Saturday Night Live, April 9, 2011: Helen Mirren & the Foo Fighters

Well folks, it's been over a week since this episode aired and while my lack of a recap is partially due to laziness; I also thought I would wait because there isn't a new episode until May 7th! (Tina Fey!!!!!)

Cold Open was a presidential address, seems like it's been awhile since we had one of those:


I don't think this one got the credit it deserved: "Fans of SNL are unhappy because they tuned in to see the show & they got this presidential address, while others are unhappy because the show is still on the air" I mean, I know it wasn't that LOL funny, but it definitely deserved more than it got.

The monologue had Helen Mirren singing a song about being a dame....


Next up was Mort Mort Feingold: Celebrity Accountant


These are pretty silly (in a great way), but I like the impressions the best. I will say, I'm pretty much over the Kardashians, and if we never see them again I wouldn't mind at all. Clearly, Tim Burton/Helena Bonham Carter/Johnny Depp was the best part of this one.

Digital Short: Helen Mirren's Magical Bosom:


Aside from the possibly the best collection of great moments ever, Andy's pronunciation of "titties" had me giggling like crazy, and when he says "but her titties exist in a place beyond space & time" I was gone. It was short, silly and weird...just how I like 'em!

The Fox & Friends sketch was alright, mainly we learned that Helen Mirren is not great at an American accent.


There was another okay sketch about Mary Shelley's inspiration for Frankenstein.


Foo Fighters jammed their song Rope:



Update had a couple visitors this week, including James Carville

Also, a visit from Shelley Elaine, a flight attendant who's plane cracked on the ceiling, giving her the greatest hair ever.

and some of the week's Update Favorites:

There was a sketch I thought was pretty funny, but I can't find a clip anywhere. Andy Samberg was Hugh Jackman, and he hosted a talk show called "The Best of Both Worlds", because he, Hugh Jackman, was both an action star as Wolverine & a talented singer/dancer. He had guests that were similarly, 2-sided. Like Gerard Butler (300/romantic comedies). It was funny, I'm surprised they didn't put it up.

We got a nice visit from the Ninjas from Under-Underground Records in Crunk-Ass Easter Festival:

RIP Ass Dan. These are the best, especially if you've seen the ridiculousness that is the actual infomercials...(like the 10th Annual Gathering)

Then some major historical inaccuracies with The Roosevelts

A commercial for Perspective Studios:

As if it wasn't already funny, Seth Meyers says "peen" and locks it down.

Another Foo Fighters Performance: Walk

Closed out the show with an okay Strip Club sketch.

Overall, not a bad episode, definitely not as completely funny as the last few have been, but no complaints here. I'm just getting ready for the last 2 episodes of the season. They're still weeks away, but Tina Fey is hosting May 7th, and then Justin Timberlake is hosting the finale on the 21st...

Speaking of JT on the 21st...would you like to know how that was confirmed?? BET YOU WOULD!!! check it....

I found out SNL wasn't new until the 7th, and I tweeted this:

 

and then....@nbcsnl tweeted me back today and said "@itsjentastic Nope! We have Timberlake after that!" and then I RT'd that. So, later this evening I thought, Oh, let me favorite that tweet, because that's so cool they replied to me!! But, I couldn't find it, it was gone, missing...I thought it was weird, but went on with my life...Until just now. I went to look for the exact date that JT was hosting, so I googled it, and stumbled upon some interesting articles ACTUALLY "QUOTING" MY TWEET! Like articles from: Huffington Post!:

also PerezHilton, and TVLine. Not to mention articles linking to those articles...with MY TWEET...IMDB and HitFix If you find more, put 'em in the comments!! But, Why didn't any of these people link to my username??? C'mon people!! 

Needless to say...I'm freaking out.

Saturday Night Live, April 2, 2011: Elton John

Elton John was the both the host & musical guest, and I was surprised to learn that this was only his second appearance on the show. It was a solid episode and if there was any fear of having him host it was gone after the cold open. Even if he might have had some trouble there were some serious surprises that would've made up for it!

