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S3.E5: The Blues Brothers – A Mission from… the Average?
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We’re on a mission from… well, you know the rest! This episode, we’re diving into the 1980 cult classic, The Blues Brothers! From the legendary music to the insane car chases, to whether the comedy still holds up today—we’re breaking it all down.
Joining us for this episode is Adam, the composer behind the original theme for our 13 Nights of Halloween series! We talk about the film’s iconic soundtrack, its impact on pop culture, and what makes it such a unique blend of musical and mayhem.
💬 Let us know YOUR thoughts in the comments—does The Blues Brothers still hit the right notes?
🚀 Want to start your own podcast? Check out Zencastr—the easy way to record high-quality audio and video remotely! Sign up here: https://zencastr.com/?via=theaverage
🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more movie discussions!
#TheBluesBrothers #BluesBrothers #CultClassic #MoviePodcast #ComedyGold #FilmDiscussion #DanAykroyd #JohnBelushi #PodcastLife #MovieReview
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Transcript
Introduction to 'The Average' Podcast
00:00:31
Speaker
This is Tim. This is Jonathan. Welcome to The Average, where watching movies is just the beginning. We don't break them down scene by scene. Nope, we dig into what makes them tick. Script, acting, direction, score.
00:00:45
Speaker
And everything that brings a film to life. Because movies aren't just something you watch, they're something you feel. And that feeling, it's different for everyone. Your background, your experiences, it all changes how a movie lands.
00:01:00
Speaker
That's why we love diving into those differences.
Meet the Composer: Adam Joins the Discussion
00:01:03
Speaker
Whether it's a fresh blockbuster, an underground cult classic, or something totally unexpected, we're here to break it all down.
00:01:11
Speaker
And this time we've got a special guest, Adam, the composer behind our 13 Nights of Halloween themes. It's great to have you with us tonight, Adam. Howdy, howdy. I'm so excited to be here to talk about a very amazing and pretty much classic cult film at this point. so Yeah, this was a movie you recommended. So I've never seen it before that so this is going to be a fun conversation.
00:01:36
Speaker
Oh, yes. It is a fantastic film. So it's open tim jason it's it's always been on my list. Well, I'll get into it. I saw pieces of it in music class.
00:01:48
Speaker
in high school. That's cool. So, so, so pieces of it. to that teacher So as always, we want you, the listener, or if you're on YouTube, the viewer to be part of the conversation.
00:02:03
Speaker
We score movies the way. And you can to vote using one of the three different rating methods that can be found on our Instagram. Someday we'll have a website. But that's a waste on the road.
00:02:17
Speaker
Either way, though, more movies, more opinions and more perspectives, making the discussion even better. Before we dive in, make sure to like this episode, drop your score in the comments and subscribe wherever you listen. Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.
Overview of 'The Blues Brothers'
00:02:31
Speaker
And tonight we're on a mission from God because we're talking about the Blues Brothers. This 1980 classic blends comedy, music, and absolute chaos in one of the most iconic films of all time.
00:02:47
Speaker
It's directed by John Landis, who we actually mentioned him kind of two episodes ago in The Wolfman because he directed an American Werewolf in London.
00:03:00
Speaker
i I get werewolf in Paris and London mixed up all the time. But this was the movie directly before that. So John Landis darring starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as Jake and Elwood Blues.
00:03:16
Speaker
Two guys in black suits, sunglasses, and a whole lot of trouble. The setup is simple. They need to save the orphanage that they grew up in by putting their old band back together.
00:03:27
Speaker
Sounds easy, right? Except they've got Illinois Nazis, a country western band, the entire Chicago police force, and even a vengeful Carrie Fisher trying to take them down.
00:03:41
Speaker
And somehow, between all the car chases and property destruction, this movie also manages to be one of the greatest musical comedies ever made. With legendary performances from Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and more, the Blues Brothers is as much a love letter to soul and blues as it is an off-the-rails comedy.
00:04:03
Speaker
But does it still hold up? Does the blend of absurdity, action, and music work as well today as it did back then in 1980? And more importantly, did they really need to crash that many cars?
00:04:16
Speaker
We're about to find out. Let's jump into Blues Brothers. Yes, they yes, yes. They needed all of those car crashes. They needed all of them. anyways um Anyways. So this the car crashes, we were go to I was going to bring it up in special effects, but they set a record at that time for the most crashed cars in a movie.
00:04:36
Speaker
Yeah. It's kind of surprising. So, driving into the story. Adam, where would you like to fall in this? do you want Jonathan to take the lead? You go in the middle and then I'll sandwich it at the end.
00:04:48
Speaker
So kicking off the story, Jonathan, you want to talk a little bit about this story? Yeah, man. So for me, like I saw this back in the eighties, you know, cause like I was born in 83. So I grew up watching this, seeing it on TV all the time and never got tired of this movie, man.
00:05:05
Speaker
But you know, I haven't seen it in a long time. So rewatching it now, it's like, Oh yeah. Yeah. nostalgia and like, oh man, it's just so much goodness. But don't about you guys, but I watched the unrated version.
00:05:18
Speaker
So there was a bit more, there was a little, but I think there was like an extra like 13 to 20 minutes added on. I think it was like two hours, 20 minutes or something. But you get extended scenes of like a lot of different stuff, which is fantastic. But as far as story goes though, you know, you you don't get...
00:05:34
Speaker
really any kind of stories hardly like this, where you got someone who's coming out of jail, you know, as far as the comedy goes, gets out of jail, decides to go on this huge mission. l you know, you know, like seeing
Plot and Themes: A Mission from God
00:05:45
Speaker
the Holy Spirit and being like, Oh my gosh, this is my mission. This is what I got to do, you know, and trying to save an orphanage. You you don't,
00:05:52
Speaker
I mean, I know there's been some kind of like stuff that's been similar to like that over time, but you don't see hardly anything like that. And back then, that was such a crazy story. The crazy way to start off the story, you know, two brothers.
00:06:04
Speaker
Dude, it did just creep out. Oh my God. but it's so cool. Kathleen Freeman as the penguin. Oh, man, dude, she was she was pretty gnarly, but like the the doors and all this. Yeah, we'll get to that. But um just the hijinks and like the crazy amounts of like the different characters that they come across that, you know, it makes makes you feel very rat race, almost kind of if you've ever seen rat race movies.
00:06:28
Speaker
um just a lot of slapstick, a lot of cool stuff, but they're like you got other weird little side stories, other things blended in. um i Man, I love this movie so much just because of the comedic factor and just the chaos itself.
00:06:40
Speaker
so Oh, definitely. like i This is my favorite movie of all time. like It even tops Christopher Nolan's masterpieces So, but for me, it's the, um like the quotability of the film, like literally every single scene I would say has like a quote that you can, you know, kind of say even now, like, you know, going from the start of the movie um and the start of the podcast too. And Tim was like, we're on a mission from God. It's like, literally that's like one of the first scenes of the film after the, um,
00:07:16
Speaker
After the jail scene. So, and then you just keep going and there's so many different quotes that I find it so enjoyable on on top of the music and everything. So. Yeah.
00:07:28
Speaker
So I, the story of this one, I knew nothing about this movie. I went in blind, but this is a movie that has always been like a, you need to see this movie.
00:07:39
Speaker
So i just, for some reason, it wasn't real high on my list. I love, love, I don't want to say i love blues music because I love blues music, but I couldn't tell you a blues artist. like I'm not that kind of love blues music.
00:07:58
Speaker
I love when rock music gets real bluesy. I can tell you that. I'm like, yeah, that's good stuff. But...
00:08:08
Speaker
i I love all of the artists and musicians that are in this movie. They're the classics, just incredible people in this movie. For me, the story is super loose.
00:08:22
Speaker
It's a very loose story. And it made a ton of sense when I'm reading about it after watching. So Jonathan, I watched the director's cut first and that was a mistake.
00:08:35
Speaker
oh really so for me being my first time seeing the film watching the director's cut was a mistake i didn't finish it so know i was bored and i don't know what it was i don't know what it was i couldn't tell you i don't know if i wasn't in the right headspace if i just needed to go to bed i't i don't know what it was But I was super bored, didn't even finish it, and the next day I was like, you know what, I'm going to watch the theatrical cut.
00:09:08
Speaker
And I'm watching the theatrical cut going like, i swear this wasn't even in the director's cut. I swear this scene was alternate in the other cut. I swear it's a different movie. And i going back, it's, no, I don't think it is, but I was in a better headspace, I guess. I guess it was much better theatrical cut. The pacing felt much better for me.
Directorial Choices: Cuts and Pacing
00:09:30
Speaker
And I'm sure... As I watched that theatrical cut, if that's what I had fallen in love with, the director's cut would be better. Because I started with the director's cut, I was bored the first time. So, going back, yeah, I know, i know.
