While it may be surprising to consider any of them being associated with a failure, there was a time in which George Cukor, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant were considered slightly controversial figures within Hollywood, with Hepburn, in particular, having to endure allegations of being “box office poison” for several years in the 1930s after…

Watching the gradual but steady ascent of Julio Torres from a mainstay on the contemporary alternative comedy scene to one of the most intriguing and ingenious creative minds of his generation has been a delight, and whether we first took note of him for his work as a writer on Saturday Night Live (where sketches…

Some comedies are intended to be efficient and smooth, while others are designed to be intentionally abrasive and off-putting – there is virtue in both processes, and every great comedy (as well as those that are dismal failures, but still had some semblance of logic attached to them) can be attached to one of these…

There are some artists that are not only instantly recognizable by their last name, but their association with work immediately indicates that it will be of exceptional and undeniable quality, regardless of what the project entailed. Few individuals are more iconic, both visually and in terms of artistic impact, than Charlie Chaplin – with the…

Except for love, death and identity, one of the most common themes to find in fiction is that of friendship. Whether looking at the mere platonic companionships between individuals or those that become something more, literature tends to emphasize the importance of connections between individuals, particularly in the joy that comes in finding a kindred…

The concept of family means something different to everyone – for some, it’s the people to whom we are related biologically, while for others it takes on a deeper meaning, referring to those we choose to have as our closest confidantes. The point is that every family is different, and they usually change from person…

It seems that within every generation, there is at least one comedic voice that defines the humour, being the definitive voice of comedy during this period. The 1930s had some of the most exceptional, and we were truly spoiled for choice, with the likes of The Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, Mae West and Laurel and…

When a director has been working for more than half a century, and has made over fifty films and television shows, there are bound to be a few duds scattered throughout their career. If you asked one of them what their worst film is, they would usually find one particular film that they feel is…

There’s a very narrow boundary between paying homage to a genre of film, and fully becoming part of it in itself – and when it comes to The Woman Chaser, the distinction has never been more clear. A relatively underseen (some may even say obscure) dark comedy produced in the late 1990s by a director…

Crime doesn’t pay, but it certainly does make life a lot more entertaining – this seems to be the principle that Jean Lucas uses as motivation for his day-to-day life, and after being released from prison for the fourteenth time, decides that he is going to go straight – until he accidentally walks straight into…