Latest news with #PamBrady
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Smurfs' Review: Rihanna and James Corden Lead All-Star Voice Cast in a Reboot That Chooses Chaos Over Charm
It's been eight years since the last theatrical Smurfs movie, and you know what that means. A whole new crop of very young children are primed to experience their favorite animated characters on the big screen. Unfortunately, what they're getting is Paramount's new reboot featuring the sort of ridiculously overstuffed big-name cast whose names will mean absolutely nothing to them but will provide some reassurance to their adult chaperones, who would no doubt prefer to be watching the new I Know What You Did Last Summer at the adjoining multiplex theater. Not-so-imaginatively titled Smurfs, this latest incarnation represents the sort of charmless, wildly chaotic animated effort that has the unintended effect of reminding us why cutting publicly funded children's television is such a terrible idea. It's directed by Chris Miller (Puss in Boots, Shrek the Third), who also voices Grouchy Smurf. Watching the movie makes it easy to understand why he chose that character. More from The Hollywood Reporter Rise of the Machines: Inside Hollywood's AI Civil War 'Smurfs' Is a Rihanna Passion Project: "She Was Pursuing It" 'Poker Face' Boss Rian Johnson Delighted in That Finale Cliffhanger Tease: "Peacock Was a Little Nervous" The screenplay is by Pam Brady, who previously wrote such subversive animated efforts as South Park: Bigger, Long & Uncut and Team America: World Police, providing some hope that maybe this is all some big put-on. That's sadly not the case — instead, we get the sort of generic storyline in which evil wizards are once again intent on world domination, in this case by kidnapping Papa Smurf (John Goodman) in an attempt to procure a magic book that will help them achieve their ends. (At least I think that's what the story was. It seemed mostly incomprehensible to me, and asking the seven-year-old sitting nearby to explain it might have come across as creepy.) Anyway, it's up to Smurfette (voiced by Rihanna) to lead her fellow Smurfs in a mission to save their patriarch. Among them is No Name, who's suffering an identity crisis because, unlike such fellow Smurfs as Hefty Smurf (Alex Winter), Worry Smurf (Billie Lourd) and Vanity Smurf (Maya Erskine), he doesn't have a 'thing.' He's voiced by James Corden, and for those of you desperately missing Carpool Karaoke, rest assured that you get to hear Corden crooning a power ballad. Yes, this is one of those animated movies in which the characters periodically break into song, and sometimes even elaborate dance numbers. None of the songs, not even Rihanna's 'Friend of Mine,' proves particularly memorable. But there are certainly enough of them to fill the inevitable soundtrack album. The Smurfs' mission launches them into the real world, including such locations as Paris, the Australian Outback, and Munich, which only serve as unpleasant reminders of Sony's previous, misbegotten animated/live-action hybrids. The Australian section features a musical number showcasing CGI kangaroos, which even one of the characters aptly describes as 'weird.' It also serves to introduce us to the Snooterpoots — small, feathered, Minion-like creatures who will definitely be showing up at a toy store near you. Their leader, Mama Poot, is voiced by Natasha Lyonne, who uses her distinct gravelly voice to good comic effect. The Smurfs also venture into alternate universes, as if we didn't already get enough of that nonsense from the MCU. Weirdly, there's a lot of sibling stuff going on in the movie. The villains are brother evil wizards Razamel and Gargamel (both played by JP Karliak), who have serious rivalry issues. And Papa Smurf has not one but two brothers, Ken (the ever-reliable Nick Offerman) and long-lost Ron (Kurt Russell), who, needless to say, reappears by the story's end. It was telling that at a preview screening packed with young children, there was nary a laugh to be heard despite the film featuring one would-be joke after another. The sole exception was when one of the Smurfs referred to himself as 'kick-ass,' with the profanity bleeped out, which the kids found absolutely hilarious. If you look at the credits box accompanying this review, you'll see that the cast also includes such ringers as Amy Sedaris, Sandra Oh, Jimmy Kimmel, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham and Daniel Levy, among others. Few of them make any impression whatsoever, but it's comforting to know that already overpaid stars are getting big bucks to sit in recording booths for a couple of days while reading from scripts. Best of The Hollywood Reporter The 40 Best Films About the Immigrant Experience Wes Anderson's Movies Ranked From Worst to Best 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Solve the daily Crossword
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Smurfs review – Rihanna is star turn of the new generation of floppy-hatted blue elves
