Category Archives: Satire

2007, Acceptable for teenagers, Accidental Death, Amazon Prime, Amusing banter, Bathroom Humor, Blackmail, British Comedy, British Slapstick, Coarse manners, Comedy, Drug trip, Eccentric cast of characters, Embarrassing episodes, Exaggeration Comedy, Father-daughter relations, Gay theme, Good Brother - Bad Brother, Jealousy, Mother-son relations, Nudity, Often downright silly, Romance, Satire, Uncategorized

Death at a Funeral (2007)

From Amazon Prime:

As the mourners at a British country manor struggle valiantly to “keep a stiff upper lip,” a dignified funeral devolves into a hilarious, no-holds barred debacle of misplaced cadavers, indecent exposure, and shocking family secrets. This classic farce blows the lid off the proverbial coffin as “the film’s delicious comic flourishes are served up by an outstanding cast” 

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1.5 hour comedy film.

Although there is an American 2010 all-Black version of this film, the Amazon version is the British 2007 all-White version.

British slapstick is not for everyone. For example, there is at least one  outlandish scene (this one involving human excrement) that could seem distasteful.   Nor is it certain that the treatment of a gay theme from 15 years ago would be  completely acceptable in 2022. These days the extensive nudity will probably not raise an eyebrow.

Among the British actors that might seem familiar, there are:

  • Matthew Macfadyen (Howard’s End, MI-5) as the grieving son Daniel.
  • Peter Dinklage (the dwarf actor in Game of Thrones) as  Peter, who claims to be the lover of the deceased father.
  • Alan Tudyk (Arrested Development) as Simon, who spends most of the time in a drug-induced haze.
  • Rupert Graves (Inspector Lestrade in Sherlock ) as Robert.
  • Peter Vaughan (Maester Aemon in Game of Thrones ) as Uncle Alfie, who spends most of the time on the toilet.
  • Peter Egan ( Martin Hughes in Unforgotten) as Victor.

Possibly not as funny as Monty Python.

 

2021, Acceptable Sci-Fi, Acceptable Science, Allegory, Autistic Technocrat, Bizarre, Black humor, Comedy, Could Be Hard To Watch, Cover-up, Depressing, Eccentric cast of characters, Exaggeration Comedy, Extramarital Affair, Farce, Government cover-up, Greed vs Common Good, Mayhem, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Often downright silly, Panic Attacks, Personal Betrayal, Political Satire, Satire

Don’t Look Up (2021)

From Netflix:

Two astronomers go on a media tour to warn humankind of a planet-killing comet hurtling toward Earth. The response from a distracted world: Meh!

From Netflix you can stream this 2 hour 18 minute long complete film.

According to Miriam-Webster, “allegory” is a story in which the characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life or for a political or historical situation.  In the case of this film, the news that a comet hurtling toward earth will destroy mankind, which a superficial world treats as “fake news” could possibly stand for climate warming (which the Master of the Republican party declared was simply a “Chinese hoax”) or for a pandemic (Why get vaccinated against some illness that will disappear in a day or so?).

Leonardo DiCaprio provides a splendid performance as Dr. Randall Mindy, an all too human scientist trying to warn the world but who succumbs to his sudden fame and the allures of the unbalanced Brie Evantee (played by Cate Blanchette).

Jennifer Lawrence plays an increasingly frustrated and exasperated Kate Dibiasky, Dr. Mindy’s gifted doctoral student.

As far as an over the top  (if not to say bizarre)  role as President Orlean of the USA  goes,  Meryl Streep is the perfect “air head.” She even wears a MAGA cap.

When the screen finally goes black, do not stop watching.  Credits rolling by on the screen are interrupted several times by continuations of the story.  Watch the fatalistic silliness right up to the very end.

Is this depiction of a threatened end of the world really a comedy?

2020, Alcoholism, Anti-Gay Laws, Anti-Semitism, B-movie, Bad Acting, Barely Acceptable Trash, Black struggles, Career Competition, Corny, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Feel Good Not For Children, Gay Bashing, Gay Prostitution, Gay theme, Happy ending, Hollywood Culture, Homophobia, Imperfect, Longsuffering wife, Love Story, Male Chauvinism, Male Prostitute for Women, Male Prostitutes, Marital Infidelity, Maudlin, Mediocre, Mostly About Sex, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Oscar Awards, Preachy, Promiscuity, Romance, Satire, Sex Scenes, Sexual promiscuity, Soap Opera, Unhappy Marriage, Vulgar, Women's Equality

Hollywood (2020)

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From Netflix:

While waiting for his big break, aspiring movie star Jack Castello accepts a job at a local service station that pumps more than just gas.

