Why We Still Love Lucy After All These Years
The I Love Lucy cast insisted that the show didn’t intend to take on world-changing progressive issues, but it was far more subversive than they let on.
comedy
Stephen Park Finally Gets His Big Close-Up in ‘The French Dispatch’
Stephen Park has been brought into Wes Anderson’s exclusive filmmaking troupe for The French Dispatch in a role that was written specifically for him.
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’70s TV Horror/Mystery ‘Kolchak: The Night Stalker’ Keeps Crawling from Its Grave
Horror-mystery TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker has a sour take on society that hasn’t dated since the ’70s; hence, its eternal afterlife.
Marvel’s ‘WandaVision’ Echos Our Lasting Pandemic Grief
Addressing pandemic-induced topics such as loss, grief, and mental illness, Marvel’s ‘WandaVision’ serves as a metaphor for life in the time of COVID.
Character Actor Edward Everett Horton’s Silent Films Provoke Raucous Laughter
Edward Everett Horton, a comedic bean pole with a voice you know from cartoons, knew how to make silent film audiences laugh–loudly.
What’s So Funny About Tragic Things?
Scepanski’s Tragedy Plus Time takes a serious look at how comedy and satire in American media make light of dark matters.
The Way They Kiss in ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’
Julie Andrews’ 1960s musical Thoroughly Modern Millie does its anti-authoritarian, anarchic-chaotic thing in a different key.
Seaton’s What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? Thumbs Its Tucan-Size Nose at the Establishment
An airborne virus infects the cogs in the capitalist machine in George Seaton’s What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? and makes people subversively happy.
Nida Manzoor’s Comedy ‘We Are Lady Parts’ Shatters Muslim Stereotypes One Punk Song at a Time
Nida Manzoor’s punk rock comedy We Are Lady Parts beautifully captures that the performance and expression of Muslim identity are complex and multifaceted.
‘In the Cards’ Actress Eleanore Pienta on Pushing Back Against Correctness
Actress Eleanore Pienta talks with PopMatters about the challenges of indie film work, the appeal of broken characters, and our era of political correctness.
Tribeca 2021: ‘India Sweets and Spices’ Offers Familiarity
Geeta Malik’s India Sweets and Spices is peppered with familiarity, from the settings to the snacks, in an enjoyable but incomplete package.