SNL finally got around to killing Nicole Kidman’s AMC ad
Somehow, heartbreak feels bad in a place like this
Aux News Nicole Kidman
It was a wild year for AMC’s beloved Nicole Kidman ad. Playing before nearly every movie at AMC Theatres since September last year, Nicole Kidman’s “somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this” ad has become a year-long exercise in communal irony. It’s a rare example of society taking the piss out of cynical corporate pleas for patronage by taking the ad very seriously. Kidman’s shiny pinstripe suit, inexplicable inclusion of Jurassic World as an example of enjoyable moviegoing, and her trickster grin rattling off word salad have become bumper stickers, t-shirts, and internet memes about how theatergoers pay tribute to the God of movies: Nicole Kidman. Now, after a full calendar year of jokes about the ad, Saturday Night Live finally got around to making the jokes that people on Twitter have been pushing for months.
In its season 45 premiere, SNL sends cast member Chloe Feinman “down unda” with a thick Australian accent in a faithful recreation of the AMC spot, with Feinman exaggerating Kidman’s reaction to every bit of the ridiculous advertising copy. As Kidman nears the end of her speech, fellow theatergoers begin to salute the screen, chanting, “heartbreak feels good in a place like this.” Kidman’s power grows as the chants commence, and she is imbued with the power of a Marvel second act twist, levitating above her seat and attracting lightning bolts to her shiny suit, announcing her ability to “make movies better.”
Unfortunately for everyone who enjoyed the ad at AMC theatres, SNL is where memes go to die—a sign of their overexposure while slapping it with a definitive “take” that millions more will see. That take for much of the sketch is that Kidman has a funny accent, while the rest more or less lines up with a hyperbolic version of how regular folks reacted to the commercial—saluting, cheering, and treating Kidman with reverence.
We already know that AMC has commissioned a sequel to their beloved pre-roll bumper, which will undoubtedly feature even more nonsensical statements about the magic of movies. So after that, the only thing left will be for Nicole Kidman to pick the bones of her viral success by appearing on SNL, playing opposite Chloe Feinman, as they shoot lightning bolts out of their fingers and argue which heroes feel like the best parts of us—because here, they are.
Correction: This article has been updated to correct an error.
[via Indiewire]
59 Comments
“Chloe Feinbaum”Really?
thank you sir This article is very information and I share this article
I mean, everyone knows it’s Fonebone
cast-member —> cast memberChloe Feinbaum —> Chloe Fineman (I don’t even watch SNL and I knew this was wrong)down unda’ —> what the fuckdecrying her ability to “make movies better.” —> not what “decrying” meanstheaters / theatres —> pick oneSNL is where memes go to die, a sign of their overexposure while slapping it —> not how language works
Fun fact: according to Linkedin, Schimkowitz has a bachelors in English from Rutgers and was in the Honors English program. I like to imagine that (Bright Lights, Big City-style) an addiction to cocaine has led him to offer some of the most incomprehensibly mistake-ridden articles that this site has ever offered, despite the AV Club hosting some truly horrible writing in the past decade.
I ascribe every mistake in an AV Club article to the writer having to put their phone down when some frikken *tourist* comes in an asks for ‘a coffee’, necessitating the writer rolling their eyes and walking them through the coffee *experience*.
Similar, but I ascribe it to someone knocking on the shitter door and them breaking their concentration when they have to shout “HEY! OCCUPADO!”
Jesus fucking Christ
Listen buddy, its easy to critisize, but I bet your just jealuos you don’t have a supposably sweet job righting about Nicola Kidmin for GMC Theatres. Irregardless, you could of been more tongue and cheek about it.
I mean… Rutgers. Honors English is probably learning how to spell beer brands so whoever is doing the quick mart run for the day won’t be confused.
I have to keep asking why we’re blaming the writers when management won’t spring for a copy editor?
I wonder if English programs teach prospective writers to rely on editors, which G/O Media clearly doesn’t employ.
Thanks, bud!
You’re still spelling Chloe Fineman’s name wrongSNL sends cast member Chloe Feinman “down unda”C’mon, man
They corrected “Feinbaum” to “Feinman,” which is… still not right.
We just makin’ names up now? All right, cool.“I loved Edgar Murtry in Beverly Hills Cop.”
Actually, no, they don’t get to pick one; it’s theaters. Theatres is the other one.
Fuckin’ still…
The idea of SNL “killing” anything is by far the biggest error
down unda’ —> what the fuckI’m gonna give them a little credit on this one and assume that this is an attempt at phonetically mimicking an Australian accent in print.
Sure, but there’s no reason for an apostrophe
It’s an… Australian apostrophe.You don’t wanna mess with them, mate. Take your eyebrows off.
There were a lot of problems with those terrible, annoying ads I was forced to watch for an experience I had already purchased and therefore didn’t need to be sold. But, I found it particularly vexing that Nicole Kidman (or is it Keidbaum?) was extolling the virtues of seeing movies together and yet was the only one in the theater.
I actually did like the ad, but maybe playing it for one month would have been enough. It did provide a quick chance for a post trailers bathroom break though, so there’s that. I don’t know how SNL missed the chance to have Tom Cruise movies playing, and she storms out of the theater.
They missed the only joke that matters, and it’s that I just watched 20 friggin minutes of trailers, and would like the movie to start already!
I actually don’t mind the trailers themselves. It is the now additional product commercials and ads about the theaters themselves that tick me off, often stretching that wait to half an hour.
I love my local theater. They only have one show on one screen a day (or two on Sat/Sun), always have either a brand new release or maybe a week old release, show maybe 1 preview and no ads before a movie, and it only costs $7 ($5 on the weekend matinees).
I would love a theater like that in NYC. We used to have a $3 one in Manhattan, similar to yours but the movies were a little older when they showed them (maybe a month old). They’ve been closed since 2001, and I still miss them.
I don’t think I’ll ever understand why this blog is so obsessed with SNL.
because people click on the articles?
Feinman… Try again…
Fein . . . maaannn . . .
My wife and I saw this bit on Youtube today and were wondering if it was making fun of a real thing. Who sees ads anymore?
People who go to movies — which, okay, fair.
Maybe at that theater. No ads at the theater here.
Well yes, it’s only at AMC theaters
So not people who go to movies. People who go to AMC theaters.
Yes, it is a subcategory of the one I originally offered up, thank you for the correction!
I mean, the internet already beat SNL to it months ago:NSFW.
Who in the world fucks like that?
I-a see-a you-a don’t-a make-a love like-a the-a Eetalee-an-ohs do!
No wonder they lost the war.
I feel compelled to state that the vitriol directed toward the writers on this site is pretty fucking awful. They are (((literally))) employed by a fucking hedge fund company whose business model is generating clicks, content be damned. Put yourself in the shoes of a professional writer who has to write for these bastards. Why are you hating on them? How, if you were employed by G/O Media, would your truth-telling takes get past an editorial board that gives no fucks for your talent or integrity? Please tell me, because the arrogance is killin’ me and the misdirected hate is pissing on my grave.
Uh, they fired all the professional writers. This is what’s left and it’s f’ing terrible.
“In its season 45 premiere, SNL sends cast member Chloe Feinman ‘down unda’…”Not to pile on, but it’s the 48th season premiere.
I mean, it has Chloe Fineman, Lightning God power and reaction shots of Kenan looking confused and annoyed so I’m an easy mark.
I got AMC A-list for 3 months to watch all the summer movies and I got real tired of seeing that same promo 1-3 times a week. For the love of god record an alternate version, or maybe you don’t need to insert an ad for your movie theater, that I am already at, watching a movie.
As someone who does not live in an area with AMC theaters, the trajectory of this ad/meme has been like staring into an alternate universe. People on podcasts I listen to talk about it like it’s the funniest shit in the world and tell stories about people cheering for it in movie theaters and I’m just like “really?”
I don’t pay any attention to sports, so those memes don’t mean anything to me either. Unless the athlete has been in a commercial, or broken into the mainstream enough to host SNL or something, I rarely even know who they are, so I get where you’re coming from. Still, I do know that I’m in the minority, and that it’s not an alternate universe.
Yeah no idea what the ad is like since I’m a non American. Assuming it’s something like the John Boyega one we get at VUE cinemas .
Doesn’t “Always Sunny” hold the copyright on the super-accent-on-Aussie-actor gag?
The biggest problem I had with that ad is how idiotic the marketing team must have been to create it, talk about targeting the WRONG audience… it’s an ad to get people to go to the movies, only shown at movie theatres, where the people are already at the movies. Those people don’t need to see that ad, people streaming content are the ones that need to see the ad. People watching TV need to see that ad. People that have already bought the tickets for the movie don’t need to see an ad about them needing to go to the movies. The entire marketing department should have been let go for that idiocy, from the executive team all the way down to the sales intern.
The name is still wrong, even after “correcting” it: it’s Fineman not Feinman.You’re telling me this woman is 34 years old? That’s nuts.
I only go to Alamo so I’ve never seen the AMC ad and had zero idea what they were making fun of. Didn’t even get that it was supposed to be Kidman. It was weird for me.
I’ve seen that ad a few times, I find it super cringy…
I kinda liked the Nicole Kidman AMC commercial.
All the pointing out of the errors in this piece aside, it is not talked about nearly enough how Chloe Fineman and her parents are very into scientology.