Film Nerd 2.0: What happens when I realize I hate a movie that the boys love?
A screening of a silly comedy lands wrong for dad, but the boys both love it
Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet is one of the things Toshi and Allen loved most about 'Spaceballs,' but the film didn't sit as well with Dad this time around.
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This is a first.
When I was picking movies for this year's Film Nerd 2.0 with my sons, we went through books full of DVDs and shelves full of Blu-rays, discussing things that interested them, explaining things they asked about. I thought the final list we chose was a nice mix of styles and filmmakers, and it seemed like a nice trip through several eras of Hollywood.
After our last film together was "To Kill A Mockingbird," it seemed appropriate to go in the other direction and pick something that was light and fun and that we could enjoy together before I left for a film festival trip. Those long professional moments away from home are hard on the kids, and they're hard on me as well. At six and four (Allen just had a birthday), they like being silly. They are silly all the time. They are constantly struggling to make each other laugh, and I find myself watching them in the playroom, them unaware that I'm paying attention, and being amazed at what dedicated clowns they are.
Since they remain pretty much non-stop "Star Wars" obsessed right now (it was only complicated by them riding "Star Tours" three times recently), I decided to try the Mel Brooks movie "Spaceballs" with them. I am very fond of Mel Brooks, and I think "The Producers," "Blazing Saddles," and "Young Frankenstein" are all just about as perfect as film comedy gets. I've always considered "Spaceballs" minor-key Brooks, but for parody to play, you have to understand what it is they're playing with, what source they're using for the parody.
When I put on the Blu-ray, which came as part of the "Mel Brooks Collection" Blu-ray box set I bought a few years ago, the boys were immediately onboard. Toshi read the opening crawl, and started laughing as he did so. And then comes the opening shot, the ship that goes on so much longer than any model ship ever should, past the point of ridiculous. And about halfway through the long pullback, both of the boys got the giggles. And once they got rolling, they kept rolling. So from the very start, they were onboard. Once Rick Moranis showed up as Dark Helmet, they fell in love with him, and I don't blame them. Moranis was underappreciated when he was working, at least critically speaking, and I think he's one of the best actors to graduate from either "Saturday Night Live" or "SCTV." He is committed here, and he's good playing off of George Wyner, one of the hardest-working comedy character actors of the last 40 years.
But as I watched the film this time, it struck me that there is something fundamentally wrong with it, something broken in the very conception of it. It's always nagged at me, but now I can finally articulate it. When you look at "Blazing Saddles," there is a deep love of the genre that informs every scene, every composition, every joke. Brooks obviously grew up with Westerns as part of his everyday film vocabulary. And "Young Frankenstein" is the same way, a loving recreation of a very specific film style. You can feel how deeply Brooks has absorbed the Universal horror films, how fluent he is in the film language of that era. And because of that underlying affection, the choices he makes are almost giddy. There's an inviting quality to those film, and also in "High Anxiety," where Brooks got his Hitchcock on, that simply does not exist in "Spaceballs." For the first time, it feels like Brooks made a parody of something he did not personally care for, and that comes through loud and clear. For the first time, he's on the outside looking in, and there's a contemptuous tone to the parody.
It's also full of some of the easiest, cheapest comedy of his career. He names John Candy's character Barf. His gangster character is Pizza The Hutt. And while Allen thought that was one of the greatest things he'd ever seen, worthy of a verbal recap that he told to me at least ten times in the week after he saw it, that seems like a first-draft joke. It's the most obvious and uninspired gag you could come up with when picking a funny version of "Jabba The Hutt." In his earlier films, Brooks took advantage of the conventions of each genre to build out his supporting cast, and he wrote them as character who worked independent of the parody. That's not true here. Daphne Zuniga and Bill Pullman may be game for whatever Brooks wants to do, but they never get past the thinnest surface of the characters they're playing.
I was almost shocked by how much I didn't like the film this time around. I was impatient with it. Annoyed that I was wasting a Film Nerd 2.0 screening on it. And yet, even as I sat there irritated with the film, the boys were on the floor, just loving it. Toshi was delighted by the scene where Moranis and Wyner watch "Spaceballs" on VHS to figure out what to do next, and he loved the way that bent the rules of movie reality.
