The story of “Sorrowful” Jones, a wise-cracking bookie whose smart-aleck nature conceals a very insecure set of internal qualities is a timeless tale, so much that the story, as written by Damon Runyon (who first introduced the character in Little Miss Marker), has been told on multiple occasions, where luminaries such as Walter Matthau, Adolphe…
Category: comedy
Meet Wally Sparks (1997)
As a culture, we are predisposed to enjoying some of the less intellectual sides of society, which mainly manifests in the form of the entertainment we consume. This obviously doesn’t apply to everyone, but I’d argue we all have our self-professed “guilty pleasures” that we tend to keep concealed from prying eyes. The most common…
Jeffrey (1995)
While there is a rule of thumb that states that tragedy plus time equals comedy, there are some subjects that are considered too taboo to be subjected to humour, or at least the kind of comedy that is appreciated by general audiences. HIV/AIDS is one such subject – despite the considerable efforts to eradicate the…
Come to the Stable (1949)
“Something tells me that an irresistible force has been let loose in New England.” There is something magical about the idea of unbreakable faith. We may live in an era where a lot of Western culture advocates for a more secular view of humanity, and where art that positively tackles religion is usually relegated to…
Used People (1992)
Loss is something that everyone processes differently, and much has been written about the fact that no two people mourn in the same way, which is precisely why no one has been able to craft the definitive text on grief, despite it being one of the most common philosophical and artistic motifs across all of…
What Happens Later (2023)
There is nothing quite as simultaneously frustrating and liberating as coming across an old flame years later. Crossing paths with an individual with whom you shared some of your most intimate moments before drifting apart can be a challenging experience, but one that can bring about a lot of catharsis – and the more time…
Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
While his name is usually associated with the lavish, detailed melodramas that defined an entire generation, Douglas Sirk was far more versatile than contemporary perceptions would have you believe – and for those of us who are at all agnostic to some of his more popular works like Imitation of Life and All That Heaven…
Charley’s Aunt (1941)
As far as sociological history goes, nothing says more about a culture and its history than the humour that was popular at the time. Humour is one of the few tools that is both timeless and intrinsically tied to a particular point in the past, and as we see in many instances, the best way…
Le Week-End (2013)
Anyone who has ever been in any kind of romantic relationship will undoubtedly know that it takes work to be a committed partner and more than a few loving companionships are built on a foundation of trust, virtue and honesty, as well as the ability to be with one another through whatever challenges may be…
Shampoo (1975)
Few directors defined the 1970s quite like Hal Ashby, mainly because nearly his entire career (or rather the aspects that are most memorable about it), were contained in this decade – prior to his directorial debut with The Landlord, we was an acclaimed editor, and his later output after Being There paled in comparison to…
The Postmodern Pelican 