The statement “they don’t make them like they used to” has been worn out to the point of exhaustion, but there are some occasions when even the most forward-thinking of viewers see a film and are struck by the realization that we may never see something quite like that ever again, which is both a…
Category: comedy
Our Hospitality (1923)
There has never been another artist quite like Buster Keaton – there have been many terrific actors who have mastered the art of physical comedy, and even more tremendous directors that have managed to create new and exciting ways of telling these stories on screen, but rarely have we found people who can not only…
Theodora Goes Wild (1936)
While the debate around the exact film that kickstarted the screwball comedy genre continues to be a subject of considerable contention (with the general perception being that it can be reduced to the fascinating tug-of-war between Howard Hawks’ The Twentieth Century and Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night as the singular pioneering work), there are…
Father of the Bride (1950)
Behind every beautifully lavish wedding, there is usually a disgruntled parent whose responsibility is to bankroll the entire event, which is generally done with a combination of the insistence on giving their offspring a memorable day and the frustration of realising both the cost and time that goes into one of these endeavours. Yet, it…
Y2K (2024)
A new year brings new possibilities, a cliched and trite concept that adorns many inspirational posters and social media statements whenever we reach the final few days of a particular year, patiently waiting to transition into the next one. However, this was not necessarily the case in the late 1990s, with the fear of entering…
The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
Who of us have not, when enduring a particularly challenging period in our lives, secretly wished for the heavens to open up, revealing some celestial being that will provide us with the help and guidance we yearn for in these moments? It seems to be a universal experience to yearn for some kind of divine…
Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point (2024)
The holiday season is a challenging time for everyone, albeit for very different reasons – some find it overly commercial, whereas others feel burdened by the stress of planning festivities that are very rarely worth the time and effort, and which just prove to reiterate the fact that this period is reserved for capitalistic gain…
The Merry World of Léopold Z (1965)
In my continued efforts to explore important works of Québécois cinema, there were a few titles that emerged as being particularly noteworthy, whether for their artistic merit or the situation surrounding their creation. In the case of The Merry World of Léopold Z (French: La vie heureuse de Léopold Z), there were elements of both…
Merlusse (1935)
For the most part, there are two kinds of teachers that we tend to remember long into our adult years – there are those who were exceptionally strong at their craft and treated their profession with nothing but pride, and then there are those who fall victim to the laziness and apathy that sometimes comes…
Rap World (2024)
Most of the time, it is viewed as good practice to not make effusive, declarative statements about an artist or their work that give it any sense of finality, since such proclamations rarely tend to age all that well, and can be viewed as hyperbole formed in the spur of the moment, something everyone one…
The Postmodern Pelican 