Diablo Cody has been one of those filmmakers who I feel everyone made a big deal about for a while and she read too much of her own press and still thinks it’s 2008. It might have seem odd in the 2000s for many people to show visible tattoos on their arms without thinking theyContinue reading “‘Lisa Frankenstein’ Falls To Pieces”
Tag Archives: comedy
Rest In Peace, Joe Flaherty, A Great Comic And Scene Stealer
Joe Flaherty was one of those comics and actors who didn’t look like he should be a comic or actor. He had originally served in the United States Air Force before focuses on dramatic theatre. Maybe that was why he was so easy to be cast in numerous movies of versatility. He could flash thatContinue reading “Rest In Peace, Joe Flaherty, A Great Comic And Scene Stealer”
How ‘Beetlejuice’ Made Horror Comedies More Mainstream
Horror comedies have been around for years before Beetlejuice. Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein was one. Then, you had Young Frankenstein. But actually mixing gruesome horror elements with comedy was still new. George A. Romero had added it as satire to Dawn of the Dead showing zombies lurching around a mall and looking amazed atContinue reading “How ‘Beetlejuice’ Made Horror Comedies More Mainstream”
RIP M. Emmet Walsh, The Character Actor Who Was In That Movie You Saw
At one point, Roger Ebert had said that he had never seen a bad movie with M. Emmet Walsh. The character had over 230 acting credits to his name according to imdb.com. However, his manager said he was actually in 119 feature films and about 250 TV productions. He did comedies, dramas, horror, fantasy, sci-fiContinue reading “RIP M. Emmet Walsh, The Character Actor Who Was In That Movie You Saw”
Richard Lewis: Dark Prince Of Comedy
There’s a saying that’s it better to laugh than it is to cry. Richard Lewis lived a life where he turned his own personal pain and neurosis into comedy. Just like another famous comic named Richard (as in Richard Pryor), we laughed because he made us want to laugh. To call Lewis neurotic with hisContinue reading “Richard Lewis: Dark Prince Of Comedy”
‘Office Space’ At 25: It’s Done More Than Just The Bare Minimum
Office Space is one of those movies whose target audience was a bit too young to fully understand or appreciate the context. Most Gen Xers and Millennials were still in school or college. There might have been some older Gen Xers in the early stages of office work. But the late 1990s weren’t no whereContinue reading “‘Office Space’ At 25: It’s Done More Than Just The Bare Minimum”
‘The Family Plan’ Is A No Contact
Mark Wahlberg’s evolution from a himbo rapper in the early 1990s who was always walking around dropping his pants to appear in advertisements for Calvin Klein to an Oscar-nominated movie star is a fascinating one. For a man who in his youth seemed on the path of being another Boston-area criminal in and out ofContinue reading “‘The Family Plan’ Is A No Contact”
‘Blazing Saddles’ Turns 50
My aunt first told me about Blazing Saddles sometime in the 1980s but all she mentioned was the famous fart scene. A group of cowboy marauders are sitting around a campfire eating beans when one of them, Lyle (Burton Gilliam), leans over and lifts up his leg a little and lets one out. Then, theContinue reading “‘Blazing Saddles’ Turns 50”
‘Self Reliance’ Still Needs Some Help
A movie like Self Reliance only works if the protagonist is both likeable and little bit detestable. I think of Griffin Dunne in Martine Scorsese’s After Hours in which he plays what we think is a hopeless romantic but is actually quite an arrogant selfish person. Even though he’s put through the ringer, you kindaContinue reading “‘Self Reliance’ Still Needs Some Help”
‘Straw Dogs’ Has A Better Bite Over Its Original’s Meager Bark
Filmmaker Jean-Luc Goddard once said, “The way to criticize a film is to make another film.” In 1971, when Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs was released during the Christmas holiday season, it shocked audiences and divided them. Based on the novel The Siege at Trencher’s Farm, it starred Dustin Hoffman as a meager intelligent mathematician whoContinue reading “‘Straw Dogs’ Has A Better Bite Over Its Original’s Meager Bark”
Zane Says 