Talking Films: March MeetUp
We’re going all things funny for March, to get us through the lockdown tunnel as we’re moving closer and closer to the light at the end of it. Plus, we’re celebrating Women’s History Month by featuring some stand out films, documentaries and series with women in front and behind the camera!
Must-see TV
1. Women of comedy genius
FLEABAG- BBC iPLAYER & AMAZON PRIME
The multi-award winning brain child of creator, writer and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge is already a (cult) classic and a staple of pop culture, on both sides of the Atlantic. Full of iconic moments, lines, characters, an outrageously talented cast (Sian Clifford, Olivia Colman, Andrew Scott, Bill Paterson, Brett Gelman) and an ingeniously effective use of systematically braking the 4rth wall (as Fleabag speaks directly to the viewer), it can make you laugh or cry out loud, often at the same time. All the while hitting the nail on the head of what it is to be a daughter, a sister, a mother, a wife, a girlfriend. In short, a woman.
DERRY GIRLS- ALL4 & NETFLIX (S1)
One of Channel 4’s and All4’s, biggest hits, is also an absolute critic’s darling. Created by Lisa McGee, who written all of the 12 episodes across its 2 seasons, it tells the story of 5 teenage friends – 4 girls and the “wee English fella” – attending a catholic school in Ireland during The Troubles. It is outright hilarious, easily relatable, nostalgic and political in a good way, it features a bloody brilliant soundtrack and – as EW’s Ruth Kinane points out, as she urges her readers to drop everything and discover it on Netflix US, where both seasons are available – a hot priest!
Another (after Lupin) French series that became an international lockdown sensation thanks to Netflix, is created by Fanny Herrero and follows the hilarious misadventures of fictional ASK’s talent agents, their assistants and their famous, non fictional clients. Oscar winners Juliette Binoche (The English Patient) and Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Isabelle Huppert, Monica Bellucci and Jean Reno are some of the latter, affectionately yet fearlessly poking fun at themselves and film-making. Hollywood’s Sigourney Weaver who guest-stars in Season 4 calls it “a love letter to the business”, while Camille Cottin, its standout star, is fast becoming a household name across the pond staring next (among others) in Ridley Scott’s eagerly awaited House of Gucci .
SCHITT’S CREEK- NETFLIX (S1-6), ALL 4 (S5-6)
This is a father – son affair, as it is co-created by (son) Dan Levy and (father) Eugene Levy. So why list it here? Ah, because it is the ladies that steal the show in this mix of gloriously eccentric, yet irresistibly endearing characters, who grow and evolve organically, authentically: the great Catherine O’Hara as the immaculately campy matriarch with the golden heart, Moira, Annie Murphy as the deceptively frivolous daughter with the keen mind, Alexis, and Emily Hampshire as the surrogate daughter in search of herself, Stevie. Endlessly quoted and relentlessly memed this little Canadian show that could, did, as it took the world by storm 2 years into its running, ended on a perfect high last year, and has been collecting awards nonstop ever since.
2. The classic British duo
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this unmistakably British comedy that most love and some, few, hate, was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Shot as a documentary, it witnesses the everyday meltdowns in a gloomy, constantly facing closure Slough office, with the Office Manager, David Brent, that all love to hate. It spawned a decade long (!) American remake (which introduced us to Steve Carell’s brilliance), a belated, but welcomed film sequel (David Brent: Life on the Road), and catapulted its stars to international fame: apart from Gervais, Martin Freeman (The Hobit Trilogy), Mackenzie Crook (The Pirates of the Caribbean films) and Lucy Davis (Wonder Woman 1 & 2, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina). But its true legacy is its irreverent, relentless, unapologetic humor.
FAWLTY TOWERS- NETFLIX & BBC iPLAYER
Ageless, laughing out loud, teary eyed, stomach aching, belly grabbing funny, ever influential, classic comedy, co-written in its entirety by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth. He stars as Basil Fawlty, the… faulty hotel owner and manager always causing chaos, she as the general assistant always running to the rescue. Add to their cracking dynamic his unhelpful, nagging wife Sybil (Prunella Scales) and their ill trained, barely speaking English, but well-intentioned, Spanish waiter, Manuel (Andrew Sachs), and you get a comedy masterpiece. One that even Martin Scorsese is a self-proclaimed great fan of.
Documentaries for laughs
MARK KERMODE’S SECRETS OF CINEMA (SERIES 3, EP. 1)- BRITISH COMEDY- BBC iPLAYER
This episode of Kermode’s documentary series that take a long, deep dive into the art of film-making, explores the psyche of British comedy and how its landscape emerged by making sense of and responding to our endless national preoccupations. Making it hilariously clear that having a laugh at ourselves “can make for seriously good cinema”, indeed.
What happens when you try to make celebrities funny? This 2-part documentary for Stand Up 2 Cancer follows a group of celebrities and their comedian mentors as they try to take to the microphone with their debut stand-up routines! And in the process prove that perhaps it isn’t as easy as it looks to make people laugh…
Must-see Feature Films
1. Women of comedy genius
14th funniest comedy of all time on “100 Funniest Comedies List” and at number 88 on “The Greatest Movies of All Time”, according to the American Film Institute. One of Premiere Magazine’s “50 Greatest Comedies of All Time” in 2006. And one of the 7 films Stanley Cavell identified as Hollywood’s Comedy of Remarriage in his seminal book about gender equality, “Pursuits of Happiness“. Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, in her first ever comedy, shine as the bemused paleontologist and the feisty heiress with the pet leopard trying to tame each other, in this absolute pleasure of a film.
Kristen Wiig was a Saturday Night Live regular, while Annie Mumolo a character actress. Then they co-wrote a funny little movie about female friendships, eventually incorporating some of their costars’ improvisations, plus the best bits of the wild, physical comedy their director, Paul Feig, and producer, Jadd Apatow, suggested, and their, as well as our world changed forever. The highest grossing R-rated female comedy of all time in the US, was nominated for 2 Oscars (Best Original Screenplay & Best Supporting Actress for the big, brave and beautiful Melissa McCarthy), gifting as its break out stars not only Wiig and McCarthy, but also Rose Byrne, Rebel Wilson, Ellie Kemper, Chis O’Dowd and, yes, Matt Lucas. Don’t forget to breath, as you laugh out loud.
2. The British & the modern classic
MONTY PYTHON & THE HOLY GRAIL- NETFLIX
There are simply not enough words to describe the experience of this unsurpassed, extraordinary, surreal, forever and ever funny, ingenious, unmistakably Monty Python’s comedy, wrecking hysterical havoc to the myth of King Arthur. Made possible due to the generosity of music legends Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Genesis, who contributed to its budget, it is relentlessly hilarious, from start to finish, and on repeat viewing. Do yourself a favour and watch it to the very end – paying special attention (pause if you must) to the end credits.
Another comedic, film experience that is almost impossible to put in words, is also unsurpassed, extraordinary, unruly, forever and ever funny, ingenious, unrecognizably Marvel’s action comedy, wrecking hysterical havoc to the sub-genre of (based on comics) superheroes, that has dominated our screens since the late noughties. Made possible due to the perseverance of its star Ryan Reynolds and its first time film director, Tim Miller, it is a deliriously, rudely funny, eye candy, packed with inventively filmed action, outrageously brilliant lines, and more than a 100, spot on pop culture references.
3. The streaming premieres
Amy Poehler is an American comedy royalty, celebrated for her work as a star, writer and director of cult sitcom, Parks & Recreations, her guest staring appearances on Saturday Night Live (including a brilliant stint as Hilary Clinton), her co-hosting duties with Tina Fey of the Golden Globes (this year were their 4rth time), and as co-creator of Netflix’s mind-blowing, alternative sitcom, Russian Doll. Hence, we can’t wait to see this, her perfectly timed, 2nd (after Wine Country), film directorial effort, adapting Jennifer Mathieu’s book “Moxie: A Novel”, and co-staring as the mother, whose rebellious past inspire her shy 16-year-old daughter, fed up with the sexist and toxic status quo at her high school, to ignite a “coming-of-rage” revolution.
COMING 2 AMERICA- AMAZON PRIME
33 (!) years after the original Coming to America showcased Eddie Murphy’s -so often underappreciated- formidable comedic chops and dominated the box office the world over, this much anticipated sequel, which Murphy co-wrote and stars in premiered straight on Prime Video. This time, Murphy’s African monarch, Akeem, comes / returns to America to unite with his long, lost son and heir in an effort to build a relationship with him. Critics didn’t exactly welcomed him back with open arms, unlike the viewers who crowned him King of the streamer, providing it with one of its biggest hits. We look forward to meeting his majesty again, anyway, to form our own opinion.