Live from Cinema Wellman, It's Saturday Night Live's Movies! All 11 Ranked!

 Live from Cinema Wellman,

It’s Saturday Night Live’s Movies! All 11 Ranked!

Hello, and welcome back to Cinema Wellman! I am your host David and today we’re once again trying something new. We love new things here at Cinema Wellman. Today we’re going to look at all 11 movies based on Saturday Night Live skits, and we’re going to rank them from worst to best! The future may feature episodes with a finite number of movies in a specific category that we can rank. We love lists, as you may have noticed.

I have been a devout fan of “Saturday Night Live” since it premiered as “NBC’s Saturday Night” on October 11, 1975. I am one of the very few people I know who has stuck through it (and defended it) for all 48 years. And there have been many years that it was extremely hard to defend. 

To date, there have been a total of 939 episodes, featuring hundreds and hundreds of different hosts and musical guests, and believe me, not all of them were memorable.

SNL is famous for introducing catch phrases into our everyday life, along with inspiring countless numbers of Halloween costumes over the years. 

When you create interesting characters and bring them back over and over (and over and over), you not only end up inspiring Halloween costumes. You also end up with feature films based on these recurring characters who made us laugh (or not) for a few minutes on a Saturday night. Lots of characters can make you  laugh for a few minutes, but how many can carry an entire feature film?

The answer to that, as you will see, is not many.

Being such a fan of the show, I wanted to do an episode about all of the movies that SNL skits have spawned in the past half century. I thought there had to be at least 20, possibly more. And then I attempted to count them and I couldn’t think of that many at all. I guess it’s possible that I was thinking about movies starring SNL alumni. That’s a huge number, I’m sure. 

I was shocked when I found out that there were only 11, and I was even more shocked when I realized that I still hadn’t seen SEVEN of them! A closer look took a lot of that shock away. Of those seven films I hadn’t seen, only one of them featured characters I thought were even remotely funny. 

So that makes sense.

If we were planning to go on record and rank these films 11-1, we needed to screen them all, including the four already seen (The Blues Brothers, Wayne’s World, Wayne’s World 2, A Night at the Roxbury). In for a penny, etc. 

So we did just that, and here are the final rankings. We’ll start with the worst movie, ranked at #11, and end with the best at #1. Be warned that a vast majority of these are terrible, so a top half of the list finish doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a good film worth watching. I’ll do my best to steer you in the right direction.

We start with the very bottom and #11, and this was pretty easy. 

11. MacGruber (2010) R/90 min./IMDb: 5.6

SNL Appearances: 11

SNL Alumni in Film: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph

I knew I was in trouble when the song over the opening credits included the line, “They made a fucking movie! MacGruber!” It only got worse from there.

They got Val Kilmer to do this?! Is that Powers Booth?! Powers Booth?!!

This whole thing could have been handled with much more class by the Please Don’t Destroy guys currently making short films for SNL. And they could have done it in six minutes.

I did some research on this and found out that word of mouth killed it pretty quickly. In three weeks, it dropped from being shown in 2,346 cinemas to only 177.

Dick jokes galore, homophobia, the sex jokes are way too much. So unfunny. Oh, and poop jokes. Of course. I forgot who I was dealing with.

The title character is such an asshole and so moronic that you can’t possibly be rooting for him. I wanted him to die during the entire movie. 

An abortion joke?! Really? This was made in 2010!

Listen, if you wanted to make Hot Shots, make Hot Shots.

One of the worst, make that TWO of the worst sex scenes I have ever seen. And I’ve seen 50 Shades of Grey.

This was insufferable. The bad guy is named “Cunth” and they say it about a million times. It’s never funny.

We’re 66 minutes in before MacGruber MacGrubers and he doesn’t really do it. He fires a gun and says it’s much better than all the stupid gadgets he used to make.

MacGruber doesn’t properly MacGruber until there are 14 minutes left in the movie. 

Yet another villain who explains everything instead of just, you know, KILLING!

