uncomfortably with the foul-mouthed cast who also resent working with puppets, and Henson states that the problem is they’re not puppets, they’re co-stars. Which perhaps would not win over cynical comedy writers and performers.

Is It Real?

This is not a documentary. Many events depicted in the film didn’t happen in that way, at that time, in that order. Some didn’t happen at all. However, what Reitman was trying to recreate was the anarchic feeling that seems to have genuinely infused the show, the feeling of being on the very edge of failure but just maybe you could pull it off and do something spectacular. The show was not as unpopular with management as is shown, the cast was not quite as dysfunctional, and early TV legend Milton Berle wasn’t lurking around the set being Milton Berle-y. But the show was expensive, live and untested, who would put that on the air? The cast did have a lot of problems, Chevy Chase and John Belushi did not get along at all and to this day people still talk about how hard Chase is to work with. And Milton Berle did guest-host an early episode of SNL that Lorne Michaels hated.

Saturday Night is a funny and enjoyable film, which will work even better if you are a fan of SNL and American comedy.

Rating: (3 / 5) (3.5 out of 5 if you’re a fan of SNL.)

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Here are a few underrated 70s sci-fi films that we think deserve much more love and why we love them.

The Andromeda Strain

Filmmaker Alex Cox once compared The Andromeda Strain to 2001: A Space Odyssey. A not undeserved comparison. Not only do both contain incredible special effects work from Douglas Trumbull, but they also resist using “cinematic” stars and characterisation for their heroes and focus a lot on the mechanics of the science at play. When this is all paired with a prescient plot about scientists trying to contain a world-ending unknown alien organism that spreads like a disease you have a sci-fi disaster movie that feels much more real than many of its contemporaries.

Ivan Vasilievich Changes His Profession

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of cinematic realism, we have a farcical time-travel comedy. Which in many ways feels like a precursor to the Bill and Ted series. After an inventor creates a time machine he accidentally sends his building manager, Ivan, and a thief back in time to the court of Ivan the Terrible. Funnily enough, Ivan the Terrible is the spitting image of Ivan the Building Manager. So they end up swapping positions. There is some good social satire here about bureaucracy and power. But more than anything this is just a funny slapstick sci-fi comedy. With prior movies like The Time Machine establishing a serious tone around the subject, Ivan Vasilievich is a welcome break. It doesn’t care about paradoxes or plausibility it just picks up its fun premise and runs with it. Which creates an infectious energy you can’t help but be enraptured by.

The Asphyx

Similar in tone to the sci-fi-inflected horror films that came out of the likes of Hammer in the preceding decades, The Asphyx, tells the classic story of a scientist’s (Robert Stephens) search for immortality. What sets it apart is it’s more overt focus on human drama and its unique central premise. Robert Stephens’ and Robert Powell’s performances are really emotionally resonant. Stephens wants to protect his family at all costs, while Powell believes man can’t and shouldn’t control everything. Additionally, the film focuses on the use of steampunk-esque technology to trap spirits that bring death to humans. Not unlike a Victorian Ghostbusters. A wonky but wonderfully entertaining watch.

Space is the Place

Of the movies recommended here, Space is the Place is the most obscure but also the most interesting. An early Afrofuturist film, the narrative follows musician Sun-Ra and his crew, the Arkestra, as they return to Earth having decided to bring African Americans to a new planet he has discovered, using the medium of song. Once back on Earth, he has to deal with scepticism and battle the Overseer to determine what the future will be for African American people. Not everything here works. There is some wooden acting, the writing feels very self-indulgent at times and the lacklustre direction diminishes the power of key narrative moments. However, with an interesting central plot revolving around using sci-fi concepts to mirror and address themes specifically intended for African American audiences, like black empowerment, separatism and self-determination, beautiful design work and a unique blending of styles; music, crime, sci-fi, exploitation and more, Space is the Place is a trailblazing pioneer that everyone should see.

Hopefully, these examples have given you some more great 70s sci-fi to add to your watchlists. But these are just the tip of the iceberg for underrated sci-fi gems. So please use these choices as a jumping-off point to see more from this great period in genre history.

The post Why These 70s Sci-Fi Films Deserve More Attention appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Red Dwarf a British series launched in 1988, orbits around the misadventures of the last human alive and his motley crew aboard a spaceship. Notably, it featured Danny John-Jules as The Cat, a standout character who added a unique flavour to the show’s diverse ensemble. John-Jules’ role was pivotal, showcasing that a sci-fi series could thrive without succumbing to racial stereotypes.

Conversely, Homeboys in Outer Space an American sitcom that aired in 1996, starred comedians Flex Alexander and Darryl Bell. It envisioned two African American astronauts navigating the galaxy, a concept that promised innovation but was marred by execution flaws. Criticized for shallow humour and lack of depth, the show struggled to resonate with an audience expecting more than caricatured portrayals.

The root of Red Dwarf’s enduring appeal lies in its clever scripting and universal humour, transcending racial and cultural divides. The show wasn’t pigeonholed as a “black show” due to its white lead, perhaps aiding its broader acceptance without the pressure of racial representation. On the other hand, “Homeboys in Space” suffered from inadequate writing and an overemphasis on racial humour, failing to engage audiences seeking nuanced comedy.

Furthermore, the difference in audience reception of sci-fi sitcoms between the UK and the US is notable. British viewers have historically embraced offbeat comedies, including those in the sci-fi genre. In contrast, American audiences’ expectations for sitcoms and sci-fi may have been at odds with what Homeboys in Space offered.

Adding to the complexity is the 1990s cultural context. Red Dwarf arrived at a time of British TV experimentation, while Homeboys in Outer Space emerged amidst American television’s grappling with black American representation beyond stereotypes. The show’s failure thus reflects broader cultural challenges in media representation.

“Red Dwarf” and “Homeboys in Outer Space” offer insights into the nuanced relationship between genre, cultural context, and audience expectations. While Red Dwarf succeeded through quality comedy and the transcendence of racial stereotypes, Homeboys in Outer Space faltered, hindered by its writing and the burden of racial representation. Their stories serve as a guide for future sci-fi comedies, highlighting the importance of thoughtful writing, character development, and cultural sensitivity.

Also Read: Decoding Iconic Sci-Fi Movie Posters: A Journey Through Cinema History

The post Space, Satire, and Society: Tracing the Trajectories of “Red Dwarf” and “Homeboys in Outer Space” appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Liselotte Vanophem (Big Picture Film Club): Congrats on the film!

Charlotte Regan (writer/director Scrapper): Thank you so much.

LV: It was just announced that the film is going to Edinburgh, to the Edinburgh Film Festival. How does it feel?

CR: It’s very cool! It’s very exciting. I love Edinburgh, so it would be nice to be a part of it, for sure.

LV: How did it feel when the Sundance Film Festival London said, “we want your film as the opening film”. Opening a festival must feel even more special than ‘only’ being selected.

CR: Being part of the Sundance Film Festival London and the Sundance community feels super cool. I try not to think about it too much, though. But it’s very cool. I feel very lucky, for sure.

LV: The casting of this movie is amazing, especially the children who are making their film debut. How did you find them?

CR: Oh, our casting director, Shaheen Baig, is incredible. She was a massive part of the search. And it was just a really long search. It took like two years because we were meant to shoot the year before, but because of COVID19, we had to push it back. We went to a lot of schools, and we’re being sent hundreds of tapes of young people. But from the moment we got Lola her tape, we knew that she was like magic. And then Alin came to an audition, and he’s the most charismatic 12-year-old you’ll ever meet in your life. So straight away, we knew we had two great kids on our hands.

LV: When and how did Harris Dickinson join the cast? The relationship between his character Jason and Lola’s Georgie is incredible.

CR: I’ve worked with Harris before when we worked on a short film a few years ago. I know him from that. I also love all the work that he’s done. All his films are incredible. He’s an amazing guy. He was cast the traditional way. We cast the young people first, or we intended to. Maybe we didn’t properly lock them in, but we looked for the kids first before looking for a Jason, just because I felt like the kids needed to come first and then Jason. Harris read for it and was just amazing, you know. He was also very selfless and knew how to support the kids whilst always giving a great performance.

LV: Where did the story for this film come from? Was it something that happened to you personally, something you have seen, etc.?

