Jonathan Winters was not known for his acting. The brilliant improvisational comic, who died of natural causes at the age of 87 on Thursday, did not do his best work when he was tied to a script. As the New York Times' obituary of Winters noted, “'Jonny works best out of instant panic,' one of his television writers in the 1960s said. He thrived when he could ad-lib, fielding unexpected questions or pursuing spontaneous flights of fancy. In other words, he made a brilliant guest, firing comedy in short bursts, but a problematic host or actor." more »
Todd Phillips likes his exotic animals. The Hangover had a tiger, the sequel featured a monkey, and, this teaser trailer for The Hangover Part III includes cameos by a giraffe (that appears to meet an untimely end) and some sort of bird of prey. There's also a beefy dude in a pig mask chasing Zach Galifianakis. Does that count? If you prefer your comedy to be delivered by humans, check out the sexual tension scene involving Galifianakis, Melissa McCarthy and a lollipop— and Ed Helms throwing up in his mouth. more »
With Identity Thief, Melissa McCarthy proves she's got what it takes to carry a feature, however meager the underlying material. Sustaining the same brand of unpredictable energy that made her such an effective scene-stealer in Bridesmaids and This Is 40, McCarthy plays the tornado to Jason Bateman's uptight nebbish, an accountant who drives halfway across the country to confront the zealous con artist who stole his personal information, maxed out his credit cards and tarnished his good name. Though this adult-skewing comedy looks like a midrange performer at best, McCarthy's credit rating should skyrocket. more »
Dare I say that, based on this trailer, Melissa McCarthy looks like she could actually be funnier in The Heat than she was in Bridesmaids? Okay, so I'm one of the minority who didn't think that the latter film was as hilarious as everyone found it, so I was pleasantly surprised when this international trailer for Paul Feig and McCarthy's latest collaboration made me laugh out loud a few times. The plus-sized actress plays a "bad-ass" maverick Boston cop who teams up with "tight-assed" FBI agent Sandra Bullock. more »
Considering its relatively mundane subject matter -- Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann's Knocked Up characters, Pete and Debbie, go into mid-life crisis mode when age 40 approaches -- there's a deceptive amount of classic signatures in Judd Apatow's This is 40. Yes, I'm talking about dick jokes. And boners and nipples and vagina tree rings and whatever it is that Rudd is gazing at through a mirror without his pants on. In other words: Comedy gold! Right?
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The champagne's been tippled, the winners are all celebrating, and somewhere Uggie's getting a LOT of sausages. So let's relive the highlights of the 2012 Academy Awards show! Click through for Movieline's gallery and name your favorite moment from the big night. Was it Best Supporting Actress Octavia Spencer's emotional acceptance speech? Or Descendants co-scripter Jim Rash's impromptu Angelina Jolie impersonation? Those bits and more in vivid photographic detail after the jump!
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Hollywood's biggest (and possibly most anticlimactic) night is upon us, which can only mean one thing: Movieline's third annual Oscar Liveblog Extravaganza! Join your Movieline editors and loyal readers as we parse the Academy Awards to within an inch of their glamorous lives. The fun begins on the red carpet at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, with the Oscarcast proper commencing at 8:30 p.m ET/5:30 p.m. PT. And in any case, keep abreast of this year's Oscar class with our commentary after the jump.
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The 2nd Annual YouReviewers Movie Awards aired on YouTube this past weekend, and we've got to say, it was quite a show! This year, our friends at ENTV played host as YouTube heavy hitters Jeremy Jahns, The Schmoes, and a host of other notables from the ever-opinionated YouTube film community presented their favorite films, performances and trailers (because, after all, this is YouTube) of 2011.
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Chances are at least a few of your casual conversations about Bridesmaids have revolved around the scene in which Melissa McCarthy is forced to use a bridal shop sink as a toilet. The true beauty of that scene was Kristen Wiig’s Annie, sweat-drenched, trying to stay composed while she was berated over choosing a restaurant that caused some serious gastrointestinal horrors for the ladies. Not to suggest that McCarthy doesn’t deserve the praise; she’s a terrific actress (Sookie forever!).
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This year's Oscars may have average nominee ages of 47, 61 and 62 in such categories as Actor, Director and Supporting Actor (respectively), but trust producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer to rope in the youngs where they can. To wit: If the Academy won't nominate the four-quadrant blockbuster
Bridesmaids for Best Picture, then at least the cast can drop by to present an award.
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Give the Academy some credit: They made awards season fun for a little bit longer. At least my mind was blown this morning as AMPAS president Tom Sherak and Jennifer Lawrence announced The Tree of Life, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Demián Bichir and a few other shocks among the 2012 Oscar nominations.
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We're a little more than half a day away from learning who and what will compete for the 84th annual Academy Awards -- an elite class through which Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics had combed for four months in its fail-safe, fool-proof and bracingly handsome Oscar Index. This calls for one last sweep through each of the Academy's categories (with the exception of live-action, animated and documentary short, about which even our pointiest-headed Oscar wonk cannot speak yet with authority); check our team's work against your own, and drop back by Movieline tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. ET/5:30 a.m. PT as we deliver nominations, reactions, analysis and more.
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For many fans a Bridesmaids sequel moving forward without star Kristen Wiig is nearly unthinkable, and that goes for would-be sequel star Melissa McCarthy. E! Online's Marc Malkin asked McCarthy if she'd be in without Wiig at last weekend's Palm Springs International Film Festival. "God, I wouldn't want to," she said. "I would never want to. I think it's a terrible idea...I don't [know] anything about it," she said. "But I know that nobody wants to do it unless it's great. If it is, I will show up wherever those ladies are." Those ladies -- as in, all the Bridesmaids ladies? That's solidarity, sister. [E! Online]
As someone who sparked to Paul Feig's Bridesmaids back when it first played SXSW last year in no small part because it gave Kristen Wiig the showcase she deserved, it's hard to imagine a Bridesmaids sequel going forward without the SNL star. But with Wiig reportedly reluctant to reprise her role for another go-round with the Universal hit that seems a very good possibility, according to The Hollywood Reporter. And so I ask, fellow Bridesmaids fans: Who wants a Bridesmaids 2 without Wiig?
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Happy Thanksgiving, my naughty little puritans. Before I jump headfirst into the HoKa turkey that Gloria Virtel is graciously preparing, I thought I'd share the five filmic things I'm most thankful for in 2011. Join me as I thank national treasures like Jon Hamm, Penn Badgley, and Twitter's new empress.
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