Kunal
Kunal Shetty is our official entertainment news/movie critic blogger. Check in for some great insight!!
LIVE FROM NEW YORK IT’S ****ING SATURDAY NIGHT!
Roman Polanski’s arrest wasn’t the only entertainment news this weekend, Saturday Night Live got a bit of media coverage too due to a slip made on live television. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a Megan Fox wardrobe malfunction (she was hosting the season premiere) but rather new cast member Jenny Slate’s slip of the tongue in a sketch that aired during the last 20 minutes of the show. A rather mundane comedy piece involving a stereotypical character hosting her own talk show featured Jenny, as a biker chick, attaching “frickin’” prior to pretty much every other word. Problem is Jenny accidentally swapped “frick” in one instance with the mother of all TV swears – the dreaded f-bomb! *GASP*
Here’s the video (profanity warning!):
Shocking isn’t it? …Ok not really. I mean, this isn’t the first time this has happened on SNL. Former cast member Charlie Rocket, once described as the next Chevy Chase (back when Chevy was actually still a name), more or less did the same thing back in the ‘80s. He got fired for it, didn’t work in TV for the following 3 years and then committed suicide some two decades later after suffering an underwhelming film career. What will Jenny’s fate be? Well, not that. It seems NBC has already responded and she will keep her job. Potential FCC fine aside, her swearing was probably a good thing for the show. It certainly gave SNL more buzz than it would have received otherwise. The show was pretty terrible. In fact, if there were a case to be made to support Slate’s firing, it would be that her sketch was about as bad as everything else that aired that night and her performance in it wasn’t any better.
I’m probably not giving Jenny a fair shake but, hey, first impressions are what they are. At this point, the cast is due for a complete overhaul anyway. I’m talking an overhaul similar to the one that occurred in the early ‘80s, which ultimately left Joe Piscopo and Eddie Murphy as the sole remaining cast members the following season (incidentally, this was also a part of the aftermath of the Charlie Rocket incident). Who would survive my fantasy overhaul? Easy. Bill Hader: consistently funny, great impressionist, not over-exposed, Kristen Wiig: another multi-talented performer albeit currently overused, Fred Armisen: gotta have someone to do Obama for all those political sketches, Andy Samberg: if only for his popular Internet viral videos. Heck, I’d even let Nasim Pedrad stick around since she just joined the show and hasn’t done much at all. Everyone else? Buh-bye. That’s right, I’d trash – Seth Meyers, Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte (people actually like this guy? The MacGruber guy? Really?), token black guy Kenan Thompson, token fat guy Kenan Thompson …err I mean, Bobby Moynihan , Chris Elliot offspring, Abby Elliot, and the ‘talented but, dude, it’s time to move on’ guy, Darryl Hammond.
Of course, this would leave a huge hole in the cast. So what next? Might I suggest, and stay with me here, another NBC reality show? America still loves those, right? Lorne Michaels clearly doesn’t know how to pick ‘em anymore so let’s let America decide! Okay, sure, America’s taste is bit off-the-mark at times too. This is the country that voted for Taylor Hicks and that guy who beat Adam Lambert afterall (yeah, I’ve watched American Idol …I know, I know). But still an improv showcase that provides the winner a one-year SNL contract might be the best bet to discovering bigger and better talent. I know they’re out there. I’ve seen ‘em. Heck, a few people in the upcoming Bobby Khan movie could run comedic circles around SNL’s current cast. Just sayin’…
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Roman Polanski: To Jail or Not to Jail?
“Polanski arrested in connection with 1970s sex charge”. That was the breaking news on CNN.com when I woke up this morning. Wait, so his awful cameo in Brett Ratner’s Rush Hour 3 wasn’t his sentence? Guess not. The latest development on a story that stalled 30-plus years ago and that many assumed would end with a whimper as Polanski, now 76 years old, continued to live extradition-free in France, quietly making films and avoiding “justice” at the hands of the U.S. legal system .
For those that don’t know the story – Roman Polanski, French-born director, writer, producer, actor, is quite the polarizing figure. His directorial work is largely acclaimed by audiences and critics alike; from notable classics like the ‘70s film noir, Chinatown, to the more recent and poignant Holocaust picture, The Pianist. He is a true master of his craft, no question. Even reaching the pinnacle of his career with a standing ovation and a big Oscar win for ‘Best Director’ in 2003.
It is Polanski’s life away from the camera, however, that is far more discordant.
During World War II in Nazi-occupied Poland, a young Polish-Jewish Polanski was at the wrong place at the wrong time. By 1943, having lost his mother to a concentration camp, Polanski managed to escape the Kraków Ghetto he was placed in for a number of years. You’d think after experiencing one of the most atrocious acts in the history of the world, things couldn’t get much worse for the guy …but then August 9th 1969 came along.
