Tag: melissa mccarthy

Disney’s THE LITTLE MERMAID Swims into Theaters May 26 And The Brand New Trailer Is Here

The trailer for Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” the live-action reimagining of the studio’s animated musical classic, debuted on Sunday night during the Oscars.

Two of the film’s stars, Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy, introduced the trailer on ABC’s live broadcast of the 95th Annual Academy Awards. “The Little Mermaid,” helmed by visionary filmmaker Rob Marshall, opens exclusively in theaters nationwide May 26, 2023.

“The Little Mermaid” is the beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy.

(L-R): Halle Bailey as Ariel and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric in Disney’s live-action THE LITTLE MERMAID. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The film stars singer and actress Halle Bailey (“grown-ish”) as Ariel; Jonah Hauer-King (“A Dog’s Way Home”) as Prince Eric; Tony Award® winner Daveed Diggs (“Hamilton”) as the voice of Sebastian; Awkwafina (“Raya and the Last Dragon”) as the voice of Scuttle; Jacob Tremblay (“Luca”) as the voice of Flounder; Noma Dumezweni (“Mary Poppins Returns”) as Queen Selina; Art Malik (“Homeland”) as Sir Grimsby; with Oscar® winner Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men”) as King Triton; and two-time Academy Award® nominee Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” “Bridesmaids”) as Ursula.

Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in Disney’s live-action THE LITTLE MERMAID. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

“The Little Mermaid” is directed by Oscar® nominee Rob Marshall (“Chicago,” “Mary Poppins Returns”)with a screenplay by two-time Oscar nominee David Magee (“Life of Pi,” “Finding Neverland”). The songs feature music from multiple Academy Award® winner Alan Menken (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin”) and lyrics by Howard Ashman, and new lyrics by three-time Tony Award® winner Lin-Manuel Miranda. The film is produced by two-time Emmy® winner Marc Platt (“Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert,” “Grease Live!”), Miranda, two-time Emmy winner John DeLuca (“Tony Bennett: An American Classic”), and Rob Marshall, with Jeffrey Silver (“The Lion King”) serving as executive producer. 

The brand new soundtrack for Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” is available now to Pre-Save, Pre-Add or Pre-Order – https://presave.umusic.com/thelittlemermaidsoundtrack

Halle Bailey as Ariel in Disney’s live-action THE LITTLE MERMAID. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

THUNDER FORCE – Review

I’m guessing everyone’s ready for the start of Summer movie season, anxiously awaiting the first batch of action blockbusters, slapstick comedies, and, of course, the superheroes (and superheroines). Well, we’re going to have to wait a bit longer as the vaccines try to eradicate the pandemic that still has lots of screen venues shuttered. Yeah, we’ve gone over a year without a multiplex trip to the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), so perhaps we need something to keep us going until the BLACK WIDOW finally arrives, after lots of delays (but her stingers are charged up for July, for sure). This weekend we’ve got a super-powered duo of lady crusaders (though without capes) ready to fight for justice. And laughs. Yes, one of the current queens of comedy teams up with a beloved Oscar-winner to put a satiric spin on the genre. Plus it’s streaming exclusively, so no need to seek out a cinema “safe haven”. Ah, but things are far from safe (I imagine a big spike in property damage claims) when those craven criminals face the power of THUNDER FORCE.

But first, as with most comic book-inspired epics, we get a brief origin story, told with lots of “pop art” comic panels. Way back in 1983 mysterious cosmic rays bombarded the planet. While not affecting average citizens, they gifted sociopaths with various forms of super abilities. The media dubbed these new kinds of criminals “Miscreants”. On a fateful Chicago “L” train ride, husband and wife geneticists who were working on a way to combat them became the latest victims. Their preteen daughter Emily vowed to continue their research. But first, she’s got to get through public school. Luckily the teased “brainiac” is befriended by the tough though much less cerebral Lydia. The two become inseparable pals through the grade levels, but eventually have a falling out in high school, sending them on their own adult pathways. Cut to today as the big high school reunion approaches. Beer-drinking, blue-collar worker Lydia (Melissa McCarthy) decides to reach out to “Em” who actually replies to her text, saying that she may drop in. But when she’s a “no show”, Lydia decides to try and see her at her brand new downtown Chicago division of Stanton Labs. Emily (Octavia Spencer) is surprised and delighted to see her but needs to finish up some work and asks Lydia to wait in her office. Unfortunately, it’s connected to the main lab, and a slightly ‘buzzed’ Emily initiates the big new project. When she awakes, Lydia is told by Emily that she’s been injected by a “one-of-a-kind” serum that increases one’s strength, which had been intended for her. Instead, Emily will continue with the other treatment to produce the powers of invisibility, all to “even the playing field” with the Miscreants. The two are aided by a short-tempered secret government liaison Allie (Melissa Leo) and Emily’s genius teen daughter (her dad’s long gone), Tracy (Taylor Mosby). Once Lydia and Emily finish their treatments and training they suit up as “Thunder Force” (or “The Hammer” and “Bingo” to some) and take on the Miscreants that play a pivotal role in the city’s hotly contested mayoral race. But can the duo stop the deadly dangerous Laser (Pom Klementieff) and the criminal Crab (Jason Bateman), who may have connections to the megalomaniac tycoon turned candidate who calls himself The King (Bobby Cannavale), before the Windy City citizens cast their ballots? More importantly, can these former BFFS put aside their past squabbles and become the heroes the city, well maybe the world, desperately needs?

