Bullets over Broadway (1994)

How do i do justice to such a bizzarely well crafted movie?

I never was a huge Woody Allen fan and i still don't consider myself to be so, but this movie had me questioning my own tastes. So basically it stars John Cusack, Diane Weist (who won her 2nd Oscar for her role) Jennifer Tilly and Chazz Palminteri.

John Cusack writes a a play, but the only way to get it produced is for a mobster to produce it for him, but there is a catch- the mobsters girlfriend has to be in it, and well, she can't act.

I don't have a lot of time to talk about this movie as i have to go somewhere with a friend but i will say: it is funny, well acted, witty, bizzare and dramatic. It is both a great satire on the theater in the 1920s and a great portrayal of it. It comes with my recommendation.

"Love is deep, sex only has to go a few inches" Ellen (Mary Louise-Parker), Bullets over Broadway

My ideal comedy....

I still love movies, i try to see as many good ones as possible and if that means paying the money to go to the cinema i am all for it. But somehow i always find myself wondering how it could have been better, did Megan Fox really need to say "you give me such a wettie" in Jennifer's Body? That was really a cringe worthy line, the movie wasn't that flash either. Really i have to wonder sometimes how the movie stars of the classic studio era would have implied anything raunchy. I've seen movies with double entendre's that you really had to listen to understand and love and they were way funnier than Jennifer's Body. Enough about that movie.

I love how they implied things, i suppose there is something to be said for subtlety. I kind of just want to see a movie that has the double entendre's and dry wit of the classic era combined with the darkness of modern comedies like (here i go again) Jennifer's Body. That was really dark, it had some good idea's but it's attempts at being edgy were kind of cheap and awkward. However if i took the best things about the movie (the action and storyline) and combined it with the comedy of old, then i'd be closer to my ideal film.

I suppose it is just a pipe dream and i feel silly for even saying it aloud. But it's true. The recent death of one of the last great movie stars, Elizabeth Taylor, has sort of spurred this post. I decided not to do a whole post on her specifically because in truth i haven't seen many of her movies. But i do know that she was THE movie star. Her sheer presence in a film made it watchable, even The Flintstones. I suppose that anyone who watches an Elizabeth Taylor movie will see just that: Elizabeth Taylor. She could act (she was great in Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf), but i'm not sure that was why she was so successful. Personally i think it was her looks (i wish i had those eyes) and her attitude. That's my opinion. Here another of my opinions: i thought she'd live forever. Her movie's will though.

Back to what i was saying. The comedy of the classic era (at least the good ones) were witty, screwball and lighthearted. I loved them, i want the modern sex comedy to be mixed with the screwball and slapstick of the classics. It would be epic.

Then there are the stars. I'd want....
Johnny Depp
Cary Grant
Katharine Hepburn
Anne Hathaway
Jack Lemmon
Tina Fey
Natalie Wood
James Dean (i am just curious how he would have been in a comedy)
Robin Williams (circa Mork and Mindy)
Mae West
The Marx Brothers
Tony Curtis
Barbra Streisand (circa What's Up Doc?)
Liz Taylor (circa Father of the bride)
Spencer Tracy (circa Woman of the year)
Madeline Kahn
Gene Wilder
directed by Frank Capra
written by: Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and Billy Wilder

That is who would be in my perfect comedy. With a cast like that it would have to be a road movie or something, but still... it would be so cool. Even if it is unattainable.

This was a pretty pointless post....

"Is that a gun in your pocket or you just glad to see me?" Marlo Manners, (Mae West) Sextette (1978)

My Second Serving of Duck Soup

I watched Duck Soup again recently and have a wildly different opinion. I saw the lines as inspired and witty, in fact i laughed in every scene and at 98% of what the Marx Bros said/did (the other 2% i was shewing people away from my room). I found the songs, while not cute and catchy to be very funny (especially the first song that Groucho sings).

Now i didn't feel thirsty, but i must say that i only ever feel thirsty while i watch musical comedies, while this was musical it's far more comedy than musical and i suppose that my feelings prior to watching it had an effect on my viewing skills, (hence why i always watch things twice). I have written the film down to buy, along with several other Marx Bros films that i think i shall enjoy (and even if i don't i can just keep them in my movie cabinet to look good). It's such a shame the this was Zeppo's last film his brothers, despite his small role in it i liked seeing him there for some reason. *Sigh* Groucho, Harpo, Chico and sometimes Zeppo will always be how people say who was in the Marx's Bros films.

While i still don't believe it was a masterful comedy (although i can see why many people say otherwise) i think if i watch again i will enjoy it even more. This is the kind of movie i like, the kind that i can watch over again and enjoy even more. Very few films make me feel like this. I think i enjoyed it more the second time because i watched it alone, the first time i watched it with my dad who talks through movies and doesn't 'get' certain styles of comedy. So i suppose i didn't 'get' it at first because he caused me to miss bits of it.

I don't think i would recommend it to any of my friends since they think that Disaster Movie was funny so clearly have bad senses when it comes to good comedy movies, so no i wouldn't recommend it to them, but to other people who are way different to them. Anyway i enjoyed it much more the second time and am sure that if i see it a third time (i have to take it back to the rental shop tomorrow) it'll be a joy to watch.

"I'll see you at the opera tonight, i'll hold your seat till you get there. After you get there you're on your own" Rufus T. Firefly