Jason Sudeikis, a writer and performer on Saturday Night Live for 10 years, confirmed Wednesday what had long been rumored: He will not be back on the show this fall. Sudeikis appeared as a guest Wednesday on The Late Show with David Letterman and told the news to the host, who apparently had not heard the widespread reports of Sudeikis’ departure. “I’m definitely done,” Sudeikis said. “I’m not coming back.” Letterman said: “Do they know that? Have you run that by them?” Sudeikis said he was leaning toward leaving before this last season, but the show’s longtime leader, Lorne Michaels, prevailed on him to return. Sudeikis was the cast member who impersonated Mitt Romney and Michaels knew the show would be putting on numerous sketches last fall tied to the presidential election. Sudeikis was known for many other characters, including the devil on Weekend Update.
New Zealand banned a horror film starring Elijah Wood as a scalp-collecting serial killer from general release after the government deemed it too graphic and disturbing for the public. The Office of Film and Literature Classification’s action means Maniac - a remake of the 1980 slasher film about a killer who scalps his victims - cannot be screened anywhere other than film festivals or as part of academic study. DVDs of the film will not be allowed for sale. The ban was condemned Thursday by the film’s regional distributor and organizers of the New Zealand International Film Festival, which will be screening the movie Saturday. Monster Pictures, distributor of the film for Australia and New Zealand, said suggestions that Maniac minimizes the impact of violence are ridiculous, and called the ban an insult to the intelligence of New Zealanders.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 07/26/2013