News

Adam and Daniel Cooper’s short story, I Used to Eat Brains, Now I Eat Kale, is getting a film adaptation, and Ryan Gosling’s General Admission production studio feels peckish. Amazon MGM Studios is shambling toward the project with an open wallet, with Ryan Gosling producing alongside his production partner Jessie Henderson through General Admission.

I Used to Eat Brains, Now I Eat Kale takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting where former zombies struggle to regenerate. Initially, The Insneider said Gosling would star in the adaptation, but that does not appear to be the case. No actors have been assigned to the project yet, nor is it clear if the Cooper Twins will pen the screenplay.

News about I Used to Eat Brains, Now I Eat Kale shambles onto the scene after Gosling’s latest crowd-pleaser, The Fall Guy, was rushed to digital platforms after underperforming at the box office.

Amazon MGM Studios has landed I Used to Eat Brains, Now I Eat Kale, a zombie feature package based on the same-name adventure-comedy short story from Adam and Daniel Cooper, aka The Cooper Twins.

The story is set in a “post-post-apocalyptic” world where former zombies struggle to reintegrate. Ryan Gosling and Jessie Henderson will produce the film under their first-look deal with the studio through recently launched banner General Admission.

When The InSneider’s Jeff Sneider broke the news of the package earlier his month, he reported that Gosling is also attached to star. We’re told that there’s no truth to the assertion, and that no casting attachments have been made. The Coopers will script the feature adaptation.

Coming off of an Oscar nomination for his role as Ken in Warner Bros’ record-setting pop culture sensation Barbie, Gosling can currently be seen starring opposite Emily Blunt in The Fall Guy,...

Ryan Gosling and producer Jessie Henderson have launched General Admission with a three-year, first-look film deal at Amazon MGM Studios.

The co-founders said the production company will collaborate with “world-class filmmakers to create bold theatrical and streaming events within all genres – fun, transportive entertainment for everyone”.

Under the pact with Amazon MGM Studios General Admission will produce features for theatrical and streaming, some of which Gosling will star in.

Gosling earned a supporting actor Oscar nomination this year for Barbie in addition to two prior lead actor nods for La La Land and Half Nelson.

Among his feature credits are Drive,...

FromSoftware is riding high on the success of Elden Ring nowadays, and gamers everywhere cannot help but appreciate how much work they put into their first open-world foray. But one thing gamers appreciate even more than Elden Ring is their PlayStation-exclusive horror soulslike title, Bloodborne. That game is still considered one of their best games ever made, yet it has not seen a sequel yet.

Elden Ring celebrated its 2nd anniversary recently, and fans of the game are currently eagerly waiting for its upcoming expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree. Once that Dlc is out, there’s no news on what FromSoftware will do next, but fans have not stopped their pursuit of getting FromSoftware to work on Bloodborne 2, which seems near impossible now!

The Elden Ring and Bloodborne director explains why a sequel is not as easy to develop A still from Bloodborne

When Elden Ring was launched, many fans...

Leading Asian filmmakers including Chang Tso-Chi, Lav Diaz, Midi Z, Tan Chui Mui and Yang Chao are poised to make appearances next month at the Work-in-Progress section of the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) project market.

Haf organizers Thursday added 15 Wip projects, having previously selected 26 in-development projects and six genre film projects in the CAA China Genre Initiative.

The 47-project Hkiff Industry Project Market will run March 11-13, alongside the 2024 edition of the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FilMart), which operates March 11-14..

Highlights include: “The Land is Our Navel,” directed by Zhang Zhongchen (“The White Cow”) and produced by Midi Z (director of 2019’s “Nina Wu” and the upcoming “The Unseen Sister”), depicting the surreal journey of a six-year-old girl and a ghost;

“The Wind is Unstoppable,” by Huo Meng (“Crossing the Border – Zhaoguan”), about small-town family life before China’s rural-urban migration; “Deep Quiet Room,...

Alexander Skarsgard of Succession, The Legend of Tarzan, and The Northman is set to star in the ten-episode sci-fi series Murderbot, which has just been picked up by Apple TV+. Despite sharing a title with a recently released movie from Full Moon and director Jim Wynorski, this project is actually based on Martha Wells’ bestselling, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning book series The Murderbot Diaries.

