ThelmaLou writes:
> It’s probably THE darkest comedy I’ve ever seen-- equal parts darkness and
> comedy.
Have you seen the 1964 film Dr. Strangelove or the 1985 film After Hours? I think those are the best dark comedies I’ve ever seen. In Bruges comes pretty close, I admit.
Bruges has a reputation of being a classically pretty city. Its citizens are proud that it has kept most of its medieval architecture intact. It gets a lot of its tourism just from the look of the city.
I live about an hour’s drive away from Bruges (plus a channel crossing) and have been a few times. The film captured the city really well and any film with Colin Farrell Karate-chopping a dwarf deserves all the plaudits coming to it.
And though it is slapstick here and there, it is also thoughtful and sentimental. Though I can’t know for sure, at least I now think I have a bit more of an insight to the tortured world of the hit-man.
I saw Dr. Strangelove when it came out in 1964. It has not aged well, alas. Also saw After Hours. I think the fact that there’s so much actual killing AND blood in In Bruges kicks up the Darkness score. Love to hear more suggestions in this genre.
Loved the film…and for a short time, I was my older brother’s go-to guy when searching for films to see on NetFlix…so I suggested this film, not knowing how he would like it.
He still thanks me today for suggesting it and thought it was great!
I agree with all the positive comments about In Bruges and The Guard. I rented both when they came out and really enjoyed them.
ThelmaLou - I will suggest two for now. The Ice Harvest, with John Cusack, Billy Bob Thorton, and Oliver Platt, to name a few. One of my personal favorites.
Also, another John Cusack movie that falls in this category is Grosse Pointe Blank.
ThelmaLou, please take our urgings seriously. You will (very probably) really love The Guard. It’s black as night, and so very funny. Not better than In Bruges, but they sit on the shelf together. Fittingly, of course, since they were made by brothers. They must have had an interesting childhood! If you can make it past the shocking opening (where some people at one screening I was at walked out), and the part where a seemingly dumb but extremely smart and sly Brendan Gleeson is trying to get under Don Cheadle’s skin with some racist comments (where a few other people walked out), you’re home free.
Ralph Fiennes played favorite film character in a very long time. The cunt wife and kids dialogue cracked me up. I saw “In Bruges” on Netflix, and when I was done watching it, I replayed that scene so I could laugh some more. Also, the gun bit slew me. “An Uzi? I’m not from South Central Los fucking Angeles. I didn’t come here to shoot twenty black ten year olds in a drive-by. I want a normal gun for a normal person.” Ha!
I love In Bruges!
I don’t see it on Netflix or iTunes 
I will absolutely get The Guard. I promise. 
I loved it when Ken and Harry are talking about the gun dealer (Sigi or something) at the cafe and shaking their heads over what a character he is, and Harry (Feinnes) says, “He does yoga,” and Ken nods sagely.
For those who haven’t seen it, Sigi’s apartment is this lavishly decorated place with lots of texture and brocade, and oriental rugs, and art and beautiful furniture… I mean, you can picture your rich grandmother living there and being served tea by a uniformed maid… except for the fact that every freaking horizontal and vertical surface is covered with guns of all imaginable and unimaginable kinds. “He does yoga.”
It’s only available for rental on disc from Netflix, not streaming. It doesn’t appear that iTunes has it for sale or rental.
Yeah, I just rented the DVD from Netflix about a month ago. I had seen it a couple of years ago and really wanted to see it again. Even my wife, who doesn’t usually like movies with excessive violence or foul language, kind of enjoyed it.
The midget cracks me the hell up. One line in particular (from memory):
Ray: I didn’t know they had prostitutes in Bruges.
Midget: You just have to know where to look. Brothels, for instance.
I still haven’t seen The Guard. Must give it a look. My sad claim to fame is I’ve sold books to Brendan Gleeson a couple of times. He seemed a tad grumpy.
another dark comedy (not as good as In Bruges, but definitely has it’s good qualities is Burn After Reading, a Cohen Brother movie.
It was hilarious at times, while exceedingly violent and vulgar in others.
Brad Pitt should have been given a nomination for best supporting actor in the movie. He made me laugh every time he was on the screen.
I liked it. The stoned talk about the imminent race war was pretty funny. It really captured that “Oh, so this conversation is happening now. Didn’t see that coming, but okay.” vibe rather well.
Oh yes! Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, AND Tom Waits? A hard-core gangster black comedy about DOGnapping? Written and Directed by Martin McDonagh? Oh fuck yes indeed!
I love Burn After Reading too. It just keeps getting funnier and funnier every time I see it.
“You think that’s a Schwinn?”
I’ve added Seven Psycopaths to my movies to watch list.
Are you all saying Burn After Reading was a black comedy rather than a docudrama on the ineptitude of intelligence agencies ala The Men Who Stare at Goats? I loved it too.
It’s a great movie. And we saw it a short time after the wife had visited Bruges, so that was nice for her.
You fucking retract that bit about my cunt fucking kids!