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Moriarty Sings Along With THE PRODUCERS!!
Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Oy vey.
What happened? Admittedly, I’ve never seen the stage show, so perhaps this is a faithfully rendered film version of that musical, and fans will flock to it and find themselves deeply entertained, but if that’s the case, then I think I’m very, very glad I never saw it onstage, because I sort of hated this movie.
To be fair, I’m a huge fan of the original 1968 film. Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder had an amazing comic chemistry in that movie, and the entire thing felt genuinely dangerous. Mel Brooks was, for lack of a better word, hip. THE PRODUCERS played edgy in every way, whether it was the Nazi humor (which must have been more insane when it was still only a quarter-century after the Holocaust) or the performance by Dick Shawn as L.S.D. or even the outré camp of Roger De Bris and his assistant Carmen Ghia.
So why is it that this new version feels so painfully square, so toothless? Has the additional quarter-century since the first film dated the comic concepts that much? I mean, we’re now fifty years out from the Holocaust, and whole generations have grown up having no personal connection to those events, so SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER doesn’t carry the same punch for them. And the camp that played as hilarious in 1968 comes across now as incredibly dated and squirmy, even offensive. Or is it the fact that it’s been reimagined as a musical, requiring Mel Brooks and co-writer Thomas Meehan to inject a bunch of crappy ballads that stop the comedy dead? Or could it just be that Susan Stroman’s work as a director is so painfully devoid of visual invention that this feels like the worst kind of filmed play, static and claustrophobic?
Whatever the case, I found myself torn by THE PRODUCERS from the first scene, and I was never able to find enough in it to like for me to be able to recommend it. Considering how much I love the first film, this has got to be one of the year’s biggest disappointments for me.
Let’s start with Broderick and Lane, since this movie is all about them. I know they’ve won awards for their work. I’m aware of how many tickets the show has sold, and how gigantic they were in Broadway terms. You don’t need to explain to me the hubris of actually “reviewing” these performances at this point, because they’ve long since been canonized. I get it. But maybe that’s the problem. They’ve done this so many times that by the time they did it in front of the camera, it was... fossilized. Matthew Broderick in particular seems to have long since stopped actually performing the role. There’s a strange sort of autopilot that you can see in his eyes, like he’s somewhere else, counting a bathtub full of money, while his body goes through the motions. And it doesn’t help that his performance is so broad you practically need an extra lens to fit in all the ham. Nathan Lane at least seems to have found a way to make Max Bialystock into something unique to himself. Lane inhabits his role, and he’s generally pretty funny in the film. He can’t help that the play devolves into total pap in a few places. Lane doesn’t appear nearly as comfortable trying to make this cartoon world seem sincere for a few moments. He’s at home when he can let it rip.
Meanwhile, what Broderick’s done is a sort of faint echo of the great Gene Wilder’s work. It’s the second time this year we’ve seen a fairly accomplished actor try to step into Gene Wilder’s shoes, and it’s the second time they’ve failed. That’s a testament to just how brilliant and strange Leo Bloom was in that original film. His breakdown over his blue blankie is one of the great moments of Wilder’s career, and it immediately takes the film from a sort of Catskills-smirky thing to something unique... something dangerous. With Wilder on-deck as Bloom, anything can happen, and his terror makes perfect sense when he’s confronted with sweaty, freaky, equally-brilliant Zero Mostel. When Broderick plays the blue blankie scene and the resultant freak-out, I genuinely get the feeling he’s playing retarded. It’s like watching Cuba Gooding in RADIO. I’m not using the word as a pejorative; I think he really did make the decision to play Bloom retarded. He also gets saddled with the very worst of the songs, the sappy ballads, the personal reflection numbers that the whole show hinges on. Mel Brooks is great at writing joke songs. Funny songs. What he’s not so good at is writing heartfelt ballads, each of his playing as unbearable shmaltz.
