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Bridesmaids

Film

Guess What: Hollywood’s ‘Bridesmaids’ Revolution Never Happened

By Jason Bailey on

Hey, remember back when Bridesmaids came out, and everybody was all, “It’s your social responsibility to support female-driven comedy,” and then it was a hit, so yay for funny ladies? And then The Hunger Games came out, and everybody was all, “It’s your social responsibility to support a female-driven blockbuster,” and then it was a hit, so yay for lady ass-kickers? Well, as it turns out, none of that mattered a lick, because according to a study released yesterday by the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, female representation in popular films is at its lowest level in five years. So thanks for nothing, Hollywood. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. io9 is reporting (and the AP has confirmed) the sad news that legendary science fiction author Ray Bradbury — whose prolific output included Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and one of our all-time favorite short stories, “Dandelion Wine” — died this morning in Los Angeles at… Read More

Comedy

Meet This Year's Most Hilarious People

By Caroline Stanley on

While Comedy Awards doesn’t actually air until this Sunday night on Comedy Central, the winners were announced at a ceremony taped over the weekend, and we have to admit that we’re pretty pleased with the outcome. (Warning: Stop reading now if you’d like to be surprised when you watch — which we’re thinking you definitely should, based on this photo alone.) Sure, there were some egregious snubs in the nominations, but any show where Louis C.K. and Bridesmaids clean house and Parks & Recreation manages to win more awards than Modern Family is aces in our book. Also, a big congrats to longtime Flavorpill favorite Hannibal Buress, who beat out some serious competition to nab the award for Club Comic. Click through to view the full list of winners, which we spotted thanks to Splitsider, and let us know if you agree with their picks in the comments. … Read More

Pop Culture

Ranking Pop Culture’s Imaginary Boyfriends and Girlfriends

By Jennifer Lewis on

Have you ever had a fake boyfriend or girlfriend? Y’know, someone who spontaneously sends you flowers, chocolates, letters, and all that lovey-dovey stuff, but actually doesn’t exist? If you’ve had one, don’t feel too embarrassed. After all, everyone from Jan Brady to Napoleon Dynamite has succumbed to the odd urge to fabricate a relationship as to impress those around them. After the jump, we’ve gathered nine imaginary boyfriends and girlfriends from pop culture and rated ‘em from worst to best. So, if you’re in the market for a new, exciting fake romance, click through to see what we’d consider somewhat acceptable. … Read More

Comedy

2012 Comedy Awards Nominations Feature Some Baffling Snubs

By Judy Berman on

Comedy Central has announced the nominees for their 2012 Comedy Awards, and we have to admit, we find their choices just a little bit baffling. Oh, don’t worry — you’ve got your Bridesmaids and your Midnight in Paris. The Artist is all over the place. But the snubs are pretty shocking: Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody’s Young Adult, which critics loved, didn’t score a single nomination. Even poor Charlize Theron’s acclaimed performance in the movie was overlooked in favor of Cameron Diaz, who got a nod for freaking Bad Teacher. Meanwhile, Horrible Bosses got so many nominations (including Best Comedy) you’d think it was a lost Charlie Chaplin film.

The TV list is similarly confusing. Look, we love 30 Rock, too, but let’s acknowledge that its reign is ending. And while it’s nice to see Parks and Recreation finally getting the recognition it deserves, there’s another Thursday-night NBC comedy that’s surpassed Tina Fey’s show in consistent comedic brilliance: Community, which didn’t get a single nomination. Seriously? In a year when Saturday Night Live is among the nominees in the writing category, no one thought Dan Harmon and co. were ripe for a shout out? Also conspicuously absent: Conan was passed over in the late-night bracket in favor of both Jimmy Fallon and David Letterman. Could O’Brien’s industry-darling status be wearing off?

If you’re as underwhelmed by these nominations as we are, you can blame the panel of insiders who make up the Comedy Awards Board of Directors — which includes, among others, Carol Burnett, Stephen Colbert, O’Brien, Joan Rivers, Chris Rock, Ray Romano, Jon Stewart, and Lily Tomlin. Meanwhile, if you’re still interested in watching the awards, the ceremony will be held April 28th and is scheduled to air on Comedy Central May 6th. The entire list of nominees is after the jump. … Read More

Film

How to Prioritize Your Oscar Week Movie-Cramming

By Jason Bailey on

The Oscars are six days away, and you know what that means: only one more week to see every major nominee, in order to appropriately cheer, jeer, and second-guess on Sunday night. But time has flown in these early months of 2012 — we got distracted by the Super Bowl, and then we suddenly had to watch Knicks games, and now, here it is Oscar time. How on earth are you supposed to get through all of the major nominees? It’s easy to go into a tailspin — what do you see? What can wait? What should you avoid, now and forever?

Have no fear. Flavorwire is offering, as a public service, a priority ranking of the nominees for the major awards (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress), so you can sift through the 18 nominees and see what time will permit you to see. Let’s be clear: this list is only tangentially related to the actual quality of the films at hand (since, as we’ve discussed, the Oscars often don’t reflect that quaint notion). And it’s not a prediction list per se (that will come later in the week). But it is a guide to working your way through the stuff that’s probably going to matter come Sunday night. Sift through with us after the jump. … Read More

Television

Paul Feig Is Plotting a ‘Freaks & Geeks’-Inspired Return TV

By Caroline Stanley on

Given the overwhelming success of Bridesmaids (complete with rumblings of a sequel), we were wondering if the film’s director, Paul Feig — the creator of a short-lived little show that you might have heard of called Freaks and Geeks — would forsake the world of TV for good. While he has spent the last few… Read More

Film

The Cast of ‘Bridesmaids’ Will Present at the Oscars

By Caroline Stanley on

If you’ve been feeling as blah about next month’s Oscars ceremony as we have since boring old Billy Crystal was announced as the show’s replacement host, take heart. The Academy just announced that the cast of Bridesmaids has been added to its lineup of presenters! Sure, it’s not as good as an actual… Read More

Pop Culture

What We Learned at Kristen Wiig and Paul Feig’s TimesTalk Panel

By Caroline Stanley on

Last night, thanks to our friends at UGG Australia, we had the opportunity to attend a TimesTalks panel with Bridesmaids collaborators Kristen Wiig and Paul Feig, which was moderated by Melena Ryzik of The Carpetbagger as part of the 11th annual New York Times Arts and Leisure Weekend. From the beginning, we knew this wasn’t going to be your typical Q&A session; everyone on stage was holding a glass of red wine as opposed to a water bottle, and within minutes Feig had introduced a drinking game that involved taking a sip anytime someone said the word “asshole” — which happened more frequently than you might assume. But the night wasn’t all about debauchery. Click through for a few of the evening’s highlights, and if you’re interested in watching the talk in its entirety, check out a video of the interview here. … Read More

Film

Comedies Dominate Writer Guild Awards Nominations

By Judy Berman on

Was 2011 the year of the quirky, occasionally dark comedy? That’s certainly the theme of the just-announced Writers Guild Awards nominations. Although many of them are also fairly dark, all five of the WGA’s nominees for best original screenplay are comedies: 50/50, Bridesmaids, Midnight in Paris, Win Win, and Young Adult. Dramas do take up three of the five adapted screenplay slots, but this is still a huge victory for comedies, which are notoriously overlooked for major awards. Last year, for instance, only one of the original screenplay nominees (The Kids Are All Right) was a comedy. See the full list of WGA nods after the jump. … Read More