The sibling duo of Chris and Paul Weitz (About a Boy) are writing, directing, and executive producing Murderbot under their Depth of Field banner. Andrew Miano is also executive producing for Depth of Field, while David S. Goyer executive produces alongside Keith Levine for Phantom Four. Wells is on board as consulting producer.

Coming our way from Paramount Television Studios, Murderbot is aiming to be action-packed. According to Deadline, the project first received a “blinking green light”, but the casting process was disrupted by the lengthy...

As the calendar turns to August, Peacock is going to be home to some of the most exciting sporting events and movies on streaming. In addition to being the streaming home for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the NBCUniversal streaming service will host the WWE’s Summerslam, college football’s premiere Week 0 matchup between Notre Dame and Navy from Ireland.

In addition to all of the sports action, the streamer will become the exclusive streaming home of the most successful movie of the year, all of Hallmark Channel’s Summer Nights movies, and one of the most exciting Viking epics ever made.

Sign Up $5.99+ / month peacocktv.com What Are the Best Shows and Movies Coming to Peacock in August 2023? 2023 Women’s World Cup Finals | Aug. 20

The United States Women’s National Team is just two games into its quest to win its third-straight Women’s World Cup, but the excitement is already ramping up,...

As the movies and shows of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have continued to expand the franchise's sprawling superhero story, they've also offered a number of dark and shocking moments that seemed to come out of nowhere. Since the franchise began with 2008's Iron Man, the MCU has revolutionized live-action comic book adaptations, transforming them into the most profitable genre in cinema. With a wealth of comic book source material to adapt, there's plenty of potential for each story to deliver epic action, drama, and comedy.

However, the MCU has also seen a number of particularly dark moments. One of the most consistent Marvel movie trends in the MCU is to deliver unexpected emotional gut punches in order to keep the stakes high for its many heroes, leading to a number of unexpectedly dark developments. What's more, many of these moments are written to be different from the comics so that...

HBO’s upcoming series The Idol has gone through at least one major creative overhaul since it was announced, with co-creator Amy Seimetz leaving the show in April 2022. Euphoria’s Sam Levinson and Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) then took over as creators for the series, reshaping it to fit their vision and the version of the show set to premiere June 4, 2023.

We don’t know much about the series, other than HBO’s official logline that reads “After a nervous breakdown derailed Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) last tour, she’s determined to claim her rightful status as the greatest and sexiest pop star in America. Her passions are reignited by Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye), a nightclub impresario with a sordid past. Will her romantic awakening take her to glorious new heights or the deepest and darkest depths of her soul?”

Many details on The Idol’s characters, including their names,...

With Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania representing the best opening of the franchise, we wanted to know what your favorite Paul Rudd movie is. Are you more a fan of his comedic roles or has his turn as Ant-Man been more your speed? Instead of listing all of the Marvel films separately, we used Ant-Man to represent all his ventures in the miniature making suit. if you don’t see your favorite, please let us know in the comments.

Favorite Paul Rudd MovieMac and Me (1988)Clueless (1995)Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)Romeo + Juliet (1996)The Locusts (1997)Overnight Delivery (1998)The Object of My Affection (1998)200 Cigarettes (1999)The Cider House Rules (1999)Wet Hot American Summer (2001)The Shape of Things (2003)2 Days (2003)Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)P.S (2004)The Baxter (2005)The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)The Oh in Ohio (2006)Diggers (2006)Night at the Museum (2006)Reno 911!: Miami (2007)I Could Never Be Your Woman...

Writer-irector Paul Weitz wrote the sublime road comedy Grandma for Lily Tomlin, and now at the suggestion of Tomlin, he wrote a new film for both Lily and Jane Fonda, one with characters unrecognizable from the pair they played for seven years on the Netflix sitcom, Grace And Frankie, in a story tinged with a dark side, as well as some pungent commentary on the effect of sexual trauma, even nearly a half-century later. This is the kind of movie I love, independently made, using great actors in unexpected kinds of roles, running a tight no-fat 85 minutes, and being thoroughly entertaining with something to say as well.

Fonda plays Claire who is attending the funeral of her old college roommate, Joyce. She meets again with another college friend Evie (Tomlin) and confesses her plans don’t include just attending a funeral to pay respects, but also to kill Joyce’s...

