Judd Apatow

15 Inexplicable Omissions from the WGA’s “101 Best Written TV Series of All Time”

By Jason Bailey on Jun 3, 2013 3:06pm

The Writers Guild of America announced its list of the “101 Best Written TV Series of All Time” Sunday, culled from online voting by members of the writers’ union from both coasts. The list pretty much included the shows you’d expect (the top ten, in descending order: The Sopranos, Seinfeld, The Twilight Zone, All in the Family, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mad Men, Cheers, The Wire, The West Wing) — with a few notable exceptions. Yes, even in a list of 101 comedies, dramas, variety shows, and (weirdly) mini-series, they’re bound to make a few mistakes. … Read More

Film

15 Great Filmmakers to Follow on Twitter

By Jason Bailey on Apr 30, 2013 11:00am

Film fans on Twitter have known for a few weeks now that Steven Soderbergh has what he calls “sort of a shadow name” where he’s “posted a few things” on the social networking site; over the past 24 hours, that feed got a lot busier, as Soderbergh (under the unverified handle @bitchuation) started tweeting a novella. Semi-anonymous or not (and even if confining his tweets to novellas and absurd observations), Soderbergh joins a growing body of terrific filmmakers using the medium for film conversation, self-promotion, and peeks behind the curtain. Flavorwire rounded up some favorites back in 2010, but three years is an eternity in Twitter time, so here are a few more recommendations to add to your “following” list. … Read More

Television

The 10 Most Underrated TV Sitcoms

By Jason Bailey on Mar 4, 2013 8:45am

The fine folks over at Vulture are following up last spring’s Drama Derby (determining the best TV drama of the past quarter-century — The Wire, unsurprisingly) with the Sitcom Smackdown, an attempt to pin down television’s best situation comedy since 1982 (the year of Cheers’ debut). It’s the kind of project guaranteed to get people all worked up, and your Flavorwire is no exception. It’s hard to argue with too many of their Sweet 16, but man did they leave a lot of great stuff out. So, in response, we decided it was time to offer up some alternates — great sitcoms that don’t get their due, there or… Read More

Film

New Oscar Categories We’d Like to See — And Who We’d Nominate to Win Them

By Jason Bailey on Feb 18, 2013 11:00am

The Academy hasn’t added any new Oscar categories since Best Animated Film was established back in 2001; that was the first in 30 years. Every winter we discuss ways to spice up the ceremony, whether it’s new hosts or new production ideas or streamlining the handing out of the statues — but maybe it’s time to rethink the categories… Read More

Film

10 Romantic Movie Couples Who Were Actually Hopeless

By Jason Bailey on Feb 13, 2013 1:00pm

Valentine’s Day is upon us, so it’s time to grit your teeth, load up your Netflix queue, and sit through a romance or two. Don’t get us wrong—they’re not all terrible, and some offer some very good advice. But too many hinge on hard-to-swallow coincidences, dated gender stereotypes, and insufferable cutesiness. What’s worse, even the good ones often ask us to buy a “happy ending” that puts together a couple who we all know isn’t going to last five minutes past the credits. After the jump, our votes for the movie couples least likely to actually make it — contrary to what the films that tell their stories insist. Be warned: minor spoilers are ahead. … Read More

Film

The Best Spoof Movies Ever Made

By Jason Bailey on Jan 7, 2013 10:05am

The month of January (as we’ve mentioned before) does not tend to give us the most high-quality new movie releases, and this year doesn’t look any more promising than usual. This week, for example, will bring to your local multiplex A Haunted House, a parody of — wait for it — haunted house movies (Paranormal Activity, Insidious, etc.) from co-writer/star Marlon Wayans, one of the originators of the Scary Movie franchise (which will itself take on Paranormal and whatever the hell else was moderately popular recently in this fall’s Scary Movie 5). Between that series, the unwatchable works of the Wayans family, and the Friedberg/Seltzer oeuvre, these are grim days indeed for the “spoof film,” the formerly distinguished comedy subgenre targeting cinematic styles and trends with goofy humor, slapstick spirit, and a willingness to do just about anything for a laugh. In light of what they have become, it’s easy to forget how many great spoof movies there were; as a reminder, we picked our ten favorites (and ranked them even!), so check them out and let us know if you agree after the jump. … Read More

Film

The Year in Film: The 25 Best Movies of 2012

By Jason Bailey on Dec 27, 2012 11:00am

2012’s finest films reflected ambition, risk, and advocacy. They boldly redrew the maps of genre, freshly examined the creative process, and dared us to contemplate our own mortality. And, in more traditional terms, they made us laugh, and cry, and feel alive. These are the best films of… Read More

News

The Morning's Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on Dec 20, 2012 10:04am

1. Call it the John McCain bump: Even though it opened in extremely limited release yesterday, Zero Dark Thirty is already breaking box office records. [via Deadline]

2. This photo from the set of 30 Rock is giving us mixed emotions. On one hand, we’re devastated that the show is really ending. On the other: 30 Rock wine?! … Read More

Film

10 Supporting Characters Who Totally Deserve Their Own Movies

By Jason Bailey on Dec 17, 2012 11:00am

Judd Apatow’s This is 40, out this Friday, is — as its ads carefully note — a “sort-of sequel” to his 2007 hit Knocked Up. It doesn’t concern that film’s leading characters; Seth Rogen’s Ben is only mentioned in passing, and Katherine Hiegl’s Alison is absent altogether. Instead, Apatow focuses on supporting couple Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) and their two kids — played by Apatow and Mann’s real-life offspring. The idea of making a spin-off instead of a sequel is a fairly rare one; there are a few examples, like U.S. Marshalls (from The Fugitive), Get Him to the Greek (from Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Beauty Shop (from Barbershop 2) and Puss in Boots (from Shrek 2), but overall, it’s not all that common. Which is funny, because we think it’s a more interesting way to continue a franchise than the standard sequel, so after the jump, we’ve got suggestions for supporting characters we’d like to see bumped up to leads. (Warning: Some spoilers follow.) … Read More