When it comes to movies based on Saturday Night Live sketches, you kind of take what you can get. I don't envy the folks who have to turn a 2-minute sketch into a full-length feature, and, as expected, most of the time the whole thing just falls flat. Since most sketches are built around one or two punchlines, once you deliver those in the first ten minutes of the movie, there's not much else to hang on to for the remaining hour and a half.
However, those clever writers and actors over at Saturday Night Live have managed to pull off a good movie from time to time, and while it might be a little hard to name five good flicks, everyone has at least five SNL guilty pleasures. We know which movies they got wrong (heck, there's a bunch), but which ones did they get right? Here are my personal favorites:
The Blues Brothers – Old school fans will probably point to this as their favorite SNL movie, since it features castmembers Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi in their prime, not to mention John Landis during his high point as a filmmaker (it came out after Animal House and Kentucky Fried Movie, and before An American Werewolf in London and Trading Places). And screw the comedy – this film also had some exception music bits, with appearances from folks like James Brown, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin.
Wayne's World – Arguably the best SNL movie ever made, Wayne's World will always go down as a little slice of heaven for those folks who grew up in the early '90s, when grunge music was in and guys who wore an excessive amount of plaid shirts were, like, totally hip. Of course, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey steal every scene they're in, and the Bohemian Rapsody sing-a-long scene in the middle is perhaps my favorite musical movie scene ever.
Wayne's World 2 – Not as good as its predecessor, Wayne's World 2 still succeeds because of Myers and Carvey, and our undying love for these two characters. The sequel came out as we were winding down the Wayne's World madness, but the smartest move they made was putting Christopher Walken in there – he really made this cat purr.
A Night at the Roxbury – My one torrid guilty pleasure when it comes to the SNL movies, I love A Night at the Roxbury because not only does it remind me how much I miss seeing Chris Kataan doing some really fun shtick, but it's a movie I can totally relate to because I know those guys – they exist in almost every nightclub I've ever been to. Plus, it's a good chance to catch a clever Will Ferrell performance before the guy took off and became a huge Hollywood star.
MacGruber – I understand most of you haven't seen this one yet, but once you do I think you'll agree with me that it's pretty damn funny. Kudos to Will Forte and the gang for managing to pull off what on paper seemed like a very silly idea. MacGruber may just be a 30-second sketch on SNL, but they've somehow turned it into a big-screen feature you really gotta see.
Make sure you check out our SNL: From Skit to Movie! photo gallery.
Now it's your turn – sound off below and let us know which SNL movies are your favorites…
