Judd Apatow

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Bottle rocket

Charlyne Yi is a hot date
Who exactly is Charlyne Yi? Two years ago, she appeared — seemingly from out of nowhere — in a brief but memorable turn in Judd Apatow's Knocked Up. A closer look at Apatow's new Funny People , however, might provide a clue as to where he discovered her.
By BRETT MICHEL | August 07, 2009

Review: Funny People

Judd Apatow pulls no punchlines
What if Terms of Endearment had had more dick jokes?
By LANCE GOULD | July 29, 2009

Interview: Judd Apatow

On the making of his Citizen Kane
Behind every successful comedian, there's . . . a personal assistant. Who, given how egomaniacal and utterly misanthropic the funnyman in question is, is probably his best friend, too.
By LANCE GOULD | July 29, 2009

Review: Year One

Not everything Judd Apatow touches is gold.
Mel Brooks and the lads from Monty Python stormed through this territory with fierce farce. Here there's little farce, just a fusillade of flaccid dick jokes.
By TOM MEEK | June 23, 2009

After The Daytrippers . . .

Mottola explains
Greg Mottola didn't make a film for 11 years after his 1997 debut feature, The Daytrippers, caused a small ripple in the indie world.
By PETER KEOUGH | March 31, 2009

19. Judd Apatow and Friends

BROVEREXPOSURE
In their non-probing, unprovocative films, the characters this Hollywood comedic mafia chooses to celebrate are homely, smoke a lot of pot, and watch way too much porn. We get it. Yes, Apatow, Seth Rogen, and Jonah Hill aren’t exactly anyone’s dream dates based on physical attributes alone. But we saved a special unsexy spot for this threesome based on the inescapable fact that we’re completely sick of getting inundated with their repetitive shtick. Apatow gets bonus unsexy points for the right-wing current bubbling beneath his flicks.
By Boston Phoenix Staff | March 25, 2009

The Year of the Nerd

Screw the jocks and prom queens — in 2008, geeks took control of entertainment, pro sports . . . even the White House
Barack Obama is many things. Dedicated senator. Devoted husband and father. Adept orator. President-elect. Nerd.
By RYAN STEWART | December 24, 2008

Role Models

A respectably quirky buddy flick
The movie, populated by improv/stand-up veterans in supporting roles, is more about its episodic parts than about the cinematic whole they yield.
By PETER HYMAN | November 07, 2008

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Full of raunch and snappy dialogue
Kevin Smith’s ear for raunch is as piquant as ever, but he’s moved beyond his usual unconvincing leads to Judd Apatow regulars Rogen and Craig Robinson.
By BRETT MICHEL | October 28, 2008

Hipster University

College rock hits the campus circuit
On-campus concerts — for us graduates or college abstainers — offer a lot to complain about, but it’s worth taking a chance on a college gig or two this year.
By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | October 16, 2008

Pot luck

No guilt trips in Pineapple Express
Pineapple Express is the movie Knocked Up might have been had it not copped out.
By PETER KEOUGH | August 11, 2008

Found farce

Spaced makes it to DVD
Simon Pegg is funny.
By MIKE MILIARD | August 05, 2008

Step Brothers

Farting sets the standard of good taste
Step Brothers should answer any doubts as to whether Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are cinema’s reigning lovable losers.
By TOM MEEK | July 23, 2008

Beyond therapy

The Wackness looks back in languor
This is the stoner comedy that might make people take adolescence — and getting stoned — seriously again.
By PETER KEOUGH | July 09, 2008

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

Bad accents and infantile humor
The funniest moment in this benighted Judd Apatow project was in the trailer.
By PETER KEOUGH | June 04, 2008

What Happens in Vegas

Clunky and predictable
Despite its aching predictability, Kutcher’s clunkiness, and Tom Vaughan’s jerky direction, the film and the couple actually grow on you — mostly thanks to Diaz.
By TOM MEEK | May 14, 2008

Funny business

As the AltCom Festival arrives at the Somerville Theatre, we look at the roots of the indie comedy boom.
“Ashlee Simpson’s new album sold so poorly,” snorted the headline on Yahoo! this past week, that “it was beaten by a comedy album.”
By MIKE MILIARD | May 08, 2008

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

A limp comedic effort
Judd Apatow gave the dick joke a shot of Viagra in Knocked Up and Superbad .
By TOM MEEK | April 16, 2008

Drillbit Taylor

Leftovers from the '80s
Early on in this Owen Wilson vehicle, someone says, “I got an old saying for you: you can’t polish a turd.” Indeed.
By BRETT MICHEL | March 19, 2008

Dance, Monkey: Erin Judge

We put a comic on the hot seat
Knocked Around: Superbad II , wherein Jonah Hill loves Michael Cera so much, it hurts.
By SARA FAITH ALTERMAN | January 22, 2008

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Easy jokes? Absolutely
Stupid? Sure, but laced with a strange sense of logic.
By BRETT MICHEL | December 19, 2007

Auteur land?

‘Film Culture’ in 2007
Granted, Sweeney Todd is a grim, violent, misanthropic musical.
By GERALD PEARY | December 17, 2007

Rock and roles

Dewey Cox and Rufus Wainwright
A good number of the jokes in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story are available for your amusement right now, well ahead of the film’s December 21 theatrical-release date.
By MIKAEL WOOD | December 04, 2007

Comic relief

Superbad respects teens and comedy
I know it hasn’t escaped you how terrible comedies have gotten.
By CHRIS BRAIOTTA | September 05, 2007

You call that a muzzle?

Letters to the Boston editor: August 17, 2007
Letters to the Boston editor: August 17, 2007
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | August 15, 2007

Dirty politics

Has the Right Wing hijacked raunch?
The last resort of the true patriot is a fart joke.
By PETER KEOUGH | October 27, 2008

Cinema of Shadows

We’re five years into the Iraq crisis, and Hollywood hasn't made a film about the war. Or is every film is about the war?
It’s not likely, but Judd Apatow’s pitch for Knocked Up might have sounded something like this.
By PETER KEOUGH | June 06, 2007

Mother of convention

Women get screwed in Knocked Up
Having laughed more at The 40-Year-Old Virgin than at any other film in 2005, I expected much the same from Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up .
By PETER KEOUGH | May 30, 2007

The girls of summer

The season for blockbusters, sequels, and . . . great roles for women?
It’s summer, so no one’s surprised at the onslaught of sequels, adaptations, or even movies based on toys. But films with Oscar-caliber women’s roles?
By PETER KEOUGH | May 18, 2007

Heat of the moment

The 40-Year-Old Virgin plays with itself too much
There's a reason comedies are rarely over 110 minutes, and Virgin is a good example.
By RYAN STEWART | January 19, 2006

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