Noticias

“Be careful of mankind, Diana. They do not deserve you.” —Queen Hippolyta

Will the Amazonian be the woman who finally breaks the Hollywood glass ceiling?

Wonder Woman, starring Israeli actress Gal Gadot as Princess Diana of Themiscrya, premieres on June 2, just 12 days away, and the fate of all the superwomen and their eponymous movies who would follow her lies in the ability of her sword-wielding, shield-bearing, gold lassoing hands and her armor-plated breast to vanquish the biggest and baddest super-villain of them all: Box Office.

I’ve watched every trailer and clip that Warner Bros. has released, and though they were all great, the very best of all of them, im-not-so-ho, was Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Every time Ms. Gadot showed up, whether it was in her guise as Diana Prince or as Wonder Woman, the movie morphed from an overbearing, weighted down slog through mud into...

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is going to be hitting theaters in just over two weeks and fans are incredibly excited, to say the least. With the release date approaching, Marvel Studios finally decided to screen the movie for critics, and that means the first reactions are in. We still have to wait for the full reviews to drop, but for now, you can check out all of the early reactions to the movie, which are mostly positive. Mostly. There are a few out there who didn't love it. And well, acting as the voice of reason, perhaps they're more right than wrong.

There are few sequels in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that have reached the level of hype that we are seeing for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and that is largely because the first one is so beloved by fans. Plus, the marketing...

Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer, Morgan Spurlock, and comedian/actor Russell Brand are set to appear at next year’s South By Southwest confab, which today announced the first wave of 2015 Convergence speakers. The announcement of over 60 sessions includes panels in the growing SXsports program, TV, and Digital sidebars. The 2015 edition runs from March 13 – 22 in Austin, Texas – scroll down for the rundown:

A Curious Mind: The Inspiration for a Creative Life

Brian Grazer (Imagine Entertainment), Charles Fishman (The Big Thirst)

Russell Brand Interview with Brian Solis

Russell Brand (Comedian), Brian Solis (Altimeter Group)

SXsports

Athletes are Suddenly Funny: The Power of Comedy & Sports

Patrick Starzan (Funny or Die)

Battling Tradition to Re-Invent Youth Sports

Matt Farrell (USA Swimming), Kurt Kamperman (Us Tennis Association), Jeff Price (PGA of America)

Beyond the Bar Graph: Insights Over Info

Christopher Glode (Under Armour), Marybeth Thomson (MyFitnessPal)

The Business of Preparing Potential NFL Draftees

Jason...

“You’ve got one minute, then I’m busy again.”

These are the words legendary filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich spoke to me as I stood on the set of his new movie, “Squirrels to the Nuts.” Unfortunately, I didn’t know I’d be talking to him at all at that moment. Was I supposed to get out my recorder, or was this just introductory chit chat? Regardless, I mumbled something about “The Sopranos” and sulked away.

And that would become my first experience on a movie set.

To Bogdanovich’s credit, he did respond to my “Sopranos” comment. In context, I mentioned that it had been so long since Bogdanovich’s last feature-length film -– 2001’s “The Cat’s Meow” -- that there's now an entire generation who know him only as Jennifer Melfi’s therapist. “As long as they know me,” he replied.

Let me back up a bit here.

"Eric Bana seems so serious." I've heard a version of this sentence spoken more than a few times over the last 10 years. If only they knew that got his start in Australia as a stand-up comic and on a sketch comedy television program. (Bana's only true comedic role in the U.S. was Judd Apatow's "Funny People.") In fact, Bana is so associated with being funny in Australia that he says people still don't take him seriously back home -- a stark contrast to how he's viewed here in the United States.

Here's the thing, however, about meeting Bana in person: It's impossible not to laugh when he goes off on a rant. He is undoubtedly just a naturally funny man, even if he doesn't necessarily want you to know that.

Bana's latest role is serious once again. He stars in "Closed Circuit" as a London lawyer named Martin Rose...

"Star Trek Into Darkness" grossed just under half a billion dollars worldwide and currently holds a 87 percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Yet during a "Star Trek" fan convention in Las Vegas earlier this month, attendees ranked "Star Trek Into Darkness" as the worst of the Star Trek movies. (As someone who owns "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" on DVD, I promise it is far from the worst "Star Trek" movie.) It was interesting watching Simon Pegg -- who has played Scotty in the last two "Trek" films from director J.J. Abrams -- wrestle with that information. Pegg, who is one of the most prolific nerds on the planet, actually does get where the fans are coming from, but that didn't stop the 43-year-old from defending his film with lots of passion (and a bit of colorful language).

