Netflix And Chill: Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)

I reviewed Beverly Hills Cop quite a few years ago now. I rewatched Beverly Hills Cop II a few times, but kept forgetting to do anything more than a capsule review for it. But the time was right to finally revisit the undercooked Beverly Hills Cop III, a film that I hadn't been brave enough to revisit since it first hit the home rental market back in the mid-'90s.

The plot is quite simple. Eddie Murphy is back in the role of Axel Foley. The death of Foley’s boss leads him to investigate a crime ring that he believes is operating out of a Los Angeles amusement park. He reunites with Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), and quickly gets himself into a whole heap of trouble while trying to gather evidence that will lead to the prosecution of a bad guy that he KNOWS is the bad guy (Timothy Carhart).

This should have been another great entry in a series that was already two for two. Heroes & villains confronting one another against the backdrop of various  amusement park rides. Writer Steven E. de Souza is someone who has delivered some great action movies, but he’s also written some that were not so great. This falls into the latter category. The action isn’t good enough, the comedy not funny enough, which just leaves the whole thing as another fairly limp star vehicle for Murphy at a time when every Murphy film inevitably felt like that.

Putting John Landis in the director’s chair just have seemed like a very good idea, considering his past glories with Murphy in a leading role, but he ultimately doesn’t have a handle on the tone and what is truly needed for the series. There are the expected cameos you expect from a Landis movie, but not enough care is given to the plot (and let’s not pretend that Foley does any decent detective work here).

Murphy is still good enough in this role to make it watchable, and Reinhold is fun (although he doesn’t get any of the interplay he previously had with John Ashton’s character, notably absent here and sorely missed). Hector Elizondo is okay, but not really good enough as a replacement for Ashton’s character, and Stephen McHattie gets to come along every once in a while to lay down the law as an angry Fed. Carhart is a bit of a weak villain, commanding a small army of bland henchmen, John Saxon is someone you know must be involved somehow (due to being John Saxon), and Theresa Randle tries her best in a role that makes her a potential love interest/damsel in distress. Oh, and it’s fun to see Bronson Pinchot return for a scene or two, having moved from the world of art to the world of heavy-duty self defence.

The cast help make this more fun than it otherwise would be. It’s a bad film, but it’s a bad film that remains watchable, for the most part, if you don’t mind spending time with a likable main character on one of his lesser adventures. And it would have been even better if it had felt more in line with the previous two movies.

5/10

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Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)

Although I put it off for many years, and didn’t hear anything from people who might want me to prioritise this as a viewing option, I decided to finally watch the last of the films that make up the original Psycho film series. Considering the obvious diminishing returns of each instalment, although that is not to dismiss the greatness of the second film, I hoped that this would still provide me with some fun.

Listening to a radio show, about killers who have committed matricide, hosted by Fran Ambrose (CCH Pounder), Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins once again) decides to call in and share his own informed viewpoint. He doesn’t agree with the views expressed by one of the guests (Dr. Leo Richmond, played by Warren Frost), and decides to give listeners the benefit of his life story. This allows us to then see a young Norman (Henry Thomas) living with his mother (Olivia Hussey).

Written by Joseph Stefano, this is a largely disappointing finale for a very unlikely film series. I am not sure that any of us really wanted to see Norman’s childhood (not until they found a better way to do it anyway, with the Bates Motel TV show) and the third act tries to add suspense and twists that fall completely flat. Having said that, it still partially succeeds as an ending for the character of Norman, giving him a closure that feels deserved, for both himself and fans of the series.

Director Mick Garris doesn’t do anything great, although he’s slightly hampered by a script that feels very comfortably within the TV movie parameters it was given. Things feel as if they are being marked off a checklist, from character details to shot choices, but there’s some fun to be had as viewers watch the important moments that turned Norman into what he is/was.

Perkins is very good once again in the main role, but he’s consigned to a supporting role in his own story, setting the scene for the other main players. Thomas and Hussey do well enough, although both are a bit over the top at times, and the focus is on familiar references and touch points ahead of natural and realistic characterizations. Pounder is perfectly fine as the DJ, Frost doesn’t get to do much (seemingly only there to have a character similarly named to someone else from the very first film), and Donna Mitchell plays someone pivotal to the whole plot, but also disappointingly undeveloped. Maybe giving her a bit more material instead of making time for a John Landis cameo could have helped things slightly, but what do I know?

I can’t say I hated this though. It was a bit of a chore at times, and some moments came close to being laughably bad, but I was ultimately won over by a cast all trying hard with very uneven material. I might never rush to rewatch this, but I am glad I finally got around to it. There’s an inevitable sense of satisfaction after joining Norman for the full journey.

5/10

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Schlock (1973)

The first film from director John Landis, Schlock is a comedic creature feature that shows a creature causing problems in a small town. Known as "The Banana Killer", it turns out that the creature is the missing link, aka Schlock.

Riffing on King Kong, and many other classic creature features, Schlock is a slim plot used as a hanger for an array of jokes, most of them pretty terrible (even by my standards). After a first half that shows Schlock scaring a variety of people, but not necessarily wanting to deliberately harm anyone, the second half feels like something much more familiar, with the creature taking an interest in a lovely young blind woman named Mindy Binerman (Eliza Roberts, billed as Eliza Garrett). It's not going to end well, surely.

There's some fun to be had here, and you have to admire Landis for throwing it together (while he also stars in the main role), but there's also plenty here to keep you from forgetting that you're watching the first film from someone who has an approach you could never categorise as subtle. It's a case of everything being thrown at the wall to see what sticks, but with Landis at the helm it's hard to say whether that is "first film syndrome" or just his own standard approach.

The best gags reference films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Blob (which the characters watch within the film), and you also get the start of the "See You Next Wednesday" trademark, of course, but the many moments that aren't referencing specific movies often end up falling flat. Watch Schlock discover the joys of a concession stand in a cinema. Watch people talk to one another in a way that just feels like the sentences have been constructed to lead to some lame punchlines. Roll your eyes at the final shot of the film (okay, that's not actually a gag that falls flat, it's just very predictable and poorly executed).

None of the cast do great work. Although Landis wanders around and tries to do his best apeman impression, the sheer obviousness of it being a man in a pretty bad ape suit undermines every one of his scenes, despite the bad ape suit most likely being a big part of the joke. Roberts is okay, and at least gets to have a decent part in the finale, and Charle Villiers is allowed to act protective towards her, playing her boyfriend, Cal. I'll also mention Saul Kahan, playing Detective Sgt.Wino, but I'm not singling anyone else out.

It's fortunate that Landis would do much better with his next parody film, The Kentucky Fried Movie. This one may have been his first, and is also notable for being the first credited special effects gig for Rick Baker, but it's also arguably his worst. For completists only.

3/10

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Shudder Saturday: King Cohen: The Wild World Of Filmmaker Larry Cohen (2017)

There was one obvious choice for this blog selection this week, due to the death of celebrated filmmaker Larry Cohen. Cohen is one of those people I have always admired, yet haven't actually seen as much from as I should have. That included this very documentary, one that has been on my radar for some time.

Of course, watching a documentary and then figuring out how to review a documentary are two completely different things. This has a pretty standard format, various talking heads in between clips from most of Cohen's movies, and it does it well, providing a sense of respect and love for Cohen that will be immediately obvious, even to those unfamiliar with his work before seeing this.

You get a lot of the usual suspects for this kind of thing. Joe Dante can talk about these movies until your ears fall off, and John Landis never met a spoken sentence that he couldn't then follow up with a dozen more sentences. They're as good value as ever, but the joy comes more from those who haven't been seen in so many of these kinds of things. Fred Williamson and Yaphet Kotto are both enjoyable to listen to, Eric Roberts once again reminds people that he seems to enjoy working with as many people on as many different filming experiences as possible, Barbara Carrera has some good stuff to share, and Michael Moriarty is, fittingly, the star of the show when it comes to delivering a mix of information, anecdotes, and good-natured disagreement over individual recollections.

Although he may initially seem like someone in the same mould as Corman, this documentary does a great job of reminding you of how different he is from that other celebrated figure. Cohen was always a writer who could impress people with his creativity and his prolific output. His journey to being a director stems from the fact that he could then work on his scripts, without seeing them warped and altered too much from their original form, and that's an attitude that he has passed along to others over the years.

If you're new to Cohen then this serves as a decent highlight reel without actually spoiling too many of his "greatest hits", although you will see some key scenes. I have yet to check out the likes of Bone, The Ambulance, and, the one I feel I should have checked off the list a long time ago, God Told Me To. I've seen It's Alive but have still to check out any of the sequels. Now I know I need to bump them back to the top of my "to watch" pile because this documentary reminded me of how much I love Cohen's work. He may not always be delivering absolute classics but he's always interested in trying to say something interesting while never forgetting that movies should also entertain.

A bittersweet experience to watch now, especially when you see how energetic and enthusiasm Cohen remained throughout his life, it's also one that all genre fans should check out. Either get to know the man for the first time or get to spend some quality time with someone who has probably already given you a couple of your favourite movies over the years.

7/10

There's a region-free disc here.
Americans can get it here.

Dead By Dawn 2018: Innocent Blood (1992)

A horror comedy about a vampire from the director of An American Werewolf In London? It's fair to say that I had some pretty high expectations when I first watched Innocent Blood. Those expectations weren't met, and I didn't ever revisit the film over the next couple of decades. I'm not sure whether that is a good or bad thing, because this long overdue rewatch has made me realise that there's a lot here to enjoy.

Anne Parillaud plays a vampire named Marie who heads out into the night to feed. She feels like Italian, leading to her feeding on one of the many mobsters who populate the city. Once done with her meal, Marie usually takes care of the body to stop anyone returning as a vampire, but she is interrupted when she starts to feed on a boss man named Sallie (Robert Loggia). That leads to Sal rising up again, hungry and out of sorts, which leads to bewilderment from his crew and problems for an undercover cop named Joe (Anthony LaPaglia).

Written by Michael Wolk, Innocent Blood is a fun vampire movie that uses the supermatural powers associated with the beasts to play around with the buddy cop film template and provide some fun set-pieces. There's a decent amount of bloody moments, and the script has a lot of fun lines as the vampire threat and mobster activity builds.

John Landis directs competently enough, working within his means to deliver a vision that requres some enjoyable practical effects and stunt work to fully show the deveoping situation. There are some surprisingly solid action beats, some playing around with vampire tropes, the usual selection of cameos,and one main sequence in which Frank Oz plays a coroner bemused by the liveliness of the corpse wheeled in for him is a highlight.

Cast-wise, Parillaud is decent enough in the main role. She doesn't always convince when in full vamp-predator mode, but does much better in the scenes that have her fooling people with her attempts to look innocent. LaPaglia is also decent, stuck with the more straightfoward role - the cop on the case who is seeing things that nobody else will believe. But it's the cast of criminals that make the film more fun than it otherwise would be. Loggia is a blast as the powerful criminal who starts to realise just how much more power he has gained, Don Rickles is wonderful as his legal counsel, Chazz Palminteri has a small role (but is always good to see), and Tony Sirico, Kim Coates, and some other familiar faces are a lot of fun as they watch Loggia evolving. Angela Bassett and Luis Guzman also appear in small roles, both on the side of the police.

Despite some issues, such as a few dated effects and the pacing issues, Innocent Blood is a fun time. The biggest thing working against it when it was released back in 1992 was that it wasn't another An American Werewolf In London. But what is?

7/10

This LOOKS like a decent disc for those wanting the film, but maybe another release could be on the horizon?

Dead By Dawn 2018: An American Werewolf In London (1981)

Reposted from my Flickfeast.co.uk review.

Two young Americans, David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne), are trudging across the moors of Northern England when they are attacked by a large, deadly creature. Jack is killed instantly and David survives, only to be informed (by Jack, who is now cursed to wander the Earth as a member of the undead) that he will sprout fur and fangs at the time of the next full moon, hence the title. Despite this worry, David still manages to impress the beautiful nurse looking after him (Jenny Agutter) and gets his wicked way with our very own English Rose in a scene that fuelled many the fantasy of a young lad in the mid-80s. But will his happiness last? Is he going mad? Or will he, indeed, start howling at the next full moon?

If you haven’t seen this perfectly crafted horror-comedy (though director John Landis prefers to call it a horror movie that lets you laugh)  then stop reading this review and do so immediately. Now! It is a favourite for many, many people (certainly one of mine) and remains one of the best blending of those two genres ever made. I also think that this movie, alongside Scanners, helped to expand the newly introduced home entertainment market (thanks to the major rewind moments – Scanners had that exploding head scene and this movie has not only a naked Jenny Agutter but also THE finest werewolf transformation ever committed to film, for which I am eternally in awe of the magnificent Rick Baker . . . and we shouldn’t forget his sterling work in making Jack a very real, very decomposing member of the undead). Just watch it. Seriously. Now.

