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Winnipeg Free Press
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Bad bromance original, cliché-resistant, complex
Exploring the arcane mysteries of adult male relationships, this cringe comedy features cultie sketch comedian Tim Robinson (I Think You Should Leave) in his first lead movie role. Channelling Robinson's bizarro vibe, this feel-bad film is exquisitely uncomfortable and laugh-out-loud funny. More than anything, though, Friendship is genuinely unpredictable and that's a rare quality these days. Much of that unpredictability comes from Robinson's sublimely strange comic approach to the character of Craig, a sad-sack suburban guy who favours beigey-browny clothes and a lot of routines. Spencer Pazer / A24 Friendship is a vehicle for comedian Tim Robinson (left) who plays lonely Craig. Craig works at a tech company that specializes in luring people into addictive relationships with their devices. He loves his wife Tami (House of Cards' Kate Mara) but fears losing her, a feeling he desperately tamps down. He's unable to bond with his teenage son Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer of Shazam!). But most crucially, at least for this story, Craig has no friends. Taking a misdelivered package next door to the new neighbours, Craig meets Austin (Paul Rudd), an effortlessly charismatic TV weatherman with a handlebar moustache. Soon, the freewheeling Austin gets Craig into impromptu mushroom hunting and illicit explorations of 19th-century aqueducts. Craig is now smoking herbal cigarettes and listening to punk. He's signing off on conversations by saying, 'Stay curious.' But the best, best, bestest thing for Craig is the casual Friday night hang with other guys in Austin's garage. Unfortunately, trying to be casual makes Craig even more inept and panicked and needy than usual. After a misfiring male-bonding exercise, Craig is banished from Austin's charmed circle. And then things get really, really uncomfortable. Director and scripter Andrew DeYoung, who has worked mostly in TV comedy (Our Flag Means Death, Shrill, High Fidelity), wrote this movie specifically for Robinson, and Robinson delivers for him. Robinson is one of those comedians who doesn't have to say or do funny things. He just is funny. Friendship could risk coming off as stretched-out sketch comedy, with its abrupt pacing and odd tonal shifts and underwritten minor characters, but somehow Robinson, with his endlessly malleable face, awkward body language and weirdo energy, holds it together. There are hilarious stray details — Craig's preferred beige clothing brand is 'Ocean View Dining.' There are terrific extended sequences, including a toad-licking drug trip that completely undermines the tropes of cinematic psychedelia. A24 Kate Mara and Tim Robinson play husband and wife in Friendship. DeYoung has a distinct stylistic approach, favouring a jumpy, jittery camera and odd effects that can be both beautiful and off-balance. Craig's frequent fantasy sequences have the hazy, overexposed look of '70s Polaroids. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. There are moments that call up movies like I Love You, Man (which also featured Rudd) and The Cable Guy, but Friendship manages to be its very own thing — original, cliché-resistant and even complex. Austin seems genial but Rudd conveys glints of smug self-satisfaction. Craig can be offputtingly awful, but there's something relatably human in his confused emotional flailing and his outside-looking-in unhappiness. And that's maybe the most uncomfortable thing about Friendship. This anarchistic comic take on bad bromance is also a startlingly effective comment on 21st-century loneliness. You'll laugh till you cry. Alison GillmorWriter Studying at the University of Winnipeg and later Toronto's York University, Alison Gillmor planned to become an art historian. She ended up catching the journalism bug when she started as visual arts reviewer at the Winnipeg Free Press in 1992. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Perth Now
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Kevin Spacey declares it's 'nice to be back' as he accepts lifetime achievement award
Kevin Spacey declared it's "nice to be back" before accepting a lifetime achievement award during a charity gala in France. The 'House of Cards' star made a return to the spotlight at the Better World Fund Gala in Cannes to accept a prize honouring "excellence in film and television" marking his first major public appearance since he was cleared of sexual assault charges in London in 2023 - and Spacey used his speech to address his legal issues. According to Spacey thanked Better World Fund Gala President and Founder Manuel Collas de La Rochefor inviting him to the event, saying: "I'd like to congratulate Manuel for the decision to invite me here tonight to accept this award,. "Who would have ever thought that honoring someone who has been exonerated in every court room he's ever walked into would be thought of as a brave idea. But here we are." He went on to talk about screenwriter Dalton Trumbo - who was blacklisted from Hollywood after being accused of having Communist links - and praised the "bravery" of actor Kirk Douglas for standing up for Trumbo and giving him the chance to pen the screenplay for his Oscar-winning movie 'Spartacus'. Space added: "Kirk Douglas took the risk, and would later say ... 