Showing posts with label comedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comedy. Show all posts
Mar 22, 2019
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Nov 20, 2018
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Oct 16, 2015
What we do in the shadows (DVD)
Summary: Vulvus, Viago, and Deacon are vampires who live here, among us. They are real vampires; undead, immortal creatures who stalk the night and search for human blood, preferably virgins. Witness the many horrid, abominable aspects of vampire life, such as hunting and feeding, vampire rivalry and fighting with werewolves, as well as normal night to night aspects that make them not so different from us like keeping the flat clean, jobs, shopping, meeting people and trying to fit in.
Video Librarian Reviews
Created by and co-starring Flight of the Conchords creator-star Jemaine Clement, this New Zealand indie production transcends its unpromising premise—imagine MTV's The Real World, but with vampires—to emerge as not just the funniest vampire mockumentary ever made, but also one of the best horror comedies in memory. A (mostly) unseen New Zealand government documentary film crew—protected by crucifixes, naturally—follows the nocturnal antics of a contentious, all-male household of old-fashioned Eastern European bloodsuckers. These vampires are but four of several hundred creatures of the night (which also include werewolves, zombies, etc.) who are dwelling incognito around Wellington. Their longstanding routine—hunting humans, arguing over who has to clean up the gore in the kitchen—changes when one Nosferatu lookalike vampirizes a modern-day bloke. Although hopeless at vampire etiquette and secrecy, the newcomer ends up dragging his undead flatmates into the realities of the 21st century (or the 20th...or the 19th...). Featuring robust characterizations (full-blooded, one might say) and performances delivered with palpable glee, this seems certain to be an instant cult hit. Highly recommended. (C. Cassady) Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2015.
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Sep 3, 2015
What we do in the shadows (DVD)
Summary: Vulvus, Viago, and Deacon are vampires who live here, among us. They are real vampires; undead, immortal creatures who stalk the night and search for human blood, preferably virgins. Witness the many horrid, abominable aspects of vampire life, such as hunting and feeding, vampire rivalry and fighting with werewolves, as well as normal night to night aspects that make them not so different from us like keeping the flat clean, jobs, shopping, meeting people and trying to fit in.
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May 1, 2015
Bossypants - Tina Fey
Summary: From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon, comedian Tina Fey reveals all, and proves that you're no one until someone calls you bossy.
Staff Comment: This is the perfect book to read while eating breakfast, just beware shooting milk out of your nose. Start your day with a laugh.
Kirkus Reviews
One of the world's cleverest comedy writers debuts with a frequently hilarious memoir. Perhaps best known to mass audiences for her writing and performances on Saturday Night Live, Fey's most inventive work is likely her writing for the critically acclaimed TV show 30 Rock, in which she stars alongside Alec Baldwin and fellow SNL alum Tracy Morgan. In typical self-deprecating style, the author traces her awkward childhood and adolescence, rise within the improv ranks of Second City and career on the sets of SNL and 30 Rock. The chapter titles--e.g., "The Windy City, Full of Meat," "Peeing in Jars with Boys" and "There's a Drunk Midget in My House"--provide hints at the author's tone, but Fey is such a fluid writer, with her impeccable sense of comic timing extending to the printed page, that near-constant jokes and frequent sidebars won't keep readers from breezing through the book with little trouble, laughing most of the way. Though she rarely breaks the onslaught of jokes (most at her own expense), she does offer an insightful section on the exhaustively analyzed concept of the "working mom," which she finds tedious. (Even here, the author finds plenty of room for humor--not wanting to admit she uses a nanny, Fey writes, "I will henceforth refer to our nanny as our Coordinator of Toddlery.") Fey may not sling a lot of dirt about her many famous co-stars in Second City, SNL and 30 Rock, but her thoughts on her geeky adolescence, the joys of motherhood and her rise to TV stardom are spot-on and nearly always elicit a hearty laugh. Even the jacket copy is amusing: "Once in a generation a woman come along who changes everything. Tina Fey is not that woman, but she met that woman once and acted weird around her." Highly recommended, even for those who have already read the excerpts in the New Yorker. Fey is one of the funniest people working today. Copyright Kirkus 2011 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.