Can you imagine anything more delightful than Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin co-starring in a movie with Richard Roundtree and Malcolm McDowell … in 1972? That was the year Fonda won an Oscar for “Klute” and daffy “Laugh-In” star Tomlin released her first comedy album. The two men were riding high with “Shaft” and “A Clockwork Orange,” respectively. Just think what an ensemble film that played to each of their strengths might have yielded 50 years ago.

That’s wishful thinking, of course. You can’t go back, and you can’t do things over, but it’s never too late to move on. At least, that’s the message writer-director Paul Weitz is peddling in “Moving On,” a sassy feature-length sitcom with a #MeToo twist in which two estranged friends reunite to settle a decades-old score.

Weitz started his career with “American Pie” — which introduced the word “Milf” to the English language...

Taylor Tomlinson has mined her up-bringing in a devout Christian family for laughs in her comedy act and Netflix stand-up specials. Now, her story will be the basis of a new feature film.

Village Roadshow Pictures has acquired the rights to an untitled movie based on the life of the hit stand-up comedian, outbidding several other suitors. Paul Weitz will direct from a script written by Tomlinson and Taylor Tetreau. Tomlinson will also star in the project.

Weitz most recently directed “Fatherhood” starring Kevin Hart, which made Netflix’s all-time top 10 list last summer. He is currently in post-production on a comedy that he wrote and directed entitled “Moving On” starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. Weitz co-directed “About a Boy” and “American Pie” with his brother Chris Weitz. His directing credits include the acclaimed comedy “Grandma” (also with Tomlin) and “Admission” with Tina Fey and Paul Rudd.

Tomlinson’s...

Exclusive: Lincoln and Mr. Robot actress Gloria Reuben has boarded both Blumhouse/Weed Road/Universal’s Firestarter and Showtime’s limited series The First Lady about the women at the heart of the White House. I’m told that Reuben has a leading role in Firestarter.

Season one of the Aaron Cooley created, Lionsgate and Showtime produced series focuses on Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson), Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Michelle Obama (Viola Davis). Cooley will write several of the episodes and serve as EP.

Reuben will portray Valerie June Jarrett, senior advisor to President Obama. Jarrett was Michelle Obama’s friend and former boss, whom Michelle credits with teaching her about personal growth in the workplace. Oscar winner Cathy Schulman (Crash), Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, Andrew Wang, Susanne Bier, Jeff Gaspin (Rhythm + Flow), and Brad Kaplan (Mr. Church) are also EPs on The First Lady.

Firestarter is directed by Keith Thomas,...

Exclusive: Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress Gloria Reuben has joined Echo Lake Entertainment for management in all areas.

Reuben is perhaps best known for playing the HIV-positive physician assistant Jeanie Boulet on the long-running ER series, a role that earned her the Emmy and Golden nominations. Most recently, Reuben starred in Sam Esmail’s acclaimed series Mr. Robot, as well as the short-lived Marvel/Freeform series Cloak & Dagger, and she can currently be seen in a recurring role on Showtime’s City On A Hill series.

On the film side, Reuben co-starred alongside Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field in the Steven Spielberg-directed Oscar-nominated film, Lincoln, appeared with Paul Rudd and Tina Fey in Paul Weitz’s Admission, and starred opposite Samuel L. Jackson in Reasonable Doubt.

Reuben received the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play for her role as Condoleezza Rice in David Hare...

This was difficult, because boy oh boy has Saturday Night Live brought us a mass of talent who have since become mega-stars in movie and/or television. I had to make this list, scrap the list, edit the list, add and take away from the list, and do it all over again before landing on a final ten. I’m still not sure I have this right, because it’s also a bit subjective too. There are huge names not on this list, like Jimmy Fallon, Kristen Wiig, Chevy Chase, Tim Meadows, Chris Rock, Andy Samberg and various others. Yes, each of these names appeared on the list at one point or another, but I decided on this ten based on their memorable moments on SNL, their impact on the show, and yeah, the things they went on to do afterwards. Some are here because their runs on SNL were iconic,...

To mark the release of Schitt’s Creek: The Complete Collection, out now, we’ve been given a copy to give away on DVD along with a Rosebud Motel T-shirt.

Created and starring father and son team Eugene Levy and Daniel Levy (Admission), and also starring Catherine O’Hara, Annie Murphy (TV’s The Plateaus) and Chris Elliott Schitt’S Creek The Complete Collection is an irreverent, hilarious comedy much loved by critics and audiences alike.

