Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

Enjoyed your review of this classic...one of the few films I would rate

Just saw this for the first time a few months ago and agree with most of what you've said here. I never knew that Debra Winger was originally supposed to play the lead in this.

Is Bernadette Peters a peach or what? I love the applique jewelry, I mean that's actually pretty cool and stylish if you think about it. To bad she didn't wear that ensemble to a nicer restaurant, one that didn't have snails on the plate!

I seen this first run at the movie theater and have seen it many times, it's good stupid fun!

Director: John Landis
Writers: Dan Aykroyd, John Landis
Cast: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd
Genre: Adventure, Comedy


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.

Director: Frank Oz
Writers: Dale Launer, Stanley Shapiro
Cast: Steve Martin, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly
Genre: Comedy



I liked it! It was a fun watch, I wouldn't say it was the greatest comedy ever, that would have to be something written by Billy Wider But Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was a very satisfying movie to spend time with. I especially appreciate that it ended strong. So many movies fizzle out in the last act, but this one had a very clever little scene at the end.

I liked the cast: Michael Caine, that's Sir Michael Caine! He always delivers the goods. He was right at home as a well mannered, impeccable groomed and wealthy con artist. I'd never seen Glenne Headly before, but what a gem she was! She was so good in her comic role that I don't know why she didn't have a bigger career? And I loved the character she did at the very end of the movie too, and she did it so well. Then there's Steve Martin...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 liked 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.

You know they never make a comedy like this these days. Talk about high production values. I mean it was all shot on location...and such stunning sets! OMG I'll give this high marks just for the sets alone.

Director: Rob Reiner
Writer: Nora Ephron
Cast: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby
Genre: Drama Comedy Romance

Nora Ephron's screenplay is really a thing of beauty. In a way it reminded me of a Woody Allen film, only without the cynical outlook on life. I liked the way her screenplay examined relationships, while feeling very grounded and real at the same time. Of course Nora Ephron is one of the legends in movie screenplay writing and she doesn't disappoint here.

I thought Billy Crystal was a jerk at the start, and of course so did Meg Ryan's character. I've never liked Billy Crystal much in his films, he often seems too jerky to be likeable. Meg Ryan was a bit of a snood too here, and heaven forbid if you should ever have the misfortune of taking her to a restaurant. But as they both grew older they mellowed and became more complex characters and that's thanks to the phenomenal screenplay and probably to the director Rob Reiner too. It's hard to tell in any movie if the credit goes the director or writer?

When Harry Met Sally is one of the best written relationship films I've seen, except for two scenes that I think were over cooked. They are...The famous orgasm scene...and Billy Crystal doing his elderly Jewish man bit (which he did on the TV show Soap as well). Both were over the top and felt like comedy bits and didn't fit with the realism of the rest of the movie. I read that both scenes were improvised and not originally in Nora Ephron's script. To bad the director didn't modify those scenes to make them match the rest of the film's feel & flow.

Awesome drama, but I didn't even think of it as a comedy so don't know how to rate this as far as laughs go.

+

Directors: Charles Crichton, John Cleese (uncredited)
Writers: John Cleese & Charles Crichton (story)
Cast: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin
Genre: Comedy, Crime


I betcha think I'm going to gush over Jamie Lee because I used that image...Actually what caught my eye, was the fish! I've had tropical fish since I was a kid and I had great fun stopping the movie during the opening title credits and identifying the fish they showed! I knew them all too

Time flew by while watching A Fish Called Wanda and that's always a good thing. I'm actually not a big fan of Jamie Lee Curtis, she's fine here...then again all the cast does a great job, especially Kevin Kline. Kline is a natural born comedian and dominates the scenes that he's in. The last film I seen Kline in was the Errol Flynn bio pic The Last of Robin Hood. I liked it even if the critics didn't.

The biggest laughs for me came from Kevin Kline taunting Ken (Michael Palin) about his stuttering. Technically that shouldn't be funny in these days of Woke/PC culture, but I laughed anyway! Especially the taunting while stuck in cement bit, as Ken drives a steam roller towards him, ha! What I didn't laugh at, was the killing of the three dogs. Sure no real dogs were hurt, but I just didn't think any of that was funny. Let's see I need to end this on a light note so...

