cult film freak: melissa mccarthy

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Written by James M. Tate / 7/14/2016 / No comments / 2016 , bill murray , comedy , franchise , kristin wiig , melissa mccarthy , paul feig , reboot

FEMALE REBOOT OF GHOSTBUSTERS

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 2016</u></td></tr>
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When word hit the streets Bill Murray would provide a cameo, the anticipated GHOSTBUSTERS reboot, with dolls instead of guys, was rumored to be a sequel – nothing doing. Bill, the sarcastic cool dude who grounds the original, plays another version of "Dickless" here... True fans will get that reference and for newcomers, Bill plays a complete jerk – but he's not <i>the</i> villain, by any means...<br>
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That title should go to the writers, Katie Dippold and Paul Feig. And yet as director, Feig provides some scary, suspenseful moments, almost as if he really, deep down, wanted to make a bonafide horror flick with a side-dish of comedy. And there are times when the four girl Ghostbusters geek-out with a genuine flow of scientific expository dialogue, especially Melissa McCarthy as Abby, a hybrid of Dan Aykroyd's soulful buried-lead and a cerebral Harold Ramis... Meanwhile, Kristin Wiig has the most to lose, at least at first, about to get tenure at a University while forgetting her Paranormal Research past when it rears back up in a book she previously co-wrote: Uptight and anxious, she's goaded by tomboy Kate McKinnon as Jillian, the token wild card who acts as if we know her character already. In fact, in many ways, Feig's GHOSTBUSTERS seems more like a dull sequel to a first (proverbial) venture that,  like SPY and BRIDESMAIDS, actually worked...<br>

2016, bill murray, comedy, franchise, kristin wiig, melissa mccarthy, paul feig, reboot

FEMALE REBOOT OF GHOSTBUSTERS

Year: 2016 When word hit the streets Bill Murray would provide a cameo, the anticipated GHOSTBUSTERS reboot, with dolls instead of guys,...

MELISSA MCCARTHY & KRISTEN BELL IN THE BOSS

2016, comedy, kristen bell, melissa mccarthy, team-up

MELISSA MCCARTHY & KRISTEN BELL IN THE BOSS

Here are the only two good things about THE BOSS... Bell's breasts... A movie that works in reverse, and yet, doesn't really wor...

THURSDAY NIGHT REVIEW OF SPY

2015, action, comedy, jason statham, jude law, melissa mccarthy, paul feig, rose byrne, spy

THURSDAY NIGHT REVIEW OF SPY

2015 rating: *** The string of films that came out after Melissa McCarthy got famous from her feature role in BRIDESMAIDS seemed like, f...

Written by James M. Tate / 7/01/2014 / No comments / 2014 , comedy , dan aykroyd , melissa mccarthy , susan sarandon , team-up

MELISSA MCCARTHY AS TAMMY WITH SUSAN SARANDON

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **</td></tr>
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A movie with the title of the main character usually means that person is kind of… you know… unique and, um... special: And in a matter of speaking, the latter fits TAMMY since it’s a "Labor of Love" by star Melissa McCarthy, serving as a producer and co-writer along with her husband <i>and</i> the film's director, Ben Falcone.<br />
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We begin with Tammy hitting a deer, the first similarity to Chris Farley’s TOMMY BOY, and not the last: Both centering on a self-evasive, overweight slacker with a heart of gold, our husky heroine, TAMMY, revels in her problems, including a wrecked car, lost job, cheating husband and a comparably raw and restless grandmother…<br />
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Enter Susan Sarandon, the reason TAMMY is being compared to the iconic feminist cult flick, THELMA & LOUISE... But be warned: this is <i>not</i>  a Road Movie. After a quick highway montage, promising themselves an adventure full of cathartic mileage, Tammy and Sarandon's bluntly honest Pearl hit a snag after one night of drinking. At this point the movie repeats itself with saucy conversations about how Tammy needs a point in life, and Pearl needs less men, pills, alcohol. And so, as a loose cannon, Sarandon doesn't provide very much input or purpose. For an actress with her talent and long-lasting career, she never becomes the character. With the exception of a gray mop of a phony looking wig... she's simply being Susan Sarandon. And McCarthy has little to offer as well, having, along with her husband, written a story so self-absorbed, it hardly seems catered to an audience at all.

2014, comedy, dan aykroyd, melissa mccarthy, susan sarandon, team-up

MELISSA MCCARTHY AS TAMMY WITH SUSAN SARANDON

year: 2014 rating: ** A movie with the title of the main character usually means that person is kind of… you know… unique and, um... spe...

