Tag: Comedy

Movie Review: Julie Taymor’s A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream (2014)

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Title: A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream
Release Date: September 8, 2014
Director: Julie Taymor
Production Company: Londinium Films | Ealing Studios Entertainment | Ealing Studios
Main Cast:

  • Kathryn Hunter – Puck
  • David Harewood – Oberon
  • Tina Benko – Titiana
  • Lilly Englert – Hermia
  • Max Casella – Nick Bottom
  • Jake Horowitz – Lysander
  • Mandi Masden – Helena
  • Zach Appelman – Snug

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

A recording of Julie Taymor’s New York stage production of William Shakespeare’s comedy.

My Thoughts:

This pro-shot film captures a 2013 stage production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream at Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn.  Director Julie Taymor is perhaps best known for her adaptation of The Lion King which is rooted in elaborate puppetry and fantastic costumery.  She uses similar stagecraft to lean into the fantasy of Shakespeare’s work.  Of particular note is a large cloth (sheet? sail?) that is frequently moved from covering the stage to high on the ceiling, while being used as a screen for projections and even carrying the actors aloft.  The health and safety supervisor for this production must be a nervous wreck. The production is on a thrust stage with largely minimal sets (apart from the large cloth) and a lot of the supporting cast performing in a style akin to Cirque du Soleil.  I don’t know what this looked like to the in-person audience but the cameras get up close and personal and follow the characters again.

Kathryn Hunter’s unsettling performance as the sprite Puck is a combination of a mime, a contortionist, and The Man from Another Place from Twin Peaks.  Mandi Masden’s Helena also stands out because while the other young lovers in this play are in a fantastical romantic comedy, Helena is in a horror movie.  The Mechanicals practicing their play are performed as modern day laboring men, with Nick Bottom being a chatty Brooklyn contractor. Overall the acting is good and the over-the-top production elements are a fascinating interpretation of Shakespeare’s work.  But I also wonder if there was a valid plot reason for having all four of the hot young actors playing the young lovers strip down to their underwear over the course of the show.  Just more visual spectacle, I guess.

Rating:  ****

Book Review: A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

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Author: William Shakespeare
Title: A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream
Publication Info: New York : Washington Square Press, 1993 (originated in 1595)
Summary/Review:

For the first time, Shakespeare ventures into fantasy and it proves to be quite entertaining.  The plot is complex (in a good way) so I won’t summarize it here.  Suffice to say it’s a story of relationships and how they can go horribly wrong.  This is particularly true for Oberon and Titiana, the King and the Queen of the Fairies, whose marital difficulties result in problems for a lot of human couples.  Theseus the Duke of Athens is engaged to wed Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons.  But first he plans to wed his daughter Hermia to Demetrius.  But Hermia flees to the woods with her lover Lysander instead.  Meanwhile, Hermia’s friend Helena suffers unrequited love for Demetrius.

The fairy Robin Goodfellow (aka – Puck) stirs up some shit with several pranks on these lovers.  He also messes with a group of “Mechanicals” as they rehearse and perform a play based on Pyramus and Thisbe. Notably, he gives the weaver Nick Bottom a donkey’s head and enchants Titiana to be in love with him.  Just because.  Alls well that ends well, of course, and everyone ends up betrothed to the right person as they enjoy Pyramus and Thisbe in a Mystery Science Theater style.

Very enjoyable and once again it shows remarkable evolution in Shakespeare’s writing style.

Rating: ****

I’m reading every Shakespeare play, one per month, in chronological order.  Here’s my progress thus far:

  1. The Two Gentlemen of Verona
  2. The Taming of the Shrew
  3. Henry VI, Part 1
  4. Henry VI, Part 2
  5. Henry VI, Part 3
  6. Titus Andronicus
  7. Richard III
  8. The Comedy of Errors
  9. Love’s Labours’ Lost
  10. Richard II
  11. Romeo and Juliet

365 Movies in 365 Days: Dinner for One (1963)

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This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: Dinner for One
Release Date: June 8, 1963
Director: Heinz Dunkhase
Production Company: NDR
Main Cast:

  • Freddie Frinton – James
  • May Warden – Miss Sophie

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

A very old woman wants to have dinner with her friends. As they are all dead, the butler has to play the role of every guest.

My Thoughts:

Ok, so “Dinner for One” was a comedy sketch that originated in a London stage revue in 1934, but it may be even older.  In 1963, the sketch was filmed for German TV in front of a live studio audience, performed entirely in English with an introduction in German.  By the 1970s, it became an annual tradition to air Dinner for One on TV in Germany, as well as in Switzerland, Austria, and the Scandinavian nations.  It’s a beloved annual event with millions of viewers and yet despite being an English sketch in the English language it is actually not at all well-known in England.

