VHS comedy era comedy Hall of fame III (1977-1989)

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Parenthood


"You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster. Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride! I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it."

Parenthood has a lot of funny moments and a couple really good laughs. It's a dramedy with an emphasis on comedy. A lot of the situations in Parenthood are relatable to my own family which is probably why I find it so funny. I'm not really a huge fan of Ron Howard films but he deserves a lot of credit for this one. He's juggling a few different storylines and he handles it well. He does focus a bit more on Gil (Steve Martin) and Helen (Dianne Wiest) than Larry (Tom Hulce) and Susan (Harley Jane Kozak) but that's okay because their stories (Gil and Helen), I think, are more common/relatable....interesting. Gil is the family man (married, father of three) who has one child that has some emotional problems and Helen is a single mom raising two teenagers who don't seem to need mom, but really do. This is a much more under control Martin than he is in The Jerk or Dirty Rotten. For the most part he plays it straight, except for maybe one scene. Helen is my favorite character by far. She has the movies best/funniest lines and they're usually uttered out of anger or frustration. Dianne Wiest is absolutely fantastic as the single mom doing her best.

Parenthood does brush up against some more serious topics but never dwells on them for too long. I guess you could say these topics are kind of brushed off or dealt with kid gloves but that's fine. If I want to watch a depressing movie about the horrors of family life, there's plenty of them out there.



Parenthood
Parenthood has a lot of funny moments and a couple really good laughs. It's a dramedy with an emphasis on comedy. A lot of the situations in Parenthood are relatable to my own family which is probably why I find it so funny...
I just gotta ask, which situations could relate to your own family?....For myself I'm surprised I didn't really see any family/parenthood truths in the movie. It's like Ron Howard hit all the required comedy-movie making marks but forgot to put any soul into his characters. To me Parenthood felt like Ron Howard's attempt at Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters, only Parenthood had none of the biting truths and clever insights into family dynamics that Hannah and Her Sisters had.



The Princess Bride

I don't understand how anyone could hate this movie... I get it if it's not really your thing, but actively disliking it? I have to wonder if you were born in a dark cave somewhere and raised to hate every ray of sunlight that has ever shone upon the Earth.

Yes, if you haven't guessed, The Princess Bride for me is a ray of sunlight. It's not flawless, I don't think anyone is claiming that. But when you take the time to point out plot holes in a movie like this... it's like pointing out plot holes in a Mel Brooks movie or Dr. Strangelove... like, man, you totally missed the point.

I love the acting, I love the characters, the script is witty and fun. There's nothing I really dislike about this movie, the whole thing is just so damn entertaining. I wish they made movies like this nowadays, but fantasy/action movies are getting a little too self-important. The Princess Bride doesn't take itself very seriously, which is part of the secret of its success.

This is the only Rob Reiner film I've seen, but I'll be watching When Harry Met Sally soon and I hope it's as good as this one!

+



I didn't like it, but I only saw it once in the 80's. I'm going to try it again one of these days.
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The Princess Bride

I don't understand how anyone could hate this movie...I have to wonder if you were born in a dark carve somewhere and raised to hate every ray of sunlight that has ever shone upon the Earth.
That got my attention! Now I'm even more curious about The Princess Bride. I've never seen it, but I'm hoping my early days spelunking won't effect my enjoyment of the movie



The Princess Bride

I don't understand how anyone could hate this movie...I have to wonder if you were born in a dark carve somewhere and raised to hate every ray of sunlight that has ever shone upon the Earth.
That got my attention! Now I'm even more curious about The Princess Bride. I've never seen it, but I'm hoping my early days spelunking won't effect my enjoyment of the movie
Dammit, I knew we had a caver somewhere in this HoF.



The Princess Bride

I don't understand how anyone could hate this movie... I get it if it's not really your thing, but actively disliking it?
I've seen it only once and quite a long time ago. I knew it was supposed to be such a marvelous film so the main thing I remember is disappointment. I don't think I hated it but I didn't see what the fuzz was about either. Been meaning to rewatch it at some point though.
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The Princess Bride

I don't understand how anyone could hate this movie... I get it if it's not really your thing, but actively disliking it?
I've seen it only once and quite a long time ago. I knew it was supposed to be such a marvelous film so the main thing I remember is disappointment. I don't think I hated it but I didn't see what the fuzz was about either. Been meaning to rewatch it at some point though.
Eh, not too surprised honestly, I think you’ve disliked every single one of my nominations in Hall of Fames, maybe we just have very different tastes (I know I’m not a huge horror guy).




