thneed
Landed Gentry
Posts: 816
Jun 19, 2006 0:42:40 GMT -4
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Post by thneed on Dec 24, 2014 0:01:54 GMT -4
Kirsten Wiig is weird. I get why she was considered a genius. She created so many characters, and most of the one-offs (of which she did an incredible amount) were, if not good, exactly, the kinds of characters that just made sense. That you'd wonder how no one else thought to do them. And she did that consistently. Her recurring characters? Suuuuuuucked. Gilly, Target Lady, Penelope the one-up girl, Judy Grimes, Aunt Linda, Shana who does sexy things in an unsexy way, Dooneese (seriously, someone explain the joke to me there), and the dozens of old-timey screwball era movie stars she played were all pretty bad. ESPECIALLY Garth and Kat. I swear, those scenes probably play on a constant loop in Guantanamo Bay. And they all spoke in that irritating vowel-swallowing way. And Wiig frequently went to the well (which SNL did way too often on the 200os) of sketches where the whole "joke" is making fun of dumb, crass, uncool middle-aged Midwesterners. Where the whole joke is "look at these sad losers, with their frizzy hair and pleated Dockers and sweaters with appliques on them! Aren't they so less cool than us sophisticated New Yorkers? I bet they don't even know who St Vincent is!" And that was the whole joke. And she did that pretty consistently. Not that jokes against that demographic can't be funny. Sometimes they're great. But with Kristin Wiig, the joke was always, "Look how uncool these people are! Isn't that hilarious!" But her imitations of people were pretty solid. She got tons of impressions and I can't think of any that didn't land. And hey, she co-created Bridesmaids and that movie was everything, so she clearly has something going on.
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Post by scarletprincess on Dec 24, 2014 0:15:04 GMT -4
I think in her episode she did an impression of Megan Mullaly's Karen character from Will and Grace and it was spot on.
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celerydunk
Sloane Ranger
Posts: 2,521
May 3, 2005 21:57:59 GMT -4
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Post by celerydunk on Dec 24, 2014 15:59:47 GMT -4
And hey, she co-created Bridesmaids and that movie was everything, so she clearly has something going on. I hated Bridesmaids. Her character was so completely unlikeable that the feel good ending fell flat for me (who would take her back as a friend after all that). Melissa McCarthy was the only good thing about that movie (her being overwhelmed by the puppies is hilarious). Its interesting to me that most women I know how a strong reaction to that movie (either positive or negative). Personally, I think Wiig is okay in small doses and in supporting roles. She was at her best on SNL when she came into someone else's skit. I could see her doing very well for herself as the funny friend to the main character.
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Post by Hamatron on Dec 24, 2014 18:02:37 GMT -4
I mostly want to root for her, but can't stand her in stuff for the most part. I liked her as the chill friend and single mom in Whip It. But I couldn't stand Bridesmaids, and I was never a fan of her SNL characters.
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save lilo!
Blueblood
Posts: 1,195
Jul 25, 2007 17:38:37 GMT -4
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Post by save lilo! on Dec 25, 2014 15:40:53 GMT -4
And hey, she co-created Bridesmaids and that movie was everything, so she clearly has something going on. I hated Bridesmaids. Her character was so completely unlikeable that the feel good ending fell flat for me (who would take her back as a friend after all that). Melissa McCarthy was the only good thing about that movie (her being overwhelmed by the puppies is hilarious). Its interesting to me that most women I know how a strong reaction to that movie (either positive or negative). I thought that movie was depressing. In the end, she gained a boyfriend so....everything was OK? What a terrible message.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 3, 2024 12:54:12 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2014 17:42:21 GMT -4
I hated Bridesmaids. Her character was so completely unlikeable that the feel good ending fell flat for me (who would take her back as a friend after all that). Melissa McCarthy was the only good thing about that movie (her being overwhelmed by the puppies is hilarious). Its interesting to me that most women I know how a strong reaction to that movie (either positive or negative). I thought that movie was depressing. In the end, she gained a boyfriend so....everything was OK? What a terrible message. This part of Bridesmaids is its biggest problem for me. I actually LOVE the movie, but the "she gets a boyfriend and now everything is okay!" ending is so WTF/lazy to me. This was a woman who desperately needed to get her life back on track, and getting a boyfriend was the last thing she should have even been worrying about (oh god, I may have just officially turned into my mother).
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Post by lea1977 on Dec 25, 2014 17:46:24 GMT -4
OT but I think she could have easily become a pastry chef, sucked it up and lived with her mom for free for a couple a years, paid her debt down and gotten a better car.
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Post by chonies on Dec 25, 2014 19:18:17 GMT -4
I don't think getting the boy is a cop out. I see it like this: In the movie, she reconciles with her friend, comes to terms with her friend's new friend and apologizes to the nice cop, which is really more about her coming to terms with her bad choices (Jon Hamm, possibly forgiving herself for whatever risks she took to open a business and failing*). Sure, getting a job and being financially sorted is probably more practical, but it would make a less compelling movie. I think of the spark of romantic happiness as a small triumph and sign that things are turning around rather than sign that everything is okay. Obviously, ymmv; it also just occurred to me that He's Just Not That Into You has a similar storyline about attaining financial independence. Hmm...
Anyway, I have nothing relevant to the topic.
* why yes, I *do* like to read too much into movies.
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Post by scarletprincess on Dec 26, 2014 21:20:06 GMT -4
VH1 is showing a retrospective of SNL from the 90s right now. I'm crying with laughter. This show was really good then.
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Post by BoroKat on Dec 27, 2014 11:05:33 GMT -4
I like Kristen Wiig although I usually fast forwarded through most of her original characters. I think that her impersonations were spot on.
I would like to see more post-SNL success for the female cast. Both Rachel Dratch and Cheri Oteri were immensely talented.
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