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Fatima Teem
"The Decameron" is a celebrated collection of 14th-century Italian stories penned by Giovanni Boccaccio about a group of young people who take up residence in a remote villa to escape plague-stricken Florence.
Inspired by this tragic, erotic and comedic collection, Kathleen Jordan has dreamt up an eight-episode Netflix adaptation. It's a series that kind of plays out like a mixture of "Blackadder," "Horrible Histories," "Sex Education" and "Love Island"... and I'm already convinced that it's one you absolutely shouldn't miss.
I'll caveat that recommendation ever so slightly with the fact that this is a Netflix show distinctly catered to my taste; just a few weeks back I was busy calling Prime Video's historical comedy "My Lady Jane" the one show you needed to binge ASAP.
I've been looking forward to this since I first saw the trailer just a few weeks back, and, thanks to the show's sharp, funny writing and talented ensemble of comic actors, I'm pleased to say that I'd just as happily recommend "The Decameron" as I did "My Lady Jane." On the surface, it is styled as this outrageous, bawdy romp, but as the balance of power within the villa continues to shift and secrets continue to be spilled, it really starts to suck you in.
"The Decameron" takes us to the Italian countryside in 1348 for a raucous romp which sees a group of nobles shacking up together on a lavish holiday to escape the plague sweeping across the landscape.
Stuck together in this household, emotions run high and our residents begin developing desires and start rubbing one another up the wrong way. Once they're all settled in, the series quickly becomes a heady mixture of social satire, black comedy and saucy drama that you'll definitely want to binge.
Netflix's synopsis for the series reads: "You are cordially invited to a wine-soaked sex romp set in the Italian countryside. The Decameron is a soapy dark comedy that examines the all-too-timely theme of class struggles in the season of a pandemic. In the year 1348, the Black Death strikes hard in the city of Florence, and a handful of nobles retreat with their servants to a grand villa to wait out the plague with a lavish holiday. But as social rules wear thin, a scramble for survival ensues, brought to life by a cast of characters both cunning and outrageous."
Absolutely. If you're looking for a bawdy, brand-new watch, then "The Decameron" is the show for you. It's a high-spirited, silly, and saucy comedy, one which I'm happy to recommend. And thankfully, I'm not the only person who thinks that way, either.
And thankfully, I'm not alone. Critically, the show seems to be faring well. At the time of writing, it does not yet have a rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though there are a number of reviews already online, and "The Decameron" is faring reasonably well among critics so far.
inews gave it a perfect 5/5 score and proclaimed it a solid gold comedy banger' and Collider writer Carly Lane proclaimed it 'one of the best dark comedies of the year thus far' and as a 'seemingly raunchy house party comedy [with] so much more beneath the surface'.
The Guardian rated the series 3/5 and claimed it was 'good enough to mark out a place for itself even in the middle of the current glut of similar offerings', while The New York Times' James Poniewozik wrote, "if its story is a little shaggy, "The Decameron" makes for a soapily slapstick summer diversion", adding, "as a 14th-century physician might say, its humors are well in balance".
Now, you may remember Iceland as the country that brought us ABBA back in 1974 (shout out to Waterloo), but in recent years they're known as more of a wildcard. Last year, they brought Hatari to the stage, and this year's chosen contestant was the equally head-turning Dai og Gagnamagni; Iceland's fictional choice is no exception to this trend. Fire Saga is strange yet loveable, comprised of Lars, the ambitious but not quite so talented, and Sigrit, who's super talented but hopelessly in love with Lars. Their music is synthesizer-heavy and a little different, but overall comedic and a distinctly "Eurovision" sound.
Songs aside, the comedy is deadpan absurdist, very much like Blades of Glory meets Pitch Perfect, which is an odd but fitting description, though I would say it's not quite as crass as Ferrell's figure skating sausage-fest (which is a good thing). The film is PG-13 as opposed to R, which helps Ferrell's comedy style immensely, in my opinion. His movies tend to err on the wrong side of "too much" when it comes to raunchy jokes; dialed back to where things are in Eurovision, this feels like the perfect amount. There's still some ding dong jokes in there, but they're tasteful and appropriate feeling.
