The title makes it obvious. Someone is trying to die. Keyword being trying. Because Paul wants to die, and the world is not making it easy. Nick LaMarca’s 18-minute comedy-drama, Noose, takes a laid back approach to a heavy subject, and it works surprisingly well. The film opens boldly. There is the noose at eye-level, and there is Paul, played… Continue reading Noose: Death And Tragedy Lend Themselves Well To Comedy
Tag: Comedy
Longest Day Of The Year: An Antidote To Emptiness
And they take a walk.” Thus ends Lauren Hoover’s pandemic comedy, Longest Day Of The Year. Simple though that statement is, it is heavy with significance, accumulated over a long 18 months when taking a walk was often impossible, or the most anyone was allowed to socialise. Longest Day Of The Year, a chipper 10-minute film, takes… Continue reading Longest Day Of The Year: An Antidote To Emptiness
Kingdom Animalia: The Melanie Fyfe Story: A Much-Needed Satire Reflecting On Contemporary Times
Kalainithan Kalaichelvan’s Kingdom Animalia: The Melanie Fyfe Story can be as easily misunderstood as cheered for. The film, a pure satirical story set in a fascinating world of humans and animals is a neither-here-nor-there fantasy, that is, however, a thorough visual treat. Appealing to the eye, but troubling to the soul, the film dissects the… Continue reading Kingdom Animalia: The Melanie Fyfe Story: A Much-Needed Satire Reflecting On Contemporary Times
Hell In A Handbasket: It Could Get Much Worse, Apparently
The pandemic has been a dumpster fire. And it keeps getting worse. Writer and director Lee Chambers gets straight to it. His 5-minute comedy, Hell In A Handbasket zooms straight to the people who could potentially make it better: scientists. At the centre of the plot is Dale Borger (Robert Bryn Mann), a scientist deep in his… Continue reading Hell In A Handbasket: It Could Get Much Worse, Apparently
Livin After Midnight: A Hilarious Short That Promises A Laugh-Riot!
Joe Mitchell’s Livin After Midnight has only one problem—its minuscule time-length. Barely six minutes long, the film, a thorough tomfoolery-meets-idiocy is a strange combination of comedy and horror-thriller that lets you laugh all the way up until its climax. Frankly, this is generous coming from Mitchell whose Motorcycle Boy was a mere 2:30-minute in length.… Continue reading Livin After Midnight: A Hilarious Short That Promises A Laugh-Riot!
Life’s A Show: Large Egos About Nothing, A Pandemic Era Comedy
A trademark feature of the pandemic is the sudden crop of video calls within the narrative as a storytelling tool. Limited though it is (much like everything else), this relatively new territory does bring the opportunity to reimagine the way we tell stories, and even the very stories we tell. Harvey Puttock’s comedy, Life’s A Show dips… Continue reading Life’s A Show: Large Egos About Nothing, A Pandemic Era Comedy
Daytrip Massacre: The Fast Fun Of Horror Comedy
The genre of horror-comedy boasts of two things: gore (the more the better) and laughs (the funnier is also the gorier). With Artie Brennan and Anthony Giordano written and directed Daytrip Massacre, it is not much different, although the balance between stomach turning gore and side-splitting laughs is precarious, and played with, much and often.… Continue reading Daytrip Massacre: The Fast Fun Of Horror Comedy
Compliant: A Dystopian World That Is Not Too Far Or Dissimilar From Our Own
We are introduced to the year 2065 and in not so flattering words. The pun is hard to miss; the ambience harder. The wordings are well-chosen. The telling choice with the colour palette in hues of blue and white slowly egg us for a voyeuristic ride into the future. And, the next 09:22-minute long narrative… Continue reading Compliant: A Dystopian World That Is Not Too Far Or Dissimilar From Our Own
From A Strange Land: Skin Shriveling Awkwardness And All That Comes With It
Writer-director Caroline Steinbeis’s debut From A Strange Land is wildly entertaining and contains greater depth than is apparent. The plot looks fairly simple: a neighbour brings the new family next door a welcome present only to walk in on a situation no one was prepared for. Naked neighbours, or indecorous neighbours? Which is worse? This… Continue reading From A Strange Land: Skin Shriveling Awkwardness And All That Comes With It
Cramming: Navigating The Unforgiving Maze Of Life As A Growing Child
Too often, narratives about teens and preteens on film focus on heady adventures and larger-than-life experiences, inclined more towards escapist fantasies and glamourous entertainment. But occasionally, the relatively smaller, day-to-day events get the limelight, offering resonant, identifiable stories. With Cramming, Dan Perlman does just that. The story of two POC boys accused of cheating becomes… Continue reading Cramming: Navigating The Unforgiving Maze Of Life As A Growing Child