The star vocal turn of the very moderate new Smurfs film is Rihanna, phoning in an undemanding audio contribution as the female character named 'Smurfette'. But there is little to no music in this laborious slice of content, one of the many frustrating and disconcerting things about it. And for me, this film shows yet again that there is something about the Smurfs, those little Belgian creatures with blue skin and floppy-protuberant hats, which is basically kryptonite to comedy and entertainment. The script by Pam Brady (justly respected for her work on South Park and Team America: World Police) follows the template of being pretty bland for the sweet Smurfs themselves, but is sharpened up with one or two properly funny lines for the all-too-brief scenes featuring the evil wizard characters Razamel and Gargamel (both voiced by JP Karliak) whom the Smurfs are up against. In the Smurfs' home village, the one depressed Smurf is No Name Smurf (voiced by James Corden), who feels he has no real attribute or quality that marks him out. But then he discovers that he in fact has cosmic and magical powers, which are to come in vitally handy when the evil wizards kidnap Papa Smurf (John Goodman), intent on purloining a certain magic book secretly in his possession which would allow them, in concert with other wicked beings, to control the universe. This very uninteresting and uninspired story plods along for an hour and a half, though there are some almost-interesting surreal scenes when our heroes find themselves in weird alt-universe dimensions. There are also some decent gags featuring Sound Effect Smurf, who communicates in sound effects. But there seems to be a worrying assumption here that a film aimed at very little kids doesn't need to have a very interesting or engaging story. Smurfs is out now in Australia, and on 18 July in the UK and US.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Smurfs' Is a Rihanna Passion Project: 'She Was Pursuing It'
Getting Rihanna to star in the new Smurfs movie may seem like a big ask, but it turns out that may have been the easiest part of the process for director Chris Miller. The superstar voices Smurfette in the animated film, along with serving as a producer and recording original music for the project. At the Los Angeles premiere on Sunday, Miller joked to The Hollywood Reporter that he would love to take credit for bringing Rihanna in, but the reality was 'Rihanna wanted to play Smurfette in the Smurfs movie, she was pursuing it and wanting it. Talking to her, it became clear almost immediately like, 'Oh, you have to be Smurfette. You have to bring your perspective, your own voice, your authenticity to the character.'' More from The Hollywood Reporter Iggy Pop on Closing Out 'Superman' Soundtrack: Hero is "the Best Friend You Could Have" Camila Cabello Signs With Full Stop, Management Home For Harry Styles, John Mayer, Tate McRae Primary Wave Acquires Rights from Estate of Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green In addition to doing two songs for the film, Miller also points to 'a lot of needledrops, beautiful sonic landscapes that Rihanna helped create' and when it came to recording her voice work in the booth, he noted, 'It's kind of a joy because she's open and she's funny.' Rihanna — who brought her two young sons RZA and Riot to the premiere — is an admitted Smurfs superfan and heavily influenced the film's approach to Smurfette, as writer Pam Brady recalled how they were still working on scripts and trying to figure out the character when the star signed on. '[Rihanna] did an interview where she was like '[Smurfette] is badass, she takes no guff from anybody,' I'm like, 'Oh that's Smurfette.' And all of a sudden the way she saw her character locked it in for us,' Brady said. 'We acted like we knew what we were doing but we were like, 'Oh Rihanna has it, let's write that.'' The film also features a star-studded voice cast of John Goodman, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, James Corden, Natasha Lyonne, Alex Winter, Nick Kroll, Sandra Oh, Amy Sedaris, Xolo Maridueña and Billie Lourd. Waddingham — who said she's done a recent animated trio of Smurfs, Lilo & Stitch and The Garfield Movie for her young daughter — is also a longtime Smurfs fan and celebrated having Rihanna at the forefront as 'brilliant, inspired casting for a new generation, because her voice is so recognizable and she's a total badass.' Maridueña added that Rihanna's involvement 'was a huge part of the excitement in seeing what this movie was going to be' and he also signed on with his younger family members in mind: 'I've got little sisters, I'm always thinking of things that they can watch that they'll understand. The type of stuff I make is definitely not the type of stuff they appreciate, so something like Smurfs makes a lot of sense.' Smurfs hits theaters on Friday. Best of The Hollywood Reporter The 40 Best Films About the Immigrant Experience Wes Anderson's Movies Ranked From Worst to Best 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts
New York Times
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
5 Animated Political Satire Series to Stream