And afterwards, when we normally share our thoughts about the film and where we normally are able to share that excitement, this time, I found myself listening to their excitement and unable to feel any at all. I always considered this a turning point for Brooks, a moment that began a down-swing for him that felt like he was deflating from film to film, but now, I think this might be my least favorite film by Brooks. It is so indifferent, so slapdash, so woefully unfunny. Even so, I recognize that the boys seem to love it, and so it's been added to their stack of movies they can re-watch whenever they want. This is one of those times where our tastes don't synch up. I'm sure we'll have films where they don't like something I've picked to show them, and we'll end up in an inverse of this situation. It's bound to happen when you're picking movies to show to someone else. I'm just glad they had a good time with it, even if I couldn't.
Next Tuesday, I'll be back here with a new Film Nerd 2.0, where we go for some adventure with a trip back to the Disney version of "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea."
"Film Nerd 2.0" remains, in every sense of the word, an irregular column:
"The Last Starfighter" on Blu-ray (9.7.09)
"Popeye," empathy, and David Bowie's codpiece (9.21.09)
Talking Heads, 'Astro Boy,' and "Willy Wonka" on Blu-ray (10.26.09)
"The Dark Crystal," featuring a guest appearance by Toshi's little brother (12.2.09)
"Help!", in which Toshi discovers the Beatles, especially Ringo (1.4.10)
'Last Action Hero" introduces Toshi to Armer Shirtzganoma (1.18.10)
A Tale Of Two Zorros (2.23.10)
"Clash Of The Titans" on Blu-ray (4.2.10)
"Jason And The Argonauts" on Blu-ray and Harryhausen at AMPAS (8.9.10)
"Time Bandits," "Mars Attacks," and letting go (9.7.10)
"Toshi and Allen encounter high adventure with 'The Goonies'" (3.6.11)
"'Tron' vs 'Babe' on Blu-ray" (4.19.11)
"Toshi and Allen head to Asgard for 'Thor'" (5.4.11)
"Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA dazzles and disturbs" (6.6.11)
"We kick off a special series with a first viewing of 'Star Wars' on Blu-ray" (9.22.11)
"We finally reach The Moment with 'Empire Strikes Back' on Blu-ray" (10.3.11)
"We flashback to 'The Phantom Menace' as the 'Star Wars' series continues" (10.10.11)
"Yoda seals the deal for 'Attack Of The Clones' on Blu-ray" (10.18.11)
"'Revenge Of The Sith' devastates the kids as Anakin falls from grace (10.23.11)
"We scare the crap out of the kids with 'Jurassic Park' on Blu-ray" (10.26.2011)
"The hero's journey ends with 'Return Of The Jedi' on Blu-ray" (11.6.2011)
"Toshi and Kermit and Miss Piggy in the first ever Film Nerd 2.0 interview" (11.16.2011)
"We wrap up 2011 with 'The Muppet Movie' and pick our slate for 2012" (1.10.2012)
"The boys hit the road for 'Pee Wee's Big Adventure'" (1.16.2012)
"Film Nerd 2.0 gets a sneak peek at 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace' in 3D" (2.8.2012)
"Film Nerd 2.0 heads to Skywalker Ranch for a weekend of 'Star Wars'" (2.9.2012)
"Lightsaber battles, model making, and the return of Darth Maul" (2.9.2012)
"Sneaky stormtroopers and breakfast with R2 in the last Film Nerd 'Star Wars' diary" (2.10.2012)
"A screening of 'To Kill A Mockingbird' uplifts, enlightens, and even terrifies" (2.15.2012)
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Login or create a HitFix account Login Signupmrmaguda
March 20, 2012 at 4:35PM EST Reply to CommentI'm curious if they understood the alien parody thrown in the middle of the movie. I'm sure they're years away from watching it. I know I didn't get the reference the first few times I watched spaceballs.
Teebore
March 20, 2012 at 4:37PM EST Reply to CommentCould it be an "age when you first saw it" thing? While I can't disagree with you in terms of how it appears Brooks approached this film as opposed to his others, I have an unabashed love for it, just like your boys, probably because I first saw it right around Toshi's age. Yeah, Pizza the Hutt is a weak joke, but it cracked me the hell up as a kid. And while it doesn't do so anymore, stuff like "what's the matter Colonel Sanders? Chicken?", "When will "then" be "now"?" and "Comb the desert!" still does.
ParanoidAndroid
March 20, 2012 at 4:38PM EST Reply to CommentI adored this film in my youth and grew indifferent to it over the years. Moranis is definitely a highlight but each time I've tried to watch it recently all I could think about is how I'd rather watch Little Shop of Horrors again.
nick_r
March 20, 2012 at 4:40PM EST Reply to CommentVery interesting take, Drew. I was a nine-year old in 1987, the child of parents who were indifferent to Star Wars, so I saw Spaceballs on video before I ever really saw the original trilogy. And I thought it was hysterical, even though I didn't get most of the references. At this point I'd guess I haven't seen it in at least 20 years, and I imagine I'd have a similar reaction to yours if I saw it now.
To me, the thing that most makes Star Wars ripe for parody is how seriously it takes itself; and yet that element of humor is almost entirely absent from Brooks's take on the franchise. He understood that classic horror and western films were hilariously self-serious and that they just needed a small tug in the same direction to completely burst open. But you're right; he doesn't really get what makes the SW films tick, so he just uses their basic trappings as the launchpad for a lot of broad comedy (including obvious pop culture riffs that must be horribly dated by now), and that's a shame.
Mr. Peel
March 20, 2012 at 4:41PM EST Reply to CommentI'd say it's not so much that he doesn't care for STAR WARS and its ilk but simply that the love isn't there, not the way it is for those earlier films mainly because he's simply of the wrong generation. You know where else you'll find it? DRACULA DEAD AND LOVING IT. Seriously. I may be one of the few people to defend that film but in its parody of things like Tod Browning and Hammer Films the affection he clearly feels for them is just as strong as BLAZING SADDLES and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. And I'll admit that it makes me laugh, even if I am one of a few.
That Werewolf Guy I agree. I never understood the bad reputation of DEAD AND LOVING IT. I guess people were just sick of Leslie Nielsen at that time. But the movie is oozing of atmosphere and I would put it up among Brooks' best.
March 20, 2012 at 4:51PM ESTNate I'll easily put DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT over SPACEBALLS or ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS, which both felt to me like Brooks was going for an easy win, with Star Wars being such a cultural benchmark and all the fervor, good and ill, over the Costner Robin Hood film just a couple years before. D:D&LI was flawed, but it did feel like it was harkening back to something Brooks had a true passion for (a la YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN), vs. the other more shallow, surface-level comedies preceding it.
March 20, 2012 at 6:28PM ESTIntellectual Ninja
March 20, 2012 at 4:48PM EST Reply to CommentWow... kind of a shame, but understandable... your boys are young.
Watch... they will LOVE The Goonies, too, a film I know you don't like.
I can see where you're coming from, and after recently watching Spaceballs, a Brooks film, that as a child, was my favorite, now I see as you once did: the beginning of the end of Brooks' filmic relevance.
But I don't hate it. It makes me laugh, and just because a joke is obvious, it doesn't make it any less funny. Pizza the Hutt IS funny, I'm sorry, but I think the joke is, and that it works, obvious as it is.
The scene with the VHS tape is mind-bendingly awesome, even now, and I still to this day, laugh long and loud when the Spaceball with the giant afro-pick yells, "We ain't found SHIT!"
Other lines that also hold-up:
"Oh no... a Druish Princess!" "Funny, she doesn't LOOK Druish."
"Did you see anything?" "No Sir, I did not see you playing with your dolls again!" "Good!"
"Why didn't anyone tell me my ass was this big???"