Each of the other major players in the film deserves some sort of mention. Uma Thurman takes a nothing role as Ulla and turns it into... well... a really hot nothing role. I’ll admit it. I’m more smitten with post-divorce, post-KILL BILL Uma than I ever was with younger Uma. Her big number, “If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It” was probably the most entertaining thing in the entire film for me personally, because it was completely absurd, and Thurman throws herself at her song with total abandon. She’s not great, but she sure does try. Gary Beach is great as Roger De Bris, the director that Bialystock and Bloom hire to bring SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER to the stage, and so is Roger Bart as Carmen Ghia. The roles they’re playing... not so great. “Keep It Gay” is funny, but I can’t help but feel that Brooks isn’t sending up the ‘60s stereotype of the sissy so much as he’s simply perpetuating it. This movie’s idea of what’s edgy is thirty years out of date, so now it’s just sort of embarrassing, like when your grandmother talks about “the coloreds” at Thanksgiving dinner. Finally, there’s Will Ferrell as Franz Liebkind, the playwright and momentary star of SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER. His role’s been expanded from the original film in a way that doesn’t really work, except that it gives Will Ferrell a second song. I really miss the fact that there’s no L.S.D. in this version. He was one of my favorite characters. Then again, Dick Shawn’s just as hard to replace as Gene Wilder, so I can’t imagine who they would have gotten.
Susan Stroman may be a good choreographer. Personally, I don’t like much of the staging in this picture. It’s not memorable, and it rarely makes use of the real locations or the sets in any specific way. She’s not a good director, though, and I’d be surprised if she ends up making more movies. John Bailey and Charles Minsky are both listed as cinematographers on the film, but I’d be hard-pressed to believe this is the work of Bailey, a long-time vet who’s worked on some gorgeous films over the years. This movie’s flat, ugly, bright and garish. I don’t think she just shot the play from the third row of a theater. She tries to open it up. She’s just doesn’t have any particular knack for how to create energy in a sequence or how to draw you into a scene. The movie feels more like a mugging at times, like you’re being shaken in your seat while someone yells “YOU’RE BEING ENTERTAINED, DAMN YOU!”
If it sounds like I hold this film up to a high standard because of the original, I do. I also come to this film after hearing years and years of hype about how great this version was. Color me confused about the whole thing. I think this is a miscalculation, and I hope Mel doesn’t go through with YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN like he’s threatened. Leave the classics alone, Mel. You made three perfect films in your career, more than most people ever could, and now you’ve remade one of them badly. Don’t sully the reputations of the other two. Please?
I’ve got lots more stuff going up for you in the next day or so. Keep coming back. Until then...
"Moriarty" out.
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Dec 19, 2005 4:33:09 AM CST
Whoah WAIT, Mel is thinking about redoing Young Frankenstein
by thirteen 13
I certainly hope he decides against that. Some films could use a remake, and some shouldn't be touched. Young Frankenstein is one that shouldn't be touched. I'll probably go see The Producers, but after reading Mori's review I'll bump it down to a matinee price slot.
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This comes as no surprise, given the trailer that looked so incredibly dull. Same with Pink Panther, the original is (still) great, but when you see the new version... you recognize the jokes but it just makes you narcoleptic. It's a shame though' cause the original material deserves to get a new audience, even if it's via a remake.
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The Producers, Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles? Yep. Gotta be.
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Dec 19, 2005 6:25:06 AM CST
i know i speak on behalf of everyone else but MATTHEW BRODERICK
by jig98
the producers is not your average broadway show to be precise. it's a broadway show TURNED MOVIE THAT WAS A MOVIE and it raises the bar and, like spiderman 2, a lot of questions. for example, were they influenced to do the show OR movie on the show that WAS a movie. because i love seeing these terrific actors having fun with themselves. i might end up seeing this.
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Don't TOUCH Young Frankenstein!
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I still think I'll see it, because of Matt and Nate obviously, but Will Farrel is still hilarious.
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For High Anxiety? That's actually as perfect as Blazing Saddles - if not more so. Apart from one scene in High Anxiety it is a lovingly crafted parody of Hitchcock and has some of Mel's greatest scenes (the werewolf fixation, the song, 'Those who are tardy get no fruit cup', Professor Li'l old man - I could go on). Don't get me wrong - I love 'The Producers', 'Young Frankenstein' and to a lesser extent 'Blazing Saddles' but I can never understand why people forget High Anxiety and the Twelve Chairs.
