An American Comedy _**Classic**_ - Everything about this film screams 'American Cinema Comedy'. A lot of the humor is a precursor to modern american humor, including the terribly cheesy pulp humor. This film is an homage to the comedies that came before it, but is innovative in its combination of wordplay and referential humor. I see vestiges of this film in everything from 'The Hangover' to 'The Office'. If at any point you are watching this and find yourself saying 'This is really stupid', just remember: Relax. It's supposed to be stupid.
Right from the "Jaws" (1975) inspired opening titles, this is a treat of comedy that sends up just about every genre of cinema as poor old "Ted" (Robert Hays) has to stave off an airborne disaster aboard his aircraft. Half the folks travelling have been stricken with food poisoning and when the cockpit it wiped-out, it falls to him to bravely take the joystick and try to land in Chicago. Luckily, his ex-girlfriend "Elaine" (Julie Hagerty) is there, as is the always scene stealing inflatable "Otto" pilot. Lloyd Bridges is entertaining as the air traffic controller as is Robert Stack as the man trying to to talk down the stressed wartime pilot whom he used to command. The visual jokes are occasionally a bit too slapstick, but it's the writing that makes this funny - it is a pun writer's wet dream with plenty of risqué double entendres and literal interpretation of language that creates ample enjoyable ambiguity and humour. Clearance Clarence and Roger, Roger - it's quickly paced and unlike so many comedies from the 1970s really does raise a smile 40-odd years later when political correctness would probably throttle this at birth. Yes, it's a bit puerile but it is still well worth a watch.
Surely, this is hilarious. Surely. A film that never saw the word "Surely" in the same light again. This is a total parody, not just of disaster movies, but of all social mores. The "excuse" for the comedy is a plane where the entire flight crew is too sick to fly, so a nerve racked ex pilot needs to fly the plane. Lots of Monty Python style "unreal" events to make this even funnier, along with the parody of culture, such as the woman who speaks "Jive". You need someone to interpret "Jive" in life or death situations, you know? The people who don't find this funny probably don't even like gladiator movies.
**A memorable comedy that deserves to be revisited occasionally.** I can't say how innovative this film was in its time because I'm not one of those cinema experts who know almost everything (I'd like to know more, and I always learn more, but I'm reduced to the insignificance of knowing little). However, as far as I can understand, I think it was one of the first nonsense American satires, heavily inspired by Monty Python, an English group that was having its biggest successes at that time, and the film “National Lampoon Animal House”, which had also been released at this time. For this work, Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers (who direct and write all the script) made a hilarious story around a domestic flight in the USA that goes very wrong when almost everyone, including the pilot and co-pilot, eat a spoiled fish. There are some jokes that work better, others worse, but the film's humor is intelligent enough to escape the easy laugh label. The joke where the pilot tries to seduce a child is perhaps the most infamous moment in the film, but I'm not a huge fan of political correctness and I handled it very well. The writers also can't resist the temptation to include some sex jokes, but I didn't see anything that I really think crossed the line of what was acceptable. For the film, they're called actors with a notable satirical and humorous streak, but who had not always had the opportunity to focus on comedies, or had not made films before. This was the case with Peter Graves, Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty or Lloyd Bridges, but also with Leslie Nielsen. It's quite surprising, considering we remember him for his comedies, but he hadn't done any notable comedies before this film. The cast seems to be having so much fun working that I believe the entire group has great memories of the project. As a technical and aesthetic work, the film stands out for the quality of the cinematography and filming work, but also for the good props and effects achieved.
Clifford Peach, an easygoing teenager, is finding less than easy to fit in at his new high school, where a tough-talking bully terrorizes his classmates and extorts their lunch money. Refusing to pay up, Clifford enlist the aid of an overgrown misfit whose mere presence intimidates students and teachers alike. But their "business relationship" soon turns personal as Clifford and the troubled loner forge a winning alliance against their intimidators - and a very special friendship with each other.
Movie Star Rating : 6.3 Read More
A young man struggles for closure after the death of his parents.