CR: I think a mix of everything for sure. There are people that I recognize within the film. People from the joyful working-class community that I grew up in. But beyond that, it’s not something that happened to me personally. The story evolved over time.

 LV: This is the first movie you wrote and directed by yourself instead of having co-directors/co-writers. How was that process?

CR: It was a lot of sitting on your own, writing, which I’m not a big fan of. I like to be with people to talk about things. I worked with my producer Theo on this, who is one of my best friends in the world, and we’ve worked together for a long time. There was that ‘family’ vibe. My production designer Elena was one of my best friends in school, and we’ve known each other since we were 12. My DP Molly is one of my best friends. It felt very much like a family-orientated shoot. They came on board very early and were always willing to talk creatively, which helped. Theo in particular, has sat with me for days and days, writing the script with me and saying the dialogue out loud. He was my partner through the whole process, for sure.

LV: There are a lot of emotional moments in this film. What was the most emotional one for you?

CR: I don’t know, really. I don’t feel that emotional on set, weirdly. I don’t know why. I probably try not to. However, when I watch it back, I love the bit where they are dancing together, and they finally connect just because she’s been so reluctant to let him in. So I love that moment. However, on the day of filming, I didn’t feel very emotional about it. I was probably blurring it out on purpose. I was probably tired and drinking too much coffee.

LV: And what do you hope that the audience will take away from this film?

CR: I hope it makes people laugh and smile. I suppose that is what I love about watching cinema. Movies are experiences that make you leave feeling lighter than when you went in. Something that makes you laugh or brings you a bit of joy. And then I hope that it captures how much joy and humour there is in working-class environments because I feel like it’s not something we get to see loads on screen.

LV: Is that experience also why you went into filmmaking?

CR: I don’t know. I think I got lucky with the film so I think it’s more luck. I don’t know if I would be good at anything else.

LV: Do you already have other projects you’re working on

CR: Yes, I’m writing films at the minute and just filmed an Apple show called The Buccaneers. It’s a period drama. One of the films I’m writing is a psychological horror about a gangster. It’s a totally different genre than this one.

LV: Scraper has a release at the end of August in the UK (25^th of August, to be exact). Are there any plans for releasing it in other countries?

CR: I think it releases on the same day in the U.S. I think I’ll be working on another shoot then, so might not be able to make it to promote it there.

LV: Well, good luck with Scrapper and your other projects!

CR: Thanks a lot!

Scrapper is screened on the 7th of July during the Sundance Film Festival London and has a nationwide release on the 25th of August.

Also Read: Review: Scrapper

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The post Inside the Heart of ‘Scrapper’: An Interview with Groundbreaking Director Charlotte Regan appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

No child should have to grow up alone

Georgie (Campbell) lives alone in a flat on the outskirts of London. Her mother just died from an undescribed disease, and it’s clear that Georgie is still grieving, which is completely understandable. Her estranged father Jason (Harris Dickinson) has been MIA for almost her entire life, so Georgie has no choice but to take care of herself. Instead of attending school, she and her friend Ali (Alin Uzun) spend their time stealing and selling bikes to get cash. Georgie is determined and resourceful as she’s been misleading the social services with the help of a local shop owner, a few audio recordings and an ‘uncle’ named Winston Churchill. Georgie knows this situation is unsustainable. To find some peace, quiet and hope, she goes into a room to lie in front of a scrap pile (hence the title).

One day her life is changed completely when Jason comes leaping through her garden one day. He has heard about what happened to her mother and wants to help Georgie. However, there’s a reason why he hasn’t been part of her life. Jason still hasn’t come to terms with growing up and becoming a father, so how do you expect someone like him to care for a young girl already on the wrong path? Will they be able to reconnect and save themselves?

Stunning performances by the newcomers!

While this plotline about the estranged father-daughter relationship feels very familiar due to Aftersun, released last year, Scrapper still has a lot of uniqueness to offer. The main reason why you should see this movie is the stunning standout performance by newcomer Campbell. During our interview with Regan, she mentioned that she was the perfect Georgie right from the start of Campbell’s audition, and we certainly agree with her. Campbell perfectly balances Georgie’s rough-tough side and her vulnerability, and her comedic timing is top-notch. While she shares the screen with Dickinson, she could have easily carried this film herself through the end.

Dickinson, who’s on a roll after releasing Triangle of Sadness, See How They Run, and Where The Crawdads Sing all last year, is perfect as Jason. He gives his character the mysterious vibe he needs (Georgie initially thought that her father was clearly out for something) but also shows us that no matter how long you’ve been out of each other’s lives, the father-daughter connection is never completely broken. The chemistry between Campbell and Dickinson spat off the screen, making the relationship between Georgie and her father feels very authentic. We also have to congratulate Uzun on his stunning debut performance as the loyal friend who’s certainly not immune to Georgie’s wit and mischief.

Smooth editing and soft cinematography with a few flaws

Visual-wise, Regan uses many different aspects and techniques. She mainly relies on the ‘traditional’ way of filming a drama. Long, emotional scenes that have no background score whatsoever. The main focus is the characters and their feelings. To make sure that the movie doesn’t become monotone, she also decides to include the comedic testimonials of people in Georgie’s life—think of her teacher, school enemies, and social workers – about her grieving process and way of living. Regan also speeds up some scenes for dramatic effects and sometimes swaps the smooth editing for jagged cuts. While those aspects sometimes feel a bit out of place, the overall visuals perfectly fit the storyline. The score mainly consists of hip-hop and rap music, giving this movie that ‘in the hood’ vibe.

A heartbreaking movie about grief, maturation and family

Despite some distracting visual choices, Scrapper stands extremely strong throughout its 84 minutes runtime. The heartbreaking story of grief, maturation, (dis)trust and family comes to life stunningly thanks to the great sense of humour, outstanding performances and excellent chemistry.

Rating: (4 / 5)

Scrapper is screened on the 7th of July during the Sundance Film Festival London and has a nationwide release on the 25th of August.

Also Read: Fry-Up (Directed by Charlotte Regan) | Short Snacks #13

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Bewitched tells the story of domestic housewife, Samantha Stephens, who reveals to her husband that she’s a witch. Hilarity ensues as Samantha attempts to live an ordinary life while hiding her extraordinary secret. The show’s humor lies in its ability to find situations for the characters where magic both creates and solves problems. The iconic characters bring the show’s unique premise and humor to life, and make it one of the most memorable sitcoms in history.

Samantha Stephens

Elizabeth Montgomery’s portrayal of Samantha Stephens, a witch hiding her secret from the mortal world, charmed fans and critics alike during Bewitched’s eight-season run. Montgomery portrays Samantha as a sweet, sensible woman who loves her husband. Despite Samantha’s promise to her husband that she will live as a mortal, she often uses magic, which wreaks havoc. Much of the show’s humor derives from Samantha’s attempts to clean up her magical messes before her secret is uncovered. Although her best intentions often go awry, Samantha is a strong, independent problem-solver who looks for ways to resolve conflicts and stand up for the people she loves. Her signature nose-twitch each time she cast a spell cues the audience that magical hilarity is on the way.

Darrin Stephens

Darrin Stephens is Samantha’s mortal husband, who finds out Samantha’s secret on their honeymoon. Initially shocked by the revelation, Darrin asks his wife to live as a mortal without using magic. Darrin is a loyal husband, and his tolerance for magic and Samantha’s zany relatives relaxes as the series progresses. Darrin works at an advertising firm, where he works hard to hide his wife’s talent for witchcraft from his boss, Larry Tate. Dick York originated the role for seasons one through five but had to leave the show because of health issues. Dick Sargent took over the role in the show’s fifth season until the end of the series. 

Endora

Endora is Samantha’s mother, portrayed by Hollywood legend, Agnes Moorehead. Endora is a quick-witted, powerful witch with a theatrical personality. Endora dislikes mortals, especially her son-in-law, Darrin. She takes every opportunity to diminish Darrin, often referring to him by names like Darwin and Durwood. Their back-and-forth squabbles provide a lot of the show’s humor. She often notes historical figures she’s met throughout her life, like Julius Caesar and Helen of Troy. Moorehead portrays Endora as a doting mother who adores Samantha, but often meddles in the affairs of mortals with her magic. She bemoans Samantha’s choice to repress her magic and encourages her daughter to embrace her witchcraft. 

Tabitha Stephens

Tabitha Stephens is Darrin and Samantha’s only daughter. Born during the show’s second season, she displays an early talent for witchcraft, much to Endora’s delight. As Tabitha grows up on the show, she is a strong-willed, playful, empathetic witch. Tabitha enjoys using her magic, much to her father’s chagrin. While several baby actresses shared the role of Tabitha in the show’s early seasons, she is most notably portrayed by Erin Murphy. 

Gladys Kravitz

Gladys Kravitz, portrayed first by Alice Pearce (1964-1966) and later by Sandra Gould (1966-1971) is the Stephens’ nosy neighbor. Gladys constantly peers over her fence, spying on the Stephens. She has suspicions about the Stephens and the strange things she witnesses. Gladys’ husband, Abner, provides a foil to his wife’s extreme nosiness by staying out of his neighbors’ business and criticizing Gladys’ outlandish theories about the Stephens family. Gladys adds to the show’s comedy because she witnesses Samantha’s magic, but no one ever believes her. 

Also Read: Why We Are In A (New) Golden Age of Fantasy Television

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The film was a box office success and received critical acclaim in India, but we at Big Picture Film Club think it deserves a little more love internationally. Mild spoilers ahead;

The Story and Characters

There’s an old saying; nothing is new under the sun. Contemporary film is littered with remakes and retellings of old stories. Now, this is one of the very few times when I can say this; I have never seen this story told before.

The film begins with a young boy planting a mango seed. He digs it up to check on it multiple times and is frutrated that it won’t sprout. Cut to the present day. Pradeep is a young man who spends his savings to buy his girlfriend, Nikitha, a new smartphone. He waxes poetic about how close they are and how they know everything about each other. Due to the social stigma around dating, Nikitha lies to her strict father about where she got the phone.

Unfortunately, her father still finds out. Pradeep has to formally introduce himself to Nikitha’s father as a suitor for marriage. The old man shocks them with a strange condition; he will allow them to marry only if they exchange phones for a day. Their seemingly perfect relationship begins to fall apart at the seams as both their secrets come to light. Then, an unexpected third party throws a wrench into the already collapsing structure.

The Characters

The characters were all multi-dimensional and it was enjoyable to peel back each layer as the film progressed. No one was exactly whom they seemed to be. I applaud the moving subplot and stellar acting from the entire cast. Personally, I did not appreciate the focus on Nikitha’s purity. The moment that this sexual “purity” came into question, her community cast her to the dogs. Her reputation only survived once the accusation was proved to be false. On the other hand, most of Pradeep’s questionable behaviour was swept aside. The film holds women to the same impossible standards as hundreds of years ago.

The Visuals and Sound

The special effects in this film are impeccable. This is clear from the opening scene which shows each step of a smartphone being manufactured from with beautiful clarity. There was good visual storytelling, like the scene of the boy (later revealed to be Pradeep) planting a mango seed. The symbolism stood out to me. Nothing can truly grow, whether a seed or love, unless you leave it alone and trust that it will sprout. A lot of effort was taken to build up to the main story, even with a modest budget.

I appreciated the combination of more traditional shots, like the warm scenes of the couple sitting side-by-side on the beach, with the contemporary scenes of face timing, conference calls and scrolling through apps. The film featured mostly traditional Indian sounds complimented by techno-beats whenever the momentum picked up.

Before I Blab on for Too Long,

Pick up the remote and try this memorable rom-com. With heavy themes of gender roles, social expectations and just how dangerous (or liberating) technology can really be, the moral conclusions of this movie are up for debate. However, the high production quality cannot be denied and the comedic aspects are easy to appreciate. To the viewer, it really begs the question; how well do you really know the people you love?

Also Read: Netflix Hidden Gems: The Girl in the Yellow Jumper

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The Premise of the Show

The creators of GMD are Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade (they took the show to the Edinburgh Festival and won the Perrier Award), who also star in it. It is essentially a tv show within a tv show, a supposedly resurrected 1980s horror show set in a hospital on the gates of Hell.

Matthew Holness played famous, successful (but perhaps terrible) horror writer Garth Marenghi. He has written a ridiculous number of bad books and made one tv show – Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, which Channel 4 were releasing amidst a drought of other TV programmes. Each episode starts with an introduction by Marenghi and throughout the show it will cut to Marenghi and other cast members talking about the making of the show. GMD is awash with glaring continuity errors, horrific acting and awful SFX.

The Cast

Matthew Holness plays Garth Marenghi playing Dr. Rick Dagless – Due to the size of Marenghi’s ego he not only wrote, directed and produced GMD, but he also starred in it. Dr Rick Dagless is an unconventional doctor, not only riding around the hospital in a golf cart and carrying a huge revolver and dabbling in the dark arts.

Richard Ayoade plays Dean Learner playing Thornton Reed – Dean Learner is Marenghi’s publisher and was involved in the production of GMD, a well-dressed, womanising idiot who cannot act. When playing hospital administrator Reed, Learner is unable to talk to other actors, delivers incredibly stilted dialogue and can’t work telephones. It is probably the best example of an actor doing intentionally bad acting in the history of acting.

Alice Lowe plays Madeline Wool playing Dr. Liz Asher – Comedy and horror superstar Lowe plays Madeline Wool, the only main cast member we don’t have commentary from as she, in the words of Dean Learner, is “missing and presumed dead, with the emphasis heavily on dead”. Liz is actually the first character in the show, looking for a job at Darkplace Hospital, and despite being a highly qualified doctor is regularly dismissed by the other characters. Liz bursts into tears and instantly her face is covered in running mascara, has various telekinetic and psychic powers, and graduated from Harvard College Yale, aced every semester and got an A.

Matt Berry plays Todd Rivers playing Dr. Lucien Sanchez – Berry has gone on to great heights but this was essentially his first part, which Holness and Ayoade had to fight for him to get. Todd Rivers is the only proper actor of the three cast members who provide commentary, nearly always seen with a drink in his hand and a misguided view of his own acting. Dr. Lucien Sanchez is a charming if buffoonish character, he knows some manner of martial arts (as he regularly breaks out into a karate stance) and is the possessor of the best hair on the ward.

The Show

In classic British sitcom style, one of the greatest sitcoms ever has a grand total of six episodes. Now dealing with the actual storylines – Darkplace Hospital is built on a portal to Hell and so weird stuff happens. People explode for no reason, doctors have Carrie-esque attacks of supervillainy and we learn broccoli is from space. A lot of the comedy comes from the “badness” of the show, the glaring continuity errors like Reed holding a bloody shovel one minute to a coffee cup the next and then back to shovel, the dialogue “I’ve got two words for you – tele kinesis”, the acting (which usually lands on Reed) and absurd outbreaks of action. There are a lot of guns on the ward, Marenghi has a revolver, Reed a shotgun and Sanchez has two pistols, a normal-sized one and a smaller one on his ankle which he uses to shoot the first one.

The Commentary

The episodes are broken up with regular interview segments from Margenhi, Learner and Rivers, sometimes interviewed together, sometimes separately. In these moments we learn about how the show was made and the bizarreness of the characters. In terms of production, we learn that it was mainly filmed in a garage, that the amount of slow motion in the show is because the episodes were running too short that anything without dialogue was considered for slow motion and that Marenghi wears lifts in his shoes and claims to be six feet tall. But perhaps the best moments of the whole are learning about these people and their ideas, often their ideas about themselves, Marenghi’s ideas on writing are fantastically funny, proudly saying he’s written more books than he’s read, and clearly considers himself to be a genius of the highest order. Any glimpse we get into Learner’s sketchy life is fascinating and occasionally troubling, his description of his job as a publisher is certainly illuminating, with decisions like does that book cover have enough skulls on? Or adding punctuation to Marenghi’s books but “not semi-colons; this isn’t Joyce,” or even making the paper thicker to make the book seem longer. Todd Rivers seems to have a life of a barely successful actor with a lot of bitterness towards the acting community, audiences and even his GMD colleagues.

Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace is like many cult classics cancelled too soon in that its cast go on to do more amazing, more famous work. Alice Lowe has been a comedy mainstay for years as well as starring in, and directing, a number of horror films, including Prevenge – the only serial killer revenge film where the killer is heavily pregnant. Richard Ayoade has made other shows as well as writing books and making films – Submarine and The Double are both great, as well as somehow becoming the host of The Crystal Maze (something which Dean Learner cites as a classic show that has come and gone). Matt Berry has starred in a number of classic tv shows in Britain, as well as most recently starring in What We Do In The Shadows. Matthew Holness probably has kept the lowest profile but did make the terrifying horror film Possum.

So with the release of a new Marenghi book now is the perfect time to seek out this brilliant comedy.

Also Read: The Ingredients Of A Cult Classic

Also Read: Matthew Holness: Possum, The New Silent Horror

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Watch the full interview

Also Read: How The Wayans Family Redefined The Spoof Comedy Film

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What’s It About?

The recently released short film His Sickled Journey, serves as both an educational short film highlighting an important medical condition and also a great romantic comedy about two people finding love. Written by Phil Ossai (who also directed the film) & David Ajayi (who plays the co-lead, Femi), His Sickled Journey follows Femi & Chanice’s (played by Vivienne Iseobor) blossoming relationship as Femi has he understands more about his partner’s condition. The short film does a great job of highlighting the seriousness of Sickle Cell Disease, whilst providing moments of comic relief and a loving story that make the film approachable for teenage audiences. As a result, it is available free to watch on YouTube via Million Youth Media.

What’s Sickle Cell Disease?

Sickle cell is a disorder of the haemoglobin in the red blood cells.
Haemoglobin is the substance in red blood cells that is responsible for the colour of the cell and for carrying oxygen around the body. The condition can only be inherited, providing that both parents have the sickle cell gene.

The main symptoms of sickle cell disorder are anaemia and episodes of severe pain. Pain occurs when the cells change shape after oxygen has been released. The red blood cells then stick together, causing blockages in the small blood vessels.

These painful episodes are referred to as sickle cell crises. They are treated with strong painkillers such as morphine to control the pain.

There are an estimated 15,000 people in the U.K currently with the condition, with many more being carriers of gene carriers. In the U.K., the black community is disproportionately affected, with up to 1 in 4 people of West African descent being carriers of the gene, and 1 in 10 people from Caribbean backgrounds having the gene.

You can watch His Sickled Journey on YouTube below.

Also Read: Flatshare: The Comedy Drama Web Series For Generation Rent

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Sci-Fi: Crimes Of The Future

In Crimes of the Future pain is mostly a thing of the past because of implied evolution. And some people are now able to grow extra organs. But others have evolved further, now being able to eat and digest plastics along with other undigestable materials. Something which the government wants to suppress. Featuring such intriguing concepts as theatrical live organ transplants, human bodily evolution to adapt to a decaying world and surgery being so commonplace it is considered “the new sex”, David Cronenberg’s return to body horror encourages much discussion thanks to the many thought-provoking ideas that populate this fascinating world.

Comedy Action: Everything Everywhere All At Once

When the year started everyone wanted to see how Doctor Strange’s sequel would showcase the creative possibilities of the multiverse. But Everything Everywhere All At Once managed to capture viewer adoration more. And it used the multiverse concept as an excuse to showcase a number of creative and hilarious ideas. Including using technology to access skills possessed by different versions of oneself in the multiverse, showcasing a diverse array of parallel worlds that feature such great ideas as humans having sausages for fingers, humans being controlled by raccoons, and the main characters becoming rocks and an apocalyptic doomsday device made from a snack. All of which was accomplished on a $25 million budget. 8 times less than Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Showing that the multiverse has such big creative potential even smaller productions can use it to showcase fantastic ideas.

Thriller: Fall

Movies primarily based around one location are nothing new. Fall however bases its central plot around two friends scaling up and then trying to get down from a 2000-foot-high TV tower. This conceit not only provides a thrilling setting for most of its action but allows for a constantly high amount of tension to be present even during mundane scenes. This is thanks to the high winds at such heights and the small surface area not providing many opportunities for respite. Plus being up so high provides great explanations for common problems viewers have with many of these thrillers. Such as why don’t the protagonists just call for help? High-altitude thrillers are always a guaranteed source of tension. And the conceit to set one atop such a thin, high structure paid off.

Horror: Hatching

Hatching concerns a child facing incredible pressure from her mother. She subsequently takes care of an egg which eventually hatches into a monstrous creature. It then begins taking on more of the girl’s likeness and violently acting out. Hatching’s central idea is a perfect allegory for how abusive parental pressure negatively impacts and shapes children. The creature acts as a great metaphor for the child’s mental health. Demonstrating once again that horror is a perfect genre for using creative ideas to address bigger issues.

Action: Prey

How do you revive interest in the predator franchise when only the first one is universally considered a good film? You go back to the series’ roots, having the predator attack a group of people in a sparsely populated area while offering something new by setting the film in the 1700s. The era of colonial expansion. This conceit of placing the technologically futuristic predator during this era instantly stacks the odds against our main characters and provokes discussion of colonialism and power. Additionally, the film gives us diverse, fully-rounded indigenous protagonists, and centralizes their voices in depictions of their cultural history. Instead of having them act in service of someone else’s story.

These were just a small sampling of creative ideas that we got to see this year. So please make sure to let us know any creative movies you particularly gravitated towards. And let’s hope 2023 continues to provide us with more genius film ideas.

Also Read: The Impact: How Dozens of Filmmakers Around The World Crowd-Created A Film About The Apocalypse

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Having premiered at the 2021 Raindance Film Festival in the U.K, surreal comedy, All Sorts is now available on VOD.

About All Sorts

All Sorts tells the story of Diego, played by Eli Vargas (You, Me and Dupree, Arrested Development), a lonely data entry clerk desperate for a job, excitement, and even love. New on the job at a strange company, where paperclips come to life, employees literally get lost inside filing cabinets, and the boss accidentally fires himself, he meets an incredibly fast folder filer named June, played by Korean actress Greena Park (The Comedown, Family from Tang). Together, the two embark on a wildly unexpected office adventure that takes them deep into the underground world of championship folder filing.​ “This isn’t just a movie for lovers of off-beat office comedies,” said Producer Laura Reich.

“The film is a very positive story about love, friendship, and finding magic in a dim, drab place. The aim is to get people to look at their world in a different way.”

– Writer/ Director, J. Rick Castañeda

All Sorts is now available worldwide on Video on Demand platforms

Also Read: Severance & The Return Of Office Working

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Also Read: Six Underrated Movie Sequels

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That’s a problem that’s been solved by the year 2045 according to BigBug. Robots are everywhere, from serving food and drinks, maid duties, babysitting, brainteasers and… other things.

Welcome To The World Of Tomorrow

Bigbug wastes no time in introducing its cast and world. Alice (Elsa Zylberstein) is being visited by her boyfriend Max (Stephane De Groodt) and his son Leo (Helie Thonnat). Her ex-husband, Victor (Youssef Hajdi) and his new, younger fiance Jennifer (Claire Chust) drop off daughter Nina (Marysole Fertard). Nosy neighbour Francoise (Isabelle Nanty) also comes over, just as the militaristic Yonyx androids stage a coup and takeover. Looking to protect their masters, Alice’s household assistants – including Monique (Claude Perron), a maid/servant humanoid robot, and Einstein (Andre Dussolier), a brain-teasing bust of the famous scientist – lock them inside for safety. As the unhappy family try to escape, the robots wonder if they too can be human

Combining a robot uprising, with a sex comedy, as well as questions like “what does it mean to be human?” is a strange mix, to say the least. Less strange is the mixture of 1950s suburbia with futuristic technology. Anyone who’s a fan of the Fallout series of videogames will recognise the retro-future setting. This is a world where robot servants, make us drinks, clean the house and babysit our children. Temperature and the TV channel can be changed just by speaking to your house, and a giant floating billboard listens in to your conversations with helpful product suggestions.

The Perfect Nuclear Family

While the world outside seems interesting, we don’t see much of it, only glimpsing it through the TV screen (perhaps there’s a metaphor there). Instead, the focus is on the dysfunctional family trapped together. The key to a character-focused piece like this is the relationship between each character. While some of them are trying to establish relationships with each other, others are meeting for the first time. Alice and Max are constantly trying to slip away for some alone time, Victor and Jennifer are missing their wedding, and Nina and Leo are getting to know each other. Neighbour Francoise also has a paramour, her malfunctioning “exercise” robot.

