Friday, April 30, 2010

Is Kristen Wiig seriously annoying?

From Jaime Weinman...

Can’t the new female star of ‘Saturday Night Live’ come up with a likeable character or two?


Photographs by Dana Edelson/NBC

Have you seen the Saturday Night Live sketch where Kristen Wiig plays a horrible person who gets on our nerves? Oh, wait, that’s all of them. Since Tina Fey and Amy Poehler left to do sitcoms, and SNL fired two of its other female comedians, Wiig has become the unchallenged leading lady of the show, carrying many sketches in every episode. She’s also building a movie career, which includes several Judd Apatow films and a supporting part in the new SNL spinoff film MacGruber (opening May 21). But she hasn’t created many characters who are likeably funny, like Will Forte’s MacGruber or Bill Hader’s Italian talk-show host. Instead, Wiig specializes in playing people who are absurdly unpleasant to be around, like a Target clerk who irritates customers by pumping her hands in the air and screaming things like “you’re buying a big bag of feces!” Not everyone would go as far as David Medsker at premiumhollywood.com, who wrote earlier this season that Wiig has “become wildly unfunny, and must be stopped.” But given enough horrible characters, they might.

Like most comedians, Wiig wants to have a lot of range; she told Vanity Fair she doesn’t have a style of comedy because “I’m always trying to change it. I don’t always just want to do the same thing.” But not only does she manage to use some of the same physical mannerisms in most sketches—tilting her head a lot—she seems to make most characters equally hateful. Among Wiig’s recurring sketches, the deļ¬nitive one may be her impersonation of Kathie Lee Gifford, co-host of the fourth hour of the Today Show, whom she portrays as a talentless drunk with a penchant for bad jokes and shameless mugging.

Judging from Gifford’s reaction—“Everyone seems to enjoy it,” she said on Today, “but I don’t think it’s that funny”—the sketch hit its mark. But it’s completely malicious comedy; even Tina Fey made Sarah Palin a more sympathetic character, with her cheerful, almost innocent stupidity. Wiig seems to want her audience to feel pain at even watching her characters in action.

That’s because Wiig usually plays what Charlie Toft at film.com called “variations on the same character: a neurotic who is either overly talkative and/or inappropriately exuberant,” and who is sheer hell to be around. Take Penelope, a fast-talking woman who is always trying to one-up other people—she arrives at a wedding and says that on her honeymoon, “we went to the moon! Actually, it’s made of honey!” Wiig plays her as a borderline insane person who, in the words of another character, is “ruining” life for everyone else.

Another Wiig character who ruins everything is Gilly, a frizzy-haired little girl who commits arson and murder and smirks about it. Then there’s the Lawrence Welk Show parody sketch she co-wrote, where a female singing group is wrecked by one member: a woman with deformed hands who won’t stop singing lyrics about how she ate a dead cat or put a squirrel in her bed. That member, of course, is played by Wiig. Her characters are always out to make things rotten for the rest of us.

Still, however nasty Wiig’s sketches can be, at least they’re relatable: these evil characters mostly seem like people we’ve known in real life. The Target Lady, a character Wiig created before she joined SNL, is the loud-mouthed retailer who keeps you waiting in line. Even Penelope, Wiig told Women’s Health Magazine, is based on real people she knew who tried to one-up her: “I’d say I was going to get a massage and they’d say, ‘Oh, I’m getting a massage this week.’ ” Viewers might like Wiig because she uses comedy to take down the people we already know and hate; she’s like a sketch comedy counterpart to TV characters like Michael Scott on The Office.

But obnoxious characters, even true-to-life ones, are easier to take in small doses. After Wiig was chosen to host SNL’s Christmas special in character as the unspeakably awful Gilly, there were murmurs of online revolt against her overexposure, and earlier this season, in a list of ways to fix the show, Entertainment Weekly argued that Wiig needs to appear less often: “How can we appreciate the woman if she never leaves the screen?”

Even the writer of a Wiig fan blog (kristen-wiig.blogspot.com) admitted she was doing too many solo sketches and that the producers “need to mix it up more.” If they don’t—or if Wiig doesn’t come up with a likeable character or two—there may be more people echoing the sage words of Kathie Lee Gifford [about Kristen Wiig]: “Can’t she get another job? Go off and do something else?”

From:
http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/04/07/kristen-wiig-is-seriously-annoying/
===================================

That's true Jamie, we did say that. And I think you also nailed the essence of most of Kristen's characters... annoying. However, she does have a few that aren't annoying.

Plus the producers have already pulled Kristen back and used her more to support and a little less to lead. This has also given some of the new cast members the opportunity to shine a little more.

So they're definitely listening to us, and Kristen isn't all that bad. I mean, most of her annoying characters are genuinely funny, and not just annoying.

But I have to agree that her impressions of Kathy Lee Gifford and Elizabeth Hasselbeck are more annoying and malicious than funny. For example, Sarah Palin could probably approach Tina Fey and compliment her impression (Palin has publically laughed at the SNL parodies). Or, as another example, Hilary Clinton already had light and fun conversations with Amy Poehler and complimented her impression.

However, Kathy Lee Gifford thinks Kristen Wiig should be fired, and I bet Elizabeth Hasselbeck is just biting her tongue and doing the Christian thing. So if one of them ever met Kristen Wiig, they'd probably deck her. Or Hasselbeck would probably run away to avoid the confrontation. Or, at the very least, Kathy Lee would publically give her a piece of her mind.

