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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

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Alex Borstein: Drop Dead Gorgeous In a Down-to-Earth Bombshell Sort of Way (2006)

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Alex in Thunderland

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Alex Borstein: Drop Dead Gorgeous In a Down-to-Earth Bombshell Sort of Way on DVD

Alex Borstein (The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Bad Santa, Catwoman, Good Night, and Good Luck) and I have known each other since college and she asked me to write a blurb for the back of this DVD case, which I did ("brilliantly filthy, screamingly funny"), so I may be a bit biased when I say: don't miss this. I saw Alex perform this show live in San Francisco, and it's a brilliant mix of shockingly filthy stuff, some self-deprecating religious humor and an insightful social critique into the way America views women in entertainment. The show featured on this DVD was shot in Los Angeles, and the only drawback is that Alex decided to include her warm-up act, Teddy Towne (really Ted Hardwicke), although the menu gives the option to skip over him. I'm pretty sure I didn't get this guy's act, although I'm sure of one thing: I don't trust a guy who performs in sunglasses. Alex's husband Jackson Douglas (formerly of "Mad TV") directed.

DVD Details: Alex is perhaps best known for her role as the voice of Lois on "Family Guy," and so the DVD includes a quickie video tour of the "Family Guy" headquarters, featuring little cameos by Patrick Warburton and Mila Kunis. I especially love the picture on the DVD itself, a bit of subversive playfulness utilizing the hole in the center.

Starring: Alex Borstein, Ted Hardwicke (a.k.a Teddy Towne)
Written by: Alex Borstein
Directed by: Jackson Douglas
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 71 minutes
Date: January 15, 2007