This was detestable garbage.

10. It’s Pat: The Movie (1994)

PG-13/77 min./IMDb: 2.7

SNL Appearances: 12

SNL Alumni in Film: Charles Rocket, Tim Meadows

This was terrible. This was awful. This was horrible. And it was still so much better than MacGruber.

I’m not 100% sure, but I think there are several groups that may be offended by this entire mess.

I never liked this skit. I cringed every time Pat appeared. I always found Pat to be obnoxious and unlikable, and Pat stays true to form for these 77 minutes. That’s right. Seventy-seven minutes. Even adult films make it to 80 minutes. Or so I’m told.

Charles Rocket’s ultra creepy neighbor character is way more cringy than Pat ever was. He’s disturbing. He should be in a slasher film.

The stupid gag about not being able to figure out Pat’s gender can’t sustain five minutes, let alone 77.

According to the Interwebs, this movie earned $60,822 at the box office. I did NOT leave out any digits there! 

So, if it’s 77 minutes long and it earned $60,822 that means it earned $789.89 per minute of screen time. I’m pretty sure that’s not what investors had in mind.

Unfortunately, the budget was $8,000,000. I bet half of that went to the rights to have Pat belt out Aerosmith’s “Dude Looks Like a Lady.”

I wish I could forget seeing that. 

I wish I could forget seeing this whole thing.

9. The Ladies Man (2000) R/84 min./IMDb: 5.2

SNL Appearances: 15

SNL Alumni in Film: Will Ferrell, Mark McKinney, Chris Parnell

This was on SNL 15 times?!!? Why?

The entire “plot” revolves around a group of men wanting to kill “The Ladies Man” because he slept with their wife/girlfriend/sister/mother, you get it. 

Dick joke after dick joke after dick joke after dick joke. Who knew writing a screenplay was so easy!

This doesn’t sway too much from the original skit which means it’s just unfunny and boring.

8. Stuart Saves His Family (1995)

PG-13/95 min./IMDb: 5.3

SNL Appearances: 12+

SNL Alumni in Film: Robin Duke, Phil Hartman (u)

Stuart is stupid, but at least we don’t hate him like MacGruber.

This film being so bad was kind of puzzling since it had a good director (Harold Ramis) and a decent cast, but it’s a shit story based on an oddball skit to begin with.

“Maybe you’d like to pick on someone with pubic hair.” Big laughs.

A Holocaust joke?!?! Who do they think they are, The Hangover?

SCTV alum Joe Flaherty delivers the only line in the film that made me laugh. It’s not funny out of context, but trust me, it’s the funniest line in the movie. “That was not a quality ham.”

This was not a quality movie, Joe.

7. Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)

PG-13/123 min. /IMDb: 4.9

SNL Appearances: 1*

SNL Alumni in Film: Daryl Hammond, Paul Shaffer

Right off the bat, what’s with the kid? Who asked for a kid? This is Cousin Oliver on “The Brady Bunch” all over again!

The plot is almost the same as The Blues Brothers, but this one doesn’t have Belushi. Translation: “This should not have been made.”

Actually, it’s the same plot without Belushi before a voodoo priestess casts a spell on them and they turn green and perform Caribbean music. That’s Greenface!

The music in this is fine, but it doesn’t make a movie, definitely not a two-hour movie!

And why the All-Star Band?!? Is this “We Are the World?!” I’d rather watch a concert movie of these people playing the blues than have them sandwiched into this trash.

B.B. King does kick major ass, though!

They let Paul Shaffer sing! Why on Earth would anyone allow that?

The car wreck scene was absolutely idiotic. They wrecked 104 cars in this movie!!!! The original Blues Brothers wrecked 103. Way to inflate that budget for no reason!

 

6. Wayne’s World 2 (1993) PG-13/95 min./IMDb: 6.2

SNL Appearances: 19

SNL Alumni in Film: Chris Farley, Robert Smigel, Harry Shearer, Tim Meadows

This is one of the four SNL films that I had already seen. I saw this when it came out and my database has it as a bomb. No surprise since it's got that “2” next to the title. 