'It's easier for us actors to play the heroes on screen. We get to fight the bad guys and stand up for justice. But in real life, the choices are not always so clear. There are times when one has to stand up for principal'. "I've learned a lot from history - it often repeats itself. The Blacklist was a terrible time in our history [we must remember] so that it never happens again." He went on to praise his manager Evan Lowenstein for helping him through the tough times. Spacey said: "Through Evan, I have learned to seek understanding instead of judgement and with this guidance, I've been able to come out these last few challenging years, not angry, not bitter, not resentful, but more present, more loving, more understanding and more forgiving in my life." Spacey's speech came after he walked the red carpet at the event and told reporters: "I feel surrounded by so much affection and love. "I've heard from so many of my friends, and colleagues and co-stars in the last week since this award was announced. I feel surrounded by support and it's very nice to be back." When asked if he is planning a career comeback, Spacey replied: "Well, I'm glad to be working - I'll tell you that!" Spacey denied all allegations of misconduct against him and he was acquitted of nine sexual assault charges he faced in the UK in 2023. He was also found not liable in a sexual assault lawsuit filed in New York which was dismissed in 2022.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kevin Spacey declares it's 'nice to be back' as he accepts lifetime achievement award
Kevin Spacey declared it's "nice to be back" before accepting a lifetime achievement award during a charity gala in France. The 'House of Cards' star made a return to the spotlight at the Better World Fund Gala in Cannes to accept a prize honouring "excellence in film and television" marking his first major public appearance since he was cleared of sexual assault charges in London in 2023 - and Spacey used his speech to address his legal issues. According to Spacey thanked Better World Fund Gala President and Founder Manuel Collas de La Rochefor inviting him to the event, saying: "I'd like to congratulate Manuel for the decision to invite me here tonight to accept this award,. "Who would have ever thought that honoring someone who has been exonerated in every court room he's ever walked into would be thought of as a brave idea. But here we are." He went on to talk about screenwriter Dalton Trumbo - who was blacklisted from Hollywood after being accused of having Communist links - and praised the "bravery" of actor Kirk Douglas for standing up for Trumbo and giving him the chance to pen the screenplay for his Oscar-winning movie 'Spartacus'. Space added: "Kirk Douglas took the risk, and would later say ... 'It's easier for us actors to play the heroes on screen. We get to fight the bad guys and stand up for justice. But in real life, the choices are not always so clear. There are times when one has to stand up for principal'. "I've learned a lot from history - it often repeats itself. The Blacklist was a terrible time in our history [we must remember] so that it never happens again." He went on to praise his manager Evan Lowenstein for helping him through the tough times. Spacey said: "Through Evan, I have learned to seek understanding instead of judgement and with this guidance, I've been able to come out these last few challenging years, not angry, not bitter, not resentful, but more present, more loving, more understanding and more forgiving in my life." Spacey's speech came after he walked the red carpet at the event and told reporters: "I feel surrounded by so much affection and love. "I've heard from so many of my friends, and colleagues and co-stars in the last week since this award was announced. I feel surrounded by support and it's very nice to be back." When asked if he is planning a career comeback, Spacey replied: "Well, I'm glad to be working - I'll tell you that!" Spacey denied all allegations of misconduct against him and he was acquitted of nine sexual assault charges he faced in the UK in 2023. He was also found not liable in a sexual assault lawsuit filed in New York which was dismissed in 2022.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lainie Miller, Burlesque Dancer in ‘The Graduate' and Longtime Hollywood Labor Advocate, Dies at 84
