Laura Dern – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

IS THIS THING ON? – Review by Diane Carson

January 21, 2026January 20, 2026 Diane Carson Bradley Cooper, Is This Thing On?, John Bishop, Laura Dern, Mark Chappell, Will Arnett

Is This Thing On? explores a marriage in crisis. Good relationships, both short and long ones, dissolve in numerous unique ways. Individuals drift apart immersed in disparate interests, maturing at different rates, or just growing distracted from each other by the overwhelming demands of their worlds—jobs, children, parents, colleagues. For Alex and Tess Novak the increasing emotional distance from each other is as perplexing as it is complex, and so, after twenty years of marriage, they separate. The way Alex deals with his confusion over his and Tess’ separation makes Is This Thing On? worth a look. For Alex ends up baring his confusion and distress through standup comedy gigs, a unique way of coping

Reviews

IS THIS THING ON? – Review by T.J. Callahan

December 18, 2025December 21, 2025 T. J. Callahan Bradley Cooper, Is This Thing On?, Laura Dern, Will Arnett

Mic check. Testing, testing. Will Arnett is venturing into leading man territory with Is This Thing On? Arnett has shed his LEGO Batman mask and opened up on screen like we’ve never seen before as a happily married man who’s not happy in his marriage. Is This Thing On? is inspired by the story of UK comic John Bishop, but the names and location have been changed. It’s American Alex Novak who turned to the New York stand up comedy scene after his twenty year marriage started unraveling.

Reviews

JAY KELLY – Review by Susan Granger

December 8, 2025December 14, 2025 Susan Granger adam sandler, Billy Cudrup, emily mortimer, greta gerwig, isla fisher, Jay Kelly, Jim Broadbent, Laura Dern, netflix, noah baumbach, Patrick Wilson, Stacy Keach

Fulfilling Sylvia Plath’s observation: “It’s a hell of a responsibility to be yourself. It’s easier to be somebody else or nobody at all”…Noah Baumbach’s bittersweet buddy movie Jay Kelly explores regret and missed opportunities – on a rarefied level.

Reviews

JAY KELLY – Review by T.J. Callahan

November 13, 2025November 23, 2025 T. J. Callahan adam sandler, Billy Cudrup, emily mortimer, greta gerwig, isla fisher, Jay Kelly, Jim Broadbent, Laura Dern, netflix, noah baumbach, Patrick Wilson, Stacy Keach

Famous actor Jay Kelly (George Clooney) continually asks after filming a scene, “Can I go again?” That question takes on a whole new meaning by the end of Noah Baumbach’s latest dysfunctional family meets Inside the Actor’s Studio character study of an aging star having second thoughts about his choices in life.

Reviews

LONELY PLANET – Review by Lois Alter Mark

October 12, 2024 Lois Alter Mark Diana Silvers, Laura Dern, Liam Hemsworth, LONELY PLANET, Marrakesh, Susannah Grant

There seems to be a popular new genre in film and TV series that, for lack of a better word, I’ll call “wanderlust.” It’s basically a love story – or at least a lust story – that takes place in a foreign country, where the American female protagonist has gone for work or to get over some heartbreak (often both), and the gorgeous setting plays as important a role as any of the characters. The plot is usually meh but nobody cares because, oh, the scenery. Think Emily in Paris.Lonely Planet is basically ‘Katherine (Laura Dern) in Morocco’ and, although it doesn’t really offer anything new or enlightening other than reminding viewers 1) always back up your work on your computer and 2) think twice before having your partner accompany you on a business trip, it somehow becomes a must-see. Not because it’s so good but because it’s likely to inspire your next trip.

