John Malkovich/T.I Review

This has been a longtime coming, but I only watched the show on Tuesday. And sure enough, it was worth waiting for!

Secretary Clinton" - Amy Poehler back! Okay, aside from the return of the Poehler, I thought this cold open was little weak. I did enjoy when Bill showed up though, and made a quip about voting for change and getting the Clintons.
7/10

Monologue - Best monologue of the season? Yes! Malkovich read out 'Twas The Night Before Christmas to a group of children while dispensing the cold, hard truths of life. My favourite moment came when Malkovich said, "Itchy, itchy!" while removing a Santa hat.
9/10


"Gas Right" - A little silly, but I can forgive it because I really liked how Fred played Bruce. Premise was a little dumb though.
7/10


Sexy Shannon - This had me both howling with laughter, and cringing at the same time. Kristen Wiig played the sexy lady in the office whose disgusting mannerisms fail to live up to the guys' fantasies. That is, all the guys except John Malkovich. My favourite part was when she sang Happy Birthday. Fantastic.
9/10

Obama Keeps It Cool (film) - I enjoyed this, but I was expecting it to be a commercial for Obama cologne. Not the best, but good for a filler.
7.5/10


La Rivista Della Televisione - One of the best. I missed Vinny Vedecci! Highlight was most definitely when Bill Hader did his Malkovich impression, flawlessly! Bobby Moynihan also did a good job of playing Vinny's son, who was pacified with a cigarette.
9/10


"Virginia Horsen's Pony Express" - Virginia Horsen who you may remember from advertising Hot Air Balloon Rides returns to try convince you to let her deliver your mail-by horse. Amusing, and I loved the killer graphics! :)

"Calculators" - This was fun, in that it made me feel Christmassy and nostalgic. But I think it was a sort of a weak concept to sustain a whole sketch. Though, I have to say Fred and John are very convincing children.

Weekend Update: Hit-and-miss per usual with a lot of cruder-than-usual humour, but the guest commentators were good, particularly Boy George and David Rasmussen. Fred Armisen could hardly keep a straight face while playing Boy George, and his impression was spot-on, I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more coverage or recognition. Rasmussen (AS) was a 9-year-old who wrote a book on how to pick up girls. Of course his advice was filled with pick-up tips unsuitable for children. Very funny.
8/10

The Lost Works of Judy Blume - Loved, loved, loved it! It was weird enough for John Malkovich to take control of it, and run wild with the character Gertie, a girl in the throes of puberty who worries about playing truth-or-dare at a sleepover. My favourite part?
"The first 9 days were painful, but by the third month I hardly noticed it." - Gertie on what her period is like.
Also, Abby Elliott got a few lines in this one!
10/10

Jizz In My Pants - The Lonely Island boys are back on top, and in the headlines with their latest creation which featured cameos by Molly Simms, Justin Timberlake and Jamie Lynn Sigler. Jorma was heavily featured, and Akiva made a brief appearance. This song was obviously called Jizz in my Pants, and I don't think I need to explain it or the meaning. It has been hailed as Dick in A Box 2.0, but to be honest, despite it being ridiculously catchy, I didn't think it was great. I liked the pseudo-English accents, but I preferred earlier sketches with John Malkovich.
7/10

J'Accuzzi - Last of the night, and you know what that means, dud! The concept of the sketch was, Dangerous Liaisons performed in a hot-tub with poor actors. Malkovich's running commentary was funny enough, but the rest hardly illicited a giggle from me. It seemed like a lot of work, with no result.
5/10

Overall comment: Malkovich was a great host. Wonderfully weird and whimsical, he was reminiscent of Christopher Walken, but of course not as good, because who is? I thought he was daring in the sketch choices, particularly with Gertie, and did a great job!
The sketches were a little hit-and-miss, but when they were good, they were hilarious.
8/10

Thoughts:

• I wonder where Jason Sudeikis was?
• I wish Amy Poehler would have come out on stage for a bigger cheer. She was unusually bashful.
• Why does John Malkovich pronounce the word "Saint" like "Saant"?
• What is with all the rappers on SNL lately? It's time for a band!
• Abby Elliott gets a line, yes! Now we just need a Joan Cusack-focused sketch and she can really showcase her talents.

Next week: Hugh Laurie/Kanye West