Who's Margo Martindale? Oh, you know her. You might not know her name, but you recognize her. She's one of the busiest character actresses in Hollywood, having appeared in more than 100 movies and TV episodes in the last 20 years, and she's firmly in the "Hey! It's That Guy (or Gal)!") category of actors.
She plays the psychologist in the current film Orphan, but it was her guest appearance a couple weeks ago on HBO's Hung that really reminded me of how much I admire her. The reason she gets so many gigs, especially in guest-starring TV roles, is that she's highly skilled at making an impression even with only a few minutes of screen time. Part of this is due to her embracing (and making full use of) her physical characteristics: She's in her late 50s, pleasantly plump, somewhat matronly, a twinkle in her eye, a charming East Texas accent in her voice. With those components, she can instantly give you a feel for what sort of character she's playing.
So she's not exactly a chameleon, but she does have range. She played Hilary Swank's greedy trailer-trash mother in Million Dollar Baby and John C. Reilly's sweet country-fried mom in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. She can be a no-nonsense nurse, a naive aunt, or (as in Hung) a sexually frustrated middle-aged woman with self-esteem issues. Million Dollar Baby was an exception -- Martindale almost always plays someone that we're meant to like, even feel protective of.
Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg are quickly becoming hot commodities in the world of comedy screenwriting. They broke into the industry as writers for NBC's The Office, and from there they also penned the upcoming Harold Ramis comedy Year One, which then landed them the coveted job of writing Ghostbusters 3. Talk about a pay off! Now it looks like one of their unproduced spec scripts has also been picked up and assigned a decent director over at Columbia Pictures.
According to The Hollywood Reporter [1], Jake Kasdan will direct Stupnitsky and Eisenberg's Bad Teacher, a comedy about a foul-mouthed seventh-grade female teacher who tries to steal the boyfriend of a colleague. This, like Kevin Smith's A Couple of Dicks, is another script that was on the 2008 Black List [2], meaning it was highly regarded within Hollywood. Kasdan previously directed Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and while I still have yet to see that film, I have been told that it wasn't as bad as the reviews indicated. I did, however, really enjoy Kasdan's indie comedy The TV Set, which was based on his experiences working on Freaks and Geeks with Judd Apatow. What did you think of Walk Hard? Does Kasdan sound like a good match for this script?
[1] http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ic40ddaa0a765ca0f0cdbd7e81c99ad98
[2] http://www.filmjunk.com/2008/12/12/screenplay-junkie-6-the-2008-black-list/
A foul-mouthed seventh grade teacher is dumped by her sugar daddy and starts to pursue a colleague, which provokes conflict with the school's model teacher. Written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (Year One, Ghostbusters 3) and directed by Jake Kasdan (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story). Kasdan's very underrated Walk Hard was an amazing laugh fest so I have high hopes for this one.
CASTING THOUGHTS:
Considering they've worked together previously on Walk Hard the hilarious Kristin Wiig (SNL) could be cast as the bad teacher. She deserves to star in her own film after many scene stealing moments in other comedies over the last couple of years. The only problem is that she's busy enough during Saturday Night Live's season but she's also attached herself to a bunch of films recently.
Collette Wolfe (Observe & Report) and Katy Mixon (East Bound & Down) are also talented comedic actresses that would be great for this film.
Finally, A Non-Apatow Comedy!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009 9:07 PM | From Screen Rant
Yes, I know, God forbid I say anything that is not amazingly positive about Judd Apatow. He's the latest comedy golden boy and he's brought us Knocked Up, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Pineapple Express. But he's also been the guy behind Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, [...]
Review: I LOVE YOU, MAN -- Matt continues to be impressed by Paul Rudd
Paul Rudd is one of my favorite actors working today. While he's best known for his smart-aleck supporting characters as seen in Judd Apatow films like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up", he's got tremendous range from his amazing dramatic performance in "The Shape of Things" to his unforgettable John Lennon impression in "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story". This time he's playing against his familiar wise-ass that boosted his profile last fall in "Role Models" and playing the epitome of lameness as a guy desperately hunting for a male best friend. The film is a little too long and makes the Apatow-formula a little too familiar (even though Apatow had nothing to do with this movie) but Rudd and co-star Jason Segel along with some key supporting roles from Jon Favreau and Thomas Lennon make "I Love You, Man" a lot of fun. Peter ...
