Fletch's, er, Gaylord's Favored Five: SNL Movie Stars

On Tuesday, guest poster Gaylord dropped by with a delivery: a special version of Favored Five on SNL Movie Stars. He was even kind enough to give an Unfavored Five as well; that post can be seen here. Today, I give you his Favoreds.

For some of Gay's previous work, check out this post.

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Gaylord's Favored Five SNL Movie Stars

5. Bill Murray – Murray is a polarizing character - most people love or hate him and his movies. For me, he sneaks into the Top 5 because of Groundhog Day (and of course the fact 99% of SNL alums suck doesn’t hurt either). I love Groundhog Day; Murray killed that movie, and if you can carry a great flick you’re a decent actor and you’ve got my respect. On top of that, Murray has been relevant since he's left SNL - he had the Ghostbusters series (everyone can agree those were enjoyable flicks), he stayed relevant with a decent villain play in Kingpin, then he acted in nerd sensations Rushmore, and Lost in Translation. Scarlett Johannson’s side boob even got him an Oscar nom in Lost in Translation; after that he voice-acted Garfield…but c’mon, in SNL Alum bad career decisions that’s not even Top 50.

4. Chevy Chase – Ummm...apparently Fletch isn’t just a great web site administrator, it was also the title of a good movie. Yes, Chevy was funny when he said he was 6’9" with the afro and stuff, haha. All right, obviously, sucking up doesn’t suit me - admittedly, the Fletch movies are before my time - I'll give them props 'cause old people seem to like them, but the Vacation movies are timeless. It'll be Christmas Day 2020 and we and all our kids will be laughing with Ralphie Parker and Clark Griswald…that’s a certainty. One of the good things about Chevy is that he hasn’t buried everything he worked for under a desperate desire to stay relevant (see Murphy, Eddie) - even his last stab at fame (Vegas Vacation) was pretty good.

3. Adam Sandler – Sandler really isn’t that great of an actor, and really was always a beneficiary of his likability while the audience was laughing AT him (he wrote himself roles in Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and even The Waterboy). Like most lovable actors (see Carrey, Jim), he wasn’t satisfied making his fans happy and tried to be a real actor with disastrous results (Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish, Reign Over Me). After getting laughed out of the drama milieu, Sandler returned to comedy but with a massive ego, where his characters were only Sandler-esque jerks (his character in Chuck and Larry was a ladies’ man who routinely had orgies with Playboy Playmates and ended up “settling” for Jessica Biel, and apparently Zohan is the greatest fighter who’s ever lived?). Nevertheless, Sandler movies always make money, partially because he is coasting on reputation and partially because he is a pretty funny guy (Happy Gilmore will never get old…).

2. Will Ferrell – Ferrell is just really, really good. He has that comedic timing that can’t be taught, and on top of that he’s proven himself a funny guy by writing some of the scripts that have made him famous (Anchorman, Talladega Nights) and no doubt ad-libbing many of his hilarious lines that have made him great. He really hasn’t had a stumble other than playing the same character (happens) and working too often with the “frat pack.” It was kind of funny for a minute when they showed up in each other’s movies (notably when Ferrell was in Wedding Crashers), but how far do you have to go to repay Stiller for the third lead in Zoolander (great flick by the way).

1. Chris Farley – When you leave SNL as the best cast member ever, and you actually live up to the lofty expectations (though admittedly for too short a time), you get the top spot. The guy was the best physical comedian that ever was, and we can all agree Tommy Boy is a masterpiece. Even in Black Sheep and Beverly Hills Ninja, Farley kills me. We all wish the guy hadn’t gone out at the height of his talent, but unfortunately Farley couldn’t give us decades of hilarious comedies. Let us not judge, for we know not what it is like to be fat, insanely talented, and hopelessly wealthy. Perhaps if I was 200 pounds heavier, I’d feel the unquenching desire to party and do enough heroin to split all 4 of Big Brown’s hooves…

Honorable mentions:
Dan Aykroyd - In nearly 30 years on the golden screen, the only true embarrassment was Blues Brothers 2000...Some might claim My Stepmother is an Alien as a misstep, but for the chance to get down with a 1987 Kim Basinger, I’d probably make a flop or two, too.

Mike Myers - He wrote Austin Powers and Wayne’s World...Obviously a funny a guy...Tragically, his idea of being funny lately is putting on a lot of makeup, and his idea of following up a good script is accepting a large bag of cash and recycling the previous script with more makeup and more bodysuits…

Not eligible (appeared in less than 5 SNLs): Ben Stiller, Damon Wayans


Thanks again to Gaylord for his double-duty guest action. If you'd like to contribute a guest post to Blog Cabins, just email me your thoughts on a topic and we'll go from there.