David Zucker (1)Reseñas

An entertaining oral history from the people who lived it.

Subtitle: The True Story of Airplane!

Yes, I saw the surprise comedy blockbuster movie when it first came out. I remember little about it. I laughed and thought some bits were really hilarious (Mrs Cleaver as the translator!), but I also thought that much of the humor was juvenile typical of middle-school boys.

This is the creators’ memoir of how they came to think of the parody, and their (often naïve) efforts to get it written, produced, cast, made and distributed.

The format is a series of snippets of interviews / memories of not only the Zucker brothers and Jim Abrahams, but also of actors, technicians, and support staff who worked on the film, and a variety of famous people who reacted to the movie when they saw it.

The book is full of photos from the movie, occasionally with captions of dialogue from the scene depicted.

The ZAZ team is from a suburb of Milwaukee, and they recently reappeared in our city for the launch of this book. In fact, one of my friends now owns the house in which the Zucker brothers lived through their teen years.

2024 movie #1. 1984. This spoof of WW2 spy and Elvis Presley movies (why?) was the follow up of 1980's "Airplane". It's amazing how unfunny this was. The same shotgun approach so successful in 1980 completely failed here. Almost every joke failed to hit.

Everything you wanted to know about about the groundbreaking comedy Airplane a fantastically innovative laugh filled eighty five minute experience that has stood the teat of time,, This goes back to their initial friendship growing up in Milwaukee and their founding of the Country Fried Theater group. The book is chock full of photographs and thoughtst from actors and comedians from today. There are lots of jokes and a look at how they got well know serious actors to be leads in this wacky comedy.. I will have to watch it again.

This is an oral history of how the movie Airplane! came to be, in the words of the three directors (Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker), the cast, and some of the producers. I skipped a fair chunk of the early bit because I wasn’t actually that interested in Kentucky Fried Theater (ZAZ’s precursor project), but I can understand why it was included. I was more interested in learning about how the directors translated their vision into an actual movie and what the cast thought of the whole idea of bringing in “serious” actors from B-movies to play the comedy roles.

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/uUnkFMMOPHI

Enjoy!

I expected to enjoy this look at the making of the film, Airplane! It was very crass; more so than I expected.

ne of the things that I loved most about the Airplane! movies was their ability to poke fun at the traditional Hollywood blockbuster. They made fun of the high-flying dramas and the over-the-top action flicks that were so popular during the 80s. And they did it all with a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek humor that was impossible to resist.

Even though it's been years since I last watched an Airplane! movie, I can still remember many of the jokes and gags. In fact, I often find myself quoting them to my friends and family, who laugh along even though they haven't seen the movies themselves.

I think that's a testament to the enduring popularity of the Airplane! franchise. Even today, the movies hold up as some of the funniest and most clever comedies ever made. And for me, they'll always be a part of my childhood - something that I'll treasure and laugh at for years to come.

This book is a must-read for any movie buff or aspiring filmmaker. Through interviews and anecdotes, readers will learn about the challenges and successes that shaped these creators' careers. From the initial idea to the finished film, the book takes readers on a journey through the creative process of these industry icons. Additionally, the behind-the-scenes stories and insider information provide a deep appreciation for the hard work and dedication that goes into making a movie. The book's trivia also adds a fun element, allowing readers to impress their friends with little-known facts about their favorite films. Overall, this book is an enlightening and entertaining read that is sure to appeal to anyone with a love for movies.

Final Thought:

Honestly, if you enjoyed the Airplane! movies, this book is definitely something to add to your collection.

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

If you love the movie Airplane!, read this book. It's a hoot. I knew absolutely nothing about the story behind the movie or about the three main creators, Jewish boys from Wisconsin. I hadn't heard of Kentucky Fried Theater or even the Kentucky Fried Movie. Even so, the story kept me engaged from page one. It doesn't follow a typical narrative nonfiction format with blocks of information. Instead, it flows in the form of an interview, with Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker, and many other essential people throughout the process chiming in with their experiences. There are also many notes from other major comedians of recent decades who were influenced by Airplane!

