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March 29, 2024, 02:37:54 AM

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ZAZ (Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker) - An Appreciation. A bit. Maybe.

Started by prelektric, May 02, 2022, 06:28:05 PM

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prelektric

Quote from: madhair60 on May 03, 2022, 12:07:59 PMBASEketball is dumb fun. Never liked Airplane but I want to see the others.

OUT WITH YOU!

(Nah, just kidding, love you really)

prelektric

Quote from: evilcommiedictator on May 06, 2022, 01:02:24 AMThe last time we had this thread yeah, Top Secret was the winner.

Oh, sorry, I did do a search but nowt turned up. But then we're not meant to resurrect old threads anyway, so I started a new one.

But yes, Top Secret! is the winner.

Shaky

Quote from: BeardFaceMan on May 07, 2022, 07:48:00 AMI'm still waiting on the Naked Gun reboot from the Reno 911! guys. Depending on whether it's one of Lennon & Garrant's studio films or one of their own films, that could work very well for me, Clive. I think the premise was that it was going to be Drebin's son as the star, possibly investigating his death. Haven't heard any news about that for a while though.

Edit - got that wrong, just did a search as it's been a few years since I'd heard any news and stumbled across this very recent interview - https://wechoiceblogger.com/new-details-on-naked-gun-reboot-100-jokes-a-page/ Ed Helms is going to be Drebin.

Although that was posted in April, it mentions the "upcoming" Point Break remake and Night at the Museum 3. Must be from around 2013/14.

Anyway... I dunno about a reboot/remake. The franchise was running on fumes as it was (although I do quite like the final NG). I'd rather someone came up with a really excellent, fresh spoof - something that could give the classics a run for their money. Times and tastes have changed and all that but there must be a way to do it.

prelektric

Quote from: Shaky on May 07, 2022, 08:33:25 AMI'd rather someone came up with a really excellent, fresh spoof - something that could give the classics a run for their money.

I'd love that too, but it's not going to happen. The kind of humour we're talking about "doesn't play well with modern audiences". And that's a direct quote from a high ranking producer. But he's spectacularly wrong. I've seen YouTube reactions of the younger generations thoroughly enjoying these movies, and questioning "why don't they make comedies like this anymore?"

Because the people who are now in charge of entertainment care more about money, rather than entertainment.

prelektric

Quote from: Shaky on May 07, 2022, 08:33:25 AMEd Helms is going to be Drebin

I know it's a quote within a quote, and I apologise, but, could you imagine? - No. Just fucking no. Not on the cards. No. We know why.

That would be spectacularly worse than Steve Martin being Inspector Clouseau - because that ended up well didn't it?

BeardFaceMan

Quote from: Shaky on May 07, 2022, 08:33:25 AMAlthough that was posted in April, it mentions the "upcoming" Point Break remake and Night at the Museum 3. Must be from around 2013/14.

Anyway... I dunno about a reboot/remake. The franchise was running on fumes as it was (although I do quite like the final NG). I'd rather someone came up with a really excellent, fresh spoof - something that could give the classics a run for their money. Times and tastes have changed and all that but there must be a way to do it.

That makes sense, all the other news I can find about that project is from around that time so it's safe to say it's not happening then. Would have been very interested to see what they came up with though, I'm big fans of their(non-studio stuff)'s.

I think the reason they don't get made any more has to do with all those awful Friedberg and Seltzer-type movies. Not really parody or spoof movies, just a load of pop culture references that no one will understand in a years time. They fucked up the genre so if you're trying to get a silly, spoofy Airplane/Top Secret type movie made, you've got no chance.

Ant Farm Keyboard

In addition to Angie Tribeca, Walk Hard, Black Dynamite or OSS 117 (stay clear of the third one), Adult Swim had, during the previous decade, a few live action shows that riffed on conventional genres, with Childrens Hospital (hospital shows), NTSF:SD:SUV:: (24, CSI, etc.) or Eagleheart (before it turned into something much more surreal), that delivered 11-minute episodes.

One of the things that made this stuff work was the visuals. People like David Wain (who also directed a spoof of romantic comedies, They Came Together, or the various Wet Hot American Summer entries) have a knack for details that are true to the genre. For instance, Childrens Hospital would often morph into something entirely different, like a procedural. So, they had in their Law & Order parody a witness played by Kathryn Hahn. She's at work, she has very little time for the investigators, but she can answer a few questions while she's busy moving boxes. And near the end of the scene, she starts moving around the same boxes to their original place.
It's apparently very frequent in L&O (apart from the last step), but what made the thing work for me was that a few months before, I had seen the American version of The Killing, supposedly a prestige show, where one character would do the moving boxes thing while he was in his garage in the middle of the night. And it was definitely not played for laugh there. But in CH, keeping it in the background, while other ridiculous things were part of the conversation, made it work.

