| John Landis' Comedies
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From hilarious early efforts like KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE to MR.
WARMTH, his recent documentary about Don Rickles, filmmaker John Landis has been one of
America's most acclaimed and popular comedy directors. His films combine childlike
enthusiasm with a sharp satirical point of view, and few auteurs take as much
unadulterated glee in biting the hand that feeds them -- as when Landis used the resources
of a major Hollywood studio to destroy the ultimate symbol of consumerism and capitalism,
a suburban shopping mall, in THE BLUES BROTHERS.
Saturday, May 3 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
TRADING PLACES, 1983, Paramount, 118 min. Eddie
Murphy proved that his debut performance in 48 HOURS was no fluke with this follow-up,
a flat-out comic masterpiece that ranks with the best of Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder.
Murphy plays a street hustler, and Landis regular Dan Aykroyd is a stockbroker;
both men's lives are turned upside down when a pair of wealthy brothers (Don Ameche
and Ralph Bellamy) decide to figure out whether nature matters more than nurture
and manipulate the opposites into exchanging lives. Filled with quotable dialogue and
expertly crafted by John Landis, it also includes a plethora of winning supporting
performances from Jamie Lee Curtis, Denholm Elliott, Paul Gleason and
Jim Belushi (as, in a nod to Landis' debut film SCHLOCK, a guy in a gorilla suit!).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086465/
¡THREE AMIGOS!, 1986, MGM Repertory, 104 min.
Dir. John Landis. Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and Martin Short
play a trio of silent-movie cowboys who become real-life heroes when they save a besieged
Mexican village. This charming Western parody represents Landis at his most stylish and
most affectionate, containing amusing tributes to classic films and performers as well as
wry comic turns from the three leads. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092086/ Discussion in between films with director John Landis.
Sunday, May 4 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
THE BLUES BROTHERS, 1980, Universal, 132 min. "Rollin’
rollin’ rollin’ keep those doggies rollin’ … RAWHIDE!!" Jake
and Elwood Blues (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) go on a cross-country
"mission from God" that leaves a mighty trail of destruction in their wake and
some unforgettable musical numbers courtesy of the great Ray Charles, James Brown and
Aretha Franklin. Director John Landis’ wildly funny (and over-the-top)
film created a genre all its own: the apocalyptic-musical-comedy-road movie. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080455/
30th Anniversary Screening! NATIONAL
LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE, 1978, Universal, 109 min. "We
can do anything we want. We're college students!" John Landis’ third
picture as a director was a huge hit and furnished the blueprint for countless subsequent
teen comedies. Set in 1962, the college Delta House fraternity will take any rowdy,
rough-housing misfit who applies (prime evidence is Bluto, played by John Belushi
in his breakout movie role), and this does not sit well with Dean Wormer (John Vernon).
The Dean enlists the rival, uptight, straight-arrow fraternity of bluebloods to help get
the Delta boys off-campus for good, and a full-scale war erupts. With Tom Hulce
(AMADEUS), Verna Bloom, Peter Riegert, Karen Allen, Tim Matheson. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077975/ Director John Landis to introduce the screening. |
