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Before he was a Ghostbusterand an Oscar-nominee, Bill Murray was a cast member on Saturday Night Live, where he entertained late-night audiences from 1977 to 1980. Now, the Golden Globe-winning Lost in Translation star, who attended the 50th anniversary of SNL on Feb. 16, is reflecting on what the experience was like.

Per Entertainment Weekly, Murray appeared on SiriusXM’s Sway in the Morning with host Sway Calloway and talked about what the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live meant to him. “It was surprisingly emotional. I wept three times in the show. It really got to me,” Murray said.

When Calloway asked what he wept for, Murray started off by telling a joke, “Oh, there were sketches that were dying,” he said. “No, I’m kidding.”

Related'He Was a Tough Nut': Bill Murray Recalls Working With Gene Hackman on The Royal Tenenbaums

Bill Murray starred with Gene Hackman in the 2001 Wes Anderson...

The Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary special was a celebration of the show’s legacy. However, that length of time would always make milestones like this feel bittersweet with emotional reflections on performers who are no longer with us, special fond memories for the cast and even deep regrets. Adam Sandler captured the hearts of everyone in the room as he name-dropped a list of talented former creatives who he wanted to immortalize in his song about the show’s 50 years. Additionally, he would also recount certain experiences like table reads, cut sketches, late nights and dealing with Lorne Michaels.

Film star Bill Murray got his start as a cast member early on and the actor never forgot his roots on the show. Variety reports on Murray’s appearance on the SiriusXM morning show, Sway in the Morning, where he mentions he got very emotional during the three-hour event. The story,...

Bill Murray has revealed that he got “surprisingly emotional” during “SNL50” last month, crying several times throughout the anniversary special.

During an appearance on SiriusXM’s “Sway in the Morning” (via Entertainment Weekly), the legendary comedian told host Sway Calloway that he couldn’t hold back his tears when he wasn’t on screen. “It was surprisingly emotional,” he sad. “I wept three times in the show. It really got to me.”

Murray said he wept because “obviously, there’s a lot of video and history that they’re showing and I didn’t see it coming.” Watching a clip of late cast member Gilda Radner alongside friend Steve Martin particularly affected him.

“There was Gilda [Radner] up there dancing with Steve Martin and I remember being there, watching them rehearse that dance number for days and days and days. I love Gilda, I was crazy about Gilda. And I sort of came apart,...

Over four decades later, veteran actor and Ghostbusters star Bill Murray has addressed the literary treatment of his late friend and collaborator John Belushi by Bob Woodward, calling the latter's work "completely inaccurate." The legendary comedian, actor, and musician Belushi was one of the original Saturday Night Live cast members and died in 1982, aged 33, from an overdose of cocaine and heroin.

Murray aired his opinion of Woodward's 1984 biography Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. "If he did this to Belushi, what he did to Nixon is probably soiled for me too. I can't take it," he said. "You could have two sources and everything like that, but the two sources that he had, if he had them for the Wired book, were so far outside the inner circle that it was criminal, cruel."

RelatedErnie Hudson Reflects on Harold Ramis'...

Saturday Night Live actor Bowen Yang was accused by an extra who's worked on the NBC series of getting Shane Gillis fired back in 2019. However, Yang has spoken out on the allegation to note how that's not the case.

Six years ago, Yang and Gillis had both been hired to join SNL as new performers. Problematic jokes Gillis had made about Asians on his comedy podcast resurfaced soon after his casting was announced, boosting a social media movement for SNL to cut ties with the risqué comedian. The SNL team ultimately acquiesced by firing Gillis, though the bridges have been rebuilt, with Gillis having since appeared on the show as guest host. Ahead of his second guest-hosting stint on March 1, comic and SNL extra Michelle Best posted a comment on an Instagram video shared by NBC to "acknowledge" that Yang was allegedly responsible for Gillis' firing.

Related'Don't Negotiate With Terrorists':...

New York's hottest club is Saturday Night Live, but only if you've hosted it at least five times. That gets you entry to SNL's exclusive "Five-Timers Club". Now that Saturday Night Live has celebrated 50 years of laughs, we're taking a look at one of its most consistent yet difficult to attain inside jokes/accolades, The Five-Timers Club. Besides the obvious honor of being a late-night regular, what does this comedic membership entail? And what other entertainment icons have made the cut?

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Saturday Night LiveTV-14ComedyNewsMusicRelease DateOctober 11, 1975NetworkNBCShowrunnerLorne MichaelsCastSee All

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Directors  Dave Wilson, Don Roy King, Liz Patrick, Andy Warhol, Linda Lee Cadwell, Matthew Meshekoff,...