This remake is unnecessary and as far as I know Mel is planning a stage musical version of Young Frankenstein rather than a film remake.
Though I'm holding out for 'Prisoners in Love' Blue skies above -
".......XIETYYYYY!" Hilarious. I LOVE High Anxiety. Korman and Leachman have never been funnier.
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The man is exceedingly funny and he looks exeedingly hilarious in the trailer.
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Thank you DocPazuzu - I was beginning to think that I was the only one - most people I talk to rate Spaceballs higher than High Anxiety and that's just wrong!!!
Key Change -
There has been, and always will be, a great divide between what is poular and what is good.
I had the same exact experience seeing "Rent" the movie. I want that 2 hours back at the end of my life. -
If anything I think people are far less willing now to mock the Nazi's than they were then. Whether this is due to a PC culture or a proper sensitivity to their atrocities I'll leave for sociologists to decide. As for Brooks, once you've seen The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein you've pretty much seen all his tricks. High Anxiety was fun, as was Silent Movie and History of the World, but neither was as great as his earlier works. By the time you get to Spaceballs, Men In Tights, etc; all the gags are reheated leftovers, only funny to those who haven't been exposed to Brooks before.
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Like Hitler - he was popular but far from good - but then again 'Germany was having trouble what a sad, sad story - needed a new leader to reform their former glory'. I do agree seriously that popular doesn't necessarily mean good - loads of movies that I could name that, in my opinion, were okay but immensely popular. Though I still maintain that High Anxiety was and is one of his greatest works - it's tighter than Blazing Saddles and just as funny - though perhaps my only criticism is that Mel played the lead. I think Silent Movie is fun and History of the World Part 1 is where it all started going wrong - some nice bits 'The Inquisition' a highlight but after that - it saddens me.
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I'm gay, and I've seen the movie and the stage show, and I just want to let you know, Moriarty, that I personally am not offended by the depictions of Carmen and Roger. They're so outrageous that no one can really take them seriously.
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Dec 19, 2005 8:29:08 AM CST
Does anyone else think the title for this story was misleading?
by dastickboy
I thought Mori was going to sing it's praises (pun intended).
I do agree with the review tho having not seen the film, why remake it? It's not that it's missing any elements or needs updating, so why bother? -
You couldn't do Blazing Saddles today. Hell, you couldn't do some of the episodes of Archie Bunker today. The word 'PC' is thrown around alot but it applies in this case. People are tight asses about anything racial, unless it's a black stand up comedian saying it. And the Jews are sacred cows at this point. The only way they're getting away with The Producers now is because it's already been made and it's a harmless goofy musical. Brooks would get lynched if he tried to do the original movie nowadays.
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When I watched the stage version, I couldn't help but think of how tame this was. It was like funny, but funny for rich people who are detatched from reality and think it passes for bawdy funny.
I remember sitting in the theater watching it and people were laughing like they were programmed to laugh. It was like they were putting an effort into laughing.
It all felt tame to me. The jokes were all heard before in some way, even if you hadn't seen the original producers.
I liked it, but walked away thinking "What's the big freaking deal?" -
It could happen.
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Dec 19, 2005 9:26:33 AM CST
The thing about the original Producers is it's one of the fe
by toby o notoby
In the beginning I always thought that it was boring at the start then really got going once the actual show within a show kicked in. Now, I find the parts in the beginning the most hilarious. "What can I do for you, Prince Mishkin?", "You mean Springtime for...who know who?". As for High Anxiety, it has one of the all time killer opening lines: "What a dramatic airport!"
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Dec 19, 2005 9:45:37 AM CST
Gene Wilder was screechy and annoying in Producers and creepy an
by mrboinfoint
The original Producers is shrill and obvious and intermittently funny, more just for the audaciousness of Springtime for Hitler. The Broadway version is hammy and broad and over-the-top, and yet feels safe and clamped down. The film version of the Broadway version is stultified and embalmed. The best filmed version of this material was seen in the season four finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry David and David Schwimmer shoulda been Bialystock and Bloom.
