Weekly Cinemeh

Hello, and welcome back to Weekly Cinemeh. This week our theme was Mel Brooks movies. Mel Brooks is one of the best comedy writers of the 20th century. His movies are masterpieces, filled to the brim with jokes. I love that he often subtly (or less subtly) breaks the fourth wall and nods to the audience as if to say, if you are taking anything about this movie seriously at all, you are doing something wrong. This was a fun week, so without further ado we should get to the list!

1: Robin Hood: Men In Tights
Our first movie is a spoof of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves as well as the classic tale of Robin Hood. Basically Robin Hood and King Richard are off fighting the crusades and Robin hood get captured by the enemy, he escapes and heads back to England where prince John has usurped power for himself. Robin Hood takes it upon himself to save the day and stick it to maid Marian. So pretty basic right? The difference is that Mel Brooks takes it to the extreme and turns it into an excellent satire. The physical comedy is good, and its fun to watch the sheriff of Rottingham fumble his way about in his manner while still skirting the effeminate mannerisms that the character picks up in other versions. Cary Elwes is fun as Robin Hood, bringing some of his swagger from the Princess Bride to a hard comedy was a good choice (He also has a real British accent!) and I loved Richard Lewis as a neurotic prince John. The whole cast is spectacular though, and the writing is great, though not the best Mel Brooks has done. Give it a watch, you will enjoy it.

Eshi: I fucking love Cary Elwes. I fucking love Mel Brooks. Men in Tights unites these two spectacularly. The story is fun, the asides are delightfully nudge/wink oriented and the characters are precisely the kind of wonderfully exaggerated personalities that make Mel Brooks movies so enjoyable. Its got Dave Chapelle before he got pissed and bailed, and Sir Patrick Stewart makes a cameo so fuck yeah. Also, as this movie is a satire of Prince of Thieves I feel it necessary to add, fuck Kevin Costner and his pouty fucking head.

2: Blazing Saddles
Mel Brooks' spoof of a western, Blazing Saddles is about a land baron trying to clear people out of a town so that he could buy the land for cheap. He does this by sending a black man to be the sheriff of the town, assuming that people will be racist and not want to live in a town with a black man in charge of their safety. He is right, though due to the heroic actions of sheriff Bart and his partner Jim, they warm up to him, and eventually work with him to attempt to foil the land baron's plans. This is a great satire of race relations and westerns in general, its fun to watch how Bart gets around the racism, and how he even uses it to his advantage. Cleavon Little (Bart) and Gene Wilder (Jim) have good chemistry, and Madeline Khan's song scene was great. I think this movie might be slightly overrated, at least when people claim it as Mel Brooks best movie (My opinion is that Young Frankenstein should take that title), but it is still a great movie, and any fan of comedy should see it.

Eshi: Oh my god Gene Wilder. I just... I just can't even. I love him so much. Blazing Saddles is the story of Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little being awesome friends and some other people are there. Yes Madeline Khan is a joy as always and Harvey Korman consistently delivers just the right combination of charismatic and greasy, but frankly this film could have been two hours of Wilder and Little just sitting around making fun of racists and I would have bought it twice. I agree with Brian that it isn't Brooks' best work, but I'll be damned if it isn't a hell of a showing.

3: High Anxiety
I love Alfred Hitchcock as well as Mel Brooks, so this movie gets a lot of love from me. It isn't just a spoof of all of Hitchcock's films, its also a love letter to him (it even starts out with a dedication to him). Several scenes are spoofs of classic Hitchcock movie scenes (the Psycho scene is my favorite), and there are several jokes about how Hitchcock would use voyeuristic camera angles (shots from windows looking into houses, or from under tables), while still showing why they have impact. The movie is about a psychiatrist who uncovers a plot to scam money from people getting care at the asylum he has just taken charge of. Its a great movie with some excellent comedy. If you are a fan of Hitchcock you will love this movie.

Eshi: I'm not going to lie, I don't have a lot of history with Hitchcock, but it didn't matter as much as I thought it would. Enough of Hitchcock's movies are ubiquitous that I didn't really feel like I missed much. I did, and I know I did, it just wasn't enough to diminish the film. Once again, fuck yeah Harvey Korman, fuck yeah Madeline Khan. I enjoy that Brooks takes a central role in this one, both because he's great on screen and because it shows that just because Stan Lee, Stephen King and M. Night Shamelong ruin it for everyone doesn't mean a director can't hang in their own film. The mix of Voyeuristic camera and absent fourth-wall gel very well and Brooks exploits them both masterfully. He also takes a few nice jabs at the psychological establishment, which I can't help but enjoy.