Kristen Wiig is 3x Emmy-nominated and arguably the most successful female SNL player of all time. (1) She has 57 impressions. (2) She has 27 recurring characters. (3) She's been in 20 movies. (4) She wrote/acted in the hit film, Bridesmaids... NEXT FILMS: Friends with Kids, Revenge for Jolly, Imogene, Comedian, How to Train Your Dragon 2, & Clown Girl.
Suzie: Let me be clear with you now. When we say things like, “I don’t think so,” or “I’m not sure,” or we close the door in your face that means, no! Why can’t you get that? Nathan: Well it.. Suzie: Shut up! Okay? Let me be even more clear with you Nathan. We. Don’t. Like. You. Is that clear enough for you?! You’re dull. You talk too much. You never listen. You’re always in our yard. I don’t know what the hell you’re bar-b-queing over there, but it stinks. You lay out in your front yard, and listen to your car radio! You are the worst neighbor in the world! We don’t like you! Is that clear enough for you, Nathan?! IS THAT CLEAR?! SHUT UP!
After giving television audiences Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill, writer/director Mike Judge hit the big screen with Office Space and Idiocracy, all of which have given Judge a loyal fan base. Earlier this year, Mike Judge returned to the director's chair after writing Extract, starring Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig, J.K. Simmons, and Ben Affleck, about an extract factory owner who suffers a series of disasters that spiral out of control as workplace injuries, adultery, and thieves threaten both his personal and professional life.
Now that Extract is about to make its DVD and Blu-ray debut on December 22, with extended Extract scenes and a deleted scene on the Blu-ray edition, we caught up with writer/director Mike Judge for a virtual Extract chat to learn more about Mike Judge's Secret Recipe, a bonus that can be found on both home video versions of Extract.
Sadly, a Mike Judge film starring Bateman, Kunis, Wiig, Collins, Ben Affleck, and J.K. Simmons doesn't seem to merit a decent set of bonus features. The DVD only includes “Mike Judge’s Secret Recipe,” which takes a look at, well, Judge’s filmmaking recipe. Making the jump from spending $29.99 on the DVD to $39.99 on the Blu-ray only adds five extended scenes and one deleted scene. Seriously? No commentary? No gag reel? I’m eager to recommend seeing Extract but the disappointing special features make me hesitant to vouch for purchasing the DVD or Blu-ray. Just try suckering someone into getting it for you for the holidays.
The answer as to why there aren't more features comes from the Blu-ray version...
Extract will make its way to Blu-ray in 1.85:1 1080p video and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio 48kHz/24-bit. The DVD edition will include a lone bonus feature while Blu-ray will benefit from a pair of exclusives.
o Mike Judge's Secret Recipe - the ingredients for a classic Judge film o Deleted scene (BD exclusive) o Extended scenes (BD exclusive)
Miramax has set an SRP of $39.99 for Extract on Blu-ray which should bring Amazon.com pricing in around $28. Check back for that pre-order link when available.
Cheers to Kristen Wiig for moonlighting (or would that be daylighting?) from Saturday Night Live. The omnipresent sketch artist (who morphed into Madonna and Rep. Michele Bachmann on the season opener of SNL Weekend Update Thursday) steals the Sept. 27 episode of HBO's new detective comedy Bored to Death as a loopy boozehound who suspects her boyfriend is cheating on her. She's also hitting the big screen as Jason Bateman's unfaithful wife in Extract and a roller derby queen in Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It. (Plus, she's in the MacGruber movie, but we won't hold that against her.) With all this Kristen, we're totally Wiiging out!
What do you think—is there such a thing as too much Kristen Wiig? =======
Starring: Garret Dillahunt, Brian Petsos, Amy Seimetz, Kristen Wiig
Featuring Music and Performances by: Phosphorescent, Peter & The Wolf, The Relatives
A romantic drama about two couples shifting sexual dynamics over one night in a music bar.
Written and Directed by Chadd Harbold
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This is a new Independent film made by a Web team (hopefully it will at least make it to the independent film circuit). Kristen's trying a dramatic role, and it's cool to see her getting her hands dirty on the Web to make that happen. She continues to line up the supporting roles in comedy films, but it is a great career move to get dramatic pieces out there as much as she can, and independent Web films is one way to make that happen. Kristen, we wish you luck in getting more dramatic roles and higher billing in your films (hopefully Whip It will help).
Here are Kristen's coming films:
A$$ Backwards (2010) (pre-production) (rumored) MacGruber (2010) (filming) .... Vicki Despicable Me (2010) (post-production) (voice) Date Night (2010) (post-production) How to Train Your Dragon (2010) (post-production) (voice) .... Ruffnut ... aka How to Train Your Dragon: An IMAX 3D Experience (USA: IMAX version) Paul (2010) (post-production) .... Ruth Buggs All Good Things (2010) (completed) .... Lauren Fleck
This being a Kristen Wiig blog, we're centering our "Whip It" review around...