Juno, WALL-E and The Dark Knight Take Home Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards are in progress, and the movie awards were front loaded.
The soundtrack for Fox Searchlight’s Juno won a Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack, beating out American Gangster, August Rush, Mamma Mia and Sweeney Todd.
James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer took home a trophy for Best Score for The Dark Knight, beating out Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Iron Man, There Will Be Blood and Wall-E.
And the Grammy for Best Motion Picture Song went to Thomas Newman and Peter Gabriel for “Down to Earth” from Pixar’s WALL-E, beating out Carrie Underwood’s Ever Ever After from Enchanted, John Mayer’s Say from The Bucket List, Amy Adams’ That’s How You Know from Enchanted and John C Reilly’s Walk Hard from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. As much as I loved WALL-E, I still think the Newman/Gabriel song is overrated, and would have
Is Slumdog Millionaire Next in Line for Oscar Backlash?
Thursday, January 15, 2009 4:49 PM | From RopeofSilicon
Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire
Photo: Fox Searchlight
I remember back in 2006 when Superman Returns was released and the film scored a 77% Rotten Tomatoes ranking marking it “Certified Fresh” which means it joins the pantheon of films to have earned such a moniker including Citizen Kane, Toy Story, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and, [...]
400 Screens, 400 Blows - A Brief Guide to Biopics
Friday, January 9, 2009 6:42 PM | From Cinematical
400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.
This year we've got at least three biopics jockeying for space in the year-end awards, just like every year. Biopics continue alternately to fascinate and disappoint me. I've already written at length about how these movies tend to be roughly the same, following much the same format and formula (and brilliantly spoofed in last year's Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story). And I've written about how they're instant award-magnets, causing nearly every artist in Hollywood to scour every last barrel bottom for any famous person's life story that hasn't yet been filmed. So for them, here's a handy dandy field guide to getting awards.
Best Bet: War heroes or political figures. In 1970, was any other movie going to beat Patton for a bunch of Oscars? Robert Altman's M*A*S*H may have been more popular and more artistic, but it didn't have Patton. In 1982, Gandhi beat out the infinitely superior Blade Runner. Schindler's List (1993) counts too. So does Erin Brockovich (2000). And this year, though I'm not ready to bet the farm just yet, it looks like Milk (309 screens) could be the big winner. Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon (205 screens) will probably get some nominations this year, but it's hard for old Tricky Dick to stack up against Harvey. Exceptions to the rule: you have to clearly define your character as either a hero or a villain. Sorry Oliver Stone, no Nixon or W.Malcolm X (1992) came close, but it was a bit too subversive for voters. Forest Whitaker's award-winning Idi Amin was actually the villain of that film, so his purpose was clear. This year Steven Soderbergh's Che (2 screens) is worthy, but a bit too complex for voters, failing to explain whether or not they should actually like Che.
The Offices Jenna Fischer has signed on to star in the indie dramedy A Little Help, which marks the feature directorial debut of King of Queens creator Michael J. Weithorn, reports Variety.
The story centers on a recently widowed single mom who reconnects with an old flame -- her sister's husband. Weithorn also penned the screenplay.
Fischers recent big screen credits include Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, The Promotion, The Brothers Solomon and Blades of Glory. She will co-star alongside Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon and Mary-Louise Parker in Solitary Man, which begins shooting this week in New York.
Before creating King of Queens, Weithorn wrote for The Wonder Years, Family Ties and Cheers.
Secret Handshake Entertainment's Dena Hysell and Joe Gressis are producing. A Little Help will begin shooting in January in Georgia.
Who's Margo Martindale? Oh, you know her. You might not know her name, but you recognize her. She's one of the busiest character actresses in Hollywood, having appeared in more than 100 movies and TV episodes in the last 20 years, and she's firmly in the "Hey! It's That Guy (or Gal)!") category of actors. 
“The Office” star Jenna Fischer has signed on to star in “A Little Help,” a dramedy directed by Michael J. Weithorn, creator of “King of Queens.”