Female Film Critics 24/375
For years, studio strategy included releasing a star-studded romantic comedy for Valetine’s Day weekend. But Amazon’s Will Ferrell/Reese Witherspoon You’re Cordially Invited is a dismal mess. Written and directed by Nick Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), it’s simply one of the world’s worst wedding comedies, despite memorable turns from some of the cast.
Read more
Harper Steele was always Harper Steele but for most of her life she wore the persona of Andrew Steele, an Iowa born and raised comedian and writer who worked on Saturday Night Live for many years. That is where Andrew first met a fresh-faced Will Ferrell in 1995 and the two became close friends and collaborators. Andrew was in Will’s corner when other people thought he was a dud addition to the famous sketch show. Andrew and Will were part of a core group of comedians and writers who included Tina Fey, Will Forte, Tim Meadows, Seth Meyers, Kristen Wiig, and Molly Shannon (all of whom make appearances) and so many more. Josh Rosenbaum’s documentary Will & Harper begins with “Famous movie star, Will Ferrell” relating his thirty-year friendship with Andrew and the email he received which caught him unaware – Andrew had transitioned to her authentic self, Harper, and was now living as a woman. Harper hoped Will would still want her in his life.
Read more
It has been seven years since the lastDespicable Me movie. In that time the popularity of the banana loving henchmen has continued to grow, but this latest entry pushes them back into the shadows to focus once more on Gru (Steve Carell) and his family. Despite the passage of time, Gru, Lucy (Kristen Wiig), Agnes (Madison Polan), Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), and Edith (Dana Gaier), have not aged. As with any popular animation, directors Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage have opted to freeze the characters in time. This move makes it easier for the audience to return and reform connections, but the two do shake things up slightly with the addition of a new family member – Gru Jr. The introduction of the baby freshens the family setting and creates ample opportunity for new gags.
Read more
Giving the villain in Despicable Me 4 a cockroach fixation is an apt metaphor for the plot, which scatters all over the place like those buggers when the lights click on.
Read more
What a dog. I’m going to just cut to the chase, Strays is pawsitivley obnoxious. The trailer shows cute K9s navigating life, but what you don’t realize is writer, Dan Perrault (American Vandals) is relying on school boy, lift your leg humor to fuel this film. Strays: When you pee on something, it’s yours. If you go in not expecting much, you’ll likely wag your tail.
Read more
The series is based on a podcast of the same name and tells the true story of Martin “Marty” Markowitz and his psychiatrist Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf. Over the course of 30 years, Herschkopf scammed Markowitz out of millions of dollars, inspired his estrangement from his friends and family, and took control of his family estate in the Hamptons.
Read more
Will Ferrell makea a mockumentary about the bizarre show that famously introduced ABBA’s Waterloo in 1974. Sketchily scripted by Will Ferrell and Andrew Steele, it follows Ferrell’s previous vocational parodies: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Read more
The actual Eurovision Song Contest has provoked many a joke, so why shouldn’t Will Ferrell pile on? This fluffy little film, streaming on Netflix, provides just the distraction needed in annus horribilis. It has music and romance, irony and silliness plus several energetic choruses of Ya Ya Ding Dong.
Read more
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell star a tepid remake of Ruben Ostlund’s emotionally eviscerating Force Majeure, Sweden’s Academy Award Foreign Language entry in 2014.
Read more
During this year’s Academy Awards, the presenter pairing of Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus provided a hilarious highlight, with the beloved performers using their wit and timing to transform dubious content into comedy gold. Knowing just how funny they can be together makes their largely laugh-free pairing in the dark comedy Downhill even more of a drag.
Read more