mrscottdavis

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Extra Credit

The Producers (2005) Director: Susan Stroman Writers: Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan Cinematographer: John Bailey, Charles Minsky Starring: Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman Seen before: Yes

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Extra Credit

History of the World: Part II (2023) TV Show- 8 Eps Starring: Mel Brooks, Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz Seen before: Yes

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Extra Credit

To Be or Not to Be (1983) Director: Alan Johnson Writers: Thomas Meehan, Ronny Graham, Edwin Justus Mayer (based on) Cinematographer: Gerald Hirschfeld Starring: Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Ronny Graham Seen before: Yes

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Day 11

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) Director: Mel Brooks Writers: Mel Brooks, Rudy De Luca, Steve Haberman Cinematographer: Michael D. O’Shea Starring: Leslie Nielson, Mel Brooks, Peter MacNicol Seen before: Not Sure

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Day 10

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) Director: Mel Brooks Writers: Mel Brooks, JD Shapiro, Evan Chandler Cinematographer: Michael D. O’Shea Starring: Cary Elwis, Richard Lewis, Roger Rees Seen before: Yes

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Day 9

Life Stinks (1991) Director: Mel Brooks Writers: Mel Brooks, Ron Clark, Rudy De Luca, Steve Haberman Cinematographer: Steven Poster Starring: Mel Brooks, Leslie Ann Warren, Jeffrey Tambor Seen before: Yes

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Day 8

Spaceballs (1987) Director: Mel Brooks Writers: Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan, Ronny Graham Cinematographer: Nick McLean Starring: Mel Brooks, John Candy, Rick Moranis Seen before: Yes

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Day 7

History of the World: Part I (1981) Director: Mel Brooks Writer: Mel Brooks Cinematographer: Woody Omens Starring: Mel Brooks, Gregory Hines, Madeline Kahn Seen before: Yes

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Day 6

High Anxiety (1977) Director: Mel Brooks Writers: Mel Brooks, Ron Clark, Rudy De Luca, Barry Levinson Cinematographer: Paul Lohmann Starring: Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, CLoris Leachman Seen before: Yes

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Day 5

Silent Movie (1976) Director: Mel Brooks Writers: Mel Brooks, Ron Clark, Rudy De Luca, Barry Levinson Cinematographer: Paul Lohmann Starring: Mel Brooks, Marty Feldman, Dom DeLuise Seen before: Yes

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Day 4

Young Frankenstein (1974) Director: Mel Brooks Writers: Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder, Mary Shelley (novel) Cinematographer: Gerald Hirschfeld Starring: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle Seen before: Yes

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Day 3

Blazing Saddles (1974) Director: Mel Brooks Writers: Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Alan Uger Cinematographer: Joseph F. Biroc Starring: Clevon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens Seen before: Yes

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Day 2

The Twelve Chairs (1970) Director: Mel Brooks Writers: Mel Brooks, Ilf & Petrov (novel), Elizabeth Hill & Doris Mudie (novel translation) Cinematographer: Djordje Nikolic Starring: Mel Brooks, Ron Moody, Frank Langella Seen before: Yes

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Mel Brooks- Day 1

The Producers (1967) Director: Mel Brooks Writer: Mel Brooks Cinematographer: Joseph F. Coffey Starring: Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn Seen before: No

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Filmmaker-A-Month: June- Mel Brooks

Melvin James Kaminsky Born: June 28, 1926 in New York City, NY First feature film: The Producers (1967) Latest feature film: Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

I had a very emotional month in May so I’ve decided to postpone my original June filmmaker and go for a month of comedies with EGOT winner Mel Brooks. I’ve seen all of his films except one, the first one, The Producers. I’ve seen the musical but not the original film so I’m very excited to start off with that tonight!

Follow along on twitter, Instagram and here on Tumblr.

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Filmmaker-A-Month: May Ranking and Wrap Up

Akira Kurosawa Film Rankings

This was fun! Kurosawa has a reputation of being one of the all-time greats and to see his work together in one month just proves for me that it’s true. He’s a master of framing a shot. Even some of his films that weren’t at the top of my ranking list have some really great visuals. Above is my ranking and below are some thoughts.

Right away you can tell that Kurosawa was interested in telling stories, not just making movies. Even The Most Beautiful, which is a propaganda film, has a focus on the characters’ emotions. If you saw it when it came out you would immediately know he was a special filmmaker. 

He has a movie called The Idiot that apparently was 4 hours long before the studio cut it down. While watching it tragedy struck for me. My dog had a seizure and I rushed him to the hospital and he never made it home. I finished the film the next day but have no idea what happened in it. I know it’s not fair for me to judge this film based on my experience but i have to say- fuck this film. 

There’s a reason everyone remakes Seven Samurai: it’s a masterpiece. 5 stars, top of the list. 

Ran is also a masterpiece. It’s epic in all the right ways and is the best adaptation of a Shakespeare play ever made. 

I’d never seen High and Low and it was a pleasure to give myself the chance. I think it’s very well made but it strikes me that a majority of the film is the cops trying to get a rich guy’s money back. Very interested how the Spike Lee remake will tackle that.

There are quite a few of his samurai films I hadn’t seen including The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo and Sanjuro. I loved them all! Such a fun watch! The Hidden Fortress gets this month's award for “film I hadn’t seen that I want to rewatch a bunch”. I would have been obsessed with it as a kid.

I really love Dreams. I saw some of it in college in a directing class and then watched it all with my friend Jonathan Townsager when I visited him in Chicago once and now I show it to other people to spread how cool the visuals are. The Van Gogh segment is one of my favorite things in any movie.

I think that’s it. I’m really glad I did Kurosawa this month. It was long but there were so many of these movies I’ve wanted to see for years. I’m making a change of plans for next month. After an emotional May I want to go a bit lighter than what I originally had lined up. Stay tuned for my clues on IG and Twitter!

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Filmmaker-A-Month: Akira Kurosawa- Day 29

Ran (1985) Director: Akira Kurosawa Writers: Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Masato Ide, William Shakespeare (based on) Cinematographer: Asakazu Nakai, Takao Saitô, Shôji Ueda Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryû Seen before: Yes