Lainie Miller, who performed a dazzling burlesque number in The Graduate before going on to work as a longtime Hollywood labor advocate, script supervisor, business agent and producer, has died. She was 84. Miller died Tuesday in her Los Angeles home in Toluca Lake after a battle with metastatic cancer, a family spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. More from The Hollywood Reporter James Foley, Director of 'Glengarry Glen Ross,' 'House of Cards' and 'Fifty Shades,' Dies at 71 Jirí Bartoska, Czech Actor and Longtime Karlovy Vary Film Festival President, Dies at 78 Paul Nichols, Longtime TV Publicist, Dies at 76 Her husband, the noted character actor Dick Miller — he appeared in lots of Roger Corman and Joe Dante films, among them A Bucket of Blood and Gremlins — died in January 2019 at age 90. They were together for nearly 60 years. Born Sheila Elaine in Ontario, Canada, in March 1941, she took up dance as a child to recover from polio, which had her in an iron lung from ages 3 to 5. She trained in contortion and ballet for 13 years — she once performed in Swan Lake at Toronto's Royal Alexandra, the oldest operating theater in North America — and acted in weekly radio dramas at the CBC until age 12 before moving to Hollywood with a nightclub act when she was 17. She went on to perform burlesque as a Las Vegas showgirl and as a headliner with Minsky's Revue, then used her experience to play a stripper in a memorable scene that humiliates Katharine Ross' Elaine Robinson in Mike Nichols' The Graduate (1967). To provide stability for her daughter, Barbara Ann, Miller left acting in 1966 to start a career in nursing, putting her paycheck from the Paramount film toward her studies. 'I wanted to start exercising my brains — for a change,' she said. 'My tassels were getting tired.' Miller rose to positions of director of nurses, associate hospital administrator and chief labor negotiator before returning to the film industry in the 1980s as an IATSE 871 script supervisor, working on the 1988-90 syndicated series Freddy's Nightmares and on the 1996 film Down Periscope, among other projects. She served as business agent for more than a decade as well. Miller also spent time in various capacities with MPI Pension and Health and IATSE as a labor delegate for three decades. She also co-executive produced the 2009 Little League film The Perfect Game, directed by William Dear and starring Clifton Collins Jr. Miller met her future husband at Schwab's Pharmacy in Hollywood, recognizing him at the drugstore counter from Corman's War of the Satellites (1958). 'That guy could put his shoes under my bed anytime,' she said. In their later years, they enjoyed Latin and swing dancing at Las Hadas in Northridge and traveled the world on cruises when they weren't signing autographs at fan conventions around the country. Their story is memorialized in the documentary That Guy Dick Miller (2014), whose premiere at South by Southwest came on her 73rd birthday. 'I was his fan before I met him,' she told the Asbury Park Press before a screening, 'so I'm living a dream.' 'Fierce, fabulous, passionate, witty and romantic are just some of the words friends and loved ones use to describe Lainie, who often held down the fort with enormous tenacity and chutzpah so her husband could maintain a career as an actor — the quintessential woman-behind-the-man,' her family noted. Survivors include her granddaughter (and best friend), Autumn; her grandson-in-law, Ceaser; and her beloved dog, Popeye. She was predeceased by her brother, Sheldon, and Barbara Ann. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now "A Nutless Monkey Could Do Your Job": From Abusive to Angst-Ridden, 16 Memorable Studio Exec Portrayals in Film and TV The 10 Best Baseball Movies of All Time, Ranked
Ammon
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Ammon
James Foley, ‘Glengarry Glen Ross' director, dies at 71
Ammon News - American James Foley, a journeyman director best known for 'Glengarry Glen Ross,' has died. He was 71. He died earlier this week after a yearlong battle with brain cancer, his representative, Taylor Lomax, said Friday. In his long and varied career, Foley directed Madonna music videos, 12 episodes of 'House of Cards' and the two 'Fifty Shades of Grey' sequels, but it was his 1992 adaptation of David Mamet's foulmouthed Pulitzer Prize winning play that stood above the rest. Although it wasn't a hit at the time, 'Glengarry Glen Ross' wormed its way into the culture and grew into an oft-quoted cult favorite, especially Alec Baldwin's made-for-the-film 'always be closing' monologue. Born on Dec. 28, 1953, in Brooklyn, Foley studied film in graduate school at the University of Southern California. Legend has it that Hal Ashby once wandered into a film school party where his short happened to be playing at the time and he took a liking to him. Foley would later attribute his ability to make his first feature, 'Reckless,' a 1984 romantic drama about mismatched teenagers in love starring Daryl Hannah, Aidan Quinn and Adam Baldwin, to the Ashby stamp of approval. It was also the first screenplay credited to Chris Columbus, though there were reports of creative differences. He also directed several music videos for Madonna including 'Papa Don't Preach,' 'Live to Tell,' and 'Who's That Girl,' and an episode of 'Twin Peaks.' AP
