Unwelcome Caller

Ah, Death, sometimes known as the Grim Reaper, has been depicted in so very many unique ways, with the most traditional being of the lineage of Victor Sjöström – who made the silent horror film The Phantom Carriage (1921)... which then inspired his protégée Ingmar Bergman (who watched the feature every year – usually on New Year’s Eve) with making his classic Black Death plague set film The Seventh Seal (1957). Having a laugh at that always winning Reaper, the 2011 horror comedy short The Coldest Caller, written and directed by Joe Tucker, is a four minute humour-filled foray into one such harrowing scenario. Exhuming some fun in a Monty Python-like sketch (specifically Monty Python’s Meaning of Life), when the ominous list-carrying Grim Reaper (Noel Byrne) – your typically towering, hidden gaunt figure dressed in all black, arrives on the cozey doorstep of one Mrs. Evans (Sheila Reid), the punctual old lady almost seems like she has already been waiting for him all day.

In 1928, after falling under some financial pressure, Buster Keaton moved away from his own independent productions and merged things with MGM... a most profitable decision, yet a choice that he later called the, “ worst mistake of his career”. Going from the creative genius behind his own projects to a cog in the studio system with limited creative control over his projects, it went well enough on their first feature, The Cameraman (reviewed here on Filmizon), but with their next effort, Spite Marriage (1929), sadly that freedom was mostly gone. Directed by Edward Sedgwick, with a star like Keaton there is still some magic here, though that feeling of spontaneity, charm, and warmth feels confined within the structured, more efficient MGM production.

It’s hard to believe that the Christmas comedy Just Friends (2005), directed by Roger Kumble, is celebrating its twentieth anniversary already this year. Not a big success at the box office at the time (only earning 50.9 million), it has slowly built a bit of a cult status over the last two decades. Though not received particularly well by critics at the time either, its joyous comedy, romantic elements, and Ryan Reynolds centred ensemble cast make for a most entertaining watch each and every holiday season.

Leaning heavily into some outrageous sight gags best described as over the top slapstick, co-writer and director Blake Edwards reunited with star Peter Sellers for this, the fifth feature of their illustrious comedy franchise, titled Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978). As always, Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Sellers – Being There) continues to be a thorn in the side of the criminal underworld – despite his klutzy ways. Infuriating Philippe Douvier (Robert Webber – 12 Angry Men), a French businessman as well as the secret head of the largest drug conglomerate in the country, as the New York Mafia feels like their Parisian counterparts aren’t pulling their weight, he decides to okay the assassination of Clouseau.