30 DoC: 8 1/2 and Mel Brooks

A while ago, I wrote about how you can connect RAGING BULL in one step to SPACE JAM (seriously). In that same entry, I also suggested that RAGING BULL might be the best-looking black-and-white film ever made.

I might have to eat crow on that one, because 8 1/2 is ridiculously gorgeous.


I'm not the world's biggest Fellini fan, but GODDAMN:




And all of these images take place within the first five minutes of the film!

8 1/2 is justifiably praised for its lush cinematography, its brilliant post-modern analysis of the filmmaker and the film, and for all of the things that make film profs feel tingly inside. Those are all valid reasons, and I love them too, but for me, it's the humour in 8 1/2 that truly sets it apart.

The cliche of older foreign films being sombre, highbrow examinations on death and misery gets shown the lie here: 8 1/2 is steeped in sex, jealousy, and lust, and it's often riotously funny while it does it. The "harem" dream scene is a mini-masterpiece within a masterpiece, lampooning male desire in a scene that wouldn't be too out of place in a Mel Brooks film.

Of course, comparing Brooks to Fellini is a little facetious of me, but not as much as it may seem. Brooks gets a dismissive shake from the the elitists as "the fart guy", and I'm sure there are those who would argue he is more closely linked to say, the Wayans, then Fellini, but his films are brilliant skewerings of racism, scientific rationality, and politics. I mean, he even shot a black-and-white film!

So Criterion, where's the Blu-ray of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN?

Kidding. Kind of. That'd be totally awesome, though.

A Tale of Three ROBIN HOODs

The title of this blog is, as you may observe, Tony Scott's Only Fan. As such, I find myself obligated to follow a sort of self-mandated mission statement of sorts, which consists of the following three general guidelines:

1) Acknowledge Tony Scott's awesomeness at all times.

2) Work in as many references to Tony's extended filmography as humanly possible.

3) Viciously attack Ridley Scott as an overrated hack, so that one day in the distant future someone will say, "Oh, Tony Scott's brother?" when discussing the director of ALIEN, BLADE RUNNER, and 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE.

Which brings us to ROBIN HOOD, Ridley's regrettable attempt to work once again in the historical film genre. To adequately present my disdain for the film, I give you the following compare-and-contrast chart between Ridley's ROBIN HOOD, the 1973 Disney take, and Mel Brooks' ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS.

	Robin Hood (‘73)	Men In Tights	Robin Hood (‘10)
Portrayal of Robin Hood	Precocious fox with a death wish – the clear winner	Cary Elwes – mostly reacting to things and grimacing.	Russell Crowe, mumbling and generally unkempt
Historical Accuracy	Who gives a fuck when it’s this entertaining? Plus there’s that whole minstrel rooster thing to add a subjective cop-out	Dave Chappelle playing a man with rights, freedoms	Who gives a fuck when it’s this boring?
Soundtrack	“Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly what a day”	Mel Brooks-written raps	Marc Streitenfeld doing a passable Hans Zimmer impression
Most Memorable Line	“It appears that I now have an outlaw for an inlaw”	“King illegal forest to pig wild kill in it a is!”	“Rise and rise, until lambs become lions”
Most Disturbing Moment	Cross-dressing bear stuffs money into bra, encourages cat-calls.	Cross-dressing Robert Downey Jr. lookalike moving fake breast around on chest.	When I paid $4.50 to see this, then another $3 in late fees.
Maid Marion	A fox who plays badminton – TOO SOON.	Is Peggy from THE MASK.	Cate Blanchett, since it is in her contract to play these roles.
Merry Men	Very few to be seen, other than a bunch of kids that tag along and are given lethal weapons by Robin.	Chorus line drunkards – probably the most accurate portrayal.	Not really any to be seen, unless you want to count that kid wearing a rabbit on his face.
Coherent Political Philosophy?	Borderline anarchist – Robin appears to like King Richard, but despise most of the principles of government	None on evidence.	Main belief appears to be “Everyone can unite against the French”, but there’s also some token equality-of-men stuff.
Burning Castles?	Hells yes!	Sadly, no.	Does a drawbridge count?
Bryan Adams?	No	Nope	No, but there is that dude from Great Big Sea.
Most Badass Moment of Archery	Splitting one arrow with another	Sadly misguided attempt at missile defence commentary combined with an attempt to explain where The Wave came from.	Ummm… he shoots a guy in the back? OH, BUT IN SLOW MOTION.
The Bottom Line	Gets the Robin Hood mythos	The best jokes are from other Mel Brooks movies	Is not, in fact, the Robin Hood mythos and tells a story no one wants to see.