list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around History of the World -- Part I on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/History_of_the_World_Part_I/15542/default.aspx Title: History of the World -- Part I
Year: 1981
Director: Mel Brooks
Plot: Mel Brooks produced, directed, wrote, and starred in this episodic comedy in the spirit of Monty Python and the 1957 studio travesty The Story of Mankind. The film is divided into five sequences that play like blue-toned Eddie Cantor vaudeville sketches -- "The Dawn of Man," "The Stone Age," The Spanish Inquisition," "The Bible," and "The Future." Also included is a Brooksian depiction of The Last Supper and a long-winded sequence about the French Revolution. The film starts with a 2001: A Space Odyssey parody, narrated by Orson Welles, in which a collection of ape-men learn to stand erect (in more ways than one). The Stone Age reveals the origins of both the first homo sapien and homosexual marriages. Brooks then appears in an Old Testament sequence as Moses, descending from Mount Sinai with three heavy stone tablets bearing the 15 Commandments; after he drops one of these tablets, the laws of God become 10 Commandments. The Roman period picks up with Brooks as Comicus, attempting to get a gig as a "stand-up philosopher" at Caesar's Palace. The Spanish Inquisition is a musical production number with monks torturing Jews to lively Broadway musical strains. The final French revolution section is a broad parody of The Man in the Iron Mask story. The film closes with coming attractions of "History of the World, Part II" that features a rousing Star Wars parody (anticipating Space Balls) called "Jews in Space" that includes a jaunty theme song. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 7
Number of Lists: 16
Number of blog posts: 4
Number of discussion threads: 3
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Tue, 12 May 2009 01:58:05 GMTHistory of the World -- Part I1981Mel Brooks<a href="/players/P____83158/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Mel Brooks</a> produced, directed, wrote, and starred in this episodic comedy in the spirit of Monty Python and the 1957 studio travesty <a href=/films/74595/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>The Story of Mankind</a>. The film is divided into five sequences that play like blue-toned <a href="/players/P____10700/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Eddie Cantor</a> vaudeville sketches -- "The Dawn of Man," "The Stone Age," The Spanish Inquisition," "The Bible," and "The Future." Also included is a Brooksian depiction of The Last Supper and a long-winded sequence about the French Revolution. The film starts with a 2001: A Space Odyssey parody, narrated by <a href="/players/P___116368/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Orson Welles</a>, in which a collection of ape-men learn to stand erect (in more ways than one). The Stone Age reveals the origins of both the first homo sapien and homosexual marriages. Brooks then appears in an Old Testament sequence as Moses, descending from Mount Sinai with three heavy stone tablets bearing the 15 Commandments; after he drops one of these tablets, the laws of God become 10 Commandments. The Roman period picks up with Brooks as Comicus, attempting to get a gig as a "stand-up philosopher" at Caesar's Palace. The Spanish Inquisition is a musical production number with monks torturing Jews to lively Broadway musical strains. The final French revolution section is a broad parody of <a href=/films/116451/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>The Man in the Iron Mask</a> story. The film closes with coming attractions of "History of the World, Part II" that features a rousing <a href=/films/32762/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Star Wars</a> parody (anticipating Space Balls) called "Jews in Space" that includes a jaunty theme song. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide7Taggedy Taggged (6-10)16433http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t82727b1tdj.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/History_of_the_World_Part_I/15542/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/8/11/33867.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 8/11/2008 4:00:43 PM
Body: Lists of movies within movies are fairly common on the internet, enough that I now realize I need to finally see Bowfinger simply because I’ve counted about a million list makers in love with something titled “Chubby Rain.” And the lists are likely to keep on coming thanks to this week’s hot release, Tropic Thunder, which actually features two movies within (the Vietnam War film “Tropic Thunder” and the festival-winning making-of documentary “Rain of Madness”), as well as the upcoming How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, which has spawned a popular fake movie trailer for an NC-17 film titled “Mother Theresa: The Making of a Saint” (previewed above). Yet until someone makes a Wikipedia page for “List of Fictional Films,” these blogged and forumed lists are necessary to keep us movie fans remembering those non-existent movies we wish existed. Narrowing down to ten seemed to be difficult — fictional films have been