00:09:45
Speaker
But going back, I got into the theatrical cut way easier. And I think it was a lot of the director's cut added at the beginning of the film. And so that definitely slowed that pacing down.
00:09:58
Speaker
ah But getting into theatrical cut, I see where this was based on an SNL sketch. Because kind of what Adam was saying, you get these quotable lines and it felt like jumping from SNL sketch to SNL sketch with this loosely threaded story as to why this is happening.
00:10:20
Speaker
And that's not necessarily bad. i it just i wouldn't say it's a super story-driven movie. The story's there.
00:10:31
Speaker
The story's good. But at times, my first watch, I forgot that they were doing this to get money for the orphanage. Damn property taxes. Yeah. Go county, you son of a bitch.
00:10:45
Speaker
Also, all around in our old stomping grounds. Yeah. So good old Cook County. Yeah. Mount Prospect police car. or Retired, excuse me.
00:10:57
Speaker
And then i I love opening with the Joliet prison, which is now abandoned, I believe. oh yeah. the women I believe the women's prison is abandoned. I don't know if the the the actual one.
00:11:11
Speaker
um don I don't know. Okay. Because there are, I follow some YouTube paranormal investigators and they've been to the Juliet prison for, and it's abandoned and supposedly haunted.
00:11:24
Speaker
So it was kind of cool to see the exterior some of the buildings at the beginning and like, Hey, I've seen that now. to Well, 50 years after this movie was made and well, 2045, but yeah.
00:11:36
Speaker
but yeah So anyway, the story.
00:11:41
Speaker
I'm good at math. uh i thought the story was super loose but that's that's not really an insult to a movie like this i think this is a different breed of movie you mentioned rat race it reminded me a lot of if i go back older than this movie it's a mad mad mad mad world have you ever seen that one I've seen like the small clips of it. I haven't actually watched this. I think it's from the sixties or seventies, but it's a comedy where this guy like dies at the side of the road and all the people there who are witnessed it, he says like, my fortune's buried under this.
00:12:20
Speaker
And then they all just race to that location. But the movie is like two and a half, three hours long. and it's it's it's it breaks my rule for comedy which this one does too like i don't think comedy should be over two hours but yeah but anyways it reminded me of that where it's kind of going from set piece to set piece scene to scene kind of like snl sketch to snl sketch so that made a lot of sense for me so for scores
00:12:52
Speaker
don't Don't come down on me too hard. I gave the story for this a three. The story is a three. It's a good story. It's a good story. I also said it was a three because I also thought and you know like it could be better.
00:13:07
Speaker
I've watched better films with stories that I leave the theater I close my laptop or whatever. I'm like, whoa. And it was in it. Well, fine. You know what about it? Yeah.
00:13:21
Speaker
I gave it a four. give it a four. I love the absurdity of it. I love some of the inconsistencies in certain things. And now that I've watched the the unrated version versus the regular, like, so man, so much extra. I'm like, wow, i this this is cool.
00:13:35
Speaker
um yes Yeah, I'll sit on my high horse at four. You're allowed to. You're allowed to. All right, so into the character then. Into the character. So Adam, we we are always kind of, I do it a little bit differently than some people. Some people rate this on if the characters are good. i kind of rate it on if the characters go on a personal journey of like discovery or growth, a character arc.
00:14:02
Speaker
So it's up to you how you viewed this one. But Jonathan, what do you think of characters? yeah It just insanity, dude. like Jake and Elwood.
00:14:13
Speaker
um Just such they're kind of like weird polar opposites. um I kind of have to say it. um So Jake, he's he's got like that kind of con man aspect to it, but he's like a slide, but kind of smooth.
00:14:28
Speaker
And Elwood is just like really quiet, but he's like got stuff going on. You see him throughout the film kind of like grabbing certain things and doing this and that and like prepping like he knows how to do all these like. little mischievous things and criminal little things, you know, and it's kind of funny, you know, so you got your scammer and you get the guy who does like all the, the, the, the fine work parts, you know, an assembly, whatever it's kind of like, um, and just like them talking about trying to be straight, you know, and like doing things right.
00:14:57
Speaker
then like trying to help, you know, the, the, the orphanage, like it's crazy how, Elwood just kind of like goes with it. He doesn't really have any revelation, but he believes in his brother and wants to see him you know really do something to help the church and redeem himself. And then seeing Jake being like, oh, crap, like there's higher power and feeling that presence and him just being like, oh, my God, and like really putting effort into it while still trying to... like not do too much illegal stuff, but still was seemingly coming out on top at the end, even though they end up in jail.
00:15:32
Speaker
I how you said, try not to do illegal stuff. like It is just so hard for these two to not do illegal stuff. It was pretty messed up. But aside from that, like the rest of the guys in the band um and how they're just like, man, I don't know. I don't know. I'm so fishy about this, you know, on the fence.
00:15:50
Speaker
But they still try to give him a shot. And then like, oh, the other weird characters, man. Carrie Fisher. Like she's not even named. She doesn't never have an actual like character name. She's just like the stalker chick.
00:16:01
Speaker
But like all the bits of you seeing in her like chasing them down is awesome. Wasn't it as an ex of, um of, ah gosh, not John. Jake's, yeah. jakes Jake's ex. And they were supposed to get married. And like, yeah you can tell by the names of the people she's talking about, like sounds like some like Italian mob boss kind of stuff going down. He's talking about Arsenal.
00:16:26
Speaker
Daddy's girl with the mafia. She's got she's got she's got the loadout, you know, rocket launchers and all the crazy stuff. And then just getting kind of hosed at the end by Jake with an apology and a begging, dude. It was so rad. It's just shameful, but it worked. Whatever. comes from getting shot. Hooray.
00:16:46
Speaker
yeah And then just all the other weird silent characters like you know John Candy as the Department of Corrections guy and like all the other like random cameo appearances that you get through it. It's cool. I loved it.
00:16:57
Speaker
I'm always excited to see John Candy. I love John Candy movies. I know, dude. I miss John Candy, too. I wish he passed away so early on. We could have so many more awesome movies with him. oh Uncle Buck!
00:17:09
Speaker
This was our second one with Candy and Ackroyd because we had... ah
00:17:15
Speaker
our summer vacation, the why can't the great outdoors. Yep. Yep. we i like said I still want to watch the guy. can't remember the name of him right off hand right now, but it's the one where it's John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, and
00:17:31
Speaker
Chevy Chase, Demi Moore. And it's got digital underground in it. It's like they get stuck like out in the boonies. And like County Judge is like really weird, old decrepit man, junkyard, and like weird twisted kids.
00:17:44
Speaker
John Candy plays two characters in that movie. Is that nothing but trouble? Yes, that's it. Nothing but trouble. i would love for us to do an episode on that one. I just had a giant candy. Yeah, yeah the streak going there. I'll do it.
00:17:58
Speaker
Yeah, there's there's just a lot of goodness, man. And between other little bit characters, it' it's there's just's a lot of feel there, man. you know, and the characters, that's the musical artists, you know, within the film too.
00:18:09
Speaker
Dude,
Character Dynamics in 'The Blues Brothers'
00:18:10
Speaker
there's so many people now. It's like, these have been like most iconic people in music for their time, you know, and they have so much of an amazing history of music and like seeing them way back then. It's like, that's awesome. You know, seeing Aretha Franklin way back then, I was like, dude, smoking. All right. I was like, damn, she's looking good, bro. Like, okay. Yeah.
00:18:35
Speaker
Adam. All right. So for me, for like character, I kind of did it that, like, how did they, you know, progress through the film or like, how did they develop through the film? Right. Cause you start at the jail or the prison and then you like keep, you know, moving on.
00:18:55
Speaker
And so, For Jake and Elwood, like um Jonathan said, Elwood is pretty much following Jake like in the film and just like trying to support his brother and and everything.
00:19:09
Speaker
But I would say the supporting actors or like musicians also play like you know a big role in supporting Jake and Elwood in the film. There would be no...
00:19:22
Speaker
you know there would be no the story would fall apart if none of the other musical acts or, you know, like the crazy dancing in front of the record shop or, or things like that. if if That's one of my favorite musical numbers in the movie, like so just hums filled with them but I love that one particularly.
00:19:41
Speaker
Yes. And like, you know, and they like go through and it has also like dipping into the story. Like it has the different scenes that like walk you through that. It's like, this is a journey. This is not just like, a you know,
00:19:57
Speaker
like cut and dry kind of kind of thing. So like it takes you from Calumet City to, you know, um to downtown and then ah to the Palace Hotel Ballroom.
00:20:08
Speaker
um That was out of order, but um you know. Yeah. and say And so that develops that those those two characters. You know, starting with the church scene and then going, ah not church scene, starting with the orphanage and going church scene and then things like that develops the the characters more like with the story, if that makes sense. You know, instead of like just the the character being like, hey, this is me. And it's like a backstory to them, like the story, you know, you find out little bits and pieces.
