Live From New York!

2015

List

50%

48 Reviews

Tomatometer

63%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

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Critics Consensus

Light on detail and insight, Live from New York! offers little that SNL fans haven't seen in any of the show's various retrospective specials.

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Audience Member

I thought this was a very nice exploration of the cultural influence of Saturday Night Live and it did a good job of covering everything pretty succinctly. It mainly focused on the straight-up history of the show, which was nice, but it generally just went year to year pretty shallow-ly. I was disappointed by the amount of cast members and writers returning for interviews - so generally I think I liked James Franco's peek behind the curtain a little better, even though it was also pretty limited in scope. Just to much toast to spread the butter of SNL over - stretched too thin for me in this one.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

As many of the more negative reviews have noted, Live From New York! just does not have the run time (or maybe balls) to get as deep into the murky depths that SNL has offered. It certainly touches on the dizzying heights we've seen the show achieve, but as a celebratory film, it can only tap dance around SNL's more controversial aspects with an "We din'nt know it was wrong at the time!" excuse.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

I thought this was pretty decent, not outstanding, but it was interesting and the great memories definitely made it worthwhile.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

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a z

A nice basic retrospective.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There's some wonderful people talking about interesting stuff here (the political and social impact of this show on the world), but forty years is much too long a time to cover in one movie. On top of that, all of what this film covers has already been explored in the umpteen other SNL docs that have filled up VH1 and E! over the years. Not terrible but definitely not needed or even that good.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Really interesting! Great to see the relationship between SNL and what was and is happening in the world. It will make you laugh and cry.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Bao Nguyen

Director

Dan Aykroyd

Actor

Tom Broecker

Actor

Umberto Lenzi

Actor

Jim Belushi

Actor

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Critics Consensus: Jurassic World Is A Solid Thrill Ride

Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

It isn't just a rehash of the same old stories and clips. It's a stylish and entertaining examination of why it's still on the air, 40 years on - and why we're still talking about it.

May 28, 2016

Full Review

Aisha Harris

Slate

It's refreshing to see a retrospective of the show that's not bogged down by overly detailed timelines and the desire to wax nostalgic.

Nov 17, 2015

Full Review

Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

Nguyen does fine work illustrating how SNL went from the ultimate outsider show to the ultimate institution, stopping along the way to touch briefly on controversies .

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 14, 2015

Full Review

Josh Slater-Williams

Vague Visages

It’s a projection of curiosity disguising actual incuriosity...

Nov 13, 2023

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Michael J. Casey

Boulder Weekly

Still crazy after all these years.

Aug 19, 2019

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Josh Goller

Spectrum Culture

Live from New York! feels completely like a Lorne Michaels vanity project.

Rated: 2.75/5

Jul 20, 2019

Full Review

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Director: Bao Nguyen
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 6, 2020