Once again, McCarthy exercises her considerable physical comedy skills, this time with an interesting unique twist. Instead of doing damage to her character (actual injuries and pride), her super strength turns Lydia into a true human “wrecking ball” as her untapped aggression often does more harm than good (we’re constantly told that “nobody was hurt”). Otherwise, she’s recreating lots of elements from previous roles, the tough coarse exterior that eventually melts to reveal a heart of gold, All through the battles, Ms. McCarthy somehow displays a real graceful balance, as though the specials serums have unlocked the prima ballerina within as she twirls and catapults into the mayhem. For the most part, Spencer is regulated to straight ma…”person”, the “smartie” who gets agitated by Lydia’s low-class antics. It’s not till the story’s mid-point where Emily really opens up and pushes through her fears about leaving the lab and bopping the baddies. It’s then that the TF team really works thanks to their personality conflicts. She’s all planning and reason while Lydia lives up to her “Hammer” nickname by smashing nearly everything in sight. The other “straight” is probably Leo’s Allie who has little to do as the needling authority figure/ “party pooper”. It’s a shame that her role is little more than an uptight pants suit. Mosby brings a bright youthful energy to the story as Tracy, who is exposed to the fun side of life by Lydia, much as she did with her mom. Perhaps the film’s biggest scene-stealer is the laid-back Bateman who makes the most of his clunky/retro “monster man” vibe. With his crab arms, always exposed by short-sleeved shirts. he seems a not-so-distant cousin to man/beast late show combos like THE FLY (the 50s not 80s). And Bateman can still destroy with his snarky, almost under his breath line delivery, though he sideways “runaway” is a killer sight gag. His Crab is certainly more interesting than Cannavale’s “The King” who bellows, struts, and screams in a not-so-subtle riff on another recent business titan turned politico. Luckily he shares many of his scenes with Klementieff who brings a sultry sense of silky menace to her volatile Laser, a cat-like sparkplug that delights in taunting her prey before showering them with deadly needles of lightening (actually a much better version of the Spidey villain Electro).

Directing his spouse (Ms. McCarthy) for the fifth time is Ben Falcone, who wrote the script and gives himself a nice small role as The Crab’s number two. This effort fits squarely into the middle-quality range of the other collaborations. The big action scenes work both as thrill rides and as parodies of the now nearly standard super “throw-downs” (CGI-check, wire-work-double check, etc.). But a lot of it does fall flat, especially an 80s rock ballad video fantasy that causes TF’s first big action sequence to screech to a halt. Prior to that too much time was given to easy sight gags of Lydia hovering too close to computer cameras (yeah the nostrils don’t work the third time) and the gross-out (literal) gags of her slurping raw chicken meat (the serum makes her crave the slimy stuff). These indulgences make the film seem bloated at 105 minutes. The same goes for the bits concerning Lydia and Emily’s difficulty in getting in and out of their souped-up set of wheels (since Em was always part of the program shouldn’t they have designed something a tad less tiny). And, as I mentioned, the main bad guy isn’t that compelling. However, kudos to taking a few jabs at the boss/henchmen cliches as The Crab wonders aloud if The King should be destroying the staff when things don’t go his way. There must be a better way to inspire the rest without depleting the crew, ya’ know? And the Chicago locations look fabulous, although most of the flick was shot in Georgia (just as the duo’s previous THE BOSS). Once again, this is better than some, but it comes nowhere near McCarthy’s glorious work with Paul Feig (hope they’ve got another project in mind). But if you’re in the need of a superhero cinema flix and don’t mind the playful shots at the genre then you may have some fitful fun suiting up with the THUNDER FORCE. But as Lydia says of their spandex, “After a while, it’s pretty gamey!”.