00:20:38
Speaker
And so then like, they just build on top of that saying like, oh, hey I didn't know that jacob Jake could like sing like this until, you know, they got to the palace hotel bar. Like, and then you realize that, yeah, they were like the stuff before they went to jail kind of thing, you know?
00:20:55
Speaker
And then, um So that's like what the main characters that it just like develops and develops. And it keeps, at least it kept me hooked at the numerous times that I watched the film that um like it just kept developing. And then like the supporting characters, they have a good, you know, little help little um in the film too, which provides the extra character arc. I'm talking in circles, but that's okay. be right yours do a Favorite film, you know, this is your movie. Go for it I, I was having it like this when I did the substance. So it's all right. ah
00:21:31
Speaker
So I have a question for you two, knowing this movie a little bit better than me. Okay. I have to pick it up the second time. Jake was in prison for robbing a bank or a gas station.
00:21:45
Speaker
Yeah. He robbed a gas station or some such in order to try and a business. did that to pay the band.
00:21:56
Speaker
i don't think you know I don't think it was to pay the band. I think it was to pay for something for the band. I guess they had like a huge bill or something and was just trying to like keep them covered so that you would do their thing. Yeah.
00:22:06
Speaker
yeah Okay. Because i watching it, I was trying to figure out. The first time, I was like, do they ever say why he's in prison? And i apparently missed it. And then the second time, I was like, okay.
00:22:19
Speaker
So I at first thought he robbed the gas station or whatever it was he robbed to pay the band for their performance because they didn't get paid.
00:22:31
Speaker
And so I was under the impression that he, even though he He robbed a place, he was doing it for altruistic purposes, um but maybe that wasn't the case.
00:22:46
Speaker
But I do like that line when he's with the penguin, as they call the nun at the orphanage. um When he's sitting there and she's like, I need $5,000. And he's like, no problem. I'll have it to you tomorrow. And she's like, no, not illegal. Don't get it illegally. And I was like, okay, that's pretty good.
00:23:06
Speaker
Pretty good the next time. a So in a way, that is his character arc of this film is that he starts off He didn't learn in prison. He's ready to do it the exact same thing he did to get in there to help this orphanage.
00:23:23
Speaker
Again, i was under the impression, you know, he's helping the orphanage like he helped his band. It was altruistic. But he decides he's going to do this the right way.
00:23:36
Speaker
Even if there's a lot of ends justify the means thrown in there along the way, they're going to raise the money even if it means them stealing, literally stealing the show from that band at the bar in the saloon.
00:23:49
Speaker
They pretend to be that band to get the money. But then they end up drinking $100 more than they were being paid and so they're out the money. I love that. It's a pitfall.
00:24:01
Speaker
It's a pitfall in show mismo.
00:24:04
Speaker
What Adam said is this movie jumps all over the place. You go from place to place. So Bob's Country Bunker was in Kokomo, Indiana. Oh, come on. Another place that I lived.
Cult Comedy: Quotes and Absurdity
00:24:18
Speaker
So that is where i spent like the first 17 years of my life was in Kokomo, Indiana. And then I moved out of there. uh bob's country bunker not a real place in kokomo unfortunately but i still thought it was cool i still thought it was cool uh the people that they showed in the bar very much what i remember people from kokomo being like so that should tell you something about that but anyways yeah i digress on that uh So I did see a little bit of a character arc in trying to get this money the proper way.
00:24:55
Speaker
Putting the band back together, there's really not that much of a growth as in maturing. and they're They're basically the same dudes they were at the beginning.
00:25:09
Speaker
There's just that little bit of like, hey, I'm not going to rob a place this time to get the money. And they do some good along the way while causing millions of dollars worth of damage everywhere.
00:25:28
Speaker
I gave it a three on the character. It's a good it's a good character arc. It's not a great one. I i'll say that because I don't think this movie is about character growth.
00:25:39
Speaker
I don't think that know that's not what this movie is about. And so that's okay. I actually think we're probably past my two lowest scores at that point. So onto the rest of it, but I was like, just um adding to that it's, that's why I think it's more of like a cult classic, like, yeah, it's, it got popular. It did well, like in the box office, but like, you know, people still considering it, you know, like a good comedy or good musical, i think is more of the stuff that happens.
00:26:11
Speaker
other than the characters, you know, like the the music, the, um, the little like tidbits. Yeah. The cameos, the, um, you know, gluing the gas pedal to the floor. Like you remember things like that, the little, tip little tiny things rather than like, you know, like a big story that leaves you, you know, probably hanging at the end of the film, you know?
00:26:34
Speaker
Yeah. No, I remember things more like like just what you're saying. While you're saying that, I just remember when the phone booth blows up and he's laying there and he's like, there's like $7 and change here. Okay. So Tim, you said you yeah okay so tim me said you yeah you you scored a three yeah Okay. Where are you at, Adam?
00:26:59
Speaker
Three. Also, okay. so my again i'm I'm going four. do it they They had a goal. they They were on a mission. They completed the mission. Even though they went to jail, they still got the band back together and they got them a record deal and got them some fame and notoriety, which was pretty awesome thing. I say kudos to them on that.
00:27:19
Speaker
Take that four, boys. that's shit That's true. Go my guys. actually prison Music, rock and roll. Yeah. At the end, so when the Jake is escaping, when Jake and Elwood are escaping, they is that when they're like, I'll give you what X number dollars, and Jake says, give it to the band?
00:27:39
Speaker
Yeah, he says, like, take $1,400, give to Ray's Music Depot or Music Shop, whatever, to pay for all the instruments and all the equipment and everything, and then to give the rest to the band. Yeah. yeah look there You know what? Good dude. I'll come up. I'll give it a four because that's a big moment for him.
00:27:56
Speaker
I'll come up. He's looking out for his buddies. It's still making sure that even though they stuck with him, they still got their ends, you know, to justify going out on this mission with him. Yep. That is good.
00:28:09
Speaker
Alright, so we're on to the biggest category for this film. Yes. Music and sound design, baby. Music and sound design. There's a lot of iconic music in this film and a lot of amazing artists.
00:28:23
Speaker
Man, seeing John Lee Hooker playing out in the street in just you know downtown Chicago, surrounded by people in the neighborhood, you know when they get to the cafe ah for Aretha Franklin's place, when they're going to pick up Mac and Blue.
00:28:39
Speaker
Oh, man, like that's just this is it's just cool neighborhood scenes like that, you know, and just seeing people out hanging out and doing stuff in place. you know, you don't you don't see that too often anymore, especially since the pandemic, you know, so it kind of gives you a little nostalgia to way back when, you know, people are a little more loose, a little more comfortable out public and have a little more good time out there and spreading good vibes.
00:28:58
Speaker
um So, yeah, hearing him. Aretha Franklin talking about respect. and but the For me, though, the top of it, the top of all the music in this movie, I think, was Curtis when he opens the show for the guys at the Palace Ballroom.
00:29:14
Speaker
Cab Calloway. Yeah. We need to really go up with him at the nun at the at the orphanage. And him doing Minnie the Moocher was... gosh Awesome. It was like one of the most transformative moments of the movie because you get this this change of perspective and like the illusion of everything and showmanship because they're in just like regular clothes and boom, out of nowhere, magic. And they're like the big band. He's got the nice suit.
00:29:38
Speaker
In his mind, it's showtime and he's going for gold, bro. And the performance that he gives on that is epic to me. So that's it. I'm just getting like high ratings all day all over that aside from the rest of the music in in the film.
00:29:52
Speaker
Um, and just sound design is on a whole other thing with all of the car crashes that you hear, like lot of screeching tires, like the, that's a lot of placement for all that kind of stuff in there when it comes to sound design.
00:30:06
Speaker
But, uh, I don't want to get on too much. I just want get my two piece on that make sure that cab Callaway got his due for that. um Take it away, Adam. What you guys think about some music action? right. I already put go from the bat that my score was a five or was, yeah, a five on the on the scale.
00:30:26
Speaker
Just get that out of the way. Yes. Out of the way. I agree. And I'll say, yes, I'm a five as well. So thank you, sir. So um like, you know, going through the songs, like you can, you know, look up the, the, the soundtrack and you get the um pretty much all the main songs they use in the film. Like she caught the Katie, the Peter gun theme, which like, you know, to me is iconic that it's like, you know, sneaking around when they were sneaking in the um neighborhood and then and through the mall that they, that they wrecked.
00:30:55
Speaker
you know And then, like, Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, and um my, of course, favorite piece, Minnie the Moocher, like, those are all, like, you know, they all are staples in the film, in, like, the different scenes, that, like, song comes on, and you're like, okay, great, like, this is...
00:31:15
Speaker
this is this scene. Like I can, I remember which songs are from which scenes, you know? And that's what what I really enjoy out of it. On top of that, I think all the songs are, um or most of them are covers of the originals.
