When Judd Apatow wants ‘the big conversation’ it’s not just the comic-addressee who should get excited. Previous convos, with Steve Carell, Kirsten Wiig and Amy Schumer, in which the producer asked each talent: ‘have you any ideas?’ led to The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Bridesmaids and Trainwreck. His is an impressive eye for potential and one with an extraordinarily surefooted track record. Now Apatow has unearthed The Big Sick, the funniest rom-com of recent years, by mining the experience and skill of Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon. He knows how to pick ‘em alright.
To young fans of Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants book series, that hark of arrival is as familiar and welcome a caw as ‘to the Batmobile’ might be to their parents. The novels have sold more than 70m copies the world over since launching in 1997, with the series concluding at book twelve only two years ago. Given their success – Captain Underpants has been translated into over 20 languages – it’s perhaps surprising that it’s take this long for a film to materialise.
Apocalypse Now is the new Spartacus. Certainly, declaring yourself to be a film in imitation of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam war classic seems very much in vogue this year.
For those who found the poster for Kong: Skull Island ‘on the nose’ just wait until you see the shot for shot likenesses to be found in War for the Planet of the Apes, the third in Matt Reeves’ Planet of the Apes reboot series. Heck, at one point – getting one up on hacks ready with the puns – the slogan: ‘Ape-ocalypse Now’ can be seen sprayed over the walls of an underground tunnel. Unlike Kong, however, Reeves’ film borrows both style and substance in his homage. War is a hugely satisfying round off to a superlative trilogy.
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