Thursday, November 15, 2007

About to Decompress

All I have between me and vacation is my Logic class on Monday morning. And a truckload of grading. And my guilt over falling behind on NaNoWriMo.

That's all.

That's why I'm wasting time reading IMDB profiles of all the Saturday Night Live performers I hate. Here's part of the entry on Will Ferrell:
In 1995 he became a feature cast member at "Saturday Night Live" (1975) during the show's rapid re-casting. He was declared quite possibly the worst cast member ever during his first season. However, his talents of impersonations and range of characters shot him forward to making him arguably the greatest "Saturday Night Live" (1975) cast member ever.

That second sentence leads me to believe there's hope for the world. The third cancels that. Will Ferrell has to be the least funny famous comedian since Sir Laurence Olivier.


Okay, so Olivier wasn't a comedian. But he was funnier than Ferrell. Will Ferrell is the worst performer SNL has ever had. There's only one character he can play: the loud, obnoxious, stupid guy who's too stupid to realize how loud and obnoxious he is.

That's it. The costumes change, but the character does not.

Anyway, I'm happy to be just a few days from driving north. I need a break.

8 comments:

Mike said...

I'm not hugely wild on Will Ferrell on SNL, but try watching "Stranger than Fiction," or "Winter Passing." He's actually quite good in those.

Jess said...

Goodness, he is a joy in Stranger Than Fiction. That movie is lovely. Have you not seen it, Jason? Love it. Love it, love it, love it.

Jerry said...

Looking forward to seeing you bro! I have to agree, Will Ferrel makes the tool department at sears look small by comparison.

Nik said...

Ok, I totally have to (respectfully) disagree with the "worst comedian ever" on SNL.

Two words: Chris Kattan.

One more word: Mango.

'Nuff said.

Nathan said...

I have to agree with Jess and Nik. Ferrell can be really obnoxious but there are SNL alumni who are worse, Kattan among them. I really liked Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction. I think you're right that he's made a living playing basically the same kind of character, but that's true of most successful actors (John Wayne, Harrison Ford, Eddie Murphy, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc). It's how they make their money.

Jason said...

I've been told STF is a good movie, but my aversion to Ferrell has kept me from trying it. I'm sure at some point I'll break down.

As far as the "successful actors" theory goes, Nathan--you're right. Many actors achieve box-office success by repeating an iconic persona in several films. Harrison Ford is always Harrison Ford, but since I like who Harrison Ford always is, his films appeal to me.

Jean-Claude Van Damme, not so much.

Adam Sandler has a long history of samey characters, and he annoys me much of the time, but even his annoying character worked well in Punch Drunk Love.

And as far as Ferrell being the worst ever on SNL--obviously, that's subjective and open to debate. Chris Kattan isn't the worst, though, because he's not human. He's a hand-puppet animated by Will Ferrell.

Molly Shannon could compete for worst. So could Charles Rocket, or Tracy Morgan, or Colin Quinn . . .

Nik said...

ROFL! Chris Kattan as Will Farrell's hand puppet...

a) That made me laugh out loud & almost pee my pants.

b) I will never be able to watch old clips without thinking that again!

Thanks Jas! =)

Jess said...

I've always been fond of Sandler is Spanglish, which is a movie I cannot make it through sans weeping.

He's bumbly-likable-guy in it, but I think it's an interesting performance juxtaposed with Tea Leoni's (did I spell her name right?) performance as a fuh-reak of nature. Seen Spanglish, Jason?

And, yeah, break down and get STF.