Amazon Women on the Moon

I'm sure this is the last time we will see this kind of Cuisinart comedy collection directed by, at the time (1987), some of the cinema's top comedy directors. And that's a shame. Because "Amazon Women On The Moon", although not perfect by any cinematic measuring stick, represents a small victory for loopy, silly comedy anarchy. Look at this line up of comedy vets: John Landis ("The Blues Brothers", "Trading Places", "Animal House" among so many others), Joe Dante ("Gremlins", "Innerspace", "Matinee"), Robert Weiss (TV's "Police Squad!"), Carl Gottlieb (co-writer of "Jaws" AND "The Jerk") as well as newby Peter Horton (of "thirtysomething" fame).

This anthology features some real groaners to be sure, but surprisingly hits more times, and with more genuine laughs, than would be expected. Cobbled together as a de facto follow up to Landis's 1977's "Kentucky Fried Movie" (the picture that boasted the first unspooling of the Zucker-Abraham-Zucker genius that would soon launch "Airplane!" three years later) on a low-low indie budget way outside his usual 80's big-budget Universal stomping ground, "Amazon Women..." manages to both successfully surpass AND fail to reach the dizzy, laff-a-minute, rat-a-tat-tat of the 70's midnight circuit fave.

This picture has several clinkers of flat comedy (Landis's opener nearly stops the film dead with the always-unfunny Arsenio Hall), but hits with so many other vignettes that it's easy to get into the groove of this short-but-sweet skewer of 80's late-late-night TV. The standout segments in this comedic buffet are abundant, but the best of them belong to Dante, Weiss & Gottlieb: the Universal-International "Invisible Man" short with Ed Begley Jr.; his hilarious run at the Leonard Nimoy "In Search Of" chestnut as "Bullshit Or Not?" with pitch-perfect host Henry Silva; the stay-for-the-end-credits 1930's "Reefer Madness" health scare jewel starring the late, great Paul Bartel and Carrie Fisher; or the crossed-circuit tributes to BOTH the "Siskel & Ebert" show AND the old Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, featuring a dream cast of vaudeville and 50's Vegas comics that has to be seen to be believed.

Landis's standouts include a "no soul" infomercial featuring David Alan Grier and BB King, a funny hospital sketch featuring Landis players Griffin ("American Werewolf") Dunne and Michelle ("Into The Night") Pfeiffer (!) and a respectful nod to the earlier "Kentucky Fried Movie" wrap-up featuring an interactive video that stars Marc McClure, "UltraVixens" cult director Russ Meyer and Andrew Dice Clay. Highest marks, though, go to the running-gag "Amazon Women On The Moon", which lovingly - hilariously - mocks everything from "This Island Earth" to "Robot Monster" complete with film splices and gorgeous, over-saturated Eastmancolor.

If you have ever loved crappy TV, the Universal Studios backlot or any of the directors who have contributed to this dog's breakfast of SNL-inspired skits (written by two ex Carson-era "Tonight Show" writers), take a look at this one. Plus, it's only 85 minutes of your life that you'll never get back. Bullshit, or not.

There's no subtlety with "Amazon Women on the Moon"; a lot of the gags are on-the-nose and sometimes I actually wanted to shake my head for laughing. But I think the key here is the execution.

For starters, just look at the cast on this thing. It's one name actor after another, and I don't think there's a weakness among them. Also, the subject matter (late-night TV) seems ripe for parody; it lends itself to the movie's shameless mix of ribald and farcical. But more important than all of this is the ability to surprise. My favorite segment (aside from Arsenio Hall's being systematically attacked by his own apartment) is Don "No Soul" Simmons:

"Did you know that every seven minutes, a black person is born in this country without soul?"

It wouldn't be a stretch to say that David Alan Grier walks away with this movie.

There's just something about this that works; it's consistently funny, the bits are largely memorable, and it's got John Landis' fingerprints all over it. Sold!

8/10

This is not a great film by any means, but there are some really hilarious, unforgettable sketches in this movie. There's the Playboy bunny who goes grocery shopping naked, goes to church naked and everyone else acts like its normal. The Amazon Women on the Moon sketch is a scream. David Alan Grier is fantastic as the man without soul. There's the Siskel and Ebert-style critique of a man's life. There's also Andrew Dice Clay's finest moment (not like he's had any others) as he screams from a TV set at someone watching his girlfriend's porn video. A very silly movie, but with lots of great moments.

I guess it was perfect timing that I watch this late last night, because it goes hand-to-hand with its overall context and what it's trying to come across as. This star-studded production with the likes of John Landis and Joe Dante directing some of these gags and segments, come up with a compilation comedy that lampoons late-night American TV. The main focus is on a Z-grade 1950's Sci-fi film called 'Amazon woman on the moon', but it's the small comedy sketches of info-commercials that flooded proceedings. The majority of the film is filled with these comical ads and pointless interruptions and breaks, with the z-grade feature more so in the background. Which is quite sad as from what get out of this flick is a correct parody on late-night telly and some of it is mildly entertaining. It's just sometimes the one idea gimmick had me smiling while other times it had me rolling my eyes. Some skits worked with their ingenious side gags and self-referential humour, while others totally missed the point by overplaying its hand, or they were rather thin.

Some of my favourite segments would be the Video date, Don 'no soul' Simmons, Murray in videoland, critics corner and bullsh!t or not. Plus the z-grade mocking of 'Amazon woman on the moon' is neatly setup and done with great effect, with its dodgy sets, awful dialog, wooden acting, women in skimpy outfits (with Sybil Danning appearing), choppy editing and the many pointless interruptions that go through the flick. They just nailed it! The whole parody is interesting and it works in small slabs, but the whole execution was rather uneven and downright hectic. Maybe too many directors spoil the brew? As some segments and gags just don't fit in with others, that being the context or that of the humour. The narration is all over the place, but that was intended by mocking these type of productions and the clever script is done with enough panache and wit. You'll notice a lot of familiar faces popping up throughout, like Rosanna Arquette, Griffin Dunne, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steve Guttenberg, Dick Millar, Ralph Bellamy, Arsenio Hall, Phil Hartman and many more. But just don't think it's finish when the credits start rolling, as there's another send-up following involving Carrie Fisher called reckless youth. Pocking fun of the 30's when there was movie/TV propaganda about foolishness of teens and how your youth can destroy you by taking reckless temptations.

The feature did kinda remind me of Monty Python gags and definitely in the way the format was presented. These Python's films are 'And Now For Something Completely Different' and 'The Meaning of Life'. Although a friend of mine told me that this idea for this film is similar to 'The Kentucky Fried Movie' (1977), the same people who went on to create the spoof 'Airplane'. It supposedly was a catalyst for this type of picture.

Basically it's a fairly entertaining watch and true to its sources, but still rather forgettable when it came to shove.

It's really hard to give a score to this movie, as I have seen two or three different versions of the film. The original version appears to have been re-edited to remove some of the dirtier skits (and there were quite a few). Then, less funny skits that were apparently left on the editing room floor were substituted--with less than glowing results.

When the movie is funny, it is side-splittingly funny (especially the teenager buying condoms, the funeral, and Lou Jacobi re-appearing throughout the movie after he is sucked into the television set) but it also tends to fall flat from time to time. This unevenness is probably due to the fact that this movie had MANY different directors--each directing their own skits and then the movie was pieced back together. The end result is highly reminiscent of a better version of Kentucky Fried Movie.

My advice is, see the original un-edited version--but WITHOUT the kids! The edited version just isn't all that funny.