Review: The Big Sick

by Lynn Lee

Judging from its early reception, The Big Sick has all the markings of a sleeper hit.  Directed by Michael Showalter (My Name is Doris, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp) and written by comedian Kumail Nanjiani (best known to TV audiences as Dinesh on Silicon Valley) and his wife Emily Gordon, the movie’s loosely based on the stranger-than-fiction true story of how the couple overcame the dual barriers posed by his traditionalist Pakistani Muslim family and her medically induced coma.  That’s a story you couldn’t make up, or imagine mining for laughs rather than melodrama.  And yet here it is: a crowd-pleasing romantic comedy (though it’s really more of a dramedy) about a girl in a coma that’s equal parts funny and poignant without feeling the least bit exploitative.

Nanjiani plays himself, a tricky job he handles deftly, with a beguiling Zoe Kazan as the on-screen Emily, 

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Beauty Break: Steve Carell

The internet has been blowing up over the last week about something that plenty of us had already noticed: That Steve Carell is now very handsome.

This author does not need to point out that beauty standards are as exacting and skewered as they've always been, but I'm sure we can all come to some bipartisan agreement that nerds becoming gorgeous before our very eyes is a good thing.

More visual evidence after the jump.

During the release of "Foxcatcher" in 2014.

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Doc Corner: 'Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press'

Get ready to hear the words “Bubba the Love Sponge” way more than you ever thought possible. As somebody who isn’t especially knowledgeable about Z-grade American radio celebrities, this came as quite a shock to me, but I guess that is keeping in theme with the film in general. This is a documentary that covers such a salacious and outright bizarre story that nothing should really shock. A film about serious issues that plays at times like an absurd comedy. A film that sadly reflects the gutter within which we live.

Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press is the latest documentary by Brian Knapperberger. Like his last film, The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz, which looked at the life of the late Reddit co-founder, this Netflix streaming doc examines a part of the online world that often goes unseen. Knapperberger’s demonstrates a weightier sense of confidence here, but like that earlier film, he has a keen ability in finding the central beating heart of a story that could easily confuse and confound audiences – whereas before it ones and zeroes, here it is legal jargon and the first amendment.

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Are You Binging On?

Hot dogs and BBQ? 

or...

Netflix? 

Three hours ago I started watching Glow, now I'm a pizza and four eps away from finishing the first season.

Your turn!

Catch Up with Our "A League of Their Own" Throwback!

Happy Fourth of July, readers! It's been a busy holiday weekend, but have you caught up to our A League of Their Own 25th anniversary trade-off retrospective? Well if you haven't, here's the play-by-play:

• Part One by Lynn Lee
• Part Two by Nathaniel R
• Part Three by Jazz Tangcay from Awards Daily
• Part Four by Chris Feil

Sports are an American past-time on national holidays but if athletics aren't your thing, maybe a dive into actressing will suffice! Have fun in the comments: which Rockford Peach is your favorite? What one Oscar nomination would you bestow this unnominated classic? When is it appropriate to cry in baseball? Tell us your League thoughts!