From Netflix you can stream the 7 episodes of this soap opera. Each episode runs between 45 and 58 minutes.

Maudlin. Salacious. Corny. Subtle as a brick. Clichéd. Barely acceptable trash. Maudlin. Raunchy. Preachy. Woke. Terrible acting. Production errors.  And the list could go on.

My college freshman rhetoric teacher suggested that in order to better appreciate good examples of a given art discipline such as literature, music, and film, it helps to experience the bad examples. Well, with this film we now have a golden opportunity to experience one of the lesser achievements of the movie industry.

“Golden Tip Gasoline” is a gas pumping station that doubles as a gas pimping station for the young male gas attendants who will “fill your tank” if the customer uses the code word “dreamland”, no matter if that customer is male or female.   Not only all these attendants but also their boss and some customers have Hollywood aspirations. One way for such a gas pumper to get his start is to service those customers who are part of the Hollywood management nobility. Instead of casting couches it seems there were casting nozzles.

Rather than merely prurient attractions, this story offers a noble sub-theme: No longer would the film industry suppress black,  gay, and women actors.

Indeed from the goings-on we might suspect that half of Hollywood consisted of closeted gays .  As an example: One client, say Jake, is so stupid that when he drives up to engage Archie Coleman he can’t remember the word “Dreamland”. But they hook up and eventually fall in love.  Jake is told he cannot act. Nonetheless he forges ahead.  Because he could not remember two lines, his first screen text required 67 takes. Because Jake is as handsome as he is stupid, some producer accepts him but says “Jake” is not an acceptable screen name and must be changed to ROCK HUDSON (get it?). His boyfriend Archie is a black man (horrors!) who wants to become a screen writer. Camille Washington is a black woman (even worse!) who wants to have some screen role other than playing a maid (uppity!). And so it goes on and on for 7 episodes.

Is this a satire? Have I missed something here?

If you can last till episode 7, which is aptly named “A Hollywood Ending”,  you will be rewarded with a happy, sappy ending. Amen!

But just remember I LOVE TRASH!

2020, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Amazon Prime, Barely Acceptable Trash, Bloody scenes, Comedy, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crude Talk, Embarrassing episodes, Farce, Father-daughter relations, Grungy, Kazakh, Kazakhstan, Male Chauvinism, Nudity, Outrageous Behavior, Political Satire, Remarkable Costumes, Satire, Sight Gags, Slapstick, Vulgar

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)

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From IMDB:

Follow-up film to the 2006 comedy centering on the real-life adventures of a fictional Kazakh television journalist named Borat.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 35 minute complete film.  Spoken language is  Kazakh (which is a Turkic language), the official language of Kazakhstan, and English. Part of the fun of the film is that the Kazakh is translated into English subtitles written in ungrammatical garbled phrases.  Just listening to Borat murdering the English language is a hoot.

Basically this at times wildly funny satire is aimed at Donald Trump and his band of merry Trump Thugs.  Secondarily the goal is also to make fun of Kazakhstan.  Supposedly the plot is this: Borat must present his daughter to Donald Trump as a gift to avoid being executed in Kazakhstan in an “excruciatingly painful manner.”

Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) paints Kazakhstan as a backward collection of shabby villages in which women, including his daughter,  are kept in cages with absolutely no rights. Throughout the film he and his daughter quote the Kazakhstan bible which instructs how to (mis)treat women.

In the past there was a TV program called “Candid Camera” in which unsuspecting participants were secretly filmed while being placed in awkward situations. Each Borat episode follows exactly that model. In most cases the episode features an individual or group of people who are Trump supporters. These victims are conned into revealing their appalling ignorance and conspiracy acceptance.

WARNING: “Embarrassing, vulgar, disgusting, crude” are a few adjectives that must be applied to some episodes.  How on earth did this film get past the decency censors?  Make no mistake, I am no prude. But there have to be limits on what is shown in public. You are warned.

Ignoring the crass downside,  you have some truly funny belly laughs in store.