At this point, Polanski, 35, was residing in Los Angeles, well into his film career and married to rising actress and a than 8-month pregnant Sharon Tate. Visiting his second home in London, Polanski would get word of a random, horrific killing spree that took place at his LA estate. “The Manson Murders”, as they were called, would make national headlines and were elicited by members of the Charles Manson “family” who savagely murdered 6 victims in total that day including Polanski’s beautiful young wife, Sharon, and her unborn child, both of whom were killed by a remorseless Susan Atkins despite Tate’s continuous pleading for the life of her child.
These two tragic events in Polanski’s life would build up plenty of public sympathy for the man if that were the end of his story. It wasn’t…
By 1977, Polanski was still enjoying success in the entertainment industry until a photo shoot conducted by Polanski for Vogue magazine with 13-year old Samantha Gailey (now Samantha Geimer) took a turn for the worse. Public opinion of Polanski turned with it. Gailey would later testify in court that what at first seemed like a harmless private photo session with Polanski at actor Jack Nicholson’s Mulholland area house would eventually turn into a high level sex scandal in which Polanski would initially be charged with “rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance (methaqualone) to a minor”. Those charges would be dismissed, however, and he would later admit guilt to lesser charges of “engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor”. With this admission and after enduring 42 days of psychiatric evaluation, Polanski fled to London and then, a day later, France, where he held citizenship. By doing so, Polanski would successfully avoided extradition back to the US for 31 years and consequently any trial and punishment for his lewd crimes.
In that lengthy period, Polanski would remain in France and continue to work. It seemed like he would live out the rest of his days avoiding penance. Yet his past finally caught up to him, ironically just a few days after justice caught up with his wife’s killer, Susan Atkins (she died of brain cancer). On a visit to Switzerland to collect a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival, Swiss police acted on a 31-year-old arrest warrant and took Polanski into custody. He is now awaiting possible extradition back to the U.S. to face punishment for his crimes.
The thing is – Isn’t it too late? The outspoken Internet community was quick to respond to the news in celebratory fashion and were ready to pull out their pitchforks and torches. ‘It’s about time!’ ‘Finally he will get his comeuppance!’ No question the man’s actions were despicable but society’s vindictive nature is also alarmingly flagrant. Many of the vocal majority was still in diapers when the scandal occurred or, like myself, weren’t even born yet but the yearning to see Polanski rot in jail is still at an all-time high. The problem? Bringing this man to justice now could ironically be the very thing that provides him freedom.
A documentary called Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired premiered at Sundance two years ago and shed greater light on the Polanski/Geimer relationship. Particularly enlightening is that Geimer, not a 13-year-old child anymore, has forgiven him and put the past behind her. If anything, a Polanski trial at this point puts Geimer back in the spotlight, a place she and her family don’t want to be in anymore, and so her likely lack of cooperation to pursue criminal charges would leave the prosecution with next to nothing to actually move forward with a proper trial. On top of that, Polanski‘s legal team has also made a recent motion to dismiss the sex scandal charges, something that was denied by a California judge on the basis that it wouldn’t be considered until he officially returned to face his day in court. With that day in court now on the horizon, Polanski’s chances of getting the charges dropped and getting complete freedom are greater than ever.
As far as I’m concerned, the only true opinion that matters in this matter is the victim of the crime, Samantha Geimer. She’s moved on. So too should we. At this point, the greater justice here would be for Roman Polanski not to have to face “justice”, especially when it’s looking to bend in his favor. This trial shouldn’t happen. Continue to banish this guy from the U.S. and let France keep him. Thanks for thinking of us, Switzerland, but we’re good. What say you?
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Watch It: State of Play
Hey readers, gotta make a quick movie recommendation to you. I managed to check out a little underrated gem over the weekend called State of Play and was quite surprised at how enjoyable it was. The crime drama’s 2+ hour running time flew right by. It also breezed through theaters earlier this year, garnering a good deal of positive reviews and a healthy $88 million domestic gross but was quickly forgotten soon after that. In it, Russell Crowe gets fat and eats Cheetos to portray a scrubby veteran newspaper journalist and Ben Affleck plays Ben Affleck as a politician enwrapped in scandal. If you’re into the whole “reporter unravels political murder conspiracy”-type of story, this one should be right up your alley. Shades of All the Presidents Men and even Zodiac, State of Play provides a good deal of suspense and twists and features a talented supporting cast that includes Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman, Helen Mirren, Jeff Daniels and Robin Wright Penn. Let’s face it, living in the age of the Internet, the newspaper business is dwindling and so too are movies pertaining to the hero journalist archetype. Enjoy these kinds of movies while they’re still out there. Available on DVD & Blu-Ray.
