Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

I saw Dracula: Dead and Loving It a LONG time ago. All I really remember about it was that it was kind of funny, but also kind of stupid. Basically a typical Leslie Nielsen movie. I don't think I even knew that it was a Mel Brooks movie back when I saw it.

If you want to see a funny Dracula movie, you should watch Love at First Bite with George Hamilton. That's a very funny movie, and Richard Benjamin steals the movie.

Wild Tales (2014) Relatos salvajes (original title)

Director/Writer: Damián Szifrón
Cast: Darío Grandinetti, María Marull, Mónica Villa
Genre: Dark Comedy, Drama Thriller
Language: Spaish
Length: 122 minutes


Wild Tales...That's a good name for this movie. It's six separate wild tales...wild, as in wildly dark humor and wildly dark drama. If you like the macabre, then this will probably be to your liking.

The film looked great. In the opening tale on an airplane, I noticed that a lot of detail was paid to the art direction. The basic colors where white and aqua with red used as an accent color. This excellent eye for art direction carried though out the entire film. The shot length, the sets, the lighting were all things of beauty.

The actors seemed to be real people and that's a good thing too. I really liked the POV shots done from inside the airplane's overhead luggage compartment or from inside a printer...they added a unique intimacy as we got an impossible shot, which yielded a candid view of the character. The director really did a first rate job with this film.

I liked the 2nd and 6th tales the best. All of the tales were cleverly done with a twist that reminded me of the TV series Tales From the Crypt.

The 2nd tale which took place in a small diner had a secluded feel with just three characters interacting, it was my favorite.

However the third tale of two men engaged in road rage battle, crossed the line into sophomoric range and was overly violent, IMO. Even worse we didn't need to see a close up of a man's bum as he relived himself on the windshield. Had that shot not been done from inside the car looking through the windshield at the man's nether regions, I would have gave this a higher rating. As it was shot, it was just cheap shock for the sake of shocking and that's not good film making.

The tale of the man who had his car towed was pretty straight forward. His frustration at a corrupt bureaucracy that didn't care, is something we all can relate to. The deepest emotional tale was the man who's son had just killed a woman in an hit and run accident, it was poignantly tragic and felt very real.


The tale of the bridezilla was pretty funny and intentionally over the top, that was the funniest tale. But mostly this is not a comedy, it's a well made, but very dark film.




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That's kind of my one criticism of Dracula: DALI. I'm sure many would disagree with me, but I don't see Leslie Nielson as Dracula. He does a fine job in the film and was funny as always, but he just doesn't look like Dracula.
Of course, it's a comedy spoof so it's not supposed to be taken seriously - so I'm sure some would say the fact that he doesn't look like Dracula or Lugosi makes it all the funnier. Besides, none of the people in Young Frankenstein looked like their counterparts from James Whale's Frankenstein (1931).

Still, the movie's probably almost as well done as Young Frankenstein and is very faithful to spoofing the source material. It's another film that's full of great bits. But, of course, much of the appreciation comes from being at least slightly familiar with the film and story its spoofing. It's a great movie in the Mel Brooks' tradition - for if you just want some quick laughs, a great lampoon of a classic, some occasionally suggestive humor, and don't want to think too much!

That explains the character of Dr. Whale/Victor Frankenstein on the TV show "Once Upon a Time".

Hey, I just found out that Dracula: Dead and Loving It was the last film Mel Brooks ever directed. Did it bomb so badly that he quit directing? I see his second to the last was a box office flop,Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

I'm sure Dracula: DALI is funny but I've never been a fan of his movies, which is odd as I've only seen one of them (Young Frankenstein) and I loved it.

I would recommend Spaceballs and History of the World: Part I. IMO, these are his two best movies.

I've heard you talk about Spaceballs, so as it has John Candy I'll watch that one. Maybe the other one, one of these days. I don't generally like screwball comedies unless they have Carol Lombard in them

So, if you've never seen any of his other movies, how can you say you've never been a fan of them. Oh, I get it. Of course you could not be a fan if you've never seen any!

BTW, Brooks plays Dr. Van Helsing in Dracula: DALI (unlike Young Frankenstein where he did not appear.)

P.S. I also love History of the World Part I (there is no Part II, btw.)
Spaceballs I'm mediocre on - although I haven't seen it in decades. It always seemed to be a favorite of the Star Wars Heads (obviously). Maybe NOW is a good time for a re-watch (obviously). I don't want to spoil, but I could watch the Alien scene again - probably the most memorable & funniest scene in the movie.

I feel like I'm doing free-association now, but if you're at all interested in James Whale, check out the movie Gods and Monsters (1998) - it's about his personal life..

