The site where all things OLDSKOOL reside. From videos,columns and interviews with your favorite artist. This page is dedicated to everything OLDSKOOL from Hip Hop, R&B and even Caucasian Classics. Come through and reminisce about the times when everything was Funky Fresh.
Blazing Saddles is a 1974 movie directed by Mel Brooks who also co-wrote the movie along with Richard Pryror. The movie has been classified "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress. The movie starred Cleavon Little,Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman and Mel Brooks.
The movie’s plot is a former rail worker Bart (Little) while heading to the hangman's noose is give the job of sheriff in Rock Ridge. Coming to town on horseback with a Gucci saddle bag to Count Basie's orchestra Bart feels he has made it. Needless to say the townsfolk whom all seem to have same last name are not too keen on a "N*** Sheriff" Bart enlists the help of a fresh from the bottle Waco Kid (Wilder) to try to stop the plan of Hedley Lamar (Korman) and the not too bright Gov. Le Petomane (Brooks) In between the slapstick comedy there is a message on race relations that even today some still can’t seem understand. There are many standout cameos in this movie Madeline Kahn, Alex Karras and Dom DeLuise.
The movie is known for its
mostly comic portrayals of racial stereotypes and the absurdity of racial
superiority. Mel Brooks really wanted Richard Pryor to play sheriff Bart
however, Warner Brothers would not ok that as Pryor at that point had an a
reputation as being let's just say "unreliable". Another sticking
point was the use of the "N word" which is uttered many times in the
movie. Brooks later stated that both Pryor and Little both approved of the
usage as to bring realness to the times being depicted in the movie. Also Mel
Brooks wanted to push the envelope Warner Brothers tried to get him to make many changes. Mel declined to most of the requests but did relent and take one scene out:
While
trying to seduce Bart, Lili von Shtupp begins sucking on Bart’s arm in the
dark and Bart says" I
hate to disappoint you, ma'am, but you're sucking my arm"
Some of the moreiconicscenes are when The Waco Kid and Bart try to get a
closer look at the army that Hedley is building, and the scene showing new
sheriff taking a morning walk.
Mel Brooks had reached out to John Wayne to do a cameo but the western movie icon stated after reading the script "I can't be in that movie but I will be the first to see it" This movie for a host of reasons couldn't be made today. That doesn’t take away from the fact that on Feb 7th 2014 it would be the 40th anniversary of one of the most iconic movies ever made. Keep It Oldskool
"I am bored there is nothing to do
dad" My 15 or 13 year old sons will say to me on day like yesterday in
Philadelphia.(snow storm) As I sit on the couch and watch football and they feel the need to disturb me I decide to tell them what their dad and aunts did when they
were bored. It’s not like we had Xbox 360,Playstation 3,Wii and over a million
movies to watch (as they do). I had to break it down gadget by gadget.
Xbox 360, PlayStation etc- In our day our
games were called Atari, Intellivison and Collecovison. The graphics were
terrible compared to today's standards especially Atari whose basketball game looked
like this
And Football that looked like this :
Movies to watch (DVDs first run movies) Cable Tv -In our day at most there were 2 VCRs in the houses (parents room and living room) and the price of about $200-$300 they were not to be touched by the 13-15 year old as we may break something "you know you can’t pay for") .Unlike now when a movie that was out 6 months ago (and was popular) it did not come out on tape for years. We did have some cable channels but not 7 HBOs, Showtime and Starz and a network that played classic cartoons all day long (Boomerang)
Now we get to the part where the boys looked at me like I had just asked them to spell "supercadufradulistic". I told them about card games, Uno, I declare war, Go fish etc. I regaled them with knowledge of games like Sorry, Connect Four and even Checkers. Of course they did not understand how we sat there and played "those games".
Lastly I tell them that our imagination was also something we used on boring rainy days. And even I went "full on Urkel" on them and told them they could try reading a book. Im sure all who are reading this can understand how my suggestions and anecdotes went over with my sons. So the next time your children try to tell you how bored they are now or that there is nothing to do you can use the same strategy that I did or you could just tell them to clean their room
Keep It Oldskool Presents Oldskool Movie of the week
National Lampoon's Vacation was released in 1983 the movie written by 80s movie master John Hughes and directed by Harold Ramis was an instant smash and starred Chevy Chase,Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Dana Barron and Anthony Michael Hall. The movie which spawned a franchise is considered one of the funniest movies ever. The movie was shot on location meaning that the cast had to travel cross country during the filming.
The movies tells the story of food additives salesman Clark Griswold (Chase) taking his family Ellen (D'Angelo) Rusty (Hall) and Audrey (Barron) cross country to Walley World an amusement park in California. The trek is beset by problems such as the hideous station wagon,a sojourn into the inner city and of course relatives. We see Clark handle each situation with a clumsy abandon. This family unit is pushed to a breaking point with hilarious results. From the Grand Canyon to the desert the Griswold's seem to travel all over the map.
There was of course a cameo as supermodel Christie Brinkley is tooling around in a red Ferrari that seems to be stalking the family. Also Cousin Eddie ( Randy Quaid) whose daughter says that she was told by her FATHER that she french kisses the best. and Aunt Edna who wines and insults her way along for the ride. In any odyssey there are casualties and this movie is no different. But even the deaths are played up for comedy.
This movie is a "click and stop movie" meaning while flipping channels if you run across it, you have to stop and watch for a while. The movie spawned 4 sequels:
National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Vegas Vacation (1997)
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure (2003)
The best of being the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. The Old Navy clothing line had commercials feature Chase and D'Angelo and several of the different actors that portrayed Audrey and Rusty over the course of the 4 films. Some unknown tidbits on or about the movie include:
(courtesy of http://news.moviefone.com/2013/07/29/vacation-movie-trivia-25-things-you-didnt-know/)
*The original ending had the Griswolds, livid over the closing of Walley World, invade Roy Walley's house, hold him and his associates hostage, and force them to entertain them by dancing and singing Marty Moose songs.
*As the ending had to be re shot Rusty (Anthony Micheal Hall) had grown 6 inches and in final draft of movie Rusty goes from a few inches shorter then Chevy Chase to a few inches taller then him.
*A reboot has been in the works that would star Ed Helms ("The Hangover") as the grown Rusty, taking his own wife (Christina Applegate) and family on vacation to Walley World, with Chase and D'Angelo to return as his parents.
