Knight at HOME at the Movies
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Ethnic Comedies
This week's recommendations offer three top notch comedies that veer wildly in tone and intent but the action in all of
them springs from their ethnic origins. So with the comedy you get a little cultural history -- not a bad after affect!
This week's recommendations offer three top notch comedies that veer wildly in tone and intent but the action in all of
them springs from their ethnic origins. So with the comedy you get a little cultural history -- not a bad after affect!
I have long awaited MGM's Deluxe Edition of Moonstruck. The previous DVD only
included an audio commentary from director Norman Jewison and intermittent comments
from Cher. The new disc attempts to rectify that by adding a brand new making of
featurette that includes new interviews with supporting cast and crew (and archival ones
with Cher and Nicholas Cage), an interview with the score's composer Dick Hyman and an
interesting tour of New York's Italian restaurant district. There's also a stack of recipe
cards with stills from the film. All greatly appreciated.
It's wonderful to hear Jewison, screenwriter John Patrick Shanley and especially Olympia
Dukakis talk about the making of the 1987 film beginning with a long section about
Shanley's amazing script. Oh, that script! For comedic worthsmiths, it may be one of the
most organically funny ever committed to paper. Along with All About Eve, The Women and
Young Frankenstein (hilarious for different reasons), the dialogue from Moonstruck has to
rate as the most memorable ever put on film. I can almost quote it line for line (as can
my friends). I find it that funny and clever (and loved finding out about its genesis
including tidbits like its original title, "The Bride and the Wolf"). Another refreshing
component of the documentary is the inclusion of real Italian American couples at various
commenting on their relationships. They and the tour of the Italian eateries don't really
have anything to do with the film but they give this new edition a lot of flavor. I would
have loved fresh audio commentaries from Dukakis and other cast members, seen clips
from the Oscar ceremonies where Cher, Dukakis and Shanley won but assume that a 25th
anniversary double disc will take care of that (and maybe Cher and Cage will participate).
Until then, this makes for a nice antipasto.
From Sony Pictures comes Neil Jordan's wonderful Breakfast on Pluto which appeared
in theatres at the end of last year and disappeared amidst all the well deserved hoopla
over Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Transamerica. Pluto is another story with strong queer
interest and an intricate performance by Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later, Batman Begins) as
orphan and female impersonator "Kitten" who grows up during the late 60s and 70s, the
height of the IRA insurgency in Ireland. Faced with the overwhelming Catholic culture that
doesn't exactly embrace drag queens (let alone homosexuals) in a small Irish village, the
different but determined Kitten heads for the big city of Dublin and embarks on a series
of adventures in his quest to find the "pretty lady with the blonde hair" aka his mother.
Murphy's a wow in the role and is strongly supported by Liam Neeson and others. Read
my original review HERE and then check out the offbeat drama that also has plenty of
humor. The disc includes an audio commentary by the director and Murphy and a short
making of featurette.
Finally, I discovered the little known Undertaking Betty one night while flipping the
cable channels and fell head over heels for this truly daft black comedy. Set in a tiny
hamlet in Wales, the film follows the outrageous exploits of two competing funeral
homes, one run by Alfred Molina in love with the demure Brenda Blethyn and the other
run by the vulgar showman played by Christopher Walken. This is actually the subplot;
the main action concerns Molina's do anything determination to run away someplace "hot
and sticky" with Blethyn but first he must convince her lout of a husband that she's dead
for the insurance money. This sets in motion an ever increasing series of wacky plot
twists.
The 2002 film was released on DVD by Miramax in March and has a brief making of
featurette. It's not quite as dark as 1965's The Loved One, the ultimate parody of the
funeral business nor as surreal as Errol Morris' documentary about pet cemetaries, Gates
of Heaven but its certainly right up there in Waking Ned Devine or A Private Function
territory. Naomi Watts has a small role as the husband's tart.
included an audio commentary from director Norman Jewison and intermittent comments
from Cher. The new disc attempts to rectify that by adding a brand new making of
featurette that includes new interviews with supporting cast and crew (and archival ones
with Cher and Nicholas Cage), an interview with the score's composer Dick Hyman and an
interesting tour of New York's Italian restaurant district. There's also a stack of recipe
cards with stills from the film. All greatly appreciated.
It's wonderful to hear Jewison, screenwriter John Patrick Shanley and especially Olympia
Dukakis talk about the making of the 1987 film beginning with a long section about
Shanley's amazing script. Oh, that script! For comedic worthsmiths, it may be one of the
most organically funny ever committed to paper. Along with All About Eve, The Women and
Young Frankenstein (hilarious for different reasons), the dialogue from Moonstruck has to
rate as the most memorable ever put on film. I can almost quote it line for line (as can
my friends). I find it that funny and clever (and loved finding out about its genesis
including tidbits like its original title, "The Bride and the Wolf"). Another refreshing
component of the documentary is the inclusion of real Italian American couples at various
commenting on their relationships. They and the tour of the Italian eateries don't really
have anything to do with the film but they give this new edition a lot of flavor. I would
have loved fresh audio commentaries from Dukakis and other cast members, seen clips
from the Oscar ceremonies where Cher, Dukakis and Shanley won but assume that a 25th
anniversary double disc will take care of that (and maybe Cher and Cage will participate).
Until then, this makes for a nice antipasto.
From Sony Pictures comes Neil Jordan's wonderful Breakfast on Pluto which appeared
in theatres at the end of last year and disappeared amidst all the well deserved hoopla
over Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Transamerica. Pluto is another story with strong queer
interest and an intricate performance by Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later, Batman Begins) as
orphan and female impersonator "Kitten" who grows up during the late 60s and 70s, the
height of the IRA insurgency in Ireland. Faced with the overwhelming Catholic culture that
doesn't exactly embrace drag queens (let alone homosexuals) in a small Irish village, the
different but determined Kitten heads for the big city of Dublin and embarks on a series
of adventures in his quest to find the "pretty lady with the blonde hair" aka his mother.
Murphy's a wow in the role and is strongly supported by Liam Neeson and others. Read
my original review HERE and then check out the offbeat drama that also has plenty of
humor. The disc includes an audio commentary by the director and Murphy and a short
making of featurette.
Finally, I discovered the little known Undertaking Betty one night while flipping the
cable channels and fell head over heels for this truly daft black comedy. Set in a tiny
hamlet in Wales, the film follows the outrageous exploits of two competing funeral
homes, one run by Alfred Molina in love with the demure Brenda Blethyn and the other
run by the vulgar showman played by Christopher Walken. This is actually the subplot;
the main action concerns Molina's do anything determination to run away someplace "hot
and sticky" with Blethyn but first he must convince her lout of a husband that she's dead
for the insurance money. This sets in motion an ever increasing series of wacky plot
twists.
The 2002 film was released on DVD by Miramax in March and has a brief making of
featurette. It's not quite as dark as 1965's The Loved One, the ultimate parody of the
funeral business nor as surreal as Errol Morris' documentary about pet cemetaries, Gates
of Heaven but its certainly right up there in Waking Ned Devine or A Private Function
territory. Naomi Watts has a small role as the husband's tart.
