Kiss Kiss Bang Bang review

 Number 602 on the top 1000 films of all time is Shane Black's 2005 crime-caper Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr) is a burglar and petty crook who after on the run from the police worms his way into a high-profile acting role and fancy Hollywood party. There he meets private detective 'Gay' Perry Van Shrike (Val Kilmer._ Lockhart becomes mixed up in Van Shrike's murder investigation. Michelle Monaghan co-stars.

In the 1990's, Roberty Downey Jr was one of the hottest properties in Hollywood earning Oscar nods for playing Charlie Chaplin. This all came crashing down at the end of the decade following a string of high-profile drug arrests and imprisonments. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang marked a clear resurgence in his career.

In many ways, the lovable rogue of Harry Lockhart served as a bleuprint for Downey's most famous role of Tony Stark aka Iron Man. Lockhart is a charismatic if annoying jerk whose mile-an-hour mouth gets him into a lot of trouble. Mix that in with the straight-laced Van Shrike (Val Kilmer) and you have a very funny film.

Much of the film's humour comes from its meta-fictional, tongue-in-cheek tone with Lockhart providing amusing narration that pokes fun at the noir films of old. More specifically, he pokes fun at the convoluted plots that you might see in noir films starring Old Bogey. Personally, I've always found these films too smart for their own good, so it was nice seeing this be referenced. Although I would argue this film's storyline was similarly convoluted. It almost needed a cork bord and multiple reels of twine to figure out.

Yes, the film was convoluted but I would also argue that Michelle Monaghan was under-utilised. She seemed to spend much of the film in a sexy santa costume and could have had more to do. She is a good actress with a proven career from TV's True Detective to the silver screen with Gone Baby Gone. It would have been nice to have seen her do more.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. And I very much enjoyed its parodying of the noir films of old.

Blazing Saddles review

 Number 507 on the top 1000 films of all time is Mel Brooks' parody of the Western genre: Blazing Saddles.

Bart (Clavon Little) is a black railway worker in 1974 on the American frontier. When the townspeople of Rock Ridge realise they're going to be bullied out by the corrupt politician Hedley Lemar (Harvey Korman) they designate Bart to be the sheriff of the town. He is assisted by alcoholic gunslinger Jim the Waco Kid. (Gene Wilder)

My favourite Mel Brooks' film is his parody of Robin Hood: Men in Tights. I thought it was absolutely hilarious and so clever. In many ways Blazing Saddles was his warm-up act - to a lesser extent, you also had Young Frankenstein. But Blazing Saddles shared the same meta-humour as Men In Tights. Men in Tights even hearkened back to its spiritual predecessor.

Granted, Blazing Saddles gets a bit ridiculous toward the end where it not only breaks the fourth but the fifth, sixth and seventh walls. Bart and Jim's posse fight with Hedley Lamar's posse spills out onto a neighbouring film set and the real world with Lemar escaping to a nearby cinema. The cinema is showing none other than Blazing Saddles. It was silly, but I didn't mind.

The film was full of tis funny meta-humour like when Lamar recruits a posse and everybody from the SS to the KKK and the Hells Angels turn up.

Yet this film wasn't all just humour. There was also some good performances from Cleavon Little - for the longest time I thought it was Richard Pryor in the lead role, but he just wrote the script. Gene Wilder also showed his comedic chops with a touch of emotional intensity as Jim.

Overall, I enjoyed Blazing Saddles. Sure it was silly at times, but it was just a warm up for Men in Tights. Mel brooks was a master of parody, wasn't he?

Young Frankenstein review

Number 279 on the top 1000 films of all time is Mel Brooks' parody of the horror genre ‘Young Frankenstein.’

Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) is the grandson of the legendary Victor Frankenstein. But he wants nothing to do with his grandfather, so much so, that he goes by “Fronkensteen.” However, upon returning to Transylvannia, he soon returns to his grandfather’s experiments aided by his deformed servant I-gor (Marty Feldman) and his love interest and assistant Inga. (Terri Garr)

Mel Brooks is well-known for his parodies from Blazing Saddles to the fantastic Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Although primarily a loving pastiche of the Frankenstein films of the thirties, it also pastiches the horror genre of a whole. Mel Brooks utilised a number of transitions, such as the screenwipes that you would never see today.

He also made the unusual choice of rendering the film in black and white. Yet this stylistic decision coupled with the background scenery of houses painted at abstract angles, made for a delightful call-back to the German expressionist films of the thirties. Brooks’ scenery, music and camerawork wouldn’t have been out of place in a Fritz Lang film.

Wilder and Feldman were also brilliant. Wilder gave it his all, as the maniacal Frankenstein. He was delightfully over-the-top, just how you would expect in one of the horror films of old. Marty Feldman provided most of the laughs as the hapless assistant I-gor. Some of this came from his brilliant improvisational talents. I-gor has a hump which Feldman kept secretly moving from side to side. When Frankenstein questions him about this, I-gor replies “what hump?”

Lastly, I have to give some credit to Terri Garr who played Inga. She very much encapsulated the standard damsel-in-distress prone to standing around and looking pretty/scared. It’s a role you would commonly expect from the old horror films. And it’s a role that she did well.

Yet despite all this, the film felt lacking. Sure it was funny, but I wasn’t crying tears of laughter. I’m glad I saw it the once, but I don’t need to see it again. 

Airplane! review

 Number 475 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1980 parody Airplane!

Parodying disaster movies especially the 1957 Zero Hour!, Airplane! follows Ted Striker (Robert Hays,) an alcoholic combat pilot with severe PTSD. Still yearning after his lost love, air stewardess Elaine Dickinson (Julie Hagerty) Striker buys a seat on her plane to win her back. But when an epidemic of food poisoning cripples half of the flight crew including the pilot, it is up to Ted to save the day.

They certainly don't make movies like this anymore. They couldn't because they would get cancelled. And that's because Airplane! is as un-PC as you can get. From the white woman translating jive speak to the passengers killing themselves after hearing Ted pine for Elaine to Elaine inflating the autopilot in a rather provocative fashion, Airplane! is as outrageous as can be. And this outrageousness is what made it so funny. In today's day and age, it feels like everybody is so sensitive, so it's nice to see a comedy that does push the envelope.

And this was only complimented by the great cast. From Leslie Nilsen to Peter Graves and Lloyd Bridges, these actors were deliberately cast, because they were well-known serious and not comedic actors. It was great to see well-known tough men play more comical parts and they played them well.

Airplane! is packed full of jokes from the start to the end - from the squabbling tannoy announcers to the inflatable autopilot having an inflatable girlfriend. And Airplane! utilises so many comedy styles from slapstick to surrealism to physical comedy to gallows humour and running gags. This variety helped keep the film fresh, for the most part - more on this later. One of my favourite scenes is when the passengers sing River of Jordan for a terminally ill child only for said child to start convulsing while everybody else sings on.

However, I would also argue the film's greatest strength was also its greatest weakness. With so many jokes, some were bound to flop and flop they did. Some of the jokes were predictable or cheesy. But I have a bigger gripe with the running jokes. Running gags can be funny as long as they're not overused, but the very nature of running jokes means they will be used a lot. Striker is an alcoholic who throws drink anywhere but his mouth. It was funny seeing him throw drink in his face once or twice but after a few times it became very tedious.

All that said, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Yes, at times it was daft and silly, but it was also a refreshing and hilarious comedy, especially for today's stifled climate.