at least nominally been created for tons of films about filmmaking, otherwise reflexive films, sketch comedies, spoofs, etc. — until I realized that a lot of these films within films are appropriately nominal or trailer- or clip-sized gags and would in reality be terrible (imagine actually watching the entirety of “Asses of Fire” from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut). Even “Je Vous Présente Paméla” (”Meet Pamela”) from Day for Night and the sci-fi film being made in 8½ would probably be major disappointments in actuality if you expected from them the work of Truffaut and Fellini, respectively. So, I went mostly with fictional films that would probably be bad, but would at least be amusingly bad — though I purposefully avoided fictional porns, including those from Boogie Nights and The Big Lebowski, of which there are literally thousands: “Gandhi II” from UHF - There’s just something about watching good people gone bad. But while the idea of the Good Will Hunting sequel, subtitled “Hunting Season”, thought up for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is pretty ingenious, it just doesn’t have the same level of ludicrous exaggeration that a bloodletting follow-up to the Oscar-winning Gandhi has. Dude drives a Ferrari, can punch completely through a guy’s abdomen, and of course he knows how to party. He even eats meat, now. It’s not only funny because it’s the antithesis of what the Indian leader was all about, it’s also funny because it reminds me of all those straight-edge and vegetarian kids you knew in high school who now drink way too much (oh, yeah, I’m one of them). “Odyssey” from Contempt - When Fritz Lang showed up as himself in Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt, he’d already given the world his final film as a director (The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse). If only he’d really given us this one additional adaptation of Homer’s epic poem. Either as an art film, as Lang originally intends, or as a more commercial picture, as desired by the American producer played by Jack Palance. “Ants in Your Pants 1938″ from Sullivan’s Travels - The other famously named film within this film, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” was, at least in title, already made by the Coen brothers (see the side-by-side comparison in the video above — interestingly enough, their O Brother, Where Art Thou? is also an adaptation of Homer’s “Odyssey”, uniting #2 and #3 of this list). But I always try to imagine what a film titled “Ants in Your Pants 1938″ would have looked like. I always picture a cross between the Marx Brothers and Busby Berkeley, yet it’s got to be more shallow than that, according to how it’s referenced in Preston Sturges’ movie. “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure - What fan of the real Big Adventure wouldn’t like to watch it all over again as an action picture starring James Brolin and Morgan Fairchild? Maybe it wouldn’t be as good, but it does have ninjas. Anyway, because I love to relate seemingly unrelated movies via lists, let it be known that an episode of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was titled “Ants in Your Pants”. And now that I think about it, that show was kinda like a cross between the Marx Brothers and Busby Berkeley. Kinda. “Habeas Corpus” from The Player - It’s a common staple for lists like this, and pretty much all Bruce Willis movies from the first half of the ’90s were awful (obviously Pulp Fiction is an exception), but I’d definitely watch the whole of this fake film, even though I’ve already seen how it ends. As with Fritz Lang’s “Odyssey”, I’d be curious to see both the originally planned version and the commercialized final version. “Crossed Sabres of Truth” from The Big Picture - Forget “Home for Purim”, that lame movie within a movie from Christopher Guest’s For Your Consideration. This earlier satire of Hollywood from Guest had far greater fake films, most of them fake student films, such as this one, made by the full-of-himself character played by Dan Schneider. It may not have starred Elliott Gould (as does “The Trial of Janet Kingsley”), or been an overly avant-garde work titled “Afterbirth of a Notion” (which reminds me of the opening to Pee-Wee’s Playhouse), or the actual winner of the National Film Institute’s student film award (that would be Kevin Bacon’s character’s “First Date”), but it has the fat kid from Head of the Class and Better Off Dead riding a horse in a 19th century war movie. How could you not want to see more? “See You Next Wednesday” from The Kentucky Fried Movie - I’m probably a bigger fan of weird movie theater gimmicks than the average moviegoer, but that’s probably because I didn’t get a chance to live through things like Smell-O-Vision, which sound neat in theory but which were reportedly very obnoxious in reality (I recently wrote elsewhere about how the return of Smell-O-Vision in pre-show advertising sounds terrible). The joke about “See You Next Wednesday” (a fake movie title referenced in most of John Landis’ films) is that it’s in “feel-around”, a gimmick that’s clearly annoying to experience. I’d definitely be willing to try it out once, though. Especially if it’s the closest thing I could get to