While trying to impress his boss at a job that his crushing his writer’s soul, Davide loses everything and finds a new way of living and thinking that eventually will lead him to happiness.
Tag Archives: Comedy
La pazza gioia (Like Crazy) (2016) [San Diego Italian Film Festival 2017]
Two women interned in a psychiatric facility in Tuscany escape looking for a little bit of happiness.
Written by Paolo Virzy and Francesca Archibugi based on a story by Virzy who also directs, La pazza gioia is a lovely story of two women with not much in common coming together to try and find some happiness. Given that both are crazy leads to this being complicated by where they live and their issues as well as how they are viewed on the outside of the facility. These characters are charming even as their issues come to light and they are clearly not completely innocent. Their background is explored in a way that gives a view on mental facility patients that is not all negative. It’s a view on them that is gentle, loving, and caring. The characters are shown as humans first, crazy second. Their goals are like anyone else’s; they just go about things a bit differently. The way the film approaches mental health is refreshing as the story is not at the expense of the patients but respectful of them and their beings. They are fully fleshed characters and not caricatures of their issues, something that brings the viewer in and creates a story that is easily enjoyed while showing how hard life can be for people with mental problems and issues.
Happy Death Day (2017)
If the premise for “Happy Death Day” sounds eerily similar a certain Bill Murray comedy where a man has to re-live the same day over and over, it’s not you. “Happy Death Day” is unofficially a remake of said movie but with a murder mystery injected for good measure. The thing about “Happy Death Day” is that it knows it’s literally a redoing of “Groundhog Day.” Seriously, it literally stops to acknowledge the fact that we’re watching a modern re-imagining of a sort. Not that that hinders the experience of “Happy Death Day” thankfully. Through and through it’s mediocre, but it charms as an engaging coming of age romance painted in the shade of a horror comedy.
A Witches’ Ball (2017)
At best I’d say that “A Witches’ Ball” is a serviceable movie. It’s exactly the kind of movie you’d find at Walmart one day that you’d probably buy for your daughter in hopes of distracting her with a fantasy while you’re preparing for dinner or something. It’s mediocre and hits about all the right beats for a movie heavily aimed toward small girls. Director Justin G. Dyck is a man whose entire filmography revolves around filming cheaply made, holiday oriented, family films and “A Witches’ Ball” s right up his alley.
Bonejangles (2017)
One thing I will say about “Bonejangles” is that it has a lot of enthusiasm. It has so much enthusiasm, in fact, that every bit of coherence is thrown out of the window in favor of a horror mish mash that makes no sense, is unfunny, not scary, and feels like it was put together by someone who had a lot of ideas, all of which were not enough for one feature length movie. It’s a shame too since Bonejangles is a cool slasher villain with a lot of potential, he’s just bogged down in to a movie that is without a doubt a humongous waste of time. I’m not against nonsense, but “Bonejangles” is directionless, random nonsense that felt sloppily composed from minute one.
Troppo napoletano (2016) [San Diego Italian Film Festival 2017]
A coming of age story about a kid falling in love while trying to help his mother find love again after his distant father passes away.
Helen (2017) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]
A woman working her way up the corporate ladder gets a great opportunity. As she prepares to make a big presentation, demons both external and internal show up to mess with her.