Maya Rudolph

News, Reviews & Features
  • Review: Hubie Halloween is a sorry excuse for a film, but don't expect an apology

    Movie Review | Luke Whiston | 12th October 2020

    It was cruel, really - to give us a glimpse of an oft-quoted character from Adam Sandler's greatest creation, Happy Gilmore, and then to undo any hint a comedy of that calibre would be in store mere seconds later when the funny voices and scat humour kicked in. And this is a film obsessed with scat: farts, poo, piss, it's got it all. Which is apt, because I've never seen anything go to shit as quickly as Hubie Halloween.

  • Review: Wine Country is a waste of a great ensemble cast

    Movie Review | Luke Whiston | 17th June 2019

    One thing that fascinates me about film-making is not the how of how movies are made, but the when. We see stars grow in real time these days and very often, once their careers have developed enough, they become producers - meaning the shows and films we watch follow their whims. That explains why we get a glut of movies about having babies, followed by a wave of thirties singleton rom-coms, and these subjects mould the wider zeitgeist. And now we're entering what should be the most interesting phase, where all your favourite stars are burnt out and holding grudges: the mid-life crisis. Fight! Fight! Fight!

  • Review: The Lego Movie 2 plays nicely but has no new surprises

    Movie Review | Ed Williamson | 10th February 2019

    My nephews were younger when the first Lego Movie came out. I mean, everyone was. But in 2014 they were five years younger; a lifetime when you're under ten. The elder one loved it; the younger probably not quite at the age where he could be relied on to sit through anything for more than ten minutes without chewing his shoes. They'll love this too, because they're still under ten and they're idiots, despite the older one being quite capable of comprehensively schooling me about dinosaurs. Me, I think maybe the magic has faded a bit.

  • Big Hero 6

    Movie Review | TheShiznit.co.uk | 25th January 2015

    If you want an example of how our relationship with technology has accelerated at a terrifying rate, show a young millennial the first Toy Story movie, which turns 20 years old this year. Made in 1995, the first fully CG-animated movie was a cinematic landmark yet it was still, tellingly, a tale of simple toys and derring do. That millennial you roped in (I won't asked questions how) will now look at Toy Story and turn their nose up at the relatively rudimentary visuals; they're much more likely to get their kicks from a movie like Big Hero 6, a breathlessly exciting, migraine-inducingly busy animation that must have surely pushed the Disney render farms to meltdown. Purely from a technological standpoint, it makes Toy Story look like a Punch & Judy show.

  • Bridesmaids

    Movie Review | Ali | 21st June 2011

    I apologise in advance, because I'm about to do my favourite film of the year a disservice by writing a fairly brief review. All you should know is that it is hands down the funniest, most enjoyable, most heartfelt comedy I've seen for years – not only is it probably the best wedding movie ever made, it's up there with the best comedies of the last ten years. If I must indulge the needless gender war it seems to have ignited, the girls of Bridesmaids have taken the boys of The Hangover to the cleaners. And then shot them.

  • Away We Go

    Movie Review | Anna | 16th September 2009

    For a British director, Sam Mendes sure is hung up on the American dream. American Beauty and Revolutionary Road both exposed the façade of American domestic bliss, leaving behind a pretty bitter aftertaste. Mendes carries the technique of examining American life at close proximity by zooming in on one couple, from Revolutionary Road to Away We Go.