TV vet Apatow’s got the big screen locked up with Knocked Up
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- June
- 11
So I saw Knocked Up over the weekend.
It was no The 40-year-old Virgin, but it did confirm Judd Apatow’s increasing genius at packaging frat-house antics with the sensitivity of a Nicholas Sparks adaptation: think Animal House meets The Notebook.
Apatow, creator of TV’s Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, hit it way bigger on the big screen with Virgin, (starring The Office’s Steve Carell) and followed that with Talladega Nights. With Knocked Up, he helps continue a pair of small screen stars’ transition to the big screen.
Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy) and Seth Rogen (Virgin, Freaks) were surprisingly believable as the knocked and the knocker, and Paul Rudd and Mrs. Apatow, a.k.a. Leslie Mann from Virgin, rounded out a solid leading cast. The little Apatows, Iris and Maude, added more to the movie than the funny but depressing stoners who Rogen’s character called family.
SNL’s Kristen Wiig was a riot in a tiny role. And the trick photography that made Heigl look realistically pregnant was eye-popping.
See for yourself, though, and judge why this unlikely and at times graphic (think Lamaze class video graphic) take on impending parenthood raked in $29 million its first weekend.
The bigger news is that an Apatow flick is now like the cool kids’ table at your old high school cafeteria—everybody wants to be there.
Apatow has four movies in the can featuring the likes of Owen Wilson, James Franco, John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer (who I think is cool), not to mention a collaboration with Adam Sandler.
Now the HollywoodReporter.com says Jack Black is joining the fun, along with Arrested Development’s Michael Cera, in Year One, with Apatow producing and Harold Ramis (who wrote_Animal House_, incidentally) directing.
The best part? Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, who combined to write some of the funniest episodes of The Office (“The Secret”, “Michael’s birthday”, “The Convention), co-wrote it with Ramis. Therefore, it will be off-color and hilarious.
And with Apatow at the helm, count on it to be touching, too. (photos: Universal Studios)
In other news…
…Creed posted a new blog last week. It’s as weird as ever.
…Angela Kinsey accepted two Webby Awards on behalf of last summer’s webisodes. Acceptance speeches were limited to five words. Good thinking. “Accounting is a riot, thanks,” Kinsey said before the music cut her off. OfficeTally’s got the scoop.
…Michael Scott’s gaffes this season would have cost his bosses $6,635,500 in the real world, according to the HR Hero. Seems low, actually.
…Greg Daniels is an interesting guy with big ideas about the future of comedy.
…New York talked to Peacock honcho Ben Silverman, who confirms The Office remains his baby. Seems B.J. Novak wants “to do for Ben what Piven does for Ari Emanuel.” Oh, and Ryan’s definitely the new Jan. Here’s the link.
This entry was posted
on Monday, June 11th, 2007 at 10:17 pm by Brian Howard.
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I was initially as stunned as anyone by the Sopranos conclusion, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and have come to some conclusions for myself that make sense, to me anyway. I thought the ending was brilliant: the entire scene, except for Meadow’s parking issues, but everything inside the diner was from Tony’s point of view. When everything goes black and the music stops, that is also from Tony’s point of view . . . my conclusion . . . he was killed. Chase brilliantly put us inside Tony’s head and that’s where we were when the screen went to black and the music stopped. A stunning moment beautifully executed.
He planted clues right from the first episode this season, the whole discussion about what happens when you get shot that Tony has with Bobby (which is reprised in the next to last episode after Bobby is whacked).
As much as I wanted Tony to make it, and initially thought he had, after I put the pieces of Chase’s amazing puzzle together, I’m afraid that is that for this rewarding series.