Lorne

Posted on April 16, 2026 at 5:05 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for language and a sexual reference
Profanity:	Very strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	References to drinking and drug use
Violence/ Scariness:	References to sad deaths
Diversity Issues:	Diversity issues raised
Date Released to Theaters:	April 17, 2026

There are three problems in trying to make a documentary about Lorne Michaels, who created and continues to run “Saturday Night Live” (except for five years) now for more than half a century. The first is the many, many documentaries already made about the show and the people who have appeared on it, including Steve Martin, John Belushi, Chris Farley, so this latest one is a small addition to a big jigsaw puzzle. It goes over events that have been thoroughly covered elsewhere, with some new archival material, like Michaels’ brief appearances as a performer himself in Canada when he was in his 20s and from a brief substitute for “SNL” that lasted less than a dozen years.

Second, Lorne Michaels really did not want to have a documentary made about him. As his close friend Paul Simon says to director Morgan Neville in the film, “You’ll capture a guy who is not happy.” So the movie is not about guy who is not happy, but about a guy who isn’t happy to have a cameras on him. Michaels likes his life, his job, and especially his home and family very much and he is, as anyone in that job would have to be, very even-tempered.

Third, because he is so even-tempered, and often downright dull, he is not a dynamic film presence, and because his job is “SNL” that is a gigantic contrast with EVERYONE ELSE on screen. Neville tries to jazz it up a bit with some animated segments, but we have to keep coming back to Michaels, who is not introspective beyond saying how much he loves nature or analytic about what does and does not work in the show (we see him re-arrange the order of the sketches but we don’t know anything about why).

I’ve watched “SNL” since the very first episode and have stuck with it through all of the ups and downs that are documented or in many cases glossed over quickly or ignored entirely in this film. I’m enough of a fan that I enjoyed it, though it is in no way an indispensable or particularly valuable addition to the record. Any serious fan has seen plenty about the early days, the “is ‘SNL’ past its prime” headlines the rocketing unknown-to-megawatt star trajectories (Eddie Murphy) and the “wait, what’s that one’s name again” cast members, plus the firing of Norm MacDonald (here’s a great take with David Letterman).

One benefit of surrounding himself with some of the most brilliant impressionists and comedians in the world is that most of them have a take on Michaels’ slightly stentorian delivery (and on his disappointed sigh). It is a lot of fun to hear so many of them almost subconsciously slip into his voice. And it’s a lot of fun just to hear them talk about him, his quirks (the entire schedule is built around his preferring to start the day at 4 pm and he is constantly munching on popcorn). The best moments are just listening in on a conversation with comedy legends John Mulaney, Bill Hader, and Fred Armisen, or the comments from Conan O’Brien, writer Jim Downey (see the documentary about him), and Paul Simon. Mulaney, hyper-perceptive as always, tells the film’s most illuminating story.

We know, as we watch the archival footage, how many of those people have died. But there’s hardly any sense of how those losses affected him. We hear about the pressure to revitalize the show, but not what steps he took. Instead we hear him fretting about whether host Ryan Gosling has a doctor for his raspy throat. The other documentaries, the books about “SNL,” or any given episode of the show will tell you as much and be more entertaining.

Parents should know that this film has references to drinking and drug use.

Family discussion: What are some of your favorite “SNL” sketches and stars and why?

If you like this, try: the four documentaries celebrating the show’s 50th anniversary, especially the one from Questlove about the music.

MVPs of the Summer

Posted on July 22, 2025 at 8:23 am

I didn’t have Astronomer Carl Sagan, who died almost 30 years ago, on my list of potential movie stars of summer 2025, but here we are. His voice plays an important role in two of my favorite films of the summer, “The Life of Chuck” and “Elio.”

Pedro Pascal is also on the list, with appearances in three major films, as the wealthy suitor for Dakota Johnson in “Materialists,” mayor of a small town in the dark political satire “Eddington,” and Reed Richards, the stretchable Mr. Fantastic in “Fantastic 4.”

Sarah Niles, who played Dr. Sharon in “Ted Lasso,” is also in there of the summer’s biggest films. in “F1” she plays the mother of the race car drive played by Damson Idris, in “Heads of State” she plays an aide to the President played by John Cena, and in “Fantastic 4” she plays a similar role for the title superheroes. It was a pleasure to see her and to hear her impressive facility with accents.

Nell Minow on the References and Inspirations for John Wick 4 on Piecing It Together

Posted on April 3, 2023 at 4:16 pm

Many thanks for including me on the terrific Piecing It Together Podcast to discuss the references and inspirations for “John Wick 4.” Yes, I found a way to bring in Proust, Gene Kelly, and the overlooked “Jupiter Ascending.”