As separate story strands, these all work rather well together and does lead to some funny moments. However, they don’t really interact with each other. The characters don’t really interact with each other outside of these pairings or as an ensemble. The sole exception is Francoise, who constantly ends up in the wrong room or inviting herself into a conversation. It’s odd that Nina never has a meaningful interaction with her mother for example, or even has an opinion on her new man. The film tries to juggle many different elements, but most of them feel underused. The robot’s struggle to become human suffers the most, with its conclusion feeling very disappointing and unearned. This is a shame, as the robots look excellent and have fun personalities.

Verdict

While it has some wonderful robot designs and a kooky, interesting world, the characters that live in aren’t all that interesting. The film bounces from genre to genre but none of it really sticks and not all of it fits together particularly well. It’s an admirable attempt to tackle some big questions, but it often seems unfocused. It has some humorous moments, but it might have been better if it stuck to a few fewer plot threads or a few fewer characters. There’s fun to be found here and a great premise, but everything outside is much more interesting.

Rating: (3 / 5)

Also Read: Netflix Horror Movie Written Entirely Using Artificial Intelligence

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About On The Other Foot

Meet racist Billy Pitcher…. He just woke up BLACK! Billy Pitcher … a London cab driver, a devout football fan and an out and out racist. He’s an overprotective family man pushing his white supremacist agenda on all those around him. When his daughter, who doesn’t agree with any of his views, starts dating a black man it tips him over the edge. She makes a deal with her father to attend one of his ‘Keep Britain White’ meetings if he agrees to attend her partner’s African church. It happens that he attends on the day of ‘UMBADEHDEH’, a spiritual ritual where dreams or nightmares can come true and Billy wakes up the next morning inside a black person’s body. What follows is a hilarious comedic journey with an intelligent narrative as he discovers first-hand what it’s like to be Black in today’s society and why the world is screaming ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’!

Also Read: How The Wayans Family Redefined The Spoof Comedy Film

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Synopsis

Former police officer turned bounty hunter Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) is offered $100,000 to retrieve mob accountant Jonathan Mardukas (Charles Grodin) when he skips bail. Unfortunately, rival bounty hunter Marvin Dorfler (John Ashton), FBI agent Alonzo Mosely (Yaphet Kotto), and mob boss Jimmy Serrano (Dennis Farina), and his cronies are also after Jonathan. With his deadline being midnight in five days can Walsh get Jonathan from New York to Los Angeles in time to claim his reward? And can they make it there alive?

What Did I Like?

This film’s writing is its biggest strength. George Gallo’s script contains many brilliant comedic and dramatic moments. Like when Jack reveals why he quit the police force or when he and Jonathan steal money from a bar by pretending to be FBI agents. The main thing that makes everything work though is the interesting, distinct characters at the story’s centre. Everyone here feels unique because of their motivations, personal histories, and the way they speak. Which makes the narrative feel more alive than your typical action-comedy.

This is further helped by great performances. Unsurprisingly Robert De Niro is outstanding as Jack. De Niro makes him feel like a character who really knows the rough side of life. Charles Grodin is also compelling as the quiet accountant who slowly becomes more daring. But it’s Midnight Run’s supporting cast that truly shines. Actors like Joe Pantoliano, John Ashton, Yaphet Kotto, Richard Foronjy, and Robert Miranda all get big laugh-out-loud moments. However, the standout is Dennis Farina whose every malicious line as Jimmy Serrano is solid gold.

Lastly, the production has a lot to appreciate. Danny Elfman’s atmospheric and exciting score is incredibly underrated. With the main theme being a quintessential 1980s action backing track. And the directing really enhances the action. Whether that be through the fantastic incorporation of the actors with practical effects. The camera’s placement alongside the performers during stunts. Or things as simple as lingering on the character’s reaction to pain. It all gives the action more weight and increases the suspense by investing the audience in our lead’s safety.

What Did I Not Like?

The movie doesn’t start out strong. We are introduced to Jack by watching him transport Monroe Bouchet (John Toles-Bey) to prison where the police are incredibly hostile towards him. It feels quite meanspirited. Considering other criminals are depicted more humanely Monroe’s treatment seems out of place. It’s definitely not the best way to introduce the main character. The film’s beginning is also largely quite boring. With the characters initially feeling like tired archetypes reciting exposition (though they later become more vibrant). Which also makes much of the early comedy falter.

Furthermore, while the movie is generally funny not all the jokes land. This is because some of the jokes just consist of characters swearing or shouting rather than using comedic timing or build-up to create humour. 

Additionally, some plot elements feel lazy or unnecessary. This is particularly true regarding the inclusion of Jack’s estranged family. The mentioning of Jack’s family illustrates how far away he is from his previous life. But their physical inclusion only acts as a cheap way to elicit further audience sympathy. And the duo being forced off the plane because of Jonathan’s panic attack seems hugely contrived. Especially considering how Jack routinely knocks people out. It feels like a very forced progression of events. Which can take some out of the experience.

Verdict

Although its opening has several issues, some parts feel unneeded or lazy and not all the comedy hits its mark, Midnight Run is still thoroughly enjoyable. This is thanks to its mostly great writing, which gives every character a distinct personality and has some inspired moments of both comedy and drama, the fantastic performances, particularly by the supporting players, an underrated soundtrack, and well-directed action. It’s definitely a run worth taking.

Rating: (3.5 / 5)

Also Read: The Best Action Films of the Decade (2010 – 2019)

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Although ‘Scary Movie’ was released to mixed reviews in 2000, it nevertheless became a cultural phenomenon. Written by Shawn and Marlon Wayans, and directed by the eldest Wayans, Keenan, they took the world’s collective love/hate relationship of the heavily cliched horror genre and put all of our thoughts and observations to page and screen. Girl falls while running through the woods? Check. Friends mysteriously dying while the cops do nothing? Check. Reckless teenagers kicking the whole thing off by having sex and driving drunk? Check and check. The brilliance of this film is just how unoriginal it is. But somehow still innovative.

Don’t Call Me Shirley

Before the Wayans family tried their hand at it, the reigning King of Spoofs was Leslie Nielsen. Responsible for at least a decade of laughs, Nielsen starred in several parody films, including ‘Airplane!’, ‘Naked Gun’, and ‘Repossessed’. He even had a role in several of the ‘Scary Movie’ sequels, and a Wayans style spoof of his own called ‘Superhero Movie’, bringing his career comedy career full circle.

This brings me to my next point: Even though Neilsen— and before him, Mel Brooks (History of the World, Blazing Saddles)— made his living churning out a seemingly endless line of spoof films, there’s a distinct difference with the Wayans: Style.

Before ‘Scary Movie’ hit the scene, and changed the way spoofs were made for the past two decades, parody films were exactly that— Films. Yes, there were lots of jokes per page, some obvious and sophomoric, some hilariously clever and well-planned, but the films all had one distinct protagonist and a clear character arc. Some of the scenes and tone of the film were reminiscent of the movies they wanted to mock, but even without having seen any of those films, you could still get the joke.

The Wayans approach was both direct and obscure: Ensemble casts, no character arcs, no distinct story, just spitfire jokes, that you can only really appreciate if you are a die-hard fan of that genre and pop culture in general. The jokes were more simplistic but just made them more accessible. And since several of their films were built off of “in the know” in-jokes, it had the effect of making you feel cool and special each time you “got” a joke.

In a way, the Wayans Bros spoofs— ‘Scary Movie’, ‘50 Shades of Black’, etc. amalgamated the best and the worst of all the movies we love, hate, and love to hate. Even one of their first films, ‘I’m gonna get you, Sucka’, was a spoof of Black-sploitation films of the 1970s. Over their career, they have systematically tackled various genres, with none out of reach: Horror, Romance, Dance, Superhero… The works.

The question I’m left with is: Will they remain the Kings of Parody for decades to come? Or will someone reinvent their reinvention? Only time will tell.

Also Read: For Your Consideration: Comedy, Sci-Fi & Oscar Snubs

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As stand-up comedy goes, Burnham, like other comedians such as Bill Bailey, Hall and Oates, or the late, great Victoria Wood, has always used well-written parody songs that are keenly focused on the ways in which our modern times are fucking us up. Inside is a significant step forward. Made in the isolation of the pandemic which, Burnham admits, had profoundly negative effects on his mental health, the special dissects our world, which is increasingly spiralling towards destruction, and it feels like something very new; totally personal and wholly political.

