Chances are the 2010 Free Monday Movies at Iroquois Amphitheater series is not news to many of you. It's been going on for the past two months. But a brief mention about tonight's showing is justified for anyone who likes comedy, especially if they like their comedy to be strange and smell of rich mahogany.
Anchorman: The Legend of Rob Burgundy will be shown at 8:00 tonight. Perhaps Will Ferrell's shining moment on the big screen, it is filled with more absurdity and memorable quotes than nearly any movie in recent memory. Oh, and there's the soundtrack, too.
Bill Withers' Use Me and Neil Diamond's Cherry Cherry are both standouts. Carry On Wayward Son marks the second usage of Kansas in a Ferrell film following his touching version of Dust in the Wind in Old School. Tom Jones' Help Yourself is used to great effect during a partially animated scene. However, the brief usage of Hall & Oates 70s classic She's Gone played during a down and out period for the lonely and humbled Burgundy is just as effective as other wonderful yet more serious moments in cinematic music history such as Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes in Say Anything and New Order's Elegia in Sixteen Candles, which somehow wasn't included on that soundtrack.
Oh, and the Anchorman soundtrack all comes back to Afternoon Delight, doesn't it? Ironically, the original Starland Vocal Band version is not on the soundtrack. Instead, the Channel 4 News team gets credit and deservingly so. Who knew Brick Tamland had the voice of an angel? I suppose only those who also know that Dorothy Mantooth is a saint.
The movie series continues each Monday through September with the exception of Labor Day and will include Close Encounters of the Third Kind August 23 and Superman September 13, which both boast fine John Williams' scores. A bonus movie, Mama Mia will be shown on Saturday September 11, and, of course, feature plenty of ABBA music.
And while the music in The Jerk may not be prominent, fans of Anchorman and silly yet smart humor may want to catch The Jerk when it is shown Monday September 20 in the penultimate movie of the summertime series. As a side note. Steve Martin fans may also want to check out his excellent recent bluegrass release The Crow: New Songs for the Five String Banjo.
Plus, few venues in Louisville match the charm and setting of the Iroquois Amphitheater. Although the show is free, concessions will be sold including Ehrler's ice cream. So, great Odin's raven, head over to Iroquois Park before summer's over.
