Tag Archives: Comedy

Jan 22 2020

My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) Movie Review

Director: P.J. Hogan

Writer: Ronald Bass (Screenplay)

Starring: Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett, Philip Bosco, M Emmet Walsh, Rachel Griffiths

Plot: When a woman’s long-time friend reveals he’s engaged, she realizes she loves him herself and sets out to get him, with only days before the wedding.


Tagline – A comedy about finding your heart and losing your head.

Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Simple Rom Com

Story: My Best Friend’s Wedding starts when successful author Julianne Potter (Roberts) who learns that her best friend Michael O’Neal (Mulroney) is getting married, which turns the switch in her mind that she is still in love with him. Julianne decides to wants to try and break up the engagement, when she learns Kimberly Wallace (Diaz) is completely aware of the position Julianne will have in Michael’s heart.

As Julianne’s plan to try and win Michael back, things get complicated when her editor George (Everett) comes to support her, which leads to her panicking and claiming they are engaged.

Thoughts on My Best Friend’s Wedding

Characters – Julianne Potter is a successful author, she always put her career ahead of love, which is why her best friend is Michael and not her partner, she learns about his engagement and decides she wants to break them up, she is always planning on trying to stay ahead of the game, though she isn’t brave enough to say how she really feels. She doesn’t come off as likeable, which is the point sometimes selfish and always unsure about wanting to commit to anything. Michael is the best friend that is going to get married, he wants Julianne back to celebrate with him and must decide how to take the next stage of his life. Kimberly Wallace is the woman that is marrying Michael, she knows how important Julianne is to Michael, which will see her trying to watch over her action. George is the editor for Julianne that is trying to give her the best advice during her decision.

Performances – Julia Roberts in the leading role is solid enough, it does seem to go against the nice woman characters that she is used to playing. Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz and Rupert Everett do a simple enough job in the supporting roles.

Story – The story here follows a woman that wants to break up her best friend before he gets married and must start to focus on her own life. This story does show how love can come and go, but will always be there, it is about whether you take your chances at the right times or whether you want to become the bad person by trying to take somebody else’s happiness. It shows just how far Julianne would go to make something out her past relationship no caring who she steps on. It doesn’t paint the main character as being very nice, because they are purely selfish.

Comedy/Romance – The comedy is basic through the film, it doesn’t get too serious with the laughs. The romance in the film is more about how Julianne believes she loves her friend and will try to fight for his love.

Settings – The film uses the wedding preparation settings for the backdrop for most of the film, we get to see where the character would be and how they would look to get what they want.


Scene of the Movie – The lesson learned.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Julianne isn’t a likeable character.

Final Thoughts – This is a basic rom com, it does show how people can try to make up for their mistakes in love, but in the end, it does end up feeling like nothing much happens.

Overall: Basic stuff.

Jan 17 2020

Thunder Road (2018) Movie Review

Director: Jim Cummings

Writer: Jim Cummings (Screenplay)

Starring: Jim Cummings, Kendal Farr, Nican Robinson, Jocelyn DeBoer, Chelsea Edmundson, Macon Blair, Ammie Masterson

Plot: A police officer faces a personal meltdown following a divorce and the death of his mother.

Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Cummings Shines

Story: Thunder Road starts on the day of Officer Jim Arnaud (Cummings) funeral, here he breaks down slightly despite trying to stay strong for his daughter Crystal (Farr), being forced to take time off work, his partner Nate Lewis (Robinson) supports him. As Jim is also going through a divorce from Rosalind (DeBoer) which has only just hit him with the papers, Jim is trying to keep his life in order.

As Jim sees even more of his life fall apart, he is left losing everything, hoping he could fix things before it is too late, showing just how easily somebody’s life can fall in a matter moments.

Thoughts on Thunder Road

Characters – Officer Jim Arnaud is a good cop, good father and was a good husband, while his marriage has gone in different direction, it has ended well enough to keep their daughter together, he loses his mother and lets out his sadness on a suspect, he is happy to have split custody of their daughter, only when he loses this, he falls of the rails completely, he shows how easily somebody can have a breakdown without having the support of people in their lives. Crystal is the daughter that is caught in the middle of the divorce, she loves both her parents and is growing up too fast for Jim’s liking. Nate Lewis is Jim’s partner, who spends time of duty supporting his friend, being one of the few that will step up more once he sees the decline in his mental state. Rosalind is the ex-wife that has been patient with Jim, even though she is the one that puts the papers in for the divorce.

Performances – Jim Cummings is excellent in the leading role here, we understand each emotion that Jim is going through, all while trying his hardest to remain calm, even when he can’t. Kendal Farr as the young girl works well through the film, while Nican Robinson brings in the best friend figure with ease.

