This list comes to us from our friends at Sidewalk Film Festival — Birmingham’s premier independent film event and one of the best reasons to love this city.
Over the last fifty years, Saturday Night Live has churned out some of the nation’s greatest comedic talents. Along with entertaining us on our television screens, several of them have gone on to hugely successful careers in film — whether SNL spin-offs or not. It’s hard to narrow down, but here are Sidewalk’s Top Ten Movies by SNL Cast Members. Comedies only.
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1. Caddyshack (1980) — Director: Harold Ramis
Caddyshack is up there with Airplane!, Blazing Saddles, and Monty Python & the Holy Grail as the gold standard for what a movie comedy should be. Firing on all cylinders not just with SNL alums Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, but with heavyweight Rodney Dangerfield and TV’s Ted Knight, the film would have been a hit with just one of them. But somehow the stars aligned and one of the most consistently hilarious, outrageous, and fresh comedies of all time was born. Maybe the formula is an elusive gopher and a Kenny Loggins soundtrack?
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2. The Austin Powers Trilogy (1997–2002) — Director: Jay Roach
In a post-Shrek world, we forget how much of a hold Mike Myers had on our culture. Wayne’s World was already huge, spawning a sequel, popularizing catchphrases, and putting Myers on the map. Then came his James Bond spoof — an ultra-sexualized British mod hailing from the free love era of the 1960s, and not to mention his evil, bald archnemesis Dr. Evil. Yeah, baby.
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3. Big Daddy (1999) — Director: Dennis Dugan
You might remember it as the typical Sandman feature: toilet humor, obnoxious yelling, Rob Schneider playing a person of color, etc. — and you’re not wrong. But while including all of those elements, Big Daddy is very much a product of its time, feeling more like a 1990s family comedy than anything else. And somehow, it works.
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4. Wayne’s World (1992) — Director: Penelope Spheeris
Maybe the best example of SNL’s trend of adapting a recurring sketch into a feature-length film. Wayne’s World dealt with rock ‘n’ roll, corporate pressure, and most importantly — partying on. It was too full of references to fully understand on first watch, but that didn’t stop it from being on repeat. Party on, Wayne.
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5. Groundhog Day (1993) — Director: Harold Ramis
Bill Murray, like a handful of successful SNL players, became so huge that we often forget about his time on the show. But without his SNL tenure, we wouldn’t have collaborations like Ghostbusters — honorable mention — and this one, which might have the perfect comedic script. Murray waking up to Sonny & Cher every morning never gets old. It literally never gets old.
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6. Coming to America (1988) — Director: John Landis
More than anything, this film exemplifies what made Eddie Murphy great. If you’re ever in a funk, just pull up the barbershop scenes on YouTube and you’ll be back to feeling like yourself. The fish-out-of-water concept is ripe for laughs, and Murphy and Arsenio Hall battle to steal the show from each other in every single shared scene.
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7. The Blues Brothers (1980) — Director: John Landis
This may have been the first SNL-adjacent film that a whole generation became aware of — and for many, the introduction came through Drake & Josh rather than the original. But watching it in full quickly makes it a favorite. A great comedy for comedy fans, a great musical for the most ardent musical hater, and the impeccable chemistry of Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi makes it one for the ages.
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8. Mean Girls (2004) — Director: Mark Waters
Some artists have the talent to truly capture a moment in culture — and that’s exactly what Tina Fey did with Mean Girls. Her screenplay about the new girl trying to fit in with the popular clique continues to ring true for each new generation while remaining one of the most memorable and quotable films of the 2000s. It even spawned its own Broadway musical — with its own film adaptation — but Mark Waters’ original remains a bonafide classic. So fetch.
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9. Anchorman (2004) — Director: Adam McKay
Will Ferrell knocks it out of the park as Ron Burgundy — the hair-obsessed, mustache-sporting egotist who is, in case you hadn’t heard, kind of a big deal. Parodying the 1970s news business with some of the greatest characters and cameos of all time, Anchorman is Ferrell and director McKay — before he got so serious — at their absolute best. Stay classy, Birmingham.
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10. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) — Directors: Akiva Schaffer & Jorma Taccone
The Saturday Night Live movie vehicle is more a relic of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s than it is today. But a new generation got something a little different — The Lonely Island. Cast member Andy Samberg and his team formed the comedy trio, introduced the concept of Digital Shorts, and breathed fresh air into an aging show. Popstar is their full-length feature, and it’s exactly as absurd and lovable as you’d expect.
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A big thank you to Sidewalk Film Festival for this list. Sidewalk is Birmingham’s celebrated independent film festival and one of the city’s cultural crown jewels — keep an eye out for this year’s festival dates. In the meantime, sign up for the About Town email so you never miss what’s happening around the Magic City.
