Comedians are unusual creatures in that they show affection through criticism, Jim Gaffigan said this week on the Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast. It’s the conceit behind roast comedy — we only hurt the ones we […]
Action movies are decried as mindless backdrops for eating popcorn, but a good action scene can do just as much to move the story forward as a boring conversation. It can reveal character, change relationships, and it […]
A lot of comedy fans love both Mel Brooks and Monty Python, and would presumably be thrilled if they all got along splendidly. Unfortunately, one of the very first meetings between the Blazing Saddles director and […]
There are so many options you can take when you name a town. You can name it after some famous historical figure. Though, that’s bound to turn out poorly when you learn that that guy was […]
CGI this, CGI that. How about we see “gee, I don’t think a computer could have accomplished this” kind of effects in more movies? It’s amazing what digital effects can do these days, but you always […]
Just because his talk show is over doesn’t mean that Conan O’Brien has had to abandon all of his regular segments. While the Masturbating Bear is unlikely to make a return appearance any time soon, […]
When it comes down to it, nobody really thinks they’re a villain. Even the most evil character a storyteller could dream up isn’t walking around going, “Isn’t it wonderful how evil I am?” No, they legitimately […]
Ana Gasteyer figures she encountered only five a-holes in her six years at Saturday Night Live, she said this week on the Las Culturistas podcast. The way she could tell? “They would be like, ‘So-and-so is in the building, […]
Listen, we’re not saying that indie movies are bad. If anything, they’re often better than the soulless blockbusters built from the lowest common denominator in some conglomerate’s focus group. We’re just saying that, when nobody’s invested more […]
It’s no secret that some of us have been less than thrilled with Jimmy Fallon’s assorted money-making schemes these past several months. Throughout the spooky season, Fallon devoted a significant chunk of the show to hawking […]
“We should write dangerously,” Mel Brooks told the writers he assembled to create his classic comedy, Blazing Saddles. “That’s what this is all about.” The writers, including Brooks, Richard Pryor and Andrew Bergman, tried to push the envelope […]
If you tell a joke, and people take it too seriously, it might end with someone getting offended and you having to apologize. Occasionally, someone will write you out of their will. But there’s also […]
Early next year, Saturday Night Live will air a three-hour primetime special to celebrate its 50th anniversary, featuring celebrity guests and those surviving former SNL cast members who haven’t made Lorne Michaels’ enemies list — yet. But this […]
It’s time to talk about the smiling, black-bodied critter that had a massive effect on the future of animation, and it’s absolutely not Mickey Mouse. Felix the Cat debuted years before Mickey Mouse, in the […]
Making The Simpsons Movie must have been a daunting task. How do you honor nearly 20 years of iconic material in one 90-minute feature? Most recurring Simpsons characters got at least one moment to shine in the movie — from […]
In what’s fast becoming a staple of Saturday Night Live discourse, the show has, once again, produced a sketch that some folks have pointed out is suspiciously similar to an internet comedy video. Two weeks ago, the […]
The 2025 stamp designs are out! There are the usual boring sets — American vistas? More U.S. flags? Vibrant leaves? — but one announcement has set comedy hearts aflutter: a commemorative stamp featuring the late sitcom […]
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, two of a generation’s most decorated filmmakers, have appeared in an inexplicable number of Kevin Smith films. Both have acted in Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jersey Girl and Jay and Silent […]
Hollywood loves a biopic, mostly because it means they don’t have to come up with a new idea. They just have to read a memoir, figure out which actor most closely resembles a much hotter version of them […]
Fresh off the critical re-evaluation of his revolting film debut Freddy Got Fingered, Tom Green sat down with Graham Bensinger for an extended interview covering his life and career, up to and including the time he teamed up […]