Elaine.
No, this is the cockpit, the bowling lanes are in the back.
You're a member of this crew.
Can you face some unpleasant facts?
My doctor advised against it.
I think you ought to know what our chances are.
The life of everyone onboard depends upon just one thing.
Reviewing these comedy spoofs, I know, I know!
But surely you can't be serious.
I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.
Well, I'm a little rusty, but I'll see what I can do.
There's one thing I do know.
You're the only chance we've got.
Then I better get to it... this is Movie Night!
Hello and welcome inside the TCL Chinese Theater for the sixth season of Movie Night.
Bringing you high-quality, in-depth reviews in four minutes or less...
I'm your host, Jonathan Paula.
How about that all new intro?
We've certainly come a long way since my first review show premiered over ten years ago.
Anyway, for part one of tonight's big premiere, we'll be reviewing half of my ten favorite
comedy parodies.
As always, we begin in chorological order, with, "Monty Python And The Holy Grail".
This cult-classic comedy film from the legendary English comedy trope Monty Python was a box
office success, earning more than twelve times its small $400,000 budget.
With these sales it became the most successful British film released in America following
its April 1975 premiere.
The 91-minute narrative is generally a parody of King Arthur's quest to find the Holy Grail
during the middle-ages, but the story bounces around quite a bit, and contains more than
its fair share of anachronistic jokes.
Truthfully, the PG-rated story is amounts to little more than a series of loosely connected
sketches set in and around some English castles.
Weird animation inter-titles, a trademark of Monty Python's sketch-comedy TV show, are
sprinkled throughout the plot to fill in gaps left by this disjointed story.
Fortunately, the group of actors, that each play about eight separate characters, do an
outstanding job with the material.
Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, are
experts at their craft; and their impeccable timing, sharp writing, and brilliant delivery
is what makes this film.
The majority of
the laughs are derived from the extremely memorable and quotable dialogue, rather than
sight-gags, or pratfalls.
Indeed, the film literally opens with a subtitle joke regarding a Norwegian moose of some sort.
Bookended by slow dips to black, each scene plays out like a self-contained sketch, many
of which have become rather famous since.
There's the hilarious question and answer session regarding the methods of proper witch-hunting,
a rescue effort that sees Cleese murdering everyone in sight with reckless abandon, a
debate on the airspeed of unladen African swallows, and of course...
the Knights who say "ni".
The only such sequence that isn't quite on par with the brilliance of the others is a
drawn-out bit involving horny maidens locked away in a castle, that even breaks the forth-wall
to ask audiences if the scene should have been cut.
And honestly, they probably should have.
I would be remiss however if I didn't mention my favorite scene, when Cleese dons a suit
of armor as the "Black Knight" who persists on sword-fighting even after losing three
of limbs, playfully defending, "Just a flesh wound."
Unable to afford real horses because of their shoestring budget, a recurring gag involving
coconuts is used instead with fabulous results.
The lack of money wasn't always advantageous though, as there are notable deficiencies
with the lighting, making it hard to see the actors faces at times.
An oft repeated chunk of trumpet-laden music by Neil Innes does give the film a more regal
quality however.
Although the movie's pace is very inconsistent (some scenes linger far longer than they should)
the laughs are plentiful, and the experience is a delightful one.
Fans of tongue-in-cheek British humor will absolutely adore this film, but I suspect
most of them have already seen this classic.
"Monty Python And The Holy Grail" is a rewatchable collection of hilarious moments from comedy
legends.
Now let's see what you had to say in the YouTube comments.
With calling this one of the funniest British films ever made, your scores averaged to a
NINE out of ten.
I similarly adore this picture, but there's also little semblance of a story, especially
with its rushed ending - so I can't quite award it my top score.
I thought it was AWESOME too.
Next up tonight, "Airplane!"
Released on July 2, 1980 - this satirical disaster comedy film was written and directed
by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker - a trio collectively known as "ZAZ".
Primarily parodying big-budget disaster ensembles like "Zero Hour!" and "Airport", this $3.5
million dollar production was a huge success - earning $80 million in profit.