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Groundhog Day (DVD)
Summary: Teamed with a relentlessly cheerful producer and a smart-aleck cameraman, TV weatherman Phil Connors is sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the annual Groundhog Day festivities. But on his way out of town, Phil is caught in a giant blizzard, which he failed to predict, and finds himself stuck in small-town hell. Just when things couldn't get any worse, they do. Phil wakes the next morning to find it's Groundhog Day all over again-- and again-- and again.
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Aug 1, 2014
Ball of fire (DVD)
Video Librarian Reviews
Billy Wilder wrote this delicious takeoff on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which features Barbara Stanwyck as a somewhat tainted Snow White (she's a nightclub singer-stripper and a gangster's moll) who aids eight professors working on a massive encyclopedia. Having been submerged in the project for nine years, the bookish profs are a bit out of touch with current slang, so English professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper) enlists the aid of Sugarpuss O'Shea (Stanwyck) in updating the relevant article with new changes in the language…and then, of course, he falls in love with her. Director Howard Hawks coaxes good performances out of the loveable professors, and Oscar-nominated Stanwyck is great as the streetwise New York girl who knows how to handle the boys (be they geniuses or gunmen). Presented with a fine transfer on an extra-less disc, this is recommended. (R. Pitman) Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2007.
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Oct 1, 2013
Starbuck (DVD)
Starbuck (DVD)
Summary: A forty-two-year-old underachiever discovers that he has fathered 533 children through anonymous donations to a fertility clinic and must decide whether or not to reveal his identity after 142 of them file lawsuits.
Video Librarian Reviews
Ken Scott's French Canadian comedy tries to be sweet in a naughty sort of way—serving up a quirky modern fable of redemption through parenthood. Beefy Patrick Huard stars as David, a supposedly charming rogue deeply in debt to his bookie. During his younger days, David was a champion sperm donor, making more than six hundred contributions to the bank under the pseudonym of Starbuck. David's semen proved extraordinarily fertile, resulting in the birth of over five hundred offspring. Now, more than a hundred of them are suing the clinic, trying to force the institution to reveal the identity of their biological father. Most of Starbuck is devoted to David's change of heart as he surreptitiously looks up his "kids" even while going to court, via a lawyer pal, to argue against disclosing his name. To complicate matters further, David's girlfriend is pregnant. Not much surprise about how this will all end, as it's inevitable that David will finally discover a sense of responsibility and bond with his multitudinous progeny. But the effect is less warmhearted than mawkish. Optional. (F. Swietek)Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2011.
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Jun 1, 2013
VEEP (DVD)
Summary: Former Senator Selina Meyer was a charismatic leader and a rising star in her party with her eye on the White House, then she became Vice President. VEEP follows the whirlwind day-to day existence of Vice President Meyer as she puts out political fires, juggles a busy public schedule and demanding private life, and defends the President's interests, even as she tries to improve her dysfunctional relationship with the Chief Executive.
Video Librarian Reviews
Emmy-winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays fumbling American Vice President Selina Meyer in this HBO-aired comedy from British satirist Armando Iannucci. Dishing up plenty of bureaucratic dysfunction and petty infighting (Washington insider and former New York Times columnist Frank Rich served as an advisor), the series begins with one-time senator and rising star Meyer reduced to insignificance when she signs on for the second spot on what turns out to be the winning presidential ticket. Her staff—Amy (Anna Chlumsky), Mike (Matt Walsh), Dan (Reid Scott), and Gary (Tony Hale)—are clearly B-team players, and the episodes largely revolve around everyone's bickering and passing the buck while dealing with minor issues and ceremonial events that are pawned off by the president and his team (POTUS himself is never seen—another indication of how out of the loop Meyer is). For all the bills and task forces tossed around, the show doesn't address issues; rather, it's purely a comedy about petty personalities, political waste, and ineffectual leadership—which, given the climate in the nation's capital today, may not be too far off the mark (although the show is a little toothless, and manages to avoid political partisanship). Compiling all eight episodes from the 2012 debut season, extras include audio commentaries, deleted scenes and outtakes, and behind-the-scenes featurettes (the Blu-ray version also includes a bonus DVD with the entire season on a single flipper disc). A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2011.
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