crappy funny 80's movies

[Donovan]

So I'm watching a ton of movies on my new PS3 netflix toy, and the offspring is in a high comedy mood these days so we're primarily watching that kind of stuff. Partly due to the season and partly due to the selection on Netflix, we found ourselves watching a number of cheesy 80's comedies: Police Academy, National Lampoon's Vacation, Christmas Vacation, Modern Problems, as well as a couple Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy concert videos. Couple things occurred to me, as I watched:

Police Academy 1 really is funnier and sharper than it deserves to be, especially since it was later smeared by association with the terrible sequels.

Likewise Vacation, although Xmas Vacation really was as stupid as I remember it.

Modern Problems was a really weak Chevy Chase vehicle with only one or two funny bits in it, an extremely underdeveloped comedy plot that could have been exploited way better than it was, and only one single claim to fame--they managed to skewer and lampoon Dr. Phil twenty years before he actually existed as a cultural Icon. Watch that movie again and tell me Phil didn't steal his entire act from Dabney Coleman.

All these years later Richard Pryor is still a funny SOB.

Eddie Murphy is not.

And finally: instant download netflix is the best invention ever. I may never leave the house again...

 

[whisky]

I have never seen, or indeed heard of until this point, of Modern Problems.

The first police academy is great, and of course has some good Kim Catral nudity back when you still wanted to see it.

Plus probably the first mainstream BJ in film history, outside of deliverance.

 

[Big Dick McGee]

Raging Bull is my favorite 80's comedy.

Seriously, though, how long does it take for the movie to d/l? I have a cable modem connected to a wifi router, my laptop, LG's laptop, my iPhone, all are very fast on the wifi. But the PS3 takes fucking forever to download software updates. I find myself putting them off until a game forces me to update. Is the d/l time reasonable, and is it the same quality as Blu-Ray??

 

[Donovan]

I haven't had any issues with my plain old dsl. The movie starts playing within seconds of asking for it, and to be honest that's all I need, I don't have too many movies I just gotta save forever. If I do I go ahead and buy them on dvd (or blueray now I guess). I forgot to mention we also watched Major League II which was slightly funny in the sense of the asian trade player with the "No...Marbles" cracks. I've been saying that line forever to the kid so it was nice for him to get some context lol.

As for Modern Problems: it's worth one viewing, for the aforementioned Dabney Coleman character. Short plot synopsis is this: Chevy Chase plays Clark Griswold if Clark Griswold was a sad sack whiny bitch with jealousy issues who accidentally gets telekinetic powers. There are some funny sight gags and revenge moments as he gets back at people who have wronged him.. IIRC without looking to verify, the movie might have been originally intended for Belushi and was given to Chase when Belushi died. There were a few like that back then...

 

[Cassie]

Did you dl Caddyshack? OR GHOSTBUSTERS?

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

I have never seen, or indeed heard of until this point, of Modern Problems.

The first police academy is great, and of course has some good Kim Catral nudity back when you still wanted to see it.

Plus probably the first mainstream BJ in film history, outside of deliverance.

I just saw her in The Ghost Writer, probably the only movie other than ST:TUC where she didn't flash her breasteses.

She was born in Liverpool, and yet she was doing a crappy posh accent in Ghost Writer. Guess she went straight from scouse to American.

 

[ThatSunrise]

Iron Eagle. Teen pilots taking on entire stereotypical Middle Eastern militaries by themselves with 80s rock blaring FTW.

 

[CaptainWacky]

Ghostbusters wasn't crappy in any way!

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

Even the sequel was good!

VIGO!

 

[whisky]

The finest film of the 80s will always be Total Recall for me.

Repeatedly shot human shield on escalator FTW.

 

[Yub]

Total Recall was released in 1990.

 

[Donovan]

To echo Wacky and Eggs: the title of this thread is "CRAPPY" 80's comedies--what kind of doting father would I be if I had not already gotten Ghostbusters (both) and Caddyshack on the viewing list long before now? What we're doing now is trying to find hidden and forgotten semi-precious gems that Blockbuster has seen fit to delete from their shelves to make more room for copies of Twilight. I'm trying to give the kid an appreciation for the finer art of filmmaking and storytelling, and in order to do that we must watch the occasional clunker and pick it apart. Great fun, that is...

 

[whisky]

Total Recall was released in 1990.

But was made in the 80s

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

Rodney Dangerfield's Back to School and Easy Money have held up well for me. (Easy Money may be a little risque for the offspring depending on the age range).

Two others come to mind, although they were never "crappy" to begin with: My Favorite Year with Peter O'Toole is a classic that time seems to have forgotten. Also, Mel Brooks' To Be or Not to Be was treated like his ginger middle child, since he didn't direct it, but it's a solid remake of an Ernst Lubitsch classic.

 

[Donovan]

Iron Eagle. Teen pilots taking on entire stereotypical Middle Eastern militaries by themselves with 80s rock blaring FTW.

Iron Eagle II was once the only movie I had ever walked out on, back when a ticket was much more dear to me due to extreme poverty. Worst movie I ever saw to that point, and I had seen "Prophecy" with the mutant bears.

 

[Cassie]

I DIDN'T MEAN THEY WERE CRAPPY, JERKFACES

I was only suggesting 80's movies, I FORGOT WHAT THE TITLE OF THE THREAD WAS, OK?

 

[Big Dick McGee]

Wow, Cassie has been really angry lately! What did we do to upset you, Cassie??? You know we all treasure you, right??

 

[Cassie]

(it's not real anger, GOSH )

 

[Henoch]

I can't believe nobody mentioned "BACHELOR PARTY" with Tom Hanks! Such a great 80's comedy.

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

The man chased Tawny Kitaen around with an egg-beater. 10 years later, he has 2 Oscars.