Pete Davidson became a regular fixture of Saturday Night Live with an eight-year long run on the show, becoming the series’ youngest cast member at the age of 20 and an instant hit thanks to his “Weekend Update” appearances, among other sketches. However, his return for the show’s 50th anniversary celebration had fans talking for a reason other than his comedic talents – the reducing number of his trademark collection of tattoos.

Davidson, who is currently starring as one of the many big-name voices in the animated hit movie Dog Man, has become well-known as a walking scrapbook of inked designs with around 200 tattoos adorning his body. Almost all the actor’s pieces of body art have some kind of personal significance to either his life or his career, but while appearing on SNL50 many fans noticed that he is not as tatted up as he used to be.

During a...

Saturday Night Live recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary, with (almost) every notable name in the show's history and Hollywood as a whole coming together for the event. The long-running show brought back many of its iconic sketches for the occasion, with Black Jeopardy being one of them. Eddie Murphy, Tracy Morgan, and Leslie Jones returned to the stage for the fake quiz show, but it was Oscar-winner Tom Hanks' appearance that became the most talked about – and perhaps not in the way he would have liked.

Hanks appeared as a contestant on the fictional Black version of Jeopardy, a sketch the series has made famous over the years. In the skit, he plays a satirical version of a Trump voter – a role he played in a previous episode. But a specific incident during the segment is drawing backlash on right-wing social media. The host, played by longtime star Kenan Thompson,...

Tom Hanks stepped back onto the Saturday Night Live stage just days after staging a “walk out” at the weekend’s Homecoming Concert. While the actor and his wife, Rita Wilson, appeared to be disgruntled at there being no awards getting handed out at the event, it was, of course, all part of the show. This meant that it was not a surprise to see Hanks back on the show for its 50th anniversary special, where he introduced a special montage of sketches that have aged as well as a Hollywood star without a good surgeon.

Hanks joined a segment dedicated to what SNL executives and cast members have termed “canceled characters.” The legendary actor, who is part of the show’s “five-timers” club, delivered a fitting monologue to introduce the rogue’s gallery of controversial, offensive, and generally just problematic faces to have graced screen as part of SNL’s line up.

The stars really did come out for the 50th anniversary special for Saturday Night Live. Introducing Adam Sandler, who performed an incredible SNL50 tribute song, was none other than the legendary Jack Nicholson.

When the camera cut to Nicholson, the applause rained down. The actor kept it simple, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Sandler!" From there, Sandler gave a shout-out to Jack and began his song, singing, "Everyone in this room has something in common. All of our lives were changed by the show."

Sandler is known for his songs and mashups, and this one was perfect for the occasion. He sang about the cast, funny moments (including those behind the scenes), the crew, Lorne Michaels, and paid a very heartfelt tribute to fellow SNL vet and friend, the late Chris Farley, who passed away in 1997, and Norm Macdonald, who died in 2021. You can watch the entire performance, and Jack's introduction,...

Eddie Murphy's impression of Tracy Morgan on Saturday Night Live stole the show in a recent sketch celebrating the show's 50th anniversary. Murphy did his Morgan impression during the show's 'Black Jeopardy' sketch.

Murphy was joined for the SNL skit by fellow Black comedians, with Kenan Thompson playing host Darnell Hayes (aka Alex Treblack), and the other contestants being Leslie Jones and Tracy Morgan himself. During 'Black Jeopardy', Murphy did a hilarious impression of Morgan -- while Morgan stood right beside him and played a man named Darius. From his very introduction, Murphy was fully in-character as Tracy, calling out "Big Dog gonna make some big money!" in an over-the-top impression that had the rest of the cast struggling to keep a straight face.

Related'Might Have Been a Little Hokey': Cobra Kai Finale Cut a Scene Revealing 1 Killed-Off Character Survived

A deleted scene from the Cobra Kai finale reveals...

It was a massively star-studded affair at the SNL50: The Anniversary Special on Sunday evening (February 16) held at Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Saturday Night Live celebrated it’s 50th anniversary with hundreds of stars who have appeared on the show over the years.

From music stars like Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter and Cher, to actors like Ayo Edebiri, Emma Stone and Anya Taylor-Joy.

Keep reading to find out more…

The late-night sketch show’s special featured many returning sketches, with past and present SNL cast members reprising their characters, and even several celebrities who have hosted reprising their characters!

We have gathered every celebrity, cast member and more’s looks from the red carpet and you can see over 200 below…

Abby Elliott

Adam & Jackie Sandler

Adria Arjona & Jason Momoa

Aidy Bryant

Alex & Hilaria Baldwin

Alex Moffat & Caroline Kingsley Moffat

Al Franken

Al Sharpton

Amelia Dimoldenberg...

