Jacob Hall
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Broke Box Office Records, Of Course
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was always going to make enough money to make most blockbusters tremble in fear. That was inevitable. It’s a Star Wars movie. The big question lingering over this opening weekend concerned whether or not it’s surely enormous opening weekend would break the records set by Jurassic World earlier this year. And now, with the early estimates in, we can answer that question: yes and no.
SNL Unites Kate McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton With Amy Poehler’s Hillary Clinton (and Adds Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin for Good Measure)
It’s a testament to the staying power of certain public figures that they’ve been played by more than one SNL cast member over the years. People like Hillary Clinton, the former First Lady turned former Senator turned former Secretary of State turned current Democratic Presidential frontrunner, linger on long past Saturday Night Live cast rotations. So what is the show to do when one of its guest hosts used to play a vital and very much in the public eye politician back in the day? Put her on stage with the current version, of course.
SNL: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s ‘Dope Squad’ Includes Amy Schumer and More
Dual guest hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler brought a lot of magic to last night’s episode of SNL, but the former cast members and Sisters co-stars probably hit their peak with a sort-of-music-video about their “Dope Squad,” aka the team of perfectly ordinary people who make their lives better on a daily basis. And while they may be wearing tight leather outfits, wielding weapons, and posing dramatically in front of post-apocalyptic imagery, the subject matter is far more mundane…and then Amy Schumer shows up.
SNL Introduces Settl, the Dating App For Desperate People
SNL commercial parodies are at their best when they’re at their most scathing. The fake ad for a fictional dating app called Settl may not be as dark as that vicious, pro-gun parody from a while back, but it’s a different brand of cynical: Here is the app for people who are tired of trying to find the right person and just want to settle down with, well, any person.
Ryan Gosling is Dangerously Obsessed With Santa Claus on SNL
While traditional live sketches are still the backbone of any given episode, modern SNL is frequently at its best in the pre-recorded segments. The past few years have seen an interesting evolution as the silly “digital shorts” of a decade ago have matured into full-blown filmmaking, with sketches that feel more like short films than just a comedy bit. Last night’s Ryan Gosling-hosted episode peaked with a pre-recorded sketch titled “Santa Baby,” which let both SNL and Gosling himself turn the weird up to 11.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘The Good Dinosaur’ and ‘Creed’ Face Off Against ‘Mockingjay’
Once families finished feasting on Thanksgiving, they had several options: continue enjoying each other’s company in the privacy of their own home, brave the crowds in search of deals at the retail store of their choice, or nip any potential argument over politics in the bud by heading out to the movies. Option three was apparently a popular one this year, as the overall top 10 for the week was the healthiest it has been in awhile, with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 fending off The Good Dinosaur and Creed, which still performed well.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2’ Sets the Box Office on Fire
As expected, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 topped the box office charts this weekend. But like the war in the movie itself, it all feels like something of a hollow victory. That may seem like a weird thing to say about a movie that broke $100 million in its opening weekend, but this is a new low for the series’ box office receipts…and it’s not even close.
SNL Digs Up the ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Screen Tests You Never Thought You’d See
With Star Wars: The Force Awakens less than a month away from release and anticipation reaching a feverish level unseen in movie fans since 1999, the timing is right for SNL to gently skewer the upcoming sequel. The sketch is really just an excuse for the cast to break out a bunch of impersonations they’ve obviously been keeping in their back pockets while letting them interact with actual Star Wars cast members, but c’mon, that’s all the excuse you need, really.