"Rough Night" and the State of Comedy

by Eric Blume

My assignment for TFE was a review of the movie Rough Night. But since I was not raised in a barn, nor raised by wolves, my mother once told me if you can’t find something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. So we’ll keep it short on Rough Night itself.  It’s actually depressing how bad this movie is, a twist on a rather good mainstream movie called Very Bad Things, back in the Cameron Diaz days of 1998.  That Peter Berg film had a bit of an edge as it followed several guy friends on a bachelor party who find themselves in a dead hooker situation.  Rough Night is the distaff version of this tale, but the inept script, bad performances, and bland direction make it a tough sit.  The film’s five actresses (Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Zoe Kravitz, Jillian Bell, and Ilana Glazer) are winning, talented ladies and deserved a far better vehicle.

Sitting through Rough Night your mind may wander, as did mine, to the state of mainstream comedy in the cinema these days...

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Emmy FYC: The Moms of Comedy

We're showcasing our favorite TV triumps while Emmy nomination ballots are out. Here’s Jorge with some pitches for your maternal instinct…

Ever since scripted television has existed, there has been a fictional mother inside our homes. Since sitcoms tend to revolve around family unites, the funny mom is one of the oldest, most beloved, and most comforting TV tropes. With over 450 scripted series for Emmys consideration this year alone, the Television Academy has thousands of performances to consider.

So to make voters lives a little easier here is a list of some of the best Moms in Comedies of the 2016-2017 season. You could fill the entire Actress in a Comedy Series category with just sitcom moms. Consider this an FYC for all of the following women...

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Back to 'Broad City'

Let’s take a short break from film news and reviews and check in with TV. After a long wait the funniest show on TV is coming back. Which one is that you might ask? Why Broad City of course. Ilana (Ilana Glazer) and Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) are back after being away for than a year. And how our world have changed since they’ve been gone. However they seem to have remained as funny as ever. This time they will find themselves entangled with RuPaul, Jane Curtain, Steve Buscemi and Wanda Sykes. They will leave their beloved New York to gun-loving Florida. And Abbi’s nemesis Bevers is somewhat unrecognizable! We are beyond delighted at the prospect of a few hours on our couch with these hilarious women. You will be too after checking the trailer.

Broad City returns on August 23rd. In the meantime tell us what is your favorite moment from the previous three seasons.

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Stage Door: "Six Degrees of Separation" Revived

Stage Door bringing you intermittent theater reviews when we manage to get there. Here's Nathaniel R

It's so basic to binge plays during Tony season as opposed to a more sensible and committed once-a-month diet of live theater. Alas, just as the more familiar mainstream obsession of the Oscar circus encourages studios to backload their releases to the last quarter of the year, most of the "big" theater shows open as late as they can for Tony consideration. This makes April and May a madhouse of theater-going for those who care about such things. Because most of the musicals are too expensive, I've been catching up with the plays. We've already covered The Little Foxes (a must see) and the Pulitzer-winning economic tragedy Sweat. So let's talk Six Degrees of Separation nominated for 2 Tonys: Best Revival of a Play and Best Leading Actor (Corey Hawkins).

"Chaos, control. Chaos, control. You like, you like?"

That's Stockard Channing's most sweetly funny line reading (among thousands of exquisite ones) in the 1993 movie adaptation of this stage classic. That was also, roughly, my reaction to the Broadway revival with Allison Janney, John Benjamin Hickey, and Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton), taking over the roles Channing, Donald Sutherland, and Will Smith played onscreen...

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