1976, Crude Talk, Cynical, Drama, Preachy, Satire, Sex Scenes, TV Culture, TV news industry, Unscrupulous drive to power

Network (1976)

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From NetFlix:

When a network news anchor loses his mind on the air, his outrageous rants reach viewers at home, boost the ratings and intrigue a pair of cutthroat network executives in this Oscar-winning masterpiece that predicted today’s rash of trash television.

Thanks to a fellow movie fan after reading my review for “Nightcrawler” who suggested that I should have seen “Network” first. Indeed, to borrow from my neighbor again, the depiction of the pandering sensationalist behavior in “Network” was a precursor to today’s trash TV (reality TV anyone?).

In at least one respect, the film feels dated: the speech delivery is loud, almost shouting oratory. It could take awhile to get used to this unrelenting patter. If you think Peter Finch (as Howard Beale) shouts a lot, just wait for the reprimand speech delivered to Howard Beale by Ned Beatty (as Arthur Jensen) whose message is “Money Is Everything”. Another way to put this is to say that the film is preachy.

Another impression for me was that “Network” was a bit like “Mad Men” meets “Nightcrawler”. Much like “Mad Men” we witness the merciless win and lose of jobs, positions, and sanity.

Whether Faye Dunaway (as Diana Christensen) is capable of love comes in question when the aging William Holden (as Max Schumacher) leaves his wife for Diana. In one clever scene she and Max make love while during the entire love-making session she jabbers on non-stop about network business.

In some sense the film is scary, possibly because it holds too much truth. But from a historical perspective, I am very glad I saw this 40 year old film which in many aspects has not aged at all.

2000, Amusing banter, Art Treasures, Bank Robbery, Based on true facts, Car Chase, Clever Plot, Comedy, Cynical, Detective, Drugs, Gangs, Irish, Motorcycles, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Satire, Sex Scenes, Torture, Use of Irish Brogue, Violent

Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000)

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From Netflix:

In this taut crime thriller, a charming thief delights in plotting heists with the kind of élan that makes him popular in the very city he plunders.

While browsing Netflix streaming I stumbled on this clever comedy spoken in an Irish brogue. Kevin Spacey plays Michael Lynch. In this film he is also well-known as a bigamist. Both wives have important parts in the film.

From IMDB:

Brilliant, flamboyant master criminal Michael Lynch is more interested in his image and his posterity than the actual profit from his ill-gotten gains.

Michael Lynch’s greatest pleasure comes from eluding and tricking the Irish police, the Garda. Watching one clever stunt after another is the guilty pleasure this film offers.

You will see many familiar faces: Peter Mullan (Death Eater Yaxley in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 “), David Hayman (Jonas in “The Paradise”), Patrick Malahide (Balon Greyjoy in “Game of Thrones”), and of course Colin Farrell.

Yes, there is violence and death. But it is all in fun, after all.

2014, Amusing banter, Art Treasures, Comedy, Crude Talk, Farce, Imperfect, Possible a put-on, Satire, Trains

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

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Fron Netflix:

Between the world wars, Gustave H, the concierge at a prestigious European hotel, takes a bellboy named Zero as a trusted protégé. Meanwhile, the upscale guests are involved in an art theft and a dispute over a vast family fortune.

Despite some great sight gags, the constant tongue-in-cheek patter is a bit overdone. Perhaps as a conciliation prize we get to watch a constantly changing series of often exaggerated scenes and situations. At times the scenery, if it is real, is breathtaking. Much of the constant and rapid movement is hilarious probably because it is unlikely in not downright impossible.

Is it a tip-off that the film is imperfect when there are so many notable walk-ons? Besides Ralph Fiennes through most of the film, we also get to see Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Bill Murray, and Edward Norton. Not only was some of the acting (more precisely, script reading) not very good, but why was it that for me in this film the American accents sounded so flat?

Maybe I am over critical or expected too much. But I did get a few good laughs.

2011, Acceptable for children, Catholic culture, Comedy, Could Be Sad, Italian, Satire, Slapstick

We Have A Pope (2011)

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From Netflix:

The pope has died, and the congress of cardinals has chosen his successor. But what happens if the newly elected pontiff doesn’t want the job? This comedy follows the Vatican’s travails as it strives to make one cardinal accept his destiny.

You need not be Catholic to enjoy this funny and sad romp through Rome, but it might help. Especially that is true because the film makes a bit of fun of various aspects of the Catholic church.

