The movie made me laugh a couple of times and chuckle several times, but I would not own it if it weren't for the Tubes song over the closing credits. The song is not available anywhere else, so that alone makes the DVD worth twice the price.
I've been waiting for this.....!
What's up with some of these poor reviews? You people suck. Dabney Coleman's peformance, alone, puts Modern Problems over the top.
Can you really deny lines like..?:
"You see...what you need to realize is..she's a manipulatin' b!tch.."
[or]
"Don't look at me like I'm a freak..! I'm not a freak! He's the freak! I'm a g*ddamned goodlookin' man!"
...exploding ballet pants, extreme nosebleeds..and Nell Carter! What's not to love?
Now, if they'll just release a soundtrack featuring that killer TUBES song, I'll be happy. :)
A must see for anyone who enjoys laughing at poor filmmaking
Acting Lesson #1:
Let's say (hypothetically) that you (yes you!) are a cast member of fledgling hour-long skit-based comedy program Saturday Night Live in the Lord's year 1975. Perhaps you are one of the more popular performers on said program. All over America, SNL is exploding in popularity, and millions tune in to witness your own special brand of physical comedy. Now let's say you get cocky. You figure if you're already so popular on national television, you could become even MORE popular in the movies. So after only one year on the show, you leave to pursue a career in Hollywood. But you weren't ready. You hadn't built enough hype up as a TV star yet, and with what appears to be no consideration whatsoever, you accept every movie roll that comes along.
That, ladies and gentleman, is the story of Chevy Chase. Despite his obvious comedy genius, he blindly accepted the roll of our protagonist Max Fielder in the godawful Modern Problems. Wrought with visible camera equipment, transparent special effects, weird and upsetting continuity errors (including teleportation), and more shots of the boom mic than of Chase himself, Modern Problems is much like a poorly edited home movie.
Now we've established Chases's undiscriminating attitude, but what on earth possessed the rest of the cast? This stinker touted a few reasonably well-known names such as Dabney Coleman, Nell Carter, Mary Kay Place, SNL alum Brian Doyle-Murray, and a guest shot by Pat Proft. Perhaps the first 100 actors to sign up were given a free calendar.
Regardless, I would never pretend that this movie had no value. Like at least 60% of all films, it becomes an instant classic when you and a group of friends gather to guffaw at it's obvious shortcomings. And, heck, there are some legitimate Chevy jokes in Modern Problems. Don't miss the line "Smells like feet!"
Not short on murder, mayhem, or any other screwball '70s conventions, Foul Play is a wonderful vehicle for Goldie Hawn. She plays Gloria, a librarian "ready to take a chance again," who ends up the target of an assassination ring. Chevy Chase, fresh off of Saturday Night Live, does the closest thing to real acting he would ever achieve (okay, maybe Fletch) as Tony, the cop assigned to protect Gloria. Dudley Moore made an indelible impression on American audiences as Stanley Tibbets, a surprisingly kinky symphony conductor. But it's the quirky things that make this film: the grandmothers playing Scrabble with expletives, Burgess Meredith's snake Esme, the old Japanese couple in the back of the careening limo. From the opening credits with Barry Manilow crooning the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Goldie Hawn - Chevy Chase Director(s): Colin Higgins DVD Release Date: Released the 16 November 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Despite the presence of hack director Arthur Hiller, this hybrid comedy-thriller works most of the time as pleasant faux Hitchcock. Gene Wilder is a book editor who is relaxing by taking a cross-country train ride. Then he gets caught up in a murder--and becomes a suspect. It's up to him to prove his own innocence. As noted, the script, by Colin Higgins, owes a big debt to Alfred Hitchcock; but the mystery isn't all that mysterious and the comedy isn't all that hilarious--at least not until Richard Pryor shows up, which is at least halfway through the film. Things definitely pick up from there. Jill Clayburgh, as the love interest, is merely along for the train ride. Wilder and Pryor eventually teamed up for several other films, but they were never as funny together as they are in this... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gene Wilder - Richard Pryor Director(s): Arthur Hiller DVD Release Date: Released the 14 December 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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An original Neil Simon screenplay makes Seems Like Old Times rise above what would otherwise be a forgettable comedy love triangle. Goldie Hawn (Private Benjamin) plays a good-hearted defense lawyer married to Ira, a politically ambitious district attorney played by Charles Grodin (Midnight Run). The craziness of their everyday lives becomes even more ridiculous when ex-husband Chevy Chase is framed for a bank robbery and seeks refuge with the woman he could never get over. Hawn hides the love of her life under her husband's nose as Chase tries to clear his name. Hawn tries to protect him and Grodin just tries to keep from going insane. A slapstick romance that's very often hit-and-miss, the dialogue saves this comic farce and provides wonderful moments between the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Goldie Hawn - Chevy Chase - Charles Grodin Director(s): Jay Sandrich DVD Release Date: Released the 19 March 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The amiable sci-fi spoof The Ice Pirates has earned a small but vocal cadre of admirers thanks to its go-for-broke gags and a healthy disrespect for outer space epics like the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises. An atypically goofy Robert Urich stars as the leader of a band of space pirates who kidnap a princess (Mary Crosby of Dallas fame), and then join her quest to find a mythical planet that can solve the universe’s water shortage. A completely game (shameless?) cast (which includes Anjelica Huston in fetching leather gear, Ron Perlman, John Matuszak, and fantastic film icon John Carradine) and Stewart (The Philadelphia Experiment) and Raffill’s breezy direction help sell the funniest bits (most notably, the notorious "space herpy" scene,... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Stewart Raffill DVD Release Date: Released the 15 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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There's few things worse, cinematically speaking, than an unfunny comedy, and Dan Aykroyd has had his share of them...Caddyshack II (1988), Nothing But Trouble (1991), Canadian Bacon (1995), Sgt. Bilko (1996), Celtic Pride (1996), Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), the list seems endless...but know this, at some point in the past, he did appear in some classic comedies like The Blues Brothers (1980), Neighbors (1981), which I wish would see a DVD release, Trading Places (1983), and this film titled Doctor Detroit (1983). Co-written by Bruce Jay Friedman (Stir Crazy, Splash), Carl Gottlieb (The Jerk, Caveman), and Robert Boris (Some Kind of Hero), and directed by Michael Pressman (The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, Some Kind of Hero), the film features, as I mentioned, Dan Aykroyd, along... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Michael Pressman DVD Release Date: Released the 13 September 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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