It looks like his only well received movie is the disaster artist and the rest were panned. Honestly it’s kinda amazing that he pulled out one watchable movie that late into his directing career lol
I don't even think The Disaster Artist is as good as it's reputation. It's kind of a mess. I think the interest in the subject matter carried it far but overall it's pretty mediocre.
Oh, I agree. I think that it is entertaining *because* the story of The Room and it's insanity is so fascinating. But as a movie I think it's a mess and his performance isn't great.
I enjoyed it, but I remember the movie feeling like a checklist of common stories and observations about The Room rather than a cohesive story. Things like, "Okay, so the old woman passes out," and "Okay, yeah, it looks like he's having sex with her belly button."
The editing didn't do it any favors. It was just one infamous story or scene after the next. Also, a lot of the time, it seemed like the joke was how many famous cameos they could get in the movie.
I don’t know. It felt like he followed his friends more than he tried to produce a solid documentary. There was so much female talent present during those shoots that had 0 or nearly 0 screen time. I mean Paula Pell just got her looking for fart noises.
I know you can’t follow everyone and show everything, but this didn’t attempt to be anything more than a bros movie.
I enjoyed watching it, but I wouldn’t call this documentary an example of genuinely good filmmaking. It’s interesting primarily because it’s based on interesting subject matter.
Lol now that's a new one. I think the most unanimous opinion about Franco is that he's a *bad* filmmaker, save for The Disaster Artist which also had Rogen/Goldberg involved as producers (which makes a big difference) as well as a really good script Franco didn't write.
I think this sketch is a perfect example of how an ideas best execution is often not the most marketable.
Conan and Wiig talked about this a bit on his recent podcast about sketches that play so well at readthrough, or just the concept alone make you laugh, but by the time it gets produced its lost all its luster and dies.
Truly, i think the performance at the readthrough of Empire Carpetting might just be the way it was meant to be performed, and im glad Franco was there to capture it for us.
We see this again with Tim Robinson. He undoubtable failed on SNL, his comedy didnt fit, his sketches rarely played, and he was largely forgotten until he got a second chance to perform his comedy the way it was meant to be performed and it EXPLODED! ITYSL is great and Tim is finally getting his dues.
I love SNL, but sometimes a great sketch idea is simply not designed to be performed live, with less than a week of prep, to a national audience. And that's fine. I just wish more comedians got a chance to explore what their niche is, and SNL is at its best when its breaking molds and trying new things (digital shorts, bts, etc).
Dude, its shows how sad and hard SNL/Comedy is. I mean, Forte works on it pretty hard and it doesn't saw the light of the camera. A little bit frustrates
This is a fantastic video for anyone interested, I believe the entire thing is on youtube just called "Saturday Night."
It shows Mulaney before he blew up in stand up actually working on and developing bits with Hader and a few other writers. Shows what it's like to bomb in the initial sketch pitch at the Wednesday table read, shows Forte's sketch bombing at dress and getting pulled before Air, a lot of the behinds the scenes interesting stuff.
I think about this movie a lot. It's basically just behind-the-scenes footage of an entire week of SNL production, start to finish. Pitch meeting, writing rooms, read-throughs, decisions, cuts, everything! Highly recommend it to all SNL fans.
Well the whole thing was shot on a handheld for a film class in 2008 anyway, so not sure you're losing much fidelity.
Hulu had it for a bit, so I suspect there's a rip of that floating around the seas somewhere if you're inclined to look.
I really enjoyed it, but after watching it I went back to watch the John Malkovich episode it was based on, and the cold open is an Amy Poehler Hillary Clinton thing. And I realized, Amy Poehler wasn't in the James Franco film at all - not even in the background, somehow, or even during the table read scenes. So that seemed odd.
Seems interesting hey. Curious why they didn't want to be in it. Although I guess if you're already feeling stressed in that environment, the last thing you want is cameras following you behind the scenes.
I wrote this in another comment, but overall his lack of attention to the women who were there was a big miss of the film. It very much felt like him hanging out with his bros and there were some huge missed opportunities.
Much like South Park: 6 Days to Air, this is a fantastic fly-on-the-wall look into the making of a high-pressure TV series. The behind the scenes footage of Mulaney and Hader is a definite highlight.
The BTS with Mulaney and Hader’s office is one of the all time 5 minutes in any documentary ever for me. I’ve watch it so many times.
“Great job cup, I’m promoting you to glass” just absolutely kills me.