Nominated for four Primetime Emmy® awards, Schitt’S Creek follows the “reversal of fortunes” story of the once filthy-rich Rose family. Suddenly finding themselves broke, the Rose’s are forced to leave their pampered live behind and rebuild their empire in the small, depressing town they once purchased as a joke. They must now confront their new-found poverty and discover what it means to be a family, all within the rural city limits of Schitt’s Creek!

If you're still mourning the end of Big Little Lies, then we have some good news for you: The Undoing (from Bll creator and writer David E. Kelley) is about to become your new TV obsession. Premiering on HBO in Fall 2020, this thrilling new six-episode limited series stars Nicole Kidman as a successful therapist who realizes - a week before her book is due to be published - that her pediatric oncologist husband (played by Hugh Grant) isn't who she thought he was. It's sure to give you major Bll vibes, and Nicole Kidman isn't the only thing the two series have in common: they're also both TV shows based on popular novels.

Related: Nicole Kidman's Perfect World Falls Apart in the Intense New Teaser For The Undoing

The Undoing is based on the novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz, which was originally published in January 2014. Other...

In “Ordinary Love,” Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville star as a married couple coping with life after a breast cancer diagnosis. The romantic tearjerker is slated to open in theaters this Valentine’s Day.

Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn co-directed the film that was shot in Northern Ireland and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, where it won acclaim for the performances by both Neeson and Manville.

“I can’t tell her how frightened I am. I have to just continue as normal. That’s my job in all this,” Neeson says in the trailer.

Also Read: Liam Neeson's Ugly Admission and What We Can Learn From It (Podcast)

“I had this feeling that if I could get through it all, it would somehow change me. I don’t think it has. I don’t think I want it to,” Manville adds.

Owen McCafferty wrote the screenplay about Joan and Tom,...

Throughout her extraordinary career, Lily Tomlin has received numerous awards, including six Emmys and a recent nomination for her narration on “An Apology to Elephants”; a Tony for each of her one-woman Broadway shows, Appearing Nitely and Jane Wagner’s The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe; a Grammy for her comedy album, This is a Recording; and two Peabody Awards. In 2003, she was the recipient of the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Tomlin was born in Detroit, Michigan, and rose to national prominence in December 1969 in the cast of the top-rated Laugh-In. Tomlin went on to co-write, with Jane Wagner, and star in six comedy television specials, and has guest starred on numerous television shows, such as Homicide, X-Files, Will and Grace, Murphy Brown, The West Wing, NCIS, and the acclaimed FX series, Damages. She is also heard as the voice of the science teacher Ms.

On the eve of the Disney-Fox merger, Fox’s Steven Spielberg West Side Story has tapped Corey Stoll to play Lieutenant Schrank, the New York City detective charged with quelling civic unrest in his racially-torn precinct, and Brian dʼArcy James to play the iconic role of Sergeant Krupke, the cop whose beat includes the territories of warring street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, and who is the target of a classic Stephen Sondheim musical put-down.

Stoll and d’Arcy James join already announced cast members Rita Moreno, Ansel Elgort (Tony), Rachel Zegler (Maria), Ariana DeBose (Anita), David Alvarez (Bernardo) and Josh Andrés Rivera (Chino).

Stoll recently portrayed Buzz Aldrin in Universal’s First Man. His screen credits include Midnight in Paris (Independent Spirit Nomination), Ant-Man, The Seagull, This Is Where I Leave You and the upcoming Sopranos prequel movie The...

It’s not an Alias revival, but we’ll take it: Jennifer Garner is set to star in a limited series for Apple, reuniting her with Alias creator J.J. Abrams.

Apple has handed a straight-to-series order to the project, titled My Glory Was I Had Such Friends, based on the memoir by Amy Silverstein. The memoir follows a woman awaiting a last-minute heart transplant, and her close female friends who supported her along the way. Karen Croner (Admission) will pen the series and also serve as an executive producer.

Garner and Abrams will both also serve as EPs on the limited series.

“Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In” was one of the most popular and topical television shows of its era. In the middle of the third season, just as the show was about to lose Goldie Hawn, one of its most popular stars, a savior appeared in the guise of Lily Tomlin. She joined the NBC show and became an almost instant sensation with her variety of characters that she had long spent developing in various comedy venues. With six Emmy wins under her belt, she now has another nomination for her ongoing role on “Grace and Frankie” with “9 to 5” co-star Jane Fonda.

With that newest recognition in mind for television, let’s take a look back at her accomplished film career which began in the 1970s. Take a tour of her 15 greatest movie performances, ranked worst to best, in the photo gallery above. It includes her Oscar-nominated work in “Nashville” plus “All of Me,...

“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!”

Why is this such a classic line in the minds of many? I don’t know, really. But I do know that the way that Mandy Patinkin delivers it in this film has ‘classic line’ written all over it!

The Princess Bride screens this Friday and Saturday nights (July 28th and 29th) at midnight at the Tivoli Theater as part of their ‘Reel Late at the Tivoli’ Midnight series.

Believe it or don’t, but I just saw The Princess Bride for the first time in 2014 at a Tenacious Eats ‘Movies for Foodies’ event. I’d heard great things about it for decades so I’m not sure why I’ve spent so many years avoiding it. Perhaps because I was 25 when it was made in 1987 and really, what self-respecting dude would watch a movie called The Princess Bride...

The summer of 2015 could have been the summer of Judy Greer, with the long-time character actress snagging roles in massive tentpole features like “Jurassic World,” “Ant-Man,” the “Entourage” movie and “Tomorrowland,” but what stood out most about Greer’s turns in those blockbusters was just how little they did to capitalize on her talent or charms. In three of those films, Greer was cast as a mostly ancillary mother character, while “Entourage” didn’t even bother to give her role a name (she was just “Casting Director”).

Instead of offering the actress, a two-decade veteran of the industry who has worked in both film and television, a chance to make a well-earned splash on a giant scale, she was mostly pushed to the background. That was nothing new for Greer, but even as she’s struggled from a phenomenon described by Scott Meslow of The Week (which asked, “How did...

Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin discussed the women's march, Trump-themed diapers and adult vibrators on The Late Show on Monday Night. The two actresses are promoting their series Grace and Frankie, which returned to Netflix last Friday.

"I have an idea for a new business model for Trump," Fonda joked. "[He should make] adult diapers that could be called Trumpers to help with all the leaks."

Both women sported pins showing their support for Planned Parenthood on The Late Show, and they told host Stephen Colbert that they recently participated in the Los...

Irish Repertory Theatre and Dot Dot Productions, in association with The American Irish Historical Society, present the world premiere of The Dead, 1904 - an immersive adaptation of James Joyce's classic story, 'The Dead,' adapted by the Pulitzer Prize winning Irish poet Paul Muldoon Moy Sand and Gravel and novelist Jean Hanff Korelitz Admission, You Should Have Known.

Irish Repertory Theatre and Dot Dot Productions,in association with The American Irish Historical Society, haveannounced the world premiere of The Dead, 1904 - an immersive adaptation of James Joyce's classic story, 'The Dead,' adapted by the Pulitzer Prize winning Irish poet Paul Muldoon Moy Sand and Gravel and novelist Jean Hanff Korelitz Admission, You Should Have Known.

Muppets, Smurfs, and more: Check out our Featured Family Favourites for August!Muppets, Smurfs, and more: Check out our Featured Family Favourites for August!Jenny Bullough8/3/2016 12:42:00 Pm

Ah, August. The dog days of summer. The season is winding down, and although we still love the heat, the humidity is wearing on us a bit. And let’s face it, the kids are bouncing off the walls, and a part of us is looking forward to the start of the school year! When you’re looking for ways to keep the little ones entertained, look no further than your local Cineplex theatre. Every month there are classic family-friendly features playing on Saturday mornings at 11am. Admission is only $2.99 and a portion of the proceeds goes towards Free the Children. This Saturday, treat the family to an old favourite (and discover a new favourite) on the big screen!

Here's our...