The story itself is a fun bit of physical comedy of the music hall/vaudeville variety.  An elderly woman hosts an anniversary dinner with her four friends, but since they’re all dead her butler James has to pretend to be all of the guests.  The main gag is that with each round of toasts, James becomes increasingly soused has a drinks for four people.  Also, Sophie and James are having sex.  I’m pretty sure that was the meaning of the wink at the end!

Anyway, wherever you are in the world, Happy New Year, and enjoy sharing this curious holiday tradition.

Rating: ***

365 Movies in 365 Days: Last Year’s Snow Was Falling (1983)

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This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: Last Year’s Snow Was Falling 
Release Date: December 31, 1983
Director: Aleksandr Tatarskiy
Production Company: Ekran
Main Cast:

  • Stanislav Sadalskiy – Narrator

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

Funny adventures of the clumsy fellow whom his wife dispatched to the forest to bring home a New Year tree…

My Thoughts:

With my 365 Movies in 365 Days Project coming to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief that this will be the final highly-regarded (by everyone but me) Soviet-era animation I will be watching.  The movie breaks the the fourth wall with the narrator interacting with the main character and commenting on the story as a film, but does so long past the point of it being clever.  The main story involves the “funny” pratfalls of a foolish man looking to cut down a tree.  “The End” appears on the screen about halfway through this short, and I was so disappointed it was a “joke” and not the actual end of the film.

Rating: **

365 Movies in 365 Days: Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas (2021)

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This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas
Release Date: December 3, 2001
Director: Steve Cox
Production Company: Aardman
Main Cast:

  • Justin Fletcher – Shaun/Timmy
  • John Sparkes – The Farmer/Bitzer
  • Kate Harbour – Timmy’s Mother
  • Laura Aikman – Ella
  • Marcus Brigstocke – Farmer Ben
  • Anna Leong Brophy – Jin
  • Simon Greenall
  • Andy Nyman
  • Emma Tate
  • Rich Webber

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

Shaun’s seasonal excitement turns to dismay when a farmhouse raid to get bigger stockings for the flock inadvertently leads to Timmy going missing. Can Shaun get Timmy back before he becomes someone else’s present?

My Thoughts:

Shaun and his flock get into hijinks and misadventure in a wild chase to find little Timmy.  As always with Aardman films, the pantomime, slapstick, and visual gags are on point.  While there’s nothing here that elevates it to a “Holiday Classic” it’s nevertheless quite enjoyable.

Rating: ***

365 Movies in 365 Days: The Night Before Christmas (1941)

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This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: The Night Before Christmas
Release Date: December 6, 1941
Director: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
Production Company: MGM Cartoon Studio | Rudolf Ising Productions | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Main Cast:

  • Frank Graham – Narrator

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

It’s snowy and cold outside, and warm inside where Jerry squeezes past a mousetrap to cavort under a present-laden Christmas tree. Mistaking the sleeping Tom for a plush toy, Jerry wakes him and a mad chase ensues.

My Thoughts:

Tom & Jerry: But what if they kissed?

On Christmas Eve, Jerry cavorts beneath the Christmas tree causing havoc eventually catching a sleeping Tom’s attention.  In a rare case of Tom actually winning, Tom traps Jerry outside.  But then he feels guilty about Jerry freezing in the snow, so he brings Jerry back in and they celebrate their bromance by Christmas lights.  I joke, but this is actually top quality Tom & Jerry!

Rating: ****

 

365 Movies in 365 Days: Joe Pera Helps You Find the Perfect Christmas Tree (2016)

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This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: Joe Pera Helps You Find the Perfect Christmas Tree
Release Date: December 9, 2016
Director: Marty Schousboe
Production Company: Williams Street | Chestnut Walnut Unlimited
Main Cast:

  • Joe Pera
  • Merle Anderson
  • Barbara Cady
  • Kelly Campbell
  • Henry Feng
  • Kevin Feng
  • Grace Gildon
  • George Miles
  • Alexa Niemi
  • Conner O’Malley
  • Catherine Pera
  • Josephine Pera
  • Jo Scott
  • Antonella Sinishtaj
  • Tom Sinishtaj
  • Lily Siradas
  • Timothy Whipple

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

Joe Pera provides the information necessary to choose the perfect Christmas Tree for you. Species covered will include the Fraser Fir, Balsam Fir, Douglas Fir, White Spruce, Blue Spruce, Grand Fir, Noble Fir, Scotch Pine, and the Concolor Fir.

My Thoughts:

I thought I’d kick of the last stretch of the year with a movie to get me into the holidays spirit, but this wasn’t it.  In this movie a man/character Joe Pera infodumps in a dry monotone about picking out Christmas trees.  He’s also an elementary school music teacher conducting a holiday chorus performance.  Children and many adults are pretty mean to him.  The whole thing just seems to be making fun of Joe Pera because he’s different, probably neurodivergent.  And there’s a whole running gag about two similarly titled songs about snow that is Just. Not. Funny.  If you hate the holidays, you might just love this movie.