Pegg can also get very passionate about "Star Wars." Namely, his...

This past weekend, Disney chairman Alan Horn was audibly booed by fans at Disney’s D23 expo for saying nothing about “Star Wars: Episode VII" other than that he has nothing to say about "Star Wars: Episode VII." Now, most "Star Wars" fans know that it’s pretty early in the game to expect any real details, but, for those in attendance, something, anything would have been nice. (Maybe Nien Nunb could have said “hi.”) It appears, however, that what most fans wanted was to learn the title of the movie.

We are a little under two years away from the release of “Star Wars Episode VII” (assuming that “Episode VII” keeps its summer 2015 release date) and we still don’t know the official title of the movie. Is this normal for a "Star Wars" movie? Combing through the last 36 years, let’s take a look at how each of...

Michael Shannon isn't intimidating in person, as many of his characters are. Shannon is far too polite to be intimidating, but he does have a way of somehow combining intensity with a devil-may-care flippancy that, when mixed, is equal parts charming and intriguing.

An example of that dichotomy: Shannon, best known for "Boardwalk Empire," "Take Shelter," "Revolutionary Road" and countless other films, is wearing a nifty suit when I meet him at his Manhattan hotel room. By the end of this interview, that suit will be littered with the fragmented shells of the peanuts that Shannon was eating and then washing down with red wine. Again: devil-may-care.

In Shannon's new fact-based film, "The Iceman," he plays Richard Kuklinski, a man who went by the name "The Iceman," based on his lack of emotion when it came to mob-ordered murders -- murders that could top over 200.

Shannon seems a bit...

It's notable that the script for "Deadpool" -- a meta, R-rated superhero project starring Ryan Reynolds that's stuck in development at Fox -- is the best that screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese feel they've ever written. Notable, mostly, because this is the duo responsible for "Zombieland" (a movie that you probably liked), along with this weekend's new release "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" (a movie that you most likely haven't seen yet).

The problem is that "Deadpool" faces numerous hurdles: mostly that it's an R-rated superhero movie and that Deadpool (played by Reynolds) was completely mishandled in the movie "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." (This mishandling is addressed in the new script.) But it's an interesting insight into the Hollywood ecosystem to know that the guys who wrote "Zombieland" can't get what they feel is their best work to fruition -- a situation that they address below.

More immediate for the duo is this week's sequel,...

Know this: Whatever your preconceived notions are about "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" -- especially if those notions are based on what you saw in "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" -- Jon Chu, the director of this "G.I. Joe" sequel, is actually a G.I. Joe fan. So, yes, gone are the skin-tight black G.I. Joe uniforms from the first film. Also gone is the monstrosity of an outfit that was designed in place of the iconic Cobra Commander uniform. (It's replaced here by an outfit that looks like the iconic Cobra Commander uniform.) In other words: Chu was concerned with making "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" feel like G.I. Joe again.

In "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," the story picks up at the end of the first film. Criminal master of disguise, Zartan, is still in the White House and masquerading as the president. Zartan orders the execution of what turns out to be most...

The fact that Tina Fey has a new movie coming out next week seems like serendipitous timing. It was just a little over six weeks ago that her critically adored (but ratings deficient) television series, "30 Rock," ended its seven-season run. Now, having digested that, we're presented with the next chapter of Fey's career: full-time movie star. (Or "movie participant," as she says.)

In "Admission," Fey plays an admissions officer at Princeton who goes to bat for an academically lacking, yet brilliant student who was brought to her attention by a high school administrator, played by Paul Rudd. We spoke to Fey by phone (after she had just signed off Skype with a Russian dialect coach for her upcoming role in "The Muppets ... Again!") about finally working with Rudd, her favorite moments from the well-received finale of "30 Rock" and, if the day comes that Lorne Michaels decides to leave "Saturday Night Live,...