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: Shaky on May 07, 2022, 05:03:26 AMInterestingly, SH creator Alan Spencer wrote a fourth Naked Gun, Rhythm of Evil, in the late 00's which had Frank Drebin in a mentor role and was - gasp - supposedly a genuinely funny spoof of more modern cop/crime flicks. Studio nixed it just before Nielsen's death.
The show Spencer got made around that time, "Bullet In The Face", was pretty thin gruel.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

What kind of white devil am I to declare Walk Hard the last great spoof movie, when Black Dynamite was right there?

"Ha haaa! I threw that shit before I walked in the room!"

I suppose Walk Hard was more timely, coming so soon after Ray and Walk the Line.

The Culture Bunker

Nielsen's delivery of "I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith" gets a lot of the props (and rightly so) but I've always thought his use of "well..." was always excellent.

Bigfella

Didn't they do a spoof of 80's cop films, with Samuel L Jackson? I remember a good gag with a cop in a suit rolling across the floor for a ridiculously long distance, arms outstretched, holding the gun.

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: Bigfella on May 10, 2022, 07:30:56 PMDidn't they do a spoof of 80's cop films, with Samuel L Jackson? I remember a good gag with a cop in a suit rolling across the floor for a ridiculously long distance, arms outstretched, holding the gun.
National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1

(nothing to do with ZAZ, written and directed by the bloke who made Police Academy 3, 4 and 5)

zomgmouse

still a pretty good time i remember! emilio estevez plays jackson's buddy cop, william shatner is the main villain and tim curry is his sidekick

Sonny_Jim

My favourite gag from that is the police sketch artist:


But not ZAZ so invalid.

Famous Mortimer

It's a fun movie, definitely (and much like ZAZ, it throws absolutely everything at the wall, and a decent amount of it sticks).

Glebe

Apparently Seth McFarlane wants to reboot TNG with Liam Neeson as Drebin, which I actually think is a great idea.

RE: Nielsen starting out as a serious actor, obviously the straight roles dried up after his success with the ZAZ movies, but I do recall him appearing on TFI Friday (cannot find clip on YT or owt) and talking about being in London to do a stage play.

lipsink

I know I'm probably alone in this but I always preferred the second Naked Gun film to the first one. It's just more consistently funny and just really goes for it. The first one has weird tonal shifts like that awful music video bit and the Randy Newman song which just feel out of place in a detective movie spoof. Plus the baseball game has long stretches where the laughs kinda dry up. It could be because Naked Gun 2 1/2 was the first ever spoof film I saw and it was in the cinema as a kid so it was basically a life changing event. I'd never laughed so much and when I rented the first film afterwards I was a little disappointed.

Glebe

Quote from: lipsink on May 18, 2022, 09:12:37 AMI know I'm probably alone in this but I always preferred the second Naked Gun film to the first one. It's just more consistently funny and just really goes for it. The first one has weird tonal shifts like that awful music video bit and the Randy Newman song which just feel out of place in a detective movie spoof. Plus the baseball game has long stretches where the laughs kinda dry up. It could be because Naked Gun 2 1/2 was the first ever spoof film I saw and it was in the cinema as a kid so it was basically a life changing event. I'd never laughed so much and when I rented the first film afterwards I was a little disappointed.

I remember being disappointed with 2 1/2 at first but it grows on you like a classic album and repeated viewings have been very rewarding, it's jam-packed with cracking gags. Unfortunately probably the funniest joke in the whole movie, namely Robert Goulet singing 'On a Clear Day' as he falls out the window was edited out of the home video version, very probably for copyright reasons I imagine. Dunno if it's been reinstated for more recent releases.

Angst in my Pants

Quote from: Glebe on May 17, 2022, 10:37:20 PMRE: Nielsen starting out as a serious actor, obviously the straight roles dried up after his success with the ZAZ movies, but I do recall him appearing on TFI Friday (cannot find clip on YT or owt) and talking about being in London to do a stage play.