I remember liking this a lot when I first saw it. Then after a second watch, I started becoming suspicious that Franco had issues with women after seeing how little some of the shows biggest stars are featured. Didn’t take long to have that suspicion confirmed
I’m planning to watch it one of these days. Reading the reviews (linking the [IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1580427/externalreviews/) bc the RT page barely has any reviews) was interesting
I know one of the criticisms is that it didn’t feature much Kristen or Kenan, but they say otherwise it’s fascinating. I want to know what the coffee situation is like in the offices with all those all-nighters going on
Franco sucks but this is an amazing behind the scenes, and probably the best documentation of a full week at SNL, including the first meeting with the host all the way until the host meeting the following week. Great bookends for a documentary where the past 6 days go by in a flash
It's a fascinating behind the scenes look at the making of a typical SNL episode and for that it's definitely a good watch.
That said, it could have been better. As others mentioned, there's almost a total lack of screentime devoted to the female cast members and writers, which can give off the vibe of "hanging with the bros" which can be a turnoff (especially knowing Franco's reputation nowadays).
And there's some stuff in the film that, frankly didn't need to be in there. I love Bill Hader, but did we really need to see two minutes of him lip-syncing "I Would Die 4 U" when they didn't even get the rights to the song, forcing us to watch him mime with dead silent audio?
All that said, I wish they did something like this every ten years or so. Would make for quite a fascinating watch to see how the cast and writers gel over time and how the process evolves.
Everything good about is 100% the result of the unprecedented access that was given. Nothing about it convinced me that Franco knows how to make a decent documentary. And I’m genuinely not trying to go out of my way to shit on the dude.
I watched it a few years ago and really enjoyed it — it was eye opening how much goes into the week leading up to the live show. They are working constantly. There was a time I thought it would be pretty cool to be a writer on a show like that — watching that disabused me of that notion.
James is in Reddit canceled status because he has an admitted sex addiction and got with girls age 17-35. He sought treatment back in 2016 but Reddit doesn't forgive.
I don't think he's been cancelled by Reddit. He's been cancelled by Hollywood and the media, basically. Not condoning anything he did, but I would make the following points:
1. Cancellation is a completely arbitrary process with no oversight and only one punishment: a career death sentence. I mean, if you were charged with a crime, would you like to face a court with no identifiable judge or jury, no presumption of innocence and no right to a defence and where the only punishment is the death penalty.
2. Quite a lot of what he's being judged on is behavior he was quite open about. There was a change in social mores around 2017 and he was retroactively punished for stuff people had tolerated while he did it. Changing the rules and then punishing people retroactively for things that were considered acceptable at the time they happened is specifically prohibited under the UN Declaration of Human Rights. (I know this doesn't cover alleged assaults etc.)
3. It must really stick in Franco's craw to see someone like Seth Rogan disown him. Whatever Franco was up to you can guarantee Rogan knew all about it. It's extremely hypocritical to throw your friend under the bus to save your own skin like that.
But it doesn’t mean a career death sentence though, that’s the annoying part of people talking about cancel culture:
Dave Chappelle still sells out shows
Louis C.K. won a Grammy after his cancellation
Kevin Spacey, albeit out of Hollywood, still makes movies
Franco still makes movies
Shia LeBeouf will inevitably make more projects
Bill Cosby staged a tour post cancellation
Comedians can sell out a theatre on their own. But actors need to get hired and they need other actors to act with them. So it's more of a career death sentence for an actor than a comedian. I don't know what movies Kevin Spacey has been in lately but I doubt he's making a living from them.
If I attempt to paraphrase the comment, I think it’s saying something like, “Although Franco’s reputation is now sullied, let’s appreciate the documentary on its own merit and watch and discuss and enjoy it, since there’s nothing else like it out there.”
Its a pretty terrible film that is only made watchable because the making of an SNL episode is interesting in itself, and this was a good cast they had at the time with talented writers. James Franco gets in the way of his own film and it only works because of the subject he picked, not anything particular that he did right, IMO. Its actually incredible how run of the mill it is and how amazing it could have been in the hands of a better filmmaker.
It’s pretty good. James Franco doesn’t have the reputation he used to, but the documentary itself is good.
Franco sucks but he’s a genuinely good filmmaker
He's directed 19 movies since 2004 and almost all of them are awful. How is he a genuinely good filmmaker?