Didn't that scene inspire a humorous Swedish IKEA commercial?
+

Director: Ron Howard
Writers: Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel (story]
Cast: Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, Dianne Wiest
Genre: Comedy, Drama


I've been thinking all day about what I would write in my review and couldn't come up with much. Well except for I liked Mary Steenburgen in this! I usually like her, so that's a big plus. Steve Martin was good too and more sedate than in most of his early movies. Strangely however he was at his best when he was being zany, doing the cowboy balloon guy at the party. I remember he had a comedy bit he did on Saturday Night Live where he use to make animals out of balloons too. So the balloon part was cool to see in a nostalgic way.

Then there's the OMG moment! When you see the dream sequence of the little disturbed kid who's now grown up and has become a mass school shooter. What the hell! Oh my! They would never do that seen today. Of course back then mass school shootings weren't really prevalent. Nor would they show a little kid fully nude as the movie does for a joke. Times have really changed since the 1980s, and I guess that's the best thing about Parenthood is it's a time capsule back to the late 80s when all those self important baby boomers were having babies of their own and they needed to let the entire world know it...'Baby on Board' OMG. I swear having babies was as popular back in the 80s as tattoos and texting is today.

I love this movie.

I thought Jason Robards had an understated role - his character is pretty profound and slightly disturbing as he admits to his one somewhat stable son that he "hated" him when he got sick as a baby for forcing him (the father) to have to care and then how the worrying "never ends." That scene with the two of them at the baseball field where they both confess to each other what a mess their lives have become gets me every time.

I also thought the kid who played Steve Martin's son did a great job - he was very convincing as the emotionally distressed child (reminded me of my brother). He also reminded me of a young Billy Mumy!

Still can't believe Joaquin Phoenix was "Garry"!

Captain, why do you love it? You don't have any kids do you?

I should probably see it again, I'm guessing it's the type of movie that gets better with repeat viewings. It would be worth it for Mary Steenburgen. Are you a fan of hers?

Liked your review of this film. I liked it a lot more than you do, but I was happy that the first thing you mentioned was Nora Ephron's screenplay. I think the screenplay is brilliant and I don't know if you're aware of this, but the screenplay earned the film its only Oscar nomination. I also have always felt that even though Ephron is credited as the screenwriter that Billy Crystal had some unbilled input on the script.

I didn't know about the Oscar nom. It's another movie that I've only seen once and would benefit from another watch. One of the highlights for me was seeing Carrie Fisher in something other than Star Wars.

Oh yes - I had a bit of a crush on Mary in this movie (and others)! She has a sweetness in her eyes when she smiles that's hard to describe.

So that's one reason - not sure why I like it so much. It's nothing like my family (so maybe that's a plus!) although certain aspects of Robard's attitude reminded me a bit of my own father.

I liked the cast and I like large ensemble movies. It's a bit of a laugh / cry movie and I like that, and it's got a message about family (and Grandma's rollercoaster analogy to life) and leaves you with a somewhat more positive view on life.

I could always relate to Steve Martin's sense of overwhelm (despite having no children myself) and his coming around to step back and view all the ups and downs as part of the ride.

Indeed, it's one of those movies I liked more each time I saw it.

I thought Ron Howard did a good job of interweaving the stories of the different facets of the family = each sibling's family is very different with different sets of problems, yet all interconnected to the whole, like most families. (And hey... it's got Rick Moranis singing! )

One thing I could never figure out: Tom Hulce - he had such a huge hit with Amadeus (1985) - another great movie - that I thought his career would skyrocket after the movie won Best Picture - but it just seemed to fizzle as he never went beyond bit parts.

First of all, great review CR. Didn't know they studied this 'perfect screenplay'.
What made you not rate it 5/5? It would make this ' the perfect review'

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So that's the real reason you watched it...I forgot you have this thing for Carrie Fisher

Ha! that's funny but I actually don't have a think for Carrie Fisher, but I do like her as an actress.

Every time you review a movie with Carrie Fisher in it, you always talk about her part, no matter how minor it is and whenever you see a movie that you didn't know she was in, the first thing you say about the movie, is "I didn't know Carrie Fisher was in this!"

That's a good question! I actually flipped back and forth and almost gave it a 5/5. Why didn't I? I don't know there's certainly nothing I can find in the film that's not perfectly done.

I didn't realize that. I guess that's because when I think of Carrie Fisher I only think of her as Princess Leia from Star Wars. I'd never seen her in anything else until I joined MoFo. I do like her, but she's no Gloria Grahame

LOL!!!