A Week of Movie Recommendations: Underappreciated Dark Comedies
Ever since shelter in place began in March, on my Facebook page, I have been recommending a film daily. Several people have asked if I could compile those recommendations. So this begins a series of recommendations where each day I recommend a movie based on a theme.
Today begins a week of Dark Comedy recommendations. The following week will be rom-coms. This request for Dark Comedies brought you by Shreyan Jain.
I admit, dark comedies are my favorite. "Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" is probably my favorite comedy of all time, but Mel Brooks dark comedy "The Producers" (original from 1967 with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder) is a close second.
That being said, this week's movie recommendations will be lesser known, unsung dark comedies, or at the very least ones that come up a little bit less than more infamous films.
Underappreciated Dark Comedies
Day 1 Movie Recommendation
To start us off, let's go to the king of dark comedy (or I should say Kings of dark comedy) the Coens. Their "Fargo", "Raising Arizona", "Serious Man", "Barton Fink" stand among some of the greatest dark comedies ever, but today, let's highlight a less praised film that I still think is amazing.
"The Man Who Wasn't There" *** 1/2
Shot in luscious black and white, it stars Billy Bob Thorton as a classic Coen loser, Ed Crane. His life is going no where. He is a barber who has no other ambitions in life. He spends his life listening to the stories of those who sit down in his barber chair, until now. It's time for him to tell his story.
Ed suspects his wife, Frances McDormand, is possibly having an affair with her boss, Big Dave Brewster (James Gandolfini). Sensing an opportunity for the first time in his life, he doesn't get angry, he decides to get rich. A scheme forms that leads to blackmail and eventually murder. I know this doesn't sound like comedy, but it is in the Coen's signature twisted way.
I usually write my own review, but this is so cleverly written that I am just going quote this sentence from the film summary on IMDB: "It's a tale of suspected adultery, blackmail, foul play, death, Sacramento city slickers, invented war heroics, shaved legs, a gamine piano player, aliens, and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle". And an ending that you are never going to see coming. What a silly, strange, dark, and yet telling comedy about the desires of humans driven to desperation. This is a great Coen brothers comedy.
Day 2 Movie Recommendation
For my next recommendation of a dark comedy, we turn to a master of cinema not known for his comedies. Scorsese is known typically for meditations on masculinity and violence ("Taxi Driver", "Goodfellas", "Casino", "The Departed") or religious films ("The Last Temptation of Christ", "Kundun", "Silence", "Bringing out the Dead") and sometimes a combination of the two ("Raging Bull", "The Irishman"). But, in the mid eighties when trying to reinvent himself, he made a Hollywood film ("The Color of Money") and a dark comedy:
"After Hours" ****
This is a dark comedy in the truest of senses. It is a nightmare that is watchable because of the levity at times. There is quick witty dialogue. Fun, and at times disturbing, weird characters. There is almost a cartoonish or Buster Keaton like quality to the trials and troubles that Paul falls into one after another. And, it is a comedy for the fact that it ends happily,even though, it sometimes plays like a thriller.
The story is simple enough. Paul Hackett is employed as a word processor and he hates his life. He is lonely and if "Taxi Driver" didn't prove it, then this film does: there is no place better or worse to be alone than in New York City. One night after work, he is in a cafe and meets a young woman whom he gets her number. Calling her up, he goes over to her apartment and enters a labyrinth of coincidences and tragedies that unfold with absurd effect. This truly is Camus' understanding of the absurd put into a single night of a man's life. And always with the absurd, you can either laugh or cry.
Scorsese then brings his intense style. Using voyeuristic close ups and wicked juxtaposition, he heightens the absurdity of this Job like character doomed to suffer in a cruelly funny world. At one point, he is out of money but needs to get somewhere. He goes to buy a subway fair but... it is after midnight and the price of a fair just went up for the first time a year. Indeed, we live in an absurd world.
Day 3 Movie Recommendation
Today, continuing my recommendations for dark comedies, I turn to one of the most creative and hysterical actors, improvisers, directors, writers, and musicians out there: Christopher Guest. Christopher Guest has mastered the art of the mockumentary. Usually his films are just hilarious. Perhaps never better than "This is Spinal Tap" (if you have not heard the commentary in character where the band comes back together to watch the film, it is another comedy itself), but also master works about theater "Waiting for Guffman" or just human oddities "Best in Show", but I think there is one comedy he has done that crosses over into that "dark comedy" genre:
"A Mighty Wind" *** 1/2
At first, this may not seem like a dark comedy, but in my mind it becomes that because of how damn sad this movie is. Certainly the subject of the movie is sad. Irving Steinbloom, a fictional legendary producer of folk music has died. PBS and his family seek to celebrate his life by creating a broadcast bringing together famous folk bands for a concert.
The bands include the classic troubadours, The Folksmen, with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer. There's also the New Main Street Singers. The original Main Street Singers were a family, but they have since broken up or passed away. One of them is still around and he joins the other new members who are still counter cultural in their own unusual way including being color wicka. And then, there is the tragic pair, Mitch and Mickey, played brilliantly by Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara. The other Steinbloom family members are hysterical, especially the nervous Bob Balaban. The troubadours and New Main Street Singers are equally funny and then there is Mitch and Mickey. Here lies the heart and the utter sadness that makes this a dark comedy.
Mitch and Mickey were madly in love when they are were a young couple. Famous for their song "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" (which is a great original folk song, not a comedic one), they would kiss during the musical break in the song. Their love transcended their art. Then, the breakup came. Mitch was utterly destroyed. Mickey has gone on to get married and live her life, but not Mitch. He tried to write songs and new albums but their titles, while funny, also indicated how bad things were: "A Cry for Help" containing songs like "If I had a gun", "Anyone but you", "May she rot in hell", which spiraled down to the next album "Calling it quits". Mitch then went to a mental hospital. He has never been the same.
When Mitch sees Mickey again, you can see that he still loves her. During the memorial concert, Mitch disappears and we get a glimpse of how Mickey reacts. This has happened before. Their relationship was not the perfect romance that their musical admirers envisioned, nor was it the romance that Mitch believes it was. When it's their time to perform, Mitch and Mickey play their famous song "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" and indeed, they kiss. Mitch's life is revived. He now believes he has a chance, but Mickey in an interview sadly says, "it was just a kiss." Their story line, although only a third of the film, is a weight of truth among the silliness of the film, making this a great dark comedy.
Day 4 Movie Recommendation
Another incredible Dark Comedy duo (besides the Coens) is the writing / directing duo of Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. Together they have done the "Sideways" which won an Oscar for best adapted script, the darkly humorous and poignant "About Schmidt", and even their first film "Citizen Ruth" is an underrated dark comedy, but for my money I'm going to recommend -
"Election" ****
Biting satire about a high school ASB election, which is, of course, but an allegory for national elections. Matthew Broderick plays a truly pathetic teacher who sees in Tracy Flick (an incredible Reese Witherspoon), a ambitious and vicious high school student, a force that must be stopped. To stop her from winning ASB president, he will do whatever it takes including convincing a popular but dumb jock to run against her and even cheating.
This is not a high school film just as "Cruel Intentions", which is based on a novel which is an adaptation of "Dangerous Liaisons", these high school students engage in explicate and cruel manners. Just as it seems as it can't get worse, it does.
There is something acidic about this film that makes it all the more humorous and sad because of the truth the satire evokes about human nature.
Day 5 Movie Recommendation
Continuing our dark comedy film recommendations, this one may be a little close to home right now, but, during Clinton's Impeachment Trial, he was accused of bombing al-Qaeda to distract from his political woes. What type of President would do such a thing? Let's leave that question alone. Instead, how would we even go about staging such a political lie?
"Wag the Dog" ****
Bringing together two legends (although "Sleepers" had them in a scene together before), Robert De Niro is the political operative whose job is to distract from a President's extra-marital affair. He chooses to contact a Hollywood director, an amazing Dustin Hoffman, to stage a "pageant" / faking a war to distract the electorate. Let the hijinks commence.
Hoffman is brilliant as he commits to creating a narrative that people will believe is true. It brings up the question of how we consume media. Also the films answers the question of modern times about how ISIS was able to recruit so many young people. The power of using images to create a world and narrative through mis-en-scene, editing, cinematography, sound, etc. Film is a powerful medium that too often is not understood by those who are consuming it.
So a dark warning for our times, but a funny one none-the-less.
Day 6 Movie Recommendation
Continuing with our selections for Dark Comedies comes a comedy that is close to my heart. I have to admit, I love this film, even though... in many ways... I shouldn't. This is not my typical recommendations which generally have high ratings by most critics (there are always exceptions), but this is a movie that has made me laugh like few other films. It is wonderfully absurd.
"Bubba Ho-tep" ***** (I rate out of 4 stars and gave this film 5 because... I can't rate it in my normal system of rating films. It one of those it's so bad it's good, and yet, it's also just good, haha)
Bruce Campbell is a comic genius. I could have easily chosen any of the "Evil Dead" films that he and Raimi did together, but for my choice of his best performance, I go to a passion project of his: "Bubba Ho-tep".
Many people haven't heard of this film. Let me give you the insane premise:
Elvis Presley didn't die (no, he did not "go home" as is suggested in "Men in Black"). He was tired of his life and the consummate need for fans to know his every move. So, he switched with an impersonator. One who convinced everyone, he was the real Elvis. But, then, he died. Now, Elvis is trapped in his "new identity" because no one will believe him that he is the true Elvis.
Years have passed and the movie begins with this Elvis (brilliantly played by Bruce Campbell) in a nursing home. He is old and trapped. He also has cancer on his ... genital. Where this could just be treated for laughs (and it is) it also allows Bruce Campbell to play an Elvis who is contemplating the meaning of death and life. To my absolute surprise and shock, there are some profound moments in this film dealing with such ruminations.
But, after being introduced to the daily routine of being stuck in a nursing home waiting to die, something "exciting" happens. A local exhibit of mummies from Egypt is moving to its next location when an accident leaves behind a mummy. Now, it's not a king but rather one of his poor subjects or servants who was buried with him when he was entombed. After realizing that the Mummy is not as powerful as a traditional mummy from Hollywood lore, Elvis decides to take him on. They also dub this mummy "Bubba" since he ain't royalty.
Now, he is not alone on this quest. He is aiding by an amazing Ossie Davis. Ossie Davis plays a man who believes he's JFK. Now, those who know the actor will immediately ask the same question Elvis does; "You do realize JFK was white?" To which the black character responds "they died me this color. What better way to hide the truth." In this hysterical relationship there is an undercurrent that is never directly addressed... are we who we believe ourselves to be? If this JFK is insane, is Elvis also and he's not actually Elvis? The movie being told from his perspective never allows him to question what he knows, that he is Elvis, but the film makes us ponder these questions.
In the end, an action scene between Elvis with his walker and JFK in his wheelchair comes down to a fight between them (walking in like they're from "The Right Stuff") and the mummy, Bubba Ho-tep, who sucks people's souls out of their posteriors.
This is one insane film and as far as I am concerned, a must see.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXGP07vrab8
Day 7 Movie Recommendation
And today's recommendation, we turn to a master of suspenseful dialogue combined with deep character development. So often, his works (in plays and in film) are filled with characters who are unlikable. Yet, here, he writes a character for his dear friend Brendan Gleeson who is a hired killer, yes, but one with a heart of gold.
"In Bruges" ****
Martin McDonagh wears his influences on his sleeve. His plays, his films, everything he writes is influenced heavily by Quentin Tarantino. He loves fast paced, witty dialogue that distracts and provokes. He loves conversations that seemingly are about nothing. There's an incredible one in this film about the proper pronunciation and meaning of the word "alcoves". He loves to mix violence and comedy. Some of his plays seemed un-stage-able for this reason. In the "Lieutenant of Inishmore" there are multiple gun battles on stage and the vivisection of seven bodies on stage. Yet, here, in his first feature film, he transcends his influences as he always does in his best works. "In Bruges" is indeed a dark comedy, but it is also a deeply moving and spiritual film.
While Brendan Gleeson turns in a great performance as does Ralph Fiennes, the surprise is Colin Farrell. Colin had by this point become an action star. He had turned in great performances in movies like "Minority Report", but here, he reveals a depth to his talent, a comedic edge that is brilliant and he has since continued to give brilliant performances.
The story is about two killers who after a hit goes wrong and a child is murdered, flee to Bruges to await instructions. Colin Farrell's character does not seem like a hitman. In fact, he is a goof-ball in many ways; a lost kid. The revelation of why hhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-gG2qo_l_A&t=11se's like this is one of the great moments in the film.
Watch especially the time the two hitman tour a museum together, where Colin can complain about Brendan's love of sightseeing. Here they see a painting of the Apocalypse. That painting's symbolism is of particular importance. Hence, the term spiritual applied to this dark comedy.
