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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
230 .......................... 250
__________________________
July 27th
—— 1980 ——
The Blues Brothers
—— comedy ——
We're on a mission...
from God
There will be minor spoilers in this review
I guess you could say I have been feeling blue every time this film has been brought up, since I have yet to see it and therefore find it annoying that I will have to exclude myself from the discussion. I’m especially saying that because the film appears to be extremely popular and with a colossal cult following; even so I haven’t seen it until now. It has been on my watchlist for the longest time and in my mind for even longer, but that is the great thing about these hall of fame’s – you get to experience and educate at the same time, choosing movies of your liking and letting others do the same for you. I certainly appreciate the fact that ‘The Blues Brothers’ was one of the nominations in this Hall of Fame; unfortunately, I wasn’t that happy with it…
I have seen many people mention that they weren't feeling the beginning of the film, but that it only got better as it went along. Somehow, I kind of feel the opposite about it all. It looked to be absolutely hilarious during the beginning; the way the characters were introduced was amusing and slightly abnormal, which then developed into an inventive credit and title sequence that I also really enjoyed. It had a subtle kind of humor to it, which was mostly present during the beginning of the film and I totally loved it. Even though the church scene was completely insane, I got carried away as it went along. I can't exactly say the same thing about the movie itself. I can definitely see this is an expanded SNL skit, because it is very uneven, very silly and over the top, and overall tries too hard at times. It became a little tiring to watch all these things happen, which sometimes felt totally unconnected and unbelievable. Intentionally yes, but that doesn't make it great for me. I think it makes it a great failure when a movie can’t control itself, though uncontrollable madness can be fun too. But it didn’t work with this film, since the rest was so unconnected, unrealistic and unimpressively executed at times. It is hard to get carried away with something that can’t even carry itself, but simply drags the disaster across the ground hoping to dust up a laugh or two on the way. It didn’t work for me, unfortunately.
I wasn't too keen on all the musical numbers either, though some of them were good. I liked some of the "skits" in the film – yes, the movie is basically build out of skits – like the Nazi one, the country club one and also the fine dining one. I thought the ending was way too much though, but I did like how all the guns and stuff pointed at them in the end. That was quite funny and it seemed like the hilarity topped together with this moment. But if you want my honest opinion, ‘The Blues Brothers’ feels like a less even and more mild version of the ‘Naked Gun’ films. ‘Blues Brothers’ is sometimes a little too serious and sometimes a little too far fetched; it seems to be missing some balance or weight to it, which would make the fun and games pay off, instead of falling off straight to the ground. Many of the jokes and skits just doesn’t stick on their own, but feels like a hollow shell of an idea, which needs some more work to… well… work. The overall soundtrack is great though and the actors are mostly great as well; it is the story and approach I’m not a huge fan of. I guess I have never really been a fan of the overly silly stuff anyways, but I expected more from this film.
Ultimately, this was not my type of film through and through, but it definitely had its moments, where some of them was absolutely hilarious. But I would really have preferred the subtle and smarter approach present in the beginning, since it succeeded at delivering a small and delicate humor, which at times felt explicit in the delivery – but just the right amount of too much and just right. When I say subtle, I mean in the way that John Belushi leaned forward to write his signature when exiting of jail, the small-talk in the car and the stuck-in-table scene. When I say explicit, I mean in the way that the nun levitated from the ground and back through the door, the light shining on the two of them making them chosen by God and overall the shorter and tighter gags, which you could easily miss if you blinked – instead of those thrown at your face for extensive lengths, until you just shake your head at the scenario. So I will be honest with you all: my first rating of this is going to be as follows, and it may stick, but I won't deny that it may grow as well...
__________________________
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
230 .......................... 250
__________________________
July 27th
—— 1980 ——
The Blues Brothers
—— comedy ——
We're on a mission...
from God
There will be minor spoilers in this review
I guess you could say I have been feeling blue every time this film has been brought up, since I have yet to see it and therefore find it annoying that I will have to exclude myself from the discussion. I’m especially saying that because the film appears to be extremely popular and with a colossal cult following; even so I haven’t seen it until now. It has been on my watchlist for the longest time and in my mind for even longer, but that is the great thing about these hall of fame’s – you get to experience and educate at the same time, choosing movies of your liking and letting others do the same for you. I certainly appreciate the fact that ‘The Blues Brothers’ was one of the nominations in this Hall of Fame; unfortunately, I wasn’t that happy with it…
I have seen many people mention that they weren't feeling the beginning of the film, but that it only got better as it went along. Somehow, I kind of feel the opposite about it all. It looked to be absolutely hilarious during the beginning; the way the characters were introduced was amusing and slightly abnormal, which then developed into an inventive credit and title sequence that I also really enjoyed. It had a subtle kind of humor to it, which was mostly present during the beginning of the film and I totally loved it. Even though the church scene was completely insane, I got carried away as it went along. I can't exactly say the same thing about the movie itself. I can definitely see this is an expanded SNL skit, because it is very uneven, very silly and over the top, and overall tries too hard at times. It became a little tiring to watch all these things happen, which sometimes felt totally unconnected and unbelievable. Intentionally yes, but that doesn't make it great for me. I think it makes it a great failure when a movie can’t control itself, though uncontrollable madness can be fun too. But it didn’t work with this film, since the rest was so unconnected, unrealistic and unimpressively executed at times. It is hard to get carried away with something that can’t even carry itself, but simply drags the disaster across the ground hoping to dust up a laugh or two on the way. It didn’t work for me, unfortunately.
I wasn't too keen on all the musical numbers either, though some of them were good. I liked some of the "skits" in the film – yes, the movie is basically build out of skits – like the Nazi one, the country club one and also the fine dining one. I thought the ending was way too much though, but I did like how all the guns and stuff pointed at them in the end. That was quite funny and it seemed like the hilarity topped together with this moment. But if you want my honest opinion, ‘The Blues Brothers’ feels like a less even and more mild version of the ‘Naked Gun’ films. ‘Blues Brothers’ is sometimes a little too serious and sometimes a little too far fetched; it seems to be missing some balance or weight to it, which would make the fun and games pay off, instead of falling off straight to the ground. Many of the jokes and skits just doesn’t stick on their own, but feels like a hollow shell of an idea, which needs some more work to… well… work. The overall soundtrack is great though and the actors are mostly great as well; it is the story and approach I’m not a huge fan of. I guess I have never really been a fan of the overly silly stuff anyways, but I expected more from this film.
Ultimately, this was not my type of film through and through, but it definitely had its moments, where some of them was absolutely hilarious. But I would really have preferred the subtle and smarter approach present in the beginning, since it succeeded at delivering a small and delicate humor, which at times felt explicit in the delivery – but just the right amount of too much and just right. When I say subtle, I mean in the way that John Belushi leaned forward to write his signature when exiting of jail, the small-talk in the car and the stuck-in-table scene. When I say explicit, I mean in the way that the nun levitated from the ground and back through the door, the light shining on the two of them making them chosen by God and overall the shorter and tighter gags, which you could easily miss if you blinked – instead of those thrown at your face for extensive lengths, until you just shake your head at the scenario. So I will be honest with you all: my first rating of this is going to be as follows, and it may stick, but I won't deny that it may grow as well...
__________________________