For those of you who have seen it or have just watched it for the first time, how many highlights can you think of right now? It’s a long and impressive list and, in a random stream of consciousness, I would have to plump for the following: the soundtrack filled with songs that have “moon” in the title, the adult movie titled “See You Next Wednesday” (a Landis trademark in-joke for some time), a young Rik Mayall on screen for seconds, “The Slaughtered Lamb”, the amusing comic relief from the staid policemen, Frank Oz in both muppet and non-muppet form, David Naughton checking his teeth in the mirror and THAT transformation sequence. Throw in an amazing finale set in Piccadilly Circus, genuinely good acting from all three of thhe main leads, a witty script full of love for the lycanthrope myths and great direction PLUS a hell of a lot more and you have the greatest werewolf movie ever made, for my money anyway.

10/10

Buy the disc here.
Americanos can get it here.

The one, the only . . . ME. With that there John Landis.

Trading Places (1983)

John Landis is a great director. Well, he WAS. It's been a while since we saw him working at his prime, but Trading Places is one of his best movies. In fact, if Landis hadn't also given us a classic werewolf flick and The Blues Brothers then this could well have been his crowning achievement.

The story is quite simple. Two rich old men (the Duke brothers, played by Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) make a bet over the effects of nature vs. nurture. To test their theory, they take their shining employee Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) and ruin his life. Louis loses his job, his fiance, his money and most of his self-respect in a series of humiliating trials all set up by the Dukes. At the same time, Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) is plucked from his hustling, hand-to-mouth lifestyle and offered almost everything that Louis had. The two have traded places, hence the title of the movie. Will Billy Ray become a success, or will he abuse his position to make even more money for himself? And will Louis turn to crime as misfortune piles upon misfortune?

Although it runs for almost 2 hours, with editing never being a strong point for Landis, this zips along at a cracking pace, with quality gags written into every scene, some subtle and some front and centre. This is partly thanks to the script, by Herschel Weingrod and Timothy Harris, but equally thanks to the performances from everyone involved.

Murphy is at his best, the early '80s was arguably the peak of his career, and he delivers almost every line with confidence and sass. Aykroyd just about avoids making you hate him during the opening scenes of the movie, although it's a close call, and it gets easier to enjoy his company as things unravel for him at greater and greater speed. Ameche and Bellamy are delightfully horrid schemers, playing brilliantly off one another from start to finish. Denholm Elliott also does well as the butler who starts off attending to Aykroyd and is then told to take care of Murphy instead, and Jamie Lee Curtis set many hearts a-flutter as Ophelia, the "hooker with a heart" who takes pity on Aykroyd and tries to help him out of his current jam. Paul Gleason is as good as he always is, James Belushi monkeys around in the third act, Kristin Holby is the fiance ashamed of Aykroyd's downward mobility, and there are a couple of cameos worth keeping your eyes peeled for (as usual with a John Landis movie).

For getting the best out of his cast, and treating the material so well, Landis has to be credited with doing a good job here. He certainly had a knack, at one point, of getting great scripts into the hands of the right people for the roles, which does half of his work for him, in my book. There's nothing spectacular here on the technical side, but it's all smooth and well put together. Most importantly, it's all constructed perfectly around the performances and the gags.

If you haven't yet seen this movie then I implore you to get to it as soon as you can. It's an enduring comedy that hasn't lost any of its power in the past few decades. And it then provides you with an extra laugh whenever you get around to watching Coming To America.

9/10

http://www.amazon.com/Trading-Places-Blu-ray-Eddie-Murphy/dp/B00AEBB8EM/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418340244&sr=8-1&keywords=trading+places

Freeway II: Confessions Of A Trickbaby (1999)

Just as Freeway was a twisted riff on Little Red Riding Hood, Freeway II: Confessions Of A Trickbaby is a twisted riff on Hansel & Gretel. Unfortunately, it's just not as good as the first movie, although that's not to say that it doesn't have its moments.

