Based on his lengthy career in comedy, the concept of pushing the envelope has come to be synonymous with Sacha Baron Cohen, and has made him both an oddly beloved figure, and someone reviled by those who are not attuned to his peculiar sense of humour. From his breakout in the early 2000s, he established…

With the exception of one or two, the films of Sofia Coppola tend to arrive more as a whisper than they do with a bang, which is very much what we have come to expect from someone whose work is impelled more by description than discussion. They emerge quietly, rather than bursting onto the scene,…

When playwright Radha Blank didn’t see people like her reflected on screen, she decided to take matters into her own hands, rather than waiting around to see a story like hers produced. Independent cinema tends to allow for this kind of intrepid risk, and while many such filmmakers tend to fade into obscurity after initially…

I recently wrote about revisiting Barry Sonnenfeld’s adaptations of The Addams Family for the first time since I was much younger, and what wonderful experiences they were, especially since they hold up so wonderfully all these years later, so the nostalgia is not misguided or ill-conceived. Conversely, I had a look at Hocus Pocus again,…

Robert Altman didn’t make films so much as he did weave intricate tapestries of the human condition. Some of his best-known work as employed the principle that each person has their own story worth telling, and that when put alongside each other, we can get glimpses into sides of our species that aren’t often seen…

New York City is approaching the end of the Prohibition era, which means many people are looking for a quick buck. One such person is Apple Annie (Bette Davis), a street-smart beggar who rules the streets from behind her wicker basket, from where she sells apples to many of the locals, who see her as…

Billy Wilder was frustratingly good at what he did. The moment he reached his peak as a filmmaker was one that ultimately changed cinema forever, with his work persisting as some of the most brilliant in film history. Whether one of his towering masterpieces, or a film that is less-discussed but still incredibly beloved, Wilder…

Tosya Kislitsyna (Nadezhda Rumyantseva) is a young woman sent to a logging camp somewhere in the Russian countryside, where she’ll be working as the cook for the employees. A feisty and strong-willed individual Tosya is not one to settle for what she doesn’t believe she deserves, so she naturally begins to make quite an impression,…

The year is 1920, the country is the Eastern European village of Schlupsk. Herschel Greenbaum (Seth Rogen) is a humble man who spends his life professionally digging ditches, which is difficult and tiresome work, but manages to win him the heart of his beloved, Sarah (Sarah Snook), who is initially unmoved by his flirtations, but…

A divorced couple (Alan Alda and Jane Fonda) reunited briefly to determine who will have custody of their teenage daughter. A pair of doctors (Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby) who travel from Chicago with their wives (Gloria Gifford and Sheila Frazier) to spend a vacation together. A middle-aged everyman (Walter Matthau) flying in for his…