AlFlix

Duck Soup (1933)

Growing up in Chicagoland, Christmas Eve always meant that It's a Wonderful Life would be shown on the public television station, WTTW. Reverent and pious, the Jimmy Stewart/Donna Reed film reminded us that "No man is a failure who has friends." New Year's Eve, however, meant watching the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup, a non-stop, raucous poke-in-the-eye to the establishment, governments, high society, and just about anyone else whose sanctimonious indignation has ever gotten in the way of a good time. Upstart?!

Duck Soup is pre-code Hollywood at its best. So what if there's a bit of innuendo here ("I could dance with you 'til the cows come home. On second thought, I'd rather dance with the cows 'til you came home.") or a Raquel Torres nip-slip there? We're all just having a good time. One of my favorite gags involves Harpo as Paul Revere, a Minuteman's wife, and a horse.

Watching Duck Soup now, it's not difficult to understand why the 1960s counter-culture embraced the all-but-forgotten Marx Brothers. Pompousness is timeless, which explains why there's always a need for jesters and fools. And the zeal with which the brothers skewer every aspect of polite society can truly lighten your heart—especially in the darkest of times.

Heavy Trip (2018)

This is basically a Finnish, heavy metal version of The Blues Brothers. I laughed out loud. You will laugh out loud. If you know any heavy metal band guys, you'll laugh out loud even louder.

Follow the trials and tribulations of small-town Finnish heavy metal band, Impaled Rektum, while they try to play the biggest heavy metal festival in Norway. This film is small, and funny, and sweet, and witty... oh, and Sätän!

Logorama (2009)

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, Logorama is just 16 minutes long. Even though it's animated, it's not for kids.

Just trust me and watch it. 

On Body and Soul (2017)

On Body and Soul is a Hungarian film that was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The plot revolves around two workers at a slaughterhouse who discover that they share the same dreams. 

There are some borderline gruesome slaughterhouse scenes at the beginning of the movie. (The credits state that "[s]ome animals were harmed during filming, but none of them for the sake of this film.") The film, itself, is a subtle, restrained experience that delves deeply into the connections between people.

Andhadhun

This is a Bollywood crime comedy that fascinated me when I first watched it. (Full disclosure: I was home ill with a fever at the time.) With a script that sits somewhere The Sting and Singham, Andhadhun is a quite watchable and enjoyable film. For all I know, it's a completely formulaic Indian film. But I'm unfamiliar with the formula, so I enjoyed it. It's light fare for such a heavy subject. And crime is always played with a nod and wink.

Wings of Desire

Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire is a dream of film that pulls you into its universe so completely that you cannot help but be forever changed for having experienced it.

Filmed in Berlin two years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, this movie explores the barriers between people and emotions. The angels in the film are detached, immortal beings who can only be seen by children. The angels can hear the thoughts of mortals and attempt to comfort them. But in the end the angels cannot experience sensory pleasures the way that humans do. 

The film is in black and white when displaying the angels' perspective and in color when showing the mortal point-of-view. And it features a wonderful supporting cast including rock musician Nick Cave and television and film actor Peter Falk as themselves.