So Wiig's impressions can be much more malicious than SNL has ever done before. (Although Kristen has many other impressions that aren't nearly as malicious and annoying.)

What do you think, readers?

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Will 'Bridesmaids' Be Kristen Wiig's Breakout?

Here's a great commentary on Kristen Wiig's upcoming movie and what it will hopefully do for her career...
==================================

I knew all my hopes for Kristen Wiig weren't unfounded when I saw her in Whip It! Arguably the strongest female comedian on Saturday Night Live, she'd been stealing scenes out from the noses of stars like Katherine Heigl in Adventureland and Knocked Up for years, albeit in roles that didn't offer her much more than a twist on her SNL characters.



In Whip It!, we saw a different, more robust side of her acting skills as a single mom who finds freedom and friendship in the world of roller derby; some of this is attributable to the writing, of course, but Wiig brought a warmth into the character that was undeniable. Although Extract, which came out a month earlier, was all over the place, Wiig managed to make the best of it as well as the is-she-or-isn't-she cheating wife of Jason Bateman's character.



Meanwhile, her fantastic ability to morph into different characters, which is often praised by her costars, is featured in a photo shoot for March's V Magazine, where she dons a fruity hat, a Bridget Bardot look, and a Frida Kahlo get-up among others.



... As [Kristen] told MSN at SXSW [about MacGruber], "It was just refreshing to have a script have such a fun, interesting part for a woman to play that wasn't just a woman standing by the lead guy. They wrote songs for me to sing. I got to dress up like MacGruber. I got to dress up as [a henchman]. And, reading it, I was just happy that I was able to do something so crazy and loopy." Her onscreen chemistry with Forte is undeniable, so I look forward to seeing her steal some scenes from MacGruber and Von Cunth as well.



As she told MSN at SXSW, "It was just refreshing to have a script have such a fun, interesting part for a woman to play that wasn't just a woman standing by the lead guy. They wrote songs for me to sing. I got to dress up like MacGruber. I got to dress up as [a henchman]. And, reading it, I was just happy that I was able to do something so crazy and loopy." Her onscreen chemistry with Forte is undeniable, so I look forward to seeing her steal some scenes from MacGruber and Von Cunth as well.

But what I'm hoping will be her bad-ass breakout is the upcoming Bridesmaids. Despite its premise – " A comedy centered on two women battling to plan their friend's wedding party" – Wiig shares scripting credits and Paul Feig (Arrested Development, The Office). Now the news is out that the bride in question will be Wiig's former SNL cohort Maya Rudolph. The rest of the cast is sounding good too, although as The Playlist notes, "Who knows if it's actually correct." (IMDb has brought down many a reporter with its upcoming projects info, but that's a rant for another time.) Even though it's referred to as an Apatow film, he's only one of several producers, including Wiig and co-writer/costar Annie Mumolo. We won't be seeing Bridesmaids until 2011, but I'm hoping it will upend the Bridezilla wedding paradigm on its head and give Wiig the leading lady status she deserves, as well as more writing opportunities.

From:
http://www.cinematical.com/2010/04/05/kristen-wiig-will-bridesmaids-be-her-breakout/

Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Kristen Wiig made Michaele Salahi get smarter and pose for less pictures



Tareq and Michaele Salahi with Entertainment Tonight's Diane Dimond in the middle. (Courtesy of Kelly Ann Collins/Glittarazzi.com) ...

[We] managed to crack open the Salahis' essential humanity by asking them what they thought about being parodied on "Saturday Night Live" by Kristin Wiig and Bobby Moynihan.

"We both saw how we look, I guess," said Michaele. "I thought they did it well. I guess we do look like that."
"I went on a diet after I saw that," said Tareq.

"You went on a diet and I'm trying to be smarter and pose for less pictures!" said Michaele.

From:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2010/04/the_salahi_party_what_we_misse.html

Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Do Kristen Wiig (and Mark Ruffalo) start the third wheel humor in Date Night?



I expected uproarious laughter from Tina Fey’s humor of awkward desperation. I expected Steve Carell’s dry humor to leave me uncomfortably giddy. But then I reminded myself, this is not “The Office” or “30 Rock”—unfortunately. ...

The married-but-separated friends, played by Mark Ruffalo and Kristen Wiig, are the first evidence of the humor that I felt was lacking from Fey and Carell. I’ll call this third-wheel humor.

The third-wheel humor continues with appearances by Mark Wahlberg, William Fichtner, James Franco and Mila Kunis. These actors, who are all very entertaining, managed to get some laughs out of Fey and Carell. However, as you can probably expect, I’m sad to say that the Fosters are way too bland.

Read the rest here:
http://www.scaddistrict.com/?p=8060

Do you disagree with this review?

Monday, April 26, 2010

Kristen Wiig - at An Evening with Saturday Night Live (Emmy event)

Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Kristen Wiig, Kenan Thompson, Seth Meyers, producer Steve Higgins, SNL stars treat New York Television Academy members to a rare look into the acclaimed series. SNL alum-turned-late-nighter Jimmy Fallon moderated the event, held at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan.





Kristen Wiig, Kenan Thompson, Andy Samberg, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers







An Evening with Saturday Night Live in New York City




Actors Fred Armisen, Andy Samberg, Kristen Wiig and producer Steve Higgins














Enjoy!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Kristen Wiig - is Judy Grimes (4/24/10)

Update: Judy Grimes

Judy is just back from France and a little nervous.



