The Actress, The Spy & The Murder

Flawed, thrilling women

When Emily goes missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to investigate. A murder mystery set in a world where humans and puppets co-exist, but puppets are viewed as second-class citizens. When the puppet cast of an '90s children's TV show begins to get murdered one by one, a former cop, who has since become a private eye, takes on the case. Let's be clear from the get-go.

This is a comedy starring Melissa McCarthy and a bunch of Muppets with legs. It's directed by Jim Henson's son, Brian, who has spent many years producing and directing dad's sort of kiddie fare. Puppets live in L. A few bits slip in some racial satire with the overall broader comedy. The hero is a down-and-out private detective, salvaging a meager living after being booted from the police force for an unfortunate incident.

He's a classic example of film noir dicks, complete with a dumpy office in a seedy area, and a devoted ditzy secretary Maya Rudolph.

When the puppets who starred in an old sitcom start getting bumped off, his efforts to solve the crimes first lead to reluctantly reuniting with his former partner McCarthy whose testimony caused his dismissal 20 years earlier. Before long, he becomes suspect Number One for the killing spree. The dialog is clever, with scads of great throwaway lines - some of which I missed because of loud, frequent audience laughter. The mobility of the cloth-clad cast members allowed Henson to deliver some terrifically fresh and funny visuals, with slapstick and grossout gags that will make the unsuspecting blush.

In my college days eons ago , I bought a poster of all the Disney characters in a Hieronymus Bosch array of sexual and scatological extremes.

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This movie delivers similar irreverence to generations who grew up with wholesome, kid-friendly Muppet antics and lessons, rarely tiptoeing beyond Miss Piggy's horniness for Kermit on the bawdiness scale. This winds up being a treat for those who know what to expect, and particularly for McCarthy's fans. This is actually the best vehicle she's had for a while, which is good news for all comedy buffs. Even if Jim Henson might not approve of his son's choices here, those who enjoy South Park and the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming will feel right at home.

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Keri Russell

Full Cast and Crew. When the puppet cast of a '90s children's TV show begin to get murdered one by one, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet takes on the case. IMDb's Guide to Streaming. Top Movies of Movies I want to see! Share this Rating Title: The Happytime Murders 5. Use the HTML below.

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You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Learn more More Like This. This superficial and fetishised way of relating cannot stand the test of reality. Eve and Villanelle cannot be with each other despite the powerful attraction: So far, so good in terms of jettisoning stereotypes of the cosy mother and a fragile young woman looking for male protection. There is one stereotype that remains, though - that of a hot Russian assassin.

Villanelle possesses a combination of traits which have featured in Western representations of Soviet women for decades: She is bright, hardworking and speaks several languages.

In other words, she is the ultimate survivor. But despite her incredible mental focus, resilience, and physical strength, she is vulnerable because she yearns for a human connection in a world of murder and betrayal. Villanelle is simultaneously feared and objectified, and her allure as a character lies in the contrast between the terrifying other powerful, tough, Russian and the vulnerable abandoned child. She is both familiar and unfamiliar, human and inhuman.

What truly fascinates here is the line between similarity and difference. Her adversaries cannot decide whether they want to destroy her, cuddle her, or fall under her sexual spell. The hot Russian assassin stereotype is not new, and has been used and abused for decades in numerous Bond films as well as in more recent blockbusters such as The Red Sparrow.

Killing Eve: twisting the spy genre with comedy, tragedy and strong women

Unlike these female characters, all of whom are used to underscore the brilliance of heroic Western men, Villanelle is used to explore a whole new world of attachment, complexity and the intricacies and dangers of sexual desire. Her trademark sarcasm is all over the script, and is particularly felt in the portrayal of family life and professional behaviour, the two conventions of everyday existence — being too busy for sex, noisily eating a croissant at an important meeting, feeling uncomfortable rather than glamorous in a hot dress, pulling silly faces, being goofy.

And women want to see more of them on screen. Pets in Victorian paintings — Egham, Surrey.

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The history of pets and family life — Egham, Surrey. Available editions United Kingdom.

Fleabag actress and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge brings her trademark humour, sarcasm and strong feminist credentials to the script of Killing Eve.