Comedy, Issue 696

The Dictator

Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest has moments of solid satire but still feels stale

From the naked scrotum-in-the-face wrestling of Borat to the manifold outrages of Brüno, Sacha Baron Cohen is not a man overly acquainted with subtlety. His latest, The Dictator, drops the improvisational feel of those earlier films, but doesn’t lower…

A Fantastic Fear of Everything

Crispian Mills' directorial debut starts well but quickly loses pace

A film by the former lead singer of Kula Shaker might not sound an appetising prospect. But before dismissing A Fantastic Fear of Everything, we should remember that Crispian Mills’ film pedigree is pretty spot-on. He is, after all, the son of Hayley…

Casa de mi Padre

Will Ferrell's Spanish-language comedy is at once unfunny and too silly to take seriously

Funnyman Will Ferrell as a tough rancher in a violent Spanish-language Western? It could only be a joke, and that’s exactly what Case de mi Padre is, a ragged, silly spoof in the Airplane/Naked Gun mode. Unfortunately, as jokes go, it’s a not…

Dark Shadows

A fun, if forgettable vampire movie, starring Johnny Depp, Eva Green and Michelle Pfeiffer

Like a kid who turns up late to a Halloween party, Tim Burton arrives with his latest, vampire movie Dark Shadows. After Twilight, 30 Days of Night and Let The Right One In, not to mention TV’s True Blood…aren’t fangs, dusty coffins and dissolving in…

New trailer for Danish comedy Klown

Filthy, funny antics that diverge from Scandinavia's current reputation for serious TV drama

Every now and then, something comes along that makes you laugh, wince and sneeze coffee through your nostrils, in that order. Today, that experience comes courtesy of the trailer for Danish comedy Klown. The film follows Frank (Frank Hvam) and Casper…

New Hope Springs trailer appeals to the older cinema-goer

Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones star in this romcom

There's been a shift in Hollywood in recent years towards films which appeal to the older cinema-goer - the likes of The Artist showed that the classic ways of filmmaking are still relevant; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was teeming with venerable…

Little Miss Sunshine directors re-team for Ruby Sparks - trailer

The film features performances from Paul Dano, Elliot Gould and Steve Coogan

Directing partners Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are re-uniting with Little Miss Sunshine star Paul Dano for new movie, Ruby Sparks. In it, Dano plays Calvin, an author who somehow manages to create his latest protagonist in real life. Big name…

Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms to reopen in time for Fringe 2012

18-month refit and staff changes at George Street venue

Say what you like about modern-day dress sense, but when Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms returns to life, today’s fashionistas will have some stiff competition. Yes, they’ll be excited about the opening ceilidh in July and the high-profile Fringe line-up…

Russell Kane - The Humorist

A gory black comedy from the restless comic

(Simon & Schuster) Anyone familiar with Russell Kane’s stand-up comedy won’t be surprised with his debut dip into literary fiction. The winner of the 2010 Edinburgh Comedy Award might be a restless spirit on stage, but his number one priority is the…

Comedy acts announced for Rockness 2012

Headliner Tim Minchin will be joined by Des Clarke, Daniel Sloss and Jamie Dalglish

The organisers behind RockNess have released the names of those confirmed for the 2012 festival's comedy line-up. Australian superstar Tim Minchin will be joined by Scotland's own comic prodigy Daniel Sloss and award-winning comic and presenter Des…

William Friedkin's Killer Joe to open EIFF

The Exorcist director's comic thriller to kick-off 66th Edinburgh International Film Festival

Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) organizers have announced today that comic noir thriller Killer Joe will be the Opening Gala on Wed 20 Jun 2012 in Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre. The film is directed by William Friedkin, best known for his…

5 things you might not know about Simon Amstell

1 Amstell’s first major TV exposure was as the rather cocky team captain of the Essex All-Stars on Channel 4’s GamesMaster in 1993, the show which featured Patrick Moore’s head. Amstell was 13 at the time, had his cap on back to front, and wore massive…

Jeff, Who Lives at Home

The Duplass Brothers' slacker comedy bears too much resemblance to its underachieving protagonist

(15) 83mins No one would have believed in the last years of the 20th century that of all the stars to emerge from Judd Apatow’s extraordinary talent nursery Freaks and Geeks, the household name would end up being Jason Segel. He’s not as gorgeous as…

US TV comedy reviews - 2 Broke Girls and Suburgatory

Two sitcoms let down by overt product placement

There could be a theme developing here. In the pilot episode for New Girl, scatty teacher Zooey Deschanel discovered her live-in man was cheating on her and left to wind up rooming with three guys. In the opening episode of 2 Broke Girls (E4, Thu, 9pm…

Alex Horne on high-concept comedy

The comedian talks about his latest show, Seven Years in the Bathroom

With the world of comedy getting ever bigger and broader, the ambition of its exponents is rarely just confined to telling some jokes into a mic while perched on a small stage. Alex Horne has always been a comic who stepped out of the classic format…

Outside Bet

Low-budget British horse-racing comedy falls at the first hurdle

(12A) 101mins The cinematic equivalent of the clumps of horse dung that characters repeatedly step into for the cheapest of laughs, Outside Bet is strictly a non-runner in terms of light entertainment. In this painfully naïve British comedy, Bob…

Interview: Jason Segel on Jeff, Who Lives at Home

The Forgetting Sarah Marshall on new slacker comedy and future plans

Jason Segel may well look back on 2012 as his year. Already the 32-year-old actor-writer has seen The Muppets, his nostalgia-tinged feature film revival of the beloved TV show, gross $158m around the world. Even better, the film’s signature tune ‘Man or…

Apocalypse archives: Whit Stillman

The Damsels in Distress director picks five films he’d save in an impending apocalypse

That Sinking Feeling (Bill Forsyth, 1980) ‘I wanted to include something Scottish. Aside from how enjoyable Bill Forsyth’s film about kids in rainy Glasgow is, I want to include it for its economy of means. To see how much was done with so little was…

Amara Karan, star of All in Good Time - profile

The actress is also set to star alongside Simon Pegg in A Fantastic Fear of Everything

Born 29 March, 1984, London Background Oxford-educated Karan spent two years working as an investment banker before plucking up the courage to pursue her interest in acting. Her audition tape was enough to impress revered director Wes Anderson, who…

All in Good Time

Sweet-natured culture clash comedy starring Amara Karan and Meera Syal

(12A) 93min Originally a 1965 play and subsequently a film by Irish writer Bill Naughton, this sweet-natured comedy became a theatre hit again in 2007 when East is East writer Ayub Khan-Din adapted it into a present-day British-Asian setting. The…