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 »
It’s Hitchcock in the morning, Hitchcock in the evening, Hitchcock at supper time given the upcoming Hitchcock movie, the recently-aired HBO flick The Girl, Blu-Ray releases of Dial “M” for Murder (in 3D!) and Strangers on a Train, and now a sumptuous new collection of the Master of Suspense's work. On the other end of the spectrum is a kids’ holiday movie that never got the acclaim it deserved — but now that director Paul Feig has gone on to make a little film called Bridesmaids, maybe it has a shot at cult status. more »
When marriage stops being a given, realistic romantic comedies are born. In Save the Date, sisters Beth (Alison Brie) and Sarah (Lizzy Caplan) are on different relationship paths – one toward marriage, another away from it. Michael Mohan’s film reflects the attitudes of a generation who suffered through their parents’ divorces. Playing Andrew, Beth’s fiance, Martin Starr can identify all too well with that premise by looking at his circle of friends: He’s hit that time in life when everyone’s hearing or tuning out wedding bells.
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Another year, another couple hundred entries in the ever-deepening conversational archive known as The Movieline Interview. They're the collective backbone of our site, and in 2011, it was at its strongest. Look back with us now at the highlights, including the luminary likes of Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jason Segel, Jodie Foster, Paul Giamatti, and a certain honey badger of a director.
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How did Rose Byrne become the most unexpected comedic actress of her generation? After 15 years of acting, the Aussie native broke out of her dramatic shell with a fearless turn as Aldous Snow's pop star ex in Get Him to the Greek, and this week's Bridesmaids continues the streak: Byrne plays Helen, the rich and beautiful new BFF who tries to steal Maya Rudolph away from maid of honor Kristen Wiig. As director Paul Feig insisted to Movieline, "That woman should always be doing comedy."
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Behind the femme-dominated laughs of this Friday's Bridesmaids -- the movie that will prove ladies can carry blockbuster comedies, or not, but probably so -- is writer, actor, director, Judd Apatow compatriot, and creator of the well-loved cult series Freaks and Geeks, Paul Feig. After a successful run directing episodes of your favorite shows (The Office, Arrested Development), Feig is finally staking his claim in the film world with the Kristen Wiig starrer, about a woman tapped to play maid of honor at her best friend's wedding. But Feig, on the brink of a likely summer hit, is noticeably nervous.
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With Vin Diesel and The Rock currently muscling their way to global domination and Thor set to kick off the summer's action-packed slate with his comic book brawn, there's already a surplus of testosterone at the box office. But looking forward to the next few months, the field's only going to get more crowded with bromantic buddies, pirates, alien robots, superheroes, and cowboys mixing it up at the multiplex. Where have all the ladies gone?
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SXSW is a fest that caters to alterna-sensibilities, so it's no surprise genre fare has done well thus far. Insidious scored high marks with the horror crowd, but The Kill List notched all-out raves from even mainstream press -- though the Conan O'Brien documentary Conan O'Brien Can't Stop contains enough rage and demon-exorcising to give both a run for their money. Meanwhile, Bellflower -- a Sundance entry in the Emerging Visions sidebar -- screens on Monday night, as does the Dance Dance Revolution thriller The FP. Yes, you read that right: a gang warfare film about Dance Dance Revolution. Don't you wish you were in Austin?
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SNL superstar Kristen Wiig breezed into Austin midnight Sunday for what director Paul Feig accurately termed "Kristen Wiig Appreciation Night" -- a double header of this Friday's Paul followed by a special work in progress screening of this summer's Bridesmaids. The May 13 comedy marks Wiig's first honest-to-goodness starring vehicle, an event in itself, but here's even better news: Bridesmaids isn't just the smart and grounded antidote to the shrill chick flicks we all hate; it's the most raunchy, sweet and wonderfully vulgar R-rated comedy in recent memory. Bring it, Hangover 2.
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The great thing about the massive program at the SXSW Film Festival, which starts this week, is that it runs so deep and it takes so many chances, whether on up-and-coming directors, megastars in need of PR miracles (looking at you, Mel), or random collaborations between artists so awesome, the mere idea of them working together blows your mind (four words: Die Antwoord + Harmony Korine). But many of these folks have a lot riding on their SXSW debuts. Movieline names 10 films and filmmakers with something big prove this week in Austin.
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