one of the Feelies (tactual motion pictures) from Huxley’s “Brave New World”. “MANT” from Matinee - Movie theater gimmicks also have me curious about experiencing the schlock horror film shown in Atomo-Vision and Rumble-Rama. This is one of those film within a films that you get to see more than enough footage of, but I want to actually suffer it as it’s intended to be seen. “Jews in Space” from History of the World, Part I - Mel Brooks eventually did make a Star Wars spoof, one that featured a lot of Jews in space (Spaceballs), but that doesn’t mean this earlier parody idea wouldn’t also be worth seeing. I’d even settle for seeing the apparently hilarious 2005 Argentine film Jews in Space Or Why Is This Night Different, which unfortunately doesn’t seem to actually take place in space nor, tragically, involve spaceships shaped like the Star of David. “Those Darn Amigos” from ¡Three Amigos! - Because the synopsis of Tropic Thunder reminds me of the plot to Three Amigos, I feel it appropriate to include one of the fake films from the underrated comedy. At the beginning of the movie, we see one of the silent movies starring the Three Amigos (see the clip above), but I’m more interested in the trio’s flop, which diverted from the usual premise to be about three wealthy Spanish landowners who take a little vacation in Manhattan. If it didn’t appeal to the masses, I’ll probably love it. I’d also settle for seeing one of the early shorts featuring Ned Nederlander (Martin Short) known as “Little Neddy’s Knickers.” Considering ¡Three Amigos! is set in 1916, and Short was in his mid-30s, I believe it impossible that Ned could have been a child star of any younger than 30, so I’m pretty curious. BONUS: “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” from Lost in La Mancha - It isn’t a fake film, but it is technically a film within a film. And it’s so far non-existent, really. Terry Gilliam’s attempted loose adaptation of Cervantes was actually being made, with Johnny Depp in the lead. However, due to multiple complications, the production was canceled after shooting had begun, and all that remained was Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe’s depressing documentary Lost in La Mancha. Because sometimes the gods are good to us Gilliam fans, though, it was recently announced that the film is on being attempted again, reportedly still with Depp and possibly also starring Michael Palin. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:00:43 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com8/11/2008 4:00:43 PM Lists of movies within movies are fairly common on the internet, enough that I now realize I need to finally see Bowfinger simply because I’ve counted about a million list makers in love with something titled “Chubby Rain.” And the lists are likely to keep on coming thanks to this week’s hot release, Tropic Thunder, which actually features two movies within (the Vietnam War film “Tropic Thunder” and the festival-winning making-of documentary “Rain of Madness”), as well as the upcoming How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, which has spawned a popular fake movie trailer for an NC-17 film titled “Mother Theresa: The Making of a Saint” (previewed above). Yet until someone makes a Wikipedia page for “List of Fictional Films,” these blogged and forumed lists are necessary to keep us movie fans remembering those non-existent movies we wish existed. Narrowing down to ten seemed to be difficult — fictional films have been at least nominally been created for tons of films about filmmaking, otherwise reflexive films, sketch comedies, spoofs, etc. — until I realized that a lot of these films within films are appropriately nominal or trailer- or clip-sized gags and would in reality be terrible (imagine actually watching the entirety of “Asses of Fire” from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut). Even “Je Vous Présente Paméla” (”Meet Pamela”) from Day for Night and the sci-fi film being made in 8½ would probably be major disappointments in actuality if you expected from them the work of Truffaut and Fellini, respectively. So, I went mostly with fictional films that would probably be bad, but would at least be amusingly bad — though I purposefully avoided fictional porns, including those from Boogie Nights and The Big Lebowski, of which there are literally thousands: “Gandhi II” from UHF - There’s just something about watching good people gone bad. But while the idea of the Good Will Hunting sequel, subtitled “Hunting Season”, thought up for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is pretty ingenious, it just doesn’t have the same level of ludicrous exaggeration that a bloodletting follow-up to the Oscar-winning Gandhi has. Dude drives a Ferrari, can punch completely through a guy’s abdomen, and of course he knows how to party. He even eats meat, now. It’s not only funny because it’s the antithesis of what the Indian leader was all about, it’s also funny because it reminds me of all those straight-edge and vegetarian kids you knew in high school who now drink way too much (oh, yeah, I’m one of them). “Odyssey” from Contempt - When Fritz Lang showed up as himself in Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt, he’d already given the world his final film as a director (The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse). If only he’d really given us this one additional adaptation of Homer’s epic poem. Either as an art film, as Lang originally intends, or as a more commercial picture, as desired by the American producer played by Jack Palance. “Ants in Your Pants 1938″ from Sullivan’s Travels - The other famously named film within this film, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” was, at least in title, already made by the Coen brothers (see the side-by-side comparison in the video above — interestingly enough, their O Brother, Where Art Thou? is also an adaptation of Homer’s “Odyssey”, uniting #2 and #3 of this list). But I always try to imagine what a film titled “Ants in Your Pants 1938″ would have looked like. I always picture a cross between the Marx Brothers and Busby Berkeley, yet it’s got to be more shallow than that, according to how it’s referenced in Preston Sturges’ movie. “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure - What fan of the real Big Adventure wouldn’t like to watch it all over again as an action picture starring James Brolin and Morgan Fairchild? Maybe it wouldn’t be as good, but it does have ninjas. Anyway, because I love to relate seemingly unrelated movies via lists, let it be known that an episode of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was titled “Ants in Your Pants”. And now that I think about it, that show was kinda like a cross between the Marx Brothers and Busby Berkeley. Kinda. “Habeas Corpus” from The Player - It’s a common staple for lists like this, and pretty much all Bruce Willis movies from the first half of the ’90s were awful (obviously Pulp Fiction is an exception), but I’d definitely watch the whole of this fake film, even though I’ve already seen how it ends. As with Fritz Lang’s “Odyssey”, I’d be curious to see both the originally planned version and the commercialized final version. “Crossed Sabres of Truth” from The Big Picture - Forget “Home for Purim”, that lame movie within a movie from Christopher Guest’s For Your Consideration. This earlier satire of Hollywood from Guest had far greater fake films, most of them fake student films, such as this one, made by the full-of-himself character played by Dan Schneider. It may not have starred Elliott Gould (as does “The Trial of Janet Kingsley”), or been an overly avant-garde work titled “Afterbirth of a Notion” (which reminds me of the opening to Pee-Wee’s Playhouse), or the actual winner of the National Film Institute’s student film award (that would be Kevin Bacon’s character’s “First Date”), but it has the fat kid from Head of the Class and Better Off Dead riding a horse in a 19th century war movie. How could you not want to see more? “See You Next Wednesday” from The Kentucky Fried Movie - I’m probably a bigger fan of weird movie theater gimmicks than the average moviegoer, but that’s probably because I didn’t get a chance to live through things like Smell-O-Vision, which sound neat in theory but which were reportedly very obnoxious in reality (I recently wrote elsewhere about how the return of Smell-O-Vision in pre-show advertising sounds terrible). The joke about “See You Next Wednesday” (a fake movie title referenced in most of John Landis’ films) is that it’s in “feel-around”, a gimmick that’s clearly annoying to experience. I’d definitely be willing to try it out once, though. Especially if it’s the closest thing I could get to one of the Feelies (tactual motion pictures) from Huxley’s “Brave New World”. “MANT” from Matinee - Movie theater gimmicks also have me curious about experiencing the schlock horror film shown in Atomo-Vision and Rumble-Rama. This is one of those film within a films that you get to see more than enough footage of, but I want to actually suffer it as it’s intended to be seen. “Jews in Space” from History of the World, Part I - Mel Brooks eventually did make a Star Wars spoof, one that featured a lot of Jews in space (Spaceballs), but that doesn’t mean this earlier parody idea wouldn’t also be worth seeing. I’d even settle for seeing the apparently hilarious 2005 Argentine film Jews in Space Or Why Is This Night Different, which unfortunately doesn’t seem to actually take place in space nor, tragically, involve spaceships shaped like the Star of David. “Those Darn Amigos” from ¡Three Amigos! - Because the synopsis of Tropic Thunder reminds me of the plot to Three Amigos, I feel it appropriate to include one of the fake films from the underrated comedy. At the beginning of the movie, we see one of the silent movies starring the Three Amigos (see the clip above), but I’m more interested in the trio’s flop, which diverted from the usual premise to be about three wealthy Spanish landowners who take a little vacation in Manhattan. If it didn’t appeal to the masses, I’ll probably love it. I’d also settle for seeing one of the early shorts featuring Ned Nederlander (Martin Short) known as “Little Neddy’s Knickers.” Considering ¡Three Amigos! is set in 1916, and Short was in his mid-30s, I believe it impossible that Ned could have been a child star of any younger than 30, so I’m pretty curious. BONUS: “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” from Lost in La Mancha - It isn’t a fake film, but it is technically a film within a film. And it’s so far non-existent, really. Terry Gilliam’s attempted loose adaptation of Cervantes was actually being made, with Johnny Depp in the lead. However, due to multiple complications, the production was canceled after shooting had begun, and all that remained was Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe’s depressing documentary Lost in La Mancha. Because sometimes the gods are good to us Gilliam fans, though, it was recently announced that the film is on being attempted again, reportedly still with Depp and possibly also starring Michael Palin. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Filmgaming/Re_TOP_5_MOVIES_TO_TEACH_AN_ALIEN_ABOUT_EARTH/563/31468/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mercurial
Post To: Filmgaming
Post Date: 6/20/2008 3:35:35 PM
Body: Without knowing the specifics (their intellectual stylings, are they little green men or resemble earthlings?, etc.) here are the films I would expose the mysterious extraterrestrials to: 1.) Galaxy Quest - If they are just toying with us and waiting to decimate our planet, this will show them that it'll be pretty easy. If they are peaceful E.T.-like beings then it will show them a range of human emotion, the range of human technology, and our interest in understanding other worlds. 2.) History of the World, Part I - Face it, it's an hour and a half summation of human experience on Earth and a good representation of how humans act and perceive themselves. 3.) Xala - Might as well show them how corrupt and pathetic humans can be upfront. 4.) The Wizard of Oz - We're dreamers till the day we die so why not show them a fantastic exploration of hope, love and imagination that typifies us human beings. 5.) Babel - Very good recent example of life on Earth and the growing interconnectivity between human beings on every part of it. Again with the love, loss, fear and myriad other emotions that would be good for an extraterrestrial to know prior to trying to communicate with us on a large scale. If it were television shows it would be a lot easier, just give 'em a couple seasons of The Simpsons and Planet Earth.
]]>Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:35:35 GMTmercurialFilmgaming6/20/2008 3:35:35 PMWithout knowing the specifics (their intellectual stylings, are they little green men or resemble earthlings?, etc.) here are the films I would expose the mysterious extraterrestrials to: 1.) Galaxy Quest - If they are just toying with us and waiting to decimate our planet, this will show them that it'll be pretty easy. If they are peaceful E.T.-like beings then it will show them a range of human emotion, the range of human technology, and our interest in understanding other worlds. 2.) History of the World, Part I - Face it, it's an hour and a half summation of human experience on Earth and a good representation of how humans act and perceive themselves. 3.) Xala - Might as well show them how corrupt and pathetic humans can be upfront. 4.) The Wizard of Oz - We're dreamers till the day we die so why not show them a fantastic exploration of hope, love and imagination that typifies us human beings. 5.) Babel - Very good recent example of life on Earth and the growing interconnectivity between human beings on every part of it. Again with the love, loss, fear and myriad other emotions that would be good for an extraterrestrial to know prior to trying to communicate with us on a large scale. If it were television shows it would be a lot easier, just give 'em a couple seasons of The Simpsons and Planet Earth. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/5/30/30219.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 5/30/2008 6:01:00 PM
Body: It’s a sad day for Mel Brooks fans. With us still mourning yesterday’s passing of Harvey Korman, who appears in a number of Brooks’ films, today Page Six reports that the Spaceballs director is “quietly shuttering” his film production company, Brooksfilms. In addition to Brooks’ directorial works from A History of the World: Part 1 through Dracula: Dead and Loving It, the company also made such films as The Elephant Man, 84 Charing Cross Road, My Favorite Year and one of my childhood favorites, the underrated guilty pleasure Solarbabies. I first caught wind of the news from Stu over at Defamer, and seeing as how his post features a montage of Brooksfilm clips that excludes Solarbabies (for which he apologizes), I present you with a clip from the film here. Isn’t it great to know that breakdance and beatboxing is still cool in the waterless post-apocalyptic future? Another thing that would be cool in the future: a Broadway adaptation of Solarbabies. Hopefully Brooks will forget about that Blazing Saddles musical that’s rumored to be in the works and concentrate on bringing one of his non-classics to the stage. It’d be kinda like Starlight Express meets Urinetown. If Xanadu can be a hit and Young Frankenstein can’t, I say this idea should at least be explored. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 30 May 2008 22:01:00 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com5/30/2008 6:01:00 PM It’s a sad day for Mel Brooks fans. With us still mourning yesterday’s passing of Harvey Korman, who appears in a number of Brooks’ films, today Page Six reports that the Spaceballs director is “quietly shuttering” his film production company, Brooksfilms. In addition to Brooks’ directorial works from A History of the World: Part 1 through Dracula: Dead and Loving It, the company also made such films as The Elephant Man, 84 Charing Cross Road, My Favorite Year and one of my childhood favorites, the underrated guilty pleasure Solarbabies. I first caught wind of the news from Stu over at Defamer, and seeing as how his post features a montage of Brooksfilm clips that excludes Solarbabies (for which he apologizes), I present you with a clip from the film here. Isn’t it great to know that breakdance and beatboxing is still cool in the waterless post-apocalyptic future? Another thing that would be cool in the future: a Broadway adaptation of Solarbabies. Hopefully Brooks will forget about that Blazing Saddles musical that’s rumored to be in the works and concentrate on bringing one of his non-classics to the stage. It’d be kinda like Starlight Express meets Urinetown. If Xanadu can be a hit and Young Frankenstein can’t, I say this idea should at least be explored. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/nevermoresraven/archive/2008/4/20/27576.aspx Post By: NevermoresRaven
Post To: NevermoresRaven Blog
Post Date: 4/20/2008 9:54:33 PM
Body: Mel Brooks has a way with words, and music, and dancing, and just about everything he touches....does that sound dirty to you too? Good, it's not just me then. So what happens when this man gets his hands on some of the biggest events in human history? Hilarity ensues, that's what.The film covers several major events in the span of humanity: the dawn of man, the stone age, Moses bringing the commandments, the roman empire, the last supper, the Spanish inquisition, and the French revolution. All of these are covered with your standard Brooks' type of humor: bad sex jokes galore in Rome, Moses dropping a tablet of the original 15 commandments, someone using "Jesus" as a swear at the last supper and a whole cycle of "What?".The Spanish inquisition, on the other hand, is by far the most memorable of the vignettes. It's not very long, but it's toe tappingly good! Yeah, it's a song and dance number stlyed like a broadway show. The inquisitors sing and dance and torture all at the same time, talk about multi-tasking. The song is also just so damn catchy, and I even ahve it saved on my computer for when I need a good laugh.The acting is your standard Brooks' tounge in cheek sarcasm and wit. It's not a bad thing, because his writing makes it work so well.So this is another classic spoof from Mr. Brooks, and another classic film.Keep an eye out for my review of "History of the World: Part 2", featureing Hitler on Ice, and Jews in Space! Coming this fall.
]]>Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:54:33 GMTNevermoresRavenNevermoresRaven Blog4/20/2008 9:54:33 PMMel Brooks has a way with words, and music, and dancing, and just about everything he touches....does that sound dirty to you too? Good, it&#39;s not just me then. So what happens when this man gets his hands on some of the biggest events in human history? Hilarity ensues, that&#39;s what.The film covers several major events in the span of humanity: the dawn of man, the stone age, Moses bringing the commandments, the roman empire, the last supper, the Spanish inquisition, and the French revolution. All of these are covered with your standard Brooks&#39; type of humor: bad sex jokes galore in Rome, Moses dropping a tablet of the original 15 commandments, someone using &quot;Jesus&quot; as a swear at the last supper and a whole cycle of &quot;What?&quot;.The Spanish inquisition, on the other hand, is by far the most memorable of the vignettes. It&#39;s not very long, but it&#39;s toe tappingly good! Yeah, it&#39;s a song and dance number stlyed like a broadway show. The inquisitors sing and dance and torture all at the same time, talk about multi-tasking. The song is also just so damn catchy, and I even ahve it saved on my computer for when I need a good laugh.The acting is your standard Brooks&#39; tounge in cheek sarcasm and wit. It&#39;s not a bad thing, because his writing makes it work so well.So this is another classic spoof from Mr. Brooks, and another classic film.Keep an eye out for my review of &quot;History of the World: Part 2&quot;, featureing Hitler on Ice, and Jews in Space! Coming this fall. http://www.spout.com/groups/Grew_up_in_the_80_s/Re_What_is_your_Favorite_Comedy_of_the_1980_s/38/10522/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: divinemsjunebug
Post To: Grew up in the 80's
Post Date: 6/9/2007 1:10:53 PM
Body: I STILL love watching all of those movies over and over. National Lamboon's Vacation has to be one of the best comedies out there. I don't think I ever laughed so hard at a movie...I probably have, but that is one of my favorites too. What about Monty Python's Meaning of Life, This is Spinal Tap, Victor/Victoria, What about History of the World Part I? Was that the 70s or the 80s I can't remember. Oh and Beetlejuice, one of my other favorites. God, there are soooooo many hilarious movies from that time...
