Katherine Heigl could have been the next Meg Ryan, Hollywood’s new rom-com sweetheart. She was beautiful in an approachable way and could break our hearts with one crooked, well placed smile.

But the “Grey’s Anatomy” standout trashed the movie that started her big screen career, “Knocked Up,” and caused a ruckus on the set of her ABC hit series by pulling herself out of Emmy competition because she didn’t think she was given award-winning material.

She’s been doing damage control ever since.

How far has she fallen? Her latest film, “One for the Money,” opens tomorrow without critical reviews. That’s a sign the studio knows it has a clunker on its hands. Making matters worse, the discount company GroupOn is offering special deals on “Money” to help boost the film’s opening weekend ticket sales.

Last weekend, Heigl appeared on the cover of USA Weekend looking prim and apologetic next to a dog. She’s practically begging audiences to reconsider her as a movie star, but it didn’t have to go down this way.

(more…)

Quick! Think fast – who’s making the most morally conservative films in Hollywood?
 
The answer may surprise you, but it’s none other than Judd Apatow. Yes, the writer-director of “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up” and the new film “Funny People” might have a reputation for creating profanity-filled R-rated raunch, but in reality they’re actually films that uphold traditional values. And the fact that Apatow sneaks messages that are pro-life in “Knocked Up,” anti-promiscuity in “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and (SPOILER ALERT) upholds marriage against the temptation and forgiveness of infidelity in “Funny People” under the surface of all the dirty talk, means that he’s found a way to preach to far more than the usual choir and spread positive moral messages to those who might otherwise never choose to hear them.

I remember the night I first walked in to see “Virgin” back in 2005. I thought that it would just be one big sex comedy poking fun at the titular character. But as written by Apatow and the film’s star, Steve Carell, the film actually turned every convention one might have expected upside down.

Carell’s Andy had the “problem” of being a 40 year-old virgin, but after initally laughing at him and trying to get him laid, Andy’s co-worker friends slowly start to respect him. One who brags about cheating on his girlfriends winds up turning monogamous when he sees his impending baby on an ultrasound, while another may find his perfect match with a kinky gal but by the end it’s true love nonetheless. (more…)

We all know that for decades Hollywood has been creating preachy, leftist films all with the sole intention of annoying conservatives.  Conservatives have responded with numerous complaints, and then with complacency.  We now tend to ignore the liberal themes and watch the movies anyway, cheering on the hero, regardless of whether or not we actually believe in his ultimate goal.  Recently, however, Hollywood has pulled another weapon out of its arsenal to annoy conservatives, but it is destroying comedy in the process.

As the readers of Big Hollywood know too well, Hollywood began its attacks by ridiculing those of us who hold our values dear—claiming a pluralistic high ground that all beliefs are equal and we shouldn’t judge others (unless you happen to be one of those white, bigoted, hillbilly Jesus freaks).  Now that pluralism no longer seems to ignite conservatives with the same fervent anger, Hollywood has turned to nihilism; because, after all, when everything is true, nothing is true.  With no truth, Hollywood can no longer give its heroes any reason to mature or chase after dreams because lives and journeys have no meaning, draining the enjoyment out of their films. (more…)

You could feel it in the air as Apatow basked in the glow of his 2006 double whammy, the hilarious “Knocked Up” and “Superbad.” By the time 2007’s “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” rolled around, the backlash was gathering steam.

I told a friend I’d seen it.

“Is it just more of the Judd Apatow formula,” he sniffed. It was, I admitted. But I like the formula. I like it a lot. And not to get too Harry Knowles on everyone, but I’ve liked it for a long while.

I liked “The Ben Stiller Show,” loved “Heavyweights” and what I saw of “The Larry Sanders Show.” Heck, I even chuckled at “Celtic Pride” and saw “The Cable Guy” opening weekend. Aside from the latter, most people didn’t see much of Apatow’s work, but those who had loved most of it. (more…)