Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s writing credits speak for themselves;
they’ve had their hits with stoner and teen comedies and have decided to launch
their directorial career with an apocalyptic comedy that subverts their
personas, plays up to their critics and includes a cast made up entirely of
their friends. Sure, it’s indulgent but if you’re a fan of any of those
involved, it’s a playful, entertaining and amusing way to spend a couple of
hours.
I don’t usually write about TV (unless it’s Alex Mack…) but
Lena Dunham’s double win at the Golden Globes has prompted me to talk about women
in comedy.
For Best Performance by an actress in a TV series (comedy or musical), Lena was up against Julia Louis-Dreyfuss who apart from bringing us
the Elaine dance in Seinfeld
now leads the cast of Veep created by Armando Iannucci and
Miss Bossy Pants herself, Tina Fey, who created and stars in 30 Rock as the
secret snuggie wearing, night cheese eating Liz Lemon.
Fey added the phrase “I want to go to there” to my every
increasing quoting vocabulary and wrote the screenplay for one of the best teen
movies ever made, Mean Girls. Lena was also
up against Zooey Deschanel for her role in New Girl and Amy Poehler for her role as Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation who
opened the show with Tina Fey.
I’m glad Dunham won the awards and her voice is being
recognised and celebrated. Even if you place no particular importance on awards
ceremonies her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes lays thanks to all of the
women in the category and “every woman who felt there wasn’t a space for her”.
On winning the best TV series (comedy or musical) she spoke of
the cast who have shown her “the meaning of bravery and nakedness both
emotional and physical” and it can only be a positive thing to have such a
talented, humble woman being a massive part of not only the TV world but the
filmmaking one too.
Dunham also spoke of the people who supported her and helped
her find her voice and made her feel “not like a cartoon character but a person
who could express emotions”. This made me think of the ever supportive LocoFilm Festival who are championing comedy. This year they have
collaborated with Underwire Festival with a focus on women in comedyand will be celebrating with the event Working Women on 26th January. If you’re having trouble finding your
voice this could be a positive and inspiring place to start looking for it.
Wanderlust is a new comedy from David Wain starring Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston. I am a fan of Rudd and his comedy styling and even went so far as to take some time out from the Toronto Film Festival last year to watch Our Idiot Brother as I thought it looked promising and also featured Rashida Jones (The Office, Parks and Recreation) sporting a wonderful pair of glasses.
It wasn't the greatest film ever, but Rudd and Rashida did some great character acting.
Here is my review of Wanderlust it was pretty funny, but not perfect.
Project X was not a film made for me, but its target audience will probably enjoy it, although with an 18 certificate in the UK some of its potential audience will be lost. There are no female characters in this film, just objects for boys to lust over.
Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman take the opposite direction from Project X by making a woman the central role in Young Adult. Another refreshing film from this writer/director duo thanks to strong
performances, a sharp screenplay and the ability to push boundaries when
it comes to female film roles.
Also out this week is Hunky Dory, which I saw at the London Film Festival last year, and thoroughly enjoyed. The soundtrack features some excellent 70s tunes.
I didn't enjoy This Means War, in fact it put me in a bad mood for the most part. I haven't written a review but Jonathan Hatfull sums it up nicely over on Fohnhouse.
