comedy
Films focusing on a very niche subject walk an incredibly fine line. Most of the time if a film is geared on something specifically niche, it’s a fair bet that the writer or director has experience in the subject. This can either work brilliantly in favour of the film, or it can alienate audiences and feel quite awkward to experience.
Monster Trucks is a live action/computer animated film that is made by a regular animation director; unfortunately, it does not go over well.
The Love Witch is an aesthetically sophisticated and deeply-layered dramatization of the gender obstacles that we continue to embed in our society.
La La Land is a tribute to classic musicals, yet also attempts something different by subverting the romanticized outlook that they have.
With little of the humor and spark that made the original a Christmas classic, Bad Santa 2 is a misconstrued disaster for all involved.
Despite its length, Toni Erdmann succeeds because of the character study at its core, and also contains one of the best scenes of the year.
On New Year’s Eve, six friends get together and reflect on their lives, and the bigger issues in the world. Auld Lang Syne is a nice addition to the small collection of films written, directed, and shot by women.
Amongst the influx of romantic comedies, (500) Days of Summer still stands above the rest, presenting a harsh yet realistic perspective of love.
Other People, a semi-autobiographical film based on writer Chris Kelly’s experiences, works in a beautiful way due to the subtext behind it.
Office Christmas Party is a glaringly unfunny R-rated comedy, which isn’t even saved by the talented crew in front of and behind the camera.
Counter Clockwise is a low budget sci-fi film, with horror and thriller inflections, in which a scientist stumbles upon the creation of a time machine.
Sugar Mountain is a dark thriller about life in small-town America; with fine character acting and tension building, it’s a unique hit.
Come, Sweet Death is an Austrian film from 2000 that, though grim and darkly funny, might be the perfect representation of the country.
Army of One could have been a lot of different things, with plenty of room to shock and titillate fans of Larry Charles’ usual propensity for visceral subversions of cultural norms. Instead, the movie falls flat as a conservative piece of biographical fiction.
I Am Not Madame Bovary is highly critical of Chinese bureaucracy, both using the plot to highlight its inability to care about anything other than their job position, as well as poking fun at the workings of officialdom with the conversations between the officials themselves.