]]>Sat, 09 Jun 2007 17:10:53 GMTdivinemsjunebugGrew up in the 80's6/9/2007 1:10:53 PMI STILL love watching all of those movies over and over. National Lamboon&#39;s Vacation has to be one of the best comedies out there. I don&#39;t think I ever laughed so hard at a movie...I probably have, but that is one of my favorites too. What about Monty Python&#39;s Meaning of Life, This is Spinal Tap, Victor/Victoria, What about History of the World Part I? Was that the 70s or the 80s I can&#39;t remember. Oh and Beetlejuice, one of my other favorites. God, there are soooooo many hilarious movies from that time... http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2006/6/25/1596.aspx Post By: pippin06
Post To: Reel Thoughts
Post Date: 6/25/2006 10:39:00 PM
Body: Listen, schmucks. People I know raved about History of the World, and so I had to see it, since I'd never seen it before. Yeah, I know, I'm living under a rock-occasionally. Let it be said that I do like Mel Brooks; I think he's wonderfully funny, even though he kind of rips off Monty Python a lot. That being said, of the flicks I've seen of his (Young Frankensten, Spaceballs, Men In Tights, and I think Blazing Saddles...and this one), Spaceballs is still currently my favorite. Don't get me wrong, I laughed at this one. Mostly during the Roman Empire chapter. It's just didn't strike me as funny as people made it out to be. Still, it was pretty funny. The funniest character: Empress Nympho played by the eternal Madeleine Kahn. Her appearances in the early Brooks' films are always the best. She made me giggle for sure. I'm not sure which were my favorite scenes. I will have to see it again. If you like Mel Brooks and/or zany madcap humor, this is a good one. I think I might like it better on repeat viewing. Still, nothing beats the "I'm Surrounded By Assholes" scene in Spaceballs. I still laugh at it. That, and Spaceballs: the Toilet Paper. My rating for History: 8 out of 10 (minor flaws but still pretty good). Some parts dragged a bit, particularly the French Revolution, even if it is good to be king. P.S. I do think this movie is funnier than Young Frankenstein. The test: will she be buying it? I'm considering the Mel Brooks boxed set, so if I get that, this one will be in it. I can't say definitely yes or no, though. I own Spaceballs, though.
]]>Mon, 26 Jun 2006 02:39:00 GMTpippin06Reel Thoughts6/25/2006 10:39:00 PMListen, schmucks. People I know raved about History of the World, and so I had to see it, since I'd never seen it before. Yeah, I know, I'm living under a rock-occasionally. Let it be said that I do like Mel Brooks; I think he's wonderfully funny, even though he kind of rips off Monty Python a lot. That being said, of the flicks I've seen of his (Young Frankensten, Spaceballs, Men In Tights, and I think Blazing Saddles...and this one), Spaceballs is still currently my favorite. Don't get me wrong, I laughed at this one. Mostly during the Roman Empire chapter. It's just didn't strike me as funny as people made it out to be. Still, it was pretty funny. The funniest character: Empress Nympho played by the eternal Madeleine Kahn. Her appearances in the early Brooks' films are always the best. She made me giggle for sure. I'm not sure which were my favorite scenes. I will have to see it again. If you like Mel Brooks and/or zany madcap humor, this is a good one. I think I might like it better on repeat viewing. Still, nothing beats the "I'm Surrounded By Assholes" scene in Spaceballs. I still laugh at it. That, and Spaceballs: the Toilet Paper. My rating for History: 8 out of 10 (minor flaws but still pretty good). Some parts dragged a bit, particularly the French Revolution, even if it is good to be king. P.S. I do think this movie is funnier than Young Frankenstein. The test: will she be buying it? I'm considering the Mel Brooks boxed set, so if I get that, this one will be in it. I can't say definitely yes or no, though. I own Spaceballs, though. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/future/MemberTagFilms.aspxfuture
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