The Blues Brothers.

Review #1462: The Blues Brothers.

Cast: 
John Belushi ("Joliet" Jake Blues), Dan Aykroyd (Elwood Blues), featuring James Brown (Reverend Cleophus James), Cab Calloway (Curtis), Ray Charles (Ray), Aretha Franklin (Mrs. Murphy), Steve "the Colonel" Cropper (Lead guitar), Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass guitar), Murphy Dunne (keyboards), Willie "Too Big" Hall (drums), Tom "Bones" Malone (trombone), Lou "Blue Lou" Marini (saxophone), Matt "Guitar" Murphy (lead guitar), "Mr. Fabulous" Alan Rubin (trumpet), with Carrie Fisher (Mystery Woman), Henry Gibson (The Head Nazi), John Candy (Burton Mercer), John Lee Hooker (Street Slim), and Kathleen Freeman (Sister Mary Stigmata) Directed by John Landis (#328 - Trading Places, #410 - Coming to America, and #513 - Spies Like Us, and #1114 - Animal House)

Review: 
"...A good man, but a bad boy." 

Every decade had plenty of entertainment to spare, and the 1980s was certainly a decade among itself in trying to reach audiences every which way it could, for better or worse. A newly forged era of studio films with the stars came about in this decade that emphasized high-concept ideas for films to go along with the freshly-devised blockbuster (an old term in the 1940s that came back into prominence with the release of films like Jaws and Star Wars). One film to represent a high point in comedy to start the decade off is this film, directed by a newly-honed showman director in John Landis and talents in John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. They had met while each were performing in The Second City comedy troupe in 1973 (Aykroyd initially joined the Toronto troupe before being part of the Chicago group). Both were original members of the television series Saturday Night Live when it began in 1975, and they both had developed interest in music from a young age, with Aykroyd being interested in the blues while growing up near a blues/jazz club in Ottawa and Belushi having formed his own band while growing up in Chicago lasted for exactly one single (where he played drums and sang). In 1978, they formed The Blues Brothers, which turned from a musical sketch on SNL to an actual band that had Belushi as vocalist and Aykroyd as harmonica/vocalist while being accompanied by musicians of the time such as Paul Shaffer for their debut album in Briefcase Full of Blues (with Cropper, Dunn, Murphy, Malone, Marini, Rubin participating in both the album and the film), which did covers of blues and soul songs that ranged from "Soul Man" to "Groove Me".

This was the second of three collaborations in film that they would do after leaving SNL and having their own band (the other films being 1941 and Neighbors). The script for this film was originally done by Aykroyd, who wrote over 300 pages. Obviously this couldn't work for just one film, so it fell to Landis to help cut the script down over the course of a couple of week (it did not stop the film from possibly being too long, since the first cut of the film was actually two-and-a-half fours long). We are talking about a film that involves folks on the run from the police, Illinois Nazis, and country singers, after all. The film had its share of production issues, such as the budget, which Universal had actually settled to initially make for $17.5 million that went to over $30 million at the end along with trying to keep Belushi away from going over on his addiction to cocaine, but it all eventually worked out for a tremendous success in the end. There aren't that many comedies that can also be thought of as a musical (or at least that what Landis said to the crew), especially one that presents musical greats and gives them each a chance to sing a number, whether it is Calloway singing his classic "Minnie the Moocher" with a big band behind him once again or an energetic Brown (as if one expects anything different from the "Godfather of Soul"), and so on and so on - with the Blues Brothers following right behind in doing entertaining covers of songs to go with it ("Theme from Rawhide" was a song I head long before I saw this film, but it doesn't make it any less charming). Simply put, Belushi and Aykroyd are a dream team of energy and deadpan that makes for a mostly successful ballad of humor and songs in a manic state that holds up well after four decades. This is the kind of film where a stroll through the mall with cars is only just the first layer of the spectacle cake that makes for silly fun to go with a fair supporting group to go alongside our main duo (such as a jilted would-be assassin played by Fisher) and a sneaky Gibson. On the whole, this 133-minute package of music and comedy might go over the top in chaos, but it has a cast and director that make the best of it with success more often than not to make a worthy film to represent a decade with.


Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.
Now then, let me announce the films slated for review in July. It was a list worked over to try and fit the best possible representations of the decade without going completely overboard - despite that, there are 32 slated reviews, with several films that didn't make the shortlist that could be done at a later time. Although I do wish there was a special review for Canada Day or Independence Day, I do hope that this month will prove satisfactory for some fun reviews of interesting movies, both with new and old faces.

Animal House.

Review #1114: Animal House.

