Month: February 2013

Saturday Night Live: A Movie History

In two years, “Saturday Night Live” will turn 40 years old. Lorne Michaels brilliant creation has certainly had its ups and downs through the years, but it remains the most important television comedy on the air, capable of influencing culture and politics on a level that few singular forms of entertainment can.

The show has also served as a major launching pad for its cast members going into film careers. There are countless examples of success. Eddie Murphy’s film catalog has grossed nearly $4 billion dollars domestically. Adam Sandler’s filmography clocks in at over $2 billion. Chevy Chase has seen wild success with the Vacation series, Fletch, and more. Bill Murray has starred in comedy classics from Stripes to Groundhog Day to an Oscar nomination in Lost in Translation. Mike Myers created the hugely successful Wayne’s World (from an SNL skit) and, of course, Austin Powers. Will Ferrell struck it huge in film, from Old School to Anchorman and beyond. In 2011, Kristin Wiig made a massive headlining movie debut with Bridesmaids, as did Jason Sudeikis in Horrible Bosses. There are many more examples.

However, it doesn’t always work that way for SNL alumni. So consider this an alternative movie history for cast members who never quite broke out in movies.

We’ll start with the films based on sketches that bombed. In 1994, Julia Sweeney took her popular androgynous character Pat to the big screen with It’s Pat. Filmgoers quickly sent back the message that they preferred that character in five minute segments, not feature length film. The producers didn’t even bother to give it a wide release. The result? It’s Pat grossed all of $60,000 at the box office. Long way from the success of The Blues Brothers and Wayne’s World.

In 2010, Will Forte brought his MacGruber character to the silver screen with disastrous results. It grossed only $8 million. Blogger’s note: MacGruber shouldn’t have gotten such a bad rap… it’s pretty damn funny.

Away from pictures based on sketches, let’s move on to alumni that just never broke out in film. Mary Gross was a cast member in the early-mid 80s. When she made her starring film debut in 1988’s Feds with Rebecca DeMornay, no one was watching to the tune of a $3.8 million box office take.

Victoria Jackson was a member of some wonderful casts in the late 90s and early 90s. Her attempt at film stardom, 1988’s Casual Sex?, didn’t register with moviegoers and it made just over $12 million. I also enjoyed the question mark in the title. Are we trying to convey an air of mystery?

Dana Carvey, one of SNL’s MVP’s, had a promising start with Wayne’s World. After that, it was pretty much all downhill. Films like 1994’s Clean Slate and Trapped in Paradise bombed. 2002’s Master of Disguise earned a respectable $40 million, yet it had the distinction of being one of the worst reviewed pictures of the year and Carvey has yet to star in a film since.

Chris Kattan had a long run as a cast member and did star with Will Ferrell in the mildly successful Night at the Roxbury, based on the SNL skit. When it came time for his close-up, 2001’s Corky Romano, it didn’t go over so well with a $23 million gross.

Jimmy Fallon was a wildly popular cast member whose gone on to the big things by taking over the “Late Night” franchise to positive results. However, when he tried to turn his SNL popularity into a film career, the result was 2004’s critically reviled Taxi with Queen Latifah, which underperformed with $36 million.

I could go on and on explaining the checkered movie history of Rob Schneider or Joe Piscopo or David Spade. For every Tommy Boy, there’s a Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. For every Ghostbusters, there’s a Pure Luck with Martin Short. For every Talladega Nights, there’s a Hot Rod with Andy Samberg.

So while “Saturday Night Live” always has and always will be an influential gateway from TV star to film star, it doesn’t always work. Ironically, a cast member from one of SNL’s most hated seasons went onto possibly the most impressive film career. In the 1985-86 season, an entire new cast was brought in to revamp the show. This was met with awful results, both ratings wise and critically. Almost the entire cast was fired after that one year, but one particular alumni from that forgettable season has seemed to manage with a movie career. His name is Robert Downey, Jr.

Oscar History: 1995

For Oscar purposes, 1995 gave us the opportunity to say something we certainly haven’t said much recently: it was a great year for Mel Gibson.