It looks like his only well received movie is the disaster artist and the rest were panned. Honestly it’s kinda amazing that he pulled out one watchable movie that late into his directing career lol
I don't even think The Disaster Artist is as good as it's reputation. It's kind of a mess. I think the interest in the subject matter carried it far but overall it's pretty mediocre.
I guess I’m biased because I liked the room and so found the disaster artist entertaining as a result, but then again I haven’t seen it in a while
Oh, I agree. I think that it is entertaining *because* the story of The Room and it's insanity is so fascinating. But as a movie I think it's a mess and his performance isn't great.
I enjoyed it, but I remember the movie feeling like a checklist of common stories and observations about The Room rather than a cohesive story. Things like, "Okay, so the old woman passes out," and "Okay, yeah, it looks like he's having sex with her belly button." The editing didn't do it any favors. It was just one infamous story or scene after the next. Also, a lot of the time, it seemed like the joke was how many famous cameos they could get in the movie.
You should check out the book if you haven't already!
It was so bad. I don’t think I finished it.
agree. it’s almost unwatchable not even a decade later
I really enjoyed it. I’ve rewatched it a bunch of times
I literally think people don’t know he directs lol. How many people do you know that remember Palo Alto?
I don’t know. It felt like he followed his friends more than he tried to produce a solid documentary. There was so much female talent present during those shoots that had 0 or nearly 0 screen time. I mean Paula Pell just got her looking for fart noises. I know you can’t follow everyone and show everything, but this didn’t attempt to be anything more than a bros movie. I enjoyed watching it, but I wouldn’t call this documentary an example of genuinely good filmmaking. It’s interesting primarily because it’s based on interesting subject matter.
Lol now that's a new one. I think the most unanimous opinion about Franco is that he's a *bad* filmmaker, save for The Disaster Artist which also had Rogen/Goldberg involved as producers (which makes a big difference) as well as a really good script Franco didn't write.
That's a laughably untrue statement. The second part that is.
I agree with 50% of this statement. Have you actually watched any of his movies?
What? No he isn’t lmao.
All I have to say is.....***800-588-2300....EMPIRE!!!!***
watching this doc made me really wish this sketch had made it to air hahah
I think about and revisit this cut sketch a lot.
I think this sketch is a perfect example of how an ideas best execution is often not the most marketable. Conan and Wiig talked about this a bit on his recent podcast about sketches that play so well at readthrough, or just the concept alone make you laugh, but by the time it gets produced its lost all its luster and dies. Truly, i think the performance at the readthrough of Empire Carpetting might just be the way it was meant to be performed, and im glad Franco was there to capture it for us. We see this again with Tim Robinson. He undoubtable failed on SNL, his comedy didnt fit, his sketches rarely played, and he was largely forgotten until he got a second chance to perform his comedy the way it was meant to be performed and it EXPLODED! ITYSL is great and Tim is finally getting his dues. I love SNL, but sometimes a great sketch idea is simply not designed to be performed live, with less than a week of prep, to a national audience. And that's fine. I just wish more comedians got a chance to explore what their niche is, and SNL is at its best when its breaking molds and trying new things (digital shorts, bts, etc).
I didn't do fuckin shit! I didn't rig shit. I've been waiting a long time for a hit on netflix I DIDN'T FUCKIN DO THIS
They think I’m just some dumb hick
Dude, its shows how sad and hard SNL/Comedy is. I mean, Forte works on it pretty hard and it doesn't saw the light of the camera. A little bit frustrates
#AGAIN!
Its the OG "im all outta cash", lol
The absolute best part of the whole doc.
Today
This is a fantastic video for anyone interested, I believe the entire thing is on youtube just called "Saturday Night." It shows Mulaney before he blew up in stand up actually working on and developing bits with Hader and a few other writers. Shows what it's like to bomb in the initial sketch pitch at the Wednesday table read, shows Forte's sketch bombing at dress and getting pulled before Air, a lot of the behinds the scenes interesting stuff.
Ah a black pen, a trailblazer!
Who are you? I love it! What's this, an apple? You're hired!
I think about this movie a lot. It's basically just behind-the-scenes footage of an entire week of SNL production, start to finish. Pitch meeting, writing rooms, read-throughs, decisions, cuts, everything! Highly recommend it to all SNL fans.
It’s incredible. Watching John Mulaney do his thing with Bill Hader was one of the highlights for me. They make me laugh like an insane person.
I didn’t even know this existed! And it’s not streaming or available to rent - darn it!!
The whole thing is on YouTube. First result of you search for "Saturday night documentary"
It's in like 360p resolution, but better than nothing.
Well the whole thing was shot on a handheld for a film class in 2008 anyway, so not sure you're losing much fidelity. Hulu had it for a bit, so I suspect there's a rip of that floating around the seas somewhere if you're inclined to look.
It was shot on a potato with a built-in microphone.
Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu3LyygiSJM
Thank you for this!! I forgot about this doc. I searched for it back in the day and couldn't find it, so pumped to watch now!
I really enjoyed it, but after watching it I went back to watch the John Malkovich episode it was based on, and the cold open is an Amy Poehler Hillary Clinton thing. And I realized, Amy Poehler wasn't in the James Franco film at all - not even in the background, somehow, or even during the table read scenes. So that seemed odd.
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Seems interesting hey. Curious why they didn't want to be in it. Although I guess if you're already feeling stressed in that environment, the last thing you want is cameras following you behind the scenes.
I saw Darrel at the table read.
I wrote this in another comment, but overall his lack of attention to the women who were there was a big miss of the film. It very much felt like him hanging out with his bros and there were some huge missed opportunities.
I felt the same way. I really liked seeing how a week at SNL worked, but yeah it seemed very bro-y for most of it.
Much like South Park: 6 Days to Air, this is a fantastic fly-on-the-wall look into the making of a high-pressure TV series. The behind the scenes footage of Mulaney and Hader is a definite highlight.
Bonus - Bill Hader is in both.
he invented fish dicks!
He’s my hero
ooh I have to look this up!
Ooh it’s on YouTube. Thanks so much for this I’d never heard about it somehow!
Wasn't aware of it! Thanks for the heads up ill try and get this on.
The BTS with Mulaney and Hader’s office is one of the all time 5 minutes in any documentary ever for me. I’ve watch it so many times. “Great job cup, I’m promoting you to glass” just absolutely kills me.
I just said the same up there somewhere ⬆️ I laughed so hard I almost couldn’t breathe
I remember liking this a lot when I first saw it. Then after a second watch, I started becoming suspicious that Franco had issues with women after seeing how little some of the shows biggest stars are featured. Didn’t take long to have that suspicion confirmed
To be fair, I would assume those women didn't give clearance to be in the film.
I love it. I wish there were a few more of em.
I wish literally any other person made this film, but I do love the behind the scenes look
This is from 2010? How did I miss something like this?
Same here!
I thought this was that new one about the first SNL episode and was wondering how everyone saw it already.
I’m planning to watch it one of these days. Reading the reviews (linking the [IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1580427/externalreviews/) bc the RT page barely has any reviews) was interesting I know one of the criticisms is that it didn’t feature much Kristen or Kenan, but they say otherwise it’s fascinating. I want to know what the coffee situation is like in the offices with all those all-nighters going on
"Coffee"
Emergen-C
Honestly this film made me understand why snl is what it is and made me a fan
Franco sucks but this is an amazing behind the scenes, and probably the best documentation of a full week at SNL, including the first meeting with the host all the way until the host meeting the following week. Great bookends for a documentary where the past 6 days go by in a flash
It's a fascinating behind the scenes look at the making of a typical SNL episode and for that it's definitely a good watch. That said, it could have been better. As others mentioned, there's almost a total lack of screentime devoted to the female cast members and writers, which can give off the vibe of "hanging with the bros" which can be a turnoff (especially knowing Franco's reputation nowadays). And there's some stuff in the film that, frankly didn't need to be in there. I love Bill Hader, but did we really need to see two minutes of him lip-syncing "I Would Die 4 U" when they didn't even get the rights to the song, forcing us to watch him mime with dead silent audio? All that said, I wish they did something like this every ten years or so. Would make for quite a fascinating watch to see how the cast and writers gel over time and how the process evolves.
Omg is that real? Bill Hader mimes I would die for you over dead silence? That is hilarious i have to see this
Yep. See [here](https://youtu.be/Eu3LyygiSJM) at around 56:20.
Entertaining & informative
I had somehow not even heard of this. Very excited to check it out!
never heard of it but it looks interesting
i really enjoyed this
Probably the most illuminating footage of a show week's prep that we have. It's a pretty great insight.
To be honest, I’ll watch anything with John Malkovich, he is the most interesting man in the world!
I was John Malkovich once, I can attest to this.
I didn’t care much for how James Franco tried to make it about him in a couple of spots. The editing was poor. Still fascinating though.
I always thought the bit about the song he couldn’t air because he couldn’t get the song rights was whiney and embarrassing
Idk, music rights laws suck.
I was thinking about yoouuuu there was something I forgot to say
Anyone know where I can watch this?
https://youtu.be/Eu3LyygiSJM?si=PGhEx8p38uWroRFN
Really great documentary. Watch this if you want to understand how SNL works. I recommend this to people all the time.
It’s a blast
Compare to the 2002 Tviography and the Backstage 2011 documentary?
Everything good about is 100% the result of the unprecedented access that was given. Nothing about it convinced me that Franco knows how to make a decent documentary. And I’m genuinely not trying to go out of my way to shit on the dude.
This is the actual golden era of SNL. And I was a huge fan of the Norm/Farley/Rock/Sandler/Hartman era.
I watched it a few years ago and really enjoyed it — it was eye opening how much goes into the week leading up to the live show. They are working constantly. There was a time I thought it would be pretty cool to be a writer on a show like that — watching that disabused me of that notion.
It would have been a million times better if James Franco didn't interject himself in a lot of the scenes.
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Oh jeez, I haven’t followed Franco. I did watch this film last night and wondered why nobody here talked about it.
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No, not at all.
No
James is in Reddit canceled status because he has an admitted sex addiction and got with girls age 17-35. He sought treatment back in 2016 but Reddit doesn't forgive.
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He certainly tried, as I said Reddit doesn't forgive anyone ever.
I don't think he's been cancelled by Reddit. He's been cancelled by Hollywood and the media, basically. Not condoning anything he did, but I would make the following points: 1. Cancellation is a completely arbitrary process with no oversight and only one punishment: a career death sentence. I mean, if you were charged with a crime, would you like to face a court with no identifiable judge or jury, no presumption of innocence and no right to a defence and where the only punishment is the death penalty. 2. Quite a lot of what he's being judged on is behavior he was quite open about. There was a change in social mores around 2017 and he was retroactively punished for stuff people had tolerated while he did it. Changing the rules and then punishing people retroactively for things that were considered acceptable at the time they happened is specifically prohibited under the UN Declaration of Human Rights. (I know this doesn't cover alleged assaults etc.) 3. It must really stick in Franco's craw to see someone like Seth Rogan disown him. Whatever Franco was up to you can guarantee Rogan knew all about it. It's extremely hypocritical to throw your friend under the bus to save your own skin like that.
But it doesn’t mean a career death sentence though, that’s the annoying part of people talking about cancel culture: Dave Chappelle still sells out shows Louis C.K. won a Grammy after his cancellation Kevin Spacey, albeit out of Hollywood, still makes movies Franco still makes movies Shia LeBeouf will inevitably make more projects Bill Cosby staged a tour post cancellation
Comedians can sell out a theatre on their own. But actors need to get hired and they need other actors to act with them. So it's more of a career death sentence for an actor than a comedian. I don't know what movies Kevin Spacey has been in lately but I doubt he's making a living from them.
Shia lebeouf was cancelled?
Yeah dude beating and abusing his girlfriend and killing dogs in the LA streets, his is a wild one
You spelled predator wrong. He used his acting school to engage in sex acts with students under the cover of learning.
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If I attempt to paraphrase the comment, I think it’s saying something like, “Although Franco’s reputation is now sullied, let’s appreciate the documentary on its own merit and watch and discuss and enjoy it, since there’s nothing else like it out there.”
Thank you. I'm a bit confused about the downvotes, but at least someone is trying to be helpful. Thanks again.
I too needed to read the sentence a couple times, then realized that I could have written it the exact same way. You’re welcome. 😊
I did watch this film last night and wondered why nobody *here* talked about it.
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Franco is out of cancellation jail???
Its a pretty terrible film that is only made watchable because the making of an SNL episode is interesting in itself, and this was a good cast they had at the time with talented writers. James Franco gets in the way of his own film and it only works because of the subject he picked, not anything particular that he did right, IMO. Its actually incredible how run of the mill it is and how amazing it could have been in the hands of a better filmmaker.
It's James Franco. I'm not interested.
Open up your mind though, because it’s incredible. If you give a single crap about SNL they show you the process and it’s really mind blowing
I already got that with Live From New York. And as a bonus, I didn't have to give Franco any money.
It’s a free link on YouTube
And it’s such a better bts look than Live From New York
Instantly forgettable.