1001 Movies: Airplane!

From the bed of Captain Spazzmataz:

This movie was absolutely ridiculous. I don’t really believe that it should be on this list at all. I don’t think that I needed to see it before I died or really at all. I am pretty sure I would have been fine if I went through life without seeing this movie.

First off, they opened with the airplane flying through the clouds to the Jaws theme. How incredibly cheesy is that? That should have been my first indicator that this film was going to be a struggle, but no, I was still hopeful. I guess all of the stuff that I found incredibly annoying was incredibly hilarious in 1980, but I just didn’t get it. I am very thankful that humor in movies has progressed. Also, Robert Hays broke my number one rule and talked to the camera. I hate it when actors do that. I am not apart of the movie, just a spectator. Don’t include me. Also, everyone is super creepy. The old people are creepy, the children are creepy, even the fake people are creepy (probably the creepiest of them all!). And, the special effects are really bad. In the dance scene, I could see the strings holding him up, and when Captain Kramer was driving, the green screen behind him was soooo obvious. Finally, the random shirtless lady that popped up during the panic was just uncalled for. It didn’t need to be in there, and the movie definitely would have been better off without it. I am really just so surprised that this movie is on the list. However, I am glad we got it out of the way relatively early.

I can only give this movie 2 stars.

Also, this movie should not be rated just PG.

From the Bed of Super Koala:

I second my seester’s surprise that this movie scored a PG rating.  This must be a fairly common reaction though, as the students to whom I showed Young Frankenstein could absolutely not believe that it was also rated PG.  What a wild and crazy time it was.

Possibly unlike my seester, I understand why this movie is on the list.  I can understand that it is supposed to be hilarious, and I did find myself amused at the spoof elements.  Part of this might come from the fact that I watched it with Sparhawk, and this is exactly his type of humor.

The only problem for me is that this just isn’t my type of movie.  I feel the same way about this movie as I do about the vast majority of comedy movies, with exception given to the incomparable Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.  And I really just can’t explain why I love that movie so much.  The random, obnoxious, and slightly gross just aren’t typically for me, and thus it always was.

That being said, I seriously love the name puns.  No shame.  3 stars.

1001 Movies: Young Frankenstein

From the Bed of Super Koala:

Last week, we watched Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein in my English IV class, which gave us an excellent occasion to cross another movie off the list.  I enjoyed the movie, but watching it with ten seventeen-year-olds was kind of disappointing because I feel like the humor was lost on most of them.  I guess I’ll officially find out when I grade their film analysis papers. Anyhow, this was the first viewing of the film for myself.  I found the humor so amusing, even if I wasn’t necessarily laughing out loud the entire time.  It was a little hard to forget that Gene Wilder is really Willy Wonka in disguise, but I feel like the casting was spot on.  I particularly love Peter Boyle as the monster.

That being said, the whole production is rather ridiculous.  I know that’s the point, but really.  So ridiculous.  I think that’s what prevented my class from truly enjoying it.  For better or worse, this isn’t a predominant style of humor anymore, so they don’t know how to respond to it.  For myself, I enjoyed the spoof tactics and definitely prefer this comedy to any traditional horror film. Solidly four stars.

From the bed of Captain Spazzmataz:

This was one of the weirder movies I have seen in a while. Everything was just so out of the ordinary, I really don’t know how I feel. I have yet to see the real Frankenstein movie, so maybe it would make a little more sense if I had. I mean of course I know the story of Frankenstein, but I have never read the book or watched the movie. My absolute favorite part is the fact that every time they say Frau Blucher’s name the horses cry out. It is really quite fantastic and always made me chuckle a little. All in all, it is one of the better spoofs I have ever seen, and for that it deserves four stars.