Well, the thirty-seventh season of Saturday Night Live is underway; and as a whole, I’m pretty satisfied with the way the year is progressing. Alec Baldwin started off the season by celebrating his sixteenth hosting stint. The following week, Melissa McCarthy stole the show with a truly hilarious performance; so much so that the quality of the sketches was vastly improved just by her acting. And, in all honesty, this past Saturday’s episode proved to be very memorable and funny; thanks in large part by grand performances by the cast, a good amount of clever writing, and most importantly, a great hosting stint by Ben Stiller. Thus, I can say with utmost confidence:
Ben Stiller and the Cast of Saturday Night Live Truly Brought the Funny on October 8, 2011!
The show started out with an engaging political opening that truly demonstrated the cast’s great comedic timing. In the opening piece, Jason Sudeikis cleverly portrayed Mitt Romney; who, during a press conference, was faced with many reporters’ disappointment that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was not running for president. Sudeikis enabled his portrayal of Romney to be very down-to-earth; as he modestly explained that he can be just as charismatic and entertaining as Christie; despite everyone’s dissatisfaction. In addition, fellow castmember Bobby Moynihan portrayed a very charming Christie; who explained that we should all let Mitt Romney run for office—despite the fact that he does actually want to run for President at a later date. The whole sketch was very funny; and Sudeikis and Moynihan had great chemistry. In addition, all the castmembers portraying the reporters performed greatly; and everyone’s acting matched-up perfectly.
For the monologue, host Ben Stiller explained that he hasn’t eaten all day; seeing as he was fasting for Yom Kippur. The actor made himself appear weak and hunger-stricken. This leads to castmember Andy Samberg appearing on stage as Willy Wonka; who took the actor a set filled with food; complete with two castmembers dressed up foodstuff. Samberg and Stiller did a great job; as they dived into a parody of the classic “Willy Wonka”-melody “Pure Imagination.” The monologue was a lot of fun; and Stiller possessed a lot of energy. Thus, I was looking forward to the rest of the show.
The episode contained plenty of memorable segments. One of the sketches I enjoyed was a talk-show sketch entitled “The Best of Both Worlds;” which featured Andy Samberg cartoonish portraying Hugh Jackman; equipped with a tuxedo as well as “Wolverine-“style hair and metal claws. The whole segment was meant to spoof actors who have portrayed hard-hitting characters in film as well as being skilled in the musical arts. Ben Stiller portrayed a gruff-but-tuneful Mandy Patinkin; who engaged in a faux swordfight with Samberg’s Hugh Jackman while singing a song from “Les Miserable’s.” In addition, Bill Hader also amusingly portrayed Director Clint Eastwood; complete with a very stern voice as well as a over-sized forehead; courtesy of the great makeup department of Saturday Night Live. To make the portrayal even more funny, Hader started to croon the song he wrote specifically for his film “Gran Torino.” And just when I thought the sketch couldn’t be any funnier, out comes a completely unrecognizable Hugh Jackman; who was portraying a grown-up version of Daniel Radcliffe- who is famous for playing Harry Potter as well as performing in the Broadway musical “How to Succeed in Business.” What followed next was Andy Samberg, who was portraying a parody of Hugh Jackman, to comically boast false facts—complete with an over-the-top Australian accents. Meanwhile, the REAL Hugh Jackman, who was portraying Radcliffe, rapidly shot down every comment. He did so while maintaining character; and he did so hilariously and perfectly. Samberg and Jackman were very uproarious together; and the sketch proved to be very funny and very clever. In short terms, this was one of the best sketches of the evening.
Image of Andy Samberg as "Hugh Jackman" and Hugh Jackman as Daniel Radcliffe taken from
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=%22Saturday+Night+Live%22+%2B+%22Hugh+Jackman%22&um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=596&tbm=isch&tbnid=-Fmvk0Rb_9PtQM:&imgrefurl=http://www.gossipcop.com/best-of-both-worlds-hugh-jackman-snl-video-sketch-andy-samberg-daniel-radcliffe-saturday-night-live-watch/&docid=cL-bs4Gzz-ykUM&w=300&h=167&ei=huaVTpuUOen40gGI-728Bw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=350&vpy=306&dur=750&hovh=133&hovw=240&tx=109&ty=61&page=1&tbnh=122&tbnw=154&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0Another segment that earned my complete satisfaction was the evening's digital short; which featured Andy Samberg and Ben Stiller portraying characters that were competing to see who looks better when wearing V-Neck t-shirts. Both performers strutted various times in a comically exaggerated manner; always wearing a different style of the shirt. Just as they did during the monologue and “Best of Two Worlds,” Samberg and Stiller were both hilarious and they acted greatly together. I don’t want to ruin the ending of the short; but needless to say, the final ultimate climax was perfect.
