Robin Hood - Men in Tights: mel brooks, please make movies again...

last night while procrastinating, i saw that Robin Hood: Men in Tights was on. this movie filled me with a profound sadness for today's youth. growing up, i had amazing movie spoofs at my disposal. here are a few of my favorites:

1. Airplane!: yes, it came out before i was born, but i watched it frequently growing up (and i still do). there are so many great bits in the movie that i cannot possibly list them all. just go here and read through these. i'm laughing just thinking about it. crap, i may have to go watch this movie right now...
2. Hot Shots and Hot Shots Part Deux: charlie sheen, you are forever awesome because of these movies. it's also an incredible shame that lloyd bridges is no longer with us.
3. The Naked Gun Series: leslie nielsen is my hero, and really, who doesn't secretly love OJ simpson (surviving family of nicole simpson and ron goldman excepted).
4. all past movies by mel brooks: blazing saddles and young frankenstein are two of the greatest movies ever made.
   

just look at the classics up there. i mean really, who doesn't laugh when charlie sheen and martin sheen pass each other in hot shots part deux and say "i loved you in wall street!" so by comparison, what do today's youth have? scary movie and its progeny. wow. i'll give you this, scary movie had it's moments. but then they went crazy. scary movie 2, 3, 4... date movie, epic movie, disaster movie, etc. i had a friend who had a burned copy of date movie that he gave to me. and i mean gave. this is a man who has, best guess, over 1000 movies, ranging from oscar winners to absolute trash, and he couldn't bear to keep a FREE PIRATED copy of this movie in his possession. i figured what the hell, took it and watched the first 10 minutes.

that movie went in the trash faster than sour milk. christ was it bad... is this what passes for comedy these days? who actually goes and sees these pieces of shit? for the actors that star in them, is it a choice between doing this or sucking cock for rent money? do the writers actually think the movies are funny, or do they just gladly cash their checks and laugh as they twist the proverbial knife in the spoof genre? i love that the movies actually advertise by saying "brought to you by two of the six guys who wrote scary movie." when your entire advertising scheme is that 66% of people who are responsible for the death knell of comedy don't want to be associated with your movie, you seriously need to reevaluate your life. ugh. now i'm angry...

kids, if you want to actually see good spoof movies, go see the stuff on the above list, and go rent Robin Hood: Men in Tights. how this movie is not in my collection is a glaring oversight on my part. self, i apologize. i will get it posthaste and rectify the situation...

so where to begin... cary elwes, of princess bride fame (awesome movie, and anyone who calls me gay for saying that obviously had no childhood), is spot on in this comedy. this is also davechappelle's first movie, and what a jump from the standup circuit to the screen. richard lewis = precursor to jon stewart (but edgier), and the guy who plays the sheriff really needs to be in more movies (his run in the 90s on cheers as kirstie alley's love interest was all i really know him from). amy yasbeck is hot as hell, and her accent is hilarious. the best acting performance, in my opinion, is the guy who plays blinkin. goddamn is he great. he steals the show as much as martyfeldman stole the show in young frankenstein. this movie is really an ensemble cast, though, and each actor carries the rest. it's a team effort, and it really pays off.

where this movie shines, though, is the writing. it's a spoof, but not a spoof for spoof's sake. it doesn't just blatantly make fun of robin hood movies (with the sole exception of the line "because unlike other robin hoods, I can speak with an english accent..."), it actually tells a story. it's the classic story of overcoming the sheriff and prince john, getting maid marian, etc, but it's fucking hilarious in the telling. there are jokes all over the place, ranging from subtle humor to some of the worst puns ever (e.g., the sign above the rabbi's circumcision parlor reading "special offer, now half off!"). but those puns make you laugh, because secretly, we all love puns for just how bad they really are. the movie has fat jokes, dick and fart jokes ("you changed your name to latrine?/yeah, it used to be "shithouse"), breaks through the 4th wall, and features one of the absolute best song and dance numbers ever ("we maaaay look like paaaaaaansies..."). honestly, what's not to love?


this movie shines because of the little jokes. mel brooks doesn't beat you over the head with them, instead letting you get the joke on your own. in order to illustrate the difference between this good comedic writing and the shitty present state of comedic writing, here is a scene from Men in Tights, followed by what it'd be like in one of the [insert adjective here] Movies:

Mel Brooks:

1. the scene where the new recruits are getting their woodsman outfits. joke: the men get their green tights from giant pantyhose eggs. why is it funny: we all remember the eggs that pantyhose came in in the 90s, and we all think it's kinda gay that people all wore tights back then. plus, why did pantyhose come in eggs? makes no sense. so where did people get those man-sized tights from back in the middle ages? man-sized eggs. also, during this, NO WORDS ARE SPOKEN EXPLAINING THE JOKE WITH THE EGGS! all they say are "get your bows, swords, pantyhose!"

[Shitty] Movie 7:

1. again, new recruits getting their woodsman outfits. man passing out pantyhose, who is wearing a fat suit for no reason other than the writers think that fat suits are funny: "here's your pantyhose, now watch as i crack this COMICALLY LARGE EGG to get them! oh my god, isn't that funny! this could only be funnier if i was one of the 86 out of work wayans brothers!" suddenly a bodily fluid enters the scene for no apparent reason...

which one do you think is better? if you think the latter is funnier, please do not breed.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights - thank you for making sure that judd apatow and co. do not monopolize comedy.