Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 12/8/23

December 8, 2023

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Batman smells, yadda yadda yadda (CREDIT: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)

Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.

Movies
–The Boy and the Heron (Theaters)
–Merry Little Batman (December 8 on Amazon Prime)
–Poor Things (Theaters)

TV
–Doctor Who: The Giggle (December 9 on Disney+) – One more bit of 60th anniversary business.

Music
-Alison Goldfrapp, The Love Reinvention – Remix album.
-HEALTH, Rat Wars – I only just heard of this band, but they look fun.
-Tate McRae, Think Later
-Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday 2
-Neil Young, Before and After

SNL Review May 19, 2018: Tina Fey/Nicki Minaj

May 20, 2018

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CREDIT: Gianny Matias/NBC

This review was originally published on News Cult in May 2018.

NewsCult Entertainment Editor Jeffrey Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then organizes the sketches into the following categories: “Love It” (potentially Best of the Season-worthy), “Keep It” (perfectly adequate), or “Leave It” (in need of a rewrite, to say the least). Then he concludes with assessments of the host and musical guest.

Love It

Michael and Colin – With a finale consisting of mostly disappointing sketches, I will take this opportunity to take a deeper dive than usual into Weekend Update. It has been a solid year for Misters Jost and Che, as the two have long settled into an undeniably strong rapport. For their final Season 43 outing, the ostensible centerpiece is their set of jokes that had previously been deemed too sensitive to air, but the real highlight (as usual) is their in-between-joke banter, as when Colin notes that Michael’s take on a racial epithet-based story turned out better than when he gave it a go.

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SNL Recap December 6, 2014: James Franco/Nicki Minaj

December 8, 2014

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SNL: Nicki Minaj, James Franco (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)

This review was originally posted on Starpulse in December 2014.

With a crisis in policing in America, and a movie studio being hacked, possibly in retaliation to the upcoming film starring tonight’s host, this week’s “SNL” was not struggling for topicality.  Surprisingly enough, one of the most uncomfortable issues of the year shocked the show out of its politically tepid default, resulting in some legitimately funny material on a difficult subject.  However, what this episode was most notable for was a bizarrely naturalistic pace.  It was not slow and sleepy so much as it was that many of the sketches took their time to find a joke.  Rhythmically, this did not feel like a typical 2014 episode of “SNL,” for better, for worse, and for neutral.

Politics Nation – The Ferguson and Eric Garner decisions were impossible for “SNL” to ignore, though it was a little odd that the show chose to initially take them on with Kenan Thompson’s malapropism-prone Al Sharpton.  While this rendition of the MSNBC spoof did keep that goofy element, the reverend came off smarter than usual, with his gaffes seeming more like the result of frustration than incompetence.  The conclusion of him eagerly hugging an uncomfortable police officer firmly established this as a genuine, albeit silly, call for solidarity. B

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SNL Recap January 29, 2011: Jesse Eisenberg/Nicki Minaj

January 30, 2011

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Cold Opening – Congresswoman Michele Bachman’s Response to the President’s State of the Union: The Second Attempt
The concept of technical difficulties galore was good for a few laughs and then it got a little old, but not as old as it could have gotten. Bachman offhandedly confirming that Xena was on the same tape as the Obama clip and the crash in the background at the end were the most amusing bits, because of how goofy and unexplained they were. B

Jesse Eisenberg’s Monologue
When Zuckerberg joined Eisenberg, it felt like they were going for pretend awkward, but instead it was just actually awkward. (Why didn’t all three Zuckerbergs appear together at the same time?) Jesse’s struggle to paint himself as cocky was well-intentioned, but that too was also awkward. C

Estro-maxx
This was one of the weakest premises SNL has ever had for a commercial parody, but thankfully it was part of a trend in which weak premises are saved by great performances. Bill, Fred, Paul, and Bobby especially were completely wholehearted in their roles, particularly while wining. And of course Kenan’s look of joyful surprise was the best moment. B

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