New York theater makers: are you looking to add more networking events and workshops to your schedule? The Farm Theater offers bi-monthly opportunities to gather for intimate discussions led by various industry professionals—completely free of charge. Attendees of Bullpen Sessions include emerging artists and established thespians, while topics of discussion span branding and marketing, staging solo shows, the art of casting, and much more. These events are geared toward established strong community connections as well as spreading awareness to aspiring theater professionals. Past invited speakers include such industry vets as Tessa Laneve, Paul Schnee, Halley Feiffer, Qui Nguyen, and Anne Washburn. The next Bullpen Session, titled Producing For Your Community, will feature Ty Jones, artistic director of the Classical Theatre of Harlem; Lou Moreno, artistic director of Intar; and Maria Goyanes, an associate producer at The Public Theater. The event will take place at 6 p.m. on April 5 at Punto Space.

Wonderfully, aggressively feminist, a rare crossgenerational portrait of two women getting to know each other amidst a crisis. Smart and acerbically funny. I’m “biast” (pro): love Lily Tomlin; desperate for stories about women

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Behold Lily Tomlin (Admission) as Elle, the badass grandma everyone should have. Except she is granny only to 18-year-old Sage (Julia Garner: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For), who comes to her early one gorgeous Los Angeles morning to ask for help: she needs to find six hundred dollars in the next eight hours to pay for an abortion; her appointment is at 5:45pm, her expected source of funding — her louse of a boyfriend (Nat Wolff: The Intern) fell through — and it’s weeks and weeks before another appointment is available. Elle, a poet and “unemployed academic,” is flat broke,...

We may have another record-breaking weekend on our hands as Disney's Zootopia looks as if it will topple 2012's The Lorax to claim the largest March opening weekend for an animated feature. Additional new releases include Gerard Butler's second straight weekend with a new release as he stars in the Olympus Has Fallen sequel, London Has Fallen, and Tina Fey delivers the war comedy Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. And once the numbers are tallied, this year's top twelve may come close to doubling last year's top twelve total over the same weekend. Getting a head start on its domestic release, Zootopia has already brought in more than $93 million internationally from 31 territories. That said, not only is it opening in the U.S. this week, it's expanding into 14 additional territories including Germany, Russia (where it had $1.3 million in previews last weekend) and China. These international releases obviously upped the film's online footprint worldwide,...

Five-time Golden Globe nominee and Oscar nominee Lily Tomlin has received another two Globe nominations this year for her work this year on the hit Netflix series Grace And Frankie and on the powerful indie Grandma, a film about three generations of women navigating life in all its great complexity. Having enjoyed her previous work with director Paul Weitz in Admission, Tomlin found in Grandma's Elle a role that cuts against type and expectation—a role in which, despite…...

★★★☆☆ Lily Tomlin's hot streak continues in her golden years as she tackles the titular role in Grandma (2015). As Elle Reid, Tomlin is a feisty lesbian matriarch helping her granddaughter collect funds for her impending abortion. Part road movie, part ethics play, all heartwarming comedy, writer-director Paul Weitz (About a Boy, Admission) brings to the screen another lovely entry in his own body of work that has been centred on the tender ties that bind family and friends together.

Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are Hollywood’s go-to gal pals, the most loved and respected comedy duo in the business today, and a quick glance at their past collaborations should explain why. From their years together on Saturday Night Live to co-hosting the Golden Globes twice (not to mention toplining a box office hit in Baby Mama), no pair of comic actresses has sustained as consistently fruitful and funny a partnership. Real-life best friends, the two complete and build off each other, wielding a thick-as-thieves camaraderie that almost always results in massive comedic fireworks, no matter the setting.

That said, for all Fey and Poehler’s successes on the small screen (Fey created and starred in 30 Rock, then followed it up with Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt; Poehler toplined the recently concluded Parks and Recreation), neither have quite found the same level of acclaim in their movie roles. Fey has led...

The just-right mix of wistfulness, snark, and painful personal growth makes this nonstop hilarious, with humor that gets women in a way movies rarely do. I’m “biast” (pro): love Amy Poehler and Tina Fey

I’m “biast” (con): not a fan of grossout comedies

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Hooray. Yay. Yes. This. So much this.

Women behaving badly. Women refusing to grow up. I mean, I would love it if The Movies reverted back to the days of Bringing Up Baby and The Thin Man, with men and women actually believing that 40something is cool, and dressing for dinner and having cocktails at six and solving mysteries and secretly aiding the resistance and such. But if that’s not going to happen, and movies are going to be overpopulated by manchildren playing video games and ogling women and wallowing in haphazard celebrations of adolescent testosterone,...