00:31:30
Speaker
So like Aretha Franklin's think like she recorded that back in like what the 60s, 70s, like come to bit like you hated on that. But, um but then she rerecorded it a little faster for the um blues brothers. Yeah.
00:31:45
Speaker
film and then cab calloway same thing like that's original songs from like the oh that's so yeah that song has definitely been around for a while yeah yeah and so then he re-recorded that song and like you know there and then um there's like the jailhouse rock that was like recorded too um i'm surprised they didn't use some of their snl stuff that they did but they have a separate album on that but you know but all in all like each song is pretty much iconic in the film but um I have one little like great that um John Lee Hooker does not have his own song on the soundtrack. Like that was, you know, like should be so like, I don't i don know. what
00:32:26
Speaker
Yeah. like like james brown and revel and uh um uh the cleveland james choir apparently has ah has a song and that's in the in the church yeah yeah you know i think it was just a little accent song but still like i remember that too like bow wow wow wow like you know oh ho yeah and how how how how like that like you You remember that, and that was right before the the Ray Charles scene, or like right after one of those two.
00:32:55
Speaker
I need to like scratch my brain a little. But but yeah, all in all, very deserving of a five for for the score. like All top-notch. Very memorable.
00:33:06
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
00:33:10
Speaker
I'm a 5 too. I couldn't not be a 5 for this. So between the legends who are actually in the movie and like you mentioned, i pulled it up because I was curious. I wanted to mention these as well.
00:33:26
Speaker
ah Just other songs that are in this movie, not performed in the movie.
Soundtrack Impact: Iconic Musical Contributions
00:33:34
Speaker
Just accent music.
00:33:37
Speaker
There's elmore Elmore James, Otis Redding, ah Salvador Despacito, Billy Joel, John Lee Hooker does have two background where we just get little clips, Hank Williams, Fats Domino, like, this movie is stacked when it comes to music.
00:34:01
Speaker
And all of these performances, all of these songs, as you guys have already said, but the other thing that I go to in, like, to give this a five does it have a theme that is recognizable yeah it does they have the blues brothers theme and it plays frequently throughout the film that if you were to hear it I would know it anywhere. It kind of sounds like a DVD, like an old school DVD menu before you hit play.
00:34:32
Speaker
yeah It's a loop that kind of sounds like that. But yeah it does. it's It's a five easily for me. ah The theme,
00:34:44
Speaker
i don't know if I have it written here. How am I that? Well, while you figure it, i also want to say, I didn't want to say because i want to to say too many things to give you guys other things to talk about. No, go ahead. Sweet home Chicago.
00:34:56
Speaker
Oh yes. You hear that song, Sweet Home Chicago. That's like a song everybody should know, even if you're not from Illinois or even close by, that's like such a super, super well-known song. You cannot ignore that. And then there's like Ray Charles as well with song like was with his performance and singing when they were doing like you were talking about with the dancing scene outside. That man, Ray Charles, dude, kicking ass, dude.
00:35:20
Speaker
I love Ray Charles. Just... I love Ray Charles. And then seeing him in this movie was that much better. That is actually the scene that I saw in my music class. They showed us the Ray Charles stuff. so Did they show you him shooting at children? No, they at children. I don't remember that part.
00:35:41
Speaker
Don't remember that part. But I do remember the rest of that scene. No, I remember. So my first experience with this movie, for those... if you've kept up with the show, I wasn't allowed to watch a whole lot of stuff growing up.
00:35:56
Speaker
Uh, and I remember coming home and saying like, Oh, our teacher showed us blues brothers. And my mom just gone, what? Like you watch that in school.
00:36:07
Speaker
That movie is rated R. but Like it's, it's just a lot of language now. Like, and it's not even a lot of language. I shouldn't say that, but Yeah, so I remember it being as one of those movies that i wasn't allowed to watch, which is part of why it took me so long to get around to watch it. But, yeah, so we're fives on music.
00:36:31
Speaker
Do we have more to add to the music? We cover it. I think I'm good on music. I just also like Rawhide, for example. I just love that they played Rawhide. And then the, um um I think theme from Rawhide actually has both songs in it, but like, you know, they just kept looping it And they just kept throwing. Like they went from um the ah unhappy throws to the, oh yeah, you know, we're just going to throw because we're happy. And then like, they just kept throwing it.
00:37:01
Speaker
um That meaning the um used um beer bottles. Yes. So that scene makes me wonder. I recently watched um
00:37:16
Speaker
Dang it, losing my train of thought.
00:37:22
Speaker
was a movie about a bouncer. Roadhouse.
00:37:27
Speaker
We watched the original Roadhouse movie and did most bars in the 80s just have bands that performed behind cages because that was in Roadhouse 2 and then it's in this one. i was like, were bars that rowdy back then?
00:37:42
Speaker
Some places, bro. Some places. I was like, man. So when I saw them in the cage, I was like, I saw Roadhouse. I know what's going on. Yeah, this is a rowdy bar. Yeah.
00:37:54
Speaker
Yeah, like I didn't know any of like the references. When I first watched the film, I watched it with my family when I was like eight, you know? So like I got none of the references or none of the songs. I was just like, oh, hey, a film that like my, you know, parents are watching pretty much. And then I like rewatched it every now and then. i started, you know, getting more of the references. And I'm like, oh, I know who Aretha Franklin is. Oh, great. Then like I knew the significance of that. Oh, I know who Ray Charles is now.
00:38:20
Speaker
so It's significant. So like... the music and then like also like the story like i kept discovering new things as was watching um you know the more times that i watched it you know so wanted to add that it was good yeah when going back to rawhide like when he starts he when he sees the whip starts cracking it because of that when i saw it as a kid i actually like grabbed a belt and like go down the backyard like trying to like learn how to do that too how to like crack like a whip Not many kids should be doing, but I was like, oh, that's cool. i want to do that. which
00:38:54
Speaker
So my first bout of college, first bout in Kentucky, we had green in the center of our school. And, you know, that was in springtime. People were out there in their picnics, whatever, and the green being low BW.
00:39:12
Speaker
But I actually had a guy in my dorm who had a whip and he would go out to the green and just crack it. And he would just be out there and he'd have a fedora hat on and a leather jacket.
00:39:26
Speaker
I'm not kidding. And he would just stand out there in the green and crack his whip. And you would just catch him doing it, random hours throughout the day. That's what he did. didn't really talk to many people.
00:39:38
Speaker
He was just out there and crack cracking that whiff. was like, he was a character. I wonder what he's up to now. I wonder what he's doing. Don't get in my bubble! yeah oh like Anyways, the editing and special effects.
00:39:57
Speaker
ah There's not too much to really say as far as special effects goes in this film. This is like really really more of a practical effects kind of thing. there's nothing as advanced as what we have today by far, but not by a long shot.
00:40:09
Speaker
um liked a lot of... but Practical makes it so much better for me, though. So of it's just crazy though. So it's like really crazy and it's kind of absurd again with, with some of those effects.
00:40:22
Speaker
Like when Carrie Fisher like stocks them to the hotel for, for, for single men or whatever. And she pulls out that rocket launcher and blows out the entire upper entryway to the hotel.
00:40:35
Speaker
And it's like, Holy crap. And they're just like, oh okay, cool. And they just walk in pull out the broken doors and walk in It's like, dude, what the hell? Yeah. Oh, man. And then we... Can I touch on that while you're there?
00:40:49
Speaker
Yeah. Because I didn't bring it up in story. might bring it up in script or performance. One of my favorite like running gags in this movie is the fact that they have that door blown up.
00:41:02
Speaker
They have the room blown up. They're constantly attacked And they never once question any of it.
00:41:15
Speaker
They get up, they brush the brick dust off their shoulders, and they go, it's 9 o'clock, we've got to get to work. No one is like, why was that? I just blown up.
00:41:27
Speaker
Nobody questions that. Nobody wonders what happened. They just move on. The building is down. keep going with on, on about your day. So the first time it was a little jarring. I'm like, why, are why are they not concerned that this lady just shot a bazooka over their shoulders at this door?
00:41:48
Speaker
Oh, and see if you look behind you, Tim, it's boom. There it goes. As we're talking about it, I love it. there goes holy cause She sets off her bar bombs in the basement and blows the whole freaking building down. So I love that scene and the use of ah miniature building to blow up in that scene. That scene is so well done.
00:42:10
Speaker
So well done. And then like them crawling out of the brick being like, oh yeah. Like, oh, what dude? This is insane. Literally he stands up, dusts himself off and goes, it's 9 a.m.
00:42:21
Speaker
We got to get to work. I was like, what the hell, bro? yeah There's just so much crazy and like all the random stuff that they do in there. But I'd say that that was probably yeah my favorite of was as far as effects go. The editing, like said I I watched the unrated version, so there's a little more more more scenes for me.
