One of the highlights of the April 2 episode of “Saturday Night Live” was the return of Pete Davidson, who had missed a few previous episodes due to a busy film shooting schedule. Luckily, he was in the mood to rap, praising his love for time-efficient cinema in the music video for “Short-Ass Movies.”
The sketch showcases Davidson’s opinion that the long runtimes of films like “The Batman” (2022) and “Heat” (1995) cause bathroom accidents and friends to fall asleep after 20 minutes, while there are many genius works enhanced by their short runtimes.
Perhaps the most fun moments for rap fans were the key collaborators, including the show’s musical guest Gunna (who gave new meaning to his hit song “Pushin P”), Davidson’s fellow cast member Chris Redd, and a welcome return to rap from Dirt Nasty, aka actor Simon Rex. Although Rex revitalized his career in 2021 via a brilliant lead performance in Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket,” he has a lengthy side gig as the woefully underrated party rapper Dirt Nasty. Rex’s smooth ode to the short runtimes of Jim Varney’s “Ernest” series served as a welcome return to fans — and likely a head-scratcher to the uninitiated.
Davidson’s acknowledgement of long runtimes was recently examined by PvNew. In the article, aptly titled, “Why Are Movies So Long Now?” director Jon Turteltaub told PvNew, “No movie is good because it’s long, and no movie is good because it’s short. But I’d rather see a short, shitty movie than a long one.”
Davidson ended the video with a wink at the 137-minute runtime of his semi-autobiographical 2020 film “The King of Staten Island,” which was helmed by Judd Apatow — no stranger to the discussion.
Watch the video below:
