Spaceballs (1987)

 

Spaceballs - 1987

Coming up next, we have 1987's "Spaceballs", a spoof on a bunch of galactic-themed movies, most specifically "Star Wars".

The film's cast includes Mel Brooks, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, John Candy, Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, Joan Rivers, George Wyner, Stephen Tobolowsky, John Hurt, Brenda Strong, and Dom DeLuise.

Well, once upon a time warp, President Skroob of the Planet Spaceball is fast losing his planet's air supply.  So, he's decided to steal some.  The planet he has chosen is Druidia.

President Skroob enlists the help of Dark Helmet, a villain with a very large helmet and a very, very large ship (cue evil music and oxygenated breathing sounds here...oh, and I love the necktie, by the way).

At the end of his long walk, Dark Helmet tears open his mask and screams, "I can't breath in this thing!"  The plan is for Dark Helmet to go to Planet Druidia, kidnap Princess Vespa, and demand the planet's air supply as a ransom.

They arrive at Planet Druidia, where Princess Vespa is scheduled to be married.  However, she has no plans to get hitched.

Before the Spaceballs can kidnap the Princess, she and droid-of-honor Dot Matrix run away from the wedding and blast off into the galaxy.  They are pursued by the Spaceballs and shots are fired from blasters.  "What's going on?" asks the Princess.  "It's either the Fourth of July or someone's trying to kill us!" exclaims Dot Matrix.

Flying through space at the same time as Princess Vespa and Dot Matrix are hero for hire Lone Starr and his co-pilot Barf, a half human/half dog mix.

They are currently being pursued by notorious gangster Pizza the Hutt.  Lone Starr owes Pizza a lot of money.

Lone Starr and Barf are hired by the princess's father, King Roland, to bring her back to Druidia.  The princess is very upset about the arrangement.

They end up crash landing on a desert planet, a situation which eventually involves Dot Matrix wheezing for an oilcan.

Hard on their heels is Dark Helmet, who is literally combing the desert for clues to their whereabouts.

However, they will be hard-pressed to find them.  The gang has found themselves in an weird looking underground cavern.  "What is this place?" asks Princess Vespa.  "It looks like the Temple of Doom," remarks Barf.  "Well, it sure ain't Temple Beth Israel," muses Dot Matrix.

It's actually the home of a very-wise being named Yogurt, who teaches Lone Star about a power called "the Schwartz" and how to control it.

Eventually, Lone Star must battle Dark Helmet using "the Schwartz".  And I love their verbal interaction.

Dark Helmet: Before you die, there is something you should know about us, Lone 

    Starr.

Lone Starr: What?

Dark Helmet: I am your father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate.

Lone Starr: What's that make us?

Dark Helmet: Absolutely nothing!  Which is what you are about to become.

Well, you can probably guess that everything turns out alright in the end.  President Skroob and Dark Helmet are defeated.  Lone Starr and Princess Vespa fall in love and get married.  And all is right with the universe.

Cast rundown:

   Mel Brooks...............................President Skroob/Yogurt

   Rick Moranis.............................Dark Helmet

   Bill Pullman..............................Lone Starr

   John Candy..............................Barf

   Daphne Zuniga.........................Princess Vespa

   Dick Van Patten........................King Roland

   Joan Rivers..............................Dot Matrix

   George Wyner...........................Colonel Sandurz

   Stephen Tobolowsky..................Captain of the Guard

   John Hurt................................Himself

   Brenda Strong..........................Nurse

   Dom DeLuise............................Pizza The Hutt

And that's it for Spaceballs.  Creator Mel Brooks worked alongside George Lucas for the post-production.  Lucas later sent Brooks a note saying how much he enjoyed the film and the he was afraid he might bust something from laughing so much.

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The Flintstones (1994)

The Flintstones - 1994

First of all, I must apologize to my faithful readers for yesterday's absence.  Life conspires against us sometimes, and blogs must take a backseat.  I am truly sorry for any disruption this might have caused to your day.

Our next film is 1994's "The Flintstones", a live action version of an iconic cartoon.  Yabba dabba do!

The film's cast includes John Goodman, Elizabeth Perkins, Rick Moranis, Rosie O'Donnell, Halle Berry, Kyle McLachlan, Elizabeth Taylor, Harvey Korman, Jay Leno, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Jonathan Winters.

Our film opens with Cliff Vandercave, vice-president at Slate & Co, and his assistant, Sharon Stone.  The two are working on a plot to embezzle millions from this Bedrock company.  They just need a guy to take the fall.

Enter Fred Flinstone, a man who loves his family, his friends, and his lifestyle (Check the film they are going to see: Tar Wars).

Fred has given some money to his best friend and neighbor Barney Rubble so he and his wife Betty can adopt a child.  Barney is very grateful and vows to repay Fred somehow.

Fred comes home from work to an excited "dog" Dino and a very unhappy wife, who has found a great deal of money missing from their bank, plus the garbage disposal needs fixing.  She's thrilled, though, when Fred tells her what he used the money for.

Adoption day comes around and Barney and Betty are introduced to their new son, Bamm-Bamm, who is a bit rough around the edges.

Nothing is more important to Fred than time spent bowling with his team "The Water Buffaloes".  He does his signature bowling stride on his tiptoes and wins the game for the team.  Barney leads the team in a toast to Fred.

One person Fred can never seem to please is his mother-in-law, Pearl.  "Oh, you poor, poor dear.  You could have married Elliot Firestone, the man who invented the wheel.  Instead you picked Fred Flintstone, the man who invented the excuse!" She pities her daughter.  "When I think of all the sacrifices your father made for you: lambs, oxen, your brother Jerry," she sighs as she walks out to go home.

