Today’s A.V. Club AVQ&A is about unhappy endings, and I’m curious to hear what the Crassholes have to say about this topic. Mainstream American films end happily virtually every time. It’s also a safe bet that the happy ending will involve a heterosexual coupling–we can leave that discussion for Crasstalk’s Gay Day. But let’s expand the discussion to television and literature as well. What are some of your favorite unhappy endings? What unhappy endings don’t work for you or feel as contrived and manipulative as a forced happy ending?
hollywood
70 posts
It’s practically heresy to admit it in critical “cineaste” circles, but this is the truth: I like Romantic Comedies. When done well: There’s romance! There’s comedy! What’s not to like? Continue reading
She’s blonde. She’s pretty. She’s upbeat. She’s sweet. And she may be the most transgressive fictional character on screen right now, big or small. Her name is Leslie Knope. And I love her.
Confession: when Parks and Recreation first hit the airwaves in 2009, I didn’t quite get the show—or its central character played by Amy Poehler. I wanted to like it more than I did. It came with great auspices (Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, both of The Office), so I watched it, but something didn’t quite work for me.
I thought Leslie was a little too broad (starting with her joke of a name) and bordered on the silly. She was so happy. She didn’t seem all that smart. She couldn’t “read a room”. It felt like the creators were making fun of her, a comic technique that always leaves me cold. (If you don’t love your protagonist, why should I?) But as the show found its footing and improved (an oft reported ascension), and as the creators and Poehler refined and deepened the character, I started to see Leslie as something utterly fresh and new on television. Continue reading
In Movieline’s Broadsheet post this morning, Stu VanAirsdale linked to a column on Andrew Breitbart’s site, Big Hollywood. In the column, Patrick Courrielche goes on at some length about what it’s like to be conservative in liberal Hollywood, at one point describing an interaction with two gay man at a dinner meeting and likening his own experiences as a conservative in Hollywood to the experience of coming out as gay. Continue reading
Everyone loves lists and this one has ten great film performances that you should most definitely view before Hollywood decides to make it with an inferior actor.
We all know that we should avoid Grandpa Joe but have you heard about the bridal nightmare that is fictional character, Annie Banks? Continue reading
Eddie Murphy may have to leave his donkey at home; George Lucas continues his ruination of all things nerds love; Madonna makes a comedy without even trying; Alec Baldwin still has great hair; TNT decides it needs a little more space on their roster.
Today’s Hollywood Dish will do it live!
Two old guys hitch up their elastic waistband slacks and yell at their computers; some unfunny person tries to convince us that she’s funny based on the success record of the NBC network; Science Fiction to hopefully get a shot of adrenaline; Desperate Housewives is still on television; a superhero gets a part-time job, and the unemployment line is about to get royal.
This Hollywood Dish needs pudding and a nap.
The silver fox couldn’t keep a straight face last night during his Ridiculist segment as he launched into a series of puns describing actor Gerard Depardieu’s impatient urination on the floor of an airplane. After about ten such mentions of pee, poo, and all other manner of incontinence issues, the normally stoic Coop…Just Completely Loses It! And it’s probably the funniest and most heartwarming thing you’ll see all day.
Take a look. Continue reading
So basically our most beloved feuding characters won’t be in a movie about feuding, the Oscars seem like a great gig…to some, NBC updates its parenting stance from twenty years ago, a few less ladies talk, some rich guy gets a new job, and birds won’t have their way with a Hangover dude.
Today’s Hollywood dish feels lame.