1.5 Out of 4

THUNDER FORCE streams exclusively on Netflix beginning Friday, April 9, 2021.

THE KITCHEN – Review

(L-R) ELISABETH MOSS as Claire, TIFFANY HADDISH as Ruby and MELISSA McCARTHY as Kathy in New Line Cinema’s mob drama “The Kitchen,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Alison Cohen Rosa. © 2019 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC

You’ll want to stay out of THE KITCHEN, not due to the heat but because of the stink. THE KITCHEN had all the right ingredients for a good crime thriller: a cast including Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elizabeth Moss, Domhnall Gleeson, Margo Martindale, and Common, a setting in the 1970s in New York’s gritty Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, and a femme-centric crime thriller premise about the wives of criminals taking to crime themselves when their husbands are no longer there to provide financial support. Yet is takes all that and turns it into a true stinker.

THE KITCHEN is based on a DC comic but the premise sounds rather like the top-notch 2018 neo-noir WIDOWS, which was inspired by a hit British TV show. Still, a good script could make that work.

If only THE KITCHEN had a good script, which it does not. Nor much sense at all. THE KITCHEN throws in every possible crime thriller cliche as well as bits and pieces from other films. The result is a big stinky mess, like a days-old pile of dirty dishes left in the sink.

Of course, this is not the first film to waste a talented cast on a lousy script but it seems particularly egregious in this case, with a fine cast lead by gifted women. Andrea Berloff’s direction helps little but the heroic efforts of the actors are sometimes surprisingly effective in individual scenes. Still, those moments are not enough to rescue this film from its dreadfully nonsensical script. This film could have been so good, but sadly it’s not even close.

Kathy (Melissa McCarthy), Ruby (Tiffany Haddish) and Claire (Elizabeth Moss) are the passive wives of some low-level criminals who get caught during robbery, and are sentenced to prison. While their husbands are locked up, the Irish-American crime gang that Ruby’s husband Kevin (James Badge Dale) heads is supposed provide financial support, but that turns out to be meager. Maybe that is due to the low opinion Ruby’s crime boss mother-in-law Helen (Margo Martindale) holds of the three wives.

It’s the 1970s, so these women all start out as timid housewives. Melissa McCarthy’s character Kathy is a classic stay-at-home mom, who seems happy to just be supportive of her beloved husband Jimmy (Brian d’Arcy James). Her character has the best marriage in the trio, with Ruby under the thumb of her mother-in-law, who resents her for being African American instead of Irish-American. Elizabeth Moss’ Claire who is abused by her violent husband Rob (Jeremy Bobb). The cast is rounded out by Domhnall Gleeson as Gabriel, a one-time hit-man for the gang with a romantic thing for Claire, and Common as one of a team of FBI agents keeping tabs on the gang.

Not surprisingly, when these downtrodden women find themselves in dire financial straits, they decide to rebel against their expected roles – remember this is the ’70s – and take up crime themselves. They decide to take control of the gang, or at least take over the protection racket from the men in the gang.

This proves surprisingly easy to do, so much so that the audience might wonder if the film is going to go in a lighter, more comedic direction. Until the killing starts. Weirdly, these women who start out so timid in speaking up to men or challenging their male authority seem not at all squeamish about killing off anyone standing in their way, not just fellow criminals but ordinary citizens.

After they dismember a body in a bathtub, there is no going back to a lighter tone, yet THE KITCHEN seems to want to do just that, as if these women were just partners in a bakeshop or other legit business. McCarthy’s character even cites the “good they have done for the community” in one unsettling scene, as if all the killing escaped her attention. Besides the disconnect in tone – violent crime thriller alternating with romance and female buddy picture – the film is packed with crime movie cliches, idiotic dialog, nonsensical plot twists and inconsistent characters. The film just keeps digging the hole deeper, until it buries itself in derivative muck.

It is a shame to waste this wonderful cast on this mess of a movie. If only the filmmakers had decided to add a real script, they might have had something, instead of wasting the audience’s time and money.