The flimsy plot of this flimsy sequel involves Wayne putting together a rock festival called “Waynestock.”

This movie brings nothing new to the Wayne’s World table since it trots out the same stuff as the first movie for the most part.

And who on earth thought that ad parodies would be funny in a movie. I’m here to tell you that they are not. Especially 30 year old ad parodies. 

Skip this if you get the chance. 

5. Superstar (1999) PG-13/81 min./IMDb: 5.2

SNL Appearances: 19

SNL Alumni in Film: Will Ferrell, Mark McKinney

Let me begin by saying that Molly Shannon is amazing. She’s extremely versatile, she’s smart, and she’s damn funny.

Shannon’s most memorable SNL character is Mary Catherine “Superstar” Gallagher. Mary Catherine is a misfit, she’s an outcast, she puts her fingers under her armpits when she’s nervous and then smells her fingers, and she’s clumsy. Do not get her near tables or folding chairs!

She’s also very likable, and that translates to this movie and makes it mildly entertaining. The problem with Superstar (and many other films on this list) is that it’s really a six-minute skit at heart. It’s not a feature film (even an 81-minute-long feature film). 

4. A Night at the Roxbury (1998)

PG-13/82 min./IMDb: 6.2

SNL Appearances: 7+

SNL Alumni in Film: Molly Shannon, Colin Quinn, Mark McKinney

If you’re familiar with this movie or the skit on which it was based, you may be wondering what it’s doing at #4 on this list. Valid point since it’s about the adventures of the club-hopping dimwit Butabi brothers who are NOT popular with the ladies. 

I’m pretty sure that guys like this existed back then and STILL exist now! I’d like to apologize to every person they ever hit on. Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell are extremely smarmy as the Butabi boys, and many of the laughs come from the facial expressions and physical comedy as opposed to the script. 

There’s an homage to Saturday Night Fever that is done very well. They’re walking down the street to “Stayin’ Alive” just like Tony Manero did in 1977, and it’s pretty funny. 

The supporting cast certainly helps. Especially Loni Anderson and Dan Hedaya as the Butabi parents. Great casting there. Hedaya in a comedy is always a treat! And Jennifer Coolidge!

Donald Trump is mentioned in a joke. It’s not so funny now, is it?

Were all comedies of the time required to have a certain number of homophobic jokes? Just awful. Never funny. 

Richard Grieco as Richard Grieco! I never saw him in anything, and yet I found this funny. Is that the joke?

There’s a positive outcome with them succeeding, and the story is loyal to the characters. The Butabi boys are stupid, but likable. 

3. Coneheads (1993) PG/88 min./IMDb: 5.4

SNL Appearances: 11

SNL Alumni in Film: Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler, David Spade, Laraine Newman, Tim Meadows, Michael McKean, Chris Farley, Kevin Nealon, Jan Hooks, Tom Davis, Julia Sweeney, Garrett Morris, Jon Lovitz (u)

This is the only film on this list whose cast (when filmed in 1993) featured past, present, and future SNL cast members! They came out of the woodwork to make this one.

Coneheads is totally passable as a sci-fi/comedy. There are a couple of laughs, and they stay loyal to the characters created on the small screen (with the exception of the scary teeth).

Jane Curtain is solid as usual, and the young actress who plays the Conehead daughter (Michelle Burke) is given an “Introducing” credit! She made Dazed and Confused with Parker Posey and Joey Lauren Adams that same year, and they show up here for a couple of seconds. No idea how that happened. 

I’m not saying Coneheads is great, or even very good. But it finished 3rd on this list which says more about this list than it does about this movie. 

2. Wayne’s World (1992)

PG-13/94 min./IMDb: 7.0

SNL Appearances: 19

SNL Alumni in Film: Chris Farley

Portions of Wayne’s World are horribly dated, but that’s what happens when you rely on current (at the time) pop culture references and advertisements that we no longer remember.

