The Blues Brothers

[Philly Cheesesteak 92]

 

One of the most enjoyable toe-tapping comedies of all time, the best SNL skit to transition to the big screen, or a slightly overrated 80's John Belushi vehicle? Is it just a string of barely strung together celebrity cameos or is it a fun and anarchic wild ride? Do its memorable lines, musical numbers and thrilling car chase sequences make it a Canon contender or do we already have too many 80's hits in the Canon to begin with?

 

Is there enough room in the Canon for another John Belushi movie?

 

Now, me personally, I love The Blues Brothers, but that might be the nostalgia talking. I grew up with this movie, it introduced me to blues, R&B and jazz and I'll always find it funny-

 

But I'm not sure how it translates to others.

 

What do you guys think? Is The Blues Brothers Canon worthy?

[NathanGordon 1096]

I guess the sunglasses and hat getup is sort of iconic, but the best parts of the film by far are the performances. Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and the show stopping number by Cab Calloway are terrific and much more memorable than any of the jokes in this. Aykroyd and Belushi are pretty one-note.

 

Also, THIS happened and probably erased a lot of goodwill towards the original film:

 

[Philly Cheesesteak 92]

I guess the sunglasses and hat getup is sort of iconic, but the best parts of the film by far are the performances. Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and the show stopping number by Cab Calloway are terrific and much more memorable than any of the jokes in this. Aykroyd and Belushi are pretty one-note.

 

Also, THIS happened and probably erased a lot of goodwill towards the original film:

 

 

Aw, man... I've been trying for years to suppress any acknowledgement of that movie...

 

But all kidding aside, I feel it's safe to ignore that movie in favour of the original. It's the original we love, with the kick ass musical numbers and car chase sequences. It's a wild ride from start to finish, with incredible comic performances to make it so damn smooth.

[Ryan L 57]

The only other SNL proper film that would be in the conversation for the Canon is Wayne's World, but I would be remiss to say that one of my favorites actually belongs in the canon of the all time greats to live forever. Although, Wayne's World would give us an opportunity to debate the merits of the 90s SNL film phenomenon and how a future two-term Senator from Minnesota actually once was the star of a 30% Rotten Tomatoes film that was pulled from theaters after one week grossing less than $1mm...

 

As far as SNL-based films, The Blues Brothers is the canonical favorite. However, that's not to say that related works such as Ghostbusters, Billy Madison, Tommy Boy, or the Will Ferrell frat pack juggernaut of the last 20 years shouldn't also be considered. Yes, I honestly think that some of those after "Ghostbusters" could have an episode for themselves. Zoolander? Anchorman? Ricky Bobby? Regardless of your opinions on them, these are some of the most important comedies of the past 20 years.

[Philly Cheesesteak 92]

The only other SNL proper film that would be in the conversation for the Canon is Wayne's World, but I would be remiss to say that one of my favorites actually belongs in the canon of the all time greats to live forever. Although, Wayne's World would give us an opportunity to debate the merits of the 90s SNL film phenomenon and how a future two-term Senator from Minnesota actually once was the star of a 30% Rotten Tomatoes film that was pulled from theaters after one week grossing less than $1mm...

 

As far as SNL-based films, The Blues Brothers is the canonical favorite. However, that's not to say that related works such as Ghostbusters, Billy Madison, Tommy Boy, or the Will Ferrell frat pack juggernaut of the last 20 years shouldn't also be considered. Yes, I honestly think that some of those after "Ghostbusters" could have an episode for themselves. Zoolander? Anchorman? Ricky Bobby? Regardless of your opinions on them, these are some of the most important comedies of the past 20 years.

 

Now, I don't know about Billy Madison or Tommy Boy, but Ghostbusters and Anchorman aren't based on SNL skits. I'm talking specifically about the wave of SNL skit adaptations from small stage TV improv to big theatrics (i.e. Wayne's World). Sure, they have SNL alumni, but I did specifically cite that quality for a reason.

 

And I absolutely believe there's enough room in the Canon for those movies, especially Ghosbusters. But I wanted to give Blues Brothers my personal thumbs up first.

[Ryan L 57]

 

Bumping the thread. I just saw this scene come up on my Facebook timeline and I immediately watched 5 more scenes from this film. It's fantastic and deserves a looking!

[CarlosFerreira 20]

What to say? I am not sure it's a complete film as such, just a set of sketches. But it's got Aretha, it's got Ray, and then it's got John Lee-Hooker.

 

 

It's also one of the most quotable films of all time.

'We got both kinds. We got country *and* western.'

'We're putting the band back together!'

'I hate Illinois Nazis.'

 

And who could forget, 'It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.'

[JohnQ 3]

The only other SNL proper film that would be in the conversation for the Canon is Wayne's World.

 

Interesting that the best two SNL feature films are also the first two.

[Threshold 93]

I'll watch a clip on youtube every now and then but Canon-worthy? Nuuuuhhhh