The Skeleton Twins

Last fall I ventured to Cinemapolis to see The Skeleton Twins (directed by a film starring former SNL cast members Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader. Before entering the theater, I knew very little about the film except that Kristen and Bill were the two main characters (that was reason enough for me). It was a truly powerful performance; I left the theater in a stunned silence.

The premise of the film is about a set of twins reunited after having near death experiences on the same day. Maggie (Kristen Wiig) and Milo (Bill Hader) were estranged for ten years, but Milo's attempted suicide forced Maggie to take him in. There is a lot of back and forth between them that uncovers some of why they became estranged in the first place. The film ends on a very postive note, but I don't want to spoil the ending!

Skeleton Twins tackles a myriad of social issues that are relevant today, such as homosexuality, cross-dressing, and suicide. At times the darker parts of movie were upsetting but I think they tackled the issues with proper sensitivity.
Everything about this movie was stunning. The acting was superb, which does not surprise me one bit since these two are obviously great.

Everything felt very real, which is the most important thing. It was actually very refreshing to see them in serious roles such as these ones--I'm used to seeing them in ridiculous SNL sketches so it was very cool to see them be so serious.


Overall, it was a truly lovely film and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Here is the trailer for anyone interested!

Making South Park

6 Days to Air documents the making of a South Park episode from start to finish. This hour long documentary produced by Comedy Central on the animated cartoon introduces us to creators (and voice talent) Trey Parker and Matt Stone as well, detailing their creative habits.

First animated with cardboard cutouts in stop frame, South Park took sometimes weeks to produce in its early days. Shows like The Simpsons and American Dad take months in production. South Park now takes as little as 6 days to produce, now using the power of computers to speed up the animation. It's how South Park remains the most relevant and topical animated show on air.

Even though it's done in a 2D style, it looks like they are using AutoDesk Maya to accelerate the production process.

The documentary takes us through the writers' meeting. SNL's Bill Hader, a couple of other writers help out Parker and Stone develop ideas and a story. Trey Parker is then responsible for the bulk of the script. Co-Executive Producer Anne Garefino also sits in during the writers' meeting to help communicate ideas to animators and to serve as a gauge of ridiculousness/offensiveness.

It's really very interesting watching such a stressful weekly production schedule produce such quality shows. It's the industry we are going into and it's nice to see actual production, instead of just the glossy end-product.

Stefon

SNL has had a lot of popular recurring characters over the years- The Church Lady, John Belushi as the Samurai, the Coneheads etc. The most recent character that seems to have gained a lot of popularity is Bill Hader as Stefon on Weekend Update. Stefon gives advice for the hottest clubs in the city to go to. However, Hader usually can't get through this character without laughing at his own ridiculousness which is when the audience gets most excited. And with each appearance the applause gets louder every time Seth introduces him. In this interview even he talks about how he can't make it through an appearance without cracking up: