Tag: Comedy

Butterflies (Perhoset) was watched as part of Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival 2025! It has its showing on Sunday, April 27th as part of the festival.

Working women never have it easy. Just ask Siiri (Aska Korttila), a working woman, and she doesn’t have it easy!

Specifically she has a government job. No, not one she was voted in, like a politician. She works for one of them, Lena-Maj (Leea Klemola), as some high level of assistant. She has to help her get from place A to B, get her in contact with people, book their hotels, book their cars, handle her meeting notices and phone calls. It is a lot of work. There is even another assistant, who is much worse at the job, but he is cool so he gets away with it.

Regardless, Siiri is now in her home town where she doesn’t want to be, because that is the next stop in the tour. And thankfully, it is a quick one. But because her boss’s husband picks that time to let her know he wants a divorce, so Lena-Maj agrees to stay in the town for their little festival all weekend to try and have fun and avoid reality. And now, Siiri can’t escape her own!

Which means dealing with her father (Jani Volanen). She doesn’t like him. He is a screw up. And he knows it. But he just wants to help her, even if he cant help himself. And it turns out that the apple doesn’t fall that far from the tree.

Also starring Alex Anton.

The fields that grow her sorrows are bountiful.

The two leads in this film are uncomfortable people to watch. They rolled low on charisma and luck, and things don’t go their way. They are not the life of the party (despite the dad being a semi successful musician or something like that)? So if you are going to watch this movie, you are going to have to be willing to deal with that uncomfortableness.

I think the situations presented in this film were decent. I think they could have escalated a bit more, and often kept staying in rather…tame situations. It never made it to the next level. And worst of all, it didn’t feel like it was worth it at the end. It reminds me of a Blink-182 lyric, “Work sucks, I know”. But this is a movie where unfortunate things happen without a great level of payoff. “Life sucks, and then you die,” another song quote reference from The Fools.

A way to describe this could be a black comedy, but usually those movies go darker and potentially include death. So a black comedy without the extreme elements? With a bit of that “British” humor behind it.

It certainly achieves that result, but I wish it went to those greater levels.

2 out of 4.

American Dreamer was watched as a screener. It is now out on Digital!

When it comes to the American Dream, usually it involves money, family, a house, and fun. Probably even a green yard and space to frolic.

For Phil (Peter Dinklage), he is a college professor of Economics, so he has served his time well and went to school. He should be able to afford that American Dream everyone talks about? Hell no, he lives in a small apartment, with an old car, and dreams of owning a home, but the price of that has skyrocketed beyond ability. Everything is lost.

Thankfully, Phil does see an ad for a very large mansion like building, with a giant yard, and lake access. It has a hefty fee, out of his range, but there is a secondary, cheaper fee. He can buy it for half of the price listed, if the current owner can stay in it until her death, then he will own the whole thing. He just has to keep to his portion of the house and lawn until then.

Unfortunately for Phil, this dream opportunity can become a nightmare. He has to get rid of everything to afford his share, things keep going wrong, and the live-in woman, Astrid (Shirley MacLaine), might have actual children. This is going to create a will dispute and he might not even get any part of the house once she passes. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

Also starring Danny Pudi, Matt Dillon, Michelle Mylett, Kimberly Quinn, and Danny Glover.

I too get that look when I find myself living with an old lady. It happens so often!

This movie had a bigger slapstick nature than I thought. Sure the poster shows him looking beat up, but I still didn’t expect to see my man Dinklage slip out of a shower and fall ass up onto the floor.

It was a highlight to see the cameos throughout the film. I enjoyed Glover praying a private eye who was incredibly good at his job, and offended at the same time. Pudi as some sort of HR/Dean/something at the college felt like a good fit for him.

The movie had an interesting plot line for a story, but the main issue is how little the main plot seemed to really get going. I felt no real chemistry between our main character and his housemate. I didn’t feel much between them and the antagonizing daughter. The plot with the grad student just sort of fizzled out into nothing. And I never really understood why Dinklage’s character just gave up so much over his dream, and so quickly.

