Day 113 - Random Actor Tuesday: Dan Aykroyd

Day 113.

Now, I know what you're thinking--Dan Aykroyd isn't in Julie & Julia! Somebody would've noticed! He has a distinctive look and noticeable mannerisms! How the hell does a ghostbuster fit in Nora Ephron-universe? And it is for these reasons that I had to double-take when I saw Mr Aykroyd's name listed on Julie & Julia's IMDB page as part of the uncredited cast, playing himself.

Uhhhwwwwhhaaaaaa?!?!?

I was bamboozled to say the least. I had seen this movie 112 times and somehow I had missed a Dan Aykroyd cameo, and one where he played himself nonetheless. If it wasn't obvious before, I love meta-shit. You know, actors playing themselves and so on and so forth... so I was pretty riled up that someone obviously had screwed up on imdb, for surely I, a self-proclaimed expert on this film could not overlook the presence of such a famous actor. But then I watched the movie again.

*FACEPALM*

OF COURSE! DUH! The Julia Child SNL Skit!!! I am truly ashamed to call myself a Julie & Julia blogger (in more than just one way). But seriously, I totally forgot that Dan Aykroyd pretty much has to carry this 2-minute scene where Julie and Eric watch his JC impression and guffaw away at his antics. It's rather obnoxious and somewhat unnecessary.

Just like these guys.

But I have to admit, the sketch is pretty funny (the first time, at least... not so much, the 113th).

It just seems like too much of a thematic coincidence that Julie and Eric would sit down and watch it for kicks or something, you know? I mean, I get that Julie is obsessed with Julia. And maybe she did have the sketch on tape or maybe she owns SNL's The Best of Dan Aykroyd on DVD. All I'm saying is that if Julie & Julia wants us to believe this is some sort of divine coincidence--that the Julia Child sketch just happens to be on TV (when it originally aired on December, 9th, 1978)--I'm not buying it. I'm pretty sure most channels don't rerun episodes of SNL's 4th season.

Also, this is a MOVIE!! Isn't something supposed to be happening?!?!? Why the fuck am I wasting time watching some married couple watching TV?!? I could do that at home!! (My dad really likes Drake & Josh)

I get that the SNL-watching leads to Julie falling asleep at the TV, which leads to her burning her boeuf bourguignon, which is some sort of major plot point, apparently. But then she just remakes the dish and everything is fine. Seriously.  

WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS MOVIE!!?!?!!

Dan Aykroyd doesn't know either.

Plus, something else that irks me--the laughs that this scene gets from audiences--they aren't Julie & Julia's laughs! They're SNL/Dan Aykroyd's! Nora Ephron is just stealing someone else's jokes and literally playing them in her own movie for comedic payoff. That'd be like if I made a movie of just me watching "Charlie Bit My Finger" and "Bed Intruder" while I laughed along with it, and I expected the audiences to just lap it up because those videos are hilarious. It's lazy filmmaking at best, but really it's blatant plagiarism and comedic theft.

Fuck you, Nora Ephron. Write your own goddamn jokes.

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Julie & Julia Quote of the Day: "I'm Julia Child. And today we're going to make a holiday feast, or les fêtes d'holiday."