While their kids play (rather recklessly), Wilma and Betty discuss an upcoming aptitude test at Fred and Barney's work.  Fred's been studying hard, but Wilma knows he'll do terrible.

The day of the test arrives and Fred gets ready.  Everyone is instructed to use a well sharpened No. 2 chisel.  Fred randomly selects answers.  Barney does well on it.

Barney turns their tests in.  He notices how horribly Fred did on the test.  Seeing this as his chance to repay Fred's earlier kindness, he switches the names on the tests and then turns them in.

Fred is announced as the one with the highest score.  He's being promoted to a vice president within the company.

The next day, the newspapers are filled with the story of Fred's success.

Fred gets shown around his office by Cliff.  Miss Stone is also announced as his new secretary.  Cliff thinks they've got the embezzlement scheme all wrapped up now that Fred is there to take the fall.

Fred even gets a Dictabird, which will record his office conversations and acts as a sort of tape recorder.

Miss Stone begins to have doubts about using Fred.  Cliff, on the other hand, can't wait to finish up with their plan.  Cliff also tells Fred to fire the person with the lowest score on the aptitude test: Barney.

That proves to be rather difficult.  When he gets home after his first day, Fred arrives to find that Barney and Betty are throwing a party in his honor (check out those deviled eggs!).

Even his mother-in-law seems to have come around now that Fred is a successful vice president.  After she compliments him on how good he looks, Fred asks, "Have we met?"

After the party is over, Fred breaks the bad news to Barney, who remains optimistic that he'll land on his feet somehow.

Fred invites the Rubbles to move in with him and Wilma.  It starts out fine, but they quickly begin to get on each others' nerves.

Miss Stone still has her doubts about their embezzlement scheme, but Cliff firmly maintains that everything is fine.

Fred quickly adjusts to his new lifestyle, which includes a new car with personalized plates, new clothes, and new furniture.

Before finishing work for the day, Cliff tells Fred to sign some tablets which will give all of his old buddies in the quarry some time off.  Fred thinks it's vacation, but Cliff is firing them.

At dinner that night at a restaurant called Cavern On The Green, Barney finds out about the firings from the news (a big riot has broken out).  When he confronts him, Fred denies any knowledge of firing the guys.  The Rubbles move out of the Flintstones's house.  Wilma also packs up Pebbles and moves in with her mother, leaving Fred all by himself.

When Fred gets to work the next day, he finds a bunch of his former friends who are very unhappy to see him.

When he gets to his office, Cliff accuses Fred of embezzling from the company.  When Fred asks Miss Stone to back him up, she tells him to run while he still can (even though Cliff has told her to call the police).

Fred is branded an embezzler.  He's the victim of a lynch mob, newspaper stories, and a segment on Bedrock's Most Wanted.

Feeling bad and wanting to clear her husband's name, Wilma gets an idea which may prove Fred's innocence.  She and Betty head for Fred's office, while Pearl stays and watches Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm.

As they clear out the safe in anticipation of leaving the city, Miss Stone is musing over the fact that soon they'll be on a pterodactyl winging their way to..."Cliff, why is there only one ticket to Rockapulco?" she asks him.  Knowing he is caught, Cliff tells her it's so that he can go first and send for her when it's safe.  Miss Stone knows that Cliff has double-crossed her.

Wilma and Betty break into Fred's office and steal his Dictabird, who has overheard every conversation that Fred, Cliff, and Miss Stone have had.  He's the only thing that can clear Fred's name.  Unfortunately, they're observed by Cliff as they leave with the Dictabird.

Wilma finds Fred, who is just about to be hung by an angry mob, and the Dictabird tells the story of what's really been going on at the office and who is responsible.  Fred is let go.

When they get back to Pearl's house, they find the place ransacked and Pearl and Dino are tied up.  Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm have been kidnapped.  Fred looks around in disgust, "Who would do such a thing?" he asks as he steps over his tied up mother-in-law so that he can assist Dino.

After finding a ransom note left by Cliff (who wants the Dictabird back in exchange for the kids), Wilma unties Pearl.

They trace the kids to the quarry, where Barney is able to save them.

Just as Cliff is about to overpower Fred, Miss Stone comes and knocks him unconscious.

 Through a mix-up with the machinery during the ruckus, Fred discovers concrete and Cliff is covered in the stuff.  The owner of the quarry tells Fred he's a genius.  All Fred wants is for Barney and the other guys to have their jobs back, which the owner is very glad to do.

Cast rundown:

   John Goodman...............................Fred Flintstone

   Elizabeth Perkins............................Wilma Flintstone

   Rick Moranis..................................Barney Rubble

   Rosie O'Donnell..............................Betty Rubble

   Halle Berry.....................................Sharon Stone

   Kyle McLachlan...............................Cliff Vandercave

   Elizabeth Taylor...............................Pearl Slaghoople

   Harvey Korman...............................Dictabird

   Jay Leno.........................................Most Wanted Host

   Sheryl Lee Ralph.............................Mrs. Pyrite

   Jonathan Winters............................Grizzled Man

And that's it for The Flintstones.  The entire cast performed barefoot.  As a consequence, glassware of any kind was banned from the set.  This is the last theatrical film in which Elizabeth Taylor appeared.  To get her to do the role, all proceeds from the film's premier went to her AIDS foundation.

When Wilma leaves Fred to go to her mother's, they have a big fight, which results in Wilma breaking a bunch of their new things.  One of those items is a lamp which reminds one of the leg lamp from "A Christmas Story".

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