Judy is of course an original character from Kristen Wiig. Judy is the character where Kristen can really prove her mad skills.

This is Kristen's 5th time as Judy Grimes over the last 3 seasons...
04.12.2008
09.27.2008
01.17.2009
09.26.2009
04.24.2010

Each time has been on Weekend Update.

Kristen only appeared three times this week (Suze Orman, this one, and the monologue). But two of the appearances were as the lead. I think it's great that Kristen is focusing more on lead roles and letting the other three ladies do more supporting roles.

Enjoy!

Kristen Wiig in The Suze Orman Show (4/24/10)

Show: The Suze Orman Show

Suze shares some medical money saving tips.

Gabourey Sidibe ... Margaret Davis
Kristen Wiig ... Suze Orman



Enjoy!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

How to Train Your Dragon - update!!!

Yes, the movie has legs; it has dragon legs!

Kristen Wiig's second and latest animated film might get a sequel!



Despite an average and not great opening weekend, How to Train Your Dragon has been slowing down in box office sales...

SLOWLY.

How slowly? Well, slower than Kung-Fu Panda and both Madagascar movies. In fact, it's been slowing down so slowly that it's beating both the Madagascar movies and Monsters VS Aliens. It might beat Kung-Fu Panda.

What does that mean? What it means, is that there is newfound hope that we might get a sequel!

When a movie "has legs," that typically means that the trailer didn't excite people, but once they go see it, they love it and tell their friends. So it looks like How to Train Your Dragon is fitting in this category. Go DreamWorks go!

How to Train Your Dragon's weekend 4 box office take was $19,633,320. Kung-Fu Panda was $11,692,061 (and Kung Fu Panda is the highest-grossing non-Shrek DreamWorks animated film).

Enjoy!

Vote for Kristen Wiig as People's Most Influential



Click here to vote:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1972075_1972078_1972463,00.html

She's currently at 63 (the closer to 100 the better). That's not bad, given that she hasn't starred in a movie yet.

From the page:


Age: 36
Occupation: Actress
Previous TIME 100 Appearances: 0

The SNL star's blend of sarcasm and wit has catapulted her from the small screen to the big leagues. Since 2007, Wiig has nabbed coveted supporting roles in films such as Knocked Up and The Brothers Solomon, and she voices the character of Ruffnut in DreamWorks' latest animated feature, How to Tame Your Dragon.


Enjoy!

Friday, April 23, 2010

Kristen Wiig is Ryan Phillippe's mom (The Other Man)

Betrayal can be a vicious cycle.

Film: SNL Digital Short, The Other Man

Ryan Phillippe ... Kyle
Fred Armisen ... father
Bill Hader ... priest
Bobby Moynihan ... friend
Nasim Pedrad ... Megan
Andy Samberg ... guy
Kristen Wiig ... mother



This was sort of the opposite of the jazz curse short with Jon Hamm (in this one, Andy was the curse instead of the cursed character).

Kristen comes on as Ryan's mom.

Enjoy!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Kristen Wiig is Mrs. Astro in I Got This!

Gameshow: I Got This!

The game show that settles settling the bill.

Ryan Phillippe ... Benny Astro
Will Forte ... Jim Astro
Bill Hader ... Vince Blake
Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)
Jenny Slate ... waitress
Jason Sudeikis ... Dylan Astro
Kristen Wiig ... Mrs. Astro



Hmmm. A few chuckles. Kristen comes in briefly as the mom. The best part was Will turning red. Jason seemed to be enjoying that.

Enjoy!

Kristen Wiig WWE videos and MacGruber college tour



Jorma will be taking "MacGruber" on the road for a college tour with Will Forte and John Solomon (co-writer). They will be screening the movie and doing some Q and A stuff afterward. Here are those dates:
  • Monday, April 26th - University of North Carolina
  • Tuesday, April 27th - Indiana University
  • Wednesday, April 28th - University of Colorado, Boulder
  • Thursday, April 29th - University of Arizona
  • Friday, April 30th - UCLA

Check out these WWE interview videos with the cast of MacGruber...

This video is an interview with the MacGruber cast:

http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/vms/raw/2010/april15-21/14182570

Here is a clip from the show with MacGruber:

http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/vms/wwecomvideooriginals/2010/april15-21/14195144

And here MacGruber fights Vladimir Kozlov (continuing the saga from the last video; ends well):

http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/vms/raw/2010/april15-21/14183886

The WWE superstars on the set of MacGruber:

http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/vms/raw/2010/april15-21/14187470

Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Kristen Wiig - the pink tank top chick in The Shake Weight Commercial

Commercial: The Shake Weight Commercial DVD

For people who can't get enough of the Shake Weight commercial.

Fred Armisen ... guy
Abby Elliott ... model
Will Forte ... guy
Bill Hader ... spokesperson
Bobby Moynihan ... guy
Nasim Pedrad ... model
Andy Samberg ... guy
Jenny Slate ... model
Kenan Thompson ... guy
Kristen Wiig ... model



Hahahaha. Wow. This was amazing, and I'm surprised that ALL the ladies were in this! They certainly have a sense of humor.

Kristen took it to a new level, playing two of the women, including the "pink tank top." Wow, Kristen, I guess you always take it up a notch.

What did you think?

Enjoy!

Kristen Wiig is Janelle on Teen Talk (SNL skit)

Show: Teen Talk

The show that normally helps with the issues facing today's teenagers.