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Ick, I haven't heard this rumor, is he talking about turning Young Frankenstein into a musical as well?
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Do not remake Young Frankenstein. Must everything decent from the past be remade and cheapened? I understand that they might create a Broadway musical out of it. Why do they tamper with classic movies like this? Oh, well. It is Mel Brook's work, so he can do what he wants with it. I liked the original Producers a lot, but it was never a sacred cow to me. Young Frankenstein, on the other hand, may be perhaps the funniest movie that I have ever seen, at least if judged by how hard I laughed when I first saw it. I was admittedly a young kid when I saw it first in the theatres (yeah, I am that old), but it was so funny that I hurt from laughing. The only movies that compared with it to me (at that time) were the Pink Panther films. While the luster of these films does dim somewhat with time, it seems a shame to me that Brooks would diminish his legacy by doing a redux of Young Frankenstein. Oh, and also, High Anxiety was very funny, albeit not a perfect classic like Young Frankenstein. Anyway, I would personally prefer that Brooks leave Young Frankenstein be, but I wish him well regardless. I'm saddened that he lost his lovely wife recently, and wish him the best.
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High Anxiety: smarter. Blazing Saddles: Funnier. BUT, Blazing Saddles has the absolute, #1, no argument funniest line in movie history: "Where're the white women at?" Blazing Saddles Wins.
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...it's actually sixty years. Either an honest mistake or Moriarty is stuck in some wierd time warp that makes him think it's 1995. Hey Mori, how about that 'Independence Day' movie coming out next summer...I hear they blow up the whitehouse and shit. That's gonna rock! When's the teaser coming out?
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Never gets enough love.
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Dec 19, 2005 10:46:04 AM CST
from what I've read elsewhere this is much worse than the ac
by hideo kojima
I heard that the director just failed at capturing much of the musical elements from the stage show in film convincingly.. plus I heard they added some numbers that just didn't work (though I may be wrong on that...) as for Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick the criticism I heard was that they were good but because they have so much experience with the production already that you can tell they've already done the jokes a thousand times before and thus they seem bored with it making the delivery stale.
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I like to shoot first and ask questions later, but I really did here those criticisms elsewhere and am not ripping from Mori... the fact that so many people have these criticisms points to the truth behind them me thinks..
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Dec 19, 2005 10:59:20 AM CST
Mel Brooks should remake "Spaceballs Special Edition" with added
by hideo kojima
just don't touch the sacred cow that is young frankestein
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SPACEBALLS, when I first saw it, destroyed me. It's one of the funniest movies ever made. Of course, it has lost a bit of its humour over the years, but that's just because I've seen it so many times. Haven't seen THE PRODUCERS, but this remake does sound a little dodgy.
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Dec 19, 2005 11:58:57 AM CST
wow, that's the third bad review of this show from a reviewe
by newc0253
ao scott, david edelstein and now mori. they all say it reaks. it's a shame because i've never seen the stage show and i've had good friends tell me how hilarious it was: i was looking forward to seeing movie to avoid having to pay 50 quid to see it in the theatre. too bad, too bad.
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Dec 19, 2005 12:04:42 PM CST
Look, the reason you were weirded out by Mathew Broderick's
by iamnicksaicnsn
Jeez, somebody had to say it, I guess. But seriously, he can't act.
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Why would I call you an ass when I don't know who the fuck you are? My point was that comedy in general was a lot more open about racial issues and were willing to push the envelope a lot further than they are now. So get your head out of your ass before you erroneously call someone a racist, you fucking shithead.
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...well, no tip for him! High Anxiety was every bit as good as Producers, Young Frankenstein, and Blazing Saddles. In fact, I would DEFINITELY rate HA higher the Saddles. Harvey and Cloris were a scream. Mel, leave that one alone as well!
