There’s something quite wonderful about Operation Y and Shurik’s Other Adventures (Russian: Операция „Ы“ и другие приключения Шурика), a quality that appeals to my interests a lot more than I thought it would. I’ve been gradually exploring the depths of Soviet comedy over the past few years, finding a balance between the many defining masterpieces…

Not too many people speak about Richard Lester, which is surprising considering he is one of cinema’s most interesting directors, but unfortunately fell victim to the fact that, despite making numerous terrific films, never quite had an authorial voice in the same way many of his contemporaries tended to throughout their own careers. The result…

“She ate the bread of life to the last crumb” Madame Berthe (Sylvie) is an elderly woman who has just been left a widow after the death of her husband. Her children are naturally worried about their mother, who had devoted her entire life to her marriage and has suddenly been left without direction. She…

In looking at the history of women-focused cinema, there are few films that represent as seismic a shift into looking at female issues as George Cukor’s The Women, the 1939 adaptation of  Clare Boothe Luce’s revolutionary stage production of the same name. Cukor was one of the most influential directors of the Golden Age of…

Watching Taika Waititi rise from being an unheralded director of obscure independent comedies to one of the most sought-after directors working today has been an interesting experience, especially for those of us who have been devoted to his work since the earliest days of his career (the discovery of Eagle vs Shark is still one…

Alfie Elkins (Michael Caine) is a rambunctious playboy patrolling the streets of London, charming every woman he meets, and making sure that they’re fully aware of how he can be a better lover to all of them, which is often used as a defence to convince his married cohorts to take the chance to sample…

Set on the homefront, a group of soldiers are about to embark on a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan, in support of the military efforts in the region. With heavy hearts, these troops are leaving behind their families for the duration of their service, each one of them promising their wives and children that…

A sub-genre of cinema that I have grown to really appreciate in the past few years are the Soviet comedies that started to be produced almost concurrently to the heightening tensions of the Cold War. I’ve explored several of them in depth, looking at how they’re the most rebellious examples of post-traumatic filmmaking, as they…

Nicole Bonnet (Audrey Hepburn) is the daughter of a wealthy aristocrat, Charles (Hugh Griffith), who has one of the most extensive art collections in Europe. What his high-society colleagues and admirers don’t realize is that the Bonnet family has made their fortune through forgery, with Charles being a talents artist who has learned the skills…

The Jacobs are an ordinary Upper West Side family in the mid-1990s. They’re headed by Pat (Edie Falco), the stern matriarch, and her more lenient husband Alan (John Turturro), who have to endure the challenges posed by their two daughters – Dana (Jenny Slate) has already moved out of home, but is still regularly involved…