Ryan Phillippe ... Rudy
Fred Armisen ... Roger Brush
Bill Hader ... Leonard
Nasim Pedrad ... Shelby Winters
Andy Samberg ... Toby
Kristen Wiig ... Janelle



I didn't find this funny the first time. Not sure why they let Fred do this again. The first appearance of Robert Brush was on Woman to Woman on 11.21.2009.

Does anyone else feel like her voice and mannerisms are too similar to Penelope and other characters?

Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Kristen Wiig is Kate Gosselin

Sketch: Mort Mort Feingold: Accountant For The Stars

Doing taxes for the stars!

Ryan Phillippe ... Robert Pattinson
Abby Elliott ... Shaun White
Will Forte ... John Edwards
Bobby Moynihan ... Susan Boyle
Andy Samberg ... Mort Mort Feingold
Jenny Slate ... Kristen Stewart
Jason Sudeikis ... Mel Gibson
Kenan Thompson ... Tyler Perry
Kristen Wiig ... Kate Gosselin



Hahaha. Not all of these are funny, but it's just a fun excuse to bust out a bunch of impressions. I loved Abby's stoner and Bobby's Susan Boyle (though his singing is Nathan Lane). Lots of fun. I hope they do it again.

This is Kristen's first stab at Kate Gosselin. I think she hit the words too similarly to Penelope, but I probably know all her characters too well.

This is the second time SNL has done an impression of Kate. The first time was earlier this season on 11.07.2009 by Taylor Swift.

Enjoy!

Kristen Wiig is Baby Suggs in Hip Hop Kids

Show: Hip Hop Kids

It ain't no thing to stay away from bears.

Ryan Phillippe ... J Style
Abby Elliott ... Lil' Prinzess
Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)
Andy Samberg ... Zig-Zag
Jason Sudeikis ... Flip Flop
Kenan Thompson ... K Smoove
Kristen Wiig ... Baby Suggs



Finally, they make a sequel to this and put Andy Samberg in it! Finally! Andy and Abby replace Maya and Amy. The original was way back on 12.16.2006. They must have had this one in their back pocket.

What's interesting was that Kristen was Keisha in the 2006 version. This time she was a different character, Baby Suggs. She also wore a slightly revealing shirt that shows her sides. Although the character is named differently, it's very similar to the character Amy Poehler played. I wonder if Kristen wanted to mix it up and play a new type of character/accent she hasn't done yet.

What do you think?

Enjoy!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Kristen Wiig is Sue Ferrigno in ESPN Classic

Show: Today Sponge Women's Weightlifting Championship 1986

This women's tournament from 1986 is sponsored by Today's Sponge.

Ryan Phillippe ... Olivia Newton Cougar Mellencamp
Will Forte ... Greg Stink
Jason Sudeikis ... Pete Twinkle
Kristen Wiig ... Sue Ferrigno



This is an interesting skit for two reasons. First, they've done the skit 5 times this season, which has to be a record. Second, Kristen is in every skit, but she plays a different character every time.

I think they play it because Jason is hilarious, it has decent variety, and and the crowd just seems to go ballistic at Jason's feminity jokes.

Why do you think they keep doing it?

Enjoy!

Kristen Wiig is Target Lady in the Ryan Philippe monologue

Some show characters would like their own movies.

Monologue

Ryan Phillippe
Fred Armisen ... saxophonist
Andy Samberg ... singer
Jason Sudeikis ... dancer
Kenan Thompson ... Diondre Cole
Kristen Wiig ... Target cashier



So they start off the MacGruber jokes with 3 other SNL characters wanting their own shows: Andy's # in a Box and Mother Lover singer, Kristen's Target Lady, and Kenan's Diondre Cole.

This is Kristen's 8th appearance of the Target cashiere, and the first this season (last was 05.09.2009 where Justin Timberlake stole the skit with "Classic Peg").

So what would Kristen's Target Lady movie be like?

Enjoy!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Kristen Wiig is Bjork (Larry King cold open)

Wow, Kristen was in 9 skits this week! That's amazing!

Cold Opening: Larry King Live

Bjork is good friends with Iceland's volcano.

Fred Armisen ... Larry King
Bill Hader ... Richard Branson
Kristen Wiig ... Bjork



Molly Shannon and Winona Rider both did Bjork (one each), but this is Kristen's third appearance, so she owns this impression. First time was 10.13.2007 on Iconoclasts and second was 02.07.2009 on Weekend Update.

What do you think?

Enjoy!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Kristen Wiig - in the new Ryan Phillippe SNL promo

Ryan Phillippe hosts an all-new SNL 4/17 with musical guest, Ke$ha.



Pretty funny jokes obviously written by Kristen. First joke is pretty funny, but the second one is basically Kristen's lying Penelope character.

As I predicted, the SNL producers pitted Ryan with his first and second costars from MacGruber, Will Forte and Kristen Wiig.

Good thing these promos exist, or we'd never know how to pronounce stars' names. =^)

Enjoy!

Too much Fey and not enough Wiig?

Here's a bit of a review of last episode...



HOWARD MEGDAL: ... Aunt Alice is not a strong character for me...

ZOƋ RICE: ... Aunt Linda was a bummer–so little Kristen Wiig this week, and what we got was unfunny and flat.

STEVE MURPHY: ... Kristen Wiig needs more stage time tonight, it’s like they got Tina Fey and decided “well, that’s our one funny woman for this episode!” ...