Quick LinksThe "Original" 'Saturday Night Live'One 'SNL's Failure and Another's Success

Live from New York, it's Saturday Night! Speaking of that iconic opening line, have you ever wondered why it's phrased that way? Why does it say just "Saturday Night" and not "Saturday Night Live?" Having two "lives" might be redundant, but isn't Saturday Night Live the name of the show? It is now, but that wasn't always the case.

Casual viewers may not know that the original name of the series was actually NBC's Saturday Night. That's why the opener is phrased that way. Even though it was always live, it didn't add that word to the title until Season 3. Believe it or not, this was because there was already a series titled Saturday Night Live on the air when the then-nbc's Saturday Night debuted in 1975. This "other" SNL was Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell,...

Saturday Night Live's biggest stars are everywhere these days: from the hallowed halls of Studio 8H, all the way to the beachy shores of Malibu, California. And in honor of the historic 50th anniversary of the longstanding comedy sketch series, everyone is getting in on the action of celebrating and honoring its many iconic moments. Including Volkswagen, which reunited Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, and Fred Armisen as "The Californians" in a commercial for their latest car.

The air-headed, valley girl-inflection-toting bottled blondes from the popular soap opera parody sketch star in the ad for the new Volkswagen ID Buzz, an electric take on their own California icon, the old Vw bus, which debuted on Thursday. And, frankly, it's giving nostalgia vibes in an extremely earth-conscious way, which is like, totally Californian of them. We can see why Karina (Wiig) and her lover Devin (Hader) are too impressed by her...

A star-studded crowd gathered to celebrate the legacy of the iconic comedy and musical series Saturday Night Live. As part of the 50th anniversary of the show, SNL50: The Homecoming Concert saw many familiar faces from the last 50 years of the series' history both watching and performing at the event, which was hosted by Jimmy Fallon. As the night kicked off, however, no one expected to see Oscar-winner Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson storm out of the auditorium after Fallon explained that the night would not include any awards presentations. Fallon said:

“Apparently, there’s been some confusion. This is just a concert. We’re not giving out any awards tonight. So, I just want to make sure that everyone knows that.”

At that point, Hanks and his wife stood up out of their seats and stomped up the central aisle and out of the venue. Of course,...

Tina Fey, the former head writer and cast member of NBC's Saturday Night Live, has revealed that she's part of the writing team behind SNL50, the 50th anniversary special that will air this Sunday on NBC. Even though Fey's experience on the show speaks for itself, returning as a staff writer meant that she had to clean the rust off of her comedy writing skills. However, a visit from a very special SNL icon made everything better.

Fey was a guest on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon alongside her former SNL co-star, dear friend and collaborator, Amy Poehler (via Entertainment Weekly). The conversation turned to what's brewing for SNL50, and Fey revealed that she's part of a team of staff writers for the special: "I know a little bit about what's taking shape because I am working on it as a staff writer, which I'm pretty excited about,...

Jesse Eisenberg is a one-time Saturday Night Live host, once serving in that role for a guest hosting gig in 2011. He has not hosted the sketch comedy series since, but that could be in part due to the experience not going so well for the actor.

During a new interview for Today with Jenna & Friends, Eisenberg discussed his SNL experience. He revealed that he's still haunted by how it went, despite how he was told that it was the "best episode they ever did." For the former Lex Luthor actor, he went into SNL extremely excited, as creating comedy for the legendary show was something he had dreamed about. He also presumed that it was up to him to write the sketches he'd appear in, and he started slipping written skits to cast members leading up to the show. Eisenberg said he was told by someone at SNL that this was encouraged,...

With the 50th Anniversary of Saturday Night Live looming on the horizon, many of the show's former stars and guest hosts have opened up about their experiences on the series. While stories from writers about letting polarizing figures like Donald Trump host have taken center stage, a new anecdote has emerged from a 2013 host. Jesse Eisenberg, known for roles like Lex Luthor and Mark Zuckerberg, opened up about hosting the long-running sketch comedy series, and sadly, he doesn't look back fondly on the experience.

During a recent appearance on the newly revamped fourth hour of Today, Jenna & Friends (via Variety), he expressed regret about his lifelong dream being far more sour than sweet:

"I only have bad memories because I did such a dumb thing. My dream when I was 17 was to write for ‘SNL.’ I made a packet and everything and I got an agent. And then, when I got asked to host,...

Saturday Night Live is celebrating its 50th year on television this year, and with this milestone comes a plethora of new insights and anecdotes regarding the show's storied history – some of which are collected in a new book, which reveals that former SNL writer and star Tim Robinson had a pretty strong reaction when Lorne Michaels invited Donald Trump to host an episode during his first presidential election campaign.