When I think about the comedy I watched a child, that inoffensive four-quadrant comedy, the kind that fills arenas or primetime slots on a Saturday night, I wonder if there’s much interest in that now. Of course, it’s still a booming industry, and a lot of the more, shall we say, “classic” comedians still release DVDs in time for Christmas, but they don’t have the cultural relevancy they used to. As a kid, jokes by comedians like Peter Kay, Jimmy Carr, or Michael McIntyre bled into the lexicon of my family and friends, onto the playground too, but that doesn’t seem to happen anymore. Instead, that type of comedy gives way to smaller, more intimate, hybrid pieces of work that blur the lines between humour, cultural criticism and memoir. Of course, this type of work isn’t new, but it has become increasingly more impactful.

As the poet Cathy Park Hong points out in her essay on stand up, most of what comedians say, when written down in front of you, isn’t funny; it is, in fact, all about the delivery. Indeed, to read Burnham’s lyrics to “Welcome to the Internet” is like reading a very depressing rhyming poem, but to see him perform it with a manic grin and the gusto of the ringleader to a dying circus desperate for your custom gives it all an eerie feeling that you can’t help but laugh at. Elsewhere, during Inside, Burnham flits between more cultural commentary, including two short songs on the billionaire and real-life supervillain Jeffery Bezos, the ethical implications of hiring unpaid interns, and how certain American white women use Instagram. For other songs, he moves into more personal territory, like in “All Eyes On Me”, which explains his five-year break from comedy due to panic attacks, or “Problematic”, in which he unpacks his history as a comedian that cut his teeth on the internet and all of the questionable things he’s joked about.

Burnham isn’t the only comedian excelling in the more personal realm, though. I recently re-watched Jenny Slate’s 2019 special Stage Fright, which Rachel Syme, for The New Yorker, described as “not so much an hour of punch lines (though it has plenty)” but rather “a daffy window into Slate’s influences and anxieties and appetites, a way to show viewers exactly where she came from.” Slate’s special indeed runs deeply personal; she includes interviews with her parents, sisters, and grandparents about their upbringing and the house they lived in. At the same time, her final run of jokes revolves around her attempts to rebuild herself following her divorce. Slate’s special is intensely personal and earnest, yet it doesn’t aim for the same cultural target as something like Inside. Instead, Stage Fright manages to say a lot about women in Hollywood, depression, and anxiety without going for the jugular. For example, she critiques what it means to be a woman, and, to quote Syme again, when she tries on her grandmother’s old clothes in one documentary section, she magnifies “the push-pull tensions that come with loving clothes while also wanting to reject the male gaze or the need to conform to any specific beauty standard.”

This seeming shift in comedy, away from that universal observation (“Hey, what’s the deal with aeroplane food?”) and into examining a more particular milieu of what it means just to be alive in what feels like the end of days is difficult to pin down. Might it be sensible to assume this shift comes as a response to an attack on comedy? It’s certainly possible. In post-Trump, post- #MeToo world, the peddled image of so-called “edgy” comedians being rounded up in a witch hunt, the reprobates – your Cosbys and C.Ks – being banished (well, kind of…) is used to mark the death of comedy. Often these jokes are marred by stereotypes or broad generalisations, which comedians like Burnham and Slate avoid. Yet, for the most part, the best comedians have adjusted to this new reality, have stuck to the golden rule of comedy, and continue to “punch up”. The shift into more personal work that ties politics to experience is certainly less “preachy” than standing on a stage and shouting your opinions. It feels more considered than generalising jokes about how wives put up with their husbands, how girlfriends nag and don’t want sex. Still, it doesn’t feel like these comedians are actively running away from it because they’re scared; it simply doesn’t interest them. 

Instead, they’re drawn to a different kind of comedy, one that pulls us in then devastates us. This might actually be better positioned as a response to our over-saturation as a culture than to comedy’s untimely end. Just like Burnham’s “Welcome to the Internet” provides a speedy onslaught of bad things, our phones ping us notifications in the exact same way. We have ten years to halt the climate crisis, Greece is on fire, police brutality still faces little consequence, news boats loaded with cameras chase dinghies carrying refugees across The Channel, your Cosbys and your C.Ks get off with a slap on the wrist before planning “comeback” tours. We face a constant barrage of bad news until we can’t really take it in anymore. So comedy works around it. 

These days, comedians with a message work to disarm us. Park Hong writes that “Real laughter is an involuntary contraction that bursts out like an orgasm.” Meaning that we’re vulnerable to laughter, and being made to laugh is a revealing thing about your sense of humour, about who you are. It often means that when comedians like Burnham, Slate, or Hannah Gadsby, for example, shift into something soul-shattering, we feel it so much harder because we’re already open. 

Yet, even then, I don’t know if we can really take it. It seems like our saturation is akin to slapping more and more paint onto a wall before it’s fully dry first. We can’t absorb anything and it’s detrimental to our existence. It’s been a month since Inside debuted on Netflix and, after a series of think-pieces and a solid critical response, the special has been dismantled for parts and repurposed for Tik Tok videos that remove the lyrics from their context. It seems these comedians want to tell us something, and part of us wants to hear it, yet we aren’t totally willing, or maybe we’re not even able, to listen.

Also Read: How Film Changed Me: On the Return of Carrie Bradshaw

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Sarah is the maid of honour for her sister’s wedding and as she is very much the black sheep of the family it is not a day she is looking forward to. At the depressing party after the ceremony, she meets the bizarrely dressed (for a wedding ) Nyles who gives a brilliant off the cuff speech that reduces guests to tears with his poignant insights on love. This oddly beguiling figure with seemingly no concern for the consequences of his actions charms Sarah and the two leave the party and after an odd series of events, Sarah follows Nyles into a cave. She wakes up a moment later but is back at the hotel, waking up on the day on the day of the wedding. Sarah and Nyles are trapped in a time loop – to put it simply it’s Groundhog Day but with two people stuck in the loop.

Behind The Scenes

The film is directed by Max Barbakow, a director I am unfamiliar with but is also the director of the documentary Mommy, I’m A Bastard and he deserves some praise for that title alone. The film is written by Barbakow and Andy Siara, again another person I’m not familiar with but has worked with Barbakow before.

In Front of The Camera

The film stars Andy Samberg (best known for Saturday Night Live and Brooklyn 99) and Cristin Milioti (who has appeared in How I Met Your Mother, season 2 of Fargo, The Wolf of Wall Street and more), with a very fun supporting role for Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons. First of all, I defy anyone not to be charmed by Nyles and Sarah. Nyles who has seemingly been stuck in the loop for a long time, maybe thousands of days, has adopted a make-the-best-of-a-bad-situation attitude and concentrates on having a nice time and, importantly, not hurting people. He is permanently dressed inappropriately and virtually always has a beer in his hand. Nyles has already been through the disbelief, anger, attempts at killing himself or flying to the other side of the world and is resigned to this life. Sarah starts off defiant but quickly adopts a similar attitude to Nyles but likes to try and have a bit more control. J.K. Simmons is on top form as another wedding guest who has some issues with Nyles and takes it to extreme lengths.

The Setting

The film’s title is taken from the setting, Palm Springs, a resort town in California and I think it’s worth taking a moment to talk about this. Groundhog Day’s title focuses on the day it is, this film’s title, on the location. They are effectively on holiday, away from their homes, in Sarah’s case surrounded by family and people she has known for years, whereas Nyles is very much a plus one for another guest. Swimming pools are a surprisingly constant feature of the film and often the best thing they think to do with their time is lounge in the pool drinking beer. The other feature of the setting is that it’s a wedding which certainly for Sarah is bringing up all kinds of feelings about family, her life and the bad things she has done. A wedding is seen by some as of huge significance and Nyles and Sarah are forced to watch someone go through something so important and special while they are stuck, never having any significant events.

Does It Work?

The film is very enjoyable and has very poetic and insightful moments about life. The part of the film that is the most fun is when the pair first start heading off adventures after accepting their lives – whether alcohol-fuelled excess, wild parties, impossibly elaborate practical jokes or becoming experts at often trivial tasks it is very funny.

