Let's see, last week I went with a 1950's three-and-a-half hour Japanese dramatic epic by one of the finest cinematic directors in history. Sounds like a good time to swing the pendulum the other way and go with a 1980's eighty-seven minute comedy co-directed by one of the few conservative directors in Hollywood, no? By all means click through, but please don't call me Shirley.
Airplane! (1980)
Despite being almost thirty years old and despite being structured as a spoof of the kind of airline disaster movies that just aren't made anymore (with the possible exception of Snakes on a Plane), Airplane! continues to make me laugh.
Like the only other comedy to thus-far make the Five Star Friday list (the first Austin Powers), Airplane!relies on quick hits of absurdist (and, admittedly, sometimes stupid) humor as well as thorough mockery of the cinematic conventions found in the genre it's skewering. As a result, even if a joke falls flat, you don't have to wait long for another to pop up and make you giggle. Moreover, while the day where you could drop a line from Airplane! and have people instantly recognize it is long past, if you watch the film with family or friends, you'll be hard pressed to avoid using those lines in each other's company in the weeks to follow.
"Pardon me, I speak jive."
"Ever been in a Turkish prison?"
"Shell shock. He thinks he's Ethel Merman."
Airplane! also boasts a talented cast of actors, some of whom were not then known for comic performances, but who ended up knocking their roles so far out of the park that they became comedy staples thereafter (in particular, Lloyd Bridges).
Lastly, a tip of the hat goes to the film's co-director David Zucker, whose more recent cinematic efforts have left a lot to be desired, but who has shown a willingness to mock his left-leaning Hollywood peers.
Great choice - did you happen to notice that I referenced Airplane! in this post? http://www.yeahrightblog.com/yeah_right/2009/10/no-dancing-in-the-practical-utopia.html
What do you think of Kentucky Fried Movie, an earlier movie from Zucker et al? It is far more juvenile than Airplane!, but if you can get past that I think it's at least as funny.
Posted by: LarryK | October 23, 2009 at 12:25 PM
I actually did notice your nod to "Airplane!" and that's why I decided to go with it this week (and then whiffed on mentioning that fact.)
As for "Kentucky Fried Movie" I actually haven't seen it. It's one of those films in my very, very long Netflix queue, though.
Posted by: Isangeles | October 24, 2009 at 03:13 PM