"Saturday Night Live" had the difficult task of airing one day after one of the worst mass shootings in the history of the United States -- a shooting that occurred a mere 75 miles from 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It was never specifically mentioned, but it presided over the night after a haunting (considering the circumstances) children's choir rendition of "Silent Night" as the cold open. Martin Short, after a 16-year hiatus -- in what is surprisingly only his second time as sole host (not counting the time he co-hosted with Chevy Chase and Steve Martin) -- sank a ton of effort into his duties and almost made this feel like the joyous holiday show that it should have been. Almost. Also: Samuel L. Jackson cussed. Here is your last "SNL" Scorecard until January 19, 2013...

Sketch of the Night

"Cold Open: Silent Night" My best guess is that the New York City Children's Chorus...

Anne Hathaway deserves to be mentioned in the pantheon of the other "current great 'SNL' hosts" like Jon Hamm, Emma Stone and Justin Timberlake. It's remarkable how many times this past week I was asked, "Do you think Hathaway will be good?," as if the person asking had completely forgotten that she had hosted twice before and, both times, was excellent. So, now, it's been three times and you should please try to remember this time because she is a great host! But, the disappointing news: The material this time around was not as consistently strong as her last two appearances -- at least in terms of letting Hathaway excel at what she does best. Off we go to a Sloppy Swish-infected Scorecard ...

Sketch of the Night

"Mokiki" (Taran Killam, Anne Hathaway, Kenan Thompson, Bobby Moynihan, Kate McKinnon) This was bizarre in every way, which is only surprising...

First of all, this is the year 2012, we live in the future. I get it that Lorne Michaels wants to run a tight ship when it comes to ending the show on time. But if any sporting event ever can last to "whenever it might end," I don't see why a sketch has to be cut off midway through just because, oh, heavens, SNL might go 30 seconds too long. (Ok, that rant is now over, for now.) Joseph Gordon-Levitt did an admirable job with what he was given, but it's painfully obvious that the Thursday night primetime special took a lot of the political punch out of the show -- a political punch that was sorely needed. On to a mediocre-at-best Scorecard...

Sketch of the Night

"Undecided Voters" (Cecily Strong, Taran Killam, Nasim Pedrad, Bill Hader, Tim Robinson, Vanessa Bayer) I've always wondered this. Being so close to an election,...

It's a little strange to listen to Michael Bay complain about how difficult it was to get his next feature film, "Pain & Gain," financed and produced. Especially when you consider that Bay's last three films -- all installments in the "Transformers" franchise -- have earned more than $2.7 billion worldwide. Oh, and that the budget for "Pain and Gain" -- starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson as two Miami bodybuilders who become involved in a kidnapping plot that's much too bizarre to sum up in a few words -- is only $25 million. Again, remember, this is Michael Bay we're talking about. No matter what you think of his movies, you can't deny that they make heaps of money.

I won't lie: Bay is making the rounds to promote not a movie but a corn-chip contest. For the last few years, Doritos has run a contest giving aspiring filmmakers the chance to...

This is not quite the same "Saturday Night Live" that we left in May. Gone is (for better or worse) the manic domination of the show by Kristen Wiig and the sense that at any time the words "SNL Digital Short" could flash across the screen and completely change the tone. Seth MacFarlane hosted the first "SNL" since 2010 to feature new cast members at the start of the season -- Aidy Bryant, Tim Robinson and Cecily Strong (Kate McKinnon joined the cast late last season) -- and he was ... fairly excellent. The last time "SNL" premiered after the Olympics we were unfortunate enough to get Michael Phelps as host. Thankfully, this time, the strategy was just to just to have MacFarlane mock Ryan Lochte instead. Welcome back all ... onto the first Scorecard of Season 38!

(And as a quick announcement, the great Ryan McGee from Hitfix and myself have started a new "SNL" podcast,...

On Saturday afternoon in Hall H at the San Diego Convention Center, Quentin Tarantino and the cast of the (admittedly, pretty terrific looking) "Django Unchained" presented an eight-minute sizzle reel of footage to a quite enthusiastic Comic-Con crowd. You know what? Let's just get to it: Here are the eight most badass things we saw at the "Django Unchained" Comic-Con panel.

Boy, that sizzle reel will awaken a very tired human being.