Not his best work, no. Everything that came before I would classify as better.
For the loathing you have here for Spaceballs, I feel for Men in Tights. I've never seen Dead and Loving It, knowing it has to be the worst, but when I first saw Men in Tights, I laughed and liked it.
Now? I can't watch it. It's horrible. John Ritter's widow is the absolute worst actress in a Brooks film. She's wretched. I hated Richard Lewis' Prince John. All the merry men stunk, even Chappelle. It was filled too much with pop culture humor, the real lazy, Seth McFarlane kind (Reebok Pumps, a horrible, terrible, Robin Hood Rap). The best thing about the film is Carey Elwes and a very game Sir Patrick Stewart right at the end.
Seriously, you can't hate Spaceballs more than you hate Men in Tights.
Watch Men in Tights again. You'll see what I mean. It's the worst.
That Werewolf Guy Hey, I love the Robin Hood rap, just because it's so random and lasts only a few seconds. I do agree that this is his weakest work though.
March 20, 2012 at 4:53PM ESTThat Werewolf Guy Hey, I like the Robin Hood rap. Just because it's such a random joke. But yeah, MEN IN TIGHTS is his weakest work.
March 20, 2012 at 4:55PM ESTThat Werewolf Guy (Sorry for the double post. It didn't show up and I wasn't sure if I had accidently pushed the cancel button)
March 20, 2012 at 4:55PM ESTFastbak Intellectual Guy I think you should see DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT JUST for the scene with Harvey Korman as Dr. Seward and Peter McNichol as Renfield having tea outside.
March 20, 2012 at 7:26PM ESTThat Werewolf Guy
March 20, 2012 at 4:48PM EST Reply to CommentMel Brooks mentioned in several interviews over the years, that SPACEBALLS is his most popular movie among kids, because it wraps all those silly jokes in a story with spaceships and princesses, which is obviously stuff that they like.
I gotta admit, I like it too, but I'm a guy who can giggle about sock puppets for hours. But I also agree with what you said. (particularly) It's very obvious the Seth MacFarlane* approach of "parodying" things, that you only know from heresay and therefore got it completely wrong. Also it's the most "Look, it's popculture reference XY, haha" of his movies. But hey...humor. Who wants to argue about what is funny and what not? :)
*I know, SPACEBALLS came first.
Andrei
March 20, 2012 at 5:03PM EST Reply to CommentWhile it's certainly a lot broader and less inventive than his best films, I still really enjoy "Spaceballs", as do my kids. To me at least, it has a high rewatchability, and 20 years later, I still find myself dropping quite a few lines into everyday conversation ("Ludicrous Speed!", "They've gone to Plaid!")
I think the obviousness is almost unavoidable, as the space opera genre is pretty broad in and of itself ("Silent Movie" suffered from a lot of the same issues). "Star Wars" comes very close to being a parody of the old Flash Gordon movies, so in streching those tropes even further, you invite those weaknesses that you find so annoying. The kids, on the other hand, don't have a clue as to the old references and conventions, so they can just react to the broad comedy. So to them I say:
"May the Schwartz be with you!!"
jordan_hirsh
March 20, 2012 at 5:03PM EST Reply to CommentI haven't watched Spaceballs recently. I remember I was ten when I first saw it and I loved it I saw it sporadically throughout the years since and I remember loving it then too. However I am not sure how much I would love it now, at all.
KlarkKent
March 20, 2012 at 5:44PM EST Reply to CommentI couldn't figure out what it was about Spaceballs that sat wrong with me all this time and I think you hit the nail on the head. It seemed like Spaceballs was when he stopped lampooning with precision and just started throwing stuff at the wall to see if it stuck. To be honest, I don't think he even knew much about Star Wars at all. Most of the parody from the film seemed to stem from such a meandering and unspecific knowledge of the films that it could have been picked up from the trailers, for all the depth it had. That's not to say there isn't some hilarious stuff in it. Most of which has been mentioned here. But just about everything that doesn't involve Dark Helmet bores me to tears.
Felix Pardalis
March 20, 2012 at 5:50PM EST Reply to CommentI recall when this movie came out Siskel & Ebert also remarked that it wasn't a genre Brooks really loved, just one he wanted to have fun with. It's certainly not in the league of his earlier work but has lots of fun gags and great acting.
Mike
March 20, 2012 at 5:52PM EST Reply to CommentIt's not high art, but I've always loved Spaceballs and have appreciated that I could come back to it over the years and enjoy it even more as I watched more of the films it referenced. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing when, after reading "The Metamorphosis" in high school, I caught Spaceballs on TV and realized there was a Kafka joke.
Fastbak
March 20, 2012 at 6:47PM EST Reply to CommentI definitely like the movie more than you did Drew but I was a kid when I first saw it so I have a lot of affection for it. I get why your kids would love it so much. Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet still makes me laugh. Yeah, it's not the best Brooks movie but I don't think it's terrible either. I also don't think you necessarily have to love a genre to spoof it effectively. Did the Zucker Abrams Zucker team love the disaster movie when they made "AIRPLANE!"? They probably loved WW2 spy flicks and Elvis movies more when they made "TOP SECRET!" There are things in "SPACEBALLS" I still find hilarious like "You've captured their stunt doubles!" or "Virgin Alarm" and everyone evacuating the ship with the alarm going and Brooks as President Scroob yelling "Where are we? Paris?!" Also the theme song is awesome.
Geoff LaTulippe
March 20, 2012 at 7:26PM EST Reply to CommentAdmit it: you also fear-peed a little bit when you remembered, a moment too late, that Moranis says "FUCK! Even in the FUTURE nothing works!" towards the end of the movie.
Might be my favorite F-bomb in movie history. And yeah, it's not quite as funny to me as it used to be, but with the majority of the film...I can't help it. It's got its hooks in.
Earl Doom
March 20, 2012 at 8:19PM EST Reply to CommentWhen SPACEBALLS came out on video in 1988, I threaded the damn tape, I watched it so much. And even though I can see the flaws in it now compared to the rest of Brooks' work, I still love it.
It's a combination of nostalgia and sheer love of the grab-bag humor the film employs. As a kid, I never understood the boundaries of humor: whatever was funny was fair game. SPACEBALLS mixes the type of humor and gags into a mass of uneven and inconsistent styles, which is much sloppier than SADDLES and FRANKENSTEIN, but its very post-modern, and that type of humor appeals to kids who love silly stuff, like I very much was.
Part of the "problem" is that these days there's WAY too much history to go through in order to understand why SPACEBALLS is flawed. Kids don't have the time/experience to understand how humor changes with trends and social mores over time: they just grab on to whatever tickles their fancy. And self-referential anarchic gags with the subtlety of a sledgehammer fight go over like gangbusters because they're conceptually graspable. And in the case of SPACEBALLS, they have lots of bad language and crotch gags, always a winner.
On a final note, the gags in SPACEBALLS tend to come out of nowhere. Brooks' canon was otherwise predictable because the humor was heavily structured: you didn't know WHAT gags were coming, but you knew when. SPACEBALLS throws a lot of curve balls which don't particularly fit, but do catch you off guard, which is a big part of what makes comedy work.
That, and, of course, a loud black guy screaming "WATER MAH ASS! BRING THIS GUY SOME PEPTO BISMOL!" Say what you want, that cracks me up to THIS DAY.
Steve
March 20, 2012 at 9:00PM EST Reply to CommentDrew - How do you deal with the language issue in a film like this? Do your kids ever repeat any of the bad words while at school? I know my daughter would!
David D.
March 20, 2012 at 9:30PM EST Reply to CommentWhat always irritated me about "Spaceballs" were the PAUSES FOR LAUGHS. The actors would just stand there, anticipating the waves of laughter in the theatre that would obviously drown out the next line. And the thing is, we already knew from "Airplane!" that if we missed one joke, another would be ready for us a few seconds later, making this old-school style of movie comedy even more awkward.