00:42:40
Speaker
the In the unrated, do you get longer... music performances. So what you saw with like with John Lee Hooker around the street, you got a shortcut of that, unrated version. i got to see much longer cut, like at least a few more minutes of him playing out there in the street, which I thought was cool. So the way they edited it for for the unrated version with some more of those extended scenes and longer performances, I thought really gave more fill and feeling to the movie.
00:43:07
Speaker
um So I thought that was really nice. But the editing, but as far as like the car chase scene towards the end, the way they cut those scenes together, the angles of all that. Holy cow, dude. yeah And down there, at lower whacker, cutting around through the city and everything, getting to assessor's office.
00:43:26
Speaker
everything was just nuts in that. I liked the way they put it together. um so also yeah not for a minute. Do I believe that even 19, I know this came out in the eighties, which means they probably filmed it in 78 or 79.
00:43:40
Speaker
um Not for a second do I believe that the streets of Chicago were that empty in 1979. oh God, no. You kidding me, dude? There were way more people out there getting smashed into and getting just demolished by the cars running around. They're doing that car chase and like, that is a ghost town. What is going on? Yeah.
00:44:03
Speaker
andly like on washer Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Dude, it made me nervous watching them drive through those spaces. Like, oh my God, they're going to hit a pillar. They're going to hit a pillar. They're going to hit a pillar. my God. Yeah. like under the L. Oh my God.
00:44:16
Speaker
Yeah. But for um but four the special effects, like getting back to the um palace hotel ballroom for, as an example, like I loved um touching on what Jonathan said about the, um when Cap Calloway like, you know, spins around and they go from, you know, ragtag, like street clothes to like, you know, nice white, um you know, gowns pretty much like.
00:44:47
Speaker
Pimped out big band. Like that edit, like i still remember that, like after, you know, watching it and, you know, taking it all in, like, that's one of like the little things on top of, you know, the car scene and and things like that.
00:45:02
Speaker
Um, like going to, to more scenes, you have um even like the lighting in the background of the jail scene when like they start the song and there's just like Jake standing in the door.
00:45:16
Speaker
And it's just, you have the edit of that where it's just like, boom of Jake and then boom Elwood. And then so like, it's an introduction there that it's just in your face with the jazz going. So like, you know, very thought out. And in my opinion,
00:45:32
Speaker
And then, like... you know, going to the to the effects, it was more practical. Like, I rated it this as a solid, like, four, mostly because it wasn't, you know, super hardcore like the Marvel movies or, like, you know, other things like that where it's just blown out of proportion, but in that sense, but it's blown out of proportion for the fact that you have hundreds, hundreds of of police cars that just get destroyed trying to follow... You mean hyperbolic force. Yes, trying. And then you have you have the army, the National Guard, you have like everybody following them to the to the office.
00:46:13
Speaker
And then on top of that, or when the Illinois Nazis are... um
00:46:24
Speaker
they where they he like shifts it into reverse right and then he um and then they like backflip the magical reverse flip over turnaround oh my god i almost forgot about that and that was insane Yeah, and then, but um quick little little tidbit, I did unlike some fun fact reading as well, that when the um the Illinois Nazi car, that I think like Pinto wagon or whatever it is, like drove off and they like flew up in the air, parts of the skyline were actually from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
00:46:58
Speaker
What? Yep. That's crazy. Love that scene when they fall forever. And the the guy sitting next to him says like, ah I just want you to love you. or But the part that got me so good, I'm expecting like an explosion from that car.
00:47:20
Speaker
No, I love how it just goes straight through the ground. Just a hole in the pavement. Like that's hilarious. It goes through the street to the under street. Yeah. That was so good.
00:47:34
Speaker
So that's sorry. ah But like those are the special effects, you know, to me, you know, like, you know, there's just a car flying through there. This is the 1970s that you have, you know, you can maybe do some layering in film or something like that, but it's not, you know, going into post and just doing CGI. Yeah.
00:47:57
Speaker
So like, no, they probably had to throw, you know, a car on a helicopter and just like drop it near the, the meat airfield or whatever, wherever it was to like make that effect. So, you know I don't know how many like cars they went through on top of the cop cars that they also destroyed.
00:48:15
Speaker
So like just budget, so many throw it out the window because, you know, we need the effects and we need them in camera. So ah So what you mentioned, budget, let me see if I can find that.
00:48:31
Speaker
um This is actually the most expensive movie ever made at the time. Really? So the most expensive movie ever made. the I'm sure the cars had something to do with that.
00:48:47
Speaker
But ah yeah So kind of what Adam was saying, well, kind of what we've all been saying, but I'm jumping.
00:49:01
Speaker
So I'm going last. I'll go ahead and get my score. I actually gave the editing and special effects for this a five because it's all practical effects. It's all in-camera stuff, and it is so good.
00:49:15
Speaker
All of it. And even now, it wasn't until Adam's sitting there going, yeah, this was shot in like the 70s and there was a car falling from the sky that I realized I didn't even question that fact watching the movie.
00:49:31
Speaker
Watching the movie, I didn't go, ooh, that looks rough. I was like, hey, they're falling a really long time. Like, I was in it. It was effective. did a great job with that.
00:49:43
Speaker
So that, I love the miniature use ah for the explosion. but a world record were wrecked during filming.
00:49:58
Speaker
Jeez. Wow.
Action and Effects: Car Chases and Cost
00:50:00
Speaker
So, that's insane. But also, a majority of that is a giant police crash at the end.
00:50:10
Speaker
But we haven't even talked about one of my favorite parts of the movie is the mall chase. Yeah! They do a police chase through the mall.
00:50:21
Speaker
And it's they're crashing into everything, and it looks so good. It's so cool. There's a lot of awesome camera work in that. John Landis could shoot a chase. But hi I love the dry humor in that scene when they're running from the police through the mall, and it's just, oh, Pier 1 imports.
00:50:41
Speaker
but I just think it's so funny. It is so funny.
00:50:48
Speaker
And didn't they like rent out like a mall? like It's a mall, like I think, either on the west side of the city or something like that, that and and I think now sits abandoned or was demolished. But like it was already abandoned at the time.
00:51:00
Speaker
Oh, really? They just used the mall and they just wrecked it. Yeah. so um And with like permits and all. But you know I thought that was like... huh you know like cool you know actually there is a actually a reasonable special effect in this film uh it's when the brothers are at the church and james brown's going off with band and the light comes through and you see that light effect that is like the special effect of the film pretty much is just that light him being like oh and it's engulfed in like oh you know just going upstairs dancing just as a flip you know did ants yeah
00:51:38
Speaker
So, I said it was one of the most expensive films ever made. At the time, it cost $30 million, dollars which seems very small compared to today's budgets for movies.
00:51:50
Speaker
ah But by comparison, Steven Spielberg's most recent movie at that time was 1941, and it cost... and it costs
00:52:02
Speaker
okay It cost $35 million. so it was right up there It was one of the most expensive. i It was even rumored that Landis and Spielberg engaged in a rivalry, the goal of which was to make the most expensive film.
00:52:18
Speaker
They eventually had a falling out ah from the Twilight Zone movie. John Landis and Spielberg were buddies. But i don't know if you've ever seen the Twilight Zone movie from 1983 or heard about it. It was on the Cursed Films documentary. It's one of the dark parts about John Landis. We were going to save it for direction, but he pushed his segment in Twilight Zone so hard it led to the death of multiple actors on set during filming.
00:52:52
Speaker
And so after that, Spielberg and Landis split. Spielberg was like, nope, done. But anyways, but yeah, it was a hugely expensive movie.
00:53:04
Speaker
Most cars wrecked. And that chase scene is just fantastic. So I actually, on this film, I gave the effects and editing a five. If it were the alternative cut, the director's cut, Jonathan, I would have been down a four.
00:53:22
Speaker
Okay. All right. That's sounds's fine. yeah Yeah. But that's like, because I watched that one first, I was like, man, this is kind of choppy. And then I watched the theatrical and I was like, Oh, that's why this is the stuff that wasn't in the theatrical.
00:53:36
Speaker
And that's why like some of the color grading, I could tell the color grading would be different from scene to scene. And i was like, Oh, it's just not as cleaned up as the theatrical, but the theatrical cut is very nicely done.
00:53:51
Speaker
also I also say I like the scene that's coming up behind you where the Illinois Nazis are on the bridge. um um In my cut, the unrated version, they they try to run them off the bridge. I don't remember if they do that in the original cut.
00:54:04
Speaker
ah They successfully do. i That's why they chase them down. i remember when they're singing like where they went through the water or something. I don't know. about I don't remember that. ah The Nazis jump off the bridge into the water.
