Cheeseburger Film Sandwich

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.

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

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.

While most people will think this film is plain silly, which it is, it is really quite fun too.

With a few exceptions, the film is about your typical late night television and the crazy ads that used to permeate the airwaves before all the infomercials started taking over in the 90's. In this film, they make fun of those crazy ads and programming by doing outrageous spoof ads interspersed with an old 1950's B movie with a lot of projection problems.

Any couch potato with a good sense of humor and a memory of the 70's & 80's television programming should enjoy this one! This is why I call it a niche movie.

The movie is funny in general. Several segments are good, and they are smart enough to know when their welcome is worn out.

The highlight for me is Don "No Soul" Simmons, the unhippest black guy ever born, and poster boy for the charitable campaign to aid black people born without soul.

David Greer singing "Blame it on the Bossa Nova" over the closing credits is worth the price of the rental.