Monty Jack
March 20, 2012 at 9:55PM EST Reply to CommentI thought this movie was hysterical as a kid, but I revisted it on DVD about a year ago, and found myself politely chuckling through most of it. Rick Moranis as the Darth Vader stand-in was inspired, and individual gags/lines are still funny, but overall, the film is kind of weak, satire from a filmmaker who had probably never seen the films he was sending up (and, if he did, probably didn;t care for them).
Stormshadow4life
March 20, 2012 at 9:59PM EST Reply to CommentI haven't seen the film in many years...but in my mind, it remains my favorite Mel Brooks movies. I really have no desire to watch this again, for fear that my childhood love might be tainted (I remember seeing it twice in a row in theaters when I was around 10).
Harry_Knowles_Love_Child
March 21, 2012 at 11:08AM EST Reply to CommentI hated Spaceballs when I saw it in the theater way back when and that opinion has not softened over the years. Ditto with Men in Tights.
Having said that, Brooks has a lifetime pass from me due to Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. Simply perfect movies and I have never tired of rewatching either one of them.
Dork_Helmet
March 21, 2012 at 11:32AM EST Reply to CommentYou really can't analyse a Mel Brooks film that deeply. Either the jokes hit you right, or they don't, they are all that simple. Trying to figure out why they didn't work for you (or did) is a waste of time.
The only problem I see with this film (and Men in Tights) is it is very much a product of it's time. It feels like an 80's film through and through (for that matter so does Men in Tights, even though I know that was early 90's).
However Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet never fails to send me in to a fit of laughter, then or now. His performance alone elevates Spaceballs past many other Brooks movies. It may not be Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, or the Producers, but it wasn't *that* bad.
JoeK
March 21, 2012 at 11:54AM EST Reply to CommentTime and familiarity are brutal things - especially in a day when all culture seems recycled. For those of us that have lived the entire arc, watching/seeing a (any) spoof of Star Wars is the very definition of tedium. There has been so much lazy and parasitic culture around SW in the years since this showed up that it's bound to suffer. And I say that as an unapologetic fan of Lucas' creation(s) and of inspired observations of it.
mmcb105
March 21, 2012 at 12:31PM EST Reply to CommentI am unapologetic in my love for Spaceballs. Certainly not the best Mel Brooks movie, but it has some truly hilarious gags. The stunt double joke, the asshole gunner, The princess is a bass?, the dolls, "He ate himself...to death!", and so on and so forth.
It just cracks me up.
Fawst
March 21, 2012 at 12:43PM EST Reply to CommentLet me preface this by saying its not a defense, but a theory: Pizza the Hutt, as obvious as it is, is built-in product placement. It worked one when I saw it for the first time as we went out to Pizza Hut after. The 80's were notorious for that, and it has only gotten worse. I think the biggest offender, outside of Mac & Me, is actually Die Hard. I could write a college thesis on the product placement in that movie.
shawn_michael_hoelscher
March 23, 2012 at 1:13PM EST Reply to CommentI liked Spaceballs when I first saw it as a youngster, but as I have grown up I can really tell how my tastes have changed, and I gotta agree that Spaceballs is the weakest point in Brooks's career. I also liked Armageddon when I originally saw in 98. I also went as far as to consider it my favorite film for awhile. When I watch it these days, I cannot help but snicker at most scenes...not positive snickers either.
All I am trying to say is that it will be interesting to see how tastes change over the years.
Tru
March 31, 2012 at 5:07PM EST Reply to CommentDon't insult Brooks by comparing him to mcfarlane. The worst moments of Brooks's "Life Stinks" are better than anything mcfarlane will ever be able to do, even if he's finally killed and resurrected as Oscar Wilde.
DefRef
April 29, 2012 at 8:39PM EST Reply to CommentI haven't seen Spaceballs in ages (bought the Blu-ray a couple of years back, but haven't opened it) but recall it wasn't that awesome with a handful of standout moments, like the VHS scene and the bit during the Schwatrzsaber fight when the camera swings over to show the film crew when a grip gets chopped and Dark Helmet says, "He did it."