A lot of people really like Mel Brooks. His filmography reads as a list of comedy classics: Young Frankenstein, The Producers, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, History of the World Part 1
, etc. etc. Personally, I am baffled. Some of his jokes are genuinely hilarious, but for the most part they seem to me to be merely blunt parody, self-referentials, or anachronisms. So much of it is uninteresting because they're far too easy; they're like jokes I came up with as a kid in terms of cleverness. This is just my opinion, though, and I will admit to some laughs peppered throughout my cynical head-shaking. But for those of you who love and revere the man and his work (i.e. all of you?), this is for you:
Today – Wednesday – Tinseltown presents two screenings of
as part of the Cinemark Classics series. It is a tale of political corruption set in the town Rock Ridge in the Old West in 1874. The Attorney General of the state comes up with a conniving plan to rid Rock Ridge of its inhabitants so he can buy the land to build a railroad through it: he convinces the governor to appoint a black man (Cleavon Little) as sheriff of the town, counting on the racism of the townspeople to create chaos. However, with the help of Jim “The Waco Kid” (Gene Wilder), Sheriff Bart wins the affections of the town and leads them to fight against the evil Attorney General.
Blazing Saddles
will screen twice today, at 2:00 and 7:00. Tinseltown is located at 4400 Towne Center Drive. Further theater information and advance ticket sales can be found at the Tinseltown website.
Image: Internet Movie Database