Rating: **

Movie Review: Merrily We Roll Along (2025)

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Title: Merrily We Roll Along
Release Date: December 5, 2025
Director: Maria Friedman
Production Company: RadicalMedia | Sonia Friedman Productions | No Guarantees Productions | Chocolate Factory Productions | P-Cat Productions | Stephen Sondheim Trust
Main Cast:

  • Jonathan Groff – Franklin Shepard
  • Lindsay Mendez – Mary Flynn
  • Daniel Radcliffe – Charley Kringas
  • Krystal Joy Brown – Gussie Carnegie
  • Katie Rose Clarke – Beth Shepard
  • Reg Rogers – Joe Josephson

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

Franklin Shepard is a talented Broadway composer who abandons his theater career and all his friends in New York in order to produce films in Los Angeles. The story begins at the height of his Hollywood fame and moves backwards in time, showing snapshots of the most important moments in Frank’s life that shaped the man he is today. A live recording of the 2024 Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical, filmed at the Hudson Theatre in New York City

My Thoughts:

It’s rare for hit Broadway musicals to get filmed for public consumption, much less for that film to get a theatrical release.  But I’m grateful that Merrily We Roll Along got this treatment.  The Stephen Sondheim musical famously flopped when it premiered in 1981, but over the decades it’s earned greater appreciation – and revisions – through various restagings.  In 2023 the show returned to Broadway in a production that won the Tony Award for  Best Revival of a Musical among others.  It helps that the cast includes Jonathan Groff (one of the most popular performers on Broadway), Lindsay Mendez (whose Broadway pedigree includes a turn as Elphaba in Wicked), and Daniel Radcliffe (who has escaped typecasting of being a superstar child actor by choosing to appear in an interesting variety of projects).  The supporting cast and ensemble are also terrific.

This pro-shot film stands out from others in that it’s almost entirely in close-ups and mid-range shots that provide a level of intimacy with the actors that one would never get in a theater.  In fact, since we never see and rarely hear the audience and there are few shots of the entire stage, it almost feels like it’s not a play at all.  This approach is divisive as I’ve seen some people who love it, and others who hate it.  I can understand the latter point of view as the film misses some staging and even at times doesn’t show the person who is singing.

But I personally enjoyed the film as it is.  For one thing, we can see a lot in the facial expressions of the actors.  This is particular true of Groff whose face shows more interiority than we’d expect of his shallow character, especially when he’s being ripped by both of his closest friends early in the show.  As the characters age – or de-age – twenty years over the course of the story, the nuances of the actors bring out their changes over time.  Groff once again stands out for the youthful optimism in the final number that makes it more heartbreaking that we see him as a cynical sellout in his 40s.  Radcliffe is also excellent as the neurotic Charley and his performance of “Franklin Shepard, Inc.” is a standout of a show with a lot of great numbers.

Rating: ****

365 Movies in 365 Days: The Mask (2023)

~ Liam ~ Leave a comment

This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: The Mask
Release Date: September 18, 2023
Director: Conner O’Malley
Main Cast:

  • Conner O’Malley – Tyler Joseph
  • Alix Elias – Tyler’s Grandma
  • Eric Rahill – Jason Rogers
  • Colin Mochrie – Himself
  • John Mayer – Himself
  • Dan O’Malley – Tyler’s Brother
  • Reggie Henke – Cemetery Boss

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

A short film about Tyler Joseph, a young man from Illinois who loves Whose Line Is It Anyway and The Mask.

My Thoughts:

Kind of a clever idea to make a movie that’s basically a compilation of social media posts over time.  The story is about a man who goes to Los Angeles attempting to enter the improv comedy scene who is slowly lured into conspiracy theories.  And unfortunately, despite its good premise, it’s just annoying.

Rating: **

365 Movies in 365 Days: Goodbye Forever Party (2017)

~ Liam ~ Leave a comment

This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: Goodbye Forever Party
Release Date: May 5, 2017
Director: Jonni Peppers
Main Cast:

  • Aster Pang – Lilith
  • Emily Martinez- Mae
  • Victoria Vincent – Moose God
  • Kai Lynn Jiang – Scrumbos
  • Noah Malone – Jared
  • Lorenzo Fresta – Mr. Bunny
  • Isabel Higgins – Scatting Bug

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

Lilith, performer for a children’s show called The Scrumbos, struggles with her job, mental illnesses and relationships.

My Thoughts:

Lilith works for a children’s tv show that’s a parody of the Teletubbies.  The director is an autocrat with delusions of artistry.  Her relationship with her girlfriend is deteriorating.  And she’s severely depressed.  Beneath the simple hand-drawn animation is a profoundly moving story about a mental health crisis.

Rating: ****

The full film may be purchased online.