Before becoming President of the United States, Donald Trump was a mainstay on NBC, with his competition series The Apprentice serving as a pivotal part of the primetime lineup. Shortly after announcing his run for president, the network dumped Trump as host of the series due to derogatory comments he made about Mexican immigrants, but that didn't squash his involvement with NBC. Instead, to the shock and awe of many, Lorne Michaels invited Trump to host an episode of the long-running sketch series.

It's hard to believe, but this year, Saturday Night Live turns 50 years old. Created by Lorne Michaels, the show premiered on Oct. 11, 1975 and while it didn't go quite as smoothly, it certainly became a cultural phenomenon. Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, George Coe, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Michael O'Donoghue, Gilda Radner, and host George Carlin were the first to appear on the legendary show. And now, as its 50th anniversary special approaches, NBC has released a partial list of major A-list actors, musicians, and celebrities who will appear.

SNL50: The Anniversary Special will feature a who's who of major celebrities, per Variety. They include Sir Paul McCartney, Tom Hanks, Kim Kardashian, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Scarlett Johansson, Dave Chappelle, Miley Cyrus, Paul Simon, Robert De Niro, Sabrina Carpenter, Pedro Pascal, Bad Bunny, Quinta Brunson, Peyton Manning, Woody Harrelson, Adam Driver, Ayo Edebiri, and John Mulaney. More stars will be announced soon.

For the last several decades, Saturday Night Live has been faced with questions of its future. While so many people claim not to watch or call it unfunny, everyone still talks about it and sketches still go viral. Some feel the show has run its course, the sketches need work, or members of the cast need to go. Nothing ever comes of it because Saturday Night Live is engrained as part of the fabric of late-night television that no one really ever expects to end. But there’s one point in time when Saturday Night Live almost did get canceled, and arguably should have been. The show was hanging by a thread, and instead of a complete cast shake-up saving the show, it led to a year that has become known as the “weird season.”

This was in 1985 during season 11, a bizarre season that the new Peacock docuseries SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night...

As one of the most beloved actresses of this, or any generation, Jamie Lee Curtis has seemingly done it all. From battling Michael Myers in Halloween to hanging from a helicopter in True Lies, nothing has been off limits. Heck, she even put on a pair of leotards in the 1985 film Perfect to play an aerobics instructor, gyrating her way to stardom along with co-star John Travolta. Now, 40 years later, Curtis recreated the famous workout scene — this time with Jimmy Fallon — and the results are spectacular.

Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (seen below), Curtis and the late night host shared a laugh after watching the original scene from Perfect, which saw her and Travolta sweating up a storm in an aerobics class. The duo then revealed that there was some behind-the-scenes footage that had never been seen, and presented fans with a humorous recreation of the iconic moment,...

2024 was a packed year for several actors working in Hollywood, whether they are continuously rising stars or already well-established names in the industry. The year had plenty of noteworthy character-driven dramas, animated features, chaotic comedies, and big-budget blockbusters to keep audiences entertained. More importantly, these actors proved their capability of playing two different types of characters.

For example, multiple actors from the enthralling and visually stunning Dune: Part Two, like Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Austin Butler, also appeared in acclaimed and award-worthy dramas in the same year. They are just a few of many actors who stole the show in 2024 with their commanding screen presence and shockingly good versatility. From newcomers like Cailee Spaeny to big-name stars like Chris Hemsworth, 2024 was a spectacular year for these particular performers.

Gabriel Labelle Ran a Food Stand & Portrayed The Iconic Lorne Michaels Snack Shack & Saturday Night

Movie

Character

Snack Shack

Moose

Saturday Night...

Saturday Night's digital release date has been revealed.

Saturday Night will be available to buy or rent on digital platforms on November 12, followed by Blu-ray and DVD on January 7.

More to come...

Source: Sony Pictures

Saturday Night 4/10

Saturday Night (2024) is a forthcoming film with an undisclosed director. The movie centers on the vibrant nightlife of a bustling city, capturing the intertwining lives and stories of a diverse ensemble cast navigating personal and social challenges over the course of a single evening.

Director Jason ReitmanRelease Date October 11, 2024Writers Jason Reitman, Gil KenanCast Presley Coley, Abraham Hsu, Justin Matthew Smith, Ellen Boscov, Naomi McPherson, Kirsty Woodward, Mcabe Gregg, Leander Suleiman, Corinne Britti, Rowan Joseph, James Logan, Drew Scheid, Parker Wierling, Jon Batiste, Matt Wood, Emily Fairn, Kim Matula, Brian Welch, Kaia Gerber, Andrew Barth Feldman, Nicholas Podany, Billy Bryk, Gabriel Labelle, Rachel Sennott, Catherine Curtin, Robert Wuhl, Tracy Letts, Brad Garrett, Cory Michael Smith,...

2024 has been a year packed with great cinema from all different genres. Some of the years biggest hits have also been the most financially successful, like Dune: Part Two, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Deadpool & Wolverine. However, unfortunately, many other great films have fallen by the popularity wayside.

Every year brings a number of films that dont live up to financial or critical expectations, but there are also a lot of films that simply dont spark huge love from audiences. These films are absolutely not failures; they are completely underrated and deserve a second look.

Watch the Chaotic Origin Story of Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is one of the longest-running TV shows of all time, but its premiere episode was filled with production problems that should have doomed the series from the start. And this year, Jason Reitman tells the story of that tumultuous and chaotic night with Saturday Night.

Libby Titus, the singer-songwriter best known for her song “Love Has No Pride” and creating the New York Rock and Soul Revue with future husband Donald Fagen, died Sunday night at the age of 77.

“My beautiful wife, Libby Titus Fagen, passed on October 13th surrounded by family,” Fagen wrote on Steely Dan’s site. “Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts, and for respecting our privacy at this time.” A cause of death was not immediately available.

Titus released two solo albums — both titled Libby Titus — in 1968 and 1977. In between the two albums,...

The legend of the early years of Saturday Night Live is that performers and writers churned out 90 minutes of live comedy each week fueled by cocaine and other substances.

Okay, it’s more than legend. Writer Tom Schiller called pot “an inspirational tool” in those early seasons, according to Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night. George Carlin admitted coke had him “in another world” on the show’s debut in 1975. Dan Aykroyd once read this joke on Weekend Update: “This just in from the National Drug Abuse Association: Cocaine and heroin do not mix. If you must snort, don’t shoot.”

Did Lorne Michaels simply turn a blind eye while all of this was happening on his watch? That’s what Lesley Stahl wanted to know when she interviewed him for 60 Minutes back in 2004. A lot of that interview ended up on the cutting room floor,...

Garrett Morris was a man amongst brats during the first five seasons of "Saturday Night Live." The Juilliard-trained actor was 10 years older than his Baby Boomer costars, and came from the theater instead of comedy. Though he'd written plays, he had virtually no experience penning sketches, which placed him at an immediate disadvantage; ergo, as the series' inaugural season got underway, he struggled to find screen time.

One of the biggest issues was cultural. Morris was the only Black member of the cast. He couldn't relate to his colleagues' life experiences and vice versa. But there was another significant factor: these guys could be real jerks. This was partially a toxic outgrowth of the hyper-competitive atmosphere encouraged by producer Lorne Michaels. The superstar trio of John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray were known behind the scenes as "the Bully Boys." They could generate their own material, and were so explosively funny that the writers,...

As tonight’s episode of Saturday Night Live wound down, the show paid tribute to its former writer John Bowman, who died suddenly at home in California on New Year’s Eve, aged 64.

Bowman wrote on the series from1988-1989 and won an Emmy for his efforts across 20 episodes, sharing the honor with Mike Myers, Al Franken, Conan O’Brien, Bob Odenkirk, Lorne Michaels, Phil Hartman, James Downey, A. Whitney Brown, Greg Daniels, Tom Davis, Shannon Gaughan, Jack Handey, Herbert Sargent, Tom Schiller, Robert Smigel, Bonnie Turner, Terry Turner, Christine Zander and George Meyer.

Bowman also made uncredited appearances in a pair of 1988 episodes hosted by actors Danny DeVito and John Lithgow.

He was otherwise best known for co-creating and producing the ’90s sitcom Martin, writing on series including In Living Color, and leading the WGA’s negotiating committee during the 2007-08 strike.

SNL‘s photo tribute to Bowman from tonight’s show,...

Peter Aykroyd, the Emmy-nominated former Saturday Night Live cast member and writer, has died. The NBC sketch show paid tribute to SNL alum following Simu Liu’s eventful hosting debut.

Saturday Night Live revealed the actor-writer’s death with a card that displayed a picture of the previous featured player the years of his birth and death. The Ottawa native was born November 19, 1955, and is younger brother of SNL original Dan Aykroyd.

He began his foray into entertainment with minor roles in The New Avengers and Sctv. In 1979 he joined Saturday Night Live as both a writer and featured player. That same year he starred as Joe in Tom Schiller’s short film Java Junkie.

During his yearlong tenure at Saturday Night Live, Aykroyd received an Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program Emmy nom for SNL, shared with several other writers.

He created the Canadian series Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal...

Even though "Saturday Night Live" is a comedy staple due to the live nature of the late night sketch series, where each episode is exhaustingly created in a single week, the show has always had a place for pre-recorded comedy to shine too. 

Folks like Albert Brooks and Tom Schiller delivered comedic short films in the earlier years of "SNL," and Robert Smigel became known for his animated TV Funhouse sketches. The Lonely Island ushered in a new era for the internet age with SNL Digital Shorts, followed by the home video-style antics of Good...

The post What Is Please Don't Destroy? Meet Saturday Night Live's Latest Successor to The Lonely Island appeared first on /Film.

Ryan Lambie Oct 3, 2016

An animated superhero movie featuring Marlon Brando? A Bill Murray comedy? Just two of the strange, starry films we may never get to see.

Film history is littered with movies that have wound up on the shelf for some reason, either because of financial difficulties or, in the case of The Day The Clown Died, because its director and star decided it was too embarrassing to be released. We've written about all sorts of shelved or cancelled films before, from Roger Corman's infamous Fantastic Four to the unreleased John Goodman comedy, Spring Break '83.

Every so often, though, we'll hear about curious-sounding projects that generate a bit of news before vanishing again. An animated film featuring the voices of Marlon Brando and Brendan Fraser, perhaps, or a modern comedy about old Greek gods featuring Christopher Walken as Zeus.

Here, then, are five strange, star-laden movies that,...

This is definitely the time of year when film critic types (I’m sure you know who I mean) spend an inordinate amount of time leading up to awards season—and it all leads up to awards season, don’t it?—compiling lists and trying to convince anyone who will listen that it was a shitty year at the movies for anyone who liked something other than what they saw and liked. And ‘tis the season, or at least ‘thas (?) been in the recent past, for that most beloved of academic parlor games, bemoaning the death of cinema, which, if the sackcloth-and-ashes-clad among us are to be believed, is an increasingly detached and irrelevant art form in the process of being smothered under the wet, steaming blanket of American blockbuster-it is. And it’s going all malnourished from the siphoning off of all the talent back to TV, which, as everyone knows,...

The Writers Guild of America has just announced the nominations for their annual awards for Best Screenplays (by writers who are guild signatories). That’s right, before you get nervous thinking that your favorite may have been left off the list, you must remember that the WGA is the group that is not all-inclusive and leaves out several of the top contenders each year due to them not being part of the guild or not following their very specific rules. For this reason, you won’t see Inside Out, The Hateful Eight, and Ex Machina in the Original Screenplay category or Room, Brooklyn, or Anomalisa in the Adapted screenplay category.

Taking a look at what’s left over for the nominations, we find many that were expected to make a showing, including Spotlight and Bridge of Spies for Original Screenplay, though they apparently had to sink to really low depths...

The Writers Guild of America announced some of its nominees for its 2015 awards on Thursday, including television, new media, and radio, and among the TV nominees are series both new and old, and all beloved.

In the comedy series category, freshman Netflix show "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" scored a nomination for best series, as well as an overall best new series nod. "The Last Man on Earth" also landed in that latter category, and was singled out for its pilot episode writing, too.

On the drama side of the equation, lauded "Breaking Bad" spinoff "Better Call Saul" also got best series and best new series nominations, in addition to a an episode writing nod. Newly-minted Emmy winner "Game of Thrones" also scored a best drama citation, as well as an episodic writing nomination.

The full list of nominees released this week are below. Nominations in the theatrical and documentary categories will...

An interesting effort is coming your way before long, and it’s pulling together a cast that will make it a kind of who’s who of underappreciated actors. Ghost Team, directed by Oliver Irving, has announced its cast, which includes Jon Heder, David Krumholtz, and many more.

Heder hasn’t managed to find material that resonated with audiences since Napoleon Dynamite, at least, not to the extent he deserves, and Krumholtz is almost the poster boy for not getting the recognition that you’d expect. Unfortunately, both actors often play characters that may not seem that difficult, and/or are something of a sidekick.

The new film, about a team of paranormal investigators who find themselves in over their heads, also stars Melonie Diaz, Paul W. Downs, Justin Long, and the woefully overlooked Amy Sedaris.

Though the film can’t mention its own indie status enough, meaning the budget is extremely tight,...

The official Ghostbusters franchise is back in a big way next year thanks to Paul Feig and his new cast, but there are others who want to snatch a piece of the spook-tracking pie, albeit without the budget or the proton packs. Justin Long, Jon Heder, David Krumholtz and more are all signed on for the cast of indie comedy Ghost Team. Oliver Irving has just kicked off production on the film, working from a script by Peter Warren. Long, Heder and Krumholtz are joined in the cast by Melonie Diaz, Paul W. Downs, Tom Schiller and the always reliable Amy Sedaris for a story that finds a team of ghost hunters embarking on a fresh investigation into paranormal activity. Except this time, it might be a little closer to home and possibly more than they can handle.While this bunch might not have the sort of high-tech gear that the usual Ghostbusters carry,...

Exclusive: The indie feature comedy Ghost Team is set to start production in New York this week, with Jon Heder starring alongside David Krumholtz (Numbers), Melonie Diaz (Fruitvale Station), Broad City‘s Paul W. Downs, Justin Long, Tom Schiller and Amy Sedaris. The film is about a team of ghost hunters who get more than they bargained for when they embark on their own paranormal investigation. Oliver Irving (How To Be) is directing a film that will cover Manhattan, Long…...

• Designed by Quinlan Ohmane

As VH1 Classic’s “SNL Rewind: 2015-1975 Mega Marathon” has reminded viewers, Saturday Night Live has produced 40 years of non-stop laughter, and become an indelible part of pop culture. Even casual fans of the show can name a skit they’ll never forget, some of which are represented here.

Here are emoji formulas for 10 famous Saturday Night Live sketches. Because why not immortalize the things you love with a bunch of smiley faces?

“Porn Stars” Starring Vanessa Bayer and Cecily Strong, featuring James Franco and Seth Rogen (2014)

“Schillervision Hidden Camera Commercial: Folgers” Starring Tom Schiller and Chris Farley (1991)

“Mr. Peeper’s Father” Starring Chris Kattan, Featuring Chris Parnell, Will Ferrell, and Dwayne Johnson (2000)...

• Designed by Quinlan Ohmane

As VH1 Classic’s “SNL Rewind: 2015-1975 Mega Marathon” has reminded viewers, Saturday Night Live has produced 40 years of non-stop laughter, and become an indelible part of pop culture. Even casual fans of the show can name a skit they’ll never forget, some of which are represented here.

Here are emoji formulas for 10 famous Saturday Night Live sketches. Because why not immortalize the things you love with a bunch of smiley faces?

“Porn Stars” Starring Vanessa Bayer and Cecily Strong, featuring James Franco and Seth Rogen (2014)

“Schillervision Hidden Camera Commercial: Folgers” Starring Tom Schiller and Chris Farley (1991)

“Mr. Peeper’s Father” Starring Chris Kattan, Featuring Chris Parnell, Will Ferrell, and Dwayne Johnson (2000)...

On the eve of its 40th anniversary special (though the anniversary itself isn't until October), what is left to say about "Saturday Night Live"? There have been multiple books written about the show, several documentaries, countless essays — riding the never-ending roller-coaster between "Saturday Night Dead" and "Saturday Night Lives Again!" — best-ofs, worst-ofs, and every other kind of list you can think of. I don't know that anything I write over the next few pages will provide new insight into one of the most influential comedy shows ever made, but I wondered if you could tell the story of the show — through good times and bad, through revolutions and evolutions and retrenchments — by looking at its sketches. I wound up picking 21 in all: some among the show's most famous, some obscure but important. These aren't meant as a definitive breakdown of the best "SNL" ever had to offer, but as a...

David Liu's posted a terrific conversation between Gabriel García Márquez and Akira Kurosawa. Also in today's round of news and views: Nick Newman and Danny King are discussing Todd Haynes at To Be (Cont'd). Ian Penman riffs on Rainer Werner Fassbinder the Fußball fan. Richard Brody calls Tom Schiller's Nothing Lasts Forever, a 1984 comedy with Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, a forgotten "masterpiece." The new restoration of Alain Resnais's Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) will see its U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival. Paramount may take Martin Scorsese’s Silence featuring Andrew Garfield, Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabe and Adam Driver. And more. » - David Hudson...

David Liu's posted a terrific conversation between Gabriel García Márquez and Akira Kurosawa. Also in today's round of news and views: Nick Newman and Danny King are discussing Todd Haynes at To Be (Cont'd). Ian Penman riffs on Rainer Werner Fassbinder the Fußball fan. Richard Brody calls Tom Schiller's Nothing Lasts Forever, a 1984 comedy with Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, a forgotten "masterpiece." The new restoration of Alain Resnais's Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) will see its U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival. Paramount may take Martin Scorsese’s Silence featuring Andrew Garfield, Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabe and Adam Driver. And more. » - David Hudson...

In 1984, Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd made a black-and-white, sci-fi comedy that is quirky and convincing as a classic-era production. Saturday Night Live alum Tom Schiller wrote and directed Nothing Lasts Forever — about “an artist [who] fails a test and is required to direct traffic in New York City's Holland Tunnel. He winds up falling in love with a beautiful woman, who takes him to the moon on a Lunar Cruiser.” There are a lot of famous faces in this one, including Gremlins star Zach Galligan in the lead role. The oft-missed John Belushi was set to make an appearance, even, but he died seven weeks before the film started shooting. Movie-music god Howard Shore provided the soundtrack. So why the heck haven’t we seen this thing until...

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Bill Murray appeared in two 1984 films: one, Ghostbusters, became an all-time classic; the other, Nothing Lasts Forever, was never released commercially (after being scrapped by MGM) and faded into cinematic obscurity. But as the A.V. Club notes (via Telegraph), the latter project has resurfaced on YouTube in its full 80-minute form.

A Short History of Bill Murray's Offscreen Antics

Written and directed by Saturday Night Live veteran Tom Schiller, Nothing Lasts Forever is a sci-fi comedy starring Zach Galligan (Gremlins) as an artist struggling to realize his dreams...

Nothing Lasts Forever is a 1984 sci-fi movie with Zach Galligan and Bill Murray that disappeared. Yet it's resurfaced.

Feature

I love a good quest. There’s nothing that drives a plot quite like it, from Jason setting out to find the Golden Fleece to Indiana Jones’ determination to track down the Ark of the Covenant. Along the way there is always action, and adventure, and some friends to meet and enemies to defeat. Because that’s how a quest works.

Quests don’t have to be about objects. They can also be about finding your place in the world, and Nothing Lasts Forever tells the story of Adam Beckett, a young man who wants to be an artist, even though he has no idea of what an artist actually is. His quest takes him to a strange, totalitarian Manhattan where wannabe artists must sit a practical exam, and eventually to some very surprising places,...

So, how on Earth does a movie, made at the height of fame for both Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, not get released? That's a complicated one to answer, but for comedy fans, the 1984 movie "Nothing Lasts Forever" is something of a holy grail film, but thanks to the (probably temporary) powers of the interwebs, you can see the film that MGM apparently twice prevented from screening at the Cannes Film Festival. Written and directed by longtime "Saturday Night Live" veteran Tom Schiller, "Nothing Lasts Forever" is ambitious stuff, telling the story of a young man ("Gremlins" star Zach Galligan) who gets caught in the machinations of a totalitarian retro/future New York City. Aykroyd plays Galligan's boss, Murray gets an extended cameo, Mort Sahl, Lawrence Tierney, Imogene Coca and Larry “Bud” Melman take on supporting roles, and Howard Shore provided the score. So what happened? It's hard to say.

Saturday Night Live, “George Carlin/Billy Preston, Janis Ian”

Written by Lorne Michaels, Michael O’Donoghue, Anne Beatts, Tom Davis, Al Franken, Marilyn Suzanne Miller, Herb Sargent, Tom Schiller, Rosie Schuster, Alan Zweibel

Directed by Dave Wilson

Aired on October 11, 1975 on NBC

Possibly (and very arguably) the most influential television show of all time, Saturday Night Live (SNL for short) is American comedy (albeit with a bit of Canadian help) exemplified: irreverent, absurdist, made for short attention spans, and continually being both panned and lauded by critics. Whether you still lock your door in fear of Land Shark, turned the show off in 1980 and never looked back, or are in need more cowbell, you know the magic that is SNL. Like a boy band or Santa Claus, we each have our favorites and picture a certain cast as the “real” SNL. For example, there are people who swear by the...

The programme for the 67th Edinburgh International Film Festival has launched and the selection looks every bit as eclectic and exciting as last year’s proved to be. For the second year running, artistic director Chris Fujiwara and his team have put together an unpredictable, intriguing and determinedly international array of films, allowing plenty of opportunity for emerging talents and lesser-known directors to showcase their work.

As well as the big opening and closing night gala films, respectively Breathe In and the world premiere of Scottish rom-com Not Another Happy Ending (starring Doctor Who’s Karen Gillan), the highlights include strands from South Korea, America and Sweden, Jean Grémillon and Richard Fleischer retrospectives, and several interesting-looking documentaries.

Due to the variety and unconventiality of the selection, it is difficult, and not entirely preferable, to pick out a list of sure-fire hits, but here are ten films that you should certainly...

The Sopranos was named the best-written show in television history by the Writers Guild of America, edging out an eclectic collection of some of the most beloved and admired series. Members of the Writers Guild of America, West (Wgaw) and the Writers Guild of America, East (Wgae) voted online for the 101 Best Written TV Series, with David Chase’s iconic “family” drama topping Seinfeld, The Twilight Zone, All in the Family, and M*A*S*H*.

“At their core, all of these wonderful series began with the words of the writers who created them and were sustained by the writers...