Cast: 
John Belushi (John "Bluto" Blutarsky), Tim Matheson (Eric "Otter" Stratton), John Vernon (Dean Vernon Wormer), Peter Riegert (Donald "Boon" Schoenstein), Thomas Hulce (Lawrence "Pinto" Kroger), Stephen Furst (Kent "Flounder" Dorfman), Bruce McGill (Daniel Simpson "D-Day" Day), James Widdoes (Robert Hoover), Douglas Kenney (Stork), James Daughton (Gregory "Greg" Marmalard), Mark Metcalf (Douglas C. Neidermeyer), Kevin Bacon (Chip Diller), Verna Bloom (Marion Wormer), Donald Sutherland (Professor Dave Jennings), Karen Allen (Katy), Sarah Holcomb (Clorette DePasto), DeWayne Jessie (Otis Day), Mary Louise Weller (Mandy Pepperidge), Martha Smith (Barbara Sue "Babs" Jansen), and Cesare Danova (Mayor Carmine DePasto) Directed by John Landis (#328 - Trading Places, #410 - Coming to America, and #513 - Spies Like Us)

Review: 
Fellow readers, the following review has a bit of history involving the production intermixed with the normal parts you would see in a normal review - whether you read it or not is up to you, but I feel it is necessary to have it alongside the review (located in the second paragraph) for context. Thank you and enjoy. 

On July 28, 1978, Animal House premiered in theaters, the brain child of its three writers, Chris Miller, Douglas Kenney, and Harold Ramis. Each were involved in some capacity with National Lampoon prior to the creation of the film. Miller was one of the writing talents for the magazine, and it was his own experiences in the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity at Dartmouth College being an inspiration for the film. Kenney (a graduate of Harvard University) was one of the co-founders of the magazine (alongside Henry Beard and Robert Hoffman), with contributions including the satirical short story Bored of the Rings (alongside Beard) and being involved in editing capacity in the magazine from 1970 to 1976. Ramis had starred (along with Belushi) in the comedy radio show The National Lampoon Radio Hour. He utilized ideas from a treatment he had written (named "Freshman Year") that had been based off his experiences at Washington University in St. Louis. The director with the task of directing a project was John Landis, whose work on The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) helped get him the job for this movie. It was Landis that assisted with casting certain actors, wanting unknowns and character actors for the parts, such as originally wanting Jack Webb (of Dragnet fame) to play the Dean, although the rejection by Webb led to Vernon being approached for the role. The movie was shot in 32 days in Eugene, Oregon (the location for the University of Oregon) on a budget of just $2 million.

With all of the praise (or occasional criticism) and history one could read on this film, it's amusing to list all that for something that is an energetic and unapologetic piece of comedy that never relents on its assault of humor in its 109 minute run-time, most of all coming from Belushi, who manages to generate numerous laughs from his expressions that balance the fine line between noise and overbearing, reminding me in some way of silent film comedians. Incidentally, Landis told Belushi to play the character as a mix between Harpo Marx and the Cookie Monster. The result certainly seems to be a success, with some of his lines falling into memorability, such as the toga sequence for example or the scene near the climax. Matheson is also a fine highlight, showcasing a fair degree of charm to along with a share of amusement. Vernon proves entertaining at being the adversarial straight man to everything that goes on, playing to the rules that you would expect each time he is on screen. Riegert proves fairly refreshing, and his scenes with Allen (who along with Bacon was making their film debut) have their share of charm. Hulce and Furst don't have too much time, but they each make for a few laughs at times. Other members of the main amusement group such as McGill and Widdoes also prove effective with their time on screen. Daughton and Metcalf prove to effect contrasts with the other members. Other highlights include Sutherland and Bloom, who prove to be cool delights in their respective time on screen. It has an episodic nature to its narrative, but it is an interesting experience to go through in part because it never really lets go of just having fun with the gags and lines that it throws at the audience, including some fun music, with highlights being "Louie Louie" from Richard Berry and "Shout" by Otis Day and the Knights (which has its own scene for great effect). There are numerous highlights, and it would be a shame to spoil the fun for the viewer, but one particular favorite part of mine is the cafeteria sequence, ending in the messy way you might expect with help from Belushi. There is a pitch and execution to everything that goes on that makes this one of the most enjoyable comedies to watch to this very day.

The film was a huge success at the box office, making over $100 million while being one of the top ten grossing films of 1978 (alongside other films such as Superman). A year later, the major three networks all tried to make their own sitcoms inspired from the film, such as Delta House on ABC, which retained some of the cast such as Vernon and Furst. However, the raunchy humor (along with other things) did not make the transition to television, and fights with the network doomed the show after 13 episodes. The attempt by CBS (named Co-ed Fever) lasted one episode before cancellation. NBC's attempt with Brothers and Sisters also proved unsuccessful. You can see the influence the film has had with raunchy coming-of-age films, such as Porky's and American Pie - with varying quality. In any case, Animal House is a film best enjoyed through watchful eyes and ears for each semblance of unfettered amusement that still endures after four decades since its release.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.