RATING: 1 out of 4 stars

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? – Review

Melissa McCarthy as “Lee Israel” and Richard E. Grant as “Jack Hock” in the film CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? Photo by Mary Cybulski. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

In CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?, Melissa McCarthy gives a stunning dramatic performance in the strange but true story of Lee Israel, an one-time bestselling author of celebrity biographies fallen on hard times, who turns to a life of crime forging letters from famous literary figures such as Dorothy Parker, which she sells to collectors with the help of a boozy friend, played wonderfully by Richard E. Grant.

Lee Israel (McCarthy) is a New Yorker who has made a career out of writing biographies of celebrities such Katherine Hepburn and Tallulah Bankhead. As interest in the celebrities of that earlier time, the one’s Lee prefers as subjects, fades in the 1980s, she struggles to get published and make a living. Lee’s anti-social, brusque personality and heavy-drinking don’t help matters either. When her new project, a biography of Fanny Brice, fails to find a publisher, she is desperate. To stave off eviction, and to cover vet bills for her beloved elderly cat, Lee turns to embellishing or even forging letters from famous writers such as Dorothy Parker and selling them to collectors. Suddenly, she discovers she has a gift for mimicking the style of these literary greats.

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? is filled with wonderful performances, memorable characters, and a story that is by turns outrageous, sad, funny, and surprising.

McCarthy has built her career on comedies since BRIDESMAIDS, with only a few forays into drama. Frankly, I don’t care much for McCarthy’s comedies generally but she is amazing in this dramatic role, and it is such a strange true story. McCarthy makes this prickly, unpleasant character, who is talented but self-destructive, into someone you care about anyway. Her scenes with Grant are wonderful, spiked with sarcastic humor and the kind of alcohol-fueled bad behavior that makes for a good yarn.

McCarthy and Grant have a terrific chemistry together that makes their scenes enormously enjoyable. Both are deserving of praise. But McCarthy carries to bulk of this film and her work is striking. While she has done a few other dramatic film roles, notably in ST. VINCENT with Bill Murray, this one may be a game changer for McCarthy, and a performance certain to spark talk of Oscar.

Whether Lee Israel’s fall was due primarily to alcoholism, changing popular tastes, a refusal to adapt to the marketplace, or just her own prickly personality is debatable but clearly she was a poster child for being one’s own worst enemy. With no other skill than writing and a knack for imitating the style of the great writers she admired, Israel embarked on a criminal endeavor that was both audacious and lucrative.

Movie promotional materials describe Israel as a cat lover but it is really only the one cat she cares about (and we later learn the reason for that). an elderly ailing black-and-white cat with litter-box issues..Still, her concern for this animal shows a warmth and responsible side of her not evident in most of her life.

Israel says she prefers cats to people but she clearly prefers whiskey and soda to everything else. With an disdain for all and a urge to insult, Israel makes enemies where ever she goes. McCarthy effectively conveys Israel’s anti-social personality in an early scene, when the author arrives at a party and immediately berates the hostess (her agent, played well by Jane Curtin), and then going on to be rude to everyone else in reach. Although Lee sometimes is attracted to other women, relationships are just too much work for her. There is one exception to her solitary curmudgeonly life, her friend Jack (played with great barfly charm by Richard E. Grant), another hard-drinking soul who shares her caustic wit. and eventually becomes her partner in crime.

There is nothing cuddly about this cactus of a person yet McCarthy draws us into her story and finds the human side under the hard crusty shell. Director Marielle Heller and scriptwriters Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty build an engrossing tale of someone falling into crime one step at a time, as well as a portrait of a talented person whose own flaws sabotage her.

Aided by a perfect score that features Billy Holiday and Lou Reed, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? is by turns ironically funny and tragically sad. It makes for an intriguing, sometime jaw-dropping wild trip, topped by what is easily the best performance that McCarthy has ever given.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

 

Win Passes To The St. Louis Advance Screening Of CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? Starring Melissa McCarthy

In CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?, Melissa McCarthy stars as Lee Israel, the best-selling celebrity biographer (and cat lover) who made her living in the 1970’s and 80’s profiling the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estee Lauder and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen. When Lee found herself unable to get published because she had fallen out of step with the marketplace, she turned her art form to deception, abetted by her loyal friend Jack (Richard E. Grant).

Opens in St. Louis on Friday November 2.

WAMG has your free passes to the advance screening of CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? in St. Louis.

Date: October 29, 7pm in the St. Louis area.

