Tag: Tina Fey

Film Review: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Fey brings depth, dry wit to war correspondent role

American reporter Kim Baker (Tina Fey) reports on a story from Afghanistan.

I walked into Book Passage in the Ferry Building the other day and noticed it had a display of books labeled as movie tie-ins; the title Whiskey Tango Foxtrot was among them. Having seen the trailer for the Tina Fey-helmed film (she both produces, along with her old Saturday Night Live boss Lorne Michaels, and stars in the picture), and knowing I’d be reviewing the movie, I was curious, and picked up a copy from the large stack. I was immediately confused, as the book in my hand was about a female photographer in Iraq, not a reporter in Afghanistan, which I knew the Fey film was supposed to be about. What was going on? Did the producers change the story that much?

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Film Review: Sisters

You’ll have a good time partying with these Sisters

Sisters Kate (Tina Fey, l.) and Maura (Amy Poehler) throw an epic party at their childhood home.

Believe it or not, there actually are other films being released today aside from that minor little sci-fi picture that, for some reason, seems to have attracted a fair bit of media attention (kidding, people, kidding!). One of those movies daring to go up against The Most Anticipated Opening Ever is Sisters, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey’s bright, serviceable new comedy.

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Film Review: Live from New York!

A variety show on acid: Imperfect but fun documentary considers Saturday Night Live

The official movie poster for Bao Nguyen’s new documentary.

In 1975, a new variety show premiered on NBC that was unlike anything that had come before it; it was, according to Laraine Newman, one of the show’s original cast members, a cross between 60 Minutes and Monty Python. Despite its ups and downs, after 40 years on the air, Saturday Night Live (or SNL, as it’s more commonly known in the pop culture lexicon), shows no sign of slowing down, and continues to both reflect and influence American culture. Director Bao Nguyen’s new film, Live from New York!, which takes its title from the show’s opening introduction, explores the history and impact of the storied comedy program in a documentary that is both highly entertaining and slightly frustrating.

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Film Review: This is Where I Leave You

This family puts the fun in ‘dysfunction’

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Sister and brother Wendy and Judd (Tina Fey and Jason Bateman) take a time-out together.

Director Shawn Levy, whose previous efforts include the funny but lightweight Night at the Museum and the mediocre Google commercial (er, film) The Internship might not seem like an obvious choice to bring Jonathan Tropper’s more literary serio-comic novel This is Where I Leave You to the big screen. But Levy has the good fortune to be working with a screenplay written by Tropper himself, as well as an extraordinary cast of both up and coming and tried and true talent. This collaboration has yielded one of the year’s most highly enjoyable pictures. Continue reading “Film Review: This is Where I Leave You”

Film Review: Muppets Most Wanted

For better or worse, it’s very Muppet-y.

The Muppets make a deal.
The Muppets make a deal with the Badguy, Dominic Badguy.

In 2011, when The Muppets resurrected the colorful bunch back into the mainstream (much thanks to Disney), it did so through a heartwarming tale that focused on the forgotten bond between humans and muppets that had been so strong for decades.  The human element was a crucially strong point of emphasis.  With that movie now in the rearview mirror, Muppets Most Wanted, despite the disappointing title, marks a return to the traditional form that the muppets are known for — slapstick gags, self-referential humor, and a stampede of celebrity cameos.  The result is a fun explosion of muppet goofiness with catchy musical numbers, with the human characters reserved for moving the plot along, but nothing more.

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