Here's an excerpt from an interview with superbad (I'm just using it as an adjective to describe the man) director Greg Mottola, where he professes his love for Bill Hader and gives some details on another Mottola-Hader collaboration.
So: Bill Hader.
I love Bill. A lot of the people you meet in comedy love comedy movies. The great thing about Bill is, he’s a total cinephile. We can sit and talk about Hal Ashby, geek out on Kubrick or old foreign films for days on end. I love comedy, but you get sick of talking about old Steve Martin movies.
Bill and I optioned a novel, this book by Charles Portis called Dog of the South. Charles Portis wrote True Grit. This is a comic novel that’s set in the ‘70s, and it’s one of the funniest things I ever read. It’s for me to direct and Bill to star in. But it’s a dramatic acting role. It’s going to be Bill showing a whole other side of stuff. And I can’t wait, because I know he has it in him.
http://www.heebmagazine.com/blog/view/1380/1
Full interview with Adventureland director Greg Mottola above.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Rolling Stone Lonely Island Vid.
Click below to see a short video of The Lonely Island guys talking about the division of work, and the phrase "album dropping."
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/01/22/the-lonely-island-inside-andy-sambergs-mind-squad/
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/01/22/the-lonely-island-inside-andy-sambergs-mind-squad/
Armisen & Moss Get Engaged!
Yes, Fred Armisen & Elisabeth Moss are engaged. That was fast!
Congratulations to the happy couple!
Congratulations to the happy couple!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Bill Hader Writes Slasher
Yes, you read right. News from Sundance is that Bill Hader and SNL writer Simon Rich are currently writing a slasher for movie powerhouse Judd Apatow.
How does he describe it?
"'It's partially Straw Dogs meets Halloween meets Home Alone meets Monster Squad.'
I don't understand two of those references, but with Hader and Apatow involved, it's guaranteed to be fantastic!
How does he describe it?
"'It's partially Straw Dogs meets Halloween meets Home Alone meets Monster Squad.'
I don't understand two of those references, but with Hader and Apatow involved, it's guaranteed to be fantastic!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Casey Wilson interview.
Here's a neat little interview that Casey Wilson did, where she defends Bride Wars and gives us a look inside her apartment which is lovely by the way. Enjoy!
From Sundance:
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and Adventureland premiered at Sundance last night, and have received some glowing reviews on the blogosphere.
Why am I talking about these movies? Well, because Will Forte stars in the aforementioned and earned himself a mention for bringing the funny here:
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/reviews/sundance-review-brief-interviews-with-hideous-men.php
And because Bill Hader & Kristen Wiig star in the latter, and earned themselves mentions here:
http://www.hitfix.com/posts/2009-1-20-sundance-review-kristen-stewart-and-jesse-eisenberg-in-adventureland
Why am I talking about these movies? Well, because Will Forte stars in the aforementioned and earned himself a mention for bringing the funny here:
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/reviews/sundance-review-brief-interviews-with-hideous-men.php
And because Bill Hader & Kristen Wiig star in the latter, and earned themselves mentions here:
http://www.hitfix.com/posts/2009-1-20-sundance-review-kristen-stewart-and-jesse-eisenberg-in-adventureland
As you all know, today President-Elect Obama will get inaugurated as President of the United States, to the pleasure of the majority of the world. But in times of celebrations, and rejoicing, we forget about those who didn't vote for Obama, and who are awaiting the fall of the United States, and the inevitable implementation of a Communist regime. I bring you, SNL alum Victoria Jackson.
On November 13th, Victoria Jackson wrote:
Because my agent received hateful and threatening phone calls after I expressed my politcal views publicly.... I took her phone number off of my web site. I asked someone why people would be angry with my words. Don't we have freedom of speech? They replied that the "...has some traits that resemble the Antichrist" comment was the phrase most offensive to some people. That word is not a curse word and wasn't meant to be rude or offensive. It is simply a term in eschatology, and I was making an observation. (It's funny that the word "Antichrist" was used in reference to President Bush many times, and no one seemed to mind.)
Americans need to be educated about government, politics, and eschatology (the study of the Biblically referenced "end times"). I need to learn more also, so I am going to study these subjects and report what I learn to whomever will listen. (I am currently reading "What In The World Is Going On" by Dr. David Jeremiah, "Global Warning: Are we on the brink of WWIII?" by LaHaye and Hindson, "Bible Prophecy 101" by Bickel and Jantz, and "Muslims, Christians, and Jesus" by Medearis.)
Voters in our last election did not base their decision on facts or knowledge, but on hype, emotion, peer pressure, and racial fervor. It didn't help that the liberally biased media blocked Americans access to the truth. (Fox News is the only news show that even resembles journalism).
I am pleased to see that Victoria Jackson has retained her sense of humour in what must be a truly traumatic time for her, as you have to be joking when you say Fox News is the only news show that even resembles journalism, right?
I hope you make it through today, Victoria. Just keep thinking of how you can say "I told you so" to the liberal elite media when America becomes a Communist nation.
And please, do keep reporting what you learn to "whomever will listen."
On November 13th, Victoria Jackson wrote:
Because my agent received hateful and threatening phone calls after I expressed my politcal views publicly.... I took her phone number off of my web site. I asked someone why people would be angry with my words. Don't we have freedom of speech? They replied that the "...has some traits that resemble the Antichrist" comment was the phrase most offensive to some people. That word is not a curse word and wasn't meant to be rude or offensive. It is simply a term in eschatology, and I was making an observation. (It's funny that the word "Antichrist" was used in reference to President Bush many times, and no one seemed to mind.)
Americans need to be educated about government, politics, and eschatology (the study of the Biblically referenced "end times"). I need to learn more also, so I am going to study these subjects and report what I learn to whomever will listen. (I am currently reading "What In The World Is Going On" by Dr. David Jeremiah, "Global Warning: Are we on the brink of WWIII?" by LaHaye and Hindson, "Bible Prophecy 101" by Bickel and Jantz, and "Muslims, Christians, and Jesus" by Medearis.)
Voters in our last election did not base their decision on facts or knowledge, but on hype, emotion, peer pressure, and racial fervor. It didn't help that the liberally biased media blocked Americans access to the truth. (Fox News is the only news show that even resembles journalism).
I am pleased to see that Victoria Jackson has retained her sense of humour in what must be a truly traumatic time for her, as you have to be joking when you say Fox News is the only news show that even resembles journalism, right?
I hope you make it through today, Victoria. Just keep thinking of how you can say "I told you so" to the liberal elite media when America becomes a Communist nation.
And please, do keep reporting what you learn to "whomever will listen."
Monday, January 19, 2009
Rosario Dawson/Fleet Foxes
Cold Opening: 5/10 - Very weak opening, they could have done so much more with Cheney, or else gone in the more obvious direction of lampooning Bush's final address or the extremely weird press conference that he held last week. I do have to give props to Wiig for quite a good Diane Sawyer impression, but other than that, weak open.
Monologue: 5/10 - Fred could barely even save this. Rosario started off bland, and unfortunately when she made her only joke : "Smile and get discovered!" not one person laughed. Ferecito had one or two funny lines, but they didn't revive a dead monologue.
North American Savings: 7/10 - Yeah, seven might seem a little high for what it was, but I actually liked this. It made me giggle, and reminded me of those other bank commercials that Jim Downey used to do, "Change is what we do." The kicker came when Hammond shoved the money under a mattress.
Da Learning Train: 5/10 - Despite having lots of energy and potential, the sketch never really took off. (excuse the mild pun.) And why was Harry Connick, Jr. featured in it?! The only part of this I liked was the intro : "You have so many channels, your kids are bound to find porn." and Bill's DJ. Other than that, this was a pretty lame concept.
Guantanamo Bay Going Out Of Business Sale: 7/10 - Probably the best of the night. People have been linking this to Circuit City's shutting down, but I don't think there was any particular link between the two. "Git'mo!"
Aladdin Anniversary: 6.5/10 - Cute sketch, but didn't really deliver the laughs. The genie/Robin Williams references were funny but other than that, it was just okay.
SNL Digital Short: A Couple Of Homies: 7/10 -I actually really enjoyed this. The concept may have been a little lame and sparse, but the background music, and inane songs made me laugh. "Backscratch!" And you know, Will Forte showed his ass. That's got to be good for something.
Gilly: 7/10 - A lot of people are hating this sketch and complaining about Kristen Wiig, but I really enjoyed this sketch. I honestly don't know how she made it through without busting her gut laughing. It was so stupid, but for some reason that I can't quite point out, it was really funny to me. Also, Bobby and Kenan did well in this sketch. And it had one of my favourite lines of the night:
"Who just shot the principal's ass?"
"Oh, we call it a bum in here."
"Who shot the bum's ass?"
Or something like that. I would like to say though, that Gilly should not return as a recurring character.
Fleet Foxes 1: n/a didn't watch
Weekend Update: 7.5/10 - Some good jokes, and I've noticed these past couple of weeks, they've been trying jokes out that the audience doesn't necessarily like or get, but that the writers' like. Like last week, they made that great Agatha Christie/President's dinner gag that barely got a giggle from the audience. I loved Judy Grimes' tonight, but Bernie Madoff and Larry the Goose were pretty lame.
La Policia Mexicana: 4/10 - A gag that despite trying their hardest, could not be stretched out for the duration of a sketch.
The View: 8/10 - Loved it! I really like The View sketches, and props to both Jason Sudeikis and Michaela Watkins for their excellent impressions tonight! I don't know what the point of having Rosario there was, but her Salma Hayek was pretty poor.
Fleet Foxes 2: n/a
Good Excuse!: 6.5/10 - Fun enough. I liked where the camera would pan to an empty theatre with cats roaming around while "Good Ex-Cuse!" played out. Kenan's part was funny enough, but they should have left the joke alone instead of bringing out "Perpetua".
Overall: One of the worst of a generally good season. Rosario brought little/nothing apart from her Latina heritage to the show, and while some may choose to criticise the writing instead of the host, in this case I'm going to criticise her. The host plays a big part in what sketches are written up, what they'll do, what they won't do etc. As we've seen this season, the writers flourish when given a good actor to play around with. I happen to think that Rosario Dawson is a very average actress, and I don't imagine she brought a whole lot to the table. So, in this case I will blame the host for the lacklustre show. But next time it happens, I'm blaming the writers.
Notes:
-Where was Abby Elliott tonight? She was given the honour of screeching Live From New York, It's Saturday Night! last week and this week, she had maybe one word of dialogue in Da Learnin' Train.
- Michaela Watkins does a mean Barbara Walters.
- Where are all these Sudeikis impressions coming from?! Last week and this week, he's proven himself to actually be a decent impressionist, a talent I would not usually associate with Sudeikis. Props, brother! Hope to see more soon!
-Lorne, show us some Casey! Bobby gets tons more to do than her, and he's been there for a significantly shorter amount of time!
- There wasn't actually a lot of sketches this week. Three videos in one episode? And the show featured the SNL band playing for longer than three seconds, something they NEVER do. And the goodbyes started about two minutes earlier than usual. Wow, talk about a lack of material, and a need to fill time.
Overall: 5/10
Monologue: 5/10 - Fred could barely even save this. Rosario started off bland, and unfortunately when she made her only joke : "Smile and get discovered!" not one person laughed. Ferecito had one or two funny lines, but they didn't revive a dead monologue.
North American Savings: 7/10 - Yeah, seven might seem a little high for what it was, but I actually liked this. It made me giggle, and reminded me of those other bank commercials that Jim Downey used to do, "Change is what we do." The kicker came when Hammond shoved the money under a mattress.
Da Learning Train: 5/10 - Despite having lots of energy and potential, the sketch never really took off. (excuse the mild pun.) And why was Harry Connick, Jr. featured in it?! The only part of this I liked was the intro : "You have so many channels, your kids are bound to find porn." and Bill's DJ. Other than that, this was a pretty lame concept.
Guantanamo Bay Going Out Of Business Sale: 7/10 - Probably the best of the night. People have been linking this to Circuit City's shutting down, but I don't think there was any particular link between the two. "Git'mo!"
Aladdin Anniversary: 6.5/10 - Cute sketch, but didn't really deliver the laughs. The genie/Robin Williams references were funny but other than that, it was just okay.
SNL Digital Short: A Couple Of Homies: 7/10 -I actually really enjoyed this. The concept may have been a little lame and sparse, but the background music, and inane songs made me laugh. "Backscratch!" And you know, Will Forte showed his ass. That's got to be good for something.
Gilly: 7/10 - A lot of people are hating this sketch and complaining about Kristen Wiig, but I really enjoyed this sketch. I honestly don't know how she made it through without busting her gut laughing. It was so stupid, but for some reason that I can't quite point out, it was really funny to me. Also, Bobby and Kenan did well in this sketch. And it had one of my favourite lines of the night:
"Who just shot the principal's ass?"
"Oh, we call it a bum in here."
"Who shot the bum's ass?"
Or something like that. I would like to say though, that Gilly should not return as a recurring character.
Fleet Foxes 1: n/a didn't watch
Weekend Update: 7.5/10 - Some good jokes, and I've noticed these past couple of weeks, they've been trying jokes out that the audience doesn't necessarily like or get, but that the writers' like. Like last week, they made that great Agatha Christie/President's dinner gag that barely got a giggle from the audience. I loved Judy Grimes' tonight, but Bernie Madoff and Larry the Goose were pretty lame.
La Policia Mexicana: 4/10 - A gag that despite trying their hardest, could not be stretched out for the duration of a sketch.
The View: 8/10 - Loved it! I really like The View sketches, and props to both Jason Sudeikis and Michaela Watkins for their excellent impressions tonight! I don't know what the point of having Rosario there was, but her Salma Hayek was pretty poor.
