Click here to listen to the interview. Pete Holmes and Jamie Lee were in the middle of their media blitz for the second season of their HBO series, CRASHING, when we met for a chat on January 17, 2018. The grind of the road did nothing to dampen their either exuberance or their whip-smart humor.… Read More »
ALL NIGHTER — Gavin Wiesen Interview
I spoke with Gary Wiesen by phone on March 24, 2017, the day his film, ALL NIGHTER, opened in San Francisco. It’s his first comedy, but briskly executed with a true feel for not just the humor, but also the underlying pathos of a father seeking out his estranged daughter with the help of her… Read More »
THERAPY FOR A VAMPIRE ( Der Vampir auf der Couch)
THERAPY FOR A VAMPIRE is a droll and loving homage to those classic Universal horror films from the 1930s. This is not pastiche, though. The gothic castle awash in spectral moonlight vies with a dash of Hitchcock’s VERTIGO, and a feminist attitude that is the perfect foil for the king of Penis Envy himself, Sigmund… Read More »
Rebecca Miller Explains MAGGIE’S PLAN
I love how Rebecca Miller’s mind works. With the eponymous Maggie of her film, MAGGIE’S PLAN, she has brought to life a character who manipulates other for their own good, and still seems like the great-hearted soul. And she’s made it a wickedly smart comedy. Perhaps it was only Greta Gerwig who could have pulled… Read More »
Will Durst, Johnny Steele, and Larry “Bubbles” Brown are 3 STILL STANDING
I have been a fan of all three of the gentlemen still standing since I first came to San Francisco a long, long time ago. And so it was no surprise to me that my interview with them on September 28, 2015 for the doc in which they star, 3 STILL STANDING, would be smart… Read More »
PIXELS System Crash
If I had to single one thing out as being the saddest moment in PIXELS, it would have to be when Michelle Monaghan, as a newly dumped wife is forced to find solace from Adam Sandler as she is weeping and drinking chardonnay from a sippy cup on the floor of her closet.
Amy Schumer is No TRAINWRECK
Turning gender roles neatly on their heads, Amy Schumer has created a screwball comedy of considerable substance. Taking sure aim at the abomination of the formula rom-com, she satirizes not just the genre, but the state of contemporary single-hood. Starring in a script of her own devising, she is fearless, relentless, and completely unapologetic as the titular hot mess, also named Amy, with commitment issues and a healthy libido.
A MINIONS of Diminishing Returns
It must have seemed like such a good idea. Take the loveable little yellow minions from DESPICABLE ME and star them in their own movie. Certainly the eponymous MINIONS features much of what made them so irresistible. There’s that burbling mélange of human and Minion-esque language. The ebullient nature, the eagerness to please, and that… Read More »
SPY
When I reviewed BRIDESMAIDS, I spent a great deal of my verbiage on Melissa McCarthy’s supporting performance. Rarely had I seen an actress, or actor for that matter, so fearless, so sure of him- or herself, and with such a preternatural gift for discovering humor in the most unexpected places. She was nominated for an… Read More »
A Cold Reception for HOT PURSUIT
If anyone could have saved HOT PURSUIT, it would have been Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara. Aside from having scads of talent and audience appeal, they both have a keen understanding of their strengths as performers, yet they never quite cross the line into becoming caricatures of themselves. Here, the co-stars and co-producers have found… Read More »
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 5
- Next Page »