Movie Star Rating : 4.2 Read More
The continuing adventures of the barbers at Calvin's Barbershop. Gina, a stylist at the beauty shop next door, is now trying to cut in on his business. Calvin is again struggling to keep his father's shop and traditions alive-this time against urban developers looking to replace mom & pop establishments with name-brand chains. The world changes, but some things never go out of style-from current events and politics to relationships and love, you can still say anything you want at the barbershop.
Movie Star Rating : 5.9 Read More
Calvin and his friends, who all live in an orphanage, find old shoes with the faded letters MJ connected to a powerline. One stormy night, they go to get the shoes when Calvin and the shoes are struck by lightning. Calvin now has unbelievable basketball powers and has the chance to play for the NBA.
Movie Star Rating : 6.1 Read More
A coming of age dramedy where infidelity, real estate, and Lyme disease have two families falling apart on Long Island in the early eighties. Scott, 15, is at the point in his life when he finds out that the most important people around him, his father, his mother, and his brother, are not exactly who he thought they were. They are flawed and they are human.
Movie Star Rating : 6.1 Read More
A group of hobos begin melting into multicolored piles of goo after drinking sixty-year-old liquor. At the same time, the psychotic Vietnam War vet who rules the hobo camp snaps and begins killing at random. Two brothers set out to stop the liquor and the killer.
Movie Star Rating : 6.2 Read More
Amos and Theodore, the two bumbling outlaw wannabes from The Apple Dumpling Gang, are back and trying to make it on their own. This time, the crazy duo gets involved in an army supply theft case - and, of course, gets in lots of comic trouble along the way!
Movie Star Rating : 6.4 Read More
One morning our little Viking village of Flake is raided by frightening looking spooky demons who kidnap all the children… except for Wickie, who was stuck in a tree trying to use a kite to learn to fly.
Movie Star Rating : 5.8 Read More
On a historical grave site, a teenage girl with low self-esteem, a white rapper, and the ghost of a confederate soldier become entangled in a love triangle.
Movie Star Rating : 0 Read More
Uncropped 2023 - Movies (May 10th)
Not Another Church Movie 2024 - Movies (May 10th)
Poolman 2023 - Movies (May 10th)
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare 2024 - Movies (May 10th)
Foil 2023 - Movies (May 10th)
The Last Stop in Yuma County 2023 - Movies (May 10th)
The Image of You 2024 - Movies (May 10th)
Living with Leopards 2024 - Movies (May 10th)
Lazareth 2024 - Movies (May 10th)
May the 12th Be with You 2024 - Movies (May 10th)
I Saw the TV Glow 2024 - Movies (May 10th)
Please Dont Destroy The Treasure of Foggy Mountain 2023 - Movies (May 10th)
ABBA Against the Odds 2024 - Movies (May 10th)
Girl You Know Its True 2023 - Movies (May 9th)
Convoy 2023 - Movies (May 9th)
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes 2024 - Movies (May 9th)
Slyth The Hunt Saga 2023 - Movies (May 9th)
Mother of the Bride 2024 - Movies (May 9th)
Baby Sharks Big Movie 2023 - Movies (May 9th)
Running Man Revengers 2023 - Movies (May 9th)
Bloodline Killer 2024 - Movies (May 8th)
Fire Country - (May 11th)
S.W.A.T. - (May 11th)
Blue Bloods - (May 11th)
All In with Chris Hayes - (May 11th)
The ReidOut - (May 11th)
Were Here - (May 11th)
Tucker on X - (May 11th)
Lets Make a Deal - (May 11th)
The Beat with Ari Melber - (May 11th)
MSNBC Reports Andrea Mitchell Reports - (May 10th)
Deadline- White House - (May 10th)
The Price Is Right - (May 10th)
Have I Got News for You - (May 10th)
The Bold and the Beautiful - (May 10th)
Double the Money - (May 10th)
The Talk - (May 10th)
Earth Odyssey with Dylan Dreyer - (May 10th)
The Kelly Clarkson Show - (May 10th)
The Young and the Restless - (May 10th)
The Big Steam Adventure - (May 10th)