Wet Hot American Summer (2001) has lived longer than anyone would have predicted while watching it in 2001. The self-aware summer camp spoof/nostalgia lampoon spawned a prequel and a sequel series for Netflix that play out in the same cheeky, silly, self-aware manner of adult actors playing at being teenagers. It feels as much an […]
“I’m a rat, which makes life hard.” That’s an understatement. In Ratatouille (2007), the dynamic animated film from writer/director Brad Bird (The Iron Giant and The Incredibles) and Pixar Studios, Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) may be a rat but he’s also a budding gourmand. Where his family is content to raid trash cans and scarf […]
Kiki’s Delivery Service (Japan, 1989) carries us into the experiences of a young witch as she charts her path in the real world. Sincere, spirited Kiki has turned thirteen, the age when witches leave the nest for a year of solo training. She’s ready to take on the world with her broomstick and her best […]
Hey now! The Larry Sanders Show was the original buzz show on HBO. A scathingly funny sitcom created by and starring Garry Shandling, it ran on the channel’s late-night schedule between 1992 and 1998, receiving fair ratings, great reviews and a rabid following in Hollywood as it became the industry’s cult show. Shandling had previously […]
“Hey everybody, it’s Bob and David!” In fact, it’s all 30 episodes of Mr. Show with Bob and David (1995-1997), the HBO sketch comedy created by and starring Bob Odenkirk and David Cross. This inspired, inventive show combines the freewheeling creativity of Monty Python’s Flying Circus with cabaret theater, and each episode swirls around an ingenious […]
“Do you have to be miserable to be funny?” That’s the question that comedian and actor Kevin Pollak poses to his fellow performers in the documentary Misery Loves Comedy, his directorial debut. It’s a fair question and a serious one—the film is, after all, dedicated to Robin Williams, who took his own life while Pollak […]
