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

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Planes, Trains, and Autombiles

I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. I loved Steve Martin and John Candy, both are absolutely perfect for their roles. The script isn't bad and the whole plot is both predictable and charming. I watched this on Thanksgiving actually but didn't get around to actually writing a review until now. It's probably the best Thanksgiving movie out there, I can't even think of any other ones... I consider some to be, like Fantastic Mr. Fox, but those aren't explicitly Thanksgiving themed movies.

Very enjoyable, although not sure I'll ever want to rewatch it again.

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A Fish Called Wanda

This is just a wacky and amazing movie in so many ways. I'm so glad it was nominated, I had heard good things but never got around to watching it until now. As I said earlier, this should be on the MoFo 80s list what the heck is Rocky IV doing there?! First of all, the cast of A Fish Called Wanda is stellar. Jamie Lee Curtis is quite good, and Kevin Kline steals the show playing an absolutely idiotic British-hating American. Every scene in this movie is just hilarious, and it's probably one of the funniest movies ever made.

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Just participating in this HoF makes me realize even more how much variety of comedy there is! It's crazy that "Annie Hall" "The Jerk" and "A Fish Called Wanda" are all under the same comedy roof!




Broadcast News

Blair: Except for socially, you're my role model.

What we've got here is an obsessive network news producer (Holly Hunter) who hates the direction news reporting is going. Style over substance type thing. Then her network hires a reporter/anchorman (William Hurt) who is all style and little substance but he so darn cute that she ends up falling for him. Meanwhile, there is her best friend/reporter (Albert Brooks) who is everything she loves but he ain't so hot and there's the love triangle that is the center of Broadcast News.

Having a tiny, wee bit of experience in television news production I loved the setting of the film. This really does a good job of capturing the organized chaos of live television and, without a doubt, my favorite scene is Joan Cusack going crazy about getting the tape to the control room before it airs. There are a few smile moments and a couple of light laughs mostly coming from Albert Brooks and his repeated put downs of William Hurt. Of note is his anchorman segment which is uncomfortably funny.

I think the cast did fine. At least they sold it well enough for me. I liked the ending even though I felt they could have cut that down a bit, maybe knock 10 minutes off. That was really the only time I ever looked at the clock. Other than that the movie kind of flew by.
As for a James L. Brooks film it doesn't quite measure up to As Good As It Gets or Terms of Endearment but it isn't far off either. It's a very good movie.










Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
Parenthood (1989)


Well we've got ourselves the Steve Martin retrospective, Frank Oz, John Hughes, and Ron Howard all took Steve Martin and used him as a different type of tool in each of the film.


The first thing I noticed about Martin and watching all three films is that the directors used Martin but they used him in a way that was likely inspired from 30's-40's humor. In PTA we got the buddy road movie like Laurel and Hardy or Crosby and Hope. In DRS we get the Lubitsch land comedies where you get this weird world of humor centered around upper class reprobates. While we finish up with Parenthood which is a classic Frank Capra large ensemble sending a strong moral message.


One of the things I liked about John Hughes film is that it had the gay panic scene...which typically ages poorly. "Those aren't pillows" is a great line and I'm not entirely sure how that worked. Also the end result where they decide to talk about the Bears game is pretty amusing. The other thing I liked about PTA is the character work, Candy and Martin are both guys that meanwell but they are also kind of bad guys.



Parenthood took the story of four children of a terrible father (Jason Robards) each of the children are dealing with their own children's issues. When you make a film with four different stories not all the stories end up being equal. In Parenthood the younger siblings stories take a back seat to the older ones. Diane Weist's story I found to be particularly strong (and it's strange to see Joaquin, Martha Plimpton, and Keanu all as contemporaries) meanwhile Steve Martin's story was the biggest one and I felt lacked the most impact. One of the things I really liked about Parenthood is that Rick Moranis was playing against type sadly I wasn't a big fan of the resolution it felt pretty cheesey.


I finished up my Martin-thon with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, this was Martin's funniest of the three as he really dove into his comedic strengths. The dinner scene is fantastic. My biggest qualm with the film was it's length I didn't think the story really earned a two hour run time. It would have likely been better as a breezy 90 minutes. That's what Lubitsch would have done.