We opened up with...

The Lawrence Welk Show:

I always love these and it seems like we haven't seen one in awhile, which makes it that much funnier.

The monologue was good, some good one liners about having a baby, being Elton John, etc.

Then the real fun started!!! Check out who shows up in...

ESPN Classics:

"Make a little room for Paco, put some sauce on that taco! - KY Jelly" Seriously not even close to the funniest pun they use for KY Jelly. So, right off the bat we get Will Forte, who I don't think got nearly the applause he deserved. I don't think people realize he isn't on the show anymore, but I, gave him plenty in my living room. (Basically, I stood up and walked around the coffee table and clapped and yelled). Then Carmelo Anthony showed up and I had no idea who he was, so thank you twitter. THEN Tom Hanks showed up, and he was GLORIOUS, (plus he had the best line in the whole sketch). Now, here's my only beef w/ Hanx. I follow him on twitter (@tomhanks), and earlier Saturday afternoon, he tweeted a picture of him at SNL!!! WHY WOULD HE DO THAT!?! Basically, I had to try to convince myself that he was just there hanging out, even though I knew, in my heart, that he was going to be surprising us in a sketch. Hanx, you disappointed me, but I can't stay mad at ya. (P.S. when are you hosting again? Alec & Steve are 7 ahead of you!!!)

And just when you thought Tom Hanks was gone....

Knights of the Realm:

How great was his Michael Caine? Also, Taran Killam as Ian McKellen, nailed it! Plus the word Jizz in an English accent? Love it!

Then when you REALLY thought Hankster was gone, boom Digital Short: 

Laser Cats, The Musical 

They had Wilson!!!!!! I already love Laser Cats and then they added Space Jam and singing....just plain great.

Update was fun, as usual. Both, Moammar Gadhafi and Bronx Zoo trainer Barry Lewis paid a visit to the update desk. We even had some surprise guests!!:

Jake Gyllenhaal & Nicolas Cage!

Jake, you're hot...and you #cangetit. let's do this.

Update Highlights

 

"Lamborghini for every day use, because your penis is tiny every day" Update writers, you are wonderful.

Then we were back to the sketches...

Elton Visits the Queen

 

These have been cracking me up. I say these, I think there's only been two (maybe 3?). But Fred as the Queen just kills me.

We closed the night with a couple sketches that were pretty good. The Silver Screen had Taran Killam & Elton John talking about movies....and making out! (Yes, it was kind of like Men on Films) But as you know I love Taran Killam and he's quickly become my favorite newbie, so shut it. Then we had Elton, as an interesting Cowboy in the Old West. Finally, I figure I'd throw in a link for a musical performance, I mean, It was Elton John & Leon Russell, besides Leon Russell has the best hair/beard ever.


Anyway, as I say every week: Record the damn show live, at the very least you can go back and watch it when I tell you something exciting happened! Otherwise, you only get the cheapest 50 minutes (It's a 90 minute show). (and it's only 50 minutes whether you watch it online or ondemand!)


I leave you with promos for Saturday's show with Helen Mirren & the Foo Fighters!!

Hellen Mirren, you're like a lady silver fox!!

Tarantino, The Coens, and Smith... Will It Blend? A review of Red State

Where does one begin when discussing Kevin Smith? A lot can be said about the usually comedic director, and a lot IS being said every time someone mentions his new film Red State. Invariably, at any point during a review of his new flick, a whole paragraph will be devoted to how this is a dramatic departure from his usual fair, as Red State is not a raunchy, dialogue heavy comedy but a raunchy, dialogue heavy horror movie. Then a whole separate paragraph is devoted to how Smith is foregoing the usual means of distribution and putting the film out himself via a national tour and blah blah blah... See how boring this gets? If you’ve come to this page because you’ve heard about Red State and want to know my thoughts, you’ve already gone through a paragraph and read next to nothing about the film itself. I thought I’d skip the detritus in discussing the man, the myth, the brand name that is Kevin Smith, and instead talk about the new film and leave it at that. So here goes.

