There will only ever be one Dan Aykroyd. The writer, Blues Brother, comedian, Ghostbuster, vodka producer, ufologist, is a Canadian national treasure, and has brought his talents to the world in a number of ways. Of course, he became widely known to the American public thanks to his being one of the original cast members of “Saturday Night Live“ when it premiered in 1975. With the release of the movie, “Saturday Night” that chronicles “SNL‘s” first broadcast, one might think that Aykroyd would have some thoughts on the matter. Sure enough, he does.
Aykroyd took to X (formerly Twitter) to tell the world what he thought of the movie. According to him, it was good enough to crack a head over it. This might be a good time to mention Aykroyd owns Crystal Head Vodka. It ties back into the mythology surrounding the crystal skulls and so on. Anyway, the movie was good enough to celebrate with a good old glass or two of his signature brand of vodka.
In his tweet, the former “SNL” cast member heaps praise on director Jason Reitman and the film’s writers, Gil Kenan and Jason Blumenfeld for offering a “perfect window into the creative process at its highest level.” There’s a good deal of emotion in that praise too, considering Aykroyd and Jason have worked together on the most recent 2 “Ghostbusters” films. (Also worth noting Jason’s father, the late Ivan Reitman, directed the original 2 “Ghostbusters” film.)
Aykroyd also praises the accuracy of the film even though it did take a fair degree of liberty in terms of the timeframe of certain events and tying it all together. Dan knows what it’s like to create a film so it’s safe to assume he wasn’t expecting a documentary like recreation of that famous night in 1975. His tweet didn’t mention anything about Dylan O’Brien, who plays young Aykrod in the film.
Dan says the film is a “surefire candidate for Best Picture.” That’s a wonderful sentiment but might be pushing things a bit far. There are some Oscar worthy elements to the film, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Reitman got a nod for Best Director or if Gabriel LaBelle picked up a Best Actor nomination for his performance as show creator, Lorne Michaels. Even Cory Michael Smith could get a nomination for his performance as Chevy Chase.
Regardless of Oscar potential, it’s a strong film. Besides, do awards really matter when you can win the approval of someone who was there when the insanity was unfolding?
“Saturday Night” is currently in theaters. You can read our review here, and watch the trailer below:
