Kristen Wiig

Sebastián Silva’s Nasty Baby provokes reaction. It’s a murder story disguised as a low-fi Brooklyn comedy. It eases you into a world of artists in Brownstones, liberal family structures and artisanal cappuccinos and then sucker-punches your expectations with a late in the game twist. The polarizing response to Silva’s choice to derail the expected narrative was felt even before the film premiered. According to the director the film was rejected from the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival with the caveat that if he changed the ending they may reconsider. The film ended up premiering at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and will be seen in limited release Oct. 23rd, before an on-demand release a week later.

Director Ridley Scott shows amazing restraint as he scales back the pyrotechnics and emphasizes human ingenuity in ‘The Martian.’

Moviegoers have had more than their fare share of cinematic bildungsromans to choose from in recent years. Even for those who found last year’s Boyhood to be too focused on the male experience of growing up, Blue is the Warmest Color, released the previous year, provided a more than suitable alternative. Outside of the realist lens, Pixar’s Inside Out gave a powerful and humorous glimpse inside the mind of an eleven-year girl as she coped with a move and struggled with the anxieties of adolescence. But despite this plethora of films on more or less the same subject, none of them them have quite attacked it in the same manner as The Diary of a Teenage Girl, the debut of writer/director Marielle Heller (adapted from the autobiographical novel of the same name by Phoebe Gloeckner).

Kristen Wiig continues to flex her dramatic chops in her latest starring vehicle Welcome to Me, in which she plays Alice, a woman with borderline personality disorder who wins the lottery and becomes a multi-millionaire overnight. With the means and opportunity to finally break from her carefully regimented lifestyle, consisting of medication, therapy and endless …

The New Girlfriend Written & Directed by François Ozon France, 2014 The latest from prolific French auteur François Ozon opens on a somber note as Claire (Anaïs Demoustier) recounts her lifelong friendship with the deceased Laura (Isild Le Besco), whose untimely death has left her grieving husband David (Romain Duris) alone with their infant daughter. …

Titled ‘A Deadly Adoption’, the Lifetime movie is set to air this summer

It seems like the idea of a Ghostbusters universe is still alive and well. Deadline reported on Monday that Sony is working on a male-centered Ghostbusters movie with Channing Tatum and the Russo brothers (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) behind it. This news comes a week after the Russos signed a first-look deal with Sony. …

Who you gonna call? Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon! That’s your all-star cast for Paul Feig’s female-fronted Ghostbusters reboot, The Hollywood Reporter is reporting. Though THR claims the four still have to officially sign on, this sounds like a done deal. McCarthy and Wiig were no-brainers, having been Feig alums with …

Sometimes you don’t want to hear how everything’s going to be alright. You just need someone to share the chaos with you. The Skeleton Twins is about reconnecting with that someone who makes the din between your ears just a little bit quieter. Superbly acted from a pitch-perfect script, this indie darling should make its presence known come award season. More importantly, it’s imbued with a quiet dignity that rises above patronizing head pats and simple solutions. It’s messy and real and sticks with you long after the laughs have subsided and the tears have stopped flowing.

The Skeleton Twins Written by Craig Johnson and Mark Heyman Directed by Craig Johnson USA, 2014 With acclaimed runs as featured players on Saturday Night Live under their belts, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig have now made a successful foray into drama. In Craig Johnson’s The Skeleton Twins, the renowned comedians play the titular siblings …

Hateship Loveship Written by Mark Jude Poirier Directed by Liza Johnson USA, 2013 Alice Munro is one of the finest living fiction writers, consistently able to create tight stories with hidden depths about uniquely aching and awkward characters. A few years ago, Sarah Polley adapted one of her stories from the collection Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, …

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Written by Steve Conrad Directed by Ben Stiller USA, 2013 Any adaptation of the iconic James Thurber short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” would have to deviate vastly from the source, as it’s barely more than 2,000 words long. After a seemingly endless period in development hell, …

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Dir. Ben Stiller) The trailer for Ben Stiller’s newest directorial effort is life-affirming, anthemic, and seems like a heartstring-puller in the best possible way. Trailers are often misleading. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is occasionally satisfying white-guy wish fulfillment, as if Network’s Howard Beale were in a 2-hour, beautifully …

The 51st New York Film Festival, running September 30th – October 13th, is underway and news that Ben Stiller’s ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ will make its world premiere as the festival’s Centerpiece Gala was just released. Ben Stiller has this to say about the premiere, “I am incredibly honored and excited to have THE …

Despicable Me 2 Directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin Written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio USA, 2013 Watching Despicable Me 2 is akin to eating cupcakes for 100 straight minutes. Eating one cupcake, depending on the flavor, is heaven in sugary form. Eating two cupcakes is tempting fate and your health, but still …

Friends with Kids Written by Jennifer Westfeldt Directed by Jennifer Westfeldt USA, 2011 There’s nothing more irritating than a pretender. Jennifer Westfeldt’s second feature as writer-director, over a decade after Kissing Jessica Stein, wants so badly to be construed as a transgressive anti-rom-com that subverts the norms of screen romance and family dynamics that it’s …

Bridesmaids Directed by Paul Feig Written by Kristen Wiig &Annie Mumolo 2011, USA Due to an incompatible temperament and worldview, I think it’s fair to say that Judith Butler would make a terrible Hollywood executive. But the radical feminist thinker does have one thing in common with slick-talking producers and studio suits: both think of …