If you saw her recent hosting stint on Saturday Night Live, you know that it’s easy to imagine an alternate universe in which Melissa McCarthy is an SNL alum, using the late night show as a springboard in very much the same way Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have. McCarthy’s new comedic venture, The Boss, directed by her husband, Ben Falcone, feels like a movie based on one of her most popular characters from said alternate-universe SNL (in our reality, it’s a character she, Falcone and collaborator Steve Mallory created during their time with The Groundlings). It’s an unabashed star-vehicle that, while not as successful or funny as last year’s Spy, is still solid entertainment and even harbors some heartfelt moments that add some unexpected dimension to an otherwise straightforward story.

McCarthy plays Michelle Darnell, an enterprising billionaire/motivational speaker who wins at everything, stomps over everyone, and pushes away anyone who gets too close to her heart. Ethically impaired and insanely confident, Darnell is both a symbol of white privilege and female empowerment, giving McCarthy lots of room to flaunt her gift of gab and sling inventive vulgarities like only she can (the movie’s R rating is essential). One minute she’s asking her dutiful assistant Claire (Kristen Bell) to apply whitener to her teeth, a plastic contraption holding her mouth open so wide she looks like the Predator; the next, she’s demanding her helicopter pilot remove his shirt as they fly off into the night sky. Darnell is McCarthy’s critique on rich, greedy people and it’s really funny for the most part though some jokes (like a recurring one involving her bullying a young girl for not being effeminate enough) fall absolutely flat. Overall, it’s a sharp performance with some hit-or-miss material, which is common for movies of The Boss‘ ilk.

The story starts with a montage origin story, showing how Michelle grew up an orphan, suffering rejection after rejection as she struggled to find a home and a family. Eventually, she gives up and adopts a one-versus-all attitude, becoming a cutthroat, take-no-prisoners, turtleneck-wearing finance mogul. One of her victims on her rise to the top was ex-lover and fellow big-business bastard Renault (Peter Dinklage), who’s since dedicated his career to stealing and piggybacking on Michelle’s success (though he still has a burning passion for her “wonderful body”). Renault is presented with the perfect opportunity to strike Michelle down when she’s arrested for a white-collar crime that lands her in rich-person jail for a while (inmate tennis court and all) and results in the government seizing all of her assets and belongings.

The only person Michelle can turn to is Claire, who’s hesitant to take her former, tactless, self-obsessed boss in from off the street. Her apartment is cramped as it is, but Claire’s daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson, cute as a button and full of potential) convinces her to lend a helping hand. From there, a family drama develops, with Michelle building a Girl Scout-adjacent brownie-selling empire for Rachel and her friends; everything goes swimmingly until Claire and Rachel start to feel like a family, prompting Michelle to run away scared and sell the company to the slimy Renault. It’s as contrived a plot as any, but McCarthy makes it work with a tearful scene that sees Michelle admit to her deepest faults. In a movie full of absurdist, in-your-face humor (in an Anchorman-inspired fight scene, McCarthy clotheslines a little girl in slo-mo), this admission of guilt actually feels real, almost jarringly so. The rest of the chosen-family drama that plays out isn’t nearly as genuine, though, which is a big problem considering that the story essentially hinges on the relationship between the three leading women.

The crudeness of the comedy won’t be for everyone, but I took a fair measure of enjoyment in watching a Girl Scout gang war break out in a quiet, posh neighborhood. Screwball physical comedy is well within McCarthy’s wheelhouse, and she goes for it big-time, from getting pancaked by a faulty sofabed to selling the classic fall-down-the-stairs. Perhaps the film’s biggest feather in its cap is that it passes the Bechdel test with flying colors—this is a movie driven by women, with men existing only on the periphery, which is always refreshing in the male-dominated Hollywood landscape. McCarthy’s been better in other projects, but The Boss is nonetheless a crudely entertaining studio comedy and a solid showcase of the surging actor’s many talents.

Disney dropped two major announcements on Thursday at their annual meeting of shareholders.

