black comedy

BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM

Cert 15 Stars 5

Gloriously offensive, eye-wateringly funny and ram your own fist down your throat outrageous, Sacha Baron Cohen returns as his Kazakhstani alter ego Borat, in this astonishing mockumentary comedy sequel.

Accompanied by his 15 year old daughter, Borat returns to the US to present a monkey to Vice President Mike Pence, a set up which allows Cohen to tackle recent scandals on an extraordinary whistle-stop tour.

No matter how offensive Borat is, the people he meets are far worse and proves Donald Trump is no aberration but a horrifyingly accurate representation of the wider state of US politics.

KAJILLIONAIRE

Cert 12A Stars 3

My tolerance for off-beat and quirky was severely tested by this ambling crime comedy drama, which is a shame as it has a huge heart, a lot to say about relationships, some nice physical humour and strong performances from a cast wholly committed to fleshing out the filmmaker’s vision of the world.

With a steely yet compassionate eye, writer and director Miranda July explores the dynamics of abusive relationships and how the commercialisation of family life stunts emotional growth and empathy.

Richard Jenkins and Debra Winger play impoverished Californian thieves and conspiracy theorists living off the grid, and parents to a socially awkward adult daughter, who has the teeth-grindingly annoying name of Old Dolio.

Despite this hindrance, Evan Rachel Wood throws herself into her role as the plaintive young woman who has begun to question her lifestyle even before the family hook up with a new partner in crime while carrying out an insurance swindle.

Gina Rodriguez is an agreeably upbeat presence who accelerates Old Dolio’s personal growth, a process which puts her at odds with her parents.

ETERNAL BEAUTY

Cert 15 Stars 3

Thwarted romance, family dysfunction and mental illness are thrown together in this odd drama which is an inventive and original blend of mystery thriller, kitchen sink drama and suburban horror.

Sally Hawkins is one of Britain’s most accomplished actresses whose range has seen her play Mrs Brown in the delightful Paddington films, a gangster’s moll in Brit thriller, Layer Cake, and Oscar nominated as a mute cleaner who falls in love with a man-fish creature in The Shape of Water.

As a jilted bride called Jane living on a bleak South Wales council estate, Hawkins is a sympathetic and confused soul suffering from depression and struggling with her family played by Billie Piper and Penelope Wilton, while David Thewlis appears a failed musician.

Writer and director Craig Roberts underlines his quirky sense of humour with a strong visual style, and handles the transitions between tones with assurance while offering us a bleak and melancholy portrait of Britain, full of grey skies, grief and infidelity.

It’s a curious and unsettling exploration of loneliness which questions whether being mad is a more satisfying way of coping with the world than sanity.

SPREE

Cert 15 Stars 4

Smart, snappy and bloody, this US satirical comedy thriller is a 21st century morality tale about the perils of chasing attention, popularity and celebrity by posting extreme videos online.

Joe Keery stars as Kurt, a twenty-something emotionally stunted Los Angeles taxi driver who’s frustrated by having spent over 10 years posting videos of himself on Youtube but never having an audience whose numbers reach double figures. His deluded motto ‘if you’re not documenting yourself, you don’t exist’ is horrifying but worse is yet to come.

He creates ‘the lesson’, an instruction video built on the idea of growing an online audience by piggy-backing on other people’s popularity, but it’s really a cover for Kurt’s desire to go viral, and his plan is to livestream a killing spree with his passengers as the victims.

However as they’re initially racist far right activists, estate agents, and Hollywood narcissists with anger management issues, we don’t mind too much, and Kurt’s breezy open-faced personality and conspiratorial delivery encourage us to sympathise with him.

Yet Kurt is soon sliding into increasingly obsessive and outrageous behaviour, as if he were the impoverished grandchild of American Psycho’s violent lunatic Patrick Bateman.

Plus Kurt’s plan takes a detour when he picks up a popular and attractive stand-up comic who has all the talent Kurt lacks, and is played with increasing disbelief by the impressive Sasheer Zamata.

The script is a damning critique on the dubious attitudes of 21st American men and is knowingly pumped full of worthless marketing and brand buzzwords.

It’s happy to take highlight the prevalence of social media-fuelled insecurities, and take gleeful potshots at violent video games, gun ownership, and the financial benefits of murder.

Writer and director Eugene Kotlyarenko delivers a very assured, inventive and energetic and relevant ride, and one that’s remarkably exciting and fresh for a movie mostly set in the confines of a reasonably priced car.

AN AMERICAN PICKLE

Cert 12A Stars 4

Seth Rogen doubles up in this smart and satirical generational culture clash comedy drama, and the star of comedies such as Long Shot and Bad Neighbours puts his wide range to great use playing opposite himself as a violent yet dignified ditch-digger Herschel, and his great-grandson, an ineffectual and conniving computer programmer called Ben.