ENTER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A PASS GOOD FOR TWO!

Answer the Following:

Richard E. Grant has starred in The Age Of Innocence, Bright Young Things, Gosford Park, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Penelope. More recently he played Dr. Zander Rice in which Marvel film?

Add you name, answer and email in our comments section below.

NO PURCHASE REQUIRED. A pass does not guarantee a seat at a screening. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. The theater is overbooked to assure a full house.

Rated R

Visit the official site: foxsearchlight.com/canyoueverforgiveme/

Melissa McCarthy as “Lee Israel” and Richard E. Grant as “Jack Hock” in the film CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? Photo by Mary Cybulski. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

LOVE, GILDA – Review

With the year’s end “light at the end of the tunnel” in sight, 2018’s parade of distinguished feature documentaries marches on with another “crowd-pleaser” bringing up the rear. Cinemas have been host to truly exceptional works of non-fiction filmmaking. This week’s release joins the impressive list of the “celebrity showbiz profile” sub-genre that includes the box office hit WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR along with WHITNEY, MCQUEEN, and QUINCY. Though music doesn’t play as big a role in this subject’s life as in several of these films, she made her greatest cultural impact on television, just as NEIGHBOR’s Fred Rogers. Oh, and her works were much more “adult” in nature, While Rogers was a daytime TV king to countless kids, she was the first real “queen of late-night TV comedy”. And while she’s been gone for nearly three decades, her influence seems to be felt now, more than ever. This film profiles Ms. Radner, the superstar who ended nearly all her writings with two simple words: LOVE, GILDA.

The film begins with footage from the show that made her famous, with Gilda commanding everyone’s attention at a trendy “watering hole”. It then backtracks over twenty years with snapshots and jittery old 8mm silent home movie footage of plump-cheeked little Gilda, perhaps 6 or 7 years old, her eyes darting about in search of the camera, ready to perform a dance or make a funny face. Older brother Michael tells us of the food issues that started very early, and how her mom got “diet pills” (speed, basically) prescribed for the out-going, “zaftig” ten-year-old. Then her journals and diaries are brought out. When Gilda’s own voice isn’t availible, several current comic actors are enlisted to provide the audible. Many are connected to Gilda’s TV alma mater “Saturday Night Live”. Frequent “guest host” and current “queen of movie comedy” Melissa McCarthy, current SNL cast member Cecily Strong, and SNL vets Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, and (token fella’) Bill Hader read different passages (Hader seems like Indiana Jones finding a long-hidden treasure, stifling a plea that “These belong in a museum!”). We’re told of Gilda receiving love from an elderly nanny named “Dibby” while poppa and mama were too busy with business and high society in Detroit. When she left home for the University of Michigan, Gilda continued to search for love, amassing many boyfriends, before following one, a sculptor, to Canada. When that romance fizzled, Gilda plunged into the theatre scene, and became part of the Toronto cast of “Godspell”. Show creator Stephen Schwartz, piano accompaniest Paul Shaffer, and fellow castmate, and former beau, Martin Short share their memories, along with a funny audio recording. We see Gilda jump from the stages of the Toronto Second City to the NYC sound booth of the National Lampoon as part of their radio show and comedy album ensemble (and her first encounter with John Belushi). After a couple of NatLamp stage shows, Lorne Michaels signed her up (really, Gilda was the first to be hired) for a new live weekend late night comedy/music NBC show. Michaels is interviewed along with fellow SNL-ers Chevy Chase and Laraine Newman, and writers Anne Beatts, Rosie Shuster, and Alan Zweibel. The filmmakers provide us with a refresher course on the many characters Gilda inhabited during her five year run on the show, all while still searching for her soul mate (much is made of the long affair with Bill Murray), and battling various eating disorders. We’re treated to several behind-the-scenes videos from her Broadway show (turned into the feature film GILDA LIVE!), and see her cavorting with future husband, guitarist G.E. Smith. When her stint at SNL ended, Gilda was adrift until landing a movie role in the film HANKY PANKY opposite movie “comedy king” Gene Wilder. After divorcing Smith, she married Gene, then signing letters with “love, Gilda Radner-Wilder”. This should have been her “happily ever after”, but several failed pregnancies eventually led to the discovery of Ovarian cancer. The film then chronicles Gilda’s health struggles, her remission, an attempted comeback via TV’s “It’s Gary Shandling’s Show”, and the disease’s final fatal return. Aside from her TV comedy legacy, several cancer screenings programs bear her name along with many cancer-affected family support centers around the world bearing her name and image, “Gilda’s Club”.