You guessed it!
KRISTEN WIIG
The trailer:
I went and saw the movie this week, based on the reviews. Overall, it's a fun movie that explores the roller derby life style. I'd recommend it for anyone. There's enough humor, romance, and drama to make everybody happy.
Drew Barrymore masterfully directs and paces the movie so that it isn't too bombastic but it moves along fast enough to keep you interested. Even if the movie does poorly, it should still launch Drew's career as a director.
And of course Ellen Page is a phenominal actress. She plays off of all the insecurities and crushes in her character, Bliss. The film is also well cast with familiar faces and great performances (including Andrew Wilson as Razor, Landon Pigg as Oliver, and Jimmy Fallon as Johnny Rocket). You'll even see Eve and enjoy the performances by unknown actresses (like the amusing Eva Destruction character).
Although it's a different movie, if you liked Juno, you'll like Whip It.
The story centers around Ellen Page's character, Bliss. Bliss is introduced to the world of roller derby, and she instantly falls in love with it and finds success with it.
In Whip It, Kristen Wiig is actually a main character, Maggie Mayhem, the captain of the Hurl Scouts (the team that Bliss joins). Kristen is on screen more than Juliette Lewis, Drew Barrymore, and anyone else from the rolly derby world that Ellen's Bliss character encounters.
Kristen was playing a dramatic role (with a few comedic awkward moments, but really it was a straight character). She proved to me that Kristen is going places as a lead comedian and as a lead dramatic actress. Kristen plays Maggie as a single mom who spends most of her time with her son. She acts as the mentor/aunt to Ellen's Bliss (also called Babe Ruthless). She also gives Bliss some helpful advice to not run from her family and friends.
So far, Kristen Wiig has cut out a niche market as a supporting comedy actress in films (already!). And I think the starring role that Kristen has coming in a Judd Apatow comedy is the next logical step.
My guess is that this is Kriten's second-to-last season on SNL. When Kristen leaves SNL, she'll have a healthy film career open for her to take.
Kristen has been in 16 films already, and she has 8 new films lined up. To date, the most successful (film-wise) female alumni from SNL has been Molly Shannon, who has had 31 films, but only one was a notable starring role (Superstar). Kristen will soon become the most successful female movie star from SNL.
Okay, so the first disclaimer is that this is a list from a very narrow perspective. This list just shows who is the most successful SNL alumni from the perspective of box office results. (It's the top 20.)
Now, this takes into account every type of role, even small side roles. This is why Kristen Wiig is on this list. She's already appeared in 14 filmes, but most of them have been small roles (Whip It is her biggest role so far). Plus even though they were small roles, there were several hits (like Ice Age 3). So that's why Kristen made this list.
It's also why you'll see bizarre things like Molly Shannon beating out Will Ferrell, even though Molly has only had one starring role. That also explains why Rob Schneider is just behind Adam Sandler. It's pretty much because Rob Schneider is in most of Adam's films. So as far as this list is concerned, Rob has held onto Adam's coat and enjoyed the ride.
So this list would be totally different if it focused on starring roles. It doesn't reflect which actor has the biggest box office draw. This list is a bigger advantage to those actors who managed to do smaller roles in more successful movies rather than fewer starring roles.
Now the next disclaimer is that the makers of this list seemed to have forgotten that Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, and others were on Saturday Night Live. And there's Bill Hader. Bill should be on here, because he was in You Me and Dupree, Knocked Up, Super Bad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, Night at the Museum 2, and Ice Age 3 (and those are only the hits). So he would actually be higher than Kristen on this list.
At least they caught some of the actors who are less known to have been on SNL, such as Billy Crystal and Joan Cusack.
It's also interesting that Amy Poehler and Kristen Wiig are the only two actors who are more successful domestically than they are internationally. (That's impossible; so it's based on some errors in the numbers on the lower lists.)
I also wonder why they ommitted Almost Heroes from Chris Farley's list. So, in other words, this list is no way near perfect. But it's still interesting.
Go check out Whip It in the theaters! Here's an interview and clips of Kristen to wet your appetite:
Interview, Making of, and clips are in there!
At the end, they tricked us and Ellen didn't jump over Kristen (only I was too confused to know they were trying to trick us). Nice trick!
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In the box office, Whip It isn't doing too hot. It's not supposed to, because it's an indie film. However, it's being promoted with enough energy where it should be doing much better than $5 million in 7 days. It's also in 1,700 theaters, which is half of what blockbusters get. However, it's definitely not making half the business that blockbusters make. That's a shame. I hope it goes on to get awards and do better in the DVD release.
Go here for the latest box office report on Whip It:
