Friday 24 May
 
 

The Burning

It speaks to the strength of The Burning’s reputation among cult-film fans that what’s most memorable about the 1981 slasher is not that it was written by the Weinstein brothers, nor that it represents early appearances of the likes of Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens. It’s that its Cropsy is just a damned good villain.
05/24/2013 | Comments 0

Dexter: The Seventh Season

There's no way to discuss the seventh and penultimate season of Showtime's hit Dexter without acknowledging how the previous year ended. Therefore, if you haven't finished the sixth season, stop reading now. You've got work to do.
05/21/2013 | Comments 0

Nightfall

As Simon Lam gets older, he gets better. The veteran actor has appeared in such in seminal HK action films of the 1990s as Once Upon a Time in China (opposite Jet Li) and Bullet in the Head (directed by John Woo); in the aughts, he graced audience and critical favorites Election and Ip Man.
05/20/2013 | Comments 0

Grand Duel

Lee Van Cleef enjoyed a secondary career in Italy cranking out spaghetti Westerns, with little regard to quality. However, 1972’s Grand Duel — aka The Big Showdown — is deserving of its Grand label. No wonder Quentin Tarantino borrowed its sweeping theme song by Luis Bacalov for Kill Bill; you'll recognize it in two notes.
05/20/2013 | Comments 0

The Last Stand

Early in The Last Stand, the small-town sheriff played by Arnold Schwarzenegger says, "It's my day off. Should be a quiet weekend." That's the new way of saying, "I've got one week to retirement," because it signals — with flashing neon and everything — that life is going to royally upend those plans.
05/17/2013 | Comments 0
Home · Articles · Movies · Comedy · Celeste & Jesse Forever
Comedy

Celeste & Jesse Forever


Rod Lott August 29th, 2012  

Any cries of nepotism in the case of Rashida Jones officially can be buried, and the dirt above patted with a shovel for good measure.

The daughter of musician Quincy Jones and actress Peggy Lipton has proven herself a fine comic actress in film (I Love You, Man) and television (Parks and Recreation), and now a surprisingly sharp screenwriter in Celeste & Jesse Forever — not only the smartest and funniest romantic comedy you’re likely to see between now and New Year’s, but the smartest and funniest anti-romantic comedy, too.

She and Saturday Night Alive alum Andy Samberg warmly portray the title twosome, seemingly struck from the same demented mold with their odd humor and little reindeer games. She’s a trend forecaster; he’s an artist; and they really are best friends.

It’s just too bad they’re getting divorced.

Yet they continue to go about life as if things aren’t any different. This alarms their friends, who think Celeste and Jesse are as made for each other as humanly possible.

Wrong, says Celeste: “I love Jesse dearly, but he doesn’t have a checking account. Or dress shoes. The father of my children will have a car.”

Co-written with fellow actor Will McCormack (TV’s In Plain Sight), the thoroughly winning film, opening Friday, flies high on dialogue like that, but delivered so deftly by all that the situation at heart maintains realism — a much-welcome respite from the madcap, overblown buffoonery Katherine Heigl, Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz insist on fronting ad nauseum.

And like real life, its third act doesn’t play out as expected.


 
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