From:
http://perpetualpost.com/?p=5653

What do you think? Was Kristen too underused and flat this episode?

Enjoy!

Friday, April 16, 2010

Kristen Wiig - on team Bullock

Do you love that Kristen Wiig is supporting Sandra? Or do you think it only brings more attention to her sad situation?

Kristen Wiig made clear whose side she’s on in the Sandra Bullock V. Jesse James situation! Kristen, posing as her recurring character “Aunt Linda,” revealed her “Team Bullock” t-shirt — which she was reportedly also wearing in rehearsal — during Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update.” Check it out!



Are you proud of Kristen for supporting Sandra? Or do you think it only makes Sandra’s situation worse?

From:
http://www.hollywoodlife.com/2010/04/12/kristen-wiig-team-bullock-snl/

Enjoy!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

New Kristen Wiig MacGruber high res posters!!!



CBS Films and Universal Studios have sent over a high resolution version of the new MacGruber movie poster. MacGruber stars Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, Powers Boothe, Maya Rudolph and Val Kilmer and it’s the feature film version of the Saturday Night Live skit. MacGruber screened at SXSW and I’ve heard from friends it’s very stupid but extremely funny. Sounds like my kind of movie.



MACGRUBER Synopsis and Info:

Only one American hero has earned the rank of Green Beret, Navy SEAL and Army Ranger. Just one operative has been awarded 16 purple hearts, 3 Congressional Medals of Honor and 7 presidential medals of bravery. And only one guy is man enough to still sport a mullet. In 2010, Will Forte brings Saturday Night Live’s clueless soldier of fortune to the big screen in the action comedy MacGruber.

In the 10 years since his fiancĆ©e was killed, special op MacGruber has sworn off a life of fighting crime with his bare hands. But when he learns that his country needs him to find a nuclear warhead that’s been stolen by his sworn enemy, Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer), MacGruber figures he’s the only one tough enough for the job.

Assembling an elite team of experts-Lt. Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe) and Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig)-MacGruber will navigate an army of assassins to hunt down Cunth and bring him to justice. His methods may be unorthodox. His crime scenes may get messy. But if you want the world saved right, you call in MacGruber.

Release date: May 21, 2010

Rating: R

Genre: Action comedy

Cast: Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, Powers Boothe, Maya Rudolph and Val Kilmer

Written by: Will Forte & John Solomon & Jorma Taccone

Directed by: Jorma Taccone

Produced by: Lorne Michaels, John Goldwyn

Executive Producers: Ryan Kavanaugh, Tucker Tooley, Akiva Schaffer, Seth Meyers, Erin David

From:
http://www.collider.com/2010/04/01/new-beastly-and-macgruber-movie-posters-in-high-resolution/
========================================

Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

New Trailer and Review for Date Night

Kristen Wiig has another supporting role. This time she's a friend who's getting divorced. She's not in this latest trailer, but here it is, followed by a glowing review...



To be honest, I lowered my expectations of Date Night as soon as I caught a glimpse of its groan-inducing, opening scene featuring Steve Carell wincing when a Breathe Right strip was yanked off the bridge of his nose. After all, one of the rubber-faced comic's most-memorable moments on screen was in The 40 Year-Old Virgin where he had the same reaction to having his chest hair waxed.

Fortunately, my fears that Date Night might be an unimaginative, derivative dud were soon allayed, as it was all uphill from there. In fact, this thoroughly-delightful screwball comedy turns out to be the funniest film of the year thus far.

Carell and co-star Tina Fey prove to be the perfect foils for each other's brand of humor (slapstick and tongue-in-cheek, respectively) for the duration of this road flick which keeps the pair relentlessly on the run virtually from beginning to end. The two also manage to generate just enough chemistry along the way to convince you that they're really a jaded, New Jersey couple whose marriage has gone stale.

At the point of departure, we learn that between raising two kids and draining careers which leave them with little energy by the end of the day, Phil and Claire Foster have come to feel more like roommates than lovers. And after hearing that their good friends Brad (Mark Ruffalo) and Haley (Kristen Wiig) are divorcing, they decide to spice up their relationship by having dinner at Claw, a very-trendy Manhattan restaurant.

Read more:
http://newsblaze.com/story/20100411110018kamw.nb/topstory.html

Enjoy!

Ryan Philippe SNL promo - they mention MacGruber

Ryan Phillippe hosts an all-new SNL with musical guest Ke$ha 4/17.



Of course the first promo is with Will Forte, the star of MacGruber. So they gotta mention MacGruber in there somewhere. =^)

Who's Ke$ha? Yonder...



So I bet the next promo has Ryan with Kristen Wiig!

Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Interview with Kristen Wiig - she's not funny.

Here's a sweet interview. Kristen reveals that her untitled Bridesmaids movie actually isn't about the wedding. She also reveals how she doesn't like her newfound fame...



People expect Kristen Wiig to be funny. She has, after all, been a standout on Saturday Night Live for the past five seasons, embodying dozens of indelible, hilarious characters every week, including Penelope, the petty underminer, the Target Lady, Suze Orman and Nancy Pelosi. She’s the woman who stole her everyscene in Knocked Up and Whip It, and does so again in this month’s MacGruber. She’s the woman who will next star in a film she co-wrote, which is being produced by Hollywood’s reigning comedy king Judd Apatow. But despite these credentials, when people meet Wiig, their expectations aren’t always met: when she’s playing herself, Wiig isn’t that funny.