First-time feature director Lisa Dapolito has done a terrific job of wrangling the massive amount of archive footage while eliciting funny, honest responses from her interview subjects. While viewers might wish for more complete SNL sketches (the inspired Fellini parody “La Dolce Gilda” would have best illustrated her complex, conflicting thoughts on fame), but we get enough of on insight on her many recurring characters (a taste of Emily Litella, Roseanne Roseannadanna, etc.) to grasp her importance on the show’s infancy. And some still living folks are sorely missing from the “talking heads” clips. The third of “Chevy’s Angels”, Jane Curtain might have some great backstage stories. And any comments from Bill Murray would have been a major coup (doubtful of that ever happening, since Gilda barely mentioned him in her memoir, “It’s Always Something”). I was hoping to know a bit more about the time just after SNL. No mention of THE FIRST FAMILY, Gilda’s first big-time feature film, post-SNL, which bombed. Nor do we hear of her part in Jean Kerr’s play “Lunch Hour”, which bounced around to several theatres to little fanfare. This would help explain those limbo years, the very early 1980’s, in which the studios had no idea how to capitalize on her incredible popularity. It’s a great choice to have much of Gilda’s written thoughts interpreted by several members of the exclusive comedy club she helped establish. The stars bring the prose to life along with graphics that highlight passages for dramatic effect. And the early childhood home movie footage bookended with the jumpy video-cam shot scenes of domestic bliss with family and friends at Casa de Wilder give the film an extraordinary intimacy. The comic icon morphs into a warm, sympathetic human being. While many big fans (myself very much included) bemoan some exclusions, the rarities included, particularly the awkward spot with Tom Snyder on “Tomorrow” and the chaotic live prime time New Orleans SNL special (in which the cast realized that they were akin to rock stars), more than make this a pop culture event. Though the tale comes to a real tragic conclusion, the film is a real celebration of a remarkable talent who truly reached through the TV screen and grabbed the public by the “funny bone” and the heart. All those touched by her story should love LOVE, GILDA.

4.5 Out of 5

LOVE, GILDA opens everywhere and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas

 

THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS – Review

Hmmm, “happy” and “murder’ almost bumping into each other in a film title? Something’s just not right. Oh, that’s a true understatement. You see, this action detective mystery parody has…puppets. There are human beings, but much of this revolves around “fabric-Americans”. And if the title’s not enough of a hint, the MPAA has slapped this flick with an “R” rating, so parents of the pre-K set will be warned. Hopefully they’ll heed the rating despite the fact that some of the cast resemble muppets. That’s because, they are…kinda’. One of the production companies involved is Henson Alternative, a subsidiary of the empire created by the “gone-too-soon” genius Jim Henson (can it be 28 years). Oh, and the film is co-produced and directed by his son Brian. Sure, Jim went after more mature audiences with his 1980’s fantasies THE DARK CRYSTAL and LABYRINTH, but they’re tame strolls through the nursery compared to the all-out raunch assault of bawdiness and vulgarity served up in THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS.

The setting is the present day LA, but it’s not exactly this planet. Now, on this nearly parallel Earth human beings live and work beside living puppets, free of their masters. There ‘ain’t no strings on them, nor controllers with their hand up their…ya’ know. Oh, and the “felts’ are treated like second class (or lower) citizens, bullied and abused, left to drown their sorrows in sugar (which numbs and stimulates their different ‘inards”). Much of this is told to us by the story’s narrator and main protagonist, hard-drinking, chain-smoking, ex-cop turned puppet private eye Phil Phillips. As he enters his ramshackle agency HQ, Phil’s human secretary/receptionist “Bubbles” (Maya Rudolph) informs him that a possible new client is waiting in his private office. He’s stunned to see a red-headed puppet bombshell named Sandra who gives him a blackmail letter she received (she’s an “Ima”, which, well, we can’t explain here). That letter has a clue which leads Phil to a “puppet porno shop” that becomes the scene of a blood bath, well more of a “stuffing slaughter”. The human police are called in and Phil is re-united with his former police partner Det. Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy). Neither are happy to see each other. Nonetheless Lieutenant Banning (Leslie David Baker) insists that they work together. When Phil’s actor brother Larry is killed, a pattern begins to form. One of the porn shop victims and Larry were part of an old 80’s TV sitcom called “The Happytime Gang”. Phil and Connie try to track down the other cast members including the show’s sole human star (and Phil’s former lover) Jenny (Elizabeth Banks). When hot-headed FBI Agent Campbell (Joel McHale) joins the case, Phil becomes the prime suspect. Can Connie help him clear his name and bring the real murder mastermind to justice?

Once again McCarthy completely commits to the material, bringing a nearly limitless supply of energy and physicality. This serves her (and the film) well, when the script falls short, settling for a cheap obscenity or a shocking sight gag. This is not the sweet-natured “every-women” we endured in this year’s forgettable LIFE OF THE PARTY, rather it’s the “go for it” hellcat of THE HEAT, particularly in the “sugar hit” sequence. As I mentioned earlier, the puppets have a real big sweet tooth, and it turns out that Connie is “part puppet” (well she has puppet parts, which we learn in a big flashback). McCarthy literally bouncing off the walls before wailing on a nasty band of muppet mobsters. She truly gives it her all, sharing most of her scenes with Phil, and, to very good effect, a frequent co-star: Rudolph. She’s very funny in the detective’s girl Friday cliche (a bit dim, but loyal, and crushing on her boss), but a scene where she and McCarthy break into a suspect’s apartment gives both actresses a chance to shine (and again, much better than their time together in PARTY). Hopefully some gifted film maker will craft a smart buddy comedy (like a gender-flipped”bro-mance”) for these two very talented women. As for the other human cast mates, Banks has little to do, aside from vamping it up on the stripper pole and looking longingly at Phil. Darn it, she’s funny too, but you can’t tell from this ho-hum role. The same can be said for McHale who’s saddled with the straight man/ butt of insults as the up-tight “fed’ (it’s like his “snark” has been muzzled). And Baker does what he can with the standard flustered, agitated cop boss role, that staple of many a police station-set flick or TV show. But kudos to the very hardworking, but unseen, puppet performers, who really help sell this strange concept (especially Bill Barretta as Phil).

Brian Henson directs with confidence, hitting all the usual beats in a buddy/cop thriller while never calling undue attention to some of the clever technical tricks involved in making this fantasy seem real. Unfortunately this story can’t be stretched to feature length, without losing its focus, and its audience’s interest. It’s another example of a great 20 minute or so TV sketch (or a “stand-alone” half hour special) that wears out its welcome in movie time (like many Saturday Night Live skit-based flicks). The private eye parody is nothing really new as the plot and its hero rehash Bogie in THE MALTESE FALCON and even Elliott Gould in THE LONG GOODBYE (and you could get a nagging cough from Phil constantly puffing away). And of course there’s the elephant (or big bunny) in the room, the film’s main idea is a pale riff on the vastly superior, truly iconic, now 30 year-old classic WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (with a nod to ALIENATION where the “newcomers” got hammered on sour milk). We can match up the characters (Connie=Eddie Valiant, Phil=Roger, Sonia=Jessica), along with the story points. But despite the former’s slightly naughty twists, the denizens of Toon Town were still pretty magical and endearing. Not so with these bits of fluff and felt, who exhaust us with the barrage of “F-bombs” and 70’s style “sex talk” (one sugar-addicted puppet’s constant “offers” feels more sad and desperate than hilarious). And that sexualization of beings that resemble plush kiddie toys just gets too “skeavey” after the first few minutes. I know that Jim Henson wanted to break out of the “children’s entertainment ghetto”, but this is far too aggressively crude (though there are several hysterical bits of business that nearly rival the final orgy of SAUSAGE PARTY, a flick that shocked, but has some smart things to say). Despite this, and the spirited efforts of McCarthy and Rudolph, THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS is more listless and witless than outrageous and offensive. If this hits, what’s next? “Punch and Judy, Ted and Alice”?!

3 Out of 5

Red Band Trailer Debuts For THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale And Elizabeth Banks

THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS is set in the underbelly of Los Angeles where puppets and humans coexist. Two clashing detectives, one human and one puppet, are forced to work together to try and solve who is brutally murdering the former cast of “The Happytime Gang,” a beloved classic puppet show.

Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale and Elizabeth Banks star.

In theatres from STXfilms August 17, 2018, watch the NSFW trailer.

As strange as it looks, and seeing as I like McCarthy so much, I’m gonna go with it.

