Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Amy Poehler Pleased to Meet Debbie Harry

From the NY Observer:

In the new film The Mystery of Claywoman, about a 500-million-year-old woman/prophet everyone seems to be looking for, Amy Poehler appears in a series of sketches for the film with Debbie Harry as her French lesbian lover who writes a book about Claywoman. The film, which was written and performed by Michael Cavadias and directed by Rob Roth, screened Sunday evening at the Wild Project in the East Village to a crowd that included singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright and actress and model Amanda Lapore.
"Here's my quote," Ms. Poehler said. The night before she had bid farewell to Saturday Night Live during her Weekend Update segment. "It's a feel good story--it's the feel good existential one man show of the year."
We spoke about Smart Girls, her Web show with Amy Miles that celebrates "girls who are changing the world by being themselves."
"Amy's in that too!" Ms. Poehler said, swinging to the side introduce Ms. Miles, who had one arm in a sling. She waved at us with the other.
"We're so thrilled it's out there and people are watching it," Ms. Miles said, smiling. "We're excited that we put something out there that is like something I would have wanted to see at that age. And we're representing girls that we kind of were because you don't really ever see that."
"Just normal girls, just regular girls," Ms. Poehler said, shaking her head.
We asked if she wanted to tell us anything about SNL.
"No, no..." she said, laughing. "No, I'm just psyched to be here and this is a really cool trippy show and Michael is a good friend of mine, and is a transformative preformer and so I was happy to be even included. Look, if anybody asks you to do something with Debbie Harry, say yes. My 14-year-old version of myself can't believe that I got to meet Debbie Harry."


Who is Amanda Lapore?

Monday, December 15, 2008

Seth Meyers-NY Post

http://www.nypost.com/pagesixmag/issues/20081214/SNLs+Seth+Meyers+Power+Fun?page=1

It's a goody!

Also, may I say how much I want to be journalists from the NY Post who get to interview some of the funniest people in America?

Article rundown:
  • Seth Meyers is not single.
  • Seth Meyers is responsible for Jon Hamm's John Ham..(might want to rethink funniest people in America title)
  • He has a Blackberry.

The rest is the usual, but it's worth a look!

Controversial Again, Naturally

As '08 draws to a close, SNL has ended on a somewhat controversial note. The David Paterson sketch has caused tremors in the blogosphere, with some critics saying the sketch was inappropriate and the governor describing it as "third-grade humour".

A spokesperson for Governor Paterson, Errol Cockfield (what an unfortunate surname) said, "The governor engages in humor all the time, and he can certainly take a joke. However, this particular Saturday' Night Live' skit unfortunately chose to ridicule people with physical disabilities and imply that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with serious responsibilities. The governor is sure that Saturday' Night Live,' with all of its talent, can find a way to be funny without being offensive. Knowing the governor, he might even have some suggestions himself.”

Now, there is one thing I'd question here. I don't think that anywhere in the sketch implied that because Gov. Paterson was blind, this rendered him incapable of having a job. I think that more than anything, the sketch was highlighting the fact that a man who has admitted to using drugs, and having extramarital affairs (including one with a state employee) could be elected governor. Not to cast judgement on Paterson's personal life, as he has said he has not touched illegal substances since his early 20's and his wife apparently also had affairs, but considering there were calls to impeach Clinton when his affair with Monica Lewinsky came out, it does seem odd that everyone would overlook Paterson's past.

What did you think of the sketch? Did Armisen's depiction cross the line?

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Hugh Laurie/Kanye West Review

Blagojevich Testimony - I have to say I really enjoyed this sketch. The scale of Blagojevich's stupidity and corruption truly knew no bounds, and I'm glad that SNL didn't let up on him. I loved Sudeikis' impression and Casey's Elizabeth Dole.
8

Monologue - I can hardly remember anything from the monologue. There was a Christmas medley, which wasn't great. Laurie made a joke about Oliver that nobody in the audience seemed to get. Forgettable.
5

Bronx Beat - I was so happy to see this return for Amy's final farewell. It was just perfect, and I loved when they were asking Laurie's character about what type of "meat" he preferred. "Breast, you like the breast? What about thigh? Inner thigh? Inner thigh? Breast?" And my favourite line; "I wish we had accents."
8

Sarcastic Christmas Dinner - This seemed to run on a such a flat premise, it had me a little confused. One line that sticks out for me is "Mother's milk", which made me holler like a hyena. Other than that though, this sketch was pretty weak.
6


Culhane Wedding Toasts - I rather enjoyed this sketch. The wedding toast idea never seems to get old. My favourite part of the sketch was Will Forte's white supremacist casting doom on America because of Obama's election. I also liked Laurie's friend of a father character.
8


Magical Lamps- Another sketch that hung on a weak premise. It's becoming increasingly obvious that Michaela Watkins' forte lies in playing elderly women. The only part I really enjoyed was "Coming soon to Broadway, but not the one you're thinking of!"
5

Cat Christmas Letter- One of my favourites of the night. I have a confession : I love puns. And this sketch was riddled with them, and I licked it up. "Miaowy Christmas." Oh, puns!
And, I LOVED Kristen Wiig's cat voice.
9


Cookie Crimes" (Digital Short) - Digital Shorts are just getting increasingly sillier and nonsensical as the season progresses. Perhaps I am holding them on a high pedestal, but the shorts never used to be this stupid. I mean, who conceived this? A man eating cookies, that turn out to be laxatives. I cannot think of a single redeeming feature of this sketch. I didn't smile, I didn't laugh.
(I'm not going to mark this, as it will be too harsh.)

Weekend Update: Oh god. I love Fred's David Paterson so much. It reminded me of Paterson's own shady past. It was too good. And perhaps a little politically incorrect, but I don't care. I loved it. The WU jokes weren't too great, but Amy's little speech was so sweet. And, I loved how Fred blocked the camera just as she was tearing up, only to make her laugh. Such a lovely way to go. I'll miss you Amy.
8/10

I dislike Hugh Laurie. I didn't have high expectations for this show. And sure enough, they met my low expectations. Other bloggers have said that the SNL crew didn't give Laurie a lot to work with. That may be true, but I think that perhaps Laurie didn't give SNL a lot to work with. His background is in comedy, but as we've seen in House, his forte is in snarky drama. This show, along with Anna Faris' has to be one of the weakest of the season. And where was Bill Hader? I'm getting peeved at their underuse of one of their most talented players. What is it? Don't they know how to write for him? It's just ridiculous to me.
Overall : 6/10

End of the Poehlercoaster

It was a fun ride while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end.

I'll miss you Amy Poehler. Your presence on screen never failed to make me smile. The energy and light you brought every week without fail was incomparable. Saturday nights surely won't be the same.