Nope. Nobody told the filmmakers behind “South Of Heaven,” a crime comedy from Synapse Films release that has its heart in the place, but no story to back up its ambition. Obviously low-budget — note the reliance on fake backgrounds, seemingly borrowed from a high school drama department — the movie tries to get by […]
comedy
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The Traveling Executioner
With an old-timey setting that belies its subject matter, this odd-as-oddball black comedy casts Keach in the title role, traversing early 20th-century America in his Dutch-boy haircut and portable electric chair, going wherever the death-penalty gigs take him. Rather than be menacing, he sends his clients off to death with — well, yes, a fatal […]
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The Last Circus
Having seen his P.O.W. father murdered during an escape attempt decades before, Javier (Carlos Areces, who looks like ’70s TV staple Ray Buktineca with oversized glasses) joins a circus in 1973 Madrid to follow his family destiny as a clown. Because he was denied a proper childhood, Javier follows his dad’s wishes and becomes a […]
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Elvira’s Haunted Hills
On her way to Paris to do her brand of burlesque, Elvira (Cassandra Peterson, who co-wrote) is stranded in the mountains of Romania, but finds welcome at the requisite spooky old castle. This isn’t so much a plot as a setup for joke after joke, all as flimsy as the elastic on Elvira’s signature costume. […]
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The Trip
Condensed from the recent, six-episode BBC series of the same name, the improv comedy casts Steve Coogan (“The Other Guys”) and Rob Brydon (“Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”) as themselves, more or less. Steve’s tasked with taking a road trip to write about some fine dining spots along the English countryside, and because he’s […]
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Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop
Things did not go according to plan. Ratings tanked for both Leno and O’Brien. After less than eight months. NBC returned Leno to the time slot, effectively giving O’Brien the boot. The brouhaha sparked a jaw-dropping level of outrage as TV viewers across the country took sides. If only wars prompted as much public engagement. […]
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The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway
“On Broadway” is a mix of that and the Saturday-morning classic “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” staged on a near-exact re-creation of that series whacked-out set. Many characters return, both human (Miss Yvonne, The King of Cartoons) and not (Magic Screen, Globey). So do many of the elements, from a “Penny” claymation cartoon to the infamous “Lunchroom Manners” […]
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The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman
I’m not insulting you, dear readers — those are merely the three animals that figure prominently in the opening of Hong Kong’s action-comedy “The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman,” as broad as its continent’s schoolgirls are sexualized. Doug Liman (director of “Go,” “Swingers” and “The Bourne Identity”) serves as executive producer, which I take […]
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Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
In “Cuckoo’s Nest,” Wong takes on the topic of the high rates of depression and suicide among Asian-American women, and she does it with great charm and piquant humor. Written and performed by Wong, the show has a rhythmic ebb and flow between poignancy and comedy. A San Francisco native, Wong insists the show is […]
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Scream 4
In the decade that has passed since the previous entry, the landscape has changed greatly for horror films. Gone are the sly, self-aware semi-parodies that the original “Scream” birthed; in vogue is the so-called “torture porn” of the “Saw” series. In its opening scenes, “Scream 4” uses this to its advantage, poking fun at the […]