We'll get to the details of the sizzle real, but, as someone who has had very little sleep over the last fews day while covering Comic-Con, I left that panel with a burst of adrenaline. Good lord, whether you're a fan of Quentin Tarantino or not ... the man knows how to cut a sizzle reel.

Speaking of Quentin Tarantino ...

The man also knows how to play to the Comic-Con crowd; he's well aware that hese are his people.

"Are you near the restaurant? Because Jane Fonda has a habit of being early for meetings."

That was the worried voice on the other side of a phone call I received from one of Jane Fonda's publicist shortly before our interview. And I wasn't close. I wasn't going to be late, but I certainly wasn't going to be early. Thoughts of Jane Fonda admonishing me for my lack of perceived punctuality seeped into my consciousness. I mean, certainly, at this stage of her career, Jane doesn't have to put up with the likes of me.

Needless to say, I hailed the next cab.

I met Fonda at a crowded Manhattan restaurant near Central Park. (Yes, this was one of those moments in this job in which I couldn't help thinking, Wow, that's Jane Fonda sitting across from me. What am I doing here?) Fonda was concerned that I wasn't ordering anything.

"Are you near the restaurant? Because Jane Fonda has a habit of being early for meetings."

That was the worried voice on the other side of a phone call I received from one of Jane Fonda's publicist shortly before our interview. And I wasn't close. I wasn't going to be late, but I certainly wasn't going to be early. Thoughts of Jane Fonda admonishing me for my lack of perceived punctuality seeped into my consciousness. I mean, certainly, at this stage of her career, Jane doesn't have to put up with the likes of me.

Needless to say, I hailed the next cab.

I met Fonda at a crowded Manhattan restaurant near Central Park. (Yes, this was one of those moments in this job in which I couldn't help thinking, Wow, that's Jane Fonda sitting across from me. What am I doing here?) Fonda was concerned that I wasn't ordering anything.

"Saturday Night Live" wrapped up its 37th season this past weekend. Along the way, we were paying attention not just to the quality of the individual sketches in our weekly "SNL" Scorecard, but also to the progress of the cast members in regards to airtime and prominence, which we ranked each week in the Relevancy Poll.

Like last season, we certainly weren't going to let that data go to waste, so, we tallied the results to present to you the complete 2011-12 "SNL" Relevancy Poll.

As you will see, the lower the score, the better. And, again, the rankings represent how often an individual cast member appeared on the show, not an opinion of an individual sketch or character. (In other words: These are not my "favorites," this is a barometer of each cast member's airtime and influence.) Each final score is the average weekly poll ranking of each cast...

"Saturday Night Live" wrapped up its 37th season this past weekend. Along the way, we were paying attention not just to the quality of the individual sketches in our weekly "SNL" Scorecard, but also to the progress of the cast members in regards to airtime and prominence, which we ranked each week in the Relevancy Poll.

Like last season, we certainly weren't going to let that data go to waste, so, we tallied the results to present to you the complete 2011-12 "SNL" Relevancy Poll.

As you will see, the lower the score, the better. And, again, the rankings represent how often an individual cast member appeared on the show, not an opinion of an individual sketch or character. (In other words: These are not my "favorites," this is a barometer of each cast member's airtime and influence that we kept track of all season here.) Each final score is...

There was no doubt about it: This was Kristen Wiig's night. Of the three cast members rumored to be leaving "Saturday Night Live," I think we can go ahead and remove the word "rumored" off of Wiig and Samberg, who said his goodbye with "Lazy Sunday 2." Jason Sudeikis, on the other hand ... well, he introduced the Foo Fighters? In other words: There were really no hints throughout a show that he had very little to do with concerning his future (unless you want to read into Jagger mentioning that "many of you are moving on" in the final sketch). So if it was his last show, that's a shame. On to what turned out to be a quite emotional final Scorecard of the season...

Sketch of the Night

"She's a Rainbow" (Mick Jagger, Kristen Wiig, Ensemble) A perfect ten. Honestly, that was the most touching, emotional sendoff that I've ever seen "SNL" pull off.

It's rare, but every so often, I get that sudden moment of extreme self-consciousness while doing an interview: "I'm really just sitting here chatting with Sir Ben Kingsley."

For his part, Kingsley is so warm and gracious upon introductions, that this feeling didn't occur until the interview was almost over. If I had to pinpoint an exact moment when it did occur, it was probably when Sir Ben impersonated Lauren Bacall getting punched in the face on "The Sopranos."

In "The Dictator" (opening Wednesday), Kingsley plays Tamir, uncle of Admiral General Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen), the dictator of the fictional North African country Wadiya. Here, Sir Ben discusses why he enjoys doing comedy (even if it involves kissing a few armpits) and points out one particular scene in "The Dictator" that could end his dramatic career.

You looked like you were having fun in this movie.

Isn't it great?

Comparatively,...

And down the stretch they come! Actually, I apologize for that opening sentence for two reasons: A) I think I may still have some lingering Kentucky Derby fever and B) Saturday Night's show didn't have any sense of madcap urgency that deserves such a sentence. (I have a feeling that more than a few sketch ideas were held back, considering Will Ferrell's return as host this coming weekend.) Also, there was no real clear winner this week when you factor in just how much airtime Eli Manning received. So, how about a bold winner in honor of a bold sketch?

1. Kate McKinnon (Last Week: 13) McKinnon certainly didn't have the most airtime, but she did manage to star in one of the ballsiest sketches of the season. Sure, "Helga Lately" didn't really work, but it's quite remarkable that McKinnon got a sketch, with hardly any English spoken, to air considering...

The Tribeca Film Festival kicked off, unofficially, with the programmer breakfast at 92YTribeca on Wednesday morning. (The festival begins in earnest with the debut of "The Five-Year Engagement" on Wednesday night.) The event was billed as a way for the media to ask the festival programmers about all things Tribeca. Though, like almost every other movie-related press conference in the history of movie-related press conferences, it became something far more surreal -- at times turning into a setting to air personal grievances or an attempt to try and finalize that elusive book deal. But, hey, Robert De Niro was there. Kind of.

Here are five lessons learned from the Tribeca programmer breakfast.

1. Robert De Niro does not mince words.

Ok, sure, we already knew that, didn't we? But it was fascinating to see it on display in person. There was a noticeable buzz as De Niro took to the microphone...

Everyone remembers the last time upcoming "Men In Black 3" star Josh Brolin hosted "SNL" -- except that you probably don't realize that you remember. Tina Fey was right in the middle of a Sarah Palin sketch when the real Palin walked on stage. Later, on "Weekend Update," Amy Poehler rapped about a moose in front of Palin. Yeah, that was Brolin's episode. Last night's show wasn't as memorable, but it was similar in the fact that Brolin seemed to be a bit of an afterthought. For whatever reason, Brolin stepped out of the way and let the cast shine -- which resulted in one of the better shows of the season.

Sketch of the Night

"Game of Thrones" (Andy Samberg, Taran Killam, Bobby Moynihan, Kate McKinnon) This was Samberg's finest work all season. And if in reality there turns out to be a smidgen of truth to this sketch --...

My biggest takeaway from the Sofia Vergara hosted "Saturday Night Live" is that, boy, Sofia Vergara sure does like to yell. And she's quite talented at doing so. Vergara is so talented at yelling that last night she even had the power to circumvent the volume setting on my television. Vergara was better than expected, if, for no other reason, the show put her in easy situations. (Hence the yelling, I suppose.) Oh, and Gilly was back. But there is good news, as newcomer Kate McKinnon, eventually, had a pretty decent debut episode. After a month's hiatus, it's time for a very noisy Scorecard.

Sketch of the Night

"Almost Pizza" (Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Nasim Pedrad) The only thing that I didn't like about "Almost Pizza" is that I never found out what Almost Pizza actually is. Is it an alien? If it is an alien, it now lives under that family's refrigerator.

My biggest takeaway from the Sofia Vergara hosted "Saturday Night Live" is that, boy, Sofia Vergara sure does like to yell. And she's quite talented at doing so. Vergara is so talented at yelling that last night she even had the power to circumvent the volume setting on my television. Vergara was better than expected, if, for no other reason, the show put her in easy situations. (Hence the yelling, I suppose.) Oh, and Gilly was back. But there is good news, as newcomer Kate McKinnon, eventually, had a pretty decent debut episode. After a month's hiatus, it's time for a very noisy Scorecard.

