Oh, Hello On Broadway brings the hit show by Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, who originally developed the characters of show business fringe veterans Gil Faizon (Kroll) and George St. Geegland (Mulaney) over a decade ago and brought the skit characters to the stage in an off-Broadway comedy that finally hit Broadway last year, to […]
Whether you call Don’t Think Twice (2016) a hilarious drama or a serious comedy, it is a bittersweet story of frustrated dreams and difficult passages of funny people in a pitiless business. Mike Birbiglia, a standup comedian and “This American Life” contributor turned filmmaker, writes, directs, and co-stars in the film as Miles, founder and […]
Support Your Local Sheriff / Support Your Local Gunfighter (Twilight Time, Blu-ray) – James Garner established himself as a natural for the comic western with the TV series Maverick, playing the reluctant hero who avoided conflict and gunplay with charm, wit, and a con-man’s knack for keeping his opponents off balance. The brought that sensibility […]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Collection 1 – With the newly revived Mystery Science Theater 3000 coming to Netflix later this year with a mix of old and new cast members, Netflix has picked up a selection of episodes from across the show’s original ten season run, with selections from both the Comedy Central and The […]
Filmmaker and chronicler of growing up in America Richard Linklater describes Everybody Wants Some!! (2015) as the “spiritual sequel” to Dazed and Confused, his 1993 coming of age (or perhaps more accurately coming of self) classic. Set four years after Dazed and centered on a high school baseball all-star on a sports scholarship arriving on […]
The Palm Beach Story (1942) – Leave it to Preston Sturges to create the funniest, sexiest, and most grown-up romantic comedy of his day. Claudette Colbert has never been more desirable as Gerry Jeffers, the flirtatious pragmatist with a clear-eyed take on the realities of men, women, and sex, and Sturges turns Joel McCrea’s All-American […]
His Girl Friday (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD) should really be listed as a double feature, for the “bonus” movie—a new edition of the original screen version of The Front Page, adapted from the snappy, cynical, double-barrel Broadway hit by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur—is not just a home video debut but a major discovery. The Front […]
BrainDead (2016), created by Michelle King and Robert King (of The Good Wife) as a limited summer series, is a mix of mix of alien invasion thriller and political satire centered in Washington D.C., where an infestation of ant-like insects from outer space colonize the brains of politicians and government officials. Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars […]
After a series of successful comedies that combined spoof, farce, and satire, Woody Allen took everyone by surprise with Annie Hall (1977), his first personal film and his most sophisticated to date. It drew from the same sources of humor as his earlier comedies, with interludes of memories seen through the lens of a comedian’s […]
Wishful Drinking (2010) – “George Lucas ruined my life. And I mean that in the nicest way.” Carrie Fisher’s one-woman show, an autobiographical monologue with video clips and visual aids, is a savagely satirical look back at her life and legacy growing up as the daughter of show-business royalty Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. She […]