Written by James M. Tate / 6/28/2013 / No comments / 2013 , action , comedy , cop , melissa mccarthy , sandra bullock , team-up

SANDRA & MELISSA IN THE HEAT

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Jane Curtin, Thomas F. Wilson rating: **1/2</td></tr>
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Sandra Bullock plays a character so uptight, she’s just begging for someone to spice up her life. As FBI agent Ashburn she has little to call her own –  even her cat belongs to the next-door neighbor. Meanwhile, her professional life isn’t even worthwhile. The Bureau, replete with macho guys, see her as a know-it-all. But what we learn from the first five minutes, as she figures out where drugs are located in a busted house... even out-sniffing the German Shepard... she possibly does know it all.<br />
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So it takes a tough and callused Melissa McCarthy, as a hardnosed cop named Mullins, to become the kind of partner Ashburn needs more than wants. Much of the film, as the reluctant duo seek a mysterious drug lord busting the smaller fish using any method possible, has Mullins giving Ashburn a personality transplant to make her more obnoxious, foul-mouthed, and even sexy.<br />
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Both actresses are comfortable in their roles despite the cliché buddy-cop formula, spiced up with a funky STARSKY & HUTCH era soundtrack that doesn't fit the modern setting, even in an intentionally nostalgic sense. Although Bullock seems to be going through the motions since THE HEAT is really, for better or worse, McCarthy’s territory: She belts out insults like bullets from a machine gun, but what's most surprising is no one <i>really</i> tries insulting her back. Perhaps with more worthy competition she might be a whole lot funnier and far less one-dimensional. The same can be said of the movie.

2013, action, comedy, cop, melissa mccarthy, sandra bullock, team-up

SANDRA & MELISSA IN THE HEAT

year: 2013 cast: Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Jane Curtin, Thomas F. Wilson rating: **1/2 Sandra Bullock plays a character so uptig...

Written by James M. Tate / 2/09/2013 / 1 Comment / 2013 , comedy , jason bateman , jon favreau , jonathan banks , melissa mccarthy , road movie , robert patrick

IDENTITY THIEF

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>year: 2013 cast: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, Jon Favreau rating: **1/2</b></span></span></td></tr>
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Melissa McCarthy is really hot. Disagree? Well she has this movie in theaters about to nab number one at the box office, and another under way with a trailer shown right before IDENTITY THIEF: where everyman husband/father Sandy Pettersen, played by Jason Bateman, pays the price of having a first name often attributed to females. This is how con artist McCarthy’s resilient Diana steals his identity, using his credit cards to buy everything from a jet ski to a brand new car. <br />
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Sandy… that is, the real Sandy… works as an accountant while the fake Sandy has turned his life upside-down. <br />
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We’ll skip past his really bad day (Bateman doing a stock glib victim-of-circumstance role) and cut to the plot at hand: he’s given a week to go from Colorado to Florida to find his thief, and then bring her back to the police. Of course anyone familiar with TRAINS, PLANES AND AUTOMOBILES, DUE DATE and the recent GUILT TRIP knows this won’t be as simple as planned. <br />
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Actually, finding this woman is easy enough, but trying to subdue her is the difficult part. She has a penchant for painful throat jabs and can survive more brutal accidents than a crash test dummy and Wile E. Coyote combined.  <br />
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Eventually, since they can't take a plane, Sandy and Diana have to drive cross-country and the inevitable road movie begins. A few semi funny moments occur, including an action-packed car chase, but a lot of McCarthy’s humor is too gross and over-the-top to seem like she’s earned laughs on her own accord. Perhaps HORRIBLE BOSSES director Seth Gordon is competing for the Judd Apatow/Seth McFarland super-R rated spotlight. But in this particular case, the gross out factor only serves as a crutch or distraction.<br />
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It's when Sandy has to become more like Diana, both cutting corners to escape vicious thugs and the law, that the characters not only grow closer, they become more real. And you gotta give credit to the lead actors for trudging through some deliberately sappy moments centering on Diana’s back story and shortcomings: shy's made much too sympathetic throughout.  <br />
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The important thing is both Bateman and McCarthy make a decent team, and are often more likable  than the somewhat standard script allows.

2013, comedy, jason bateman, jon favreau, jonathan banks, melissa mccarthy, road movie, robert patrick

IDENTITY THIEF

year: 2013 cast: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, Jon Favreau rating: **1/2 Melissa McCarthy is really hot. Disagree? Well she has this ...

Written by James M. Tate / 5/20/2011 / No comments / comedy , kristin wiig , melissa mccarthy , rose byrne , tens

KRISTEN WIIG IN BRIDESMAIDS

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rating: ***1/2</td></tr>
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<strong>title:</strong> BRIDESMAIDS<strong><br />year:</strong> 2011<br />
<strong>cast:</strong> Kristin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Wiig</span>, Rose <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Byrne</span><br />
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Men, don’t sweat: if your girlfriend or wife drags you along, you’ll have fun. The story involves Saturday Night Live’s Kristin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Wiig</span>, a single woman unlucky in love but not love making… the film begins with a spicy romp with banal stud Jon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Hamm</span>, who asks her to leave in the morning... thus the misadventure begins. Her best friend Maya Rudolph is getting married and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Wiig</span>’s asked to be the maid of honor, but she’s not alone. There’s the painfully perfect Rose <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Byrne</span>, Rudolph’s workplace crony, who sneakily challenges <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Wiig</span> and Rudolph's lifelong friendship... Leading to the question: who’ll influence the bridal shower theme?<br />
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The rivals are not only competing for the bride-to-be’s friendship, but the respect of the other bridesmaids as well, including hefty scene-stealer Melissa McCarthy. And of course, a love-interest is always essential and friendly cop Chris O’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Dowd</span> fills that <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">peripheral</span> space with ease as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Wiig</span>, the every-woman's comic, is given a platform for spontaneous humor and, when things pile up, nervous breakdowns, making this a frantic romp with hit-and-miss jokes but more importantly, an interesting ensemble within a universal story of love and friendship that either sex can relate to.

comedy, kristin wiig, melissa mccarthy, rose byrne, tens