Right off the bat, the film deserves major props. In our remake and sequel laden world, it is a breath of wonderfully fresh air to witness something that is wholly unique and not connected to any prior work. So already, points to Red State for going where no film has gone before and in such a dismal market to boot. In the film, which Smith has described often as a horror movie, although it is much more than that, three teenage dudes go looking for sex after answering an online ad and end up victims of a ruthless fundamentalist Christian cult that’s one part Texas Chainsaw family, one part Al Quaeda, and one part Pat Robertson. This, of course, is only the beginning.

Now, let’s discuss the writing. Writing, especially dialogue, has always been Smith’s major strong suit and he doesn’t disappoint here. Despite the movie being a heavy and darkly disturbing tale, hilarious lines are not held in check. In fact, they are used profusely and strategically, mostly in order to lend voice to the audience and a little bit of tension relief between the mind numbing horros. I can’t honestly recall a place where it didn’t work, especially since the lines were being delivered by some A-list actors that spent most of their screen time eating up scenery and pooping out Oscar worthy performances.

Michael Parks is the big baddie in the film, glimpsed in the beginning and later taking the protagonists, and the viewer, captive for some horrific rituals. He plays Abin Cooper, a Fred Phelps-esque pastor of a hate pandering Christian sect holed up in a private commune called Cooper’s Dell. If his performance in Red State is any indication, Parks and his alter ego will go down in history as one of the silver screen’s greatest and most disturbing villains, to rival the likes of Hannibal the Cannibal himself. But Parks is by no means alone in this. His chief rival as the film progresses is ATF Agent Keenan, played with a tough sincerity by the legendary John Goodman. Goodman and Parks begin a battle to see who’s going to steal the show, and it’s an utmost pleasure to see the two dropping science all over the screen just by their mere presence.

That’s not to say you should only be on the lookout for these two powerhouses, either. The supporting cast of relative unknowns also brings their A-game to the table. Michael Angarano, Kyle Gallner, and Nicholas Braun play the hapless and horny teens that get into this mess with a certain desperate loser-ish charm that you can’t help but like despite the fact that they have a pretty one track mind. One standout supporting performance is Kerry Bishe’s, who plays the oldest granddaughter of Abin Cooper and puts a sympathetic human face on an inhuman enemy. I believe she had the best scenes outside of the ones populate by Parks and Goodman.

Smith’s story never takes the popular route any usual “horror” movie would take. No score clues the audience in with the usual cheap notes, and just when you think you have the rest of the movie figured out there is some sort of gigantic, perhaps cosmic, twist to ratchet you off of your game. This is done well, and continues all the way to the final scene. It is a rarity that a film these days can keep me guessing, and this one had me scrambling around in the dark to the very end. Another thing to note, and something that’s been mentioned countless times before in the prior reviews of the film, is that this becomes less of a horror movie and more of a dramatic political thriller, or even an action movie about halfway in. The best analogy I can come up with when I’ve told people about the flick is that it’s somewhat like watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and halfway through switching it to Inglourious Basterds. That’s the delicious taste that was left in my mouth by the end of the film, along with a hint of Coen Brother’s directing sensibilities and a dash of Kevin Smith’s wit-pepper.

I hate just gushing about a film, and I struggled to find something to really complain about here in order to make my review a bit more even handed. The only thing I could come up with is that I wish it would have been longer. I know some stuff was cut out of the original Sundance edit, and I’m positively drooling at a chance to see a Director’s cut version on dvd because I couldn’t get enough of Red State. At the end of the day, when the only complaint you can fathom is that there wasn’t enough of such an awesome flick, I think it was a job well done.

After the screening I attended, Smith himself got onstage to discuss the film and one thing he said about the movie struck home. He said that the goal when he set out was to make a “Tarantino flick by way of the Coen brothers”. What can one say, but that the man at least has great taste? Well, I for one, can say that he accomplished this in spades and with his own little twist of creative lime juice on top.

The movie comes out in wide release on October 19th, and I know I’m going to be there.