For some reason I long remembered this as like B-tier beneath Brooks' all-timers, but I realize this is right up there with Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles. None of the bits overstay their welcome; Elwes, Lewis, and the dude playing the Sheriff play off of each other like the Three Stooges. It had a tiny, almost insignificant amount of dated 90's pop culture cringe but overall basically timeless screwball shit. The other thing I'm noticing about revisiting Mel is that…
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Dracula: Dead and Loving It 1995
Some pretty dry stretches where I was like "Hmm has there been a real joke in the past 5 minutes?" but the screwball shit in the last act had me howling. Nielsen's bad Lugosi accent carries some lukewarm supporting casting, but MacNicol plays a great little creep Renfield and Harvey Korman's pompous lisping Dr. Seward is a surprise gem. Not Mel's best but still impressive for so late in his career, and resists the bad 90's tendency to indulge shitty pop culture references which is very commendable.
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Planes, Trains and Automobiles 1987
Don't think I've ever laughed as hard as I did at the already hilarious highway sequence concluding with the car catching on fire. Perfect movie.
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Top Gun: Maverick 2022
Very possibly the last great assembly of truly insane real aerial photography in filmmaking before CGI and cartoon lasers for children consume every last crumb of summer blockbuster budgets. Other than the inconsistent score — too much phoned-in Zimmer too little Faltermeyer — the hilariously vestigial romance, and the lack of meaningful development for the (excellent) young actors in the squad, it's nearly flawless and better than the original in pretty much every way. Importantly, the stakes are much higher, and…