But, while these two pieces were both cleverly-written and greatly-performed, my personal favorite moment of the show took place during Weekend Update. During the weekly news-segment, Bill Hader appeared as Stefon; his character that’s supposed to be an expert in finding great attractions for families to see during trips to New York City. However, once again, Hader’s alter-ego detailed unorthodox night clubs that specialize in eccentric activities as well as listing the types of people who patron these attractions. And while Hader still portrays the character with great flair, the segment was made even better by the unexpected addition of Ben Stiller’s famous big-screen male model Derek Zoolander. After first seeing Stiller portray the hilariously-clueless model ten years ago, it was great to see the character emerge once again. Seeing Hader and Stiller portray their characters was an absolute treat; and the pair exhibited great chemistry. Furthermore, Seth Meyers did a great job as the piece’s designated straight man was perfect; and the trio of performers played off each other with immense panache. In short terms, this segment was the most memorable portion of the episode!
Image taken from http://www.google.com/imgres?q=Ben+Stiller+%2B+Saturday+Night+Live+AND+2011&um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=596&tbm=isch&tbnid=jKX9n2vYSMJTIM:&imgrefurl=http://www.hitfix.com/articles/watch-ben-stiller-brings-back-zoolander-and-snl-takes-on-moneyball&docid=NjbTOMBrDxArdM&w=317&h=217&ei=j8mVTsC-EcLL0QGAsInJBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=513&vpy=150&dur=1031&hovh=173&hovw=253&tx=143&ty=74&page=1&tbnh=119&tbnw=159&start=0&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0
Other bright spots of the episode included Ben Stiller performing a hilarious impression of Bruce Springsteen in a fake advertisement for a fictional DVD—which details the over-the-top origins of some of his songs. In addition, castmember Jason Sudeikis comically impersonating Hank Williams Jr. during a parody of “Fox and Friends” as well as singing with the SNL band while going to commercial right before the first musical performance by Foster the People. Furthermore, Kristen Wiig gave a great comedic performance as an overly-flirtatious Halloween party guest; despite the fact she disturbed a trio of male guests after exhibiting some disturbing characteristics as well. In fact, it could be said that Wiig also gave a great performance on Weekend Update as an alleged specialist on party-planning; who could only think of activities involving pancakes. Kristen Wiig enabled her character to remain completely nervous while offering party ideas that primarily involved the breakfast meal. In addition, Wiig and Seth Meyers peformed well together; as they interact very well. In short terms, the whole cast worked so well together the whole evening; and Ben Stiller was a great and memorable host.
There were, of course, a couple weak spots during the show as well. While Jason Sudeikis was very entertaining as Hank Williams Jr, considering that the actor is able to spoof the singer’s voice impeccably while maintaining a comedically-exaggerated performance, the “Fox and Friends” seemed to lack many memorable jokes . In addition, while it was great to see Saturday night Live parody the advertisements for Lincoln Financial Group, complete with brilliant usage of makeup, the ultimate joke for each segment was a tad juvenile and ridiculous. Other than these problems, I still felt the episode was very enjoyable; and everyone on stage shined brightly throughout the evening!
It should also be mentioned that I enjoyed listening to the melodic sound of Foster the People; the episode’s designated musical guest. Even though I’m not a big fan of the song “Pumped Up Kicks,” most likely due to the cyclic nature of the song’s lyrics, I will say that the band has a great sound as well as plenty of energy. However, it should also be mentioned that when you actually read the lyrics to “Pumped Up Kicks,” the overall message is nowhere as cheery as the melody appears.
All in all, Ben Stiller’s episode of Saturday Night Live was a lot of fun and featured many great performances. I definitely look forward to seeing Anna Farris host the show this upcoming Saturday. And you can bet that I’ll be live-blogging the show live; reacting to every sketch that occurs throughout the show. So stay tuned for this Saturday! It’s going to be GREAT!!!
E-mail me at thatsnatertainment@gmx.com
No comments:
Post a Comment