To the surprise of many, Steven Spielberg appeared during an SNL Digital Short during last weekend’s Saturday Night Live and showcased more awesomeness in one 4 minute skit than he has in his last 4 movies combined.
And that’s WITHOUT counting the shit stain that is Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull twice.
Laser Cats is a recurring sketch in which SNL cast members Andy Samberg and Bill Hader “pitch” legendary SNL creator and exec producer Lorne Michaels terrible ultra-low budget home movies starring themselves as space warriors in a post-apocalyptic world where cats are used as weapons due to their ability to shoot lasers out of their mouths.
You know, that same old story.
The ridiculous series is notable for its abundance of celebrity cameos by Hollywood heavyweights, including Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Cameron and now Spielberg himself.
In the skit, Spielberg appears both as himself enthusiastically endorsing Laser Cats 7 and as a space scooter-riding laser-shooting intergalactic villain.
I also didn’t realize he kept himself in such good shape.
It’s awesome to see one of the most powerful men in the entertainment industry poking fun at himself and his work with such panache, and his sense of humour and self-deprecation make me genuinely like the guy a whole lot more.
But still not as much as that pussy Dawson Leery.
The reality is that Steven Spielberg’s filmmaking has grown pretty stale, and despite Oscar noms for overrated films like Munich and War Horse, he really hasn’t directed a truly great film since 1998′s Saving Private Ryan.
I’m still livid Private Ryan lost the Oscar to that horse shit cream puff excuse for a Best Picture Shakespeare In Love.
Before his SNL cameo, I was starting to grow awfully tired of Spielberg, mostly due to his prolific producing.
The director literally has his hand in dozens of television and film projects at a time, and famously signed on to executive produce Michael Bay’s Transformers after requesting that the film be a story about “a boy and his car.”
As opposed to a story about a boy and his ability to score with hot chicks way out of his league.
It honestly seems as if Steven Spielberg is kind of obsessed with the concept of telling coming of age tales about boys, as evidenced by his body of work.
A boy and an alien.
A boy and World War II.
A boy and a treasure hunt.
A boy and his exotic pet.
A boy and his dog.
A boy and his horse.
A robot boy and his talking teddy bear and hooker sex-bots and aliens — wait, what the f**k is this movie about again?
The bottom line is that Steven Spielberg just scored some serious street cred thanks to one 4 minute video. The last time anyone thought he was hip or cool was nearly 2 decades ago when he blew our minds and brought freakin’ dinosaurs to life in Jurassic Park.
But thanks to his SNL cameo, I’m curious to see what the guy does next and hope whatever it is it’s something fresh, bold and fun — because now we know the guy definitely still has that in him.
I’m on board just as long as it’s not a movie about a boy and his cat.