Regardless, the movie has its interesting moments and decent enough twist to it. It is not a turd, or anything, it just could have use a lot more polish.

2 out of 4.

Greedy People was sent to me early as a screener.

Money money money, makes the world go round, and can make people act very differently. Will (Himesh Patel) is on his first day on the job in a new area. He just moved here recently with his wife (Lily James) who is pregnant. Oh, and this job is of course being a cop. Oh man.

His partner, Terry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is an old hat at this job and really tells him on what he needs to know about the area. Truth is, its a very low crime city, so they aren’t going to have to do much at all. And make sure he doesn’t kill anyone! Well. Unfortunately due to events, and Terry not being that great of a person, Will accidentally kills someone! And while deciding what to do about it with Terry, they also…find a shit ton of cash!

Time to cover this up and make it look like a break in. The two agree to hide the cash in a storage unit, until things die down, and then start living life a little bit better. But of course, that is NOT what is going to happen. You see, the victim’s husband (Tim Blake Nelson) was actually already planning on ordering a hit on her that same day, so things just start to escalate from there, as more and more people get involved. That’s right. We are going to get a body count, because damn it, piles of money are just so exciting.

Also starring Jim Gaffigan, Joey Lauren Adams, José María Yazpik, Nina Arianda, Simon Rex, Traci Lords, and Uzo Aduba.

Just think of how much cash you could fit in JG-L’s mouth right there. Honestly, as a movie watcher and movie writer, and dare I say, movie critic, I get asked a lot about my favorite movies and least favorite movies. I also get asked about my favorite genre of movie. I think I finally have an answer for that, as I have hemmed and hawed in the past of various umbrella terms. I think I finally have a very specific answer. “Dark Comedies where things spiral out of control for regular people and a lot of people die.” Yeah, that might be my favorite drama.

From things like Fargo or Heathers or more recent bizarre ones like Arizona and The Death of Stalin. I almost always have a great and silly time. So, that is all to say, the same was true for Greedy People. A lot of people involved, mostly normal individuals, living their life, finding themselves a victim or a perpetuator of violence for one reason or another.

Patel is the lead of this film, but he ends up playing a mostly straight guy role throughout the proceedings. The remaining cast of characters is what really drives this movie forward. James, a pregnant and worried wife, amazing. Gorgon-Levitt, who has to play a lot of timid characters, was really let off of his leashes for this role. His character starts off as a normal shitty cop, sleazy, but becomes a scary force later on, with a just strong growling voice at times. Nelson, getting up in age, still can kick it like a Coen Bros film and give us a weird side character with special motives. Heck, Gaffigan played a literal hitman. I won’t say it is a role that is definitely suitable for him, but I will say it was notably different role for him, so its good to see him branch out and try something.

If you want main characters dying. This is the movie for you. If you like spiraling in a slightly comedic and deadly way. This is the movie for you. I had a lot of fun with this.

4 out of 4.

Killing Romance was watched as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2024! It had its showing on Saturday, May 18th as part of the festival, and it was the Seattle premiere of this film!

First, Hwang Yeo-Rae (Lee Ha-nee) gets famous! A viral person, a superstar singer, and an actress, and she is everywhere. She rises so fast, she gets put in the lead of the most expensive film of all time, and it is a dud. Her acting falls flat, she is a laughing stock. Sure, people love her for this, but she thinks this is a tragedy and her life is over.

Then she meets Jonathan Na (Lee Sun-kyun), a very rich, powerful man, who helps her out of a jam, and seems to like her. Perfect. They live away from Korea for so many years, and eventually return, Hwang now a house wife, with the world forgotten about her.

But then she meets Kim Beom-Woo (Gong Myoung). No, this is not a love thing. This is just a guy who happens to be a super fan of her work. Apparently there is a lot of them ou there. Kim is stuck in a house hold where he cannot pass the college entrance exam, and cannot go to Seoul University like everyone else in his family has ever done. He is a disappointment. But he is able to get a script to Hwang when the couple moves next door.

A script? For a musical? Can this be Hwang’s next big break? Well, no, because Jonathan says no. He cancels the whole thing. He is powerful. He is strong. He is rich. He is controlling over Hwang. He can get people killed. Hwang realizes she needs out of this relationship, it is toxic. But to do that, either Jonathan will have to die, or she will have to kill herself.

Also starring Bae Yoo-ram, Pierce Conran, and Shim Dal-gi.

Gosh, I am already in love with this guy myself. I need to of course start this section talking about Lee Sun-kyun, who tragically passed away in December. I won’t go more into the story and circumstances of his death, but they were very tragic from almost every standpoint. He was famously known as the rich dad in the Parasite movie from a few years ago. I don’t know if this is his last movie, but it is certainly now one of the last ones. And it is tragic that this is a movie where the main plotline is to actually try and kill his character.

And he destroyed this role as the toxic mean husband.

Killing Romance is certainly a movie that is indescribable in many ways. It is a BIZARRE film. It is wacky. It is strange. It is an experience.

I think the offput nature of the film, the switching aspect ratios, the switching of quality, the terrible background scenes, the zany nature of Jonathan’s character, are all just certain features that highlight the absurdity of cinema. I know this isn’t a negative of Korean cinema or anything like that. This is just a movie that wants to do its own thing, and is unapologetic in the process.

Is Killing Romance itself a good film? Honestly, hard to tell. I did enjoy my watch overall, and I appreciated the creative output. And again, if this one is Sun-kyun’s swan song, it was certainly a cherry on top.

2 out of 4.

We Strangers was watched as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2024! It had its showing on Friday, May 17th as part of the festival, and it was the Seattle premiere of this film!

Ray Martin (Kirby) has a shitty job, that frankly, she doesn’t love. She is a room/home/building cleaner. She works for a service, they provide the jobs and locations, she does the work, she gets paid. It is one of those things where she knows they obviously pay the company a lot and she only gets a fraction of the services, but at least she gets to mostly work alone and not interact with the clients.

After working on an office building that a new client bought, but needed it de-trashed, sees how she did, he wonders if he can hire her personally. Just some rich doctor guy, let her say a much higher value than she normally makes, and he said sure. He just needs his own house cleaned, and is willing to pay top dollar.

Now, during that clean? A neighbor sees her, questions her, and apparently talks to the client about it. Because now she wants a cleaner. The doctor weirdly pays for it, but hey, money is money. This leads her to suddenly more and more clients, who have their own intricacies and secrets that she is going to discover. Like, one of the clients believes in ghosts and mediums. Seems like a great time for Ray to mention she totally can do that as well, and make house calls. Talk to ghosts? For cash? Sure. Why not.

Also starring Hari Dhillon, Maria Dizzia, Paul Adelstein, Sarah Goldberg, and Tina Lifford.

Sometimes you just gotta stare off, to help find those ghost spirits. Yeah, fuck the rich. Spending lavish money on services, but treating the people in those services as lesser individuals. I think that is a big theme at SIFF this year. Fuck the rich.

Kirby does a great role as the lead. She isn’t overacting in any sense. She just seems like a normal person. It is the rich people with the eccentricities who are acting strange comparatively, even when Kirby is talking to spirits. The secrets between the rich folk are pretty obvious to discern, and not as extra as one would hope. You know, me, a movie goer, looking for drama.

Unfortunately for We Strangers, which I can say is well made enough, well acted enough, is just an okay variation of this story. No giant “fuck yous” as the end. Everything remains subtle. Everything stays chill. Just too chill for it to have higher than a 2 rating.

2 out of 4.

The Quiet Maid was watched as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2024! It had its showing on Sunday, May 12th as part of the festival, and it was the Seattle premiere of this film!

Ana (Paula Grimaldo) is a Colombian who finds herself in Spain! She is here to work as a maid, to earn more money, because her sister is going to go to medical school, but they need money for it. She finds a family who needs maid services, and can sponsor her living in the country.