The product placement is over the top and totally done for a laugh. The problem is that it’s not funny. Also not funny would be the ad parodies that this film passed along to its sequel. They didn’t work here, they didn’t work in the sequel.

There isn’t much of a plot here, and the breaking of the fourth wall becomes tedious after a while, but this is enjoyable and silly enough for 94 minutes of your time. ONLY IF you liked the skit on SNL, of course! That’s pretty much the key for this entire list. 

Not sure why the movie had time for a full-blown pretty much shot for shot “Laverne and Shirley” homage. Maybe to make sure it ended up over 90 minutes?

I’m not an Alice Cooper fan, but his monologue about the history of Milwaukee is one of the highlights of this entire movie. 

1. The Blues Brothers (1980) R/133 min./IMDb: 7.9

SNL Appearances: 1

SNL Alumni in Film: NONE?!

This film’s appearance at the top of this list is totally deserved. This is a legitimately good movie with great music, over the top car carnage, and John Belushi. 

Belushi was funny.

I met John Belushi once at Yankee Stadium. It was before the game and players were warming up on the field. I noticed this big guy wearing a hat and big overcoat. There was something familiar about him to me. I looked closer and realized who it was. I got up and walked over to him. He was just standing alone looking at the field. 

I approached him sheepishly and asked him if he’d sign my program. He smirked and obliged. When he handed it back to me he shot me that Belushi smile and said, “I’ll kick your ass if you tell anyone I’m here.” Still star-struck, all I could manage was, “Yes, sir.”

When he takes off his sunglasses at the end of the movie, I can see that smile, the sparkling in his eyes. And I remember the couple of minutes I got to spend with him that fall day. We were cheated out of a lot of good years when his self-destructive lifestyle caught up with him in 1982 at the age of 33.

The Blues Brothers is unique to this list for two reasons. Number one, they really only made ONE appearance on SNL, and it wasn’t in a skit. Number two, there are ZERO SNL alums in this movie. That makes it the oddball here in two ways. A third way it’s unique to this list is that it’s good, but you’ve already figured that part out.

The Blues Brothers is a ton of fun. The musicians who appear and perform in it make up a “Who’s Who” list of some of the greatest R&B artists of all time. I’d start naming them, but it would take too long. Check it out on IMDb!

The car chase through the mall is much better than anything the Fast & the Furious jokers have done in their 10 movies. And if we ever do a “City Spotlight” episode on Chicago, The Blues Brothers will be a lock to make it. The city is like a 3rd Blues Brother in this.

If you haven’t seen it in a while, or at all, check out The Blues Brothers. You won’t be disappointed…you’ll be on a mission from God.

Before I go, I wanted to list some recurring SNL characters that were much funnier than those whose movies grace the bottom of this list. Keep in mind that all of these were available during the actual window of SNL movies, 1980-2000.

Better Choices?:

*The Killer Bees- tons of material here

*The Festrunk Brothers - Two Wild & Crazy Guys, Zero movie

*Olympia Cafe - cheeseborgi, cheeseborgi, cheeseborgi

*Ed Grimley - This would be an excellent choice, I must say

*The Church Lady - And introducing, I don't know....SATAN!

*Hans & Frans - this would have been terrible, but I'm surprised it wasn't made

*Toonces, The Driving Cat - Big Toonces fans here!

*Bill Swerski’s Superfans - Da Bears!

*Matt Foley - would have loved to see that van down by the river

*The Spartan Cheerleaders - Cha cha boochie, cha cha cha boochie!

And

*Stefon - I guess there's still hope!

So many wasted opportunities there…

Well, thank you for joining us here at Cinema Wellman for a ranking of all 11 movies based on Saturday Night Live skits! 

Join us next week as our “City Spotlight” shines on movies made in the Big Apple! We will go into the belly of the beast and take a look at 10 tremendous movies made in New York City! We hope you’ll join us on that journey.

Until then…take care.