When director Paul Weitz offered Lily Tomlin the lead role of Elle Reid in “Grandma,” it was a character familiar to the veteran actress. “I just knew that woman,” Tomlin said Tuesday at TheWrap’s screening series, where she was interviewed by editor in chief Sharon Waxman. Though she isn’t a poet or an academic, the actress said she understands the life of a feminist writer. “And I had lived some of that life myself.” The fact that she understands the character is not a surprise, given that Weitz wrote the role for her. Having previously worked with Tomlin on “Admission” in which the.

Chicago – Actor Sam Eliott will make you smile. The distinctive voice, his famous mustache and his character presence in a film or TV show increases any potential in the production. He recently was in Chicago with director Paul Weitz, as they teamed up in the film “Grandma,” starring the incomparable Lily Tomlin.

“Grandma” has a very unique premise. Tomlin is the title character of Elle, who is visited by her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner). The girl is seeking an abortion, and her feminist poet grandmother seems like the right fellow traveler on her way to the procedure. Sam Elliott portrays Karl, Elle’s ex-husband – she left him for a same sex partner – who harbors a resentment toward circumstances in their relationship. The two meet along the way to the clinic, and the resentment boils to the surface.

Lily Tomlin and Sam Elliott in ‘Grandma’

Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classics

Sam Elliott...

“Well guys, we’ve made it to the end of the summer in one piece, except for a few campers who are lepers. “

Wet Hot American Summer screens midnights this weekend (August 28th and 29th) at The Moolah Theater (3821 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, Mo). Admission is only $5

Wet Hot American Summer from 2001, is a comedy about summer camp, a spoof of movies about summer camp, a grab bag of random absurdity and a collection filmmakers and now-familiar actors hamming it up as hard as they can. It didn’t make much of a splash when it premiered 14 years ago (I don’t think it even played theatrically here in St. Louis, but I could be wrong about that), but it’s developed such a cult following over the past 14 years that Netflix has made a sequel series, Wet Hot American Summer – First Day Of Camp.

It’s the last day...

Citizen Lily: Weitz’s Character Study Homage to Iconic Lead

Since beginning his directorial career with 1999’s American Pie, Paul Weitz has hovered in an in-between realm of either studio courting mixed or the main stream indie realm, sometimes reaching success, such as with 2002’s About a Boy, but generally languishing in tepid waters with fare like Being Flynn and Admission. He reunites with actress Lily Tomlin, who had a throwaway supporting role in his last feature for Grandma, which superficially contends to be more of the same lackluster output. Fortunately, it becomes quickly apparent that this is definitely Weitz’s strongest work in well over a decade, and gives Tomlin her best material outside of all those delectable Robert Altman titles that are peppered throughout her filmography. A character study that also serves as a familial drama and a topical issue film, its strengths aren’t apparent in every sequence,...

I recently sat down with director Isabel Coixet, and actors Patricia Clarkson and Sarita Choudhury at the Crosby Hotel in New York City, to discuss their new film "Learning to Drive." The film, written by Sarah Kernochan, is based on the autobiographical New Yorker short story by Katha Pollit, a long-time political columnist for the Nation.

Wendy is a fiery Manhattan author whose husband has just left her for a younger woman; Darwan is a soft-spoken taxi driver from India on the verge of an arranged marriage. As Wendy sets out to reclaim her independence, she runs into a barrier common to many lifelong New Yorkers: she’s never learned to drive. When Wendy hires Darwan to teach her, her unraveling life and his calm restraint seem like an awkward fit. But as he shows her how to take control of the wheel, and she coaches him on how to impress a woman, their unlikely friendship awakens them to the joy, humor, and love in starting life anew.

My conversation began with Isabel Coixet and Sarita Choudhury

Isabel Coixet’s award-winning film credits include "Demaisiado viejo para morir joven," "Things I Never Told You,""My Life Without Me," "The Secret Life of Words," "Paris, je t’aime," "Elegy," "Map of the Sounds of Tokyo," "Yesterday Never Ends," "Another Me," "Nobody Wants the Night," as well as documentaries, including "Invisibles."

Currently, Sarita Choudhury can be seen on Showtime’s "Homeland." Her film credits include "Admission," "Gayby," "Midnight’s Children," "Generation Um…," "Entre Nos," "The Accidental Husband," "Lady in the Water," "The War Within," "Mississippi Masala," "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love," "She Hate Me," "Just a Kiss," "Wild West," "High Art," "The House of the Spirits," "Gloria," and "A Perfect Murder."

