The New Classics: Bridesmaids

By Michael Cusumano 

 

Scene: Food Poisoning
Okay, let’s talk poop jokes.

If I’m hesitant it’s not because I’m squeamish, but because I’ve found dissecting jokes to see how they work to be one of life’s less rewarding endeavors. On the other hand, I’ve noticed Bridesmaids’ uproarious food poisoning sequence seldom gets the respect it deserves. Often it’s acknowledged with some glib and subtly condescending remark along the lines of, “Ladies can be just as gross as the boys!” and I think that significantly undersells the scene. I mean, If we absolutely must make sweeping generalizations along gender lines, we would have to conclude Bridesmaids proves ladies do gross-out with infinitely more wit and sophistication than the boys... 

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The Tea

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Review: The Old Guard

by Lynn Lee

In my more fanciful moments, I have a pet theory that Charlize Theron is a reincarnated ancient goddess.  I’m not just talking about her statuesque beauty, effortless glamour, or seeming immunity to aging.  No, I mean her superhuman ability to batter, dirty up, strip down and sometimes strip away that beauty in service of a role…only to reemerge in the same state of impossible physical perfection as before, as if nothing had happened.

Who better, then, to play a female warrior who never dies or grows old and whose wounds heal without a trace?  While Theron’s played a lot of certifiable badasses in recent years, she hasn’t often been cast as a bona fide superhero, and the results have been mixed when she has (Aeon Flux is the last that comes to mind, unless you count Hancock).  I’m happy to report she finds a good fit with The Old Guard, Netflix’s latest attempt to make us all forget we ever needed to go to a movie theater...

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What did you watch over the weekend?

This weekend, in a fit of extreme laziness and desire to stay right next to the air conditioner, I turned into one of those people who binge-watches a whole season of TV. (I'm not judging, it's just not how I personally do television). The show was Amazon's scifi comedy and socioeconomic satire Upload. It's quite uneven in its laughs and execution -- a giant suspension of disbelief is necessary for its premise of life after death via technological upload, but the 'rules' within the show's universe were ridiculously inconsistent -- but overall I found it endearing and loved the female lead, Cameroonian-American actress Andy Allo. Have any of you watched?  

What have you been watching? Please say "1991's Oscar nominees". The Smackdown is on Sunday!

Clueless @ 25: The Best Costumes!

by Cláudio Alves

As previously mentioned in my "Emmas of Yore" miniseries, Clueless is one of the best cinematic adaptations of a Jane Austen novel. By modernizing the core narrative of Emma and stripping it of historical detail, Amy Heckerling was able to create a teen movie classic whose biting satire exists hand-in-hand with a sense of overwhelming affection for every character on-screen. Humor and romance are well-balanced, with the comedic element always taking precedence over the love story – as it should be when tackling one of Austen's prickliest and funniest novels.

That being said, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Clueless' release, we're not going to focus so much on its genius screenplay or how it updates Regency-era social commentary to the Beverly Hills of the 1990s. Fashion is our concern this time around or, more accurately, we're exploring the costume design of Clueless. Since 1995, Mona May's colorful stylings have become as iconic as the screenplay's witty dialogues and, in a fair world, they might have even won the designer some well-deserved Oscar gold… 

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