Fleet Foxes 2: n/a
Good Excuse!: 6.5/10 - Fun enough. I liked where the camera would pan to an empty theatre with cats roaming around while "Good Ex-Cuse!" played out. Kenan's part was funny enough, but they should have left the joke alone instead of bringing out "Perpetua".
Overall: One of the worst of a generally good season. Rosario brought little/nothing apart from her Latina heritage to the show, and while some may choose to criticise the writing instead of the host, in this case I'm going to criticise her. The host plays a big part in what sketches are written up, what they'll do, what they won't do etc. As we've seen this season, the writers flourish when given a good actor to play around with. I happen to think that Rosario Dawson is a very average actress, and I don't imagine she brought a whole lot to the table. So, in this case I will blame the host for the lacklustre show. But next time it happens, I'm blaming the writers.
Notes:
-Where was Abby Elliott tonight? She was given the honour of screeching Live From New York, It's Saturday Night! last week and this week, she had maybe one word of dialogue in Da Learnin' Train.
- Michaela Watkins does a mean Barbara Walters.
- Where are all these Sudeikis impressions coming from?! Last week and this week, he's proven himself to actually be a decent impressionist, a talent I would not usually associate with Sudeikis. Props, brother! Hope to see more soon!
-Lorne, show us some Casey! Bobby gets tons more to do than her, and he's been there for a significantly shorter amount of time!
- There wasn't actually a lot of sketches this week. Three videos in one episode? And the show featured the SNL band playing for longer than three seconds, something they NEVER do. And the goodbyes started about two minutes earlier than usual. Wow, talk about a lack of material, and a need to fill time.
Overall: 5/10
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Sundance Portraits
Above is the Sundance portrait for Amy Poehler taken from EW. Amy is at Sundance promoting her movie Spring Breakdown.
Here's the cast portrait:
Yes that's Rachel Dratch beside Amy. Also in the pic are funny ladies Missi Pyle, Parker Posey and Jane Lynch.
The Line: Live
As I told you guys last week, not my fault if you weren't paying attention, UCB was hosting a live screening of web series The Line, with guests Bill Hader, Seth Meyers & Simon Rich.
Well, I just read an account of the proceedings, and it sounded effing awesome.
In addition to Hader & Meyers, Bobby Moynihan, Jason Sudeikis and John Lutz (a SNL writer) showed up, along with Thomas Middleditch and Will Hines who appeared in The Line.
And if that weren't enough, Jon Hamm, Jack McBrayer, Michaela Watkins, Chris Gethard and Laura Krafft (The Colbert Report) also showed up at UCB to show their support.
Read a full account of The Line: Live at this fantastic website the comic's comic:
http://thecomicscomic.typepad.com/thecomicscomic/2009/01/live-from-the-line-live.html#more
Well, I just read an account of the proceedings, and it sounded effing awesome.
In addition to Hader & Meyers, Bobby Moynihan, Jason Sudeikis and John Lutz (a SNL writer) showed up, along with Thomas Middleditch and Will Hines who appeared in The Line.
And if that weren't enough, Jon Hamm, Jack McBrayer, Michaela Watkins, Chris Gethard and Laura Krafft (The Colbert Report) also showed up at UCB to show their support.
Read a full account of The Line: Live at this fantastic website the comic's comic:
http://thecomicscomic.typepad.com/thecomicscomic/2009/01/live-from-the-line-live.html#more
As you may or may not know, the Sundance Film Festival is currently taking place in Utah, and among the films premiering there are Brief Interview with Hideous Men, based on the novel of the same name by David Foster Wallace, and written and directed by John Krasinski from The Office. It stars among others, SNL's Will Forte, and it really looks like a fantastic film or at least an achievement in film.
Here's a clip (not featuring Forte) from the movie.
Many filmmakers have tried to film Wallace's work and failed, so it's a huge achievement for Krasinski to film the "unfilmable". And it's huge for Forte to be a part of it.
Here's a clip (not featuring Forte) from the movie.
Many filmmakers have tried to film Wallace's work and failed, so it's a huge achievement for Krasinski to film the "unfilmable". And it's huge for Forte to be a part of it.
Live From New York, It's Saturday Night Live -
As I reported on the 27th December, (http://livefromnewyorkitssaturdaynightlive.blogspot.com/2008/12/straight-from-horses-mouth.html) before anyone else I might add, Steve Martin will host January 31st with musical guest Jason Mraz.
How do you pronounce that guys surname?
Anyway, there you have it. From what I've heard about Rosario Dawson's show, it was pretty bad, so Steve Martin will need to bring it!
How do you pronounce that guys surname?
Anyway, there you have it. From what I've heard about Rosario Dawson's show, it was pretty bad, so Steve Martin will need to bring it!
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