It’s been almost two months since the theatrical release of There Will Be Blood, and we’ve all heard enough "milkshake" jokes to make even the most hardcore of Daniel Day-Lewis (or Kelis) fans want to bang his or her head against the wall. But right when I was ready to file away the incredibly over-quoted “I drink your milkshake!” line (along with Brokeback’s “I wish I could quit you,” Titanic’s “I’m the king of the world!” and “This is pretty good watermelon” — ten points to whoever can name where that one’s from), Saturday Night Live had to air a brilliant sketch parodying the Oscar-nominated film and its infamous line.
The writing of the skit, however, isn’t what makes it insanely entertaining, as the script mostly borrows its lines from the film. The genius behind it is under-appreciated cast member Bill Hader, who delivers an uncanny impersonation of DDL’s Daniel Plainview (and, of course, I have to give props to Amy Poehler for her silent, semi-creepy portrayal of H.W.). Seriously, you could sub Hader into any scene from the film, and it would be difficult to tell the difference between him and the Oscar-winning actor. (Plus, it would be a good addition to grandpa’s grandchildren-infused movies — available at the store!)
Tell me, PopWatchers, do you want to see more from Bill Hader? And while we’re on the subject, what SNL celebrity impersonation do you prefer to the real deal (I, for one, would watch Fred Armisen’s Gene Simmons over the disturbing Kiss frontman and Family Jewels star any day)?
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Is the Watermelon line from Weird Al’s magnum opus “UHF”?!
Do I get the points!?!?
good call on Fred’s Gene – it is Ca-Reepy!
I was giggling all day Sunday at Bill’s “I’ve abandoned my boy… oh, there you are” – he is the best guy on SNL now, his italian talkshow host is always worth youtubing (with Fred as the stage director eating pasta during the show).
A few years back ago, SNL did a parody of the star wars special editions and did an “auditions outtakes” special. They had Kevin Spacey pretend to be Christopher Walken (auditioning for the role of Han Solo). Much as I love Christopher Walken, Spacey’s impersonation of him stands as one of the funniest skits I’ve ever seen on SNL (“cowbell”, which featured the real Christopher Walken is a close #2).
Oh and Ms. Ward, I think you meant “real deal” not “read deal”.
Yep Tim, I believe you get the points.
Also, I agree with every word of this review. The “I drink your milkshake” IS played out, but Hader’s impression was so brilliant that it just didn’t matter. (Amy Poehler was also brilliant without saying a single thing).
I definitely want to see more of Hader, because he’s taken over Darrell Hammond’s title for doing the best impressions on the show (with Dick Cheney soon to leave office, I suspect they only keep Hammond around to impersonate Donald Trump and Chris Matthews.)
As for impersonations I prefer over the real people, I’d go with Hammond’s Trump and Hader’s Al Pacino and Vincent Price, which is just delightfully random. I saw Hader on Letterman one time, and he told the story about how when he auditioned for SNL with his Vincent Price impersonation, Lorne Michaels asked him something like “But why now?”
Awww, I still haven’t seen “There Will Be Blood.” It just hasn’t played anywhere convenient for me.
Bill Hader is a genius at impersonating. His Peter O’Toole was freaking hilarious.
I don’t think I will see TWBB because Daniel looks SO MUCH like a former boss of mine, that’s all that I will be thinking about. But it was a great return episode, and remember, “B!+&#@$ get things done!” That needs to be on a t-shirt!
Hader is underrated and under utilized.
His impression of the JonBenet Ramsay “killer” was dead on hilarious.
ep sato – i thought i was the only one who remembers that sketch! i loved it! i also liked darryl hammond as richard dryfus auditioning for c3p0!
I gotta say, watching Maya Rudolph’s Oprah Winfrey is leaps and bounds preferable to watching the real one.
Hader is fabulous – wish we can see more of him on SNL.
I said pretty much the same thing about Bill Hader’s DDL: he could have received the Oscar on Sunday night and nobody would have known the difference!
He is currently my fav SNL cast member and the greatest impressionist they’ve had in a loooooooong time. Al Pacino checks his bank balance anyone? His Peter O’Toole is another favorite of mine. Every time I see or hear about Peter O’Toole, I think “I’m Peter O’Toole, legendary drunk.”
