Tag: Seth Meyers

WILL & HARPER Trailer Stars Will Ferrell and Harper Steele – See The Netflix Documentary September 27

The official trailer and poster for the highly anticipated Sundance hit documentary film WILL & HARPER debut today. 

Will Ferrell and his close friend, former head writer at SNL, Harper Steele embark on a cross-country road trip together after Harper comes out as a trans woman in the documentary film, WILL & HARPER. In select cinemas this September and on Netflix September 27. It also features Seth Meyers, Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, Colin Jost, Will Forte, Molly Shannon, Tim Meadows, Paula Pell.

Three years ago, Will Ferrell was filming a movie when he received a most surprising email: his dear friend of nearly 30 years was coming out to him as a trans woman.

That friend was Harper Steele, a writer he met on his first day at Saturday Night Live back in 1995. From that fateful first meeting in the halls of 30 Rock, Will knew he had found a match made in comedy, and their friendship and creative partnership would only continue to grow over the next 3 decades.

In this intimate, honest, and heartfelt documentary, Will and Harper hit the open road together to process this new stage of their friendship and reintroduce Harper to the country that she loves – this time, as herself. Over 16 days, the two drive from New York to LA, visiting stops that are meaningful to them, to their friendship, and to America. Through laughter, tears, and many cans of Pringles, they push past their comfort zones as they re-examine their relationships to these spaces, and to each other, in this new light.

https://www.netflix.com/title/81760197

NEW YEAR’S EVE (2011) – The Review

 

 

Seems that not that long ago holidays were almost the exclusive domain of horror flicks ( thanks in no small part to John Carpenter’s 1978 classic HALLOWEEN ). This extended to other calendar dates like certain Fridays and even birthdays. With the release last year of VALENTINE’S DAY the “rom-com” has decided to horn in on the cineplex action thanks to TV sitcom master ( his trifecta being ” Happy Days “, ” Laverne and Shirley ” and ” Mork and Mindy ” ) turned movie comic kingpin ( PRETTY WOMAN ) Gary Marshall. Now Mr. M has decided to take on another big ( usually romantic ) holiday with NEW YEAR’S EVE and once again he’s assembled another gang of big stars ( with two returnees from last year ). We’ve haven’t opened our presents under the tree yet ( some of us haven’t even begun shopping ), so is this early cinema offering a gift that we’ll revisit again and again?

 Like the previous holiday flick, this is several stories intercut over the running time ( some share characters and settings ). Speaking of settings, this time NYC replaces LA ( a very mild winter Big Apple ). Let’s check them off! Hilary Swank is a city worker in charge of the big Times Square celebration ( including the dropping of the big ball ) who’s aided by good pal, policeman Chris ” Ludacris ” Bridges. One of the entertainers there is Jenson, played by real life rocker Jon Bon Jovi, who’s also singing at a big record company party catered by Katherine Heigl and her assistant Sofia Vergara. A put-upon worker at said record company, Michelle Pfieffer, quits and offers tickets to the big party to messenger Zac Efron if he can help her check items off her ” things to do list “. Zac’s brother is a cynical, New Year’s-hating cartoonist ( Ashton Kutcher )  trapped in his building’s elevator along with perky singer Lea Michelle, who’s on her way to sing back up with Jenson. At a hospital young parents-to-be Seth Meyers and Jessica Biel compete with another couple to collect the cash prize for the first birth of 2012. On another floor, nurse Halle Berry tends to a dying Robert DeNiro, who just wants to live long enough to see the 2011 become history. Sarah Jessica Parker is a harried single mother trying to track down teenage daughter Abigal Breslin who hopes to share her first kiss with that special boy at midnight in Times Square. Also racing into town in order to share a midnight kiss is Josh Duhamel, who encounters many obstacles ( and wacky characters ) on his way back from a Connecticut wedding. Whew, what a night!

 Marshall does his best to juggle the many stories. Unfortunately he has to cut away from many plots just as the momentum starts building. And many of them would’ve been better left on the editing room floor, particularly those agonizing attempts at pathos. The DeNiro/Berry scenes really seem to slow things up while a turgid,televised speech by Swank grinds things to a complete halt ( really, the Times Square crowds are completely silent? Really? ). The script is very TV “sitcomy” with many obvious set-ups and punch lines. The big star list may be more a testament to the good will that Marshall engenders rather than the quality of the material. Still several of the more seasoned comedy pr0s wring some laughs especially SNL’s Meyers and Vergara ( her character here is an even more ethnic and hot-to-trot variation of her Gloria from TV’s ” Modern Family ” ). Many pairings just don’t have much of a spark ( the Kutcher/Michelle pairing is a bit creepy ). I was really disheartened that Pfieffer was saddled with a frumpy brown wig and doing another take on the pre-Catwoman Selina Kyle. Fortunately the film moves to another location and pairing very quickly. I breathed a sigh of relief that Heigl and Parker shared no scenes. I feared that the two queens of awful romcoms on-screen together might create some sort of cinema black hole. There is great use of NYC locations, but it’s not enough to recommend this cliche-ridden, cloying mess. Stick around for the end credits bloopers-they’re a lot funnier than what’s in the main film ( maybe you’ll get to be that funny in a comedy soon, Mr. DeNiro! ). Let’s hope this is the last holiday to get this big screen desecration from the Marshall gang ( I’m sure Hector Elizondo will still get plenty of work! ).

 

Overall Rating: One and a Half Out of Five Stars

 

 

 

I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT – The Review

Well, it ‘s past Labor Day and it’s time for the older adults to head back to the multiplex. Usually this signals the time for those big Oscar-bait dramas, but here’s a genteel comedy for the married with kids set-those hungover frat boys will just have to wait for next Summer’s party flicks. Arriving in cinemas now is Douglas McGrath’s (EMMA) adaptation (along with 27 DRESSES screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna) of Allison Pearson’s book I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT. Well I’m not giving anything away (thanks to the TV spots and trailers) when I tell you that movie shows how she does do somethings and can’t fully do others. Guess it would be a pretty short flick if everything turned out perfect!

The film’s focus is wife, mother, and career woman Kate Reddy (Sarah Jessica Parker). She’s doing her best to juggle her responsibilities st the office and home. She devotes many hours to the job while traveling across the country for some sort of financial consulting firm (one of the film’s main gags is that no one outside her office knows exactly what she does). Kate’s got a demanding, sometimes befuddled boss (Kelsey Grammar), a goal-oriented single young assistant (Olivia Munn), and a snarky competing co-worker (Seth Meyers) who tries to sabotage her at every chance. On the home front she tries to make time for her working hubby Richard (Greg Kinnear), pre-schooler Ben, and grade-schooler Emily. Thankfully Kate is helped considerably by their nanny Paula (Jessica Szohr) and best pal, single mom Allison (Christina Hendricks) while deflecting the disdainful stares of ‘mom-ster’ Wendy (Busy Phillips). Kate’s busy Boston life is further complicated when one of her proposals attracts the attention of Wall Street guru Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnsan). The many hours spent brainstorming with Jack puts a strain on her relationship with Richard and disrupts their winter holiday plans. And it looks like Jack’s interest in Kate may be going past the professional and into the personal. The question may not be how she does it but whether she can survive it.

This film covers a lot of the subject matter that TV (cable and network) have been dealing with for many years. Beside a top flight movie star cast this movie really doesn’t bring anything new to the table. The wintry East Coast settings are lovely, but McGrath has trouble with the pacing. I was surprised at the short running time as the lights went up. McGrath  also employs a couple of film techniques that don’t totally mesh with the film. He uses documentary type interviews with the characters who talk about their dealings with Kate. At other times Kate breaks the fourth wall, suspending time in order to step forward and confide her feelings. We even get to see a flash forward fantasy CNN-style news report in which Kate’s school bake sale fiasco was the reason future adult Emily went on a killing spree. As for the actors, we may as well start with Kate played by SJP (as the tabloids call her). She seems to be entering a more mature phase of her career, going from the girlfriend, rom-com heroine and into the mother roles. Still there are still glimpses of her former characters. Kate is almost Carrie Bradshaw with the sex replaced by Lucy Ricardo-slapstick. Head lice joes… really? She alternates between being  flustered and floundering with more than a little exhaustion. Kinnear’s doing his cute, decent guy thing once more. I kind of miss that old smarmy charm in movies like MYSTERY MEN. Brosnan starts as the cold businessmen who warms after spending time with Kate, He’s another cliche of the perfect romantic older man-he has been married (if he were still single he might be gay!) but he’s not been tainted by divorce, for he’s a noble widower. It takes Kate to open up that heart once more. Uh-huh. Two of the supporting players truly do get to shine. Munn lights up the screen as the upwardly mobile assistant whose life plans gets thrown a curve. And Meyers builds on the screen smarm that Kinnear used to have and brings lots of energy to his role as the “Designated Office A*%#@^e”. The other actors don’t fare nearly as well. Hendricks (so great on TV’s Mad Men) only gets to smile supportively at Kate and sing her praises to an unseen interviewer. Phillips and Jane Curtin as a stereotypical mother-in-law act witchy and Grammar’s ster, but clueless. McGrath has assembled a terrific cast. It’s a shame that they are regulated to some of the sitcom shenanigans in this safe, unoffensive bit of fluff.

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

New I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT Trailer And Poster


Photos by: Craig Blankenhorn/TWC

Due in theaters next month on September 16, 2011, watch the new trailer for the Weinstein Company’s I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT. Based on the critically acclaimed bestseller by Allison Pearson, I Don’t Know How She Does It follows a Boston-based working mother trying desperately to juggle marriage, children, and a high-stress job.

Synopsis:

Kate Reddy (Parker) devotes her days to her job with a Boston-based financial management firm. At night she goes home to her adoring, recently-downsized architect husband Richard (Kinnear) and their two young children. It’s a non-stop balancing act, the same one that Kate’s acerbic best friend and fellow working mother Allison (Christina Hendricks) performs on a daily basis, and that Kate’s super-brainy, child-phobic young junior associate Momo (Olivia Munn) fully intends to avoid. When Kate gets handed a major new account that will require frequent trips to New York, Richard also wins the new job he’s been hoping for – and both will be spreading themselves even thinner. Complicating matters is Kate’s charming new business associate Jack Abelhammer (Brosnan), who begins to prove an unexpected source of temptation.

Sarah Jessica Parker, Greg Kinnear, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Munn, Seth Meyers, Kelsey Grammer and Christina Hendricks star in I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT, a comedy from director Douglas McGrath (Emma, Infamous) and producer Donna Gigliotti (The Reader, Let Me In).