That might be when he toured the UK in 2000 in Clarence Darrow, a (serious) one-man stage show that he'd previously done on Broadway. The closest it got to London was Richmond, though.

Glebe

Quote from: Angst in my Pants on May 18, 2022, 04:48:17 PMThat might be when he toured the UK in 2000 in Clarence Darrow, a (serious) one-man stage show that he'd previously done on Broadway. The closest it got to London was Richmond, though.

That's surely it, I actually don't recall him specifically saying it was why he was in London, so I'm kind of a bald faced liar making things up, for which I am sorry.

purlieu

Quote from: Glebe on May 17, 2022, 10:37:20 PMApparently Seth McFarlane wants to reboot TNG with Liam Neeson as Drebin, which I actually think is a great idea.
Who'll play Picard, though?

Shaky

Quote from: Glebe on May 18, 2022, 04:41:35 PMI remember being disappointed with 2 1/2 at first but it grows on you like a classic album and repeated viewings have been very rewarding, it's jam-packed with cracking gags. Unfortunately probably the funniest joke in the whole movie, namely Robert Goulet singing 'On a Clear Day' as he falls out the window was edited out of the home video version, very probably for copyright reasons I imagine. Dunno if it's been reinstated for more recent releases.

I love all three NG flicks, even if the first one is arguably the best overall. The somewhat derided third film still has some very big laughs - and the final act at the Oscars is an underated masterclass in physical comedy.

ElTwopo

Has anyone seen Brain Donors? It was executive produced by the Zuckers and I had never heard of it until I came across it the other day.

It's loosely based on the Marx Brothers and the cast includes John Turturro, Mel Smith and John Savident (Fred Elliott from Corrie!).

Sounds pretty terrible, and obviously I haven't bothered watching it but it can be found on archive.org if you're in the mood: https://archive.org/details/BrnDnrs



zomgmouse

yeah a clip from this randomly popped up on tiktok the other day and i thought "is that mel smith" and it was. completely did not recognise turturro. had never heard of it

neveragain

Quote from: Shaky on May 19, 2022, 09:30:42 AMI love all three NG flicks, even if the first one is arguably the best overall. The somewhat derided third film still has some very big laughs - and the final act at the Oscars is an underated masterclass in physical comedy.

I've oddly fallen into the tradition of watching NG 33 1/3 every New Year's Eve. It's naff but joyous and, as said, full of laughs.

prelektric

Sorry to dredge this up, but as the OP, wanted to start to tie a knot in it.

Thanks everyone for your contributions, didn't expect this to generate as much replies as it did, and of course, apologies to those long standing members who've seen this topic before, but I did try to search beforehand.

Some great things brought up:

  • Kentucky Fried Movie - Doesn't count, it's great in its own right, but it is an extended sketch movie without a narrative.
  • Seems Top Secret! is very popular here (which is correct). All must watch
  • Not enough people have watched the "Police Squad!" series. (But those that know it, know it) - they should, it's Leslie Nielsen, and the supporting cast at their best.
  • The Naked Gun is undeniably great.
  • TNG 2-1/2, Leslie is starting to mug a little, but has a lot of great gags, TNG 33-1/3 is getting a bit more embarrassing and Leslie has lost the "straight" nature of acting and is furiously mugging for the camera, breaking the magic of those earlier performances.
  • Much talk of "Hot Shots!" and "Hot Shots! Part Deux" - both are great and are worth watching. (Lloyd Bridges is the funniest in both of those, personally I think he's funniest in the first one, but both are great if you'd never seen them before and enjoy this style of comedy)
  • Anything else that isn't ZAZ related - not for here.
  • I mean, "Ghost" (1990) was directed by one of the Zuckers. That ain't a comedy.

Cheers m'dears x




Blumf


PammySpacek

The Oscars segment of Naked Gun 3-1/3 is the best bit in an otherwise fairly poor film, but even that's deeply marred by a moment that a certain potassium-enriched internet addict probably considers to be the greatest moment in the series. Yeah, it was a parody of The Crying Game, but that doesn't make it any less awful.

Sonny_Jim

Even as a kid I could tell the quality started dropping off after the first Naked Gun.  I haven't rewatched the third one in decades because at the time I thought it was shit.  Might give it a rewatch just for the Oscar head-slapping moment.

Also used to think Naked Gun was better than Top Secret, but as a Dad I find the sillyness of Top Secret funnier.

Shaky

33 & 1/3 has enough decent gags to keep things goings. This little scene still makes me chuckle: