Paul Feig Puns

Is there another director whose entire reputation on the internet has been so completely colored by a Red Letter Media video? After a five year period of minting box office gold out of the increasingly challenged comedy genre, Paul Feig made the incredibly unwise decision to direct a remake of a Gen X nostalgia property. The subsequent pillories colored the conversation around his career online from thenceforth; I actually got the opportunity to "attend" a virtual screening of Bridesmaids hosted by Feig, and even there, he felt compelled to defend his own improv-heavy directing.

It's a shame too that his career is often thought of in those terms, because it's got some great context. After his cult-sensation Freaks and Geeks and a pair of movies that don't exist, his directing career has been chockful of awesome clears. To give a rundown:

• First up, we got Bridesmaids, an insane clear that's one of the top-10 highest-grossing romcoms of all time and one that's centered the female stars too boot. It is still the highest grossing Judd Apatow production ever, and promised to launch an avalanche of successful female-led comedies that just...didn't really come.
• Undeterred, Feig then directed The Heat, with Sandra Bullock and Bridesmaids breakout Melissa McCarthy. This, again, was a massive clear, grossing nearly 40m in its OW and legging out to 159m domestic and 227m worldwide. To hear contemporary articles tell it, it was also the only successful female-led comedy to come out in the 2 years since Bridesmaids.
• Next up is Spy, which in some ways epitomized the collapse of the star-driven comedy at the domestic box office. Melissa McCarthy, now a bona fide star, couldn't stop this movie from opening 25% lower than The Heat and finishing a full 50m below the former. Still, international fandom for all things Statham and Spy movies let it outgross Feig's previous effort worldwide.
• Then, Ghostbusters! Context. Lotsa context. Lotsa lotsa lotsa context. Good context? Eh... But context? Oh yeah, lots. Also Kate McKinnon!
• After Ghostbusters, we get A Simple Favor with Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively and Henry Golding. A comparatively modest money-maker that was once pitched as a Gone Girl riff, the movie showed that if nothing else, Feig can nail some really tricky tone shifts. Also the trailer says "FROM THE DARKER SIDE OF DIRECTOR PAUL FEIG," which already feels like it has classic bit potential.
• And finally, we have Last Christmas, a movie that did the impos