00:54:20
Speaker
Okay. That's the cut that watched, but I have like... That's you saw. Okay, I said the same thing. Okay. So... Okay. Yeah. i didn't have the innocent version yet. A lot crazier. But yeah, i was ah I was at a three on mine. Okay.
00:54:36
Speaker
Hey, I came out ahead on that one.
00:54:41
Speaker
I'm in the middle. As a four. All right. So the script for this...
00:54:50
Speaker
Script. um so Everything with script was well paced in... Just like some of the way that some of the comedy was written with the jokes um between Jake and Elwood and then like how they interact with everybody else um was pretty awesome to me.
00:55:07
Speaker
it's It's not so much a dialogue part of script, but what I saw when they're at the orphanage and they're talking to ah Sister Mary Stigmata or the Penguin, as is as she's called,
00:55:20
Speaker
um she has that yardstick and like she whacks the one for cursing. And then like, it was like, Jesus Christ, smack, God, smack, no glass. mean, it's like, God damn. And so she's just like, she's just smacking the shit out of both of them. And finally comes like ah whack and like breaks her stick over his head. i'm like, yeah yeah crazy Catholics.
00:55:43
Speaker
Oh my goodness. Just going way, all the way at it. But i thought it was cool. Um, There's a lot of like the smaller lines, like you had said earlier, like, oh, look at that. It's 9 a.m. Time to go to work. you know There's absurdity in in a lot of different little lines throughout the film that just they make me kind of just kind of crack a grin and little smile. I'm just like, yeah you goofy bastards. you know you know just so it's a little It's a lot of like small bit stuff. And then like so a little bit of shtick here and there.
00:56:11
Speaker
But it's it's placed so well throughout the film. So the way they they wrote it out to have it placed in certain parts, I think, was really good.
00:56:21
Speaker
Go ahead, Adam. Yeah, like for the the scripting, like I mentioned it earlier, just um like it's so quotable, like the film is, that you know every everything that they say, like I literally have a a list of all the quotes of the film. Like my favorite and probably most popular, it's 106 Miles to Chicago. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes. It's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. Jake says, hit it.
00:56:52
Speaker
Like that is so like iconic. And it's also like well-placed because, you know, they're in a dark alleyway in their car, sunglasses on. You're like, you know, this was written, you know, as, as a comedy, but at the same time, you're like, what?
00:57:10
Speaker
You know? um And then like, there's other things we're on a mission from God, and just like the, ah like the use of the, the quotes can really guide the movie along on top of like the writing and the planning of the, of the scenes that like, you know, I said earlier, they kind of move through the film instead of being like, you know, flash forward, flashback.
00:57:35
Speaker
you know, middle flashback kind of thing. It just moves along. So you get a sense that, you know, they're moving along, they're getting the bands together um um and just moving, moving through their paces. And then they, you know, got their whole squad and then they go to the palace hotel ballroom. That is the final goal that you, we reach, you know, like pre apex before the actual apex. And then, you know,
00:58:00
Speaker
and they play and you feel so good it's like yes we're gonna get the money and then there's actually you know and that we still have to go downtown kind of thing and so just it you know all stacks on top of each other i guess you can say um and it makes you feel so much more involved that you say hey i know this person from there or like these people actually you know they're from the uh from the restaurant, the bar, and like I see them further in the film. So like there's callbacks and things like that um that you can then reference. So it's like all written in the sense that it's easy to follow and then you can get the jokes as you you know get older or you rewatch the film. It's rewatchable too. So it's just and all all in all a very well thought out script as a comedy.
00:58:55
Speaker
yeah okay well Yeah, I want to say one other thing. i was forgot I really like how they they wrote up the scene for when they go to Shea Paul ah to to get their horn guy back.
00:59:05
Speaker
And he's like the Mater D and everything. The way they walk in there, the way they sit down and like start just with the crude manners and everything. It made me think of Terrence Spencer and Bud Hill from Old Spaghetti Western, ah from their second Trinity film, They Still Call Me Trinity, where they do the same kind of thing. They just go in, they're abrupt, and they're just just the crude manners and everything, like that whole bit.
00:59:26
Speaker
Seen that in a few other films, and I'm just like, ah, i really like that. And then when like they're trying to talk to their guy to convince him to come back to the band... how Jake just goes over to the other tables guy who's offended because they smell he's like hey how much for your wife how much for your daughters he's like freaking out like oh my god that's like such an amazing scene and way they wrote that I thought it was fantastic oh my god they just kept being so so crude until this guy's like all right fine I'll join you guys funny that they sit down and he's like uh yeah five shrimp cocktails it's a bit of bread for my brother
01:00:03
Speaker
And that's ah because it's not five chickens he orders later. It's four. i was at the diner with Aretha. yeah that's a liquor. Do you have fried chicken? Elwood. just This guy wants plain white toast.
01:00:21
Speaker
Elwood. Yeah. He's in the background. He's like, is it is it is it really him? Yeah. yeah And four fried chickens. Jake.
01:00:33
Speaker
Because it also gives you that sense that like in that scene where you know they have their order, you you can tell that they know them very well, even though they've been gone for however many years. you know That like the duo hasn't been back together, or the band hasn't been back together. So ah they it's like implied that like they know. Of course, they're like getting the band together. but like you know with those little things, it's...
01:01:00
Speaker
Oh, Elwood, yeah Jake. And you know then then um Matt proceeds to try to convince Aretha Franklin that, oh, hey, you know I need to go with the band. And then she's like, think. And yeah also you know putting the song titles and like the what the song is like about.
01:01:18
Speaker
And then then like skewing it to put it into the film. you know That's like, you better think what you're about to do. you know like Things like that. but putting it to, are you going to go with the band are you going to like stay with me instead of like think, I forgot the original premise of the song off the top of my head, but it's, I imagine that's like, what are you doing with me and the, and you know, yeah she says right before she starts singing it, that there are consequences to your actions. You better think.
01:01:47
Speaker
And then it goes into the song. they wrote that They wrote the songs into the story pretty well. Yes. All of them. um That's what I was getting at. just talked around.
01:01:58
Speaker
It definitely... The script, though, definitely reminds me of SNL. So it's clear that these were SNL guys, SNL writers, and characters.
01:02:11
Speaker
ah Not Belushi. Aykroyd said he never wrote a script before this. Never wrote a movie script. That's kind of where John Landis came in and helped.
01:02:22
Speaker
Because Landis, Aykroyd, and Belushi wrote this movie. And so I feel like Landis kind of helped... thread those SNL sketches together and that's why they have such a sketch set up you know it is this scene here's the gag move on to the next scene like I said it's not really ah knock on it it's just the structure of this film and it's it's back when SNL was funny so it's good um
01:02:55
Speaker
The, Oh, I couldn't go. i gotta argue that So the script and the acting, I had a hard time because there are little things in this movie that I want to know if they were improv from the actors or was it written into the script?
01:03:11
Speaker
And so what I'm doing is I'm going to give, I'm going to bump my score for the script a little bit because I also have to dock the acting. So I'll get to that on the acting.
01:03:21
Speaker
Okay. But what like little things like the first lines of Jake are when he's in the car and he's complaining about what you do with the blues mobile and he's trying to light a cigarette and the lighter doesn't work.
01:03:35
Speaker
And just a little movement of him just tossing it out the window is something that I i found that very funny and just a little things like that.
01:03:46
Speaker
Or, Is it in the script when he's picking up his stuff after getting out of jail that he stands behind that line and he leans all the way across to sign his name?
01:03:58
Speaker
Like, is is that his improv of, like, this is how I'm going to do the scene? Or is that, like, hey, do this in the script? That's what I don't know. I'm going to give that credit to the script because there's a lot of just little motions, little things in this.
01:04:16
Speaker
that are really good. I... like, this probably is written in there, but when they're at the assessor's office at the end, and it says, back in five minutes, and we've just had this huge chase, and they see that sign that says, back in five minutes, and they just stand there and wait.
01:04:34
Speaker
It's like, alright, we're gonna... they're coming up the stairs. And they do the... but the hand thing. Oh my gosh. Yep. And Nell is showing him, like...
01:04:47
Speaker
there a ah Yeah. So there are things like that that I'm going i'm going to say it's part of the script. So I give the script a four. I give the script a three.
01:05:00
Speaker
I gave the script a four as well. All right. So then acting.
01:05:11
Speaker
Acting is awesome. um I like the delivery you know from your main characters and delivery by even like the the B characters, you know your smaller bits and the the music like the musicians who actually acted in the film. you know Everyone was awesome.
01:05:27
Speaker
Aretha Franklin, you know she's just this diner, she's got her man, she's not letting She's like, you're about to mess up. you know And then ah Ray Charles with his music shop, you know still like trying to be like, yeah,
01:05:39
Speaker
This stuff works. Don't bullshit me. It's not crap. Let me show you. la la la you know Like a good music shop owner would, you know trying to sell that product and everything. and like Even the bar, like all the small bit parts. like but what i mean in those Those dudes from or the good old boys,
01:05:54
Speaker
These guys, dude, obnoxious, obnoxious, gnarly. And seeing them get their their little camper truck flipped over with the bar owner and get just wrecked with the cops, I'm like, yes, dude, that was so awesome.
