Posts Tagged ‘Saturday Night Live’

Review: Daniel Craig on Saturday Night Live

Posted: October 7, 2012 in Review
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Well, here it is, folks. My final review of an episode of SNL for a while. And I’m sorry I’m getting it out later than I usually do, but them’s the breaks.

Alright, starting with Mr. Craig himself. As the current James Bond and a professional at killing people on screen while making women real and fictional swoon, we’ve been expecting a lot from this episode, and from Mr. Craig, who has not really done comedy up till this point. Sad to say, I was a little disappointed. I mean, he was great in the opening monologue…until they did that “In Memoriam” thing. And then it was just full of disappointments to me. Craig seems very expressionless, and although his New Jersey accent is convincing, he just doesn’t deliver the lines with the zing you expect from hosts on SNL. In fact, the cast members seem to overshadow him. Overshadow 007! Speaking of which, I was hoping he would do a whole skit on Bond, but all we got was a joke ad, with Craig in it only a quarter of the time. What’s up with that?

The rest of the cast was phenomenal as usual. Jay Pharaoh did a good impression of Obama that was both funny and painful to watch for me. Aidy Bryant finally had more than a single line in an episode, and was hilarious as a crazy woman, so I hope I get to see her full range in later episodes. It was cool to see Chris Parnell come back as Lehrer during the cold open, and Bobby Moynihan is great as a kitten-obsessed dude that, while we sympathize with him, we also want to punch him. Oh, and Fred Armisen, I don’t know how you feel about getting in drag, but you always kill me when you are!

The skits themselves were so-so. The psychic woman skit was a laugh, with everyone tearing up. I enjoyed Weekend Update especially, with Kate McKinnon as a weird Italian artist, and–oh, Big Bird was there! How did they get him on the show? I don’t know how, but kudos to the producers for that! And he was funny as welll as appropriate, which with Big Bird I guess is required.

No comments on the musical guest Muse, since I’m more of a pop/rap/screaming metal kind of guy, but they did alright I guess. And was that Michelle Obama in the cold open, or was that footage from a debate? Someone tell me.

Overall, I give it a 3,8 out of 5. Look forward to my next reviews, when I go to see movies like Taken 2, Alex Cross, and Skyfall, where Daniel Craig shines in the mode he’s best at: serious.

Review: Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Saturday Night Live

Posted: September 23, 2012 in Review
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Yes, I’m doing another SNL review. But before you groan, let me just say, I got some very positive responses on the season premiere, and the SNL cast and writers are doing very well on fulfilling expectations. So I’ve got four words for you: can you blame me?

Alright, on to the review part of the post. Joseph Gordon-Levitt; oh my God, I think that guy became a sex symbol for both women and gay men this evening, when he not only did an impression of Magic Mike during the opening monologue, but cross-dressed during the latter half of the show. I think someone out there might’ve fallen in love with that guy. But that wasn’t all; he was funny, he could do various accents and impressions, and he reminds me of guys I knew at Jewish summer cap, so that’s a plus in my book. Add all the serious roles he’s done lately, and I think Mr. Gordon-Levitt could have a very long career in Hollywood as a star who can do many different roles. Just don’t go weird Scientology on us or jump on couches while on a talk show and we’ll be good.

As for the skits…damn! The writers seem to be thriving under the pressure. That cold open was great! And having Mumford & Sons, the musical guest, play a song during one of the skits was just great, especially when the writers somehow manage to work in an actually decent Jerry Sandusky joke. And Kate McKinnon on Weekend Update as Ann Romney had me laughing so hard. I hope she plays that role some more before the election is over. A special mention goes to the Republican-sponsored birth control fake ad and the rapper’s fashion talk show where it showed two rappers slowly becoming effeminate. Also, I’d like to say the “Powers & Powers” skit was great, though I was sad it had to be cut short due to time constraints.

Final score on the review scale: 4.7 out of 5. Join me for another review of SNL in two weeks, when Daniel Craig tries his hand at comedy (and if they really do have Jennifer Lawrence of Hunger Games fame afterwards, like the rumors are saying, I’ll review that too. Oh don’t roll your eyes, I like this show, and it’s doing really well so far this season!).

Review: Seth MacFarlene on Saturday Night Live

Posted: September 16, 2012 in Review
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Now, you all know I’m a huge horror fan. But I do like a little comedy every now and then, and I have been known to do a little reviewing on SNL every now and then. So, since there’s been some changes in cast and it’s an election year in the United States, I decided to do a review of the season premiere of Saturday Night Live!

First, let’s start with the host and the musical guest. Seth MacFarlane was awesome, doing numerous voice impressions throughout the show and at one point playing a stuttering Army sergeant (was not sure if I should laugh, or object over the fact that I’ve been to speech therapy before). I was not impressed by Frank Ocean as musical guest though, remarking that he reminded me of Usher trying to be Ne-Yo. But hey, I don’t really know his music, so whatever.

The  actors were pretty decent this episode: Jay Pharaoh took over the role of playing Obama with a stellar performance, which I approve of, seeing as he was underutilized last season. Taran Killam also did well as Paul Ryan, and Nasim Pedrad was able to match an impression for every one of MacFarlane’s. I did not see enough of the new cast members (Cecily Strong, Aidy Bryant, and Tim Robinson, for those of you who don’t know) to really form an opinion, but I think they’ll make the transition to SNL okay, if they jsut keep their heads about them.

