Amazon Women on the Moon

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 a supposed sequel to a John Landis movie I've never seen called "Kentucky Fried Movie". I will say that this movie is a heck of a lot better than the spoof of T.V. movies that I've seen such as Tunnelvision or The Groove Tube.

The film has some weaknesses. Due to the presence of 5 directors, who all came up with their own material, the film lurches through different types of situations. From hilarious commercials, to spoofing T.V. shows, to SNL style sketch comedy, to even making old black and white short films, as well as the title film, it changes without any rhyme or reason. There are some cruel sketches as well.

Still, the film is a classic because of the memorable characters created. In particular, David Alan Grier's Don "No Soul" Simmons, who appears in the "Blacks With No Soul" and a segment where you can buy his albums are hilarious. I'd love to get those "albums", especially "Don "No Soul" Simmons Gets Down And Funky". I feel that Alfonso Ribeiro's character of Carleton Banks from "The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air" was derived from him; they look, dress, talk, sing, dance, and have the same interests in music. Joey Travolta's attempt to ape his brother John's Barbarino character in the "Amazon Woman" segment is pretty hilarious, too. Of course "Mondo Condo" featuring Arsenio Hall in an apartment cursed with Murphy's Law is still hilarious, as is the two segments featuring Archie Hahn "Real Life Movie Review" and "Roasting A Loved One" (actually based on a show that existed, where comedians got roasted on T.V.). Some great lines from those segments:

"I'm sorry, but I have to give Harvey Pitnik a big thumbs down"

"We're here to put two things to rest: Harvey and the fact that Charlie Callas is funny!"

"We've got two pieces of bad news: Milton Berle couldn't be here and Rip Taylor is."

Even the two black-and-white featurettes are interesting. Ever wanted to see Ed Begley Jr. naked. Here you go. Ever wanted to see a glimpse of what a message film from the 30's about the evils of sexual diseases was like? It's here.

The commercials are alright. Other than the "No Soul" commercials, the Silly Pate (I'm eating Popeye.) comes close, the rest are weak, although the Irving Sidney novel commercial should have given Sidney Sheldon a good idea for a future novel.

The SNL skits are a mixed bag. "Mondo Condo" is a classic. The one with the then married couple of Michelle Pfeiffer and Peter Horton trying to get their delivered baby from a doctor played by Griffin Dunne is great for one line uttered by Horton:

"That's not our son! That's a Mister Potato Head!"

The cruel skit involves Matt Adler, Kelly Preston, Steve Cropper, Howard Hesseman, and Ralph Bellamy and it's about a teenager buying condoms for the first time and finding out that he was the billionth man to buy them and is paraded around in embarrassing fashion. The "Video Date" one is pretty good, until it gets a bit nasty in the end, but since it features Russ Meyer (and Andrew Dice Clay), it wouldn't surprise me if Meyer came up with the plot for this one, as a lot of his movies are like this. The "Two I.D.'s" skit with Steve Guttenberg and Rosanna Arquette is a frightening portent of today's fears of your private life being available for the public to know about. "Video Pirates" is weak, why this one was made is beyond me, as well as seeing Lou Jacobi in a running joke of being trapped on T.V.

The movie says it has a lot of actors in it's opening credits. You'll see old-movie stars, established actors, up and comers, bluesman B.B. King, comedians and cult movie directors such as Meyer and Paul Bartel. As well, one of the most beautiful array of female talent ever assembled. A female cast with Michelle Pfeiffer, Rosanna Arquette, Kelly Preston, Sybil Danning (in the "Amazon Women" segments), Lana Clarkson ("Amazon Women"), Angel Tompkins (Irving Sidney), Carrie Fisher (you Star Wars fans loved her outfit in "Return Of The Jedi"), former Playboy Playmate Monique Gabrielle (an honourable mention in my tops list for beauty) and former Penthouse Pet Corrinne Wahl (nee Alphen). You can't beat that.

Put it all together, and you have a film that must be seen once a year at least. An ambitious project, and even though it has a few flaws, it's great. I wish they'd make something like this today.

Greetings, one and all! "Amazon Women on the Moon" is one of my all-time favorite movies, not because it is perfect, but because it effectively yet respectfully lampoons so many genres, including 50s movies, late-night television of all sorts, and even different styles of literature available throughout a good portion of the 20th century. Find a trend in literature of the 40s and 50s, movies of the 50s and 60s, or television of the 50s through the 70s, and it is somehow made fun of in this movie.

Another reason that I like this film is the fact that everyone involved, and there are many, many recognizable names involved with this project, seems to be having so much fun doing it. Several of the best moments for me are those when actors are playing, tongue-in-cheek, the same types of roles for which they were famous in other "serious" movies.

The movie is incredibly funny if you are in the right mood, and with the right crowd. Even if not, however, there are enough funny moments to make this worth watching. The pacing and style are sometimes uneven, which I found worked toward a purpose, but that may make it hard for some to watch the movie straight through. If that is the case, watch it in two sittings; it's worth the extra effort.

One game you can play, if you know the times or are old enough to remember first-hand, is to find how many books, TV shows/icons, and movies are good-naturedly ridiculed throughout the movie.

Boy, do i love this movie! Im not saying it didnt have any flaws. Id say about 80% of it was very funny. My absolute favorite sketches are the Harvey Pitnik critics corner/funeral sketches. The critics really tore Harvey a new one (LOL)! All the roasters (comedians) were great, but my favorite was Rip Taylor, especially when he says "you know the old saying in show business, get off quick, like Harvey on his wedding night!" When i heard that, I laughed so hard, that i probably have an uncured hernia to this day from it. Of course i cant leave out the blacks without soul/ Don no soul Simmons albums (my second favorite), Arnesio Hall, bs or not, pirates, titans, and every Vangoe must go, and the Amazon Women movie itself. These were all very funny. I cant wait to get this on dvd one day. 8 STARS OUT OF 10.

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.