What is the cost to become beautiful? To be considered beautiful? Deep(ish) questions like that usually reside in dramas, but they can also be thoughtfully explored in comedies. It is this subject (among others like friendship and self-worth) that comedian and actress Amy Schumer tackles in her new film, I Feel Pretty. Although she stumbled…
Director/co-writer Matt Spicer intriguingly meshes together a sharply insightful confection of deranged, alienated millennium-era feminine empowerment tweaked with disturbing, quirky overtones. The skillful and sardonically executed dramedy Ingrid Goes West is a smart, satirical and blistering commentary on youthful loneliness tied in the murky web of social media deception and obsession. Vastly witty and perceptive,…
Performed at the Swan Theatre in July 1597, “The Isle of Dogs,” a satirical play (now lost) written by Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson was labeled “seditious, slanderous, and lewd” by the government and led to the arrest of the actors (including Jonson) and the closing of all London theaters for months. The nature of…
The specter of 90s cinematic cool looms over every frame of Killing Gunther, a darkly comic mockumentary action movie about goofball criminals that kill for laughs. It’s like a lost relic from a time when everyone wanted to rip off Tarantino and when the fake documentary approach still felt fresh. It also semi-stars Arnold Schwarzenegger…
History lessons don’t have to be boring. But when they are, the problem usually lies with the execution of the presentation of the information. This happens to be the unfortunate circumstance of accomplished writer-director Armando Iannucci’s latest film, The Death of Stalin, which takes a satirical look at the death of Josef Stalin and the…
Does anyone want to play a game? Shake your head if it’s Max (Jason Bateman, “Office Christmas Party”) and Annie (Rachel McAdams, “Doctor Strange”) asking, unless losing is your thing. In a slickly assembled montage, the couple is revealed to be “all day, every day” champions of trivia, scrabble and charades. But they’re only game-night…
Written and directed by Brian Crano, Permission is a unique take on modern romance that deserves more attention than it’s gotten, particularly for its wide array of truly likable characters. Set in Brooklyn, the film examines a long-term couple who become interested in expanding their experiences beyond each other, and honestly considers the consequences of…
