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Movie Reviews

We're Getting Nowhere: The "Baby Mama" Episode

We're still anxiously awaiting the premiere of Season 1 of The L Word on Logo, and it's left us no choice but to go see movies. This week, we were all to happy to fill the seats for our girls Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on the opening day of Baby Mama.

In case you haven't already heard, Baby Mama is about wealthy business woman Kate (Fey), who discovers that she's infertile and then hires zany working-class gal Angie (Poehler) to be her surrogate. Hijinks ensue when circumstances force junk food-eating, karaoke-singing Angie to move in with health food snob and control-freak Kate. It's like The Odd Couple, but with breast pumps.

So in our special Baby Mama edition of WGN, we review the film, talk about why we love Fey and Poehler, and display some frightening photos of the children we "made" with the "Baby Mama baby maker" program on the Baby Mama website. Watch and decide whose "baby" is the ugliest. Is it mine and Jill's? Dara's and Jill's? Mine and, gulp, Dara's?

Warning: Minor Spoilers

We're Getting Nowhere: The Baby Mama Episode

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Sally Hawkins is "Happy-Go-Lucky"

Even before she starred as a Victorian lesbian pickpocket in the BBC's 2005 adaptation of Sarah Waters' Fingersmith, I was a fan of British actress Sally Hawkins. I had caught sight of her the year before in a very different role: as a shy, quiet, affluent girl called Susan in Mike Leigh's drama Vera Drake. Susan is raped by a man whom her mother was pushing her toward, and later has to go for an abortion. Hawkins' totally understated portrayal of her character's shame and misery — along with her inability to communicate with anyone about her experience in the England of the 1950s — was probably the most powerful thing in the film for me.

If I'd had a better memory, I might have realized that I'd seen Hawkins in a role even before that: as Diana Lethaby's feisty maid Zena Blake in the BBC's 2002 adaptation of Tipping the Velvet. Like her role in Vera Drake, however, that was a supporting part that only gave Hawkins a limited opportunity to show what she could do.

But now Hawkins has a role that puts her center-stage, as the lead character in Mike Leigh's new film, Happy-Go-Lucky. Currently screening in the U.K., the film has already won Hawkins the Silver Bear for best actress at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival and is due for release on Sept. 26 in the U.S. … continue reading

 
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Euro-teen angst in competitive synchronized swimming.

Retro Reviewing: "Personal Best"

This week, the retro reviewers (back to the full cast of Caroline, Rina, Danielle and Katie) take on Personal Best, the lesbian sports classic from 1982. The movie stars Mariel Hemingway as the naïve yet determined Kris and Patrice Donnelly as her lover/rival Tory, as they compete for a spot on the 1980 Olympic track team. Scott Glenn plays their creepy, manipulative coach, and the film was written and directed by the acclaimed screenwriter Robert Towne.

Unfortunately, the movie proved a little too dated for ¾ of the crew. While one retro reviewer has roots in college track (and therefore an unquestioning love of movies about running), the other three were too bored by copious shots of women sweating in slow motion to care about the rather clichéd storyline. There were rumblings of dissent long before the last lap was over.

One thing everyone appreciated, however, was the incredible retro fashion.

Retro Reviewing: Personal Best

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Check back next episode, when the reviewers take on the divisive 2001 comedy Kissing Jessica Stein.

 
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We're having a get-together on May 18th in NYC for our readers, with some of our staff and vloggers, and the cast/creators of 3Way. Go here for details.

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