After watching and enjoying Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! on HBO, we decided to watch The History of the World, Part I. I had seen it shortly after it had come out in 1981, and remembered it as rather gross and stupid, but after seeing excerpts from it and others of his films in the documentary, I wanted to give it another chance.
I was right the first time. It is gross and stupid. Apart from a few chuckles here and there, the only decent part is the Spanish Inquisition segment. Almost all of the rest is the kind of stuff only 13-year-old boys would find funny. The Roman Empire segment is mostly just stupid, but sexism and misogyny of the French Revolution segment is particularly offensive.
Much of the nominally offensive stuff in Blazing Saddles is rightly excused as skewering racism, but there’s nothing funny or satirical, now or in 1981, about gang rape (the chess sequence) or groping women. The catch phrase “It’s good to be king” has unfortunate but unavoidable resonance today with “grab them by the pussy.”
I watched the whole thing in the hope of finding a few gems among the dross, but it really wasn’t worth it.
I watched The Mist, based on the Stephen King novella. I thought they did a nice job with it, sticking very close to the book, up until that final added scene. I knew about it beforehand, but jeez. Way too bleak for what had been a pretty decent monster movie.
Blue Moon (Netflix) A sad evening in the life of a sad little man, Lorenz Hart, and his bitter reaction to the opening night of Oklahoma!
It just didn’t feel like there was enough there for a film. It would’ve made a good one-man show….”An Evening With Larry Hart”…since 90% of the movie is Hart (Ethan Hawke) monologue.
There are several opportunities for the viewer to feel clever, “I know what they’re talking about/who that guy is”, with references to E.B. White’s Stuart Little, Stephen Sondheim, and – a stretch but it’s there – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
In my view, Mel Brooks is an irreverent comedic genius. Yeah, I get that some of the scenes can be interpreted as misogyny, but it’s comedy, people! None of those things happened, none of those things are being advocated for. It’s just a comedy. Sometimes you just need to laugh at life.
I’m not sorry, because knowing people who have been raped and abused has made me more empathetic with people whose challenges in life are far greater than my own, and it keeps me from making light of or dismissing the terrible things that have happened to them.
All this. Watching the H3 Expressway action was hilarious. It gets closed down for hours occasionally for films and series. You’d think all those explosions, crashes, automatic gun fire would make the local news There are a few telltales from the fires along the concrete shoulders and barriers. Particularly a fun time for a local.
Warfare: a true account of a Seal Team pinned down in the Iraq War. Very intense account and recommended. A side note: I’d never seen a Bradley unleash its firepower. Holy shit!
…and had to take a moment to understand what was going on?
Anyway: tbh I find a lot of Brooks’ stuff not involving Gene Wilder to be at best dated and at worst painful to watch. I watched Spaceballs recently and it is just clumsy hackneyed gags. Same with Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Silent Movie and so forth. Let vaudeville die, Mel.
Just home from seeing Paul McCartney: Man on the Run. It will be streaming on Amazon later this week but I wanted to see it on the big screen. The film documents Paul’s career in the 70s, from the end of The Beatles to the death of John Lennon. Highly recommended if you’re a fan.
The music and perspectives from band members and peers was great, but the best thing about it for me was seeing and hearing so much from Linda. While I realize in reality they had issues like any husband and wife (famous or not), I’ve always seen them as sort of a fairy tale couple who should’ve lived happily ever after. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say he’s the man he is today because of her.
Because of the good reviews in this thread, I watched Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri this weekend. Great movie, great cast. Definitely worth a rewatch.
That scene early in the movie when the priest comes to talk to Mildred, I was thinking “Is that Nick Searcy?” (My wife and I have been rewatching Justified recently.) I didn’t see him in the credits but imdb confirms it was him.
Willoughby’s wife having a British accent kind of threw me. How does a Brit wind up in rural Missouri? I’m sure it happens but just seemed odd.
And I got a weird “Throw Momma From The Train” vibe from Mrs Dixon.
There are a few telltales from the fires along the concrete shoulders and barriers. Particularly a fun time for a local.