Neither Sarah nor Nyles were particularly happy at the start of their loop and more and more details of the exact circumstances that lead them to the wedding and their own views on life. Sarah often states that she messes things up, has messed up her life, and so this state of affairs where she can step away from her life is very tempting. At the same time, part of the nature of her loop is being confronted by mistakes in a very real and direct way so no matter what she does or how far she funs she always comes back to it.

Inevitably you can’t help but think what you’d do in this situation – there are no consequences so do you take a path of hedonism? Of achieving perfect knowledge? Or horrific murder sprees knowing that things will reset when you go to sleep? Maybe you do them all – the endlessness getting to you in different ways.

The final third of the film is a little less satisfying than the rest of it but does try and do something different to films and tv shows that have explored this idea. There are various “solutions” explored but I’m not aware of anyone getting out of it this way and an interesting example of a character being very proactive. Perhaps the most satisfying thing we get in Palm Springs is the discussions between the characters who are going through this together, especially as one has a different perspective as they have been stuck in the loop far longer than the other. The film also doesn’t shy away from some of the darker and even nihilistic ideas that could be explored in this scenario. I feel I am still making my mind up about the ending – trying to decide if it is good but conventional or if it really goes against what you expect.

This is a film I’d definitely recommend – very funny with a great partnership of the two leads.

Rating: (4 / 5)

Also Read: The Film Fan’s Guide To Time Travel

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Filmography

Phillips broke into narrative features with 2000’s Road Trip. A sex comedy that made over $119 million dollars at the box office against a $16 million budget. He followed that up with other successes like 2003s gross-out comedy Old School. 2004s movie adaptation of Starsky & Hutch. 2010s buddy road trip film Due Date. 2016s biographical black comedy War Dogs. And The Hangover sequels, which while never earning the acclaim of the original, were still financially successful.

Comparatively, Phillips’ only unsuccessful movie is School of Scoundrels which earned $24 million against a $35 million budget. However inarguably his most successful ventures are The Hangover and Joker.

Success and Acclaim: The Hangover & Joker

The Hangover became the highest-grossing R rated comedy of all time during its release (not adjusted for inflation). While this record was later surpassed The Hangover was also celebrated by audiences and critics (Rated 7.7 on IMDb and 78% on Rotten Tomatoes).

Meanwhile, Joker has become the highest-grossing R rated movie of all time, making over $1 billion worldwide. Despite mixed critical reception (68% on Rotten Tomatoes) Joker still received great acclaim. Winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and being nominated for many Best Film and Best Director awards. Audiences also roundly embraced the film (it’s currently rated 8.6 on IMDb and is ranked 46th in the IMDb Top 250).

Both films are examples of popular film trends from their time. The Hangover owes some of its success to the popular raunchy comedies of Judd Apatow. And Joker owes a lot to the domination of comic book movies at the box office.

But both films also have something unique, ambiguity. While The Hangover was a raunchy comedy it also had a grimy presentation. This allowed people to view the film as a condemnation of the activities the characters get involved with. Thus even people unsympathetic to the characters could enjoy laughing at them. Meanwhile, Joker presented its villain as somewhat sympathetic by showcasing how many facets of American culture helped to turn him evil but also presented his actions as shocking. Meaning the film functioned as both a disturbing look inside a killer’s mind but also an exploration of the factors that turned him into one. This ambiguous presentation allows for audiences to engage with these films in different ways. And gives critics a lot to analyze. Which is likely something else that lead to their success.

Todd Phillips’ Risks

Surprisingly Warner Brothers were initially unsupportive of both films. They didn’t want to give The Hangover a $35 million budget, because of its R rating (often not as successful as PG-13 movies) and because the leads were relatively unknown at the time. And even though Joker was a sure-fire hit due to the main characters’ comic popularity, Warner Brothers still attempted to prevent the project being made by giving Phillips a relatively small budget of $55 million.

But this ended up paying off well for Phillips. Because of Warner’s reluctance to finance The Hangover Phillips gave up his directing salary to help make the film and asked for 16% of the films gross. Meaning his pay went from $6.5 million to $75 million. And Phillips took a smaller salary on Joker, again asking for a percentage of the gross. Many publications estimate he will make $100 million from it.

Conclusion

In the end, Todd Phillips knows how to get moviegoers talking and how to make a success of it. By using successful formulas his films have struck a note with audiences. And the well-constructed morally ambiguous presentation of Hangover and Joker managed to appeal to many different audiences and critics alike. And thanks to their success and the risks Phillips took to make his two best films he’s now laughing all the way to the bank. What a Joker.   

Also Read: The Unique Style of Wes Anderson

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Jojo Rabbit is a film about 10-year-old Jojo living in the last months of Hitler’s Germany. Jojo is a very devoted member of the Hitler Youth and believes so passionately in the Nazi party his imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler. Jojo lives with his unconventional mother and to his surprise a Jewish girl who his mother is hiding – the patriotic Jojo is torn between his devotion to the Nazi Party and not wanting to get his mother into serious trouble. It is described by its director as an anti-hate satire and is largely a comedy but obviously touches on many issues full of tragedy and horror.

Behind The Scenes

Jojo Rabbit is the latest film by Taiki Waititi, director of Thor: Ragnorak, What We Do In The Shadows and many more, It is based on the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens. I have not seen all of Waititi’s films but every one that I have seen is very, very good, even doing the impossible and making me care about Thor.

In Front Of The Camera

Jojo is played by newcomer Roman Griffin Davis, Elsa, the Jewish girl in hiding, by Thomasin McKenzie, probably best known for her role of Tom in Leave No Trace. There is a large ensemble cast including Scarlett Johansson as Rosie, Jojo’s mother, Sam Rockwell as world, and possibly war, weary Captain Klenzendorf, Stephen Merchant as the local Gestapo officer and Rebel Wilson as an extremely enthusiastic Nazi. And of course, Taiki Waititi played Hitler (Jojo’s imaginary-friend Hitler anyway).

Does It Work?

I had very high expectations for this film, mainly because of my love of Taiki Waititi’s work but also the trailer had me hooked immediately. I shall say straight away that I loved it. Many films have shown up fascism, the Nazi Party and Hitler as evil, ridiculous, cruel and worthy of mockery, Jojo Rabbit does this but also makes a strong case for love, freedom, kindness and dancing. The film is moving, capturing the many different ways fascism hurt people, as well as being very funny. The scenes with Jojo and Hitler are particularly funny, with Hitler trying to find parallels with his world of global domination with Jojo’s struggles as a young boy. Much fun is had with Captain Klenzendorf who often takes a sideways glance at Nazi propaganda and this works even better when coupled to Rebel Wilson’s character, who wholeheartedly believes all of it.

The crucial part of the film is that Jojo is not really a Nazi, he’s too young to understand what that means and whenever he is given the opportunity to really be a Nazi he doesn’t take it. Early in the film older members of the Hitler Youth want him to kill a rabbit, to show his strength, and he won’t do it (hence his nickname Jojo Rabbit). Jojo is basically a good person, the same is true for his friend Yorki, a similarly enthusiastic member of Hitler Youth whose message of hatred and cruelty crumbles before his basic good naturedness.

It’s always dangerous mixing comedy with topics so infused with horror, hatred and outright evil but I think Waititi succeeds admirably. At no point does it feel like the film being funny comes before showing Nazi Germany for what it was. For all, it’s a comedy it has two of the most moving scenes I have seen in recent years, one of which I am still trying to come to terms with.

There were times it reminded me of Death of Stalin, another film mixing comedy and the darkest of events. When we saw the daily madness of living under such a regime, the bizarre lies you would have to tell yourself, the complete abandonment of common sense and logic, as well as the horror that you could get caught up in these horrors so easily.

The film revolves around Jojo and Elsa, and both actors are great, Roman Griffin Davis never strays so close to Nazism that the audience turns against him. Thomasin McKenzie runs through a gamut of emotions of righteous anger to hopelessness perfectly and believably. The ensemble cast is very good, with Scarlett Johansson giving a tremendous and at times heartbreaking performance. Sam Rockwell’s performance is an odd one, in many ways we are supposed to like Captain Klenzendorf, the eccentric frequently drunk soldier who never seems entirely convinced by fascism and does good where he can, while at the same time he wears the uniform and fought in the army and I’m still unsure what Waititi was going for with this character. Stephen Merchant is very funny as the local Gestapo officer, an embodiment of all the nonsense and stupidity of fascism. And there is Waititi playing the imaginary friend Hitler, a mix of charismatic tyrant and idiotic, petulant child, at times trying to buoy Jojo’s spirits or placing insane demands on him.

