Josh Brolin, the “Avengers: Endgame” actor who is riding high (even with a worm!) from the success of his latest film “Dune 2,” has proven to be a reliable “Saturday Night Live” host for the third time. time. Is he the most dynamic guest host to ever appear on the show? No. Is he the funniest? No, but he clearly has a great sense of humor and a willingness to get rid of his vanity which helps him a lot on a sketch show.
In this outing, Brolin shed more than just his vanity: In his monologue, he stripped down to his underwear and submerged himself in a bathtub filled with ice to demonstrate his willingness to “embrace discomfort.”
But many people likely tuned in to the start of the show to see what “SNL” would make of the GOP's response to this week's State of the Union address. Even before it concluded, social media users speculated that “Saturday Night Live” would have plenty of material for a cold open from Alabama's junior senator. Katie Britt's Kitchen Speech. The only question was who would play her: it turns out the role of her went to Scarlett Johansson, who had a blast with Britt's line readings and her dramatic hand gestures.
Brolin's roles on the show included a Viennese aristocrat. obsessed with a shrimp tower (more on that below), a husband who tries to include bank robbers in his sexual escapades of his new marriage and a plane passenger watching “Ad Astra” Who gets caught up in a song?. He also played a member of a people-pleasing support groupto man who becomes obsessed with a cat at a wine and cheese partyto sad sandwich maker who is losing clients from his office, a man in a wheelchair on a daytime talk show who is accused of cheatingand a Lisa's dinner companion from Temecula (Ego Nwodim).
Musical guest Ariana Grande appeared in two sketches and performed “We can't be friends (wait for your love)” and “imperfect for you”, which was presented by her mother, Joan Grande. It should be noted that the singer did not perform her latest single, “Yes, And?” which has received some reactions online.
To no one's surprise, “SNL” delved into Britt's State of the Union Response Addressthat in just two days it has been meme and parodied on TikTok and other social platforms. The cold open didn't start with her, but instead allowed Mikey Day to take a few turns as President Joe Biden, dipping into the House Speaker (“Mike Johnson shakes his head like he caught 30 seconds of 'Euphoria'”) . ) and pointing out that he should give his time to Britt. “I think she's going to help me more than anything she can say here,” Biden says.
As Britt, Johansson nailed her voice and the senator's mannerisms, saying, “I'll audition for the part of Scary Mom” and referring to herself as “The craziest bitch in the Target parking lot.” .” The program referred to the “strange empty kitchen,” where Britt responded by saying, “Republicans want it to appeal to women voters and women love cooking.” The bad grammar was intentional. The “SNL” version of Britt noted that her shocking left-turn story about sex trafficking was delivered out of context: “Everything about this is real except the year, where it took place, and who was president when it happened,” Britt says. She also promotes jewelry, QVC style, and decides that she will speak in a way that is “strangely seductive for no apparent reason.” Stirring the tea led to a cut to a “Get Out” reference and concluded with the line: “This isn't the last time you'll see Katie Britt. Maybe not in politics, but when you close your eyes, I will be there.”
In his monologue, Brolin noted that the fortunes of the musical guests he's been paired with have diverged quite a bit. The first, in 2008, was Adele before she was a gigantic superstar. The other was Gotye, who Brolin joked that she is now “someone he knew.” Brolin took advantage of the mockery he received writing a very strange poem about his “Dune” co-star Timothée Chalamet. He said he wrote a new poem while working this week with Kenan Thompson. The poem refers to Thompson's “sensual eyes” and “sugar cookie cheeks” that drive Brolin's feelings into a “symphony of desire to which I can only say…what's up with that?” Brolin then took off his shirt and pants and dove into his tub of cold water shouting, “I'm inevitable!”
Best sketch of the night: A man must protect his shrimp tower
The strangest sketch of the night was also the funniest: In a pre-recorded piece that took place in 1893 Vienna, an aristocrat named Kinski built a massive 20-foot-tall shrimp cocktail tower. Shrimp, he says, are the thinking man's mozzarella sticks. Kinski is also courting an archduchess (Sarah Sherman) and waiting for her hand in marriage. But every time she approaches the tower, threatening to make it collapse, he pushes her out a window and does everything she can to protect the shrimp masterpiece. The archduchess admires her protective instincts, but she cannot save him or the tower from her inevitable fate.
Also good: bonus songs we missed on 'Moulin Rouge'
On a PBS show about movies, host Ken Burnt (Day) explains that Baz Luhrmann's film “Moulin Rouge” left many songs on the cutting room floor that were filmed in case the rights for its multi-song were not secured. medleys. Grande and Bowen Yang take on the roles of Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman and sing songs like TLC's “Creep,” U2's “Pride (In the Name of Love),” Jennifer Lopez's “Waiting for Tonight,” and Shania's “Man.” Twain. ! I feel like a woman!” and multiple instances of “Happy Birthday,” because it's a song that's easy to get the rights to. Consider this sketch a preview for Grande, who will inevitably guest host “SNL” on November when his movie “Wicked” is released.
'Weekend Update' Winner: More on Katie Britt, Of Course
There were no guest spots on “Weekend Update” this week, but Colin Jost and Michael Che had plenty to work with between the State of the Union speech and response, Netflix's Mike Tyson's upcoming fight and the cancellation of the merger between JetBlue. and Spirit Airlines. But, if Jost’s wife playing Britt outside wasn’t enough, the “Update” co-host cracked a few more jokes, mocking the senator’s whispery expression and saying she’s part of a new one-woman play called “ To Britt Much.” But the phrase that got the most response was about another senator: after showing a photo of Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who retiresWearing an orange dress and a large turquoise necklace, Che said that “he looks like all the Flintstones at once.”
