Well, if you still needed something to wash out the taste of misogyny and disrespect towards women after the Oscars, then a trio of announcements concerning female-centric projects might just finally cleanse your palate. Basically, it’s Ladies Night and all the girls drink for free. To wit:
1. Comedy Central has, very wisely, picked up a ten-episode order of Broad City, a comedy based on the web series of the same name created by and starring the brilliant Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson (full disclosure: they are close personal friends and two beautiful, strong, hilarious, independent women). Loosely based on their own lives, it’s the anti-Sex and the City that Girls** isn’t. Here is the Season 2 finale, a love letter to NYC that features Amy Poehler, who is executive producing the series (and is another beautiful, strong, hilarious, independent woman):
2. Sometimes, every once in a while, dreams do come true, and that happened today with the announcement of a Kickstarter to fund a Veronica Mars movie, the elusive white female whale. Family Guy was resuscitated a decade ago, Arrested Development will relaunch soon, a new Star Wars film is in the works, and a Party Down movie likely isn’t far behind, but, more than any of those, a Veronica Mars movie is what gets us excited, what engages our freak out control safety valve. We’ve become quite cynical, quite hollow, quite apathetic – indeed, when the news of a new life for Star Wars broke we were unmoved – but the very real possibility of a Veronica Mars movie (indeed, they’re well past their $2 million goal as of this writing), does excite us. It absolutely invigorates us, as does the impressive enthusiasm it’s already received. We are, for the first time in quite some time, ecstatic. It’s good to know we can still feel that way. And we have to thank, in large part, Veronica Mars herself, Kristen Bell, for spearheading this effort. She is, easily, the biggest name from the show, and certainly her rise in popularity (especially on Twitter) has gone a long way towards spreading the Veronica Mars name, and will no doubt help in promoting the cause of the movie. And even if Bell did nothing else after Veronica Mars – forget about Forgetting Sarah Marshall – she would still have embodied one of the most complex and interesting female characters in television history. The fact that Veronica Mars, the sleuth, the snarky, angry, damaged young detective gets a second life is really icing on the cake. But we don’t mind helping ourselves to seconds.
3. Sometimes here at the Jumped the Snark we don’t mind patting ourselves on the back. A little humility is good, but sometimes so is a little arrogance. And it is with that in mind that we relay the news that Melissa McCarthy has reportedly been cast opposite Bill Murray in the upcoming St. Vincent de Van Nuys, a project that is already garnering serious buzz despite having not yet even shot one frame of film. In reference to this development, Grantland notes:
This shift from broad comedy to something in the dramady vein could be a huge draw for Oscar voters. Not to get wildly ahead of ourselves or anything, but What do you think Melissa’s first project after she wins the Oscar will be???
And here we feel like it’s worth reposting our preview of Bridesmaids from February of 2011:
Also, judging from the trailer, it seems like this could be Melissa McCarthy’s breakout role, getting many of the best, most outrageous lines.
Hate to say it (actually, we relish it), but we told you so. Melissa McCarthy, an untraditional female lead by most Hollywood standards, is poised to be the next superstar. Perhaps it’s a women’s world after all. To be fair, they’ve earned it.
*A post discussing Girls the series is forthcoming.
** See above
Jumped The Snark 