When I was living in L.A., I would be out and people would be like, ‘Oh, you’re funny? Do something funny.’ People expect that,” Wiig says. “But it’s what I do for a living. I’m definitely a silly person around people that I know very well, but I’m not the kind of person who shushes everybody in the room to tell a story. I’m just not good at it. Certain people are engaging and they do voices and you’re hanging on every word even though they’re not really saying much. I’m not like that at all. I’m a good listener. I like to talk about real stuff. I think people would be surprised at how quiet and sometimes socially awkward I can be. I’m just a normal person, you know?”

I didn’t. But, over a cup of coffee in the lobby of Midtown Manhattan’s London Hotel, I’m going to learn. Here are the things the 36-year- old actress reveals during our hour-long conversation: she draws portraits and buildings in pen and ink; she tries to give handmade birthday cards; she only drinks one coffee a day; she’s a vegetarian; her boyfriend thinks she’s messy, but she keeps her dressing room pristine; she’s polite and thoughtful. Here are the things she’s saving for work: jokes, voices and quips of any kind. Wiig barely relays any anecdotes. Especially at the beginning of this interview, she rarely answers questions with more than a sentence or two. Sometimes we talk in circles. To wit:

BB: A screenplay that you wrote, which Judd Apatow is making into a film, is going into production. Tell me about that. I wrote it with my friend Annie [Mumolo].

And when does that start? It’s kind of starting now. We’re sort of in production, I think.

That’s a big deal.
No. [Laughs.]

It doesn’t feel different than other stuff? No, it totally does. I don’t know. I just won’t believe it until I’m actually on set shooting.

So it does feel like it’s on a larger scale?
Larger, as opposed to… ?

The other movies you’ve done. Yeah, because it’s my first starring thing.

Are you trying not to think about it like that? Yeah. It’s my first starring role. It is different. It’s weird.

How is it weird?
It’s weird because sometimes I just think to myself, I can’t believe this is happening.

If I weren’t trying to demonstrate that Wiig, the woman who has appeared on televisions across the country singing and dancing with a huge, fake forehead and tiny, tiny hands, is as shy as she insists, the above exchange would have been edited down to this: “We’re in production, but I just won’t believe it until I’m actually on set shooting. It’s my first starring role. It’s weird because sometimes I just think to myself, I can’t believe this is happening.” Note that six questions were required to elicit a three-sentence response from Wiig, who, as Judy Grimes, the “just kidding” lady, can rattle off something like 50 clauses in under a minute—in response to zero questions.



There’s a stereotypical story about people who become comedians: The comic is wrestling with some deep, dark, childhood trauma, and uses comedy as a way to process his or her pain. This same pain gives the comedy its necessary edge, the measure of truth that all great jokes need to burn the way they should. Comedians like this are perpetually engaged in a complex performance about themselves. Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Robin Williams and Sarah Silverman, for example, are their own best material.

But this creation myth doesn’t fit Wiig. As an improv specialist—before starting at SNL, she was part of L.A.’s famous improv group, the Groundlings—rather than a stand-up comedian, Wiig is not her own best source material. Other people are—usually people who are so outlandish and outsize they seem not of this earth. (Even when Wiig impersonates a real person, like Kathie Lee Gifford, she doesn’t think of her that way: “When I do her, I don’t think, I’m doing Kathy Lee Gifford. I think, I’m doing this character.”) This kind of comedy isn’t a way of exorcising one’s demons; it’s a way of getting out of one’s own skin.

Do you consider comedy a way to access parts of your personality that aren’t easily accessed in real life? Like, do you get easily embarrassed?
Oh, I get so easily embarrassed! That’s very true. I do.

You obviously don’t get embarrassed when you’re… No, because I’m not myself. I’ve never been myself on the show. I’ve never shown up to the Weekend Update desk going, Hi, this is Kristen. It’s like two different people to me.

So, yes, while Judy Grimes spits out 1,000 words a minute, Kristen Wiig does not. And maybe that’s why Kristen Wiig likes to play characters like Judy Grimes so much.

****

Wiig’s characters come from anywhere and everywhere. “Some of them were inspired by things I see, family members or just a situation that might be funny,” she says. “Penelope is based very loosely on someone I know. I was like, really? You’re going to one- up that? I’m getting a massage in two days and you’re going to say that you’re getting one tomorrow? She did that a couple of times and I completely exaggerated it and turned it up a thousand.” Other characters spring from zanier sources. “You’re sitting with the writers and sometimes you have no idea what you’re going to write,” Wiig explains. “You’re just kind of joking around and trying to make each other laugh. Then, one of us says something stupid and we’re like, ‘Should we write that?’ Then, sometimes we’re like, ‘Why are we writing this? That’s so dumb.’ Those are my people.”

Despite her love, and obvious talent, for comedy, Wiig thinks of herself as an actor, not a comedian. “I love performing and improvising and doing comedy every week,” she says. “At the same time, when I think about films that I want to do, they’re not all comedies. Obviously, I don’t get a lot of scripts where I’m a drug addict. I don’t get a lot of ‘serious’ scripts, but the ones I get are exciting. The non-comedic roles that I’ve done have been so fulfilling.”

Up next, however, are more comedies. First is MacGruber, based on the SNL spoof of MacGyver, starring her castmate Will Forte. “When they were writing the script they were like, ‘Let’s go * balls out.’” Wiig says. “And they did. It’s so good.”

