Tag Archives: Black Comedy

Review in Brief: Elle (2016)

Posted on August 22, 2017 by

ELLE is like the darkest soap opera you’ve ever seen. You get all the extra-marital affairs and mummy and daddy issues you might expect from nightly soft drama telly of the like of EAST ENDERS, but it also subjects us … Continue reading →

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Review: Boy (2010)

Posted on August 6, 2017 by

Handled delicately, grief makes for a great film. Boiling Taika Waititi’s films down to their core themes, if EAGLE VS. SHARK was about battling depression and HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE was about finding a place to truly belong, then BOY … Continue reading →

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Review in Brief: The Young Offenders (2016)

Posted on June 22, 2017 by

Two adorable scallywags on a pushbike road trip and demonstrating stupidity, heart and Gallic humour aplenty? I’m in. The dual leads (Alex Murphy and Chris Walley, sporting equally horrendous teen face fuzz and questionable fashion sense) could have great things … Continue reading →

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Review in Brief: Toni Erdmann (2016)

Posted on June 14, 2017 by

Pretty much every review I’ve seen of TONI ERDMANN has been focussed on how unexpectedly good a two-and-a-half hour German comedy turns out to be. I find that overly reductive and more than a little patronising. American comedies are often … Continue reading →

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Review: Swiss Army Man (2016)

Posted on June 6, 2017 by

SWISS ARMY MAN is like one of those weird one-off dreams. It questions humankind’s fear of death by allowing one of us to have a (admittedly skewed) relationship with a symbol of that fear. Hank (Paul Dano) loses it in … Continue reading →

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Review: Free Fire (2016/17)

Posted on April 28, 2017 by

Does Ben Wheatley ever sleep? Over the past eight years the British polymath has produced kitchen sink drama, folk horror, black comedy, Avant-garde, period-sci-fi-satire and DOCTOR WHO. He never does the same project twice and tends to mix it up … Continue reading →

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30 Years On: Withnail & I (1987)

Posted on April 19, 2017 by

There are few films out there that will make me laugh myself to tears every time I watch them. Monty Python does, as does Mel Brooks, but as I’ve mentioned before, I also have to add the gem that is … Continue reading →

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Review: The Host (2006)

Posted on April 12, 2017 by

To shamelessly appropriate and warp the catchphrase of a beloved cartoon character, THE HOST is smarter than the average monster movie. I stumbled on this one on DVD years back, and it’s since become a firm favourite along with the … Continue reading →

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Review in Brief: I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)

Posted on April 6, 2017 by

I think the best thing I can say about Macon Blair’s debut as writer-director is that it’s a curiosity. For years he’s been a game regular as an actor in grisly genre fare (collaborations with Jeremy Saulnier stand out) and … Continue reading →

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Review: Eagle vs Shark (2007)

Posted on March 22, 2017 by

You can always spot a Taika Waititi project, and EAGLE VS SHARK is unmistakably that. He’s got a unique comic voice and an appealing sideways view of the more painful and complex aspects of our world. Just look at how … Continue reading →

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