The Foxy Film Fan

Maria Bamford: The Special Special Special (2014) Comedy specials are commonplace, particularly on streaming sites such as Netflix where it seems as though every current comedian in the business has at least one series or special streaming. Maria Bamford is a fantastic comedian, known for her dark humor which exploits her experiences with mental illness and delves into the surreal life she has led as she grapples with suicidal thoughts and stints in and out of various hospitals while doctors prescribe her with all sorts of different medication. Due to her new Netflix series, which is a fantastic surreal experience that frequently lapses into analyzing the familiar tropes from comedy shows and often breaks the third wall, I decided to watch one of her specials. Naturally, I was drawn to the specialist of specials: Maria Bamford: The Special Special Special . This special is particularly interesting due to the fact that it was filmed at a particularly rough point in Maria's l...

Don't Breathe (2016) It's rare for psychological horror to be pulled off in a manner which leaves audience members on the edge of their seat from start to finish, but Don't Breathe  is a diamond in the rough that is the horror genre. As the title implies, the audience is left little to no room to catch their breath as the film throws its three protagonists into darker and darker situations as it progresses. The plot is simple; three young people in desperate need of money decide to rob an elderly man after hearing of his secret wealth, only to find themselves in a bigger mess than anyone might have anticipated. Many aspects of Don't Breathe  echo elements of classic slashers and thrillers from the late seventies and early eighties, but the more outdated tropes are updated in a way that makes the film feel haunting and realistic. The antagonist who torments our heroes (if "hero" is a word you would apply to the three protagonists, given the fact that t...

Loving (2016) Set in the state of Virginia in 1958, Loving , explores the relationship (and subsequent court case) of interracial couple Richard and Mildred Loving. The film depicts their love for one another with simplicity, and frequently lapses into showing rather than telling as a method of communicating the passage of time and the sequence of events throughout its narrative. The historical accuracy, emotion behind the court case as they fight to legalize their love, and simple yet effective use of music all help propel this film as something to be viewed as a poignant and important piece of art which simultaneously serves as a reminder for America's darkest moments of racism. The relationship of Richard and Mildred Loving is not one introduced with swooning strings and slow zooms as they realize the depth of their fantastically deep feelings for one another, but rather humbly with quiet and shy glances as crickets chirp in the background. The introductory scene alone ...

Stranger Things (2016) This article will contain spoilers for the series Stranger Things . Read it at your own discretion, and feel free to skip it altogether if you're yet to finish the series and would prefer to go into it without knowing certain events in advance. Nostalgia for the 80's is an epidemic which has plagued artwork (particularly in film and music) as of late. It was only a matter of time before all of those warm feelings for a time with Dungeons and Dragons, bright poppy synthesizers, and wood paneling culminated and resulted in what is essentially a love letter to the single decade which everyone seems to have collectively decided they're nostalgic for. However, this raises the question, is there more to Stranger Things  than nostalgia? Is Stranger Things  really the strange and unique series that it advertises itself to be? Naturally, there are some endearing qualities to Stranger Things , its characters for instance are fantastic child actors who ...

The Holiday (2006) The romantic comedy genre is one which has been completely overrun with the same tropes repeated again and again, but once in a while a particularly unique movie comes along to break free from those cliches and reveals itself to be something original and heartwarming; The Holiday  is one of these films. Unlike other traditional romantic comedies, The Holiday  uses a simple plot to smoothly transition between the love lives of two very different women. Two women, depressed with the mundane nature of their lives, seek out the opportunity to temporarily spend the holiday season in another home, one in London and the other in Los Angeles. These two women trade places, and in the process find love. Admittedly, were the plot placed in the hands of another cast it would have fallen flat, but with a cast as talented as Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black, and Jude Law, it's hardly difficult to see why the film is such an extraordinary tale of romance. Th...

The holidays season has the tendency to be very profitable in the eyes of the film industry, due to the fact that any film centering around Christmas in some way has potential to be watched time and time again by at least a small audience. Of course, just like any genre of film which has a large group of people aiming to pander to potential fans, there are bound to be plenty of movies which fall flat. 1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) The Jim Carrey rendition of How the Grinch Stole Christmas  is perhaps the nastiest, ugliest, and cruelest of any holiday movie. While Jim Carrey is able to move about freely in his costume and is capable of being animated enough to let the ridiculous prosthetics and fake green fur work to his advantage, his performance is hardly enough to save this train wreck of a film. How the Grinch Stole Christmas  is based on a popular children's story by Dr. Seuss, so naturally when lifting the story from th...

A Christmas Carol (1999) At its heart, Charles Dickens' story of A Christmas Carol  is grim. It's one of lost love, a lifetime of regret, the death of close friends, greed, selfishness, and essentially explores the darkest heart of humanity. Few renditions of the original story actually succeed in their efforts to convey Dickens' message of transformation, in which the cruelest and greediest of man is redeemed and changes his way into someone loving and kind, but David Jones' version, starring Patrick Stewart, succeeds fantastically. Unlike other versions of the story, which almost reduce the character of Ebenezer Scrooge to a cartoonish and comical villain who seems too over the top to earn either sympathy or resentment from those who watch the film, Patrick Stewart portrays Scrooge with a surprising amount of realism. Through Stewart's remarkable talent as an actor and David Jones' vision as a director, Scrooge is no longer a parody of the villain pre...