After that, she intends to focus on the Untitled Kristen Wiig Project, the Judd Apatow-produced film that will be directed by Freaks and Geeks creator Paul Feig. It’s Wiig’s first screenplay and, contrary to websites claiming its name was Bridesmaids, the film has little to do with weddings. “There is a wedding involved,” she says, “but it’s more about a friendship. We [Wiig and Annie Mumolo, who will also star in the film] started writing this movie almost four years ago, before there were all of these movies about weddings. Then, all of a sudden, there were so many in one year. We were like, Uh-oh.”

If the film is as big of a smash as some of Apatow’s previous productions (Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Wiig could conceivably become a movie star. It’s too bad, then, that fame is the part of her job Wiig likes least. “Fame is sort of the downside to what I do. It doesn’t interest me at all. Acting and being in the public, to me, are two different things,” she says. Then, simultaneously sighing and smiling, because she’s self-aware enough to feel awkward carping about any part of her life, she says, “It’s really hard, to be honest. I’m such a private person.”

From:
http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/saturday-night-sunday-morning-with-kristen-wiig/17517
=======================

I think one reservation I have about this interview is that the author seems to be criticizing her a little for not being outgoing. Who cares if you have to ask more questions? She's still funny, but only when she's comfortable. Nothing's wrong with that.

Enjoy!

Monday, April 12, 2010

MacGruber episode of SNL this week?



Recent Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe and Ryan Phillippe will each host Saturday Night Live for the first time later this month, NBC announced Thursday.

Phillippe will make his hosting debut April 17 along with first-time musical performer Ke$ha. Phillippe will star in next month's big-screen version of the SNL sketch "MacGruber" alongside Will Forte and Kristen Wiig.

Video: Justin Bieber on his craziest fan

The show will welcome Precious star Sidibe the following week, on April 24, along with musical guest MGMT.

Phillippe and Sidibe will follow former SNL star and head writer Tina Fey, who ... return[ed] to host the series for the second time April 10.

Fey — who co-stars in the feature film Date Night with Steve Carell, ... is also set to co-host the show's Mother's Day special with Betty White, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch.

From:
http://www.seattlepi.com/tvguide/417750_tvgif1.html

So with Will, Ryan, and Kristen on the show, they could pretty much do a MacGruber SNL episode. =^)

What do you think?

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Kristen Wiig - is Aunt Linda (4/10/10)

The Update Cultural Correspondent is back with her Spring movie reviews.



Enjoy!

Kristen Wiig is a mom on the Sarah Palin Network

Commercial Sarah Palin Network

Sarah Palin previews her new network line up.

Tina Fey ... Sarah Palin
Bobby Moynihan ... Ned Redstone
Andy Samberg ... doctor
Jenny Slate ... daughter
Jason Sudeikis ... Todd Palin
Kenan Thompson ... guy
Kenan Thompson ... announcer (voice)
Kristen Wiig ... mother



Poor Kristen. =^)

Enjoy!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Documentary on the SNL Standby Line

I found this documentary interesting, so I wanted to share it. It's old, but Kristen was on during this season (Peyton Manning episode). No real mention of the current cast. It's more about the line.



Louise is quite a card!

New SNL tonight with Tina Fey!

Enjoy!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Kristen Wiig Has Known Her Boyfriend for 21 Years

Interview with Kristen. Quotes are bolded.



Kristen Wiig's fame and fortune isn't helping her much in the dating game – she's known her longtime boyfriend since she was 15!

"I like him a lot," says Wiig, 36, of actor and producer Brian Petsos, at a screening of her new movie MacGruber at Austin's South by Southwest Festival. "He's so terrific."

Wiig and Petsos, who also appears in the movie with Saturday Night Live castmate and pal Will Forte, have known each other for so long, it's his take that keeps her grounded.

"I still don't feel famous," she says. "But when I was just starting out in the business, I'd worry about what I said or what people thought. He's helping me a lot with that. His take is, 'Who cares?' "

"I'll do an interview and say something," she adds, "and then see it in print and think, 'I didn't mean it like that. I was just being sarcastic.' "

Being surrounded by people she really likes also helps. "At SNL, everyone loves everybody," she says. "We are so boring because we all love each other." Case in point? They even had fun when their flight to Texas was delayed by three hours. Forte and Wiig, along with costar Ryan Phillippe and director Jorma Taccone got stuck in the airport on the way to Austin and decided to make the most of it at the bar.

"Thank god we were all together trying to get here," she says. "There were six people from SNL there at the bar playing dumb games and laughing to make the time go faster. I felt sorry for everybody else."

Forte seconds that.

"Kristen Wiig is the best," Forte says. "She is the funniest person in the world and I love her like my sister."

From:
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20352303,00.html

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Kristen Wiig - MacGruber interview



Kristen Wiig has come up with some of Saturday Night Live’s best characters of the current cast. Her character in the MacGruber movie is not her own, but she gave it her trademark physical bravado.

“I knew when they were writing it, it was going to take place sort of later than the sketch world,” Wiig said. “They were so great and smart to include Maya and have that storyline kind of tied together, because she used to be in the sketches, and I thought it was really cool. And I didn’t know to the extent of what my character was going to do, but I thought the music thing was really funny.”

Wiig plays Vicki St. Elmo, MacGruber’s partner and love interest on a mission to stop Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer). If that sounds crazy, imagine the obligatory sex scene Wiig and Will Forte had to do.

