Dark Comedy

MortSahlFan wrote: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest ...

"Arsenic and Old Lace" is the first movie that comes to my mind here

Blacksword wrote: Logan wrote: Blacksword wrote: I'm a big Chris Morris fan. I think Brass Eye was his greatest achievement. Jam was interesting...especially the day Kilroy lost his mind.. Kilroy loses it.. I loved The League of Gentlemen too. I don't that would be commissioned these days. With Chris Morris, Brasseye is also my favourite of his, and agree about Jam and The Day Kilroy Lost his Mind. I did love his film Four Lions as well (which concerned the bumbling exploits of a group of Jihadists, but it was done with heart), and The Day Today had very funny stuff. I want to see his latest film, The Day Shall Come. I think there's quite a lot that the BBC wouldn't commission now.   I'm afraid its losing its edginess. So much of the best comedy and drama does deal with controversial/ taboo in polite social circles subject matter. I've been disheartened by some comments made by directors there, which really does seem a sort of virtue-signalling, but I won't get into that now. A problem I've had with Canada's BBC equivalent, the CBC, is that they play things safe and seem to have an on the nose agenda. It lacks bite and is too focused on social messages that they think should apply to being Canadian (to help foster a sense of identity or increasingly identities in a sense). I wish they would be willing to be more controversial and trust the audience more to make up its own mind where they stand. If Jam were aired here for instance, I think they'd offer regular trigger warnings after every f*ing commercial break (the CBC has commercials, yuck). I like that someone like Chris Morris is not afraid to confront you with uncomfortable things (and of course he has made fun of many). I could never do things he has done even if I had the talent. I'd be so uncomfortable; so embarrassed. Even then it's surprising what he got away with with Channel 4 and BBC. As for the League of Gentlemen, it probably wouldn't be commissioned these days had it not already had a strong following. With the, I think terrific, specials that came out in late 2017, the BBC had wanted a full series. It still had edge, but there's going to be a rather different approach. Creators on it have said that they wouldn't do some of the things they did now. Some complained about Papa Lazarou, thinking it was racist black face, but I would have never thought so. Psychoville, which came out a decade ago, has this: Which I know would not go down here, even in the context of a "Psycho" comedy. I still love the BBC and may the second B ever stand for ballsy. By the way, I tend to use the term black comedy, but once in a Black Comedy topic a person, I believe unironically, said The Cosby Show. Now Bill Cosby is a dark character (I mean aspects of his character and life rather than the colour of his skin), but not the show, at least not particularly. EDIT: As for Moshkito's post, sorry for taking this short excerpt as a quote: "My biggest concern is that we consider something dark, because we don't like its tone...." Considering this acting as an appreciation thread, clearly many of us like the tones of much dark/ black comedy. It's about the subject matter it deals with which is often taboo, people often find disturbing, uncomfortable and distressing. Some hate comedy that makes light of serious issues, things that people have suffered through and suffer with. I can find it rather cathartic. To me it means the most when it resonates the most with my life experiences, but I have a sense of empathy beyond that. We all deal with horror, we all suffer, yet try to get on with our lives, make sense of it, and often make light of terrible things that have happened -- that's a way we cope. Yeah, as much as I don't want to turn into one of those old gits who's always complaining about the way the world is compared to what it used to be, but I just can't help myself, as I believe strongly, that I am right. The modern young audience doesn't want to be challenged. They want their own beliefs and prejudices validated and confirmed by the entertainer. I would sit there cringing at Brass Eye and League of Gentlemen, feeling pretty grossed out and shocked....and loving that it evoked that reaction in me. Good satire, certainly should make you examine your own beliefs.

Yeah, it should challenge and confront you, and hopefully make you examine and rethink your beliefs. Canadian comedy I generally find so toothless.

By the way, Blue Jam, the radio series became more and more a favourite of Chris Morris (still revolts me at times). And it got me into Stereolab big-time.

Main reason I'm posting now, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, two of the four behind The League of Gentlemen, and the two behind Psychoville, are now back on air with series five of Inside No. 9. I just watched the first episode of the new series, "The Referee's a w**ker". It's one of my very favourite shows of the last decade.

I'm also a fan of the past series..League of Gentlemen...also liked an old one called Dead Like Me....more quirky than dark but had plenty of macabre things in it...also liked  6 Feet Under some years back...I liked the Simon Pegg 'trilogy' of films...there are far too many films to mention that fall into that genre.

^Thanks I'll watch it when i get more time.

Green Wing, Man Down, Psychoville,The League of Gentlemen, Getting On.

Logan wrote: ^ I doubt you'd like it. Very off-beat, and it might take a mentally disturbed mind to really appreciate it.

dr wu23 wrote: Logan wrote: ^ I doubt you'd like it. Very off-beat, and it might take a mentally disturbed mind to really appreciate it. Well...you were right..can't say it did much for me. The darkness is not that bad.,many various dark films out there, but it really didn't make any sense and I suppose that was the point. I did like the music score. :)

It's absurd and surrealistic, and I like the visuals as well as the Beethoven. It rather reminds me of Monty Python, and certain European directors works (brings to my mind films like Jeunet and Caro's Delicatessen, and City of Lost Children). Like with a film such as Lynch's Eraserhead, it's not so much about the plot and is quite surreal and it's absurd. This might sound pretentious and be totally off-key, but there's something about it that brings to my mind a cross between Fellini, Bergman, and Lynch meets Monty Python/ Gilliam.

Two of my very favourite modern feature films are The Lobster and The Bothersome Man, and there's something in common with those works -- it is the surrealism and absurdity with a certain aesthetic sense that appeals to me.

I adore short films, and part of what I like in many of them is that they don't stick to conventional storytelling, or if they do, they do it with such economy (maybe a slice of life with no obvious conclusion).    I commonly like the open-ended aspects of any short films rather than those films which sometimes almost try to hard to make sense, often with exposition dumps, rather than engaging my imagination.