Cool new documshots called Magnetic about “extreme” sports. Goes from surfers to mountain skiers, and these guys who paraglide down mountainsides. Uses drones and Go pros to get some pretty amazing shlts.
Did she actually get asked to leave by the show so they could recast? Prior to last month this would have been code for some kind of conflict.
Interesting times in animated TV, for sure. I saw The Simpsons is also reducing the roles of its white voice actors.
I’m curious about that too.
What’s the buzz on the Eurovision-themed comedy with Will Ferrel and Rachel McAdams as Nordic siblings (?) determined to enter and win the thing?
wavey
1649
Yes generally it’s had a bad reception I think. But a movie critic I trust, Mark Kermode, liked it a lot, and thought the more you enjoy Eurovision itself, the more you would like the film.
It seems people who watched It like it or are middling on it. The “it’s terrible” seemed more “that looks terrible “ from the trailer.
Cormac
1651
The thing is, the basic structure of a fun movie is there and the cast is game and enthusiastic with lots of fun cameos and a diverse cast. However they decided to shoehorn Farrells horrible mugging into the movie and that factor completely falls flat. You need some “normal” / “earnest” counterpoint to buy into the crazy ESC that everyone is enthusiastic about, and I feel his slapstick style just undermines the whole thing and it topples the movie into “its all just nuts” territory. McAdams does kinda sell that straight enthusiasm, but she can’t do it on her own.
So yep, if you squint a bit, theres a fun movie in there somewhere, but the way it stands its just a shame.
Another review I read said it was one joke stretched to fill a movie.
orald
1653
We watched 10 minutes and moved on. Not a single laugh and if a comedy can’t elicit even a chuckle in that time my wife is out. I had hoped Will Farrell would grow into an actor who could move beyond stretching out an SNL skit for 90 minutes into more substantial roles/material but he hasn’t and the act has worn thin.
That’s too bad. His performance in Everything Must Go and Stranger then Fiction where both remarkable.
It’s 60% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes with 111 critics. So that doesn’t seem terrible, and more middling. Now Artemis Fowl that’s 10% with 147 reviews, that’s terrible.
Well, he wasn’t really doing comedy in those, either, apart from some deadpan stuff in Stranger than Fiction, maybe.
I do really enjoy a lot of Ferrell’s less subtle comedy though.
I enjoyed Eurovision. It was 30 minutes too long, and tonally all over the place, and not all that funny (put that on your DVD cover). But it was good-natured, had some ridiculous (but banging) tunes, and was a nice bit of pap when the world is on fire.
Also, whoever wrote that review and said Rachel McAdams “is not a natural comic” hasn’t seen Game Night. She’s great in this as well.
Yeah, she’s got some comedic acting chops. She was great in that movie.
I laughed harder at this than I have at anything in years.
For me, that’s Farrell in a nutshell. Never found the guy remotely funny.
I don’t like Jack Black. Are you supposed to laugh at him?
I actually quite enjoyed Eurovision, I think it was because Farrell is only co-writer and has been somewhat reigned in. There were some good laughs and some dumb scenes but the kids and I certainly enjoyed it. I will not rush to watch it again but it made me happy for the time it was on, it was a bit too long though.
Incidentally we watched the original Austin Powers movie later that day and Mike Myers awkward humour is quite similar to Farrell’s. I am not sure if they were at SNL at the same time as we didn’t have it in the UK back in those days.
