Netflix isn’t big on fan service these days (A $16 standard plan? Charging a fee for sharing passwords?), but thanks to Pete Davidson, the streamer has done one thing right. After the comedian took to Saturday Night Live to bemoan the epic-length movies dominating the industry today, Netflix made Davidson’s dreams of a “Short-Ass Movies” section a reality.
“These days, when I sit down to watch a movie, I can find just about anything in the world,” Davidson says to open his musical sketch. “But night after night, there’s only one kind of movie I’m always looking for, and that’s a short ass movie.” The comedian then goes into a rap with Chris Redd about how his short attention span requires a film that’s “like, at most, an hour-forty,” and even starts listing examples.
Naturally, musical guest Gunna appears in the rap, where he delivers the wonderful line, “I’m not pushin P unless it’s under two hours/ Like Lion King or Bad Moms or all three Austin Powers.” Later, Simon Rex — AKA Dirt Nasty — appears as well, where he suggests all nine of the Ernest P. Worrell films for a quick watch. The song culminates in a spoken-word bridge, where, after talking shit, Dirt Nasty asks Davidson how long his film The King of Staten Island was. “Oh, it was, uh … two hours and 17 minutes,” Davidson stammers. “But we needed all those minutes.”
Inspired by the sketch, Netflix compiled a selection of 90-minute movies and made a “Short-Ass Movies” section for real. When SNL tweeted a video of the clip, the Netflix Is A Joke account tweeted a link to the section in response, adding, “good idea.” Zoolander, Lady Bird, and Stand By Me top the list, which is a pretty good argument for bringing the short-ass movie back. Check out the video and the tweet below, and say your prayers that this bit of marketing lasts longer than the grade-A shows the platform cancels for no reason.
After admitting last year that he has no idea what an NFT is, “Short-Ass Movies” is only Davidson’s latest SNL rap parody to cement him as a man of the people (but not Britney Spears, apparently). As for Netflix, if you’re not in a movie mood, check out our ranking of the platform’s 100 best original series.
good idea https://t.co/PIIix3MZUK https://t.co/lyJmpuGBko
— Netflix Is A Joke (@NetflixIsAJoke) April 4, 2022