There comes a point in everyone’s life where we want to escape in some form – whether from the humdrum nature of everyday routine, or from something deeper and more existential. There’s nothing quite as crippling as the loneliness that comes when we realise that we are all fighting battles entirely by ourselves, and that…
Tag: comedy
You Can’t Take It with You (1938)
You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family – at least not for the most part. The people who raise us are responsible not only our welfare, but also for instilling in us a set of values and principles that guide us to becoming valuable members of society. In most cases, they…
Good Fortune (2025)
At some point or another, we have all looked at someone and wished we could swap lives with them (and anyone who hasn’t had such a thought, even if only briefly, is either completely delusional or the most privileged person in history), just to walk in their shoes and experience what we perceive to be…
Bob Trevino Likes It (2025)
Friends are the family we choose – as hackneyed and cliched as this adage may be, there is a reason it has adorned many wooden kitchen signs and social media captions. There’s nothing quite like finding someone with whom you have a lot in common, and allowing a natural connection to form as a result,…
His and Hers (1961)
For some, the concept of domestic bliss is an ideal to which they are willing to work, while for others, it is nothing more than a myth perpetuated by decades of cultural lecturing and blatant marketing, which the nuclear family was seen as the ultimate aspiration, and anything less was seen as a sign of…
The Out-of-Towners (1999)
For most parents, the moment when your child moves out of home is one that is both joyful and melancholy, and many have discussed the concept of empty-nest syndrome, where parents have to acclimate themselves to the knowledge that their offspring is out, living their own lives and that the family has entered a period…
Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven (1948)
While he was more known for his experimental work in horror and science fiction, where he intended to push the medium to its literal breaking point (including employing the use of practical effects in the cinemas themselves to make the experience all the more immersive for the unsuspecting audience), William Castle did do his fair…
Single, Married, Divorced (2014)
Navigating life as a singleton can be quite a challenge – for some, the fierce independence that comes with fully being in control of your narrative can be celebrated, while others will view it as a shortcoming, with the failure to attract a potential partner being considered a flaw, and something that should be immediately…
College (1927)
As part of our ongoing retrospective of Buster Keaton’s work, we continue to press on and explore all the hilarious and irreverent avenues down which his career travelled. Today’s discussion takes us to the Ivy League, in the form of College, the off-the-wall satire that Keaton directed alongside James W. Horne (who would leverage this…
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
It takes a lot of courage – and even more skill – to unsettle beloved myths, presenting them as unique and daring works. We tend to gravitate towards what we find familiar, and it can therefore be tricky to embrace those which attempt to redefine what particular concepts mean. This is the foundation on which…
The Postmodern Pelican 