"Never get into a land war in Asia"




I missed that joke the first time with Princess Bride, Vietnam jokes kids they never get old. This is just a timeless film it looks great it's still very funny my only issue is some the cameos try to be funny which is a little distracting but the basic bones of the story are just so good. It might also be the best use of post modernism in Cinema history has the narrator is an old grandfather cracking jokes against his sick grandson. Peter Falk's comic timing is a thing of beauty he might just be the best part of the movie.



The trick is not minding
I’ll be able to knock a few more films off the list this week, as I will be off for the next five days. Hoping to hit up both the library and the rental store and grab what I can find



Women will be your undoing, Pépé



Annie Hall

Alvy Singer: Sun is bad for you. Everything our parents said was good is bad. Sun, milk, red meat... college.

I'm very surprised at myself for saying this, but I'm going to use a somewhat common expression: I respect this film more than I enjoyed it.

There's a plethora of solid reasons why this film, Annie Hall, is in the echelon of Woody Allen films. The spot on fourth-wall breaking as we share Woody's inner thoughts - doubling as yet another outlet for his snarky commentary. The quick wit and observational conversations that delve into the more awkward emotions that is the very lifeblood of this film. The feeling of being a fly on the wall of a day in the life on what, if spoken of, sounds incredibly mundane and yet, in Allen's hands, keeps us fully attentive and involved.

So what happened?

Well, there are two realms of Woody Allen films for me.
His much earlier, comedic films that I love and then, what I like to call, his "Celebration of Neurosis" films and Annie Hall lies on the cusp of one as he goes full tilt into the other.
Again, the man does it brilliantly. There is no denying it.
It's on me and my disdain for cerebral rationalizing of stunted emotions and how that superior intellect is incapable of comprehending simple truths of the visceral aspects of ourselves.
Which is why I bailed out of Woody Allen films from Annie Hall onward.
The cleverness of wit cannot abate the pseudo-intellect babble that attempts to cover someone's insecurities much like someone trying to use a towel to cover themselves as if it was a blanket. Causing me to shake my head and wonder: What the f@ckin are you doing?
Making it an exasperation instead of a celebration.

And so, I respect this movie and I am very glad I have finally watched it but -- I think I'll get my eggs elsewhere.
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Women will be your undoing, Pépé



A Fish Called Wanda

Otto: You pompous, stuck-up, snot-nosed, English, giant, twerp, scumbag, f@ck-face, d#ckhead, @sshole.
Archie: How very interesting. You're a true vulgarian, aren't you?
Otto: You're the vulgarian, you f@ck.

Definitively a very laugh out loud film. Especially each and every single time Kevin Kline appears. His comedic timing is laser sharp. Creating a brutish, obnoxious, over the top character that is a complete f@ckin joy to behold and nearly puts the remaining cast in his shadow.
Which is very impressive considering how well everyone does in their perspective roles. From the thieving gang's leader: Georges Thomason played by, amusingly, Tom Georgeson (never noticed that play on the actor's name until today) to Patricia Hayes' angry old lady who continues to "lose" her precious dogs to stuttering Ken's (Michael Palin) inability to take her out. As well as Maria Aitken completely nailing it as John Cleese's unhappy wife, Wendy. Whom I found a new appreciation for during this recent rewatch for how well she does. Especially when nitpicking through Kline's Otto's fumbling lies.
And no, I have not forgotten the character that ensnares, entices and out-thinks them all, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. Her performance reminding me of Lucille Ball. There's that style of balancing beauty and slapstick expertly.



The trick is not minding
After Hours
Poor Paul Hackett. All he wants to do is go home. But due to a series of unfortunate events, he’s stuck without money, without a ride, and without a friend. Oh sure he meets people, but they want something in return from him.
This is about my third viewing of this film and it’s just as step bf as when I first watched it 10 years ago. It doesn’t have a plot. Not a conventional one anyways. It reminds me of a surreal nightmare not unlike a recent Bunuel film I watched this past week.
The story unfolds with loosely connected events, with Hackett, played by Griffin Dunne, running helplessly from one event to another, each one more intense then the last.
Eventually a mobs forms and chases after him over a misunderstanding, somewhat purposely due to a spurned woman.
But it isn’t so much why it happens but how it happens and how Dunne reacts to the chaos created around him.
This is one of those underrated films I love so much, that I recognize isn’t for everybody because the story isn’t exactly relatable.
But that’s the thing, it doesn’t have to relatable, nor does it really have to make sense. It just has to entertain. And boy does it entertain.

