Movies
Mel Brooks takes on Hitchcock. You don't have to be a tremendous Hitchcock fan to get the jokes though, Brooks goes for the familiar bits (bird chases, shower scenes, etc) and layers some of his typical punny/daft comedy on top. It's a shame it's never really all that funny, not even for a simple parody. Dr. Thorndyke goes to work in a mental asylum. When he gets there, he discovers the doctors are probably more insane than the patients who reside there. They're also hiding some nasty secrets, and to make things worse, Thorndyke is suffering from a nasty case of acrophobia. Brooks is front and center in this production (he's directing, writing, and acting), but he's just not funny enough. It's a plus that the film goes all in on the comedy, which makes it somewhat watchable, even when the successful jokes are few and far between. I'm just not a big Brooks fan.Read all
One of the main reasons I don't like westerns is because they're so damn serious, so I figured a comedy western might be more up my alley. I'm not a big Mel Brooks fan though, on the other hand there aren't that many comedy westerns to choose from, so I figured I'd just give Blazing Saddles a chance. Like most other Brooks films I've seen, the comedy just doesn't do enough for me. It's not that I don't like Brooks' style, he is after all a major influence on the likes of Naked Gun and Hot Shots, it's just that the jokes feel a bit simplistic, and they're too few and far between for this type of comedy. There are a handful of funny moments here, mostly when they're breaching the fourth wall or just being completely daft, but the scenes in between the jokes are pretty dire and when they don't land, there's really very little that kept me interested. Blazing Saddles is slightly better than an average western, but that's not saying much.Read all
Brooks' homage to the Frankenstein films of yore. The film is set up as a vintage Brooks comedy, but the jokes are so incredibly predictable and worn out, that this film really only works as a love letter to the horror films of the past. It does a pretty decent job at that too, but then you really have to like those films in the first place. Frederick is the grandson of Victor von Frankenstein. He's a gifted scientist, but feels hampered by the legacy of his grandfather. When he inherits his grandfather's castle, curiosity gets the best of him, and he sets out to explore the place. There he finds a hidden laboratory and a diary with instructions. Wilder doesn't do overacting very well, the jokes are moldy and the film well outstays its welcome. I have to say that the cinematographer did a solid job making it look like a vintage horror classic, but it's a style that doesn't do much for me. It's as much a remake as it is a homage, making this film pretty redundant. Not good.Read all
My goodness. My fourth Mel Brooks films and it's official. I really can't stand the man's sense of humor. Though The Producers isn't quite like the other Brooks films I've seen (these were much more pun-based), I simply failed to laugh a simple time and was left with a feeling of overwhelming irritation. A fidgety accountant and a crummy play producer devise a plan to get rich. The idea is to produce a big flop, so they don't have to pay the investors but get to keep the investment money themselves. They try their best to make the play as bad as possible ... and yeah, it's not hard to guess how that'll end. The comedy simply isn't funny. It's noisy, it's repetitive, it's predictable and it leans on obnoxious stereotypes. And that's it really. Just 90 minutes of noise, actors constantly shouting and overacting, the amount of actual jokes is negligible. Seeing how it's a much-lauded film there must be an audience for this, but I'm clearly not it.Read all