Natasha Lyonne has the lead role this time, as Crystal, and she ends up getting herself in enough trouble to be thrown into juvenile prison. She's not about to stay there for long, however, and soon makes good her escape with a young woman named Angela (Maria Celedonio). Unfortunately, Angela is a bit more unstable than Crystal, which can often lead to people being killed. Still, that won't matter if they can just get to the potential safe haven provided by Sister Gomez.

Once again written and directed by Matthew Bright, there may be some stylistic similarities on display here, but this shouldn't be viewed as a sequel to Freeway. Consider it more a distant cousin, a younger one that tries to act up and emulate you when it comes to visit during the holidays.

Lyonne is good in the main role, but she's not particularly easy to root for as she ends up spending more and more time averting her gaze from the obvious problems that her companion has. Celedonio gets to cut loose and embrace her freaky side as Angela, and she does just fine. Vincent Gallo appears in a small, but highly amusing, role, David Alan Grier is a very sleazy lawyer, and fans of John Landis may enjoy seeing him in his cameo.

Bright has a bizarre filmography, with Bundy being, arguably, the movie in which he comes closest to normality, but it's a shame that he has been unable, so far, to get anywhere close to the greatness of his debut feature. Everyone wants to see Tiptoes, but not necessarily for the right reasons. This movie may well prove to be the most disappointing to fans. It's not a clever reworking of the familiar material, and it's just not as much fun as it should be.

Worth a watch, but not one to revisit, and I doubt that anyone will end up choosing it as a firm favourite.

5/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Confessions-Trickbaby-SPA-Freeway-II/dp/B003TN8V2E/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1402536474&sr=1-1&keywords=freeway+2+confessions+of+a+trickbaby

Blast Vegas AKA Destruction: Las Vegas (2013)

Or, the alternative title that I gave it, Malcolm In The Maelstrom.

Sometimes I already know, just from the title and the stars, that I'm going to love a film. It usually happens with films that turn out to be genuinely great movies, but it also happens with films that make me laugh from start to finish because of how inept they are.

Blast Vegas falls into the latter category. It's horrible. It's full of characters that you will struggle to care about. The special effects are pretty dire. Yet I loved it (never fear, my rating reflects the reality, as opposed to the fun I had, pointing and laughing at everything).

Frankie Muniz (oh dear, oh dear, how did he slide so far so quickly?) stars as Nelson, a young man on holiday in Las Vegas with a bunch of guys who will put up with him just because he can be their designated driver. Those same guys take some Egyptian relic and fool around with it for a while, bringing about some REALLY bad weather and the beginning of the end of Las Vegas. Nelson, amidst the chaos and carnage, wants to find a girl that he's taken a shine to (Olive, played by Maggie Castle) and is helped along the way by a club singer named Sal (Barry Bostwick).

I had fun with Blast Vegas, I can't deny it, but I'd only ever recommend it to someone who could approach the film in the same way that I did, ready to point and laugh at the thing and then never want to watch it ever again. The screenplay, by Joe D'Ambrosia and Tom Teves, is suitably silly. Nobody is going to watch this and expect to hear any memorable dialogue, but it's good to watch the events unfold, with the script embracing the ludicrous premise as an excuse to get some easy laughs (yes, there's an Elvis or two in the mix).

Director Jack Perez is, of course, also responsible for promoting the fun factor of the movie, helped no end by Barry Bostwick, who seems to enjoy himself immensely in his cliched, comedic role. Muniz and Castle are appealing leads, while Michael Steger, Andrew Lawrence, Summer Bishil, Jillian Nelson and some other people should all be remembered for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ummmm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . also taking part in the proceedings. Okay, none of the supporting cast members really stand out, but they do what's asked of them. I think.

If it sounds like I had LOTS of fun with this movie, people may be wondering why I still rate it so low. Well, none of the fun really makes up for the ridiculousness that fills almost every scene, whether it's an opening sequence that features a cameo by John Landis for no apparent reason, some typically dubious special effects, or even the same stretch of road being used - albeit shot from different angles - when people need to try driving through the extreme weather. And, for anyone else who manages to watch the entire movie, if you can explain to me why people keep running in front of the ONE VEHICLE on an otherwise empty street, while a deadly storm keeps raging on, then please send answers on a postcard. Or, y'know, just post a reply below.

I've seen much worse than Blast Vegas, but that's mainly because I watch a lot of terrible, terrible movies.