Susan Kouguell: Tell me about the process of how "Learning to Drive" came about.

Isabel Coixet: We started talking about making this film with Patricia and Ben Kingsley when we were making "Elegy" (directed by Coixet, starring Clarkson and Kingsley) and we got along very well and we wanted to make another film together. Patricia discovered the short story by Katha Pollit, and she gave it to me and I thought it was wonderful. And then we got the screenwriter Sarah Kernocha involved. The film is a comedy but not a classical comedy. It was a very difficult film to pitch because you know financiers and producers want something they can put in one box and you can’t with this film. It was a long process. It took nine years.

Some Words Unspoken and the Intimacy of the Camera

Isabel Coixet: There is always this romantic feeling underneath [subtext], I think there is that possibility. You have to be true to your words. If they are true, you will have to stick to your words.

Sarita Choudhury: That’s what happens with people you meet. No you were my inspiration don’t make me your inspiration.

Isabel Coixet: I love Henry James. There is a possibility of romance in the air. My romantic side is always excited when I see something like this.

Sarita Choudhury: I had so few words in the film. In a way, I kept the words because I had to know not to say them. For us the script -- the situational was also in the script; the languidness. It was because Isabel holds the camera. There was a pace created to it. When you’re acting you can feel where the camera is, but when the camera is at the end of Isabel’s hand and she’s moving it, it almost creates an intimacy between you and the camera, and you and the actor. There’s a pace you normally don’t get in film. You didn’t know when she was on your face; you had to keep acting like acting in the theatre.

On The Lack of Women Directors

Isabel Coixet: There are so many articles about it. I’m always afraid to play the victim, to complain too much. I know there is an inequity with men and women directors. This is an issue in the world. I always say, (Coixet smiles) we have to ask for more salary to make up for all these years and maybe if we ask for more they’ll give us the same as a man.

I want to put my words where my mouth is by producing female directors; they are amazing talented people. I’m producing three short films and a feature documentary. That’s what I do.

Sarita Choudhury: I just did a young woman’s short film; there is something about her that’s brilliant. I’ve done two short films. I can’t change the caste system and I can’t do the voluntary work I need to be doing. Film is no different from the world, like Isabel said. That’s our work, to get every woman involved. And if a man is brilliant, let him in too.

I then asked Patricia Clarkson about her involvement with "Learning to Drive."

Academy Award® nominee and Emmy Award-winning actress, Patricia Clarkson, has worked extensively in independent films. The National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics named her Best Supporting Actress of the Year for "Pieces of April" and "The Station Agent." Her many film credits include "The Maze Runner," "Last Weekend," "Friends With Benefits," "One Day," "Easy A," "Shutter Island," "Vicky Christina Barcelona," "Elegy," "No Reservations," "All the Kings’ Men," "Lars and the Real Girl, and "Good Night, and Good Luck."

Susan Kouguell: What attracted you to the project?

Patricia Clarkson: I loved the Katha Pollit story in The New Yorker; it serendipitously came to me. I love Wendy, I love this character. I was nine years younger at the time, but I still felt I knew her. I was relentless trying to get this film made with producer Dana Friedman. I found it an equal dose of funny and tragic. I liked the almost commedia dell'arte aspect; this absurd situation and finding the tragic comedy. A woman who is brilliant who lives a great life -- she has everything, but “forgets to look up,” and then meets a man who has experienced tragic loss. They have disparate worlds. I found it a quintessential New York story, but it’s also universal. It’s an independent film, but it’s not independently-minded.

Some Final Words

The disparate worlds about which Clarkson refers to in regard to her character, Wendy’s relationship with Darwan [Ben Kingsley] -- the life of a financially successful New Yorker compared to the immigrant’s struggle, was a thematic element that I further discussed with Coixet and Choudhury. As Choudhury said to me, Coixet’s visual choices of her character, such as the moment when she watches feet walk by her basement apartment window, feeling trapped, underscore the poignancy of this fish-out-of-water situation. Coixet captures these elements with a delicate balance of both drama and comedy.

It was an inspiring morning to speak with these three powerful and talented women, who are committed to sharing their knowledge with the next generation of female filmmakers.

Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...

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