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Dec 19, 2005 1:11:10 PM CST
Dracula-Dead and Loving It should have been in black and white
by timbenzedrine
The B/W photography in Young Frankenstein is what kept it from being a run of the mill monster parody.
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Dec 19, 2005 2:18:09 PM CST
I loved the musical, and I thought the trailer for this looked H
by zikade zarathos
Doing it live, Lane and Broderick and the cast would play off the audience -- building up jokes that were working, sailing past jokes that didn't, and the whole thing had a sort of manic energy that was really infectious. I cringed when I heard they were making THIS version into a movie, because there's just no way to duplicate it, and you're left with a lot of dated, shitty material and a story you've seen done before with better actors. Brooks has a permanent "Do-Whatever-You-Want" Card, though, since YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, BLAZING SADDLES, HIGH ANXIETY and the original THE PRODUCERS. I'll just forget about DEAD AND LOVING IT and LIFE STINKS.
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Dec 19, 2005 2:26:03 PM CST
I already saw this ....in CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM - after that show
by spacesheik
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Dec 19, 2005 4:55:58 PM CST
If one of the planes on 911 had diverted to the St James Theater
by momerath
It would not have been the worst thing I had ever seen on that stage. That dubious distinction goes to the much over-hyped "The Producers". Only one memorable song which, it turns out was cribbed directly from the original movie. So, no good original songs for the show. That, and the script is so headscratchingly awful, I'm surprised anyone can even hear it over the incessant rim-shots. The most ridiculously awful Shecky Green Borsht Belt crap humour. I don't think anyone Jewish enough to get the jokes in the show. It was truly one of the worst plays I have ever seen in any theatre ever. It is a crime that it has been so hyped. It's a terrible piece of shit.
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To be followed by another "way to screw the pooch" review by Moriarty? Moriarty, you seem to be missing the larger point of revamping these beloved classics into musicals. There's a shitload of money to be made in doing it.
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Nice to see the High Anxiety love here. Never understood the Spaceballs adoration though. Dreadful film. Except for the John Hurt bit.
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I never thought Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein was very funny either. Maybe they were cutting edge for the time or something? Sort of like "Laugh In" I guess. We can look at it now though and see how lame it was. Comedy often doesn't hold up very well I don't think.
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Dec 19, 2005 6:27:48 PM CST
yeah, the rest of the world is probably wrong, Omegaman.
by hypeendshere
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Dec 19, 2005 7:21:24 PM CST
"There's a shitload of money to be made in doing it." In th
by minderbinder
And spaceballs is crap. So feel free to turn it into a crappy musical/movie musical remake. I won't care.
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He should be sealed up into a big metal ball and fired into the heart of the sun. Along with Jim Carrey, Rob Schneider and Adam Sandler. Cunts.
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Dec 19, 2005 10:08:12 PM CST
Sorry Moriarty, but you need to see a show on Broadway once in a
by pi-rate
This is a tribute to not only Broadway, but the "Golden Age" of movie musicals. This film saves the magical stage performances of Lane/Broderick for all future audiences to saver and enjoy. If you don't get the movie version of the Broadway show, then get your ass to New York City and see the real thing first.
Also you're comparing the movie version of a Broadway show adapted from a movie. The only other time that's happened (so far) is "Little Shop of Horrors", and I'm sorry - but you can't even attempt to compare the first film with the musical film. Totally independent stuff. And although "The Producers" contains a hell of a lot of stuff and fluff from the original film, it was tailored for the performances of Lane/Broderick and company. Don't compare the two films - enjoy them in their own right. -
because he uses the same formula for his films! I mean, his films are horrible failures but obviously he still gets the studio's money back with enough left for him since he still KEEPS MAKING FILMS.
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Universal marketing department take note:
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I get it. But there's nothing here to enjoy. I don't care where it originally ran, and I don't care about "preserving the performances." It's a bad movie, pure and simple, even removed from all consideration of the original. And, like it or not, it is based on the 1968 film, so the comparisons are valid. And LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS kills this film in every single way, from performance to score to songs to visual acumen.
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I loved the broadway show but the film seemed to take all of the magic away.
