One of the great success stories of this year at the movies isGreta Gerwig’s exceptionalLady Bird, the debut feature from the invaluable writer and actress. Though much of its magic comes from the way Gerwig paces her story and the intimate, deeply personal detail that she gives to the teenage life of the titular character, what anchors the film is the wildly comic and resonant performance bySaorise Ronanas Lady Bird herself. It’s easily the best performance she’s given sinceThe Grand Budapest Hoteland the best lead performance she’s given to date.
Indeed, the comedic oomph of her performance was enough to get Ronan a hosting gig onSaturday Night Live, which premiered last night with musical guest U2. The new U2 songs are not worth talking about but there was one musical moment from last night worth looking at, namely the “Welcome to Hell” music video. In the sketch, Ronan joinedCicely Tyson,Aidy Bryant, andKate McKinnonto portray a pop group singing the aforementioned song, which pokes fun at the sense of paranoia and anxiety that a good portion of American men are feeling between the wave of sexual harassment claims and the Trump presidency. They describe the constant feeling of moral and mortal dread as “hometown” for women, and slightly celebrate that now everyone has to feel it. It may sound depressing (and it is a little bit) but the knowledge of music video cliches helps bolster the laughs. You can watch below.
Here’s the “Welcome to Hell” music video from last night’sSaturday Night Live:
On top of that,SNLcovered one of the bigger news items for the week, and I’m not talking about the economy-crashing tax bill that the Senate decided to pass in the dead of night. Rather, the cold open for this week’sSNLtook on the guilty plea submitted byMichael Flynnand the expected fountain of information that will flow from him in regards to the allegations of Trump colluding with Russia.Alec Baldwinreturns as Trump, which is a hit-and-miss endeavor if there ever was one, but in this loose take-off ofA Christmas Carol, his bloated caricature of the President feels dead-on and rightfully riled. You can check out the cold open below.