4 *’s
It’s up there with Annie Hall



Women will be your undoing, Pépé



Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Eddie Valiant: You mean to tell me, you could've gotten out of those cuffs anytime you wanted?
Roger Rabbit: Not any time. Only when it was funny.

With a myriad of cartoon characters that, in itself, is a fun lil game to name them all or guess where they come from, a great marriage of "live" action and animation; all of which set up in a China Town-esque story-line, we have a great comedy set in the late forties when cartoons were enjoyed by adults along with kids. Taking a similar road to the old time greats of animation for slapstick and innuendo.
To the point where this film brought a revival to that style of cartoons to the utter joy of many of us.

On the "live" action side we have Bob Hoskins playing the hard, bitter, alcohol-drenched Private Eye and Christopher Lloyd doing what he does best, the odd, slightly creepy character. In this instance, a fanatical Judge looking to erase Toons and Toonstown forever.
On the Animated side, we get a mix of Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera and Disney favorites with original voice actors as well as Roger Rabbit being done so wonderfully by Charles Fleischer and, of course, you cannot skip over Kathleen Turner's ultra sexy rendition of Jessica Rabbit.

Even decades later, much like the original shorts that we all love that were made back then, it still causes a hearty laugh at the sight gags and clever double meaning wisecracks.
God bless 'em and God bless whoever nominated this!




After Hours

Guy on Street: Why don't you just go home?
Paul: Pal, I've been asking myself that all night.

Not quite the love letter to NYC that Taxi Driver is but it's not bad. One mans night turns from promising, to questionable, to bad, to horrible and we get to ride along. I thought this was a lot of fun but I do like movies that introduce us to several characters who have a bit of quirk to them. The smaller the role the more I seemed to like them. For example the cab driver (I'll be back later), the subway attendant (what if I get drunk at a party...) and the bouncer (you can keep the quarter) all cracked me up. Most of the laughs I got from this were fleeting moments but there was quite a few of them. Things like The Dead Person signs, or when Paul says "I'll probably get blamed for that" as he witnesses a murder across the street were just perfect. The cab ride was probably the movies funniest moment. I've seen that scene in other movies probably a hundred times but this time it felt different. Maybe Scorsese had something to do with it? I don't know.

For the most part the cast was very good. Griffin was great. As things get worse and he becomes more desperate he became more funny. I love Teri Garr. She is always fun to watch and she was really cute here. John Heard is another actor who I usually like and he didn't disappoint either. Rosanna and Linda were good but Catherine O'Hara and the stoner buds were a little eh.

I had seen this back in the 80's but I didn't think much of it. Glad to have seen it again because it's really good.



The trick is not minding
Hitting the local rental tomorrow to grab a few films to catch up. Unfortunately, now that I’m back to work after my wisdom teeth being pulled last week, we are now on Mandatory OT including Saturday the next 2 weeks to help us avoid falling behind over the Holidays. I might have mentioned this previously



The Blues Brothers
Meh. It was way too long, the chase scene at the end was very overextended. And I don’t really like the type of music in it so that doesn’t exactly help. But what the heck, it was fun while it lasted. I think I would have liked less all out music scenes in this. I love Aretha and Ray Charles, but I kind of wish they had been cut out. I don't like either of the actors who play the Blues Brothers either. But this is one helluva entertaining movie, and I didn't feel the length, which is good!

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The Blues Brothers
Meh. It was way too long, the chase scene at the end was very overextended. And I don’t really like the type of music in it so that doesn’t exactly help. But what the heck, it was fun while it lasted. I think I would have liked less all out music scenes in this. I love Aretha and Ray Charles, but I kind of wish they had been cut out. I don't like either of the actors who play the Blues Brothers either. But this is one helluva entertaining movie, and I didn't feel the length, which is good!