Story – The story here follows a police officer whose life starts falling apart around him after the death of his mother, divorce and custody battle for his daughter, showing us just how someone can spiral out of control. This story does show the pain somebody can go through when life hits too hard, not with one moment, but a string of them, which will make it feel like everything is against you. The spiral is hard to watch because Jim does come off like a nice honest person, that does always try to do the right thing in life. Where this story does shine, is by showing us how people will be there for you, if you are willing to accept or ask for help.

Comedy – The comedy in the film does come from a couple of moments of social awkward behaviour that Jim has, harmless, though.

Settings – The film does keep us in the one town setting, it shows how there is stories about the people in it.


Scene of the Movie – Police station confrontation.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Custody case.

Final Thoughts –This is an enjoyable comedy that has a shining performance from the lead Jim Cummings and shows just how life can be hard to the nicest people.

Overall: Nice Hard Hitting Comedy.

Jan 16 2020

The Farewell (2019) Movie Review

Director: Lulu Wang

Writer: Lulu Wang (Screenplay)

Starring: Shuzhen Zhao, Awkwafina, X Mayo, Hong Lu, Hong Lin, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin

Plot: A Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.


Tagline – Based on an Actual Lie

Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Beautiful

Story: The Farewell starts as we see Billi (Awkwafina) living in New York city close to her parents Haiyan (Ma) and Lu Jian (Lin), Billi is close to her Nai Nai (Zhao) back in China, always son the phone with her despite the 12 hour time difference. When Billi learns something isn’t right at home with her parents, she learns the truth, that Nai Nai is going to be dying soon, but the family isn’t going to tell her as it is part of the culture not to let somebody know they are dying.

The family has arranged a big wedding for one of Billi’s cousins with this being a chance for Nai Nai to have a gather of family before she goes, while Billie starts to become conflicted with how the cultural style is being handled.

Thoughts on The Farewell

Characters – Billi is the young woman that is struggling with her life in America, she is close to her family, with her parents in New York with her and her grandmother back in China, where she speaks to often despite the time difference. She learns that her Nai Nai is sick and wants to talk about it, only to learn about the culture, that didn’t even want to invite her along to a surprise wedding to celebrate Nai Nai’s life. Billi shows us how conflicted she is with wanting to follow the cultural beliefs, with the ideas of getting to spend time in happiness with Nai Nai. She does learn from each family member just what these moments will mean to Nai Nai too. Nai Nai is the kind grandmother, who has cancer and is going to die, she doesn’t know this because the family and doctors choice not to tell her to give her a final few months of happiness, she knows everything her family is up to in their lives and is delighted to see everybody back together for the wedding. We do meet the whole family with Billi’s parents needing to explain the cultural importance of the situation, the young couple getting married and how many of the family have left for America, while not spending time with the family back in China.

Performances – We do have two true star performances here with Shuzhen Zhao being the dying woman that is filled with delight, even though you do see in her performance that she knows the truth. Awkwafina is wonderful too, we see how she is conflicted through the film wanting to break down, but never letting it happen. When it comes to the supporting cast everybody is strong through the film.

Story – The story here follows a Chinese family that comes together for a wedding, which is being used as a cover up for the family to come together to spend time with a dying relative, one they don’t want to tell the news too. This story does show a cultural idea that puts a person’s happiness over giving them bad news, showing that family will come together for the important moment in life to just have a good time and celebrate life, for what will be the last time. It does show the confliction that one person will feel and will once again show that family will be there for you, even if you are struggling in life.

Comedy – The comedy in this film is shown with just how Nai Nai gets to have a good couple of weeks with her family, when she isn’t around, we get the more serious moments, but we focus on the happy moments.

Settings – The film is set in China for the most part, we get to see the homes, the important locations and the wedding which is the key part of the happiness for the family.


Scene of the Movie – The Wedding.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – I am going to be picky here, certain subtitles are difficult to read with the background colour being too similar to the font.

Final Thoughts –This is a beautiful movie that puts the spotlight on a cultural difference that you might not know about in real life, but one that is one that is so delightful and heart breaking to see unfold.

Overall: Wonderful Watch.

Jan 16 2020

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2019 – P – Parasite (2019) Movie Review

Director: Bong Joon Ho

Writer: Bong Joon Ho, Jin Won Han (Screenplay)

Starring: Song Kang Ho, Lee Sun Kyun, Cho Yeo Jeong, Choi Woo Shik, Park So Dam, Lee Jung Eun, Chang Hyae Jin

Plot: All unemployed, Ki-taek and his family take peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks, as they ingratiate themselves into their lives and get entangled in an unexpected incident.