01:06:08
Speaker
And the cop's like, yeah, you guys you guys messed up. You messed up big time. I'm like, yeah. What gets me, though? like when you see them chasing Jake and Elwood and their little camper truck thing, four guys from the band are in the upper little tiny little slip thing above the cap of the truck.
01:06:26
Speaker
it's like, yo, those dudes just got right. I should have brought this up in the special effects. But yeah, they wrecked that truck. It's like, how are those dudes alive? How are they stepping out of that thrashed camper when they were right there in the top? I'll smooch together like four fucking fat guy sausages the top that. Like, bro, those dudes would have been annihilated.
01:06:45
Speaker
oh my God. But everyone who was supposed to be kind of, yeah who got kind of punked by Jake and Elwood, they did a good job of being in buttholes. You know, John Candy is this Department of Corrections guy. Like, he acts, like, kind of throws his weight around like he's like a big guy. But it's like, dude, you're Department of Corrections. You're not an actual police officer. Like, you're there of along the ride with them. But he's like, oh, yeah, let's get the orange whoops over. Oh, yeah, let's start drinking while we're. Basically, we all agree.
01:07:10
Speaker
Something like that, guess, man. Like, dude, this is wack. I really like the acting mostly from a lot of the the side characters, man. Like Kathleen Freeman as the penguin, you know, um Curtis. um There's all these other people that you see that they interact with are pretty rad. James Brown, man, like James Brown didn't really have to act.
01:07:31
Speaker
You know, he was just doing a performance, man. was just, you know, obama just still doing his thing and being awesome. You know, like, seeing some of these performances when it's not acting, it's just like a straight music performance.
01:07:43
Speaker
Yeah, you got to remember, like, and you can you can treat it like it's both, but it's still cool. Regardless how you think of it. But aside from that, man, um I liked what everyone did.
01:07:54
Speaker
I would have liked to have seen a little more out of out of ah of Elwood as a character. Like said, he was always so quiet a lot of the time. I think it would have been cool if he had added a little few more lines, a few more little jokes in there. But maybe the point was for him to be quiet and subtle. So it is what it is. Mm-hmm.
01:08:12
Speaker
And I'll pass it on to you, Adam. How about it? Yeah, like going off of that point, I actually think that um Elwood should have been you know quieter. you know You have Jake, who's like the lead singer.
01:08:27
Speaker
you know He is you know the head of the band. He did what he did and went to jail and all that. So he's kind of the main... He had his part where he's in the church. He's like, the band, the band, Elwood, we got to get the band back together.
01:08:44
Speaker
Like he is leading more so than Elwood. Elwood's just kind of, you know, he plays his harmonica, he drives the car. So he I would say he's more of like a supporting role to like kind of argue my point.
01:08:58
Speaker
um Okay. Yeah, I can see that. He leads us big more of main character versus Elwood. Okay. Yeah. And so, um but ah going to the um rest of the acting and and and characters, like the acting, at least from the musicians, was pretty good for them being, you know, like musicians. Of course, they, you know, perform live.
01:09:21
Speaker
They're in the studio. They like... they do all that, but like to be in a movie and have to like do a scene and then redo it and then have the same quality over and over rather than just doing it live in one sweep, you know, like that takes practice. Like that's why there's actors and there's, you know, actors,
01:09:39
Speaker
everyday Joes that um sometimes have an extra in a film. Like, for example, the entire Palace Hotel ballroom that just had bunch of people sitting in the audience.
01:09:51
Speaker
You know, like we just like discredit that. But like at the same time, that's all real people that they kind of put in as extras, you know, on top on that. um But Going ah diving a little bit deeper, um you have like, you know, um the like Illinois Nazis and people like they really have that, you know, very, very,
01:10:15
Speaker
quiet kind of thing or um demeanor or things like that where they're just so mad or they want to like, you can tell that they're mad and that they're not happy um in the in the film.
01:10:30
Speaker
um And then like Jonathan said, John Lee Hooker and and people like that um where they, they, It's okay, in my opinion. It's not like, whoa.
01:10:41
Speaker
But like without them in the film and their acting, you would notice. you know it would just be like an average Joe making a film. you know yeah so Average podcast, average Joe. hi Great joke. You don't actually find some those if you search for us.
01:11:04
Speaker
oh Yeah.
John Landis: Directorial Praise and Controversy
01:11:06
Speaker
So all in all, like, um oh, wait, we we saved the the the ratings until later. But um yeah um yes, I noticed that trend, but um ah that theme. But yeah, like with it was it was good. Like it got the point across. It wasn't like stellar in my humble opinion.
01:11:32
Speaker
Okay. I think this movie is one that it's not about the acting. It's about the music. This movie is about the music. And that when you put this many musicians who are actors into a movie, I don't expect the acting to be great across the board.
01:11:53
Speaker
So they're awesome to have in this movie. That doesn't mean their performances are Academy Award worthy, but they're good. They don't take away from the movie.
01:12:07
Speaker
So instead of adding more to what you guys said, I just want to point out the other cameos. We talked about music, but there's a lot of celebrities in this as well.
01:12:22
Speaker
i They include Steve Lawrence, singer, comedian, actor from the pop duo Steve and Heidi. but he is the booking agent.
01:12:35
Speaker
Twiggy, who was a model at the time, as Sheiklady in the Jaguar Convertible, whom Elwood prepositions at the gas station. Steven Spielberg is the Cook County Assessor's Clerk.
01:12:48
Speaker
The director... Yeah, the director, John Landis, is the state trooper in the mall chase. Joe Walsh, guitarist, singer, songwriter, the guy from The Eagles...
01:13:01
Speaker
So he's from the the band. The Eagles is the first prisoner to jump up on the table in the final scene. Chaka Khan. saw that. American singer, Queen of Funk.
01:13:12
Speaker
ah She's in the film. Muppet performer. Well, legendary performer, Frank Oz plays a corrections officer. else?
01:13:26
Speaker
who else Paul Rubens was a waiter. Who is a stunt coordinator. Singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop is a state trooper.
01:13:37
Speaker
ah He did some songs for National Lampoon's Animal House, which also was a Landis movie. There's a makeup artist in there, but then the other one that gets that this makes total sense now, I didn't realize it was him in the moment, but the Shea Paul waiter.
01:13:56
Speaker
who has one spoken line and comes up and says, we have Dom pairing on 71 is Pee Wee Herman, Paul Rubens. Paul Rubens, baby. Yeah. yeah So it's, it's stacked. There's so much in this film.
01:14:12
Speaker
That being said, i don't think any of the performances are super incredible. They're good. They serve their part. They do what they need to, and they're not distracting. So I'm a three on the acting.
01:14:30
Speaker
Okay. I'm a four on the acting. And one thing I will say, I really awesome thought was awesome. The guys in the band weren't playing characters. They were, they were starring as themselves. Okay. I, that is something I was trying to look up because i wasn't clear.
01:14:45
Speaker
I couldn't tell if the names they were putting up in the movie were their real names or their character names, and they were just pretending they were real. Because they would put those guys' names up like in the credits, but then they also put up like Jake and Elwood.
01:15:00
Speaker
And I was like, well, I know those that got those two. Yeah. Those are definitely the characters, but everybody else in the band were themselves. Willie Hall, the drummer, Willie Too Big Hall, their bass player, Donald Duck Dunn. It's just Donald Dunn. Steve Cropper or the Colonel, you know, Murph, you know, all those dudes, they played themselves.
01:15:18
Speaker
That awesome. Mm-hmm. So yeah, four on acting for me. yeah Like Cab Calloway too. like Oh dude, yeah. no he was Yeah, like he played himself.
01:15:30
Speaker
Literally sang his own song. Yeah. Well, he was Curtis in the film, but still. yeah Doing what he did though, like the performance was super kicked ass. Big time.
01:15:41
Speaker
So three and then fours.
01:15:45
Speaker
Four for me. All right. So on direction. i know Jonathan ah always has a ton to say about this one.
01:15:55
Speaker
Direction. don't know. All the different scenes and the chases and everything. There's there's just a lot, dude. And if I was going to say anything about direction, it's just being how they coordinated those different aspects of the car chase through Chicago.
01:16:14
Speaker
man, the way they chained all that out, the planning that must've gone into that and like trying to get the like the best camera angles safely. Cause some of those shots, man, like from under the L coming up and around and over side like all these tight shots. And then you get like all of the, like the, the shots that are on the front of a car through those chases and those tight spots, man, they way they planned all that out just was super, super, super awesome.