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Just an idea.
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But this time you know, include some jokes
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It already has the songs.
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and I think Moriarty nailed the review! I hang my head with embarassment that I have never seen the original ... just some brief clips. But somehow I still found myself thinking that Gene Wilder would have played Bloom a whole lot better. It felt a little shallow, like there was no depth to the sets. Still, I laughed my ass off.
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Dec 20, 2005 7:58:33 AM CST
To Clarify on the Whole "Young Frankenstein" Question...
by danielkurland
Yes, he is making it into a musical. Or, at least trying to.
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Jackson's version. But cut out the boring stuff. And cast someone with a smaller nose as the action hero. A future Harrison Ford, maybe. Except with a smaller nose. And one of the hottest Saturday Night Live kids as the greedy film producer. And show tits. Not monkey tits, either. The good kind. Attached to a woman. With a small nose.
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Dec 20, 2005 8:32:18 AM CST
I suggest that they remake YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN as OLD FRANKENSTEI
by mike nesmith
...with Mel and all his old buddies running around doing old-guy-Yiddish voices and that sort of wacky thing. With Bill "Maude" Macy as Igor.
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Dec 20, 2005 8:37:15 AM CST
When I saw Will Ferrel's name in the credit, I knew they wer
by indiephantom
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He is genuinely not funny. He fucked up "The Cable Guy" - one of Carrey's best comedic performances. His career was over after Wargames. Ferris Bueller? Please...
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Honestly, its not that this humor is dated or unaccesible to today's generation... its that people have no sense of it anymore.
I'm sorry but this is the funniest movie musical since South Park Bigger Longer Uncut. I went to a preview screening and the audience couldn't breathe they were laughing so hard, myself included. In fact, the projector broke down at one point illiciting boos and yells from the audience. Granted, I live in Montreal, home of the Just For Laughs Comedy festival... so typically, we enjoy comedy and like to laugh.
I hate to tell you... but this version outdoes the original in almost every way possible. They overact you may say... well hate to say it, but the opening scene with Lane and Broderick is more low-key than that of the original.
Another thing that works better is the plot... making the director portray Hitler is 1,000 times more hysterical than LSD (talk about dated!) and the musical numbers AND the direction by Susan Stroman is top notch...
I really couldn't understand what all the hate was about regarding Stroman's directing... it was great and very akin to old fashioned hollywood musicals. Call me a sucker for the pre-CGI, golden days of film, but I'd rather watch an old fashioned Fred Astaire movie any day than a big, fake King Kong. Don't insult me.
This is one of the best Mel Brooks films ever made, I for one have never laughed harder in any Brooks film... it goes where I feel every one of his films should have gone... right over the top, and it knows this and it embrasses it.
I'm SO happy this film was made, Broderick and Lane are amazing in these roles, and while I will always cherish Mostel and Wilder, they bring an experience and timing to the roles that only years of practice could result in.
This film is hysterical, plain and simple and very well executed. See it if you want a good laugh, don't if you're too mature for it. -
http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,6737,1669860,00.html
I hate the mere idea of this... -
...I saw The Producers when it opened in London with Nathan Lane and Lee Evans. In case you don't know who Lee Evans is, he and Nathan Lane played brothers in Mousehunt... he's an English comedian. Anyway. He was brilliant as Bloom. I've always struggled to imagine that Broderick could've played that role properly - he doesn't do emotionally-damaged.
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...because the racial humor is riskier and gets a bigger reaction from the audience. Both films are brilliant. Harvey Korman is outstanding in both. They're the peanut butter and jelly of Brooks' work!
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Hotter than she's been in a while. Peace Out.
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I'll cop to Matthew Broderick not being funny ANYMORE... but you have the fucking gall to diss Ferris Bueller?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? That movie (and I'm sure plenty of other TBers have the same outlook) was not only one of my formative movie experiences growing up, but it's one of the funniest and greatest flicks ever made. And part of that is Matthew fucking Broderick. Ferris Bueller owns. I can understand a lot of people not liking a lot of things, but if you don't like Ferris Bueller, of all fucking movies, you're missing either a heart or a brain, and probably both. You poor, poor bastard.
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Aside from War Games and maybe The Return Of Max Dugan (am I the only one here who remembers THAT one)...he's generally been as flat as a 3 day old beer. And you know this to be true...BRODERICK IN GLORY WAS THE WORST BIT OF CASTING IN THE HISTORY OF FILM. Too young, too boyish, too soft,bad southern accent...need I go on. I STILL love that movie, even though he rips me right out of the film every time he's on screen. He's the reason I won't see this one. I can't say that about any other actor.
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He was great in that. Thanks lopan!
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I'm gonna go hop on a subway and go....oh, wait. Fuck. I guess I'm staying home. Viva New York!
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and so was everyone else in that flick.
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I saw the original movie, "The Producers." It was all right. I was mostly bored by it, though. Saw the musical afterwards, and laughed nonstop from beginning to end.
Sorry, chaps. The musical is better. -
I saw the original movie, "The Producers." It was all right. I was mostly bored by it, though. Saw the musical afterwards, and laughed nonstop from beginning to end.
Sorry, chaps. The musical is better. -
Dec 21, 2005 1:14:16 AM CST
At least someone acknowledges Depp's awful WIlly Wonka
by industrykiller
Thank you Mori. I thought the world had gone insane when that film came out and people actually liked it. Darker than the original? Nope sorry.
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Now it`s like she`s trying too hard to be the vixen. I prefer the gorgeous softer women that made intellectual flicks.
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Funniest line in the whole movie (blazing saddles) Wilder was great and its nice to see him get some recognition here.
comicsintheclassroom.net -
Sorry to be a hater, but Will Ferrell is probably the worst comic actor at work these days; what
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What with the Box Office Slump and all. Ah well, there's always 2006.
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Oh well, guess that possibility is moot.
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I guess you have to be a mench or a schmutz or a meshuggah or some other jewish in-thing, but I have never found him even mildly funny. All the execs are probably laughing their gafilta fish off and going Oy at all the sour jokes, but I just don't get it. Must have been that brutal Catholic upbringing I have nightmares about.
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Speaking of Mel Brooks and his cohorts, I wonder what Gene Wilder is doing these days. When Richard Pryor died, I didn't see any quotes from his old partner Wilder. I thought the lack of a quote from Wilder in the press coverage was odd. Did I miss something? Does anyone know any URLs where you can find a response from Wilder on Pryor's death? Just wondering...
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Man, that is HARSH. I had no plans to see this, & certainly won't after this review. Mostel & Wilder are not replaceable with Lane & Broderick. Not even close. Maybe the Mostel/Wilder performances work better because they hadn't been doing this show on Broadway for stinking months ( thereby lessening the "freshness" of their performances) or maybe, just maybe, Mostel & Wilder were better cast, better for the roles & perfect fits for the lunatic genius that once was The Producers. IN a remake happy land, some times it should be acknowledged that the thing was done right the first time - and then leave it alone.
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Sorry the film didn't live up. But about Mel Brooks' upcoming projects... wasn't he on about making a Spaceballs sequel at one point (I think he was even talking at one point about releasing it against ROTS, but obviously that never materialized.) But what did become of that? Not that I'm totally sold on it anyway; I can't see Bill Pullman being wild about reprising Lone Star, and what the hell would they ever do about replacing John Candy?
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Replacing John Candy... Hmmm... How 'bout Jim Belushi? He can do chummy with his eyes closed.
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I'm not wild about his track record at stepping into the shoes of late great comedians of size (see Blues Brothers 2000, even if it was his own brother). Candy always had a certain jolliness that I've never seen in Belushi's work. I suppose they could do worse, but I wouldn't buy it. If I had to pick someone, I guess my first choice would be Louie Anderson.
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I don't love BB2000, but I love the music so I know the movie pretty well and it's wasn't Jim Bulishi in BB2000 it was John goodman and he wasn't playing John Bulishi's char, he was playing a new Char named "Mighty" Max
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