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Lacey Catches A Screening Of BABY MAMA!! Has Tina Fey Bested MEAN GIRLS??
Merrick here...
Lacey sent in a look at BABY MAMA.
The film is scripted and directed by Michael McCullers, whose writing credits range from AUSTIN POWERS films to...well...Jonathan Frakes' THUNDERBIRDS. It stars Tina Fey (once heralded by Herc as "MILFY").
The film should release in April. As such, keep in mind that the version being reviewed here IS NOT a final product, and could be altered before release.
Here's what Lacey had to say...
Hey Harry! I just want to the first New York test screening of Tina
Fey's Baby Mama.
I was one of the first ones in the theater, so I
planted myself in front of the reserved seats in the back, knowing
Tina and Lorne would probably show up. Sure enough Tina and Amy ended
up sitting directly behind me, and Lorne was right behind them. So,
that was cool... though I must admit I was really hoping Amy would
bring her husband GOB with her. But, no luck, I didn't get to dork
out and show him my "Final Countdown" ringtone.
Anyway, onto my review.
Baby Mama is a really good comedy. But, very importantly, it's not as
good as Mean Girls, which it will inevitably be compared to (right?).
Tina Fey's writing is still smart, but this movie definitely doesn't
have the same on-the-money observational comedy about
pregnancy/motherhood/etc that Mean Girls had about popularity in high
school. I don't think it's as funny as 30 Rock either.
Anyway, it still manages to be very very funny, thanks to the writing
and a phenomenal cast. Actually, the theater was pretty much roaring
with laughter throughout the entire movie, I mean laughing LOUDLY. I
can't imagine people would be laughing that hard in a regular theater
setting when it comes out, but what do I know.
Steve Martin is amazing as Tina Fey's new agey boss who wants his new
Whole Foods-esque grocery store to be just like the sea shell he found
while running barefoot through the Toronto airport (excuse me while I
giggle to myself about Steve Martin rewarding Tina Fey with "5 minutes
of uninterupted eye contact")... I almost wish his part would have
been bigger. I wonder if there are any hilarious scenes with him on
the cutting room floor that they'll insert after reading everyones
screening reviews.
Romany Malco is also awesome as Tina's doorman. I liked him in 40
Year-Old Virgin but I never truly appreciated how funny he is and how
great his comedic timing is until I saw this movie. He has a ton of
charisma.
Amy Poehler plays the 'ghetto' surrogate. She's funny and I love her
and she has a hot bod... my only problem was the inconsistency with
her ghetto-ness. One second she's saying "bidness" and talking in
full on ebonics and the next second she sounds like classy Amy
Poehler. And she pretty much always LOOKS classy -- I think they
should have gone farther with her wardrobe and made her look trashier
for the sake of the character... but too late to change it now.
Tina Fey plays the same person she always plays, a version of herself,
single successful 30-something career woman who likes to eat... which
is fine with me, because I really like her and it works.
Her love interest is played by Greg Kinnear, which sounds weird (does
that sound weird?) but they work together, they actually have
believable chemistry, and Greg Kinnear is great, just playing and
understated and very likeable guy.
There are really funny cameos by Fred Armisen and Will Forte...
The version I saw seemed to be pretty polished. The pacing seemed
perfect to me, nothing dragged and I was never bored. All the loose
ends were tied up and it really seemed to work as a whole. The only
thing missing was the opening credits... and hopefully they change the
music, as they mostly used really boring cliche movie music.. it just
sounded like every other movie.
The plot was nice, it actually wasn't predictable at all but was still
believable (for a movie). It's definitely got heart and few moments
of cuteness without crossing over into cheesiness.
Mmm, oh yeah, Dax Shephard is also really funny (and perfectly cast)
as Amy's trashy Brooklynite boyfriend.
So, I really enjoyed Baby Mama. It's definitely an above average
comedy, though it doesn't totally live up the standards Tina Fey has
set for herself with Mean Girls and 30 Rock.
tralala
have a wonderful night
if you use this, call me Lacey please!
Readers Talkback
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i love you
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...but not as funny as Mean Girls or 30Rock which are way funnier? So I guess that means if I don't find Mean Girls or 30Rock funny (which I don't), then this movie will suck for me. <p> I'm going to go out on a limb and call this a plant. Her problem with the movie was that there were no opening credits? Who complains about this? I'll tell you - a movie biz person who is trying to come up with criticism to seem like a legit reviewer but does not want to criticize the actual movie.
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TINAAAAA!!!
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... had a strizzoke in her brizzain.
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That guy didnt so much fall from grace as launch himself of it, trying to hit the side of the cliff on his way down. But Tina Fey seems okay to me....I think the reviewer should be thankful Will Arnett didnt show up cos Im sure if you try to play the final countdown to him, he must get really, REALLY pissed off...I know I would!
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I just watched the Sarah Silveman Programme....Jesus its a disappointment...I mean I used to think she would be amazingly funny if she got enough time, but fucking hell that show is bad. Like, Hope and Faith bad, only slightly worse cos it thinks its being really clever when its full blown crap. This has nothing to do with this story except her and Tina Fey are both women, and I need somewhere to vent. Just another cute american comedienne who threw their promise away (kinda like Janeane Garofalo only she had a good few years until she got all skinny and got a hair up her ass).
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She mentioned things she didn't like about the movie, ways it could be improved, and even said it wasn't as funny as 30 Rock or Mean Girls. And if you don't find 30 Rock funny, I'm seriously doubting your sense of humor, because that's the best sitcom on the air right now.
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yes .....
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Oct. 15, 2007, 10:08 a.m. CST
Yeah i'm sure will arnett would have appreciated that
by PotSmokinAlien
the first hundred or so times it's happened to him
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Tina Fey or Michael McCullers?
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[drops drumsticks].
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That this talkback didn't turn into a "shit on Mean Girls" session. I was certain that it would fit right in next to Sex and the City, Charlie's Angels, Death Proof, and all those other properties that revolve around women which seem to scare the shit out of everyone here.
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As in... Lacey LaPlante?
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. . . cause it makes it sound kind of better than Mean Girls, which I thought was way better than I thought it would be. Thought it was a pretty strong start for Tina Fey in the movie biz and only needed to be edited down some. Also can't tell how involved Fey actually was in the writing of this. Between Mean Girls and 30 Rock, which I love (season premier was weak, but LOVED the 2nd episode), I would assume the next movie Fey wrote would be a can't-miss, for me at least.
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I almost wish this reviewer were literate.
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Michael McCullers only, at least according to the IMDB. Unless she worked on the script in an uncredited role, comparing this to Mean Girls and 30 Rock on the basis of the writing is just stupid.
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There's something about an attractive woman who dresses down.In the immortal words of Al Pacino " Oh der's FIRE under that dress! HooHa!" Though 30 Rock hasn't really jumped out of the gate for me,the first two episodes weren't all THAT bad. I mean, c'mon, MILF Island? I bet those dumbfucks over at VH1 or MTV are killing themselves to get that made."Why didn't we think of that Chad? Pure genius!"..
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Keep your plastic surgery bikini broads, make mine Tina.
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Oh, so my wife was quoting this review last night in bed... I wondered what she was mumbling about...
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Oct. 15, 2007, 3:40 p.m. CST
I'm throwing my hat in the "Who Loves Tina Fey More" debate...
by Bubba Gillman
...by saying you all love her more than I. Don't get all the acclaim.
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Then it's a melodrama?
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The insanely funny Undercover Brother. If this comes close in the funny dept, count me in.
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You also know him as the only real man that MILFY Mary Louise Parker knows in Weeds, where he's been turning in great work for three seasons now.
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On SNL's Weekend Update Tina Fey hit a particular sweet spot of funny quite effectively - snarkily putting things in their less attractive proper perspective without being mean-spirited. Lately she's been honing the post-modern highly-intelligent hyper-self-aware wants-to-be-a-feminist-but-not-if-it-means-hating-men character - IOW, a reflection of how a whole lot of smart love-starved professional women between roughly their late 20s and mid-40s feel right now. Another way of putting this - single middle-class upwardly mobile female angst. A whiter, funnier, and not so vindictive version of the Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett characters in Waiting to Exhale.
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I love Mean Girls and 30 Rock. I'm confused though I thought the director wrote this?
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Tell me, how did Steve Martin fall from grace exactly? Sure, he cashes the occasional paycheck for crap, but he has written two extremely good novellas, wrote the script and starred in an adaptation of one, wrote some awesome pieces for the New Yorker, has a memoir of his stand up days coming out, etc. Oh yeah, he is being honored by the Kennedy Center (or was?).
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The crack whore who reviewed this movie should have their crack whore license revoked. With that, the movie seems interesting. I like Tina Fey and I like 30 Rock. Amy Poehler rules and there was a time when Steve Martin meant something. I probably won't pay the six bones to see it, but I'd rent it (and burn it if it's decent).
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As in Lacey chabert, from mean girls and who I've had a crush on since Lost in space!
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Mean Girls all around sucked. 30 Rock is good, but Mean Girls is terrible on virtually every level. It was like they wanted to make a movie I've already seen before, only remove anything about that movie that was previously good.
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obviously your much more into the guy than I am, I merely said that cause I havent seen the guy in a good film in about twenty years....every time his name comes up I instantly think Pink Panther or Sgt Bilko, and therefore wouldnt really want to go and read hid novellas or anything (so they might well be really good). But all Im saying if you look at his film work from The Man With Two Brains to Cheaper By The Dozen there is an IMMENSE drop in quality.
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It looks like "KungFuHustler" has a hardon for Steve Martin who hasn't done anthing relevant in the past 10 years or so. Pink Panther, Pink Panther 2, Cheaper By The Dozen, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Novocaine, Bringing Down the House,The Out-of-Towners, and of course the one good movie he's made in the last 10 years... Bowfinger (which, as much as I loved it, was a huge bomb). I'll take Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. over any of the diarrhea he's spewed out of his ass in the past decade. Stop giving him a pass. Martin needs to retire already. I'm sure this movie sucks based only on the fact that he is in it.
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Which sucked, but I haven't read the novella that you thought was just faaaabulous.
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Isn't she in this movie? And the reviewer said nothing?! What the hell. chook chutney, Weeds joke! Good times.
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