01:16:41
Speaker
Um,
01:16:44
Speaker
And then, don't know, I just like the way everything else is at. And ahead, Adam. Yeah, like the the directing...
01:16:56
Speaker
Like the the directing in the in the film was, you know, great. And like, hey pun intended, the direction that film took was also great.
01:17:08
Speaker
But um the... um Like saying the the car chase, you know, you had the the front of the um like the the front of the camera and and stuff, as well as, you know, like helicopter shots. I'm a sure i'm assuming they did a helicopter shot when like the the the army guys were going up the building, you know, unless that dolly shot. I don't really know.
01:17:29
Speaker
But like, um you know, that had to be coordinated. Cars had to be coordinated. You know, how do you get 105 cars? to to to to then crash how you want them to crash.
01:17:45
Speaker
And so that you still preserve the the the dodge that they that the Blues Brothers had, the Bluesmobile. That had to take you know some skill there. And then they had um the moving through the tunnel. like That one scene of like moving through the tunnel where they're like hiding from, I think it was Carrie Fisher, was it? or No, they were hiding from the from the cops from when they moved to the passports. Yeah.
01:18:11
Speaker
Yeah, and they had the um the speaker on, you know, and on top of that, you know, just planning where they were going to go, you know, Calumite City, they went to the abandoned um um the mall and and everything. Yeah. that was all very well planned and thought out and you know directed and like wherever where every everything happened in in my view so yeah passing it off to tim because i will talk so
01:18:49
Speaker
off Off of what you're saying, filming in downtown Chicago was conducted on Sundays during the summer of 79, and much of downtown was cordoned off from the public.
01:19:00
Speaker
The cost of filming the largest scene in the city's history, it was about $3.5 million dollars.
01:19:11
Speaker
three point five million to film just in chicago Permission was only given after Belushi and Aykroyd offered to donate $50,000 charity.
01:19:26
Speaker
and then permission was given. Although the Bluesmobile was not allowed to be driven through the Daly Center lobby, special breakaway panes were temporarily substituted instead of normal glass, but the car still caused $7,650 in damage to 35 granite paver stones and a bronze grill in the building.
01:19:49
Speaker
So that's just a little bit like... They went all out for this. um But Landis
01:19:59
Speaker
is kind of a legend. So, but he's not... You don't hear his name spoken in the realms of Spielberg or... i and You mentioned him earlier.
01:20:15
Speaker
Nolan. He's not that guy. But he did... the Kentucky fried movie in 77 national animal house in 78, which was right before this. And that's a legendary film trading places in 83, the three amigos coming to America, Beverly Hills cop three.
01:20:39
Speaker
But as I said, an American werewolf in London is a classic. It's my favorite werewolf movie. It's amazing. ah He also directed Michael Jackson's Thriller.
01:20:55
Speaker
Like... Right, he did. Yeah. So, this guy, he went on to work with television, the early HBO series Dream On, which was really good.
01:21:07
Speaker
I don't know why it's not on Max right now. I saw the first season years ago, but ah he did the TV version of Weird Science as well. So, the dude's a bit of a legend. He did...
01:21:21
Speaker
Get in a lot of trouble when three actors, including two children, died on set during Twilight Zone, the movie. why There were other parties involved, but he was tried and acquitted for involuntary manslaughter.
01:21:38
Speaker
They were just pushing, didn't have safety standards in place. A helicopter crashed and chopped the actors up. It was, it's awful.
01:21:50
Speaker
I encourage strongly if if you subscribe to Shudder, there is a series or AMC Plus, there's a series called Cursed Films, and each episode talks about, you know, like the Exorcist was cursed or whatever.
01:22:06
Speaker
It talks about different things that happen on movies. The Crow being one of them. um But it goes into this Twilight Zone movie and it was heart-wrenching. Some of them are like, oh, this stuff goes on on set. It's a cursed film. And then there was the Twilight Zone movie where two children died.
01:22:25
Speaker
And it is so sad. It was a tough one to watch. So he is kind of wrapped up in that controversy. But he was acquitted. I think it was probably his special effects coordinators that weren't making sure things were safe. He is the director, though, so where does that culpability lie?
01:22:44
Speaker
So, didn't really do much else outside of that. He's still fairly active, I think. I don't know exactly how much, but his years listed as active are still ongoing.
01:22:58
Speaker
So...
01:23:02
Speaker
And he signed to direct a streaming series called Superhero Kindergarten. So he's so good he's still doing stuff as of 2020. But his early stuff is 70s and 80s comedy flagships and tent poles that people hold up to this day.
01:23:24
Speaker
National Lampoon, Trading Places, Coming to America, Three Amigos. look Three Amigos! Yeah, those movies are legendary status.
Cultural Impact and Recognition
01:23:32
Speaker
So, I actually... What did I give the direction for this film?
01:23:37
Speaker
I gave it a four because it's really solid across the board. Putting together scenes like a car chase in a mall and making it work is impressive.
01:23:52
Speaker
That's impressive to me. So I'm getting like hurt. Jeez. Yeah. But also this mall felt huge. Like I wouldn't think you could, a feasible car chase could exist this long inside of a building, but I don't question it in the way he structured the the movie. It worked.
01:24:12
Speaker
So that is impressive to me. I almost debated a five, honestly, because it's just,
01:24:21
Speaker
I put pacing issues is why it's not a five for me, but it's a four. I was impressed.
01:24:29
Speaker
I was in a three.
01:24:33
Speaker
And I was in a four. I'll double check my card. Yes, you were. I had a four. All right. So the yeah called cultural significance, the it factor for this film.
01:24:48
Speaker
Dude. So with it, of course, being cult classic status, um that definitely says a lot in that, ah you know, in and of itself, when a film is considered a cult classic, that means there is a huge following that's well-known worldwide, most likely. And with being the Blues Brothers, think,
01:25:04
Speaker
that That is something that is known culturally worldwide. um You go to like Japan and you'll find people who will you will mock you who have that same style, will stand around, like kind of like how the gas like like those rockabilly group dudes do the same kind of thing.
01:25:18
Speaker
you know It's a style. It's a thing that people will follow. in a lot of different circles. You know you go to like probably like Comic-Con, you'll probably see somebody dressed up like Blues Brothers. you know it's ah it's ah it's It's an easy costume you can put together and a everyone's going to know what it is when they see you wearing it. They're going, oh, Blues Brothers. Okay, yeah. you know Two guys, black suits, sunglasses.
01:25:40
Speaker
Everyone's going to know that look. You cannot forget it. you know they've They've held 25th anniversaries, all kinds of special things. you know it's It's kind of hard not to know Blues Brothers unless you've been very religiously restricted growing up. or happened Yeah, that was me.
01:25:57
Speaker
yeah I've been there myself in a certain part of life. yeah But it's something that has a lot of notoriety. So i I think this one holds a lot of power when it comes to It Factor.
01:26:12
Speaker
okay Yeah, I i would agree as well. But when it comes to cultural significance, it would be more local, I would say, like to Chicagoland area would be like, so you know, top notch. Yeah, like...
01:26:29
Speaker
Like here, I'm based out in Nashville. So like, people know of the film, like, you know, with my co workers, I talk about it quite often. But like, people know of it, but they don't know, like individual like scenes, they can quote some things.
01:26:45
Speaker
But it's not, you know, like I tell them about the Blues Brothers, and they go, who? you know But if you say it in Chicagoland, you know you have people that have replica cars of the Bluesmobile. They know exactly who John Belushi and um Dan Aykroyd are.
01:27:01
Speaker
They know, like, you know you tell them... the palace hotel ballroom you know most of the time they'll know what that is i don't think i don't think the palace hotel ballroom exists anymore does it i don't think so or maybe it has been like rebuilt or something like that well i can i can tell you in second because i was just reading about it but go ahead yeah so it's now the south shore cultural center oh Oh, okay.
01:27:28
Speaker
But like you have, and then you know like Chicago people are, and around Chicago, you have, you know, you can pinpoint like the, um the daily Plaza, you can pinpoint the L like we were talking about earlier. You can pinpoint lower Wacker drive or, you know, um what used to be, I think it was what meets airfield before it was um broken up and things like that.
01:27:54
Speaker
So, for people around, you know, we know those, those areas. And so we can like pinpoint. It's like, that is awesome. But if you tell somebody, you know, in ah Japan, for example, they're like, you know, I know that it's Chicago, but I don't know those, those, those places. So like, it won't be that well factor. It'll be more so like Jonathan said, the the, the suits and the, and the glasses and maybe, you know, actual like blues being played it would be more like significant there. So I think it's just a different shift looking at that, that people from Chicago would look at it more like, whoa, like this is, you know,
01:28:36
Speaker
me, so probably my favorite movie of of of all time because I can connect with it and and all that. So I think it is you know, very significant, at least for the general um area of Chicagoland, you know, going north, south, west of the city.