The Blues Brothers
(1980)

I love that photo!...and what a great movie! There's so much to like in The Blues Brothers that I don't know where to start? Maybe I need a cold brew and some dark shades to get into the mood I'll be back...

OK so I got a cold beer, but my shades are reading glasses so that I can see what the hell it is I'm typing. So much for me being the third Blues Brother

...I'm old enough that I remember watching John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd on Saturday Night Live doing their Blues Brothers for the very first time. I remember they sang with the SNL house band. But I don't remember them doing any skits as the Blues Brothers. So obviously for me this movie earns high nostalgia points. But more than that I've always thought the Blues Brothers were just flat out cool, so how could I not like the movie?

Then there's the: OMG moment, when you realize just how much R&B talent there is in the movie. We get to see and hear James Brown performing, then Aretha Franklin and my two favorites John Lee Hooker performing on the streets and Cab Calloway doing his big hit Minnie the Moocher. For all that talent alone, this film deserves to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

But wait!...there's more...The more is all those guest stars, one right after another. Way too many to list, but half the fun is just spotting the talent like Paul Rubens aka Pee Wee Herman as a waiter. And it was so cool seeing Carrie Fisher. I really like her and yet I'm not a Star Wars fan. I wish she would've had a bigger career, but at least we get to see her wielding some bad ass weapons of mass destruction!

Hey did you know The Blues Brothers movie was a musical? Surprise! and you thought you didn't like musicals

What about all those action car chase wreck scenes, talk about huge! talk about dangerous! talk about impressive! Geez, they actually drove a stunt car at over 100mphs on the street and then drove through an abandoned mall and smashed up the stores. There's some way impressive stunt work being done in this movie.

You know there might be another film that I like better in this HoF. There might be another film that makes me laugh more, but I swear this is one helluva piece of film. I could see it's movie poster hanging in the hallowed halls of MoFo's Hall of Fame.


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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)

Then there's Steve Martin, is there really four noms with Martin in them? I like Steve Martin, I do...I remember watching him way back in the 1970s on Saturday Night Live...he totally cracked me up every time he hosted that show. I've like his movies, but here he was a little too Steve Martin and IMO needed to tone it down a notch. But not a deal breaker, just something I noticed.


I agree with you about Steve Martin. He can be a little bit over-the-top sometimes. (But I love his song "King Tut".)
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I agree with you about Steve Martin. He can be a little bit over-the-top sometimes. (But I love his song "King Tut".)
I watched Martin's King Tut skit a few months ago on Youtube, still totally funny!



The trick is not minding
Back to the Future
I loved the ‘80’s. It wasn’t really particularly great decade for film, but it was nonetheless memorable because special effects had finally caught up. Comedies and romance seemed to be more light hearted. And they had to be, really, to get over the cynical and paranoia induced decade of the ‘70’s where films Had a much darker content and had rather down beat endings. The 80’s had to offer something to get over the previous decades morose hangover.
The 80’s Provided just that. And there were hardly any films that more were “80’s” then Back to the Future.
The 80’s, and the 90’s after it, were greatly influential to me as far as films because I grew up during that time. I identify with them both, but the 80’s more strongly.
Made in 1985, it started a young Michael J Fox, of Family Ties fame, as a young teen named Marty Mcfly, who is thrust into the past thanks to the antics of a crazy scientist. (Oh those crazy scientists. One wonders what hijinks they’ll come up with next?)
But we all know the plot. Its how it hums along and is held together with fine comedic performances by both Fox and Christopher Lloyd, who brilliantly played The scientist.
They both served as perfect foils to each other.
And Zemeckis, the director, held it together from being too silly, and even managed to turn a creepy moment between Fox and his mother to a funny one.
But of course, it has its serious moments as well. The deeper understanding Marty eventually has of his parents and the begrudging respect he develops for them as a result. Hey, they were kids once too. One was a peeping Tom. The other had the hots for him. One wonders if he’d ever look at them same way.
But I digress. Theres a lot of charm here, even if some does wear a bit thin toward the end, and there are occasionally some awkward scenes. The guitar solo comes to mind, and having rewatched it again, it could have been cut out entirely.
Regardless, this one is a classic. A must see, and a fine first film to start my HOF with.

3 1/3 star out of 4



I've seen it only once and quite a long time ago. I knew it was supposed to be such a marvelous film so the main thing I remember is disappointment. I don't think I hated it but I didn't see what the fuzz was about either. Been meaning to rewatch it at some point though.

It's a little late but you are more than able to join this hall.


Also it's fuss not fuzz


fuss

/fəs/
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noun
noun: fuss


a display of unnecessary or excessive excitement, activity, or interest.
fuzz1

/fəz/
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noun
noun: fuzz; plural noun: fuzzes


a fluffy or frizzy mass of hair or fiber.




I just gotta ask, which situations could relate to your own family?....For myself I'm surprised I didn't really see any family/parenthood truths in the movie. It's like Ron Howard hit all the required comedy-movie making marks but forgot to put any soul into his characters. To me Parenthood felt like Ron Howard's attempt at Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters, only Parenthood had none of the biting truths and clever insights into family dynamics that Hannah and Her Sisters had.
Can't speak to Hannah as I haven't seen it but if I were to do a movie about my family it would be much more Parenthood than not. I think the Dianne Wiest character is very real. Everything about that story line is ripped right from my family, maybe it wasn't all happening under one roof but definitely was in the family. The Grandparents going the extra mile to help out a troubled kid. Happened in my family. Disowned children, dealing with a special needs child...check. The only parts of Parenthood that didn't ring any bells for me was the Harley Jane Kozak/Rick Moranis stuff. This is all on my Ma's side of the family. If I were raised by my dad none of this would relatable. Then I'd be relating more to Jesus Camp (which I can still relate to just not to the extent of Parenthood).

My wife-friend can't relate to Parenthood at all. She always wants to know when the beatings are going to start, but she does see my family all over it. In my opinion Parenthood is a little piece of fluff that made me laugh.



It's a little late but you are more than able to join this hall.
And watch 18 comedies in a relatively short time? Even though I just woke up my head's not that fuzzy so no thank you

But I might as well say that my personal favorite on this HoF is A Fish Called Wanda. I've actually seen it multiple times and enjoyed it quite a bit. Blues Brothers on the other hand is firmly on my hate list. There are some I haven't seen and the rest don't arouse any sort of emotion in my brain (except maybe Who Framed Roger Rabbit which I probably should rewatch at some point).



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
The Jerk (1979)

This is the third time that I've seen this movie, and I still don't understand why people find this movie funny. I think the only time that I laughed during the movie was when the dog was wearing glasses.

Steve Martin is funny in some movies, but in this movie, he was just annoying. I know that his character's stupidity was supposed to be funny, but to me, it was just the whole concept that was dumb.

M. Emmet Walsh's character at least brought a little bit of excitement early in the movie, but by the end, he was just another boring character. Bill Macy's character was the only saving grace in the movie. At least he was upbeat and fun. And then Carl Reiner came along, and brought the movie back to stupid again.

I was hoping that this would be one of those movies that gets better the more times that you watch it, but unfortunately. it seems to be the opposite for me. But at least the dog was cute.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)

I couldn't figure out why this movie felt so familiar while I was watching it, but eventually I realized that this movie was a remake of the 1964 movie Bedtime Story, with Steve Martin, Michael Caine and Glenne Headly in the roles that were originally played by Marlon Brando, David Niven and Shirley Jones.

Overall, I think this was the better version of the movie. I didn't find it very funny, but it was an enjoyable movie. With the possible exception of David Niven, I think the cast in this movie was better. Michael Caine was very good in this movie, but I think David Niven was just a bit more likeable in the original version. Steve Martin was a bit over-the-top at times, but at least he wasn't too annoying for the majority of the movie. (I didn't care much for Marlon Brando at all in the original movie.)

There were some parts of the movie that were predictable, but it didn't really hurt the movie at all. My main problem with the movie, (both versions), is that they didn't really explain how Freddy and Lawrence are able to stay one step ahead of each other throughout the movie. They just seem to know things that they didn't really have any way to find out.

I loved the ending of this version, which is far superior to the ending of the original movie. This ending made Glenne Headly go from an annoying character to the standout performance in the movie.



After Hours

I really love After Hours. It's currently my third favorite Scorsese movie and it's just something so fresh and unique, so different from many of his other movies. The acting is phenomenal, and all the characters were pretty fun too. But I think what I liked most about it was the technical aspects/cinematography. LOL, that fast first shot surprised me so much that I couldn't help but laugh at it!

And yes, this movie was funny too. Not the laugh out loud humor of a Mel Brooks movie, but a dark sly "wink-in-the-eye" comedy. I love it, because it allows other elements in the film like action/adventure and thriller/suspense. Overall just a solid flick that I'll surely revisit in the future.

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