Jen Johan and I Talk about Eve Arden and Judy Greer — The Classic Movie Best Friends

Posted on September 23, 2022 at 12:00 pm

It is always a joy to be a guest on Jen Johan’s wonderful podcast, and it was a special treat to talk to her about the two fabulous actresses who are the ultimate movie Best Friends, the quippy sidekicks who act as confidants and co-conspirators, and sometimes frenemies in movie after movie: Eve Arden and Judy Greer.

Telstar — 60th Anniversary of the Telecommunications Satellite Launched July 10, 1962

Posted on July 10, 2022 at 5:48 pm

From my father, Newton N. Minow, published today on Medium.

“Do you know anything about telecommunications satellites?” It was my first day at the Federal Communications Commission, where I had just been appointed Chairman by President John F. Kennedy. It was 1961 and I was 35 years old. The question came from one of the other Commissioners, T.A.M. Craven, originally a Franklin Roosevelt appointee, then re-named by Eisenhower. Craven had formerly been the Commission’s Chief Engineer.

I admitted I did not know anything about them. He groaned. “This is the one area where we are ahead of the space technology of the Russians,” he said. And he began to tell me that Bell Laboratories had developed a satellite that could be launched into space to bounce signals and open up endless new possibilities for broadcasts and telephones.
In 1961 we were just a few years from having to call the operator to place expensive long-distance calls. There were just two and a half national television commercial broadcast networks and many communities had no local station. Only a few cities had what would become nationwide public television. Today we take it for granted that we can watch world events from royal weddings to the Olympic games to the Oscars in real time, but that was a long way off in 1961. As Commissioner Craven explained to me what the satellite could do, it seemed like something out of Flash Gordon. And yet, we did not imagine a fraction of the changes that launch would bring.

The technology was there. But first, we needed a plan to take it to Congress. The Communications Satellite Act was complicated and controversial. It required coordination with American businesses and the government (we wanted to make sure that no one corporation would have control). Today it might be harder to imagine that we were able to get bi-partisan legislation passed within a year than it is to count up the monumental changes the satellite has brought, but it was one of three major pieces of legislation we got passed to make telecommunications more broadly accessible and expand the choices for viewers between 1961–63.

I am the second from the right at the signing ceremony of the Communications Satellite Act in the Oval Office. See below for a full list of those in the photo.

When he signed the new law, President Kennedy said,

By enacting this legislation, Congress has taken a step of historic importance. It promises significant benefits to our own people and to the entire world. Its purpose is to establish a commercial communications system utilizing space satellites which will serve our needs and those of other countries and contribute to world peace and understanding.
…
The benefits which a satellite system should make possible within a few years will stem largely from a vastly increased capacity to exchange information cheaply and reliably with all parts of the world by telephone, telegraph, radio, and television. The ultimate result will be to encourage and facilitate world trade, education, entertainment, and many kinds of professional, political, and personal discourse which are essential to healthy human relationships and international understanding.

Better and less expensive communications, like better and less expensive transportation, are vital elements in the march of civilization. This legislation will, by advancing the peaceful and productive use of space, help to accelerate that march, and I extend appreciation to the Members of Congress who worked so hard to secure passage of a very effective piece of legislation.

The satellite was launched on July 10, 1962, 60 years ago today, the world’s first commercial payload of any kind in space. According to NASA, “Two days later, it relayed the world’s first transatlantic television signal, from Andover Earth Station, Maine, to the Pleumeur-Bodou Telecom Center, Brittany, France…. The first images, those of President John F. Kennedy and of singer Yves Montand from France, along with clips of sporting events, images of the American flag waving in the breeze and a still image of Mount Rushmore, were precursors of the global communications that today are mostly taken for granted.”

Last month, my family was in Europe, where they were able to use GPS to get around, send me photos by email and text, watch the January 6 hearing live on CNN, and call me for nominal cost, all made possible by telecommunications satellites that began with Telstar.

President Kennedy promised that America would put a man on the moon. I told him the telecommunication satellite was even more important because the satellite will launch ideas, and ideas last longer than people.

Souvenir of the launch

In the Oval Office photo: President John F. Kennedy hands a pen to Representative Samuel N. Friedel of Maryland during a signing ceremony for HR 11040, the Communications Satellite Act of 1962. (L-R) Senator Everett Dirksen of Illinois; Representative J. Arthur Younger of California (turned away from camera); Representative John B. Bennett of Michigan; Representative Friedel (front, glasses); Representative Oren Harris of Arkansas (mostly hidden behind hand); Senator Warren G. Magnuson of Washington; Speaker of the House of Representatives John W. McCormack; Senator Robert S. Kerr of Oklahoma; Senator Richard B. Russell of Georgia; Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota; Senator John Sparkman of Alabama; Joseph A. Beirne, Vice President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); Representative William L. Springer of Illinois; unidentified (partially hidden behind Representative Springer); Senator John O. Pastore of Rhode Island; Newton Minow, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC); Executive Secretary of National Aeronautics and Space Council Edward C. Welsh. Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C