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I wasn’t the biggest fan when it was called Bad Santa and took place in a department store, so, suffice it to say, Bad Teacher’s foul-mouthed comedy never quite hit home. Scribed by writers from “The Office” and, what is sadly much lower on my anticipation list now, Ghostbusters III, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg have one thing going for them—laughs. If it weren’t for a healthy amount of laugh-out-loud instances, the void of any engaging conflict coupled with the broadest performances I’ve seen in quite some time, this film would be an inexcusable failure. Even the romance, the one thing that may be construed as a coherent plot progression, is completely tossed to the side for off-hand comments that made even me blush in surprise. And that, my friends, is a hard thing to do. But despite the necessity to give credit where credit is due,...

Teachers don’t get enough credit. Luckily, there are movies out there that shine the light on this noble profession…but Bad Teacher ain’t one of ‘em. This movie goes for the comedic jugular, and gives you a teacher that’s more like a kid in juvie than an adult in the teacher’s lounge. Thank god.

The story is simple, if you’ve seen the trailer you know the deal. Elizabeth Halsey is a nightmare with teaching creds. She did as little as humanly possible her first year of teaching, then decided to blow off her job because of her upcoming marriage to a stinkin’ rich dude. But the guy changes his mind, and Elizabeth finds herself back behind a desk, where her “teaching” consists of playing movies to her students. All’s well — for Elizabeth, at least — ‘til she finds out that the teacher whose students score...

Director Jake Kasdan’s new “bad girls do it better” comedy Bad Teacher (starring Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel and Justin Timberlake) opens in theaters this weekend. We recently had the opportunity to speak with Phyllis Smith, who plays Lynn Davies, a sweet-tempered (and somewhat easily corruptible) teacher at the Jr. High School where the very corrupting Elizabeth Halsey (Diaz) works in the film.

Normally, it is standard to refer to talent by their last name in an article or interview — but in this case, I find it impossible to refer to Phyllis by any other name. Phyllis and I greeted each other in the only acceptable manner — with an old-school/new-school hybrid fist bump (minor explosion), and immediately tucked into the sofa for a chat about working with Cameron Diaz, the incredible story of her career, missing Steve Carell, and what ...

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The first ever "Top Chef" winner, Harold Dieterle, tied the knot with longtime girlfriend and fellow foodie Meredith Lynn Davies over the Labor Day weekend, according to People.  The couple wed at a church in downtown Atlanta, where Davies is originally from. Among the 175 guests on hand to celebrate the couple's nuptials were fellow "Top Chef" alums and season one competitors Leanne Anne Wong and Stephen Asprinio. Head judge Tom Colicchio was also invited but could not attend because he is currently shooting the show's next season, which is...

Congratulations - or should we say bon appétit? - to 2006 Top Chef winner Harold Dieterle, who tied the knot with fellow foodie and longtime girlfriend Meredith Lynn Davies Saturday. In traditional Southern style, the pair married in Davies's hometown, Atlanta, at a downtown church. They then celebrated their nuptials at a reception held at the Capital City Country Club, where Davies donned a Pnina Tornai gown, and Dieterle wore a Paul Stuart white dinner jacket. And the wedding ceremony was a Top Chef affair: Fellow season one competitors Lee Anne Wong and Stephen Asprinio were among the 175 guests to attend.