The state of American politics can feel so exaggerated and far-fetched that one of the best ways to represent it is through a medium made for such absurdity. Animated satirical series can depict our country's political figures and moments at their most bizarre, sometimes taking aim at a particular party or politician, and sometimes lambasting the general idea of America as a fair, free and democratic nation. What follows is a guide to animated satires of American politics and politicians from the first Bush administration to the Biden administration. #1 Happy Family USA (2025- ) This new series, created by the comedian Ramy Youssef and the writer Pam Brady, depicts a Muslim Egyptian American family in New Jersey who must learn to properly code-switch and project the image of a nonthreatening, properly assimilated family in order to carry on in the midst of the prejudice and jingoism of post-9/11 America. Much of the series focuses on the exploits and misadventures of Rumi (voiced by Youssef), who tries to find his place among his middle school peers. But beyond the more standard adolescent story lines, '#1 Happy Family USA' hilariously skewers the likes of Fox News and George W. Bush, and also offers a stringent critique of how American beliefs and values shifted at the expense of many Muslim citizens and people of color after 9/11. Streaming on Amazon Prime. American Dad! (2005- ) The series creator Seth MacFarlane (who also created 'Family Guy') has said that 'American Dad!' was inspired by his frustration with the 2000 presidential election and the Bush administration. The sitcom stars the Smith family, the patriarch of which, Stan, is a jingoistic far-right Republican who works for the C.I.A. Conservative politics take many of the satire's hits, but characters like Stan's hippie daughter and her boyfriend then husband represent leftist targets that get mocked regularly. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘#1 Happy Family USA' cocreator Ramy Youssef reveals how animation was the perfect way to capture the middle school experience
When the idea of #1 Happy Family USA was becoming a reality, part of what drew cocreator Ramy Youssef to do it as an animated show was the age of the show's protagonist. 'Middle school in general feels dramatic. [It] feels like the surveillance state. You go, who's looking at me? Is Courtney talking about me? What did she say? All of that stuff feels like a level of national security for a kid. There's no real wall of understanding that a kid's personal drama is not the biggest thing going on in the world,' he tells Gold Derby during our recent Meet the Experts: TV Animation panel. Doing this as an animated show has also given the show the perfect tone. 'There are things that we can animate here that would be just too dramatic, but in this format feel really alive and really fun.' The series, which can currently be streamed on Prime Video, follows the Husseins, an Egyptian-American Muslim family living in New Jersey as they navigate trying to be seen as a quintessential American family in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Youssef created the show alongside Pam Brady and stars Salma Hindy, Randa Jarrar, Alia Shawkat, Mandy Moore, Chris Redd, Kieran Culkin, and Timothy Olyphant. More from GoldDerby As Joel returns to 'The Last of Us,' cinematographer Catherine Goldschmidt explains what went into killing him off TV Animation roundtable panel: '#1 Happy Family USA,' 'Secret Level,' and 'Arcane' 'Secret Level' creator Tim Miller explains how he gets writers to create short stories based on video and role-playing games Youssef had a very specific idea of what he wanted the show to look like. 'I think part of what we were trying to nail is this feeling of could this show almost feel like a found VHS tape of something that came out in that time? So, we didn't want a modern computer animation look.' They ended up using an all-Muslim animation studio in Malaysia, which presented some additional unexpected challenges. 'We actually had to downgrade the computers that we were using in L.A. to fit what they were using in Malaysia. It's this really trippy process and they had not done something at this scale of a series.' He adds that his family has seen the show and that they have really seemed to enjoy it, especially since it's not directly based on specific instances in their life from that time period. His family particularly liked getting to see him do so many different things in the series. 'I got to do so much voice work on this, which Pam Brady honestly really encouraged me to wasn't exactly my goal but I got to play with that and play with creating. I wrote a bunch of songs for it as well.' This article and video are presented by Prime Video. Best of GoldDerby Making of 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' panel: Bringing the Balrog to life was 'like doing a slight of hand card trick' TV Animation roundtable panel: '#1 Happy Family USA,' 'Secret Level,' and 'Arcane' 'Secret Level' creator Tim Miller explains how he gets writers to create short stories based on video and role-playing games Click here to read the full article.