In 1920’s New York immigrant Herschel falls into a vat of pickle and is perfectly preserved for 100 years, not ageing a day.

Emerging in present-day Brooklyn, the success of the entrepreneurial Herschel’s market stall is threatened when his old fashioned values are aired on social media.

Simon Rich’s script satirises hipsters and their quest for authentic experiences, mocks the exploitative and contradictory notion of ethical online apps, and has pops at corporate food waste, the US treatment of immigrants and the lack of faith and family in modern life.

It’s the sort of quirky, inventive and heartfelt movie the Coen Brothers used to make before they won the Best film and directing Oscars for No Country For Old Men, and promptly forgot for a decade how to be funny.

WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE!

Cert 18 Stars 4

Head bashingly brutal and tense from the off and a blood bath of carnage and corruption, this nasty and funny comedy thriller is a vicious commentary on modern Russia and definitely not for the squeamish or easily offended.

After a stand-off in an apartment between a detective cop and a young man who claims to be his daughter’s boyfriend, we flashback to see how the characters arrived there with murder in mind.

It involves shotguns, drills and hammers, and if the kitchen sink isn’t thrown into the mix, it’s only because they’re too busy throwing TV’s at each other.

 

THE HUNT

Cert 15 Stars 4

Riding high with their inventive remake of The Invisible Man, this gleefully violent satirical thriller from the Blumhouse Studio sits closer to their violent ‘Purge’ franchise as a box of gory and provocative popcorn fun.

Based on the 1924 short story by Richard Connell but still horribly topical, a cabal of the global liberal elite have kidnapped a dozen working class ‘deplorables’ to hunt for sport.

Emma Roberts, Betty Gilpin and Hilary Swank are terrific in different ways as the action throws in grenades and bullets, and gives a new meaning to owning a pair of killer heels.

Intended for release last year, it was postponed in the wake of mass shootings in the US, and after taking flak for it’s anti-conservative standpoint – including some from President Trump – although of course, hadn’t seen it at the time of his tweeting.

However the film’s viewpoint is far more interesting, as the blood splattered script mixes George Orwell with online conspiracy theorists and climate change deniers while taking wild pot shots at gun ownership and celebrity charity posturing.

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THE DEAD DON’T DIE

Cert 15 105mins Stars 3

This offbeat black comedy zombie apocalypse shuffles to the unique, intriguing and pessimistic rhythm tapped out by writer, director and all-round indie maestro, Jim Jarmusch.

A man-made eco-disaster has enabled the dead to rise and feast on the intestines of the living, kickstarting a very bad day for small town cops, Bill Murray and Adam Driver.

Seemingly engaged in a private competition as to whom can deliver their lines in the most deadpan and downbeat way, they’re among several Jarmusch regulars who appear, such as singer Tom Waits as a gravel voiced narrator, and Tilda Swinton’s samurai sword wielding Scottish undertaker.

Full of nods, winks and direct references to other movies, the self-aware script and knowing performances play on the audiences’ familiarity with the actors and situations, confounding expectations and adding layers of meaning to the most deliberately banal dialogue.

A lament for cinema as well as humanity, it suggests we’re all dead men walking and it’s what we deserve.

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Stars 2

Here’s a Hollywood movie that celebrates the endearing, warm, funny and romantic side of mental illness.

The Hangover star Bradley Cooper, plays Pat Solitano, a bipolar sufferer released into the bosom of his loving family, headed by the OCD afflicted Pat Snr, Robert De Niro.

While trying to woo back his straying wife, Pat meets Jennifer Lawrence’s beautiful but equally troubled Tiffany, and as the two bond over medication, law breaking and ball-room dancing, a complicated situation soon develops.

This emotionally dishonest disaster wants to be a sympathetic portrayal of the mentally ill while simultaneously using their wacky behaviour as a springboard for humour.

The humour is weak, the violence misplaced,  the romance cliched and the the Dirty Dancing Over the Cuckoo’s Nest finale is such a badly judged mash-up of low comedy and cringing sentimentality that I was generating my own anger issues.

THOROUGHBREDS

Cert 15 Stars 4

Take a punt on this immaculately poised and nihilistic black comedy thriller which carries its chilly premise across the finish line with tremendous composure and style.

Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy give deliciously dead-pan performances as a pair of teenagers born to a world of wealth and privilege and bred to be social show ponies.

With the former saddled with a creepy and controlling stepfather, a plot is hatched to dispatch him. The film is dedicated to the late Anton Yeltsin who plays the local drug dealer whom they rope in to help.