Just read your tweet: "Hey Internet: I'm headed to your town on a half-assed comedy & music tour . . . I repeat: It's half-assed." Really brilliant idea to hit the road since your $45 million Tonight Show settlement with NBC bars you from appearing on TV until September 1.
We've just got one tiny complaint about the big trip: You forgot Houston. Seriously, you're hitting 30 cities in 20 states, but bypassing this metro entirely? You realize that we're not so far from Austin and Dallas, that we're the fourth-largest city in the entire country, that we might come in handy when you're toiling for Fox ...
Would it kill you to stop by H-town to share your "night of music, comedy, hugs and and the occasional awkward silence"?
It's understandable that you can only visit a select group of cities. With their huge populations, it's fair that Chicago and NYC receive two-night encore performances. And then there are those other entertainment megahubs on your tour list: Tulsa, Oklahoma; Eugene, Oregon; and Enoch, Alberta. Word on the street is that you're even making a special appearance in Atlantic City.
Be sure to wear your orange poof extra big for us, and tell Snookie we say "howdy."
OK, we get it: You're still a little tiffed about Houston's NBC affiliate putting you on after dawn back when you followed Jay Leno and didn't have a $45-million ego. But we really hope you're not letting your 1997 Houston hodown get you down:
Perhaps Houston haters will be haters. We'll miss your cute puns and squinty squirrel eyes. K.I.T., Coco.
Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.
Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.
Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).
After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.
Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.
The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.
Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.
Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.
The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.