Sketch of the Night

"Almost Pizza" (Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Nasim Pedrad) The only thing that I didn't like about "Almost Pizza" is that I never found out what Almost Pizza actually is. Is it an alien? If it is an alien, it now lives under that family's refrigerator.

Morgan Spurlock wants you to know that he does not make a single appearance in his new film, "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope." In other words: if you don't like Morgan Spurlock, don't worry; you will not see him bouncing around Comic Con, making fun of the outlandishness of its presence or "blowing the roof off" of some sort of unknown seedy undercurrent. No, If you do see "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope," you'll be watching one of the, for lack of a better word, sweetest films to be released this year.

Spurlock's new documentary follows five individuals as they embark on pilgrimages to 2010's San Diego Comic Con: Chuck, a comic book dealer who feels pushed out by the movie studios; Holly, a costume designer competing in the highly competitive Masquerade; two illustrators, Skip and Eric, hoping to be discovered; and James, who wants to propose to his girlfriend,...

With the reported departure of Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis and Andy Samberg, "Saturday Night Live" would look a lot different when it comes back for its 38th season this fall. But, this season, five shows remain in what will forever be known as "The Kristen Wiig Era." We've already seen "SNL" add a new featured player, Kate McKinnon, during the show's current three week hiatus. ("SNL" returns live this Saturday with host Sofia Vergara.) With many changes coming, Hitfix's Ryan McGee and myself debate where "SNL" is now and where "SNL" should go in the future.

Mike Ryan: Though our opinions differ (frequently) on the quality of individual sketches -- also: I'm sure I'm wrong and you're right -- I do consider you one of the most thoughtful Internet caretakers of this show that we both love so dearly. So, my question, before we get to the cast changes,...

Every single time I see a blurb on television that compares any new movie to Star Wars, my first reaction is always, "Wow, that person hasn't watched Star Wars recently." Yes, I'm here to compare The Hunger Games to Star Wars. But before you accuse me of blasphemy, please know that I do not throw around these words lightly. The Hunger Games doesn't have the wide-eyed optimism of Star Wars, that's for sure. But, it's got something so much more important: The characters. I've never seen a series so embrace what made Star Wars successful -- without being a parody or a direct rip-off. Now, keep in mind, this comparison does not go any further than the first film of each series. So whatever you may know about Catching Fire or The Empire Strikes Back is irrelevant here. But, to a generation living 35 years after the premiere of the original Star Wars (and,...

Lindsay Lohan's "SNL" hosting duties turned into a "supporting female role" in pretty much every sketch, this, unfortunately, directly affected the female cast members, namely Vanessa Bayer and Nasim Pedrad. They were around -- certainly more than Jay Pharoah -- but it's almost if they had to give up lines to Lohan. Regardless, on a show that was this underwhelming, to say the least, perhaps there really are no winners. Well, except for the winner of this week's Relevancy Poll.

1. Jason Sudeikis. (Last Week: 5) The only thing that would have made his 'Weird Guy Fire' even better is if he just never turned back around to explain that he wasn't actually selling an eight-cd set of music. No, he just stared into the fire for eternity, longing for those eight CDs. An eight-cd set that, sadly, does not exist.

2. Bobby Moynihan: (Last Week: 13) Moynihan and Taran Killam should work together more often.

"I don't mind being the underdog." That's an interesting statement coming from Taylor Kitsch, the star of two films in the next four months --"John Carter" and "Battleship" -- with budgets reportedly over $200 million. Kitsch becomes ornery the second the word "budget" is even mentioned, claiming -- after a sarcastic interlude -- that it's not something he thinks about. But the reality is, by circumstance, the up and coming (but not yet a household name) actor is in the position of playing the lead in two tent-pole films this year -- two expensive tent-pole films that two separate studios are nervous about. Yeah, maybe I'd be ornery, too.

The first of those films is "John Carter." Kitsch plays the title character, a Confederate solider in the Civil War who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars. On Mars, because of the gravity, Carter has superhuman powers, which makes him a...

"I don't mind being the underdog." That's an interesting statement coming from Taylor Kitsch, the star of two films in the next four months --"John Carter" and "Battleship" -- with budgets reportedly over $200 million. Kitsch becomes ornery the second the word "budget" is even mentioned, claiming -- after a sarcastic interlude -- that it's not something he thinks about. But the reality is, by circumstance, the up and coming (but not yet a household name) actor is in the position of playing the lead in two tent-pole films this year -- two expensive tent-pole films that two separate studios are nervous about. Yeah, maybe I'd be ornery, too. The first of those films is "John Carter." Kitsch plays the title character, a Confederate soldier in the Civil War who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars. On Mars, because of the gravity, Carter has superhuman powers, which makes him a...

