SNL: Lil Nas X, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Redd (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
You are now currently reading a review of the Saturday Night Live Season 46 finale – can you believe it? 7 months ago, could anyone have predicted that this episode would be hosted by Anya Taylor-Joy with musical guest Lil Nas X? Probably. Whether you predicted it or not, it happened.
The cold opening had an honest-to-goodness title displayed on the screen: “What I remember about this year” (Grade: 3.5/5 Remembrances of Things Past). As it opened with the longest-serving veteran cast members on the stage, I had to wonder if this would be their last episode (and I doubt I was the only one who thought that). That matter was never directly addressed, though. Instead, everyone just mentioned unusual things that happened during the past several months … and they also stretched the truth a little bit. SNL Life sometimes truly is stranger than SNL Fiction!
Jeff reaches into the Wayback Karaoke Bag to determine the most karaoke-able one-hit wonders of the 1990s. Also, some words about the recently departed Charles Grodin are offered.
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
TV
–M.O.D.O.K. Season 1 (May 21 on Hulu) – Robot Head.
–Duncanville Season 2 Premiere (May 23 on FOX)
–Master of None Season 3 (May 23 on Netflix)
–The $100,000 Pyramid Season Premiere (May 26 on ABC)
–Crime Scene Kitchen Series Premiere (May 26 on FOX) – I usually don’t watch cooking shows, but this one’s hosted by Joel McHale.
–Press Your Luck Season Premiere (May 26 on ABC)
–Rugrats Reboot Premiere (May 27 on Paramount+)
Music
-Chrissie Hynde, Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan
-Gary Numan, Intruder
-Olivia Rodrigo, Sour -twenty one pilots, Scaled and Icy
New Order at first looks like it’s going to be a nice story about a high-society wedding, but then soon enough there’s a mass rape scene that doesn’t give you any time to get your bearings. Well, I suppose it was never going to be a nice story. It takes a little while for the violence to arrive, but before it does, we’re witness to an especially angst-ridden ceremony. An elderly man named Rolando (Eligio Meléndez) needs 200,000 pesos for a heart operation for his wife, so he shows up to the wedding, as it’s being thrown by a family he used to work for. He’s mostly treated as a nuisance, but the young bride Marianne (Naian González Norvind) actually cares enough to step out from her own nuptials and help deliver Rolando’s wife to where she needs to go. Meanwhile, protesters are crowding the streets of Mexico City and full-blown revolution is only one gunshot away.
I’ll admit to a fair amount of ignorance about the social status quo in Mexico, but as a cinematic experience, I don’t think that matters too much. New Order is plainly miserable no matter what context you’re aware of. It didn’t have to be that way. The first 30 minutes promise a fascinating mix of high society satire, social commentary, and running-against-the-clock thriller. But then Marianne and a bunch of other people are taken hostage, and we’re forced to endure them being relentlessly tortured. And then we’re forced to endure that some more, and it all just feels so empty. At first, I cared about what would happen to Marianne and Rolando and his wife, but that investment just frittered away unceremoniously.
Also, there’s a visual motif about green paint that had me going, “What’s the deal?!” (I never figured out what the deal was.)
New Order is Recommended If You Like: Salo-level torture
(CREDIT: Brooke Palmer; Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures)
Spiral:
Starring: Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Samuel L. Jackson, Marisol Nichols
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: May 14, 2021 (Theaters)
Wrath of Man:
Starring: Jason Statham, Holt McCallany, Jeffrey Donovan, Josh Hartnett, Chris Reilly, Laz Alonso, Raúl Castillo, DeObia Oparei, Eddie Marsan, Scott Eastwood, Niamh Algar, Babs Olusanmokun, Josh Cowdery, Andy García, Rob Delaney, Lyne Renée
Director: Guy Ritchie
Running Time: 119 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: May 7, 2021 (Theaters)
I’m tempted to say that Spiral is my favorite Saw movie, but that wouldn’t mean all that much, as it’s only the second one I’ve ever seen. And it might not even be true anyway, since I enjoyed the philosophical conundrums that Saw 2 made me ponder. But Spiral has a whole “surprisingly favorite” vibe to it in opposition to the rest of the series. It may not be entirely different from its predecessors, but it diverges enough for me to go, “I’m pleased with the new direction.” I may not have seen Saw, Saw‘s III–IV, Saw 3D, or Jigsaw, but I’m familiar enough with them to feel like I’m emerging upon a new horizon. The torture is still too mentally and visually taxing, but the game’s rules and players have been updated.
As for Wrath of Man, I can confidently say that it is indeed my favorite Guy Ritchie movie. Although I should note that I haven’t seen his early stuff, so this might sound like faint praise. (My previous favorite by default was probably Aladdin. Or the parts of The Gentleman with Hugh Grant.) But Wrath of Man nevertheless stands tall on its own, and in opposition to the rest of its director’s filmography. Instead of being about a bunch of gangsters having a bloody good time, this is about a bunch of criminals and working stiffs being deathly, DEATHLY serious about everything. This movie is so bleak. It’s as bleak as a butt. It’s an elemental examination of Violence, Retribution, and Pure Evil. I don’t want to spend all my moviegoing hours in Wrath of Man Land, but visiting there every once in a while provides a healthy catharsis.
