Underground might be the best Serbian historical tragicomedy ever made. Wacky, heartbreaking and filled with life, the film earned director Emir Kusturica his second Palme d’Or from Cannes in 1995. It’s as much a live-action cartoon as a political allegory, aiming for high-brow concepts in a low-brow world. Continue reading
The Toxic Avenger is a grotesquely violent and outrageously campy splatterfest that should not be seen by anyone with any sense of decency or good taste. This is the film that essentially launched Troma Entertainment, the legendary schlockmeisters who brought you Poultrygeist, Class of Nuke’Em High, and the South Park crew’s very first foray into film, Cannibal: The Musical! Any film responsible for all that is worth a watch. Continue reading
Turbo Kid is Mad Max for the Nintendo generation. This Canadian-New Zealander production is a gory and zany twist on the standard post-apocalyptic story. Like Hobo With a Shotgun (another cheap Canadian gorefest), the film takes its low budget and ridiculous premise as part of the charm and aims squarely for tongue-in-cheek comedy thrills. If you liked that movie, you’ll definitely like this one. Continue reading
The Double is a pitch-black comedy written and directed by Richard Ayoade, whom you might remember as Moss from The IT Crowd. The film stars Jessie Eisenberg in a dual role as a timid office drone and his exact physical doppelganger who has all the charisma and daring he lacks. While the presentation is delightfully surreal and often campy, the film packs some pretty heavy themes of isolation, paranoia and depression that give it a powerful dramatic core. Continue reading
It’s Such a Beautiful Day is an animated film by writer/director Don Hertzfeldt, whom you might know as the guy behind the cult animated short “Rejected.” This is Hertzfeldt’s first feature-length film, though it’s actually a combination of three associated shorts. All three chapters of the film center on a man named Bill, whose life, body and mind are coming apart. Continue reading
Film Rex 