Blazing Saddles

This is an absolute crime that it took me almost 3 years to get to this movie. I friggin' love this movie!

If someone asked me what's your favorite western, my answer in all seriousness would be Blazing Saddles. I love it that much. This is easily of the funniest and downright out there types of movies I've ever seen and I appreciate everything it has done for comedy and humor for the decades since it first hit theaters in 1974. So our story follows a pretty involved story about a young man named Bart who is picked to be the new sherrif of a little town threatened to be torn down for the railroad by an evil assistant governor and the various hijinks to be followed in order to save the town. Basic story when summarized, far from it when you watch the whole thing. I do really believe this is Mel Brooks' finest work, I really love Young Frankenstein but Blazing Saddles is the best out of his work. It pulls every joke from sheer slapstick to play on words, to just background jokes, it runs the full gambit and it works so damn well! Bart played by Cleavon Little is believe it or not, the standard for how I want to be. He's intelligent, friendly, has a good sense of humor, and is all around a pretty flawless dude when you analyze him and he really makes this movie for me. But Bart is nothing without Jim, The Waco Kid played by good ol' Gene Wilder in one of his more subdued roles but honestly I think it works. Him and Bart are more the straight men to the comedy though they do partake in it a bit. Jim is a laidback guy, with a great and I'd almost want to say true backstory of a broken old gunslinger that gets back on track when Bart employs his help and friendship. Christ, I kinda wanna watch the movie again after I finish this review and when can I say that about most movies? If that doesn't clue you in on how great this movie is and it's sense of humor, I have no idea what will. It's an amazing movie that stays true to the time period it is set in and the look and feel of western movies while still being fresh and new, flat out exploits the absurdity and stupidity of racism, and tells a fun and highly entertaining story with characters you can't forget about. Who can forget Lily von Schtupp, I ask you? Madeline Kahn didn't get an Oscar nomination for nothing people! God I miss her. I've always watched her movies pretty much all my life, and she never ceases to make me smile. I really could not praise the movie more if I tried, so I'm telling you to go see it immediately even if you have watched it. But we got one more tomorrow, a parody of my favorite movie of all time. See you then!

Young Frankenstein

Alright, one more before the week is out.

Out of all the Mel Brook's movies this is probably my favorite, either this or Blazing Saddles. You know, it's been awhile since I've seen this movie and surprisingly it's even better than when I first saw it. It's a spoof, but a excellent spoof of the single most famous monster movie in history. The more you know about the original Frankenstein films, the better this movie is. It takes many, many odes from the first two films both of which I reviewed for Halloween and not just from those movies but german expressionist films. The humor is just hit after hit, and will certainly entertain you. The casting is spot on, I believe the cast was chosen based around the humor of each character. Dear sweet Jesus, Gene Wilder can do no wrong! He is both gut busting hilarious, and piss your pants terrifying! He's always a passionate, commited actor and it shows. Marty Feldman is a great comedic sidekick to Gene Wilder and probably his character plus Bela Lugosi's character in Son Of Frankenstein began the staple of Dr. Frankenstein having a hunchback assistand named Igor. I forgot Madeline Kahn was in this movie, both she and Teri Garr bring more hilarity and charm to the movie and they just crack me up. Terrific comedy actresses to say the least. The film is shot completely in black and white, and it makes me feel so at home. Spoof or not, it has that Universal horror look to it and that gets bonus points! All in all, a great comedy and a terrific cult film.

And now for the mystery week. What will happen next? Even I do not know. But the review must go on...