GRADES: Spiral: 3 out of 5 Minghella Rocks Wrath of Man: 4 out of 5 Statham Hartnetts
Dream Horse (CREDIT: Kerry Brown/Bleecker Street & Topic Studios)
Starring: Toni Collette, Damian Lewis, Owen Teale, Joanna Page, Karl Johnson, Steffan Rhodri, Anthony O’Donnell, Nicholas Farrell, Siân Phillips
Director: Euros Lyn
Running Time: 113 Minutes
Rating: PG for A Few Horse Troubles
Release Date: May 21, 2021 (Theaters)/June 11, 2021 (On Demand)
I watched Dream Horse right in the thick of Triple Crown season, so I was very much in the mood for some equine racing drama. (Or at least as much as I possibly can be in the mood in any given year.) But this is no American horse racing movie! No indeed, the action is across the pond in Wales. But that’s perfectly fine, because as far as I can tell (as someone who’s only watched the sport on TV and never in person), the Welsh racing courses look fairly similar to Churchill Downs, Pimlico, and Belmont Park. Much less familiar are those accents – I could barely understand what anyone was saying! Much of the cast members are Welsh natives, although the two leads are Australian (Toni Collette) and English (Damian Lewis), though they bite into the accents as heavily as everyone else. Despite this language-in-common barrier, the pastoral charms of Dream Horse still shine through. It’s an underdog sports story, after all, and that’s something I’m not inclined to resist.
The titular true-life thoroughbred goes by the name of Dream Alliance. His story is a bit of a cross between that of Seabiscuit and Secretariat (which is awfully convenient for American viewers). He comes from the humblest of beginnings, but his top-notch skills are undeniable. In his first race, he initially just bucks around in a circle. It takes his jockey about ten seconds to straighten him out and actually get him racing, but by the end of it, he’s within striking distance of the victory. It’s a moment practically tailor-made for whatever the Welsh equivalent of SportsCenter is.
But as awesome as Dream Alliance is, this movie is more about the motley crew surrounding him. They’re led by Jan Vokes (Colette), a bartender whose previous breeding experience consists of mere dogs and pigeons. She gathers a group of her neighbors to pool their money to raise Dream, and it’s a classic case of the hoi polloi crashing the dignified upper-crust party. Although nobody really seems to actually mind this rowdy crew that gets excited by things like stumbling across Andrew Lloyd Webber while taking a leak. This isn’t the upper crust so much as a relatively crustless society. Really, everyone seems to generally like each other, so the conflicts that do arise are thanks to the fateful whims of sudden injuries and limited finances. It all gets resolved with a classic prescription of “yearning for something bigger than your day-to-day life,” and the dosage is adequately effective.
Dream Horse is Recommended If You Like: Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Incredibly thick accents
SNL: Olivia Rodrigo, Keegan-Michael Key, Kate McKinnon (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
The penultimate episode of Saturday Night Live Season 46 has been hosted by Keegan-Michael Key! Fun fact about Keegan: he used to be one of the two stars of his own eponymous sketch show. But that show ended its run nearly six years ago. What do you think about that! The musical guest is Olivia Rodrigo, a teenager who writes songs.
For sustenance, I had a typical Sunday breakfast: two fried eggs, toast with strawberry jelly, and orange peach mango juice. Was the fruit-based-products-to-eggs ratio too high? #BreakfastThoughts
I didn’t forget to review the sketches! (Not that you thought I did, lol.) We start off with a Message from Dr. Fauci (Grade: 3/5 Faucis) and a bunch of other folks who are supposedly doctors, but they’re REALLY wacky by doctor standards. Supposedly they were acting out scenarios to help people figure out if and when they should still wear face coverings, but instead it was all just an excuse to act out shenanigans.
Jeff and Aunt Beth usually record That’s Auntertainment via Zoom, and now Aunt Beth has told Jeff to watch a TV show recorded via Zoom: Staged, starring Sheen & Tennant.
The Underground Railroad (CREDIT: Amazon Prime Video/YouTube Screenshot)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Army of the Dead (May 14 in Select Theaters, May 21 on Netflix)
–Oxygen (May 12 on Netflix) – Directed by Alexandre Aja, but no piranhas.
–Profile (Theaters)
–Spiral (Theaters) – Chris Rock joins the Book of Saw.
–Those Who Wish Me Dead (Theaters and HBO Max) – Might check out to see what Angelina Jolie is up to.
–The Woman in the Window (May 14 on Netflix) – Joe Wright directs Amy Adams.
TV
–The Underground Railroad (May 14 on Amazon)
-2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards (May 16 on MTV)
-2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted (May 17 on MTV)
-2021 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions (May 17-28, check local listings) – 19-game winner Jason Zuffranieri looks like the one to beat.
Music
-Aly & AJ, A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun – This came out last week.
-St. Vincent, Daddy’s Home
-The Black Keys, Delta Kream – Dan and Pat cover hill country blues.
When it comes to my game show fandom, there’s no semi-regular occasion I look forward to more than Jeopardy!‘s Tournament of Champions. For the pastfewToC’s, I’ve been handicapping the field in an attempt to identify the probable champions. My guesses have been decent thus far, as each of my #1 picks has made it to the Finals each time (and at least one of them won it all). But I’ve also come to realize that the entire ToC field is always filled with potential diamonds. You gotta keep an eye out for everybody. Having said that, I do feel confident in identifying certain favorites based on their performances in their initial winning streaks. So listed below are the 5 contestants in this year’s ToC who have impressed me the most, and listed below them are the other 10 contestants, who have also impressed me. (And sadly not included on the list is Brayden Smith, who won 6 games over December and January but passed away unexpectedly before the ToC.)
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