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I'm sure that doesn't read, the way I read it. It sounded like you didn't like the movie as it was too long, but you didn't feel the length at the same time? Oh and I'm not getting this: Meh and one helluva entertaining movie, which was it? (you must mean the car chase was Meh?)



The Blues Brothers
Meh. It was way too long, the chase scene at the end was very overextended. And I don’t really like the type of music in it so that doesn’t exactly help. But what the heck, it was fun while it lasted. I think I would have liked less all out music scenes in this. I love Aretha and Ray Charles, but I kind of wish they had been cut out. I don't like either of the actors who play the Blues Brothers either. But this is one helluva entertaining movie, and I didn't feel the length, which is good!

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I'm sure that doesn't read, the way I read it. It sounded like you didn't like the movie as it was too long, but you didn't feel the length at the same time? Oh and I'm not getting this: Meh and one helluva entertaining movie, which was it? (you must mean the car chase was Meh?)
Yeah, sorry I was talking about the chase scene at the beginning, should have made that more clear.
“Meh” was directed at it, it WAS very entertaining but that doesn’t always cut it for me for what makes me really love a movie.



Yeah, sorry I was talking about the chase scene at the beginning, should have made that more clear.
“Meh” was directed at it, it WAS very entertaining but that doesn’t always cut it for me for what makes me really love a movie.
You know I totally agree about the chase scene at the beginning and the big huge chase at the end. I would have limited those if I was the director. I mean in the end of the movie the director even has helicopters flying overhead with people repelling out of them...and he did that over a huge crowd of people. That's a dangerous stunt and a couple of years later during the filming of The Twilight Zone movie, John Landis did a similar stunt with a low flying helicopter that killed three people including the actor Vic Morrow and a small child. That's what I was thinking about when the big end scene played in The Blues Brothers.



Yeah, sorry I was talking about the chase scene at the beginning, should have made that more clear.
“Meh” was directed at it, it WAS very entertaining but that doesn’t always cut it for me for what makes me really love a movie.
You know I totally agree about the chase scene at the beginning and the big huge chase at the end. I would have limited those if I was the director. I mean in the end of the movie the director even has helicopters flying overhead with people repelling out of them...and he did that over a huge crowd of people. That's a dangerous stunt and a couple of years later during the filming of The Twilight Zone movie, John Landis did a similar stunt with a low flying helicopter that killed three people including the actor Vic Morrow and a small child. That's what I was thinking about when the big end scene played in The Blues Brothers.
Wow, didn’t know that and makes me dislike it even more.



Wow, didn’t know that and makes me dislike it even more.
The Blues Brothers was at the peak of big, crazy live stunts. After the Twilight Zone movie accident those risky stunts were cut back. Of course today many are done with blue screen or CG.



The trick is not minding
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?


What happens when you cross animation and noir with a dash of buddy cop comedy? You get the sublime film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. A film that delivers on all fronts. You’ve got the detective,Eddie Valiant played By Bob Hoskins, who harbors a painful past and drinks himself to sleep and takes sleepy jobs to make ends meet.

You’ve got the dangerous femme fatale, Jessica Rabbit, voices by Kathleen Turner, complete with dangerous curves and a seductive stare. It’s not her fault, she was “drawn this way.” As she coos towards Valiant

There’s Roger, the hapless star who is married to Jessica, and Framed for a murder he didn’t commit. (Again, not a spoiler, it’s in the title!) the gravity of the situation escapes him, as he seems intent on entertaining everyone he comes into contact with. He is a toon, afterall.

And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Judge Doom, played with icy fervor as he seems to hate toons as much as Valiant does. Lloyd proves to be menacing as the villain, in a role that would have been a mere caricature in lesser hands. Even when he reveals his secret plan.
“I’ll call them....freeways!” He exclaims proudly.

The heart of the story is the relationship that buds between Roger and Valiant, and the hijinks they get involved in. That includes a hilarious exchange involving handcuffs.

30 years after its first release, it still remains fresh, and funny (I laughed again at the patty cake scene!). I may have seen this in the theatres, in fact. I still wish I could go back and watcc it for the first time all over again.

4 *’s.