I forgot why I watched Blazing Saddles a year or so back. I’m thinking it was for my Race & Ethnicity film class. In any case, I watched it and it was okay. The ending where they break all realms of film reality was hysterical, but a lot of the humor just wasn’t there for me for this supposed comedy. It was sprinkled here and there, but nothing that made me think that that Mel Brooks is this comedy genius.

Continuing my 80′s movie catch-up, I decided to watch Spaceballs for the first time. Of the clips I saw on YouTube. I could see the potential funnies. Here I thought I was in for this comedy Star Wars parody that was going to be more than just a play on names. I was severely disappointed. I guess that’s the thing with films that have such a cult following. They’re cult for a reason. Like Blazing Saddles, a lot of the humor was lost on me but it had a few parts sprinkled in there that I managed to laugh at. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to anywhere near the comedy standard I thought I was going to get. I was hoping for something along the lines of a sci-fi Monty Python, but instead I get corny lines, puns galore, and some horribly delivered dialogue. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right state of mind for this movie, and by that I mean stoned off my ass.

I think I had the wrong impression of Mel. It’s James L. Brooks, the genius creator of the Simpsons, that I must be thinking about when I hear Brooks and comedy. But hey, Mel has his audience and I respect that. And something good did come from him, and that’s his son Max Brooks. Without Max, I wouldn’t be prepared for the coming zombie war.

I’m glad to have finally crossed Spaceballs off my list even though I had to sludge through it. Though frankly, I should have kept my Bill Murray marathon going and watch Broken Flowers and Ed Wood, which isn’t a bad idea right now.