So, the talk this week centered on the question of "will she or won't she" in relation to Maya Rudolph's Whitney Houston impression -- and thankfully, that didn't happen. (Though, that was nothing compared to the now two weeks of buildup until Lindsay Lohan's sure-to-be disaster of a show.) The most notable thing about last night's show was the cold open: absolutely pouncing on the Jeremy Lin story - even responding to the unfortunate Espn headline - instead of the usual, "Hey, here's Mitt Romney talking," or whatever. In other words: it set the tone for the night. A very good Amy Poehler, Justin Timberlake and Paul Simon cameo filled night, I should add.

Sketch of the Night

"Cold Open: Linsanity Postgame" (Hader, Thompson, Pharoah, Killam) Please, please, please, please, please let this put an end, once and for all, to the Jeremy Lin puns. You, out there,...

This weekend, Denzel Washington (Virtuosity) shows a young punk, played by Chris Pine Ryan Reynolds, that an old dog still knows a lot of tricks in the new thriller Safe House. As a service, we answer every question that you could possibly have about Safe House. Q: How many safe houses are in Safe House? A: Three. Q: Why is a safe house needed in Safe House? A: Denzel Washington plays Tobin Frost, a former CIA agent who has been "off the grid" for the last nine or ten years (depending on which character that you get your exposition from). He turns himself in at the American embassy in Cape Town, South Africa. From there, Tobin Frost is taken to a safe house for interrogating. Q: Why would Tobin Frost turn himself in? A: During the opening scenes, Frost is ambushed by gunmen. His only option is to turn himself...

Well, that was disappointing. I learned long ago never to get too caught up with prognosticating the quality of a show based on its host. But, yeah, this time I felt pretty sure about things. "Oh, Daniel Radcliffe has so much stage experience, plus he's just so charming -- this week will be great!" It was not meat to be. I mean, there were a lot of "Ok" sketches last night, but not a lot of moments that stand out. Which is a shame.

Also, quick question: where was Andy Samberg? He had a small role in one pre-taped segment, but I honestly don't think he was there last night. I even looked for him during the "good nights" -- nope. Alas, on to a disheartened scorecard...

Sketch of the Night

"2112" (Radcliffe, Wiig, Brittain, Pedrad, Hader): Oh, how stupid we all are, here in 2012, with our cars and our not-yet-assassin Taylor Swift!

For reasons that I will never be able to explain, I watched the second episode of ABC cross-dressing sitcom, "Work It." Perhaps it was morbid curiosity? Perhaps it's that "Work It" takes place in my hometown of St. Louis? (For the record, unlike the characters in "Work It" not every resident of St. Louis has a picture of the St. Louis Arch in his or her home. Something St. Louis Cardinals-related? Yes. The Arch? No.)

"Work It" is about two men, Lee and Angel, who dress as women because, for some reason, it's the only way that they can get a job in today's economy. "Work It," as we know, is a very bad television show.

But, as I was watching, I was fascinated by just how often the laugh track is activated, which is a lot. So I tried to put myself in the head of the person who...

Last week, I wrote a piece about Taran Killam being the future of "SNL." So of course in the Charles Barkley-hosted episode, which featured 13 segments, Killam was barely seen. I'm kind of kidding when I write this, but I could almost picture Lorne Michaels getting wind of that piece and deciding, "Oh, yeah, 'Future Boy,' enjoy your two minutes of airtime this week." So, yes, sorry about that, Taran. And, with that, away we go to this week's poll...

1. Slick Rick Diehl (Last Week: 14) Brittain's Lord Wyndemere is back! I just love this guy. In my vision of a utopian society, either Lord Wyndemere or "Sex" Ed Vincent would in some way be a part of every single "SNL." Also, with the return of Wyndemere, Brittain officially has his second recurring sketch. Also, "Joann's Announcement" was fairly dead on arrival until Brittain showed up.

2. Ted Hennessey (Last Week:...