Sinister Trout Speaks

Here is one for the books, Mel Brooks 1st movie, The Producers.  No not that crappy musical he did!  I’m talking about the original.

The Producers is one of Mel Brooks best and sets the style and tone for his future movies.

If you are not familiar with plot, here’s a quick re-cap:  An out of luck producer who seduces old women and a meek accountant decide to put on a musical about Hitler.  Funny right?

The Producers doesn’t suffer too much from the usual Mel Brooks slap-stick.  I remember showing this movie to one of my friends and he lost his lunch laughing so hard.

The casting is golden with a young Gene Wilder as Leo Bloom and Zero Mostel as Max Bealistock.

I’ve seen the musical version of The Producers and though it was hand held by Mr. Brooks himself, its crap when compared to his original.

The Producers:  How can making fun of Hitler not be funny?  Look for a cameo appearance by Mr. Brooks as a Nazi officer!

I can’t believe I haven’t talked about this film yet!

If you love Kevin Spacey, then Swimming With Sharks is the movie for you.

It depicts an up and coming movie fanatic, Guy, who lands his dream job working for a movie studio.  However; his rise to the top is shattered by his tyrannical boss, Buddy, who torments and berates him at any given opportunity.

What Buddy puts Guy through is pure hell and hilarity.

Kevin Spacey and Frank Whaley play off each other brilliantly and their classic Equal Blue Sweet-n-Low Pink scene should forever go down in movie comedic history.

That being said the film does have a dark edge to it and that is probably what makes it so great.

Swimming With Sharks: If you haven’t seen this movie, slap yourself!  Then go rent it!

Steve Martin is great.  He’ll surely go down as one of the legendary comedic geniuses of our time.

Personally I enjoy his performances that are over the top.

In the 80’s Steve Martin did calm down a bit with movies like LA Story and Parenthood.  One of his best performance during that time was the 1988 hit Roxanne.

This is Steve at his best - still is crazy but with tempered delivery that makes his performance stand out - he acts!  In Roxanne the jokes are funny and the story is a terrific translation of the original play by Cyrano de Bergerac.

Running second to Steve Martin’s performance is the town Nelson, where this film was shot.  Beautiful!!  Also look for a very young Damon Wayans!

Roxanne:  I actually think this movie was nominated for best makeup!

As it was recommended by one of our readers, I took a look at Return to Oz. 

Its dark - very dark.

I take back my previous comment of The Black Hole being Disney’s darkest movie.  This one takes the cake.

Be prepared for a bit of visual shock. 

Return to Oz is void of any sparkle and glitter found in the original.  Gone are the singing and musical numbers.  They are replaced with a faithful visual adaptation of the L. Frank Baum’s novels.

Probably the coolest part of the film is the claymation of the Gnome King and his Minions.  Its an art form that sadly has been replaced by the CGI of today.

Though not all that great a movie - I dug it, and its worth a rental.

Return to Oz: Fairuza Balk’s 1st movie and actually the same age as Dorothy in the novels.

If you haven’t noticed I like the comedies. 

In these days where we are bombarded with news of war, natural disasters and economic turmoil, its important to remember to laugh.

If there is one comedy that should be on your Netflix cue, its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

This film is considered by many the godfather of all comedies.

Not only is it one of the funniest movies ever made; it’s line up of comedic and dramatic actors is untouched and includes:

•   Sid Caesar
•   Buddy Hackett
•   Jonathan Winters
•   Milton Berle
•   Jimmy Durante
•   Terry Thomas
•   Ethel Merman
•   Spencer Tracy
•   Jim Backus
•   Peter Falk
•   Eddie Anderson
•   Jack Benny
•   Edie Adams
•   Mickey Rooney
•   Phil Silvers
•   Don Knotts
•   Jerry Lewis
•   The Three Stooges
•   and many many more….

The story follows a bunch of travelers who come across a dying con man who runs his car off the highway.  With his last dying breath he tells all of them of a vast fortune that can be found under a "big W’. 

Well you can probably guess what happens from here - its a dash for the cash and "mad"ness ensues. 

Though over 40 years old, the movie has aged well and proves that true comedy is not sex, fart or drug jokes.  It is a true classic that deserves a viewing by any fan of comedy.

Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World: With 3 hours running its a lot of laughter.  Don’t worry there is an intermission - seriously there is!!