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…
Tag: comedy
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…
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…
Nutcrackers (2024)
While the industry has shifted and changed in various ways, one kind of film has tended to remain popular, regardless of how much audiences ebb and flow in terms of subject matter. For about as long as the medium has existed, there have been active efforts to make films about the holiday season, with Christmas…
Unlikely Angel (1996)
In much the same way that Christmas comes at the same time every year, you can guarantee that there will be dozens of films based around the holiday released concurrently. There’s something about this season in particular that proves to be oddly fruitful for film production, and whether for television or theatrical release, it seems…
Sweethearts (2024)
Each one of us is on our journey, but some experiences are universally considered to be formative moments in our lives. Everyone remembers their first relationship since it teaches us not only about ourselves but also gives insights into one of the most beautiful experiences, which is the process of simply falling in love with…
Saturday Night (2024)
In 1975, on a chilly October evening, just a few minutes before midnight, viewers across the United States encountered an unfamiliar image – a pair of relatively unknown comedians appeared on their screen in a sketch based around an English tutor and his student of indiscernible origins. A couple of minutes of surreal banter was…
The Bellboy (1960)
There has never been someone like Jerry Lewis, someone whose contributions to the world of entertainment are so immense, he is often viewed as one of the pioneers of modern American humour, a figure that helped bring to life a very specific kind of storytelling that was built on the collision of many different styles….
The Other Way Around (2024)
Life is filled with events that we celebrate – births, marriages, birthdays and anniversaries, and there are even cultures where it is tradition to turn a funeral into a festive occasion, paying tribute to the dearly departed. Yet, there are a few moments in life that are rarely celebrated, at least in the conventional sense,…