Jojo is a film at times is funny and even manages to be joyous about life as well as being deeply moving and thoughtful and it is a rare director who can this in one film.

Rating: (4.5 / 5)

Also Read: Parasite (Review)

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The Oscars

The Oscars have been going on for decades, the first being held in 1929, and have been held every year since, not letting war, industry strikes and indifference get in the way. Importantly, the Academy, the people who vote for the Oscars, are all in the filmmaking industry. This is in contrast to, say, the Golden Globes, which is voted on by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Membership in the Academy is by being nominated or winning an Oscar, or being nominated by two existing members.

Campaigning

Being nominated or winning an Oscar is not simply about being the best. Studios, and sometimes individuals, campaign for an Oscar. There is a small industry in Hollywood around this, with millions of dollars being spent on advertising and promotional events. There’s not only campaigning for your own, but if you want to do a little damage to another film’s campaign, so be it. When Good Will Hunting was looking like a strong Oscar contender, a rumour started that the film wasn’t written by the stars, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, but by their friend and filmmaker, Kevin Smith. The Oscar business can be pretty cut-throat.

The Right Sort Of Film

I do have a couple of axes to grind with the Academy in terms of who wins Oscars. And while I am still angry, The King’s Speech beat The Social Network for Best Picture, that’s not what I’m going to talk about. There are certain types of films that win Oscars. They tend to be dramatic. They tend to be on weighty topics. They have tragedy in them. Films are often described as Oscar contenders before anyone has seen them, simply by knowing what the film is about. And in my opinion, there are two genres that do not get the level of respect from the Academy that they deserve: science fiction and comedy.

To deal with the latter first, as I said, the Academy loves tragedy. Give them a sad story full of death, illness and struggle, and you’re halfway to your Oscar. But if you make them laugh, they might enjoy it, but you’ll probably not win any awards. Judging by my own criteria, the last comedy to win Best Picture was Woody Allen’s Annie Hall in 1977 (films like The Artist or Argo may have comedic moments, but are not comedies). So no nominations for The Man With Two Brains, This Is Spinal Tap or Shaun of the Dead, films far superior to some Oscar winners. I think comedy is far harder to do than drama, to paraphrase a famous quote that has been attributed to many people – Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.

Next up is science fiction. I went back to 1950 and couldn’t find a Best Picture Oscar-winning film that was science fiction. In Best Director, only Gravity comes close to that category. 2001: A Space Odyssey, one of the most iconic and influential movies ever made, wasn’t even nominated for Best Picture and while I’m sure actual nominees Rachel, Rachel and The Lion In Winter are great films, I feel the Academy made a mistake there. The categories that sci-fi films traditionally get nominated in are technical awards. Only recently have superhero films managed to crack into Oscar awards territory; Logan was nominated for Best Screenplay, and Black Panther for Best Picture. Many people think that The Dark Knight’s omission from the Best Picture nominee was what prompted the Academy to increase the number of nominees.

One of the most egregious Oscar snubs of recent years was the film The AV Club recently put at the top of their list of films of the decade – Mad Max: Fury Road. The film did win some Oscars, e.g. Costume Design, Sound Mixing and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director, but I was stunned that there was no nomination for Charlize Theron. Not only was Theron brilliant (and already an Oscar winner), but the film ticked a lot of boxes for Oscar films – there was tragedy, there was suffering, and there was drama. Theron’s character, Furiosa, even managed to upstage Max, whose name is in the title of the film.

The comedy equivalent is a bit further back, but the truly brilliant Groundhog Day, which got a grand total of zero Oscar nominations. What more do the Academy want? Groundhog Day is a hilarious comedy, with a unique premise, an amazing central performance from Murray, and is a film that somehow manages to tread a careful line of being funny while musing on the meaning of life. And has numerous suicides.

As I said, Oscar season is soon upon us, and we shall see if this year bucks the trend.

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What’s Going On?

Molly and Amy are best friends and are also intelligent and studious high school students; probably destined for great things. Their view of the world is rocked upon learning that far less intelligent and studious people have still got into great colleges and they worry that they’ve missed their chance to have fun in high school. They decide to crash the party of one of the “popular” students and get the experiences they have missed out on.

Behind The Scenes

This is the first full-length feature directorial debut of well-known actor Olivia Wilde and to be honest that description would not have inspired much confidence in me but this is a lesson for me in making assumptions about people – as it’s a great film and for their debut, it is absolutely amazing. Wilde is clearly a very talented filmmaker and I’ll be eager to see whatever she makes next.

In Front Of The Camera

The casting of this film is sensational. The film stars Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein as Amy and Molly, the almost-workaholic students who finally want to have some fun. They are both completely believable in these roles as well as utterly charming and instantly likeable. Most of the rest of the student cast were unknown to me, but all were similarly wonderful with the only potential misstep being the casting of Skyler Gisonda as rich-but-unpopular Jared. The problem with him is his role in The Santa Clarita Diet has racked up such goodwill I can’t take against him. The film also has Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte as Amy’s parents (surely one of the most prestigious sets of parents in all of comedy), Daily Show alumnus Jessica Williams as a cool teacher and Jason Sudeikis as a slightly troubling principal.

Does It Work?

I loved this film. First and foremost this is a comedy and I laughed throughout the film – from the nerdy interests of the main duo, their earnest goodness, the trying far too hard Jared who is only one step from actually bribing people to be his friend. But not only is this film funny, but it’s also clever, poignant and emotional. As someone who always tried very hard in school, I could identify with the main characters and probably held some of Molly’s views about the other students. Molly and Amy are also eager to show they are not just one thing – they are not just smart and want other people to realise that.

The friendship between Molly and Amy is incredibly endearing, even if, like with all friendships, there are problems and issues between them. Most of the other teenagers think the pair aren’t fun, they are, but usually just when they’re hanging out with each other. There is a recurring joke about when they get ready in front of each other and the increasingly over-the-top compliments they give each other which always made me smile.

Early on in the film, we learn that Amy is gay and this is not a secret, she is out with everyone. Much has been said recently about how for years if a film featured a young gay character it would be about the ordeal of being bullied, unloved by those who should love you, but we’ve reached a point where there can be stories about young gay people that are essentially your typical rom-com or teen movie stories and this is one of those films. Amy may face unrequited love (or maybe just unrequited crush), rejection, loneliness etc but that is just the standard teenage experience. This is not to say this would be true of every story of a gay teen growing up nowadays but fortunately, it was for Amy.

This is a high school film unlike any I have seen before and it makes some brilliant unusual moves. First of all, there aren’t really any bad guys in this film amongst the main characters and all the people who you think may have been positioned to be bad people actually turn out to be quite nice which is such a refreshing change. The jocks don’t stuff people into lockers. The popular girls don’t constantly undermine girls, not in their clique – in fact, it could be said this is something Molly is more guilty of. When actually given the chance to hang out with these people they all get along with many characters sincerely saying how happy they are to see these two girls having fun.

The more we get to know some of the more peripheral characters their worries, ambitions an insecurities are also unveiled meaning we start to like them more, none of the characters feel like they are slapdash stereotypes. Again the idea of not being put into a box, of not being defined by one aspect of who you are plays out with many of these characters. So many films, and I don’t just mean teen movies, have characters that are little more than two-word descriptions of their most obvious trait and that this film has tried so hard to make well-rounded characters is wonderful.

Overall this is a really enjoyable film that I would highly recommend for anyone to watch – you don’t have to be schoolwork-obsessed nerds like the main characters are (and I was) to appreciate this film. The film uses “booksmart” angle to be a bit different but it’s not just about overachieving and will be relatable for many people.

Verdict:

Also Read: Cinema Therapy: How Movies Can Heal

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Director: Andrew Chaplin

Writer: James Menzies

Starring: Marcus Garvey, Eri Jackson, Rachael Naylor

Big Picture Film Club’s Short Snacks series is a collection of interesting, thought-provoking and creative short films from emerging UK-based filmmakers.

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