Basically, the newly elected pope does not want the job and he escapes in street clothes into the busy Roman life while his Secretary of State desperately searches for him hoping to convince him to remain as pope.

You might recognize the actor Nanni Moretti who directed this film. He plays the psychoanalyst which the Secretary of State hires to help the newly elected pope in his time of indecision. Needless to say, this is all tongue in cheek. At one point the psychoanalyst divides the cardinals into volleyball teams and stages a tournament. If you want to see Nanni Moretti in a wonderful film, try “The Son’s Room”. “We Have a Pope” is, on the other hand, a mere diversion which at times can be very funny.

In Italian with subtitles.

2012, Animation, Black humor, Car Chase, Comedy, Crude Talk, Fantasy, Love Story, Medical Theme, Mental Illness, Motorcycles, Musical, Nudity, Satire, Senior citizens, Short Films, Suicide, Unusual, Vulgar

Oscar Shorts (2012)

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From Netflix:

This collection of Oscar-winning shorts from 2003-2012 covers works from around the globe, including “God of Love,” “The New Tenants,” “Toyland,” “West Bank Story,” “The Lost Thing,” “Logorama,” “The Danish Poet,” “Ryan” and “Harvie Krumpet.”

Live Action shorts are:

  • God of Love – Singer uses unusual methods (timed darts) to cultivate love affairs.
  • The New Tenants – Surprise! Vince D’Onofrio (looking really overweight and unhealthy) The new tenants have a series of crazy visitors.
  • Toyland – German with subtitles – Persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. “Toyland” is a euphemism for a concentration camp. Little Aryan child wants to accompany his Jewish friend to “Toyland”. Grim, sad, beautifully done.
  • West Bank Story – Much effort went into making this satirical take-off on “West Side Story”. Kosher King versus Hummus Hut.

Animated shorts are:

  • The Lost Thing – Australian – On beach man finds incredibly imaginative “thing” that seems to be a giant almost-teapot with reptilian extremities. Priceless!
  • Logorama – Vulgar mockery of American products and their logos, complete with car chases shoot-outs, earthquakes, an oil flood, and the west coast under water.
  • The Danish Poet – A Danish poet visits Sigrid Unset
  • Ryan – Imaginative but grotesque people missing parts (e.g. missing half a skull) provide opportunities for digital distortions. Downright weird.
  • Harvie Krumpet – Claymation story of Polish Harvie born to insane mother and lumber jack father. Harvie escapes the Germans and flees to Australia where he lives a life full of funny misfortunes each of which lands him once again in the hospital. Meanwhile he continues to collect increasingly funny facts (misspelled as “fakts”). Explicitly vulgar and very tongue-in-cheek.

“West Bank Story” is probably famous. In fact, I think I have seen it in other collections. Well worth watching.

“Harvie Krumpet”, while funny, could also be a bit depressing.

“The Lost Thing” may well be one of the most original animations I have seen. To enjoy all its details you might have to watch it more than once.

2008, Black humor, Clever Plot, Comedy, Conspiracy, Crude Talk, Detective, Kidnapping, Revenge, Satire, Satirical ultra-violence, Vulgar

Nobel Son (2008)

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From NetFlix:

About to receive the Nobel Prize in chemistry, Prof. Eli Michaelson learns that kidnappers have snatched his son, a promising grad student. But when the captors demand a ransom — the $2 million Nobel Prize money — Eli refuses to cough up the cash.

Alan Rickman, when last seen, was an Englishman selling wine in Paris in the film Bottle Shock. In “Nobel Son” he personifies perfectly an egotistical, womanizing professor who has belittled his son Barkley (played by Bryan Greenberg who was Parker in “Friends with Benefits”) all his life. Shawn Hatosy (who plays Sammy Bryant in “Southland”) here plays Thaddeus James who engineers a kidnapping of Barkley. Bill Pullman and Mary Steenburgen round out the cast.

Black humor is the order of the day. Do NOT be put off by the initial scene in which someone cuts off a man’s thumb. Similar to films made by Quentin Tarantino, the violence, gore, explicit language are all purposely and satirically exaggerated. Cannibalism is actually a source of humor. What initially seems to be some gross violence usually turns out to be fake (except for poor Danny DeVito).

Take it all in a spirit of outrageous fun.