But that's all part of the charm of Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga; the characters are hilarious, the competition absurd, and the songs appropriately campy. All in all, it's a feel-good film that's funny, witty, slapstick, and adorably Icelandic. And with a PG-13 rating, it goes far enough into raunchy but doesn't suffer from the heavy-handed doses that other comedies do. Well done to Eurovision and Netflix on a thoroughly entertaining film. Either that or the elves just made me type all this. You should be nice to them because they totally exist. Now play Ja ja ding dong, please!
Oh, how spoiled we've become! We want our drama top notch, our horror on tap, our streaming service dirt cheap and our comedy raunchy. Here's one thing we can agree on: when there's absolutely nothing on, we search for comedy, especially the best comedies on Netflix.
It's that brainless, thought-free promise of humor that exists to take us to some random fit of laughter that will hopefully lift us out of our mood. And though I'd prefer to watch stand up, there are plenty of raunchy comedies on Netflix.
Most recently, I've been lurking and loitering in the alleys of raunchy, intelligent comedy. This is what's made my list of "Well, I guess this is good enough to share..." I kid! But this is my list of what you need to watch now if you're looking for comedy, both raunchy and otherwise.
She's preggers and just as threatening as you'd imagine. Look, she's Amy Schumer, so you either love everything she does or you hate it. But love her or hate her, she packs a punch and she is unafraid, and this is the kind of woman we need in comedy right now.
I'm not going to say this is great, but it is worthwhile. With Jason Bateman leading up this classic cast, this latest season is filled with stupid laughs, the occasional thoughtful bit, and a whole lot of old school gags that are sure to make you chuckle... if you've vaped enough weed, that is.
I love Ricky Gervais for several reasons: he loves animals like no one else on earth, and he was hilarious in the video with David Bowie. I couldn't get him at first, but I kept on giving him a chance.
It's Groundhog Day in this dark, weird little sci-fi comedy, and the sex, drugs and rock-n-roll are part of the scenery, in abundance. I honestly expected something a little more Russian, but there was only one reference, in the form of a nesting doll.
This is the darkest thing on Netflix right now, but it's also the funniest series I've ever seen. Now, that's because I die of laughter watching blood and gore and vomit... and body parts. Yeah, it's got just about all the vileness there is.
I'm into this cynical, no-nonsense stand-up routine, and Bill Burr is just so nervy and hilarious. Every once in a while you get that a comedian just doesn't care about the consequences of what he says, and man, oh man, is Bill Burr ever that guy.
I guess this series is a take off on Vikings, which happens to be a brilliant show about... Vikings. Norsemen delivers the stupid laughs. Lots of prat falls, shaky, hand-held camera angles, and goofy accents that no one understands.
Because, well... because he's adorable. But he's also smart and on point. The host of The Daily Show can always hold his own, because he's got this mania, this energy in his adorable person, and he lets it out in so many clever ways.
Forever and ever, I've had this weird problem with Jennifer Aniston. I don't even know why, but she always bothered me, as if I thought she never deserved the fame she got. Well, I'm an idiot, as we all know, and Ms. Aniston is so good in this amazingly delightful movie that is sort of a living homage to Dolly Parton.
Another of the deplorables, but still, he's a funny guy, and I'm apparently not the only one who thinks so, as his audiences are packed with people splitting a gut over his every word. Forget that he's a menace to society; if you can separate that from his work as a comedian, then you'll be rolling on the floor laughing at this Comedy Store special.
I have to admit, I'm kind of over self-berating comedy. I mean, everyone does it these days and it's become predictable. However, Fluffy Gabriel Iglesias is just one of those physical comedians that needs his food and fat boy jokes to keep his crowd happy.
After five minutes on this show, you'll find yourself slack jawed and gasping. Clever, feminist issues drive this interesting speaker, and while one would consider her show "comedy," it's much deeper than the laughs you may get.
You'll be thinking, reconsidering and wondering about many things during this special. This is someone who needs to be heard, and I'm glad Netflix made this possible. Bring Hannah Gadsby into your life!
I'm a sucker for a good coming of age movie, and I mean a real coming of age movie, not these model-hot twenty-somethings playing teenagers falling in love for the first time. I'm talking about the movies about real kids moving into the first grown-up stage in their lives. I'm talking about stuff like Stand By Me, Bridge to Terabithia, My Girl, The 400 Blows and the more recent Eighth Grade. Maybe it's because that transition from child to not quite adult was the period of time that I began to discover the person I would grow up to be, and the nostalgia that carry for it, but I love seeing seeing it represented on film.
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