Roxanne

Roxanne
June 19, 1987
Columbia
Comedy, Romance
VHS
B-

As with All of Me (1984), I enjoyed this Steve Martin movie more at the time, although it's still a pretty good movie.  The setting (Nelson, BC passing as Nelson, WA) is lovely, a little mountain town with Victorian houses.  The romantic triangle (based on the play of course) generally works, even if there are times it's a bit implausible that someone as bright as the title character is supposed to be (played by Daryl Hannah) doesn't figure out the deception sooner.  Shelley Duvall, as Martin's "godsister" Dixie (I guess her mom was his godmother, or a similar situation), gives a good supporting performance as friend to both CD and Roxanne, with a life of her own.  The third side of the triangle gets his own happy ending with a character who has been established early on.  I can't think of anything seriously wrong with the movie, other than that a lot of the firefighter slapstick doesn't hold up.  (There is one nice sight gag out a window.)  It's a pleasant enough movie but I think ultimately forgettable.

This time, Fred Willard plays Mayor Deebs, who of course (like all Willard characters) frequently puts his foot in his mouth and doesn't notice.  Matt Lattanzi, who plays Trent, was Brad (and thus a subject of a song) in Grease 2.  We get early and small but instantly recognizable appearances by two men who'd go on to comedy success, particularly on the little screen: then 33-year-old Kevin Nealon as a drunk and then 26-year-old Damon Wayans as a fireman.

"You don't have to wear that dress tonight."

This Is Spinal Tap

This Is Spinal Tap
March 2, 1984
Embassy Pictures
Comedy, Musical
DVD
B+

This mockumentary/rockumentary is primarily the work of four men: director Rob Reiner, and bandmates Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer.  That's not to say that others didn't contribute (the guest cast, not all of whom I mention later, are all solid), but that is the team who is mostly responsible for the humor and poignancy.  The movie holds up very well after thirty years; in fact, it's probably a bit funnier now because Heavy Metal, and the '80s in general, are funnier at a distance.  The movie is full of quotes you've heard (e.g. "It goes up to eleven"), but it still feels fresh.  The music, especially the '60s tunes, is actually quite good, even with silly lyrics.

What struck me most this time was the strained but never fully broken friendship between the McKean and Guest characters.  Shearer comes close to stealing his scenes, but he's mostly there as a balance, the "lukewarm" between their "fire and ice."  And Reiner does well as both directors, real and film-within-film.  If TIST is not quite in the upper tier of my movies, it may be that it shares a fault with another mockumentary, Zelig, in keeping the viewer at a distance.  Also, the "girlfriend ruining the group" motif is a little too much like Yoko-hate, even if she's blonde and British rather than Asian.  Still, definitely worth repeat viewings, and the in-character DVD commentary is brilliant.

Perhaps not coincidentally, some folks who were in Americathon appear here: Zane Buzby as Rolling Stone Reporter, Howard Hesseman as Terry Ladd, and Fred Willard as Colonel on Military Base.

Charles Levin, the Disc 'n' Dat Manager, was Alvy's stage counterpart in Annie Hall.  Robin Menken, who was Maddy in Thank God It's Friday, is Angelo's assistant here.  Blackie Lawless, who's Commercial Headbanger here, stood out more as Metal Guy with Leash at Audition in Can't Stop the Music.  Archie Hahn, who plays the queeny Room Service Guy, would shortly have a dual role in Meatballs Part II.  

Billy Crystal, who worked with Guest on Saturday Night Live, has a small role as Morty the Mime.  Another SNLer (although then future), 28-year-old Dana Carvey, is a mime waiter.  And, yes, that's a 34-year-old Ed Begley, Jr. as the first of many Tap drummers.

Despite themselves, they are actually sexy as well as sexist.

Americathon

Americathon
August 10, 1979
United Artists
Comedy, Musical, Sci-Fi
VHS
B

My review of the "fotonovel" is here:
http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2012/11/americathon.html.  I'll add that the music really does make a difference, particularly the Beach Boys, "still together after 40 years," singing over the opening and closing credits.  I also think Monty's (Harvey Korman) answer to "My Way," which opens "My life, I'm loved and hated, yes, even envied because I'm gifted," is near perfect.  I still laughed out loud at the movie, during this umpteenth viewing, although not every joke works.  (There is an audible silence, like we're waiting for the laugh track, after the joke based on the picture below.)  The energy is sometimes off and the timeline makes no sense (Chet and Mouling disappear for days before they're kidnapped, and no one notices.)  Still, there are touches that I like, such as the surprisingly sweet (if not really) developed romance between Riegert's Eric and Chet's "old lady" (wife? girlfriend?) Lucy, played by Ritter's real life wife Nancy Morgan.  And any line about the ventriloquists is gold.

Peter Marshall plays a respected newsman and Chief Dan George the wealthy founder of NIKE, both nice bits of counter-casting.  Howard Hesseman is a sound-booth technician who often seems disgusted by what's being televised.  Meat Loaf is a daredevil who's so popular he comes back.  (Unlike the more dubious entertainers.)

Jerry Maren is still alive at 94, although he was in the Lollipop Guild in The Wizard of Oz and Little Professor Atom in At the Circus.  One of the musclemen, Dennis Tinerino, was Atlas in Hercules in New York, while Kal Szkalak was an athlete in Sextette.  May Boss, who plays Adele Miller (who boxes a young Jay Leno), was "Frail Old Lady" in Rabbit Test.  Rollin Moriyama and Mitsu Yashima, who pretend to be Chinese here, were the Japanese couple in the taxi in Foul Play.  (John Lone and Ben Fong Torres are part of their group of tourists.)

Selma Archerd, who's a "telethon phone celebrity" here, was a passenger in The Big Bus and would be Mrs. Williams in Can't Stop the Music.  Ventriloquist Jerry Layne would also be in Can't StM (and on Three's Company).  Fred Lerner, Commando #3, would be KAOS #2 in The Nude Bomb.  Gene LeBell, who plays the referee, was in I Wanna Hold Your Hand and would be in Going Ape!, while Sosimo Hernandez, who's Juan Flan here, would be "Flugist" in the latter movie.  I don't have the Del Rubio Triplets in any other movie, but I was delighted when they turned up on Married with Children as Peg's aunts.