Oscar Wilde’s legacy has never been more secure than it has been since the advent of cinema. The great Irish wordsmith was very quickly committed to film when a range of artists decided that they would mount small but captivating productions and preserve them on film for both audiences that weren’t witness to the incredible…
Category: comedy
Cluny Brown (1946)
When it comes to directors that set the foundation for the film industry, few have been more influential than Ernst Lubitsch, a filmmaker that established the gold standard for many genres, most notably that of the romantic comedy. Not too many artists have entire motifs named after them, and when the likes of Billy Wilder…
Wooly Boys (2001)
Whatever the reason for making Wooly Boys was, it seems to be entirely tenuous and impossible to discern. It isn’t very clear why anyone thought this would be a good idea for the story, not because it is controversial or looks at questionable subject matter – it just simply doesn’t have any real narrative, and…
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
There was a joke that used to frequently go around my corner of the playground when I was younger, namely that there are only two examples of pure genius when it comes to making music – Ludwig von Beethoven and “Weird” Al Yankovic, with the comparisons between the two not being nearly as tenuous as…
Going in Style (1979)
Growing old is certainly not for the faint of heart, which we have seen addressed on countless occasions in a range of films, many of which focus on how challenging it is to reach an advanced age in a society that sometimes neglects its senior citizens. Few films have been able to capture the experience…
About Schmidt (2002)
As far as universally-resonant themes go, few are more challenging to talk about than ageing and death. These are two of life’s most notable inevitabilities, and while not everyone gets the opportunity to grow old, we all age and learn vital lessons along the way. So many artists have discussed the topic in their work…
The Good House (2022)
The past few years have not been easy for Hildy Good, the protagonist of The Good House, the delightful and captivating adaptation of Ann Leary’s peculiar novel, which tells the story of a formerly successful real estate agent who proudly calls herself the North Shore’s top broker and has made many life-long friends along the…
Clerks III (2022)
When looking at the new wave of independent films made by young American directors that started in the 1990s, we tend to gravitate towards the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson as the most pertinent examples of the rambunctious talents that traded audacity for the chance to make films inspired by their own…
Catherine Called Birdy (2022)
There isn’t a clear set of criteria with which we can judge a filmmaker and determine whether they are objectively good at their chosen vocation, since there are too many variables to consider before we even start constructing such a rubric. However, there are certain qualities that every filmmaker, regardless of background or style, needs…
Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
It is necessary to start this review with a disclaimer. Unfortunately, one of the reasons behind Uptown Saturday Night being relatively under-discussed in recent years has to do with the fact that this is a buddy comedy, in which one half of the central duo is played by someone who has deservedly fallen out of…