Confession time – The Birdcage is my favourite film or at least one of them. I know for a cinephile, it is preferable to say something like The Godfather, Citizen Kane or Star Wars is your favourite film, yet The Birdcage is ranked along with The Blues Brothers, Harold and Maude and Naked as my ultimate favourite films –…
Category: comedy
Freebie and the Bean (1974)
There is a little obscure film that was released in 1974 known as Freebie and the Bean. Stanley Kubrick named it his favorite film of 1974. Peter O’Toole was so fond of the film he instantly accepted the offer to star in director Richard Rush’s next film, The Stunt Man. It isn’t difficult to see…
It Happened One Night (1934)
I have to make a confession – despite being quite an aficionado of comedy films, I had never seen It Happened One Night, arguably one of the greatest comedy films ever made. Now that I finally took the plunge and watched it, not only did I think it was wonderful and absolutely adored it, but…
20th Century Women (2016)
Mike Mills is one of the more fascinating independent filmmakers working today, and I base this on only three films, which are also the only three narrative films he has made. Many know him from his 2011 comedy-drama, Beginners, that brought out an absolutely exquisite performance from the legendary Christopher Plummer. However, I first took…
Toni Erdmann (2016)
Let me be blunt and straightforward – Toni Erdmann is a masterpiece. It is arguably one of the best films of the year (and perhaps even the very best). Not only is it one of the most wonderful films of 2016, it is one of the most brilliant comedy films ever made. I was taken…
The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles. These films have a few things in common – they are all directed by John Hughes, they were all nostalgic classics of 1980s cinema, and they are all centered around high school. They also have something else in common – they…
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
In 2014, Taika Waititi, a New Zealand comedian and filmmaker, made a film that I consider one of the very best of the twenty-first century, the soon-to-be iconic cult classic horror comedy What We Do in the Shadows. The success of that film led to him being selected as the director of the upcoming Thor:…
Swiss Army Man (2016)
The amount I’ve heard the statement “Hollywood has run out of original ideas” is seemingly infinite – and for the most part, its true – a lot of mainstream, big-budget films are predictable and dull, and follow a popular formula. However, to say that an original film does not exist is very misguided, and whenever…
Mascots (2016)
I have said it before, I will say it again – Christopher Guest is a visionary. I adore his films, and I could quite possibly be his most ardent devotee. I absolutely love him. I think he had the single-best trio of films in comedy history – Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show and A…
Café Society (2016)
I want to start this review by saying something I have said so many times in the past, but I can’t avoid mentioning frequently – I adore Woody Allen. I actually love him a lot more than many other cinephiles. I cannot think of many directors who have crossed so many boundaries of genre, theme,…
The Postmodern Pelican 