When the crew of airplane is taken ill, the only person capable of saving them is an ex-pilot
traumatized by his service in the war; but he overcomes his drinking problem, and personal
demons to assist the flight.
Playing everything entirely straight, the mammoth group of dramatic actors take their
first swing at comedy, and absolutely nail it.
The relatively unknown Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty star as the romantic leads, and it's
their perplexing chemistry that manages to give the film a bit of emotional resonance,
despite its overtly wacky delivery.
The breakout performance however is from longtime respected dramatic actor Leslie Nielsen, whose
brilliant turn as the flight's deadpan doctor marked a huge turning point in his storied
career.
Remarking on his surprising talent for comedy, famed critic Roger Ebert remarked that he
was the "Olivier of spoofs".
When he stoically lays out the exposition to Hays, the washed up war vet can only muster
a confused response, "Surely you can't be serious".
Nielsen's straight-faced reply, "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley" is one of the film's
many excellent uses of verbal pans, and perhaps "Airplane!"'s most iconic moment.
Similarly, Robert Stack, of "Unsolved Mysteries" fame, Lloyd Bridges, and Peter Graves contribute
excellent performances as well - who somehow manage to keep from cracking in even the film's
funniest scenes.
The mile-a-minute 87-minute narrative is busting
at the seems with sight-gags, verbal puns, pratfalls, and absurd cutaways... including
a hilariously contentious back-and-forth with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who ostensibly plays
himself), an over-the-top flashback send-up of "Saturday Night Fever" that includes a
violet mid-song murder, a confusing conversation involving the crew's surnames and flight-lingo,
and a particularly clever fellatio joke with the plane's auto-pilot.
Supported by wonderful cartoon-style sound effects, the music from Elmer Bernstien further
helps the picture masquerade as a serious action-film: making the juxtaposition of bouncing
boob shots and hysterical passengers than much funnier.
For a collaborative effort, ZAZ still manages to maintain a consistent visual style for
the PG-rated film: keeping most shots locked-down and wide: punching in for close-ups only when
absolutely necessary.
Inspiring countless comedies in its wake, including a decently entertaining sequel of
its own - "Airplane!" is an immensely funny and rewatchable comedy, and if I absolutely
had to pick one, is probably my all-time favorite comedy.
Now let's see what you had to say in the YouTube comments.
Both of us gave plenty of praise to the non-stop gags, and Nielsen's excellent role - you thought
this movie was AWESOME.
An obvious classic, I happen to consider this film especially fantastic, I'm rating it an
AMAZING.
Plenty of options to choose from, including tonight's five movies: so for tonight's poll
question: what is your favorite spoof comedy?
Leave your response below with the hashtag #PollQuestion to be eligible for a one-year
"Pro-level" account on Letterboxd.com - I'll be announcing a winner in part two of this
episode.
Our third review tonight is for "This Is Spinal Tap".
This improvised mockumentary from director Rob Reiner was released nationwide in March
of 1984, where it doubled its $2.5 million dollar budget.
The quick 82-minute experience is an excellent send-up of rock culture, portraying the fictional
British heavy metal band "Spinal Tap" during a year on tour with hilarious results.
The R-rated picture perfectly satirizes everything from their wild debauchery, musical pretentiousness,
performance blunders, and general cluelessness.
Perpetually teetering on the edge of realism, it's the extremely subtle and true-to-life
humor that not only makes this movie so funny, it also tricked a fair number of audiences
into believing this band actually existed.
In their first of many such parody-documentaries, veteran comics Christopher Guest, Michael
McKean, and Harry Shearer lead the picture as the titular group of cod-piece wearing
narcissists: ad-libbing a majority of their lines in the process.
In an inspired bit of casting Reiner appears as an ambitious film director within the film,
often interviewing the band on-camera.
Later, he sets up the picture's most iconic moment when he questions Guest's decision
to label all of his amps with an "11", asking, "Why don't you just make ten louder and make
ten be the top number and make that a little louder?"
... the drawn out beat before Chris answers, "These go to eleven" is one of the most legendary
examples of comedic timing.
Joined by some cameos from before-they-famous actors like Bruno Kirby, Billy Crystal, Fran
Drescher, and Ed Begley Jr. - the core group of players make their biting improvisation
and witty banter look effortless, but their heavy accents, and talking over one another
sometimes makes it hard to follow their conversations.
This is one picture that definitely benefits from having the subtitles turned on.
Structurally, the movie could really be arranged in any order...
each scene works well by itself, but when assembled together, there's very little cohesion
or over-arching story here.
The fly-on-the-wall visual style lends credence to the picture's unscripted nature too, consistently
cutting away to Spinal Tap's many shortcomings and humorous issues during their on-stage
performances, like when Shearer gets stuck in a cocoon-like apparatus, forcing him to
wail out his bass-solo in the cramped compartment.
Indeed, the movie is littered with dozens of little gags like this, including the group's
unexplained herpes, difficulties with their overly simplistic album cover, and overtly
misogynistic song lyrics.
When Guest waxes poetic on a romantic ballad he's been arranging influenced by Mozart and
Bach, he then shares that the song's title is "Lick My Love Pump".
Despite the absurd and lewd material, their music is actually rather catchy - and should
appeal to most rock fans.
U2 guitarist, The Edge famously said of the film, "I didn't laugh, I wept.
It was so close to the truth."
And that is perhaps my biggest issue with the movie: there's plenty of great concepts
and jokes, but much like a great "The Onion" article, it often induces more of a soft chuckle
than true laughter.
Still though, as the only movie on IMDb to be rated out of eleven, "This Is Spinal Tap"
is wonderful satire of rock culture worth watching more than once, I thought it was
COOL.
Now let's check out some of your reviews.
Opinions were a bit mixed on this one, but you enjoyed the sharp writing and silly music,
scoring this an EIGHT out of...
"Eleven".
Not quite as strong as remember, I'll score this a COOL myself.
Next up, "Spaceballs".
This sci-fi parody film written, produced, directed, and starring Mel Brooks was released
in June of 1987 - where it earned back slightly less than double its $22-million dollar budget.
Primarily functioning as a spoof of "Star Wars", this goofy and joke-filled 96-minute
movie also riffs on "Star Trek", "Alien", "Planet Of The Apes", and other Hollywood
classics.
Functioning as a sort of Indiana Jones meets Han Solo analog, Bill Pullman is featured
in the lead role, who attempts to rescue Daphne Zuniga, a beautiful princess from the supposedly
evil Rick Moranis, as "Dark Helmet".
Pullman's trusty sidekick is a half-man, half-dog played charmingly by the late John Candy,
while Zuniga's sidekick is a female C-3PO-like droid voiced by the late Joan Rivers.
This core group of five players, plus Dick Van Patten, George Wyner, and Brooks himself
handle the quick and sarcastic dialogue perfectly - with top marks going to Moranis as the nerdy
Darth Vader-type villain.
His initial entrance, revealing a helmet six times larger than his head is a tremendous
sight-gag, and one that had me literally hit "pause" the first time I saw this movie because
I was laughing so hard.
When attempting to catch up to the escaped heroes, Moranis orders his comically large
spaceship to immediately jump to "ludicrous speed"... to which Candy surprisingly exclaims,
"They've gone to plaid!".
A quote I loved so much, I had it printed on a T-shirt you buy now at Jogwheel's all-new
merchandise store, ThatReference.com!
Speaking of shameless plugs, a running gag involving "Spaceballs" merchandise, including
toilet paper, action figures, and even flamethrowers - is particularly amusing.
Although Brooks breaks the forth wall to hock some of these products, they sadly never existed
in real life: as this was the singular condition George Lucas requested when allowing the funnyman
to spoof his work.
No doubt though, the standout sequence occurs when the bad guys resort to watching a VHS
cassette of the film itself to gain information.
Seeing them interact with the video loop in real-time is a wonderfully hilarious moment,
and one my friend Riley and I even poorly recreated in one of my earliest YouTube uploads.
Despite containing a number of swears, including the F-word, this movie is somehow still rated-PG,
and I have fond memories of this one when I was younger - but upon rewatching this recently,
it honestly didn't hold up that well.
The adequately-paced story is supported by a disco-theme provided by longtime Brooks
collaborator, John Morris that overtly incorporates space-sound effects.
It works well enough, but more than anything, it dates the movie as a 1980's production.
The visual effects are competently handled by Apogee, Inc - who utilize some great model
and compositing work to bring the space adventure to life.
Like most of Mel's work - this is a goofy and harmless movie that should easily entertain
younger audiences, and all fans of Star Wars.
"Spaceballs" is a quirky send-up of space fantasies with plenty of inspired gags.
Here's what you had to say in the YouTube comments.
A double EIGHT for "Spaceballs"... obvious praise goes to Mel Brooks and the endlessly
quotable dialogue, with both of us scoring this a GREAT.
Even though I took most of the summer off from my film reviewing duties, I was still
hard at work over on the Movie Night Archive channel, uploading various commentaries on
recently released trailers - including my most recent thoughts on the "Avengers: Age
Of Ultron" teaser.
So please subscribe to that channel for more exclusive content, and a full library of every
movie we've reviewed so far.
Finally tonight, here's my review of "Naked Gun: Files From The Police Squad!"
Another satire written by the ZAZ trio, Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker - this
PG-13 rated film earned over $65 million in profit following its December second release
in 1988.
Based off the short-lived television series, "Police Squad!", the plot follows a bumbling
and generally incompetent LAPD cop as he attempts to foil a plot to assassinate the visiting
Queen Elizabeth II.
Lelsie Nielsen stars in the lead role, as perhaps his most famous character: and is
a true master of slapstick... including my favorite sequence when he masquerades as an
ostentatious baseball umpire for an unsuspecting ball game.
Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalbán, George Kennedy, and O.J.
Simpson round out the supporting cast with equally capable performances: delivering all
of the brilliant word-play and gags with ease.
Having missed the chance to spoof himself in "Airplane!"
years earlier, Kennedy reportedly campaigned to be cast in this film - and is a great fit
for the deadpan police Captain.
The quick 85-minute plot delivers these excellent verbal puns and malapropisms with such high
frequency, multiple viewings is almost mandatory if you want to catch them all.
Interesting in taking their relationship a step further, Presley invitingly asks Nielsen
if he'd be interested in a "nightcap", to which he quickly replies, "No thank you, I
don't wear them."
On paper, it's not neccesarily anything special - but his perfect timing and delivery is what
makes every aspect of his performance so excellent - and still funny these 25+ years later.
The wider 16:9 frame allows for plenty of room for the picture's awesome sight-gags,
like when one fleeing criminal repeatedly careens into larger and larger explosively
ordinances, culminating with Lelsie ironically advising nearby crowds that there's "nothing
to see here."
The seldom used score from Ira Newborn is an upbeat and festive one, that lends itself
very well to the goofy action on screen.
This David Zucker comedy would not only completely revitalize Nielsen's career, it also spawned
two sequels - which although unable to match the humor of the original were just as successful,
and rather entertaining.
If you enjoy goofy and immature laughs - this is one experience that won't disappoint.
The sillier gags will entertain younger audiences, while some of the more adult gags will have
older viewers entertained as well.
" The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!" is an excellent police-detective spoof
with non-stop jokes.
Here now are some of your thoughts.
Our ratings for "Naked Gun"... a NINE and an EIGHT.
Many of you enjoyed the silly style, and of course, Nielsen's performance, rating this
an AWESOME.
Although it's easily the strongest in the trilogy, it's still a bit juvenile to receive
anything higher than a GREAT from me.
And now, a look at what you're saying about movies currently playing in theaters with
some Tweet Critiques.
If you see a new movie in theaters, Tweet your review with the #JPMN hashtag.
Next weekend we'll continue reviewing my favorite comedy spoofs - but before then, in a special
bonus episode, I'll be reviewing three horror classics, "The Exorcist", "Poltergeist", and
"Child's Play".
If you've seen these films, share your opinions by voting in the polls below, or by leaving
a comment review.
But that does it for this episode... if you'd like to watch more Movie Night reviews, check
out the "related videos" on the right, or click SUBSCRIBE to be notified of future uploads.
Also be sure to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd for updates between
episodes.
Once again, my name is Jonathan Paula, thank you for watching and listening.
Until next time, have a good Movie Night!