Tagline – Act like you own the place

Runtime: 2 Hours 12 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Astonishing

Story: Parasite starts as we meet the Kim family, all unemployed, with father Ki-taek (Kang Ho), mother Chung-sook (Hye-jin) and adult children, former military service Ki-woo (Woo-sik) and genius computer wizard Ki-jung (So-dam), they take simple jobs like folding pizza boxes, until Ki-woo gets pushed into taking a tutoring job for the Park family, teaching Da-hye (Ji-so) English.

Soon after Ki-woo gets a job for the family, the Park family businessman Dong Ik (Sun-kyun) his wife Yeon-kyo (Yeo-Jeong) fill the roles of their trusted staff with Ki-woo’s family as they get themselves secure well paying jobs, but not everything is as it seems with the house.

Thoughts on Parasite

Characters – Ki-taek Kim is the father of the unemployed family, he has always looked out for his family, while they search for their next meal, once the job opens up for him, he becomes the driver, proving to be a model employee. Ki-woo gets the first job as a tutor for the daughter in the family, he sees this as a chance to get to university, where he makes the plan for the family to get the extra jobs. Ki-jung is the daughter of the family that will become an art therapist for the family, while Chung-sook takes over the house as the maid. This family shows the poverty a family can be experiencing and just how far they would go to try and get out of it. The Park family has businessman Dong-ik who has always been patient with people, letting his wife do the hardest decisions in life, while supporting her always. Yeon-kyo is the wife that deals with the everyday routines in the house, she will do everything she needs to with the people she trusts, even if this does mean she can be taken advantage of.

Performances – We have incredible performances from the whole cast here Song Kang-ho in the leading role shines beyond belief in one of the performances of the year. Lee Sun-kyun and Jo Yeo-jeong give us wonderful supporting roles, with Choi Woo-sik, Park So-dam and Jang Hye-jin shining like the rest of the cast which is flawless throughout the film.

Story – The story here follows a poverty family that luck and con their way into secure jobs for one family, only to see everything spiral out of control in a story that highlights the lines between the rich and poor. This story is one of the most fascinating ones of the year, it does seem like it is going to be a simple enough story, but when everything goes out of control we get to see threads of the story unravel in every directions, see the highlights placed on the rich and poor divide, slowly chipping away at the poorer side of the family, as well as having the other incident going on (which does include too bigger spoilers). Much like ‘Shoplifters’ we see just how hopeless people can feel when they have no realistic future because money they can’t earn can’t give them an out. This is a perfect highlight of how to bring an original story to life, where the audience will be left to ponder what will happen next.

Comedy – The film is set up like a comedy which at times does work, with just how crazy certain moments are, though it doesn’t fall into a laugh out loud comedy.

Settings – The film uses the settings excellently, with the poverty sized house the family can barely not have some drunk piss on the window, to the wealthy businessman who has earnt his way to the top, the difference in lifestyle is drastic with the locations almost being a character of their own.


Scene of the Movie – Party time.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Nothing.

Final Thoughts – This is one of the most amazing films you will see this year, it will shock you and give us an important message about the clash system in the world.

Overall: Essential Movie.

Jan 14 2020

VHYes (2019) Movie Review

Director: Jack Henry Robbins

Writer: Nate Gold, Nunzio Randazzo, Jack Henry Robbins (Screenplay)

Starring: Kerri Kenney, Thomas Lennon, Mark Proksch, Courtney Pauroso, Charlyne Yi, John Gemberling, Mason McNulty

Plot: This bizarre retro comedy, shot entirely on VHS and Beta, follows 12-year-old Ralph as he accidentally records home videos and his favorite late night shows over his parents’ wedding tape.

Runtime: 1 Hour 12 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Strange & Unique

Story: VHYes starts in 1987 when young boy Ralph (McNulty) gets a camcorder for Christmas, which he learns will record late night television, which he does, diving into the weird and whacky world of late night television and filling everyday life, trying to capture some of the strangest moments in life.

AS the nights alone continues Ralph continues to watch more of the late night shows, he learns about new ideas of what to film, which soon blurs the lines of reality.

Thoughts on VHYes

Final Thoughts – This is a story that is very strange to watch, mostly because there is a connection between everything that is going on, it might well be a series of what looks like random clips, from shopping network, antique show and even badly acted pornos. A lot of the clips we see do have political messages about the future or the world we live in now, which is nice to see. This story is so difficult to truly judge, because it is the filmmaking that is making a bigger impact, with the unique plan put in place to show us a message about blending reality with. This film should be praised for the filmmaking, it is original in way, though it could be a way of telling a story that leave people feeling like they missed something.

Overall: Unique Filmmaking.