Jason Rietman’s 2005 directorial debut Thank You for Smoking is one remarkably assured film. Based on Christopher Buckley (son of the famous American conservative pundit William F. Buckley Jr.)’s novel of the same name, Thank You for Smoking recounts the tale of Nick Naylor (Aaro... Read More »
There’s a scene in Dave that could have easily have been lifted from a Frank Capra movie. Dave Kovic, a temp agency owner-turned-double for President Bill Mitchell, rearranges the White House budget to open up $650 million to help fund a homeless shelter for children. It’s one of... Read More »
Todd Phillips’ Old School (2003) doesn’t pick up from where previous frat films, beginning with Animal House (1978), left off; it simply redoes what has already been seen, displaying it for a hopefully new generation that is unfamiliar with the previously made films. In many ways... Read More »
In our modern times of Blu-rays and instant streaming, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to define a successful film. While the studios refuse to look away from box-office numbers, the films that come to be revered by fans are minor blips that barely register to the studio hea... Read More »
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to believe it’s been 35 years since National Lampoon’s Animal House ushered in a new sub-genre, the gross-out, raunch-filled frat comedy. As with any successful genre or sub-genre, Animal House spawned its share of college-set imitators, none mo... Read More »
There’s a feature on the special edition DVD of Airplane! that allows for the film to be watched with cutaways to deleted scenes, interviews, trivia titbits, and more. It’s a nifty little offering that, for all its worthy fan service aspirations, sort of misses the point of the m... Read More »
Modern comedies often feel that dire need to be something more. The most recent successes all have their time to slow down and get contemplative, exploring some depths of sadness. We cannot reach our ending until the protagonist has reached bottom or learned something. You know i... Read More »
Screenwriters Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg grew up together in Vancouver, BC. Both worked together on Da Ali G Show as writers, but their writing truly began when they were 14, when the duo began writing the script for Superbad. Read More »
Chris Rock once mused on the difference between being rich and being wealthy: “Shaq is rich. The white guy who signs Shaq’s checks is wealthy.” John Landis’ 1983 film Trading Places is a film about wealth, not riches - about the privilege that comes inherent with sitting at the t... Read More »
Like practically every film in practically every genre or sub-genre, stoner comedies can be traced back to a proto-stoner comedy, an über-stoner comedy, the first, but by no means last, word in stoner comedies. That title deservedly belongs to Up in the Smoke, the 1978 stoner com... Read More »
Kindergarten Cop clipped the 200 million dollar mark globally in 1990. How in the hell? The one thing I couldn’t stop thinking while revisiting this childhood romp was, "To whom in the world was this marketed?" (Because yes, my thought constructions are grammatically flawless.) T... Read More »
Courtesy of Next Projection and TIFF, yesterday evening I snagged a front row seat to a lively In Conversation With John Landis. The man has a lot to say, and doesn’t hold back from talking! I was at TIFF for the entire Landis day—he spoke before screenings of both The Blues Brot... Read More »