LIFE OF THE PARTY – Review

LIFE OF THE PARTY is a big fat drag of a movie – poorly paced and terribly written. Star Melissa McCarthy, no matter how much she throws herself into it with her usual crackling, live-wire energy, can’t come close to saving it. McCarthy stars as Deanna, a longtime dedicated housewife who, along with her husband Dan (Matt Walsh) is introduced dropping her daughter Maddie (Mollie Gordon) off at Decatur University for her senior year. On the drive home Dan informs Deanna that he’s in love with Marcie (Julie Bowen) and wants a divorce. Turning her “regret into re-set”, she herself enrolls in Decatur, where she had dropped out of 24 years earlier when she was pregnant, to finish her degree in Archaeology. There she embraces freedom, fun, and frat boys on her own terms, finds her true self and becomes the life of the party.

LIFE OF THE PARTY is a comedy. I know this because I looked it up on the IMDB and it says ‘Comedy’ right there between ‘PG13’ and ‘1h 45min’. It does have that fish-out-of-water premise you often see in comedies and the cast mugs, rolls their eyes, and loudly deliver their lines as if they’re participating in some sort of comedic exercise. There are no laugh-at-the-fat-gal gags this time but there are a couple of kicks to the groin (but they’re female groins) and middle-age adults hornier than their college-age kids. But LIFE OF THE PARTY is comedy flatline – there’s not a single amusing moment in it. The screenplay is by McCarthy and her husband and director Ben Falcone, whose previous collaborations (TAMMY, THE BOSS) have been terrible as well (I hope their kids turn out okay!). The neutered, PG13 script feels like a type of first draft with sketchy, underdeveloped characters. There’s a pair of one-note mean girls who pop up a few times just to be cruel for no discernable reason. At a party, Deanna sleeps with Jack (Luke Benward) a hunky frat boy who inexplicably declares his undying love for her the next day at the library (where they screw again).  Why is Jack, with his male-model looks, attracted to Deanna when he could likely have any girl on campus? The script never attempts to explain but his real purpose is to set up the crazy twist that …..(spoiler alert)… he’s Marcie’s son! Chris Parnell shows up as a teacher Deanna recognizes as a classmate from her earlier college days, setting up an obvious love interest for her but the script forgets to go there and he’s never once shown outside the classroom. Jackie Weaver and Stephen Root as Deanna’s parents seem embarrassed to be involved in this mess. The one character with comic potential is Deanna’s dorm roommate Leonor (Heidi Gardner), a mumbling spook who won’t leave their room because she’s afraid of everything (even ketchup!), but she’s abandoned halfway through only to reappear near the end in a desperate scene with Christina Aguilera as herself (cue lame musical number). In the film’s floundering search for a single laugh, the wackiness is upped to desperate levels in the hope that something – anything – might stick, so we get filler like the musical montage (of Dee buying University swag), the ‘middle-aged mom getting high on pot and trashing her ex-husband’s wedding’ scene (actually she eats ‘’weed bark’  – which I’ve never heard of), and one overlong, painfully unfunny scene in which Deanna has a breakdown delivering a live report in front of her class. LIFE OF THE PARTY is a cynical, laugh-free Mother’s Day cash grab. This Sunday, take mom to brunch instead.

1/2 of 1 Star Out of 5

Win Passes To The Advance Screening Of LIFE OF THE PARTY In St. Louis – Stars Melissa McCarthy

LIFE OF THE PARTY opens in theaters on May 11.

The comedy stars Melissa McCarthy, Gillian Jacobs, Maya Rudolph, Julie Bowen, Matt Walsh, Molly Gordon, with Stephen Root and Jacki Weaver.

When her husband suddenly dumps her, longtime dedicated housewife Deanna (Melissa McCarthy) turns regret into re-set by going back to college…landing in the same class and school as her daughter, who’s not entirely sold on the idea. Plunging headlong into the campus experience, the increasingly outspoken Deanna—now Dee Rock—embraces freedom, fun and frat boys on her own terms, finding her true self in a senior year no one ever expected.

Enter for the chance to win TWO (2) seats to the advance screening of May 8 at 7pm in the St. Louis area.

Answer the Following:

Name your favorite Melissa McCarthy movie and why!

ENTER YOUR NAME, ANSWER AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.

OFFICIAL RULES:

1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.

2. No purchase necessary. A pass does not guarantee a seat at a screening. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. The theater is overbooked to assure a full house.

This film is rated PG-13.

Visit the official site:
lifeoftheparty-movie.com