Pose Reviews A Movie. #27: Death At A Funeral (2007)

Ah yes...leave it to the Brits to put the "fun" back in "funeral."

Frank Oz (AKA Miss Piggy) brings us this celebrated dark comedy all the way from the UK, documenting an ordinary funeral that goes extraordinarily wrong.

The entire film plays like a really, really good episode of Fawlty Towers in the way that many of the characters buzz around, hiding secrets and lying through their teeth in a vain attempt to maintain order and solemnity at an occasion that is quickly and drastically taking a turn for the funny and ridiculous.

Death At A Funeral makes excellent use of awkward and deadpan humour, but it is also not short on laugh-out-loud moments. And I can't possibly review it without mentioning that it sports close-up of two of the best single facial expressions I've seen captured on film.

In short, there's no lack of golden moments, I assure you.

I think what makes Death At A Funeral so humorous, however, is the fact that most of the characters aren't particularly likable.

If they were people the audience could emotionally bond with, the movie would cease to be a comedy--you would just spend the entire movie cringing and wondering why such bizarre punishments were being bestowed upon such lovely people.

But they aren't lovely. Most of the time, they just suck as people.

I mean, you go from whiny but mostly harmless protagonist Daniel on the one hand to Ewen Bremner's character Justin on the other--easily one of the greatest assholes in British cinema.

And I think that's why it's perfectly OK to laugh at the outlandish antics that go on--that, and the antics that writer Dean Craig comes up with are pretty damn funny in and of themselves.

Overall, I'd highly recommend Death At A Funeral for anyone who hasn't seen a good comedy in a while--it may not make you laugh so hard you pee your pants, but...you know...not everything can be Airplane!

Plus you'll save on laundry.

Pose Reviews A Movie. #11: Humpday

There are a lot of ‘indie comedies’ out there these days, but up-and-comer Lynn Shelton’s Humpday stands out proudly as a piece with substance.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that it received a Special Jury Prize from the Sundance Film Festival, but this lighthearted tale about two old friends who get wasted and decide to enter an erotic film competition is a real cinematic treat.

The substance of Humpday, though, is derived from the film’s unapologetic analysis of relationships, gender roles and constructions of masculinity.

The two main characters, Andrew and Ben, are enirely straight, but their age-old friendship and boyish competitiveness leads them, over the course of a weekend reunion, to a bold decision to have sex on film--with each other.

The humour is derived from the way Andrew and Ben keep egging each other on, even when each of them seems noticeably uncomfortable with the prospect of making sweet sweet love to each other, even in the name of artistic innovation. And with Ben’s well-meaning (though thoroughly confused) wife, Anna trying to figure out what the two guys are up to, a whole lot of well-constructed tension escalates over the course of the plot.

But the rather outlandish situation presented in Humpday provides a lasting and thought-provoking journey through the spectrum of forms which love, “manliness,” friendship and sexual orientation can take, even within the same person.

What I like about Humpday is that it fearlessly confronts the viewer with what for most people is a discomforting situation--namely, having sex outside of what you’ve long considered to be your innate sexual orientation, and shattering that barrier with a friend you’ve known for years--and asks, “So what? What’s the big deal?”

Humpday is liberating in its message, endearing through its characters, and finds tremendous humour in awkwardness, making it not only more enjoyable, but also more accessible to a wider audience.

It’s short, but more importantly it’s sweet, and I’d certainly recommend Humpday to anyone who has always liked buddy movies, but who kind of wants to take things to the next level. (If you know what I mean.)