Reviews

PALM ROYAL – Review by Susan Granger

June 10, 2024June 15, 2024 Susan Granger Abe Sylvia, Allison Janney, Apple TV+, carol burnett, Josh Lucas, kristen wiig, Laura Dern, Mr. and Mrs. American Pie, Palm Royale

Loosely inspired by Juliet McDaniels’ 2018 novel Mr. and Mrs. American Pie, the comedy series Palm Royale, set in the late 1960s, follows the misadventures of former Tennessee beauty queen Maxine Simmons (Kristen Wiig), a desperate social climber determined to join South Florida’s most elegant, exclusive country club. Created as a darkly comedic melodrama by showrunner Abe Sylvia, this flimsy, farcical, frivolous frolic starts out deceptively shallow but slowly builds in depth and intensity, incorporating a beached whale and an astronaut falling from the sky

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK September 8, 2023: JOYCE CAROL OATES: A BODY IN THE SERVICE OF MIND

September 2, 2023September 8, 2023 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, biodoc, Cate Marquis, documentaries, greenwich entertainment, jennifer merin, Joyce Carol Oates, Joyce Carol Oates: A Body in Service of Mind, Laura Dern, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, nikki fowler, Pam Grady, sherin nicole, Stig Bjorkman

Prolific author, keen observer, insightful storyteller, compulsive writer, incisive tweeter. Joyce Carol Oates is all of these things and more, as director Stig Björkman makes abundantly clear in his thoughtfully constructed, affectionate documentary Joyce Carol Oates: A Body in Service of Mind. Tracing Oates’ life and career over the course of several decades, Björkman makes it clear that she has well earned her reputation as an iconic American writer.

Reviews

JOYCE CAROL OATES: A BODY IN THE SERVICE OF MIND – Review by Jennifer Merin

August 29, 2023October 25, 2023 Jennifer Merin biodoc, documentaries, Joyce Carol Oates, Joyce Carol Oates: A Body in Service of Mind, Laura Dern, motw, Stig Bjorkman

Joyce Carol Oates: A Body in Service of Mind is a delightful documentary delve into the persona and personal opinions of the notoriously self effacing and non-stop prolific literary goddess known as Joyce Carol Oates. Filmmaker Stig Bjorkman. a longstanding friend of Joyce Carol Oates. gives us a respectful and intimate documentary that spends its hour and a half on current interviews with Oates, as well as clips from her past interviews with Dick Cavitt and other broadcast presenters and select readings from her writings that are voiced by Laura Dern over footage of Oates at work, or hiking through the countryside.

Reviews

JOYCE CAROL OATES: A BODY IN SERVICE OF MIND – Review by Nikki Fowler

August 29, 2023October 25, 2023 Nikki Fowler biodoc, documentaries, greenwich entertainment, Joyce Carol Oates, Joyce Carol Oates: A Body in Service of Mind, Laura Dern, motw, Stig Bjorkman

Greenwich Entertainment’s documentary Joyce Carol Oates: A Body in the Service of Mind is a beautiful and informative look into the life and work of the beloved and award-winning novelist by the same name, who not only wrote a series of novels drenched immensely in gender, race, socioeconomics, and politics but who wrote dramatic novels sans politics under pseudonyms which she described as getting to “start over” and “to write as if she were “writing for the first time.”

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: NBC Special Celebrates Carol Burnett’s Birthday – Brandy McDonnell reports

April 18, 2023April 22, 2023 Brandy McDonnell Aileen Quinn, amy poehler, Bill Hader, Bob Mackie, carol burnett, cher, Ellen Degeneres, JULIE ANDREWS, kristen wiig, Laura Dern, lily tomlin, marisa tomei, nbc, peacock, Sofia Vergara, Steve Carell, Susan Lucci, tracee ellis ross, twiw, week in women

Paying tribute to a beloved national icon for her birthday, NBC will celebrate Carol Burnett’s illustrious career with Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love. The two-hour special will air at 8 p.m. ET/PT April 26 and will stream next day on Peacock. Filmed at Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles, the star-studded special will feature an A-list lineup of musical performances and special guests, who will come together to share their love for one of the most cherished comediennes in television history.

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