First, that the release date for Star Wars: Episode VIII has been set for May 26, 2017. They also shared that there will be a stand alone movie, Rogue One, set in the Star Wars universe that will be out on December 16, 2016 and (as we already know) directed by Gareth Edwards.

Also confirmed will be the official making of a sequel to Frozen, although they have yet to announce a release date or any other production details. All that’s known is that the first film’s directors, Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck are working on the project with producer Peter Del Vecho. The announcement of a sequel is no real surprise knowing the success of the original Oscar Award-winning film, but it’s good news for Frozen fans nonetheless.

On another note, shareholders had the opportunity to propose new policies and ideas to Disney’s CEO Bob Iger who responded to one such question that he will ban smoking from films marketed to kids…sad, maybe, that that needed to be stated. However, he won’t necessarily lobby for other production companies to follow suit.

All in all, it seemed to be a pretty productive meeting.

We’ll just leave you with this tweet from Kristen Bell:

Dreams really do come 2!!! #FROZEN2 #itsofficial pic.twitter.com/qF6qTQlnqi

— Kristen Bell (@IMKristenBell) March 12, 2015

“A long time ago, we used to be friends…”

The theme song to Veronica Mars the TV show may not open its first film counterpart, but it might as well have jumped in with “Previously on Veronica Mars“, because whether you’ve seen a single episode of Veronica Mars‘s three season early 2000’s teen-noir or not, the film opens with a convenient little summary. All the highlights of three seasons succinctly and quippily recapped for any first time viewers.

This Kickstarter-funded, fan-demanded film picks up nine years after Veronica has left her hometown of Neptune, California. She’s just finished law school and about to take the bar exam while already interviewing with high-powered law firms in New York. She’s gotten back together with her college boyfriend Piz (Chris Lowell) recently and is expected to meet his parents the upcoming weekend as long as nothing goes wrong. But things always go wrong in Veronica Mars world. The death of one of her high school friends, who’d become a rock star, turns out to be murder, and suspect #1 just happens to be Veronica’s on-again-off-again bad-boy love of yore, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring). When Logan calls asking for her help, Veronica can’t resist the temptation to return to sleuthing. She puts her new life on hold and returns to the seedy beach town of Neptune.

Those who have never watched the series may find the plot convenient at times, with all of the major players falling squarely within Veronica’s old high school tribe. But fans will appreciate that director and series creator Rob Thomas does his best to squeeze what would normally be a season long story arc into a two hour film, with all the twists, turns and upsets they’ve come to expect.

The film doesn’t attempt to neatly wrap up the abrupt ending of its third season, failing to explain much of how things ended up the way they did. For instance, Veronica’s decision to dropout from Hearst College and transfer to Stanford or the secret college society she had been investigating before the series was cancelled. But it plays to fan’s nostalgia with plenty of insider references; and those just jumping in with the movie won’t know what they are missing. The film’s strengths lie within Thomas’s clear devotion to the world he created and Veronica’s distinct character. Kristen Bell falls back into the role that catapulted her career with ease, and her perfect delivery of Veronica’s fast-talking one liners and sincere intuitive intelligence continues to make her one of the most well-written female characters in film or television. The return of all the major Veronica Mars players, including Enrico Colantoni as Veronica’s father, Percy Daggs III as her best friend Wallace, Tina Majorino as her other bestie Mac, and Ryan Hansen being allowed to hilariously steal scenes as cocky surfer-boy Dick Casablancas, all add to the completeness of the tableau.

Whether the rumored sequels or spinoffs do indeed pan out, Veronica Mars stands out with distinction as being the most successful fan-funded film to date, which is the sort of message Hollywood needs to hear. Never underestimate a strong fan-base. If they’d had all the power of the studio behind marketing they may have had an impressive box office turnout, we’ll never know. In the meantime, Marshmallows (Veronica Mars fans) everywhere can consider the film a victory, and those just getting in on the cult will find a satisfying mystery, rich romance, and smart friend in Veronica, without the agony of waiting years for closure.