They promised that soon, in September, they will work on getting her the papers she needs to be a permanent citizen, which would mean a higher salary, and an ability to make more money. But first, the whole month of August, she is with this same family in their big vacation home. They need her there every day, 7 days in a row, none off, and if she does will during their vacation, she will be given a lot more time off and money with the family back at their regular home.

But, of course, this family is a bunch of rich fuckers. The dad doesn’t trust her. She is constnatly talked about like she isn’t there from the son’s horndog friends. She can’t go out and have fun ever, like Gisela (Nany Tovar), a fellow Colombian maid from a different house nearby. Gisela pushes her to date, to dance, and more, but Ana knows one wrong move, she could be fired, and sent back out of the country.

The family sucks though, and eventually Ana will realize that they are not going to necessarily keep their words. So she is going to have to make her own way through this month, for herself, and for her family back at home.

Also starring Ariadna Gil, Luis Bermejo, Pol Hermoso, and Violeta Rodríguez.

Sometimes you need a break to just play with your pussy.

Yes, this is another fuck the rich movie. But this one does it the best, of ones I have seen so far at SIFF. A bit satirical at times, and a little bit over the top. Certainly a potentially strong pro-woman message about a woman doing things her way, and accomplishing despite men and spiteful women trying to break her.

According to the trivia, this is the first European film to be fully funded by NFTs. Which is something I really hate to hear, and it makes sense a few of the plot elements in retrospect. I won’t let that take away anything from the actual movie, but NFT’s just feel scammy to me, so I wonder if anyone got scammed as a result of the making of this film. That would drive me nuts.

Grimaldo as the lead does a lot with a little. After all, she is *quiet*, not loud. She is an observer, and makes plans in case things blow up. She speaks up for herself when she realizes that these papers can likely never come, but is also forced into many uncomfortable situations thanks to the nature of her job. She can’t really say “No” a lot for reasonable tasks that would fall under her umbrella, and if she agreed to be with them every day, she has to be with them in their good and their bad moments.

I think this film is a bit funny, despite the drama and serious moments. A good tale of gleeful revenge and perseverance by the end. We are all Ana at points, and its good to see when good people come up on top.

3 out of 4.

Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox was watched as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2024! It had its showing on Friday, May 10th as part of the festival, and it was the Seattle premiere of this film! You can see my interview with the director/writer and star here!

Tim Travers (Samuel Dunning) is a smart guy, a scientist, and a bit of an asshat. Oh, sounds like someone you know I am sure. He also seemingly has invented time travel on his own. He was able to go back in one time and see his past self. His past self didn’t expect that though. So Tim killed him.

Why would Tim do that? Because everyone knows about the famous time traveling paradox. About what would happen if you go back in time to kill yourself, or kill your grandpa. It is impossible. It doesn’t fathom or make sense. But Tim was about to do that. So WHAT is really going on here, and how did things break?

So while this is happening, another Tim comes back from the future, and the killings continue. They do until they don’t! Meaning, eventually, we get multiple Tim’s, all pondering and confused as to what is going on, and what does it mean for the science community. What can they do with this machine, can they make it better, and can they become GODS? Okay, no one is going to become a god.

But also during this time, a lot of them like to get drinks at the local bar. And there is some dating stuff happening with Delilah (Felicia Day), who certainly doesn’t believe a poop of this story.

Also starring Joel McHale, Danny Trejo, Keith David, Jeff Hilliard, Nicole Murray, and Stimson Snead.

Tim, Tim, Tim, and Tim. What can you say about a new time travel movie, when we have so many excellent ones out there? Because a time travel movie has to be able to stand on its own. It has to have new ideas, that aren’t too abstract or confusing. Well, they could be abstract or confusing if they leave fully into it. You know, like Primer. That one is famous for being so hard to get, while actually doing a great factual job at what it accomplished. Once you are able to map it out.

Tim Travers decides to launch itself more into the sillier aspects of time travel. Like, I got it for awhile. And then I stopped getting it. Then I stopped caring about getting it, and just focused on the strange story. If this thing IS actually based on some sort of time travel logic, and isn’t just shenanigans, I couldn’t tell you. I would be very impressed if it was! (But I think its just shenanigans, and I won’t hold it against them. But if you demand your time travel stories to be consistent with their rules, this one might not be it!)