The skits were also decent: during the cold open, Pharaoh and Jason Sudeikis (whom, I’m convinced, did not tell people whether or not he was rejoining the cast until the final week before the new season just to get interest for the new season) were playing off each other to get plenty of laughs from the audience. Weekend Update was phenomenal as usual, though I don’t think “Innocence of Muslims” is something you can make a joke about. And in one skit, YouTube sensation Psy (I didn’t know who he was until this episode either, but down below is the video that made him famous) made an appearance, which was hilarious.

I did think that the Amish website skit was too short for my tastes, and the commercial breaks were too long. Also, I thought the new opening credits for the show was interesting, if a little heavy on tranistion use. Other than that, very few objections, bringing my rating of the episode a 4.2 out of 5. Let’s hope they can keep up the yucks for the next episode, with musical guest Mumford and Sons and guest host Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

And if you’re curious who Psy is and why he was featured in an SNL sketch, here’s his video. Trust me, it’s great; he’s dance like me, except possibly worse!

Review: Vanessa Bayer & John Mulaney

Posted: April 20, 2012 in Living and Life, Review
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Alright, so last night I went to Ohio State’s Union (yes, I’m naming my university now; since the article came up and my stats went through the roof, people have obviously seen the article and know the Pulse is an OSU publication, so what’s the point in hiding it now?) to see Vanessa Bayer and John Mulaney perform. Now Vanessa Bayer is a cast member of SNL, and you know how I love SNL, right? So I was super excited to see her live. John Mulaney I was less familiar with, but I found myself liking him very much, as you’ll soon see.

So, the show started out with a surprise opening act by (and I hope he’ll forgive me if I spell his name wrong) Shen Wang: a Chinese-American comedian from New York with a deep voice and the funniest drunk idiot stories about himself. He was pretty good, and he really connected to the audience, pointing out that our mascot was a poisonous tree nut. Smooth, man.

Then Vanessa Bayer came on, and boy was she awesome! She made fun of herself, of what she was like in college, she even showed us a video she’d made when she’d tried one of those dating video services. It was just great to see her live and hear her do her Miley impersonation. Huh-lare-eee-ose!

Vanessa Bayer, John Mulaney, and a very blurry Shen Wang. So sorry about the quality of the photo.

And finally, John Mulaney with his stories of black-outs, and his making-fun of whatever was on people’s T-shirts. This uy was great; he even told us about how he was confused for an Asian American woman as a child (strangely) and made fun of Law & Order: SVU, or more specifically, Ice-T’s character. Great job.

All in all, I gave the show–which I assume is playing in some other city right about now–a 5 out of 5. (And for those of you who think I don’t do any bad reviews, I just haven’t seen any bad shows or movies lately. But seriously, do you want me to recommend bad stuff or good stuff to you?)

 

Review: Jonah Hill on Saturday Night Live

Posted: March 11, 2012 in Review
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As last week I wrote a rather scathing review of Lindsay Lohan’s performance on SNL, I thought I’d follow up with Jonah Hill’s performance on last night’s episode. I’m happy to say, the man did not disappoint. Indeed, he fulfilled all my expectations and then some. From his hilarious impression of an annoying, fast-talking six-year-old wise guy to his performance of a Coolio song near the end of the show, he was hitting all the right notes. Heck, he even made the J-Pop sketch look good when he played a samurai who was out of breath and holding his sword wrong, and as a fan of manga and anime I usually get incensed when they do the J-Pop sketch.

Other highlights include the Weekend Update, featuring guest appearances by Kristen Wiig as Paula Deen, Andy Sandberg trying on the Sarah Palin persona because of an apparently sick Tina Fey, and Bill Hader as Stefon (and if SNL has any shippers obsessed with the Seth Meyers/Stefon relationship, I highly reccommend they watch this episode!).

All told, a very good show, even if the musical guests weren’t my type of music. I give this week’s episode, a 5 out of 5 (I’d feel guilty just taking off points for the musical guest).

Review: Lindsay Lohan on Saturday Night Live

Posted: March 4, 2012 in Review
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I love Saturday Night Live. Every time there’s a new episodes, you can know that’s how I spend my Saturday nights. I love that show…when they’re funny. Sometimes they miss the mark on that. Last night on SNL, well…first, I was really surprised that Lindsay Lohan, who somehow got to be host last night, was not drunk or high or anything else while on stage. It’s almost disappointing. There were funny moments though, such as the Mysterious Phone Calls skit, the Real Housewives of Disney skit (by the way, none of those shows have real housewives), and of course, the Weekend Update.

However on other skits it could be better. The skit that parodied 50’s rebel films just seemed like Fred Armisen getting hit by cars repeatedly while wearing drag, and the MacIntosh skit–usually funny as hell–was undermined by Lohan’s inability to show emotion. And the early morning radio skit just didn’t reach my funny bone.

Still, the show’s funny parts are always well worth it. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give this episode a 3.4.

Tune in next week, when Jonah Hill of Superbad fame hosts, with musical guest the Shins (I have no idea who they are either).

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