3/10

http://www.amazon.com/Blast-Vegas-Frankie-Muniz/dp/B00HRD0FHQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389654599&sr=8-1&keywords=blast+vegas

¡Three Amigos! (1986)

Steve Martin, Martin Short and Chevy Chase play The Three Amigos, actors who temporarily ruled the roost at the box office before being canned by an irate producer (Joe Mantegna). Martin is Lucky Day, Short is "Little" Ned Nederlander and Chase is Dusty Bottoms, but the three men have been together so long that they simply ARE The Three Amigos. When a young woman (Carmen, played by Patrice Martinez) sees them in action on the silver screen she doesn't realise that she is watching a work of fiction. Desperate to save her town from the evil clutches of El Guapo (Alfonso Arau), she writes to the amigos and asks for their help. So begins a (Western) comedy of errors, as the stars think that they are being asked to ride into town, put on a fun show, collect a nice sum of money and then leave.

Featuring three comedy stars, arguably, at the height of their cinematic fame and a director (John Landis) on a bit of a hot streak, ¡Three Amigos! mixes plenty of quotable lines with some great characters and moments of delightful absurdity. It also, of course, references plenty of classic Western tropes and moments, with the main premise sharing a lot of common ground with Seven Samurai (remade many times, most famously as The Magnificent Seven).

Martin, Short and Chase work brilliantly together, with each of their characters being a slightly different shade of stupid. And they're nicely in synch with one another, whether giving their special salute or singing "My Little Buttercup" to a saloon full of patrons. Patrice Martinez is a lovely damsel in distress, though not a completely helpess figure, Philip Gordon is amusing enough as young Rodrigo and there are small roles for Joe Mantegna, Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman in the first act of the film. But the heroes are only able to step up to the mark if they have a good enough villain, so it's good that Alfonso Arau is very good in the role of El Guapo. He's equalled, and perhaps even slightly overshadowed at times, by Tony Plana (playing Jefe, the right hand man to El Guapo).

The script, written by Martin, Lorne Michaels and Randy Newman, may be relatively mild but the comedy is just as effective. It may feel slightly old-fashioned on many occasions - with the musical moments, selection of crowd-pleasing displays and the feeling that the movie is inseparable from the main characters in the way that both are happy to mug and dance around to be loved - but that's no bad thing when it's this entertaining.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Three-Amigos-Steve-Martin/dp/B00004Z2YX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374257264&sr=8-1&keywords=three+amigos

Spies Like Us (1985)

When Spies Like Us first came out I remember that I rented it numerous times, running home with that chunky VHS box in my pre-teen hands and looking forward each time to the antics of Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase sparking off each other onscreen. And then I was always disappointed by the slow build-up and the flat patches in between the decent moments of comedy, even at that early age.

So it's no surprise to learn that the film turns out to be just the same nowadays as it seemed way back then. The story is a simple one. Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd are two government employees who think that they're being given a chance to be spies when, in actual fact, they're nothing more than decoys while the valued spies get on with their duties. This leads to numerous situations in which our inept leads find themselves way out of their depth and with their lives on the line.

Based on a screenplay by Dan Aykroyd, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, Spies Like Us is clearly inspired by the Bing Crosby/Bob Hope "Road" movies and works well as a tribute. Chevy Chase is the fast-talking, bumbling half of the duo while Aykroyd is actually pretty smart and simply unequipped for a mission which the two men have not been expected to complete in any event.

Director John Landis paces things almost exactly as he paced Trading Places, except this time around there are less big laughs in the comedic moments and so the movie feels slower and "flabbier" despite a runtime of just over 100 minutes. Highlights include a selection of scenes showing our duo going through intense training, a sequence in which the two try to pass themselves off as doctors and a finale that features the funktastic sound of "Soul Finger".

Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd play to their strengths, you'll know already if you love or hate them, and the rest of the cast includes such luminaries as Steve Forrest, Donna Dixon, Bruce Davison, Bernie Casey, Frank Oz and, as this is a Landis movie, a number of cameos from the likes of Terry Gilliam, Ray Harryhausen, Joel Coen, Sam Raimi and many others.

Oh, and to end on a little bit of trivia, the "see you next Wednesday" that was a Landis trademark in many of his movies is seen on an army-related poster in the office of Colonel Rhumbus (played by Casey). 

6/10.

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