Mad Max directed and starred in Braveheart and the historical epic was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won five. Those wins included Best Picture and Director.

In the Picture category, it was a relatively weak field in my judgment. Braveheart beat out Ron Howard’s Apollo 13, Chris Noonan’s childrens film Babe, Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility, and Michael Radford’s critically acclaimed Italian film Il Postino. 

I will confess that I’ve never seen Postino, but the other four nominees are all what I would describe as very good movies… none of them great. I’m certainly aware Braveheart has fans who would disagree. Sorry. My personal favorite picture of 1995 is probably Michael Mann’s heist drama Heat with its at the time historic pairing of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. It was no surprise that it didn’t get a Best Picture nomination, but its exclusion in the cinematography and editing categories is inexcusable. Competing with Heat for favorite film honors of the year is certainly David Fincher’s Seven and it sadly received only one nomination, for Editing. And if the Academy wanted to include a kids film, I would have left Babe off and put in Pixar’s wonderful inaugural feature, Toy Story.

Three out of the five Picture nominees saw their directors nominated – Gibson, Noonan, and Radford. A little surprising that Ron Howard and Ang Lee were the ones left out. They were replaced by Mike Figgis for his work in Leaving Las Vegas and Tim Robbins for Dead Man Walking. 

For Best Actor, Nicolas Cage was honored for his work in Leaving Las Vegas as a suicidal alcoholic. It certainly is one of his finest performances (he mixes in good acting every once in a while to join a host of over-the-top and silly performances). His main competition was Sean Penn as a death row inmate in Dead Man Walking. Penn would get his due not once, but twice in later years. Other nominees were Richard Dreyfuss in Mr. Holland’s Opus, Anthony Hopkins in Nixon, and Massimo Troisi in Il Postino. Italian actor Troisi joined the small list of posthumous nominees. He passed away of a heart attack the day after Il Postino completed principal photography. Other performances that might have made my list: John Travolta’s terrific work in Get Shorty and Jack Nicholson in The Crossing Guard.

While Penn didn’t win the gold for Dead Man Walking, his co-star Susan Sarandon took the Best Actress award for that film as a nun counseling Penn. Her competition: Elisabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas, Sharon Stone in Casino, Meryl Streep in The Bridges of Madison County, and Emma Thompson in Sense and Sensibility. Amazingly, this was Thompson’s fourth nomination in three years. She won the Actress category in 1992 for Howards End and was nominated for Actress in 1993 for The Remains of the Day and Supporting Actress for In the Name of the Father. 1995 was actually quite a year for leading female roles. In addition to the five nominees, there were many other deserving performances: Nicole Kidman in To Die For, Kathy Bates in Dolores Claiborne, Julianne Moore in Safe, Jennifer Jason Leigh in Georgia, and Heather Matarazzo in Welcome to the Dollhouse. Popular choices could have included Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds or Julia Roberts in Something To Talk About.

In the Supporting Actor category, the favorite to win was Ed Harris in Apollo 13 or possibly Brad Pitt for 12 Monkeys. The winner is an example of the Academy getting it right, when they recognized Kevin Spacey for his breakout role in The Usual Suspects. The other nominees: James Cromwell in Babe and Tim Roth in Rob Roy. Pretty solid field, though I might have found room for Don Cheadle in Devil in a Blue Dress or a second nomination for Spacey in Seven. 

For Supporting Actress, the winner was a performer in a Woody Allen film for the second year in a row. In 1994, Dianne Wiest took the honor for Bullets Over Broadway. Here, it’s Mira Sorvino for her first-rate comic performance in Mighty Aphrodite. She beat out Joan Allen in Nixon, Kathleen Quinlan in Apollo 13, Kate Winslet in Sense and Sensibility, and Mare Winningham in Georgia. 

Again, my list probably would have looked a lot different in the Picture field, with consideration given to Heat, Seven, Toy Story and possibly 12 Monkeys or The Usual Suspects or Oliver Stone’s Nixon. However, it was Mr. Mel Gibson’s year.