“If you watch the movie again, you will see that I’m fully laughing. I turned my head, and when I saw the screening of it, I was like, ‘They can’t use that take!’ Because I’m fully laughing. No one else noticed it, but I’m turning my head and fully laughing. It was probably 100 degrees, and then when they would cut they would just turn on a little fan. It wasn’t even an air conditioner, it was just like a little fan and we would stand in front of it. We had like sweat and he had his little sock on, and I had this weird nightgown tube thing.”

Forte was obviously on top, so gravity allowed all of his sweat to drip onto Wiig. “Oh, just like drips of sweat coming from the belly button. Bew bew bew!”

The scene goes past the point where it stops being funny, and on to where it becomes funny again. “You have to find that time in between because when it gets to the point when it’s too long, then you get that second wave of people laughing because it’s so long, but you have to figure it out.”

Vicki St. Elmo might not be as broad a character as Gilly, but Wiig knows what to do. “I think you just have to adjust it to what project you’re doing. I think SNL is probably the biggest that I act, just because it’s that charactery comedy stuff. But it just depends on what you’re doing; if you’re doing something in a movie that’s supposed to be understated and real, I try to do that.”

MacGruber opens to theaters on May 21st.

From:
target=_blankhttp://www.canmag.com/nw/15586-macgruber-kristen-wiig-interview
=================

So we get an appearance from Maya Rudolph and find out what happened to her character. I would be in heaven if Shia LeBeuf appeared as MacGruber's son with Andy Samberg as his gay boyfriend.

Also apparently there's a long and brutal love scene between Kristen and Will.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Box Office Update - How To Train Your Dragon

How well did Kristen's current movie do, How to Train Your Dragon?

Weekend update...



Domestic Total as of Apr. 4, 2010: $92,326,000

Worldwide: $134,626,810

Production Budget: $165 million

For starters, it's the #1 dragon movie of all time...

1 How to Train Your Dragon P/DW $92,326,000 3/26/10
2 Eragon Fox $75,030,163 12/15/06
3 Dragonheart Uni. $51,367,375 25/31/96
4 Reign of Fire BV $43,061,982 7/12/02
5 Dungeons & Dragons NL $15,220,685 12/8/00
6 Dragonslayer Par. $14,110,013 6/26/81
7 Dragon Wars Free $10,977,721 9/14/07


Comparatively to other DreamWorks animations, in week 2, it is ahead of Shark Tale, but behind where Madagascar, Monsters VS Aliens, Madagascar 2, and Kung-Fu Panda were at Week 2.

Specifics: http://boxofficemojo.com/showdowns/chart/?view=weekend&id=dwcganivs.htm

However, it is doing much better than Robots, Bee Movie, Over the Hedge, and Chicken Little were doing at this point.

So it will make a profit, but it probably won't get a sequel.

Enjoy!

Kristen Wiig at the SXSW premiere of MacGruber





See more photos here:
http://kristenwiigfan.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=63

Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Kristen Wiig - Latest MacGruber trailer

This one reveals that Kristen is the love interest of the film...

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&from=sp&fg=MsnEntertainment_MoviesTrailersGP2_a&vid=5a75d986-f4be-483c-bfff-06d1c1686bf4" target="_new" title="Exclusive: 'MacGruber' Trailer (Mature Audiences)">Video: Exclusive: 'MacGruber' Trailer (Mature Audiences)</a>

WARNING: Language and violence. You gotta clock in your birth date to watch it.

Enjoy!

Kristen Wiig to host WWE Raw on April 19th!!!



As you may already be aware, MACGRUBER stars Will Forte, Kristen Wiig and Ryan Phillippe will be hosting RAW on April 19th. MacGruber In theaters May 21, 2010.

http://www.wrestlingnewsworld.com/wwe-news/new-macgruber-trailer-cast-guest-hosting-wwe-raw-on-4-19.php

Enjoy!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Maya Rudolph to appear in Kristen Wiig's wedding movie

The movie is set to release on May 13, 2011.

Maya Rudolph Is The Bride-To-Be In Kristen Wiig's Wedding Movie



As reported by Production Weekly via Tweeter, the Untitled Kristen Wiig Project is actually called Bridesmaids and will feature Rudolph as the bride-to-be, Lillian, and Wiig as her bridesmaid, Annie. There are no plot details to report just yet, but the fact that it involves Saturday Night Live’s leading lady and pastime favorite suggests it won’t be Bride Wars 2.

Providing the film with a bonus dose of potential is producer Judd Apatow. If the guy can make virginity and having babies funny, he’s got to be able to do something special with the madness of getting married. This will also mark Wiig’s first attempt at writing and producing. If her ability to come up with good gags is anything like her comedic timing, this could be Wiig’s Baby Mama.

From:
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Maya-Rudolph-Is-The-Bride-To-Be-In-Kristen-Wiig-s-Wedding-Movie-17907.html
=====================

Note that Kristen is writing and producing her first starring role! Not bad!

Baby Momma? I certainly hope this is bigger than Baby Momma!

Enjoy!

Vote for us in the new IF contest

Click here to go vote for our "bananas" picture in the new IF contest:

http://www.if.net/contests/general/2564151?cid=2564801

Thanks!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

New Despicable Me trailer

Check out the new trailer for an upcoming Kristen Wiig film...



Enjoy!

Kristen Wiig - Hot Video

Lawrence Welk Show - 10/1/11

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