Member-only story
I Have Just Reshuffled My List Of All Time Favourite Funny Movies
Why? I love black humour.
Black humour, satire, and comedy. I love them all.
For this reason, I have moved THE DEATH OF STALIN into my number one spot in my list of 100 best movies. Why? If you have not seen this movie and love dark humour, you have to see it.
It is based loosely (very loosely) on the events that occurred around the time the Russian despot Joseph Stalin died. It is a British production and the actors all speak English without faking heavy Russian accents that somehow makes it all the more real.
The acting lineup includes Michael Palin, he of Monty Python fame playing the Russian for whom the Molotov cocktail was named. He is one of the few actors who can pull off the role he is assigned with much subtlety and Python humour. The role of Stalin is well played by Adrian McLaughlin. Steve Buscemi fills the shoes of the nasty little Nikita Krushchev with great gusto. The leading cast includes stand out performances by Simon Russell Beale as the thoroughly evil Lavently Beria and Jason Issacs as the great Russian General Zhukov who speaks with a heavy Yorkshire accent and plays the part brilliantly.
Jeffery Tambor is Georgy Malenkov, successor to Stalin. He plays the part of a stumbling, bumbling, lost at…