One thing that threw me off at first was the absence of a chronological flow. The book jumps back and forth through time from the making of Airplane, to the formation of the core group, then back to Airplane, and so on. I can see why they did it that way--most everyone is reading to find out about Airplane, not what happened in Madison in the early 1970s--and overall I feel it worked, because I kept reading. It was odd, though--which I suppose should be expected in consideration of the wits involved.

Some of my favorite bits were about how the actors were cast, how the Jive dialogue developed and how the famed "Mrs. Cleaver" learned her lines, and how many of the jokes evolved. Nothing was actually ad-libbed. It mostly stayed on script, though there were a few strokes of brilliance on filming day.

Surely You Can't Be Serious by the team of Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker is an entertaining read that highlights both the rise of some midwestern kids into movie icons as well as the making of this classic movie.

Films that basically follow the format of one-liners and gags loosely held together by some plot or theme tend to be hit or miss with me, just as stringing together any series of skits, jokes, and gags tend to be hit or miss. Airplane is, for me, the most successful, while one of ZAZ's earlier creations, Kentucky Fried Movie, is among my least favorite (as are a few of Carrey's early movies). I did, admittedly, like KFM a little more when I was young, but I matured out of it and now it just elicits groans. Airplane was enjoyable for the young me as well as the old me, even the juvenile jokes stop short of being childish or catering to the lowest common denominator.

The format of the book makes it a lot of fun. Rather than a narrative that is punctuated with frequent quotes, we have almost exclusively quotes, with each chapter having a theme or idea that ties them together. This is almost like having these people sitting around and when a topic is broached, they all comment on it. That keeps an informal, conversational aspect even though we know these quotes were taken from many places across a long period of time.

While I think any fan of the film will enjoy this book (it made me watch the movie again), those who like to read about film in general will find a lot to enjoy and learn. If you have creative ideas but don't have a readymade pathway to getting those ideas into the public sphere, whether film or another form, this book may well inspire you to use that creativity to find other avenues to share your work.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.½

A cop comes out of retirement to go undercover.

2.5/4 (Okay).

The jokes are sparser and dumber. They're often not funny, and sometimes don't even manage to function as jokes. But still, it doesn't attempt to do anything but make you laugh, so it can't go too far wrong.

Energy companies try to silence a scientist.

2.5/4 (Okay).

A non-stop barrage of bad jokes. I kind of like bad jokes.

Durante una serie di concerti nella Germania dell'Est, una rockstar americana viene coinvolta in un complicato giro di spie, in un susseguirsi di eventi demenziali. (fonte: Wikipedia)

A cop uncovers a plot to assassinate the queen of England.

2.5/4 (Okay).

It's got some good gags, but it's no Airplane.

Il Rock'n'Roll Festival nella Germania dell'Est, che dovrebbe essere il primo passo nell'acquisizione del mondo da parte della repubblica, è l'evento principale attorno al quale si svolge la parodia dei fratelli Zucker e Jim Abrahams, che reclutano tutte le loro abilità comiche sia verbali che visive, Ridere di film di spionaggio, melodrammi, musical, film di Elvis e persino la Resistenza francese, che secondo il film ha continuato a funzionare nella Germania dell'Est.

An illness dooms a passenger plane; hilarity ensues.

I rarely find parody to be funny, and most of what this movie is parodying are disaster movies that are now lost to time. So it really should not work. But it has some of the best jokes in film history.

Concept: F
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: A
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 2.0/4½

Pamela Anderson (Actor), Jenny McCarthy (Actor)
This freewheeling parody tosses horror movies, Eminem, The Matrix, and much more into a cinematic blender. Scary Movie 3 centers around Cindy (Anna Faris, Lost in Translation), a bubble-headed young newscaster who believes that a deadly videotape has some mysterious connection to the aliens who've been making crop circles in the cornfield of a local farmer (Charlie Sheen, Young Guns), whose brother (Simon Rex) hopes to win a local rap contest. Along for the ride are Queen Latifah, George Carlin, Anthony Anderson, Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, Jeremy Piven, Camryn Manheim, Ja Rule, dozens of rap stars, and Leslie Nielsen as the President of the U.S. No need to have seen the first two Scary Movie flicks--though a few of the characters recur, the movie leapfrogs from gag to goofy gag, plundering The Ring, Signs, and The Others as needed. Silly and slapdash, but with a decent dose of laughs. --Bret Fetzer