As for the movie, Dunning is a strong lead for a indie picture like this. Whenever you have to play multiple people, I assume it has to be very tricky, especially if they all start to gain quirks and differences. And you know, acting as if someone is near you, but they aren’t, because you have to be spliced in later as the other part. Times uhhh, a large number. So for at least a movie of this size and budget it, he absolutely nailed it. Now, I don’t watch Doctor Who, nor do I want to, but he gives what I assume to be David Tennant Doctor Who vibes.

Again, this story is VERY silly. And its all over the place. And it has a strange amount of cameos that you would never have guessed, assuming you didn’t read my plot summary up above. It has heart, and some science behind it, which is more than a lot of films, so it becomes worht the time.

3 out of 4.

Ricky Stanicky was watched early as a screener. It comes out on Amazon Prime on Friday, March 8th.

Dean (Zac Efron), JT (Andrew Santino), and Wes (Jermaine Fowler), are best friends, and have been since they were little kids. You know, when they went to burn some dog shit on someone’s porch on Halloween. It was a mistake, and they were almost caught! But thankfully a fake name was written on the clothing, Ricky Stanicky, and the whole thing could be blamed on this other kid, who lived in another town.

Flash forward to many years later, and they’ve been blaming things on Ricky for decades now. It lets them hang out, go on trips, all with the excuse of Ricky, while avoiding their real responsibilities. You know. FAMILY. DATING. FAMILY. JOBS. Yuck.

But eventually their lies have caught up with them. And they need to produce Ricky, or else everything will crumble around them. So of course they hire some guy, Rod (John Cena), who sings covers of songs and turns them all into masturbation jokes, to play Ricky. Nothing will go wrong!

Also starring Anja Savcic, Jane Badler, Lex Scott Davis, and William H. Macy!

The cowboy hat is how you know he likes to party. And the screaming. Ah yes, a comedy based on characters lying. Do you want to know how it ends? Come on, do you?

Well, you already know how it ends. We all already know how it ends. It ends the same way all of these comedy films based on lies end. The people get found out, and admit it, and get a hard lesson. Sometimes that hard lesson is a life set for loneliness, like in Dear Evan Hansen. Sometimes they get everything they wanted despite the lie, because lessons learned. And none of them really feel like they are worth the after school special lesson.

The only thing that could save Ricky Stanicky, would be its humor and being funny throughout. But my goodness, did I not chuckle. It barely was a bleep on my radar. Over the top John Cena, does over the top things, and people have a good time because of it.

Honestly, this friend group had such low chemistry? All three of them. They did not mesh well. And this is not some strange situation where “Efron was good, the rest did not follow,” because no, Efron was also not good. He was probably in his least charismatic role I have ever seen him. I cared not for any of their characters, and that made this movie harder to sit through.

This is a straight to the internet comedy for a reason. And that reason is, because you have already seen it.

 

1 out of 4.

Hundreds of Beavers was watched early as a screener. Its is playing theatrically in Washington at Bainbridge on March 9, 2024. It should be released digitally in April. You can watch my interview with the director (Mike Cheslik) and star (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) right here as well.

What would you do, if you were living your best life as an apple farmer, making beer, and then your whole farm blows up unexpectedly? Also, suddenly it becomes a deep deep winter and you are all alone, no resources, in the wild. How would you SURVIVE.

Well for Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews), he found himself in that very specific scenario. Now, don’t worry, he won’t talk to you about his plans out loud. He won’t really talk at all. He will start to get harassed by animals, who tease and torment him, as he tries his darndest to kill them for sustenance.

Eventually, Jean finds a fur trader (Doug Mancheski) who sells gear, weapons, and more for some beaver pelts. So beavers are what must be hunted! Surprisingly, one of the items on the list is the ability to marry his daughter, (Olivia Graves), who seems to be attracted to Jean. Now Jean has a goal besides survival. He is going to kill so many beavers. So many. And then he will be happily married.

Also starring Wes Tank and Luis Rico.

The hundreds of beavers are coming after you, and can hurt you.  

There are not a lot of movies like Hundreds of Beavers. There are not…any movies like Hundreds of Beavers? From the animal outfits, to the extreme black and white setting, to the over the top flowing of zaniness, this film is a unique entity that stands on its own. Harking back to Charlie Chaplin movies, Hundreds of Beavers is not just slap stick, it is Snow Stick, its own unique drama where falling into holes, off of trees, and into snow, is half of the fun. The other half is people in beaver and bunny costumers kicking some guys ass.

I rarely condone a film that solves its problems with violence, but this is a special type of violence. This is Looney Tunes. This is art. This is cinema.

This is a film where there isn’t really dialogue, but grunts and sim sounds. This is a film with a plot that is easy to explain, but a wonder to experience.

I honestly don’t think I will ever see a movie like Hundreds of Beavers again in my lifetime. I find that harrowing and sad. I want to rent out a person in a beaver suit to beat me up. I want to have a cartoonishly large bunny chase me down the streets. Is this awakening something new in me? I sure hope not.

Honestly I have nothing but great things to say about Hundreds of Beavers. I want you to watch it alone or with your friends or while drunk. I think you will have a good time.

4 out of 4.

Scrambled was watched early as a screener. It comes out in theaters on Friday, February 2nd!

Nellie (Leah McKendrick) is a great friend to her friends. The ones who have all gotten engaged or married at this point. She throws a great bachelorette party, and is there for them, but hey, she is also losing those friends. They are married. They do couple things. They are having babies.

Nellie is currently out of any relationship. She has had some in the past, but things didn’t work out. You know, people just playing around, not being serious, wanting kids, cheating on her. Speaking of kids, turns out that even though being 34 shouldn’t be the end of the road for her potential maternity plans, it turns out, her eggs are low, for a variety of reasons. So she is at the point if she wants to have kids, and has no current prospects to have them with her, she might need to freeze her eggs for that possibility.

But freezing is expensive. And it requires a strict regiment of being healthy. And at this point, Nellie also wants to go through her history of relationships to see if anyone was the one that got away and needs a second chance.

Also starring Andrew Santino, Ego Nwodim, Max Adler, Adam Rodriguez, Yvonne Strahovski, Lindsey Morgan, and Clancy Brown.

I wonder if the eggs are in that box? If so, they should probably be in the freezer?

This movie was written and directed by Leah McKendrick. Hey, that’s the woman playing the lead! I honestly have never heard of her before this movie, so congrats to her on getting to make a movie and have it released theatrically. What is this, the 90’s? People can still do that? Comedies are allowed in THEATERS? Wow!

As for the film, I do enjoy that a big part of the plot was about a woman deciding to freeze her eggs, and go through the process. It wasn’t a woman rushing to have a baby with her loved ones. It wasn’t about artificial insemination. It wasn’t about adoption. It wasn’t about finding or being a surrogate. I only bring up all of these plot lines, because i have seen movies with them before (not that we can’t have more than one on a subject), but I have not seen a single one where the entire goal was to have eggs frozen for future considerations, and the processes behind it. I am all about diversity in my plot lines, and frankly, the more normal things people do that can be turned into a movie for awareness sakes, the better.

Better yet, this movie was funny. McKendrick was a great lead, in and out of her relationships, dealing with regular life and trying to change it for the better. And I especially loved her negative interactions with her family. Clancy Brown as her dad was just a wild dick and the arguments felt realistic, with chances for comedy along the way. I also want to give a shout out to Ego Nwodim, who I think I have mostly seen on SNL and small cameos in films. She was hilarious as her best friend character, popped up multiple times, and made me damn sad as well. Good to see her expanding her roles.

Scrambled gives a unique look at a common practice so many people take care of, without necessarily being obvious what is involved in that process. A worthwhile comedy for sure.

3 out of 4.