Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. 1982 Universal Pictures.
Starring: Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Carl Reiner
Director: Carl Reiner
Also featuring: Edward Arnold, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Wally Brown, James Cagney, William Conrad, Jeff Corey, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Brian Donlevy, Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, Cary Grant, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Burt Lancaster, Charles Laughton, Charles McGraw, Fred MacMurray, John Miljan, Ray Milland, Edmund O'Brien, Vincent Price, Barbara Stanwyck, Lana Turner, Norma Varden (all via clips of classic films edited into the movie!)
Available at Amazon, as are all of the movies featured in this one.
Carl Reiner directed, and had a starring role in a parody-slash-homage to film noir and the pulp detective movies from the 1940s and '50s, which went a step further and incorporated actual scenes from an impressive list of films into the finished film, which allowed Steve Martin and company to interact with the older stars, usually with some pretty funny results.
Martin is the detective Rigby Reardon, who only charges ten bucks a day, and business has been really slow lately. Things change when Juliet Forrest (Ward) arrives in his office, and faints at the sight of a newspaper report of her father's death in a car accident. Juliet is convinced her dad was murdered, and she offers Rigby $200 to investigate. Reardon searches Mr. Forrest's office and discovers a list of names underneath the heading "The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta".
Was it murder?
Highly recommended film. This is also an interesting concept that I think should have been utilized more by today's directors.
Showing posts with label carl reiner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carl reiner. Show all posts
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The Jerk
The Jerk. 1979 Universal Pictures.
Starring: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Mabel King, Bill Macy, M. Emmet Walsh
Director: Carl Reiner
Buy The Jerk (26th Anniversary Edition) at Amazon.
Steve Martin, in his first starring role in a film, plays Navin Johnson, a homeless bum, who was the adopted white son of black sharecroppers, growing to adulthood oblivious of his own adoption, standing out in his family not only because of the color of his skin, but also because of his lack of rhythm. One night after hearing Lawrence Welk on the radio, he has an epiphany and hitchikes to St. Louis, where the song was broadcast from. Getting a job at a gas station, and sending a little money home to his adoptive family, Navin comes up with a fix for a fast-talking salesman whose eyeglasses keep slipping off his nose. The salesman thinks he can market the device, and promises Navin fifty percent of any profits.
Navin's simple fix turns out to bring him success beyond his wildest dreams, despite being randomly targeted for an assassination by a crazed gun owner (Walsh). He also falls in love with, and marries a cosmetologist named Marie (Peters). Unfortunately, Navin gets sued by buyers of the "Opti-Grab" device, including famous film director Carl Reiner, because it makes wearers crosseyed. Losing all of his money, and Marie, Navin wanders off to become a bum.
His adoptive family and Marie find him on the streets, and take him home, where they live happily ever after, the end.
Recommended.
Starring: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Mabel King, Bill Macy, M. Emmet Walsh
Director: Carl Reiner
Buy The Jerk (26th Anniversary Edition) at Amazon.
Steve Martin, in his first starring role in a film, plays Navin Johnson, a homeless bum, who was the adopted white son of black sharecroppers, growing to adulthood oblivious of his own adoption, standing out in his family not only because of the color of his skin, but also because of his lack of rhythm. One night after hearing Lawrence Welk on the radio, he has an epiphany and hitchikes to St. Louis, where the song was broadcast from. Getting a job at a gas station, and sending a little money home to his adoptive family, Navin comes up with a fix for a fast-talking salesman whose eyeglasses keep slipping off his nose. The salesman thinks he can market the device, and promises Navin fifty percent of any profits.
Navin's simple fix turns out to bring him success beyond his wildest dreams, despite being randomly targeted for an assassination by a crazed gun owner (Walsh). He also falls in love with, and marries a cosmetologist named Marie (Peters). Unfortunately, Navin gets sued by buyers of the "Opti-Grab" device, including famous film director Carl Reiner, because it makes wearers crosseyed. Losing all of his money, and Marie, Navin wanders off to become a bum.
His adoptive family and Marie find him on the streets, and take him home, where they live happily ever after, the end.
Recommended.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Fatal Instinct
Fatal Instinct. 1993 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Starring: Armand Assante, Sherilyn Fenn, Kate Nelligan, Sean Young, Tony Randall
Director: Carl Reiner
Buy Fatal Instinct at Amazon.
Carl Reiner directed this parody of several movies. Ned Ravine (Assante) is a police officer and a lawyer who believes he knows everything there is to know about women, promising to retire from the police department if anyone ever proves him wrong. He encounters Lola Cain (Young) during a stakeout, and she begins pursuing Ned. Meanwhile, Ned's wife (Nelligan) is having an affair with Frank (Christopher McDonald), an auto mechanic, and they devise a plan to kill Ned to collect nine million dollars in insurance money. See, if Ned is shot, falls from a northbound train, and drowns in a freshwater stream, Lana will collect the money, thanks to the triple indemnity rider.
Also, Max Shady (James Remar) is released from prison after a seven year sentence. He plans to kill Ned for failing to successfully defend him in court. Predictably, all storylines collide with the typical wackiness that ensues.
Good movie, but not a great one. Recommended.
Starring: Armand Assante, Sherilyn Fenn, Kate Nelligan, Sean Young, Tony Randall
Director: Carl Reiner
Buy Fatal Instinct at Amazon.
Carl Reiner directed this parody of several movies. Ned Ravine (Assante) is a police officer and a lawyer who believes he knows everything there is to know about women, promising to retire from the police department if anyone ever proves him wrong. He encounters Lola Cain (Young) during a stakeout, and she begins pursuing Ned. Meanwhile, Ned's wife (Nelligan) is having an affair with Frank (Christopher McDonald), an auto mechanic, and they devise a plan to kill Ned to collect nine million dollars in insurance money. See, if Ned is shot, falls from a northbound train, and drowns in a freshwater stream, Lana will collect the money, thanks to the triple indemnity rider.
Also, Max Shady (James Remar) is released from prison after a seven year sentence. He plans to kill Ned for failing to successfully defend him in court. Predictably, all storylines collide with the typical wackiness that ensues.
Good movie, but not a great one. Recommended.
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