Ahh, interesting film, Captain. I watched Gods and Monsters awhile ago. I didn't know that James Whales was so influential in early Hollywood, especially with early Horror films.

I agree. I'm not a fan of the movie Alien, but that scene is hysterical.


I don't know if you watch "Once Upon a Time", but there's a character named Dr. Whale, and his fantasy counterpart is Victor Frankenstein. I never got the connection until you posted that.

Haven't seen the show, but glad I could be of help with the reference!

You should watch it. It's one of the best shows on TV, ever! But you have to watch it from the beginning. You can't just jump in in the middle or you'll never understand what's going on.

I see this and I have to ask you a question. Have you ever seen "My Man Godfrey"? I can honestly say that that movie is my favorite film to come out of the 1930's. There are some great movies from that decade, but there is just something about that one that I can watch continuously without ever getting tired of it.

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I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

Now that is a good film. Forget all that Mel Brooks crap and watch a proper film.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

My Man Godfrey is one of my favorites and when we do a 1930's Top Countdown that film will certainly be on my list. Carol Lombard is one of my all time favorite comediennes along with Jean Arthur, Claudette Colbert and Joan Blondell.

I've seen a number of Carole's movies, but not all and I've yet to watch her in a silent film. The oldest film I've seen of hers was High Voltage (1929) which was an early talkie and a survival film.

Sherlock Jr. (1924)

Director: Buster Keaton
Cast: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton
Genre: Comedy Fantasy
Sound: Silent
Length: 45 minutes

Buster Keaton works in a movie theater running the projector and daydreams of being a famous detective. When his rival slips a stolen watch pawn ticket into Keaton's coat pocket, Buster must clear his name by using his skills as a detective.

Silent films can be fun! At only 45 minutes this is a quick and fun watch! Many of the silent films suffer from poor print quality, but luckily Sherlock Jr looks great on the DVD that was put out by Kino.

Buster Keaton is great! The man could convey so much emotion to us just by a look on his face. I loved the part where he gives a ring to his girl and it's tiny! She's not impressed either but then Keaton takes a magnifying glass out of his pocket so that the ring will look big to his girl...that was funny!

Most of the films brilliance isn't in humor, but in creativity. Shortly into the film Buster who's a film projectionist falls asleep and dreams he's in the film that he's been watching on the screen. That's when Sherlock Jr becomes surrealistic.....as Buster is chased, he quickly goes from the city, to the country, then to the jungle, all done seamlessly. The film is quite a technical feat. There's some crazy stunts including one where a huge amount of water pours onto poor Buster.

Besides being a talented actor, Buster Keaton was a skilled director who took great care in creating this 45 minute long movie. After 91 years, Sherlock Jr is still a treat to watch.

Wow, I didn't realize you thought that highly of Mon Oncle.

I kept Wild Tales on my watchlist on your rec; I'll try to watch it soon.

I like that type of story telling they did in Mon Oncle and I liked the 50s ultra modern look of it. It would have figured high on my list in the Comedy Hof.

Watch! Wild Tales...If I know your taste by now, you would like Wild Tales. I liked it too, with the exception of that one camera shot.

Stripes (1981)

Director: Ivan Reitman
Cast: Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, P.J. Soles, Sean Young, John Candy
Genre: Comedy Action
Length 106 minutes

Synopsis: Two down and out friends, (Bill Murray, Harold Ramis) decide to quit their dead end jobs and enlist in the army. The army turns out not to be as they expected but that won't stop them from having fun and doing things there way. Along the way they meet two MPs (P.J. Soles, Sean Young) who fall for the pair of misfits.

Review: Just looking at the photo of Bill Murray cracks me up! That's from the graduation scene which is one of my favorites....and there's a lot of great scenes: From mud wrestling to the stove scene, to the scene with the Russians and the scenes...this is one of those movies where each scene is a mini movie in itself.


Bill Murray was born to play John Ringer who's uniquely odd and definitely marches to a different beat. He does things his own way, regardless of the consequences, much to the chagrin of his command Sergeant (Warren Oates). Murray's character pairs up well with his reluctant friend, straight man Harold Ramis.

What I thought was cool was seeing all these actors before they become huge. There's Sean Young right before she does Blade Runner and John Larroquette before Night Court, Judge Reinholdt before his memorable role in Fast Times at Ridgemount High....and of course it was great seeing John Candy, who's always funny even in this smaller role. Warren Oates and Joe Flaherty give outright funny performances too.


Stripes is the kind of film that's not so much about the story, as it's about one great scene after another and it's about the characters more than the over all plot. But mostly it's about fun!

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