Agreed – writing was “meh”, but that DDL impression, dear lord…
hader was on conan last week and he told a story from superbad. his impressions of rogen and mclovin were so on mark it freaked me out a little. this guy is crazy talented.
ugh. i hated this sketch. I though hader’s impression was fantastic, but the whole thing was just stupid. bad writing on that one.
i remember kristen wiigs first couple of shows. in one of them she did a spot on judy garland impression. I think it was a vincent price sketch. but i remmeber that impression. it was awesome. I think kristen is very underrated on the show.
But the best impression on the show is Hammond’s Geraldo Rivera. The guy is great at everything including his trump and chris matthews too.
Maya’s oprah is always hilarious too.
Hader’s Vincent Price is spot-on. And even though it’s not a cast impersonation, Kate Hudson as Drew Barrymore was accurate and hilarious.
Brilliant? Really? Wow…Bill Hader is funny. That sketch, however, was atrocious. And good impressions do not a chuckle-fest make. An impressionist without a joke is no better than a boring parrot. Barely even a hint of comedy. Is this the same reason Diablo Cody won an Oscar for a poorly written script that had the good fortune of a capable cast and director who made it rise above its clearly lacking foundation?
I love it when they do smart humor on the show – you can tell when the women write. The impersonations are terrific and dead-on halarious. Still miss Tina Fey much – nice to see her back this past week.
I love it when they do smart humor on the show – you can tell when the women write. The impersonations are terrific and dead-on halarious. Still miss Tina Fey much – nice to see her back this past week.
I’ve yet to see there will be blood, but i know all about it from ew and the internet, but joe blow watching snl sat night had NO IDEA what was going on in that sketch….and even though I did, it was not funny. i bet this sketch barely made the author crack a smile
wasn’t funny. was cheap and not smart on the writers part. waste of airtime
The “I drink your milkshake!!” line is only hilarious to the people who was the movie or at least the clip. Fortunately, I’ve seen the movie and I can’t get enough of the milkshake humor! XDD That was a great skit!
The “I drink your milkshake!!” line is only hilarious to the people who saw the movie or at least the clip. Fortunately, I’ve seen the movie and I can’t get enough of the milkshake humor! XDD That was a great skit!
Haven’t seen the movie but of course know all about the “milkshake” line. How could you not? Thought the sketch was great! Old man to Bill Hader about Anton Chigurh, “Could you tell your wife to stop bothering me.” Hysterical.
Hands down my preferred SNL impersonation is Will Ferrell’s Janet Reno. Janet Reno’s Dance Party! “Play that song again” and My Sharona starts blaring. Nice.
Bill Hader is totally underrated…even though I haven’t liked most of SNL lately, some of the better skits have him and/or Kristen Wiig in them. (Love them both!!!)
I really don’t like Maya Rudolph, but her Whitney Houston is 80,000x better than the real Houston….
more from Bill Hader!
(I thought the sketch was hi-larious, even though I haven’t seen the movie, I know what it’s about….) LOVED IT!
“I’VE ABANDONED MY CHILD! I’VE ABANDONED MY BOY! Oh, there you are.”
Best line.
Will Forte is also cool when he’s underplaying like that – I like him enough sometimes, but Hader is AWESOME!!!!!!!
And Amy Poehler is great too!! She has some hits and misses, but when she’s on, she’s awesome! And she was especialllllly creepy here. Loved it.
The skit goes on far too long and tries to get its laughs from a too obvious reading of the line. That said Hader’s impression is wickedly funny and dead on-the-money, as is Poehler’s.
ECJB, Kudos for Janet Reno Dance party. Agreed that Will Farrell was more fun than the real deal. Except for that one episode where Janet Reno cameo’d. That was pretty cute.
That sketch was a riot!!! I loved it!
Bill Hader is fantastic. You haven’t lived til you’ve heard his Al Pacino. Even when he is doing the “everyman” thing, he is at the top of his game. Give him more!!!
Fred Armisen’s Prince and Maya Rudolph’s Donatella Versace are great. The Star Wars auditions skit was awesome, and the Vincent Price specials featured a bevy of hilarious celebrity impressions!