Eating Raoul

 Year:  1982

Director:  Paul Bartel

Screenplay:  Richard Blackburn and Paul Bartel

Starring:  Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, Ed Begley Jr., Buck Henry, Richard Paul, Susan Saiger

Running Time:  83 minutes

Genre:  Dark comedy

Los Angeles:  Paul Bland (Bartel) is a wine snob who works in a cheap liquor store, his wife Mary (Woronov) is a nurse and nutritionist, who constantly has to fend off groping patients.  They live in a run down apartment building, where the neighbours frequently hold wild swinger's parties.  The presence of the swingers offends the prudish Blands, who seem to hate the whole idea of sex.  When Paul accidentally kills a drunk swinger who attacks Mary, the couple realise that these swingers tend to carry a lot of cash.  The Blands decide to lure rich swingers to their flat to rob and kill them in order to finance the couple's dreams of opening their ideal restaurant: Paul and Mary's Country Kitchen.  Professional thief Raoul (Beltran) discovers their scheme and makes a deal with them.  However things become more complicated when Raoul falls for Mary, and decides he wants Paul out of the way,

Paul Bartel was a prolific writer, actor and director who made a name for himself with cult science-fiction film Death Race 2000 (1975) for legendary B movie producer Roger Corman.  Mary Woronov first made a name for herself as one of Andy Warhol's "superstars" appearing in several of his films, including Chelsea Girls (1966), before moving on to Roger Corman films, including Bartel's Death Race 2000.  Eating Raoul is a clever, gleefully tasteless comedy, which satirises 1980s consumerism and entrepreneurship,  as well as the "permissive society".  Paul works, and is fired from, a cheap liquor store where he refuses to sell the cheap, nasty plonk that the shop is selling ("But it's so cheap!" "So's lighter fluid, but I wouldn't serve it to my dinner guests.").  Mary is a nurse and seems to be lusted after by every male she comes across.  All they want to do is to move out and open a fine dining restaurant.  Some of the film's funniest moments comes when Mary has to entertain people with a wide variety of peccadilloes in the Bland's flat, at least until Paul has a chance to whack them on the head with a frying pan.  The film is never as gruesome or offensive as it might be, although the treatment of attempted sexual assault for laughs may be problematic.  Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov make a strangely well matched odd couple, and they ended up making 17 films together, usually playing husband and wife.  Robert Beltran, who would later find stardom in the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001), is good as the charismatic but duplicitous Raoul.  Oscar nominated writer and actor Buck Henry has a very funny role as a lecherous bank manager.  Ed Begley Jr. plays an obnoxious hippie, and Edie McClurg (who went on to scene-stealing turns in '80s comedy classics Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) and Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)) plays a guest at a swinger's party.  Movies directors John Landis and Joe Dante can also be seen in uncredited cameos.  This has become something of a cult film and it is a funny, entertaining movie which delivers consistent laughs throughout. A proposed sequel, Bland Ambition, never came to pass, but Bartel and Woronov did reprise their roles as the Blands in the science-fiction/horror film Chopping Mall (1987) about killer robots running wild in a shopping mall.

Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov in Eating Raoul

Ghost World

Year:  2001

Director:  Terry Zwigoff

Screenplay:  Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff, based on the comic Ghost World by Daniel Clowes

Starring:  Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas

Running Time:  112 minutes

Genre:  Dark comedy, drama

In the bland suburbs of an unnamed American city, cynical teenage outcasts Enid (Birch) and Rebecca (Johansson) have just left high school.  However, a summer of wandering the streets, hanging out at kitschy diners and shops and tormenting people with their sarcastic quips and pranks is threatened by the fact that Enid has to take a remedial art class in order to graduate high school.  As the two slowly drift apart, Enid strikes up a friendship with eccentric, lonely middle-aged record collector, Seymour (Buscemi).

Ghost World started out as a slice-of-life comic series in writer-artist Daniel Clowes' Eightball between 1993 and 1997, before being published as a graphic novel in 1997.  Director Terry Zwigoff had previously made his name with the documentary Crumb, about controversial underground "comix" artist Robert Crumb.  Zwigoff shot the film in a deliberately flat, bland way, with very few extras in the streets, and the characters entered in the frame, to mimic the panels of the comic.  It also shows the alienation of the characters.  The streets are eerily quiet and empty all the time, and helps give the film it's odd, slightly surreal feel.  Thora Birch, who at the time was coming off the success of American Beauty (1999), gives a great performance as Enid, a character who is at the same time sympathetic, awkward, cool, sometimes cruel, disloyal and confused, and who wrecks havoc in the lives of her friends albeit unintentionally.  Steve Buscemi gives a very strong performance as the lonely record collector Seymour, who loves old ragtime music and collects odd old artefacts, and is mostly quiet and shy but still given to occasional fits of anger, and who the girls first encounter when he falls victim to one of their cruel pranks, but who Enid ends up developing. strong connection with.  Seymour could very easily have been very creepy character, but the way that he is written and the way Buscemi plays him, with a kind of naive sweetness, makes him a surprisingly likeable and sympathetic character.  The film marks the breakthrough role for Scarlett Johansson, who had previously gained some attention for her supporting roles in The Horse Whisperer (1998) and the Coen Brothers film The Man Who Wasn't There (2001).  She gives a very good performance as Rebecca, Enid's friend, who is just as cynical and sarcastic as her friend, but is the more popular half of the duo, and unlike Enid has solid plans for the future.  The film is billed as a comedy, and some scenes are very funny, but it is a surprisingly dark film, and it all ends on a strange, ambiguous note. Although some aspects of it have dated in the past twenty years, it is still a strange and bracing look at what it means to be lonely and trapped in the bland modern world.

Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch in Ghost World

Dogs Don't Wear Pants

Year:  2019

Director:  J-P Valkeapää

Screenplay:  J-P Valkeapää and Juhana Lumme

Starring:  Pekka Strang, Krista Kosonen, Ilona Huhta, Jani Volanen, Oona Airola, Iiris Anttila, Ester Geislerová

Running Time:  105 minutes

Genre:  Drama, comedy

Surgeon Juha (Strang) lives alone with his teenage daughter Elli (Huhta), following the accidental drowning death of his wife and Elli's mother some years before.  While Elli has managed to more or less recover, Juha is still mired in grief and unable to connect with the world.  One night Juha stumbles into an S&M club and encounters dominatrix Mona (Kosonen), who strangles him, causing him to hallucinate his wife.  Juha becomes a regular client of Mona's, finding a new lease of life.  However, his constant desire to push things further disturb Mona, and begin to threaten his daily life.

This pitch-black comedy-drama from Finland is on one level an icy portrayal of grief, and an intriguing portrayal of the world of BDSM.  Pekka Strang is good as the cold surgeon Juha, whose grief is convincing, even if he is not a particularly likeable character, as he constantly pushes away his lonely teenage daughter.  Krista Kosonen is memorable as the dominatrix Mona, who works as a physical therapist in her day job, and develops something of a complex relationship with Juha.  Ilona Huhta is the standout as Juha's increasingly estranged daughter, Elli, who despite her best attempts to connect and reach out to him, loses her father to his new obsession.  The film is stylishly made, with each frame carefully composed, contrasting the sterile hospital where Juha works, the equally sterile interiors of Juha and Elli's home, and the interiors of the S&M club, dimly lit in red, with bright strobe lighting.  This is a film about BDSM and, while it is not as graphic as it could have been, may still be too explicit for some audiences, and there are some brief scenes, such as Juha pulling off his own fingernail and an amateur tooth extraction, which made me look away from the screen.  It certainly won't be to everyone's tastes, nut it is worth checking out.

Krista Kosonen in Dogs Don't Wear Pants

How to Get Ahead in Advertising

 Year of Release:  1989

Director:  Bruce Robinson

Screenplay:  Bruce Robinson

Starring:  Richard E. Grant, Rachel Ward, Richard Wilson

Running Time:  94 minutes

Genre:  fantasy, comedy

Denis Dimbleby Bagley (Grant) is a stressed British advertising executive, who is approaching a breakdown while trying to develop a campaign to sell pimple cream.  One day he notices a boil on the side of his neck, which grows at an alarming rate, and quickly develops into a second head, with it's own ruthless personality.  Before long, the boil is taking control of Bagley's life.

Actor turned writer-director Bruce Robinson first made name for himself with the cult film Withnail and I (1987), and here he reunites with Withnail star Richard E. Grant for a satirical attack on advertising in particular and modern British life in general.  It's hardly subtle, but is pretty funny in places.  The humour is very British, with it's schoolboy delight in mess and gleeful surrealism.  Richard E. Grant dominates the film as the alternately hilarious and terrifying antihero Bagley.  Grant is at his manic best here, all flailing limbs, wolfish grins and waspish one-liners.  Rachel Ward provides the beating heart of the film as Bagley's sympathetic wife, Julia, and she does the best she can with the little that she is given to do.  Richard Wilson, who would shortly become Britain's favourite grumpy old man Victor Meldrew in TV sitcom One Foot in the Grave (1990-2000), plays Bagley's crusty boss.  Fans of British television might recognise other familiar faces in small roles, and Sean Bean makes a brief appearance.  The voice of the boil is provided by an uncredited Bruce Robinson.  The amount of hectoring and speeches about the evils of the modern world does become a little tiresome, even though it's hard to argue with what the film has to say, and even though it is very much a product of the late 1980s, it is still quite pertinent.  It's not a great film, the special effects look very cheap, and it's awkwardly paced and runs out of steam before the end.  it does have a moment though, and it is worth a look because it is funny, if you like surreal British dark comedy, and Richard E, Grant gives a fantastic comic performance.

Richard E. Grant learns How to Get Ahead in Advertising

Manhattan Murder Mystery

 Year of Release:  1993

Director:  Woody Allen

Screenplay:  Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman

Starring:  Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Alan Alda, Anjelica Huston, Jerry Adler

Running Time:  107 minutes

Genre:  Comedy, crime

Married couple Larry (Allen) and Carole (Keaton) befriend their elderly neighbours Paul (Adler) and Lillian (Lynn Cohen).  They are shocked when they learn that the seemingly perfectly healthy Lillian has suddenly died of an apparent attack, and are further disturbed by Paul's cheerful demeanour immediately afterwards.  Carole becomes convinced that Paul murdered Lillian, and begins to investigate with the help of her friend, playwright Ted (Alda).  Larry however is convinced that there is no mystery to solve, until it turns out that Lillian might not be dead after all.

This darkly comic mystery film was made at a very difficult time in Woody Allen's personal life as his relationship with Mia Farrow was collapsing among allegations which continue to dog Allen's reputation to this day.  This was an intentionally light, playful film which Allen made to take his mind off things, and reunites him with close friend and regular co-star Diane Keaton, and other Allen regulars Alan Alda and Anjelica Huston.  The film was originally conceived as a subplot in Annie Hall (1977), but was excised from the final script.  The film really hearkens back to Allen's "early funny ones", lacking the introspection and philosophical themes which dominated Allen's films throughout the 1980s and early 90s.  The film is overly long, and the murder plot is very convoluted, but it is funny and the chemistry between Allen and Keaton really sparkles.  The mystery plot is a welcome addition to the typical wisecracks and one-liners, and the climax is really quite exciting.  Alan Alda and Anjelica Huston provide reliable support.  The film also marks the screen debut of Zach Braff.  This is one of Allen's most purely enjoyable films, but there is an emotional core about Larry and Carole's marital difficulties.  Woody Allen fans will  certainly enjoy it, and it should appeal to newcomers as well.

Woody Allen and Diane Keaton are embroiled in a Manhattan Murder Mystery

"Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

Year of Publication:  1961
Length:  519 pages
Genre:  Satire, war, dark comedy

The novel is mostly set on a US Air Force base on the Mediterranean island of Pianosa during the Second World War.  Bomber pilot Yossarian and his comrades try to survive the horrors of war, not just from the enemy, but from the bizarre, contradictory, cruel and arbitrary military bureaucracy that controls their lives, and the inescapable, universal law of "Catch-22".

This is a long, rambling, episodic novel, shifting points of view between a large number of characters and jumping back and forth in time.  The novel deals with the absurdity and horror of war and of military life, but expands that to include modern life in general.  It's a deeply rich book that requires a lot of attention from the reader.  There are lots of seemingly throw away jokes and references earlier in the novel that turn out to be important later on.  A lot of it is extremely funny, but much of the comedy is humour of the darkest kind.  It's tragic, comical, cynical, satirical and endlessly inventive.  The book doesn't really have a strong plot, being more an account of various episodes in the lives of the characters. Heller revels in jokes, wordplay and paradoxes, which can make the book an overwhelming experience.  When the book takes a shockingly darker turn towards the end it hits the reader like a bucket of ice water.
It's widely acclaimed as one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century and, while it may not be that, it is still a great book.

   

Colossal

Year of Release: 2016
Director:  Nacho Vigalondo
Screenplay:  Nacho Vigalondo
Starring:  Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudekis, Dan Stevens, Austin Stowell, Tim Blake Nelson
Running Time:  110 minutes
Genre:  Science-fiction, dark comedy

New York City.  Gloria (Hathaway) is an unemployed writer with a serious drink problem.  After being kicked out by her boyfriend (Stevens), Gloria returns to her small hometown to sort herself out.  Shortly after arriving she reconnects with a childhood friend, Oscar (Sudekis), who now owns the local bar.  Accepting his offer of a part time job, Gloria's alcoholism gets worse, as Oscar gradually reveals that he has a a very dark side.
Meanwhile, in Seoul, a giant monster is periodically showing up and rampaging through the city.  A monster which has a bizarre connection with Gloria.

Have you ever stumbled home drunk from a night out?  Then you know how bad it feels.  However for Gloria the drunken walk home is even worse, because every time she crosses a particular playground at a particular time, she inadvertently causes a giant monster to smash up a city on the other side of the world.  The film plays like a dark, gritty comedy-drama about alcoholism and emotional abuse which has had a Godzilla-style giant monster movie edited into it.  The mix of tones doesn't always work because the darker dramatic elements sit awkwardly with broader comic moments, and the monster movie elements are something else entirely.  The performances are great, particularly from Anne Hathaway, who is superb in the lead.  Jason Sudekis is also impressive as an all too human monster.  The special effects are impressive.  There are some odd continuity issues (for example a character runs around a corner and it's night, and into the street in broad daylight).  It's a film that is disorientating for it's first half with it's odd switching of tones, but once you get used to the film and realise what it is doing, than it becomes a lot more entertaining.  The main problem with the film is that it would have been better with more focus on the plight of the people of Seoul.  The events are entirely seen from Gloria's point of view, with the monsters rampage appearing on TV and internet news bulletins, and there are no prominent Korean characters in the film.  However, I would recommend this film, because it is inventive and features some great performances.

Creature feature:  Colossal
        

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Year of Release:  2017
Director:  Martin McDonagh
Screenplay:  Martin McDonagh
Starring:  Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, John Hawkes, Peter Dinklage
Running Time:  115 minutes
Genre:  Drama, dark comedy, crime

Mildred Hayes (McDormand) is a single mother who lives in the small town of Ebbing, Missouri.  Mildred is consumed with grief and rage over the brutal murder of her teenage daughter seven months previously.  Angry at the lack of progress in the official police investigation, Mildred hires three advertising billboards along a road into town and uses them to personally call out the town's police chief, Willoughby (Harrelson), as to why no arrests have been made.  This, of course, does not go down well with either the police or the townspeople, and Mildred soon finds herself a target.

This is something of a tragicomedy, dealing with seriously dark and disturbing themes and occasionally brutal violence, however it is also very funny, with some laugh out loud lines.  Frances McDormand dominates the film as Mildred Hayes, a tough, witty and angry woman, who does not care about what anyone thinks, but who still has doubts about her mission.  One of the strengths of the film is the way characters are introduced one way, and then are revealed to be more complex, particularly Woody Harrelson's turn as the troubled police chief.  The film raises some issues regarding police racism which it never really deals with, and some viewers may find the arc of Sam Rockwell's racist police officer hard to stomach.  However, this is certainly worth seeing, it's a dark but hilarious film, well-made with some fantastic performances.  It's a film about the corrosive effects of anger, revenge of violence, how it can become an endless cycle that consumes everyone and everything.

Frances McDormand and two of the Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Inside Llewyn Davis

Year of Release:  2013
Director:  Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Starring:  Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garret Hedlund, F. Murray Abraham, Justin Timberlake
Running Time:  105 minutes
Genre:  Drama, dark comedy, period, music

Greenwich Village, New York City, the winter of 1961:  The film charts a week in the life of struggling folk singer Llewyn Davis (Isaac), sleeping wherever anyone will give him a couch for the night, constantly hustling for low-paying gigs or session work and always hoping for an elusive big break.

This is a beautifully dark comedy, following one very bad week for Llewyn Davis, virtually plotless, the film moves from incident to incident as Davis' troubles mount up, although many of them are self-inflicted.  Filmed in muted colours it captures a particular moment in American music, of the folk scene just prior to the emergence of Bob Dylan.  It features a fantastic performance from Oscar Isaac as Llewyn Davis who could easily just be a complete prick.  While Davis is not a particularly likable character, his obnoxious personality alienating friends and strangers alike, he is never unsympathetic, with Isaac being able to convey so much despair and frustration with just a look.  Also the fact that Davis is a good singer, and he could possible make it big if he could get the breaks, but he knows that his break probably will never come, and the fact that often it doesn't matter if someone has talent if they can't catch a break.  Isaac is well supported by other great performances, mot notably from Carey Mulligan (as a fellow folk singer who looks like an angel and sings very sweetly but has a lot of anger which she is not shy about expressing) and John Goodman (as an obnoxious drug addicted jazz musician).  There are a lot of Coen Brothers hallmarks here, with characters being defined by repeated phrases and motifs, and recurring plot elements (such as Llewyn's search for a missing cat, which runs through the film), and it feels almost like a companion piece to A Serious Man  (2009), which has a similar theme of life being like a cosmic joke.  The film also has one of the best soundtracks of recent years.      

Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake and Carey Mulligan in Inside Llewyn Davis

Heathers

Year:  1989
Director:  Michael Lehmann
Screenplay:  Daniel Waters
Starring:  Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, Penelope Milford, Glenn Shadix
Running Time:  102 minutes
Genre:  High school, dark comedy, teen

This surreal, dark comedy is one of the best teen movies of the 1980s.  In the small town of Sherwood, Ohio, Westerberg High School is run by a clique of three popular girls who are all named Heather:  the malicious and bitchy leader of the group Heather Chandler (Walker), the bookish and bulimic Heather Duke (Doherty) and the weak-willed cheerleader Heather McNamara (Falk).  Despite being envied and lusted after, the "Heathers" are pretty much despised by the student population. The newest member of the group is Veronica Sawyer (Ryder) who hates the "Heathers" as much as anyone else, and, sick of "swatchdogs and diet cokeheads", longs to return to her old life and geeky friends.  Everything changes when she meets new student, the rebellious and charismatic Jason Dean (Slater) otherwise known as "J.D.".  Veronica and J.D. soon start dating and together plot to overthrow Heather Chandler's domination.  However, when a prank intended to humiliate Heather Chandler winds up being lethal, Veronica is quickly forced to deal with J.D.'s murderous true nature, as the body count swiftly increases.

Daniel Waters wrote the script hoping that Stanley Kubrick would direct it.  However several attempts to get the script to Kubrick failed and it wound up being given to director Michael Lehmann.  A number of actors were approached for the film, including Jennifer Connelly who turned it down due to the film's dark subject matter and a then 17 year old Heather Graham, whose mother refused to let her do the film.  Brad Pitt auditioned for the role of J.D. but was turned down due to the producers thinking he came across as "Too nice" and would not be credible in the role.  
The film is stylish and witty with a genuinely funny script which has a strong feel for teen-speak.  However it does deal with some very serious subjects including teen suicide, the pressures to conform, and adults who are either oblivious to or completely misunderstand teenagers.  The film also deals with the callousness of teenagers and adults.  In one scene, Veronica is at a funeral and is shocked by the only display of genuine grief there, form a young child. 
Winona Ryder does a great job as Veronica and Christian Slater does really well as the wild and crazy J.D., a performance obviously inspired by James Dean with shades of the sociopathic Alex from A Clockwork Orange (1971).
Funny, dark, and thoughtful the film is very berry.

Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker and Winona Ryder in Heathers

"Skagboys" by Irvine Welsh

Year of Publication:  2012
Number of Pages:  548 pages
Genre:  Fiction, drugs, social realism, dark comedy

Scottish writer Irvine Welsh made a big impact on the literary scene with his debut novel Trainspotting in 1993, which soon became a sizeable cult success.  The book was adapted as a hugely successful film, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Ewan McGregor which was released in 1996.  Welsh later said that he had ambivalent feelings about the immense success of Trainspotting, feeling that it had prevented him from doing other things.  However in 2002 he published a sequel to Trainspotting called Porno which catches up on the characters some ten years after the events of the first book.  Now he has returned to the well once more with a prequel set about four to five years before the events of Trainspotting.

Edinburgh, Scotland, 1984.  Mark Renton is charismatic, intelligent, head over heels in love with his beautiful grilfriend, and is the first member of his solidly working-class family to go to university.  All the indications are that he has a bright future ahead of him.  He spends his weekends hanging out with his friends:  Ruthless and manipulative Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson who is obsessed with women and will stop at nothing to indulge his urges; sweet, gentle and naive Danny "Spud" Murphy; violent psychopath Frank Begbie; athletic, health concious Tommy Lawrence; sleazy Matty and compassionate but troubled Alison.
However, this is Britain under Margaret Thatcher, unemployment is rising, social unrest is everywhere and the traditional working class communities which Renton and his friends grew up in are rapidly disappearing.  Beset by family tensions and boredom, as well as a growing sense of nihilism, Renton joins Sick Boy and Spud as they start indulging in the heroin that is flooding Edinburgh.  Before long, their youthful experiments have blossomed into a full-blown habit, and the group enter the nightmarish, twilight world of addiction, as their lives become dominated by scheming and scamming any way to get their next fix.  There is also a new threat surfacing as the AIDS epidemic takes hold in Edinburgh's addict community.

This is a worthy prequel to Trainspotting, and in many ways improves on the original.  Whereas the first novel was more like a string of short stories linked by recurring characters and themes, this has a plot line and a narrative thread.  There is also a strong sense of anger in Skagboys ("skag" is a Scottish slang term for heroin) as it explores the political and social conditions which created the situation which the characters find themselves in.  As usual with Irvine Welsh books the story is told through a number of point of view charcaters frequently in a first person stream-of-conciousness style in phonetically rendered Scottish dialect (although occasionally it adopts a third person point of view written in Standard English).  The story is brutal, violent, bleak and angry but it is also frequently hilarious and at times unexpectedly moving and tender.  This is a fantastic book which is pretty much unputdownable, even if you have never read Trainspotting.  It is definitely Irvine Welsh's best book in years.