Comedy
The 100 Greatest Summer Blockbuster Movies of All Time
“Cool.” “Riveting.” “Gripping.” “High-Octane Thrill Ride!” All cliches of film criticism and yet all feelings we’ve experienced while watching a crackerjack summer blockbuster. Oops, there we go again. All things considered, any moviegoer can speak to the divine feeling of sitting in a cool, packed theater in the heat of the summer and being united by narrative. Not just united, but hypnotized, mentally convinced that the fate of the world is before your eyes, and there is nothing more important in that very moment. It’s escapism. It’s popcorn. It’s Chinatown. But also, it’s the power of spectacle. Over the years, Hollywood has certainly run that concept through the ringer, having turned what used to be a summer blockbuster season into, well, an entire calendar year. Now, all those aforeme...
Hulu’s Palm Springs Had a Record-Breaking Opening Weekend
When was the last time you experienced pure, unbridled joy? It’s clearly been some time, and Hulu’s latest success story is proof. As IndieWire reports, Andy Samberg’s newest film Palm Springs has smashed the platform’s opening weekend streaming records, proving that we’re all quite desperate for the twin balms of romance and laughter. Palm Springs was directed by Max Barbakow and written by Andy Siara. Set in the titular idyllic California town, it stars Saturday Night Live alum Samberg and Cristin Milioti, who you may remember as the panicked crew member trapped aboard the USS Callister from Black Mirror’s fourth season. It’s an earnest, warmhearted take on the time-loop format; think Groundhog Day meets When Harry Met Sally, set against a hazy desert sky. Sure, we’d all love to be ...
The Lost Art of Summer Blockbuster Counterprogramming
Blockbuster Month is celebrating the true titans of the genre. In the weeks ahead, you’ll read through a variety of features digging deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood, from popcorn classics to underrated gems. Today, Josh Spiegel discusses the art of counterprogramming and whether studios can still pivot around major tentpoles and blockbusters. All movies are not created equal. For decades, the summer was the domain of the blockbuster: big-budget films with loads of action, special effects, and anchored by some kind of intellectual property. Sometimes, those films were able to boast A-List stars; other times, those films created A-List stars. (Will Smith was well-known for his music career and starring role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but Independence Day made him a star. The fo...
NBC Unveils Teaser for 30 Rock Reunion Special: Watch
Next week, 30 Rock cast members Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, and Jack McBrayer will reunite for a new scripted special. In anticipation, you can watch a newly revealed teaser trailer below. As previously reported, the 30 Rock reunion is part of an upcoming hour-long, commerical-free special from NBC airing on July 16th at 8:00 p.m. local time. You’ll be able to watch it live via Hulu. The special was seemingly put together by NBC in lieu of this year’s Upfront presentation, which was canceled due to COVID-19. In a meta twist that bridges the fictional and real-life realms of the media conglormate, the special will see the 30 Rock cast tout “the stories and talent featured in NBCUniversal’s 2020-21 television season.” The special will be reb...
Dave Chappelle Hosted a Fourth of July Music Festival in the Cornfields of Ohio
Ever the trailblazer, Dave Chappelle has proven it’s possible to host a safe outdoor music festival in the middle of a pandemic. As BrooklynVegan points out, Chappelle celebrated Fourth of July by holding a mini music festival in the cornfields of Yellow Springs, Ohio on Saturday night. As recounted by comedian Cipha Sounds, the six-hour event kicked off with standup comedy from Michelle Wolf, Tiffany Haddish, Michael Che, and Chappelle himself. Questlove then provided the soundtrack for a fireworks display with an all J. Dilla DJ set. The evening concluded with live performances from Erykah Badu, Common, and Talib Kweli, interspersed with appearances from Chappelle and Jon Hamm. All of the evening’s participants were tested for coronavirus prior to taking the stage. Meanwhile, the 400-per...
HBO Max’s An American Pickle Trailer Gives Us Two Seth Rogens In One Movie: Watch
There’s always room for Seth Rogen — even two of them. Such is the case for An American Pickle, the forthcoming comedy set to premiere on HBO Max on August 6th. Today, the network the film’s first trailer, which you can watch below. Based on Simon Rich’s 2013 New Yorker short story, An American Pickle spins a tall-tale about a struggling immigrant named Herschel Greenbaum (Rogen), who falls into a vat of pickles in 1920 Brooklyn, only to wake up brined and young 100 years later. It gets better: Greenbaum has a grandson named Ben Greenbaum (also played by Rogen), who works as a mild-mannered coder, which obviously doesn’t make a lick of sense to the confused time traveler. Naturally, hi-jinx will ensue. Editors’ Picks Rich wrote the screenplay and cinematographer-turned-filmmaker Bran...
Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime in July 2020
More streaming networks means more hours potentially lost to skimming. Consequence of Sound doesn’t want any of that for you (or for themselves), which is why they’ve rounded up the best of the best on all the major streaming networks. Granted, we’ve already shown you everything coming to Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, and Shudder in July 2020. But, for brevity’s sake, we’ve assembled an easy-to-read guide that you can consult throughout the month. When it comes to strictly flicks, Hulu and HBO Max have everyone beat. For laughs, head to Hulu for Palm Springs, the best of Christopher Guest, the first three Trip films, Liar, Liar, My Cousin Vinny, and the list goes on. For new tentpoles, HBO Max is premiering Midway, Motherless Brooklyn, Harriet, and Last Christmas....
Carl Reiner on His As Yet Released Book: “The Finest Work That I’ve Ever Been Involved In”
“The most serious films are comedies. They look easy to come by, but they’re hard to come by. Even Shakespeare knew that. For the most part, comedies are done by people with great senses of humor — and you can’t fake that.” Carl Reiner was always busy. Even in December of 2019, months from his 98th birthday, Reiner showed zero signs of stopping. At night, he spent time with his best friend of 70 years, Mel Brooks. But during the day, he was always writing. Always. If he wasn’t working on a new book, he was tweeting — and he tweeted nearly every day. About his life, about his work, about the work of those he admired, and, of course, about Trump. He tweeted about his disdain of Trump so much that he was able to take all of those tweets and turn them into a book called The Downing of Trump. S...
Sacha Baron Cohen Infiltrates Far-Right Rally Pretending to Be Racist Country Singer
Sacha Baron Cohen is up to his old tricks. On Saturday, the Borat and Bruno actor crashed a far-right rally in Olympia, Washington, pretending to be a racist country singer who led a sing-along about injecting former president Barack Obama and Dr. Anthony Fauci with the “Wuhan Flu”. The event was organized by a far-right militia group called the Washington Three Percenters. It seems Cohen had reached out to event organizers about serving as the musical entertainment, going as far to offer to cover the costs of the stage and sound system. The Three Percenters took him up on his offer, setting the stage for one truly epic prank. Disguising himself in overalls and a fake beard, Cohen proceeded to sing a twangy country number about injecting liberals and scientists with the coronavirus. At var...
Family Guy Actor Mike Henry Will No Longer Voice Cleveland
Mike Henry, the longtime voice of Family Guy’s Cleveland, has announced he’ll no longer play the character. “It’s been an honor to play Cleveland on Family Guy for 20 years,” Henry wrote in a tweet posted Friday. “I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color. Therefore, I will be stepping down from the role.” Henry voiced the character of Cleveland Brown since Family Guy’s premiere in 1999. He also starred in the spin-off series, The Cleveland Show, which ran for four seasons. Henry becomes the third white voice actor this week who’s stepped aside from playing a person of color. Earlier, Jenny Slate announced she would no longer voice Missy on Big Mouth, and Kristen Bell dropped out of playing Molly on Central Park. Family Guy was recently renewed for an...
The Simpsons Will No Longer Have White Actors Voice Characters of Color
After years of criticism, producers of The Simpsons have announced that white actors will stop playing people of color on the show. According to a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, “Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have White actors voice non-White characters.” As the longest-running primetime scripted series in television history, The Simpsons hasn’t always aged gracefully. Springfield’s white main characters may live in a multicultural neighborhood, but the cast has never reflected that diversity. In 2017, comedian Hari Kondabolu released The Problem With Apu, a documentary about representation of marginalized groups. It studied the issue through the lens of character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the stereotypically Indian-American Kwik-E-M...
South Park Arrives to HBO Max, Minus Five Episodes Which Mock Religion
South Park has a new home. As of today, June 24th, all 23 seasons of Comedy Central’s beloved animated series are streaming on HBO Max. Well, with the exception of five episodes. The five episodes in question — “Super Best Friends” from season five, “Cartoon Wars Part I and Part II” from season ten, and “200” and “201” from season fourteen — either feature or reference a character based on the Prophet Muhammad. HBO Max agreed to exclude the episodes from its platform when it first acquired the series from Verizon, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The same five episodes were previously pulled from television syndication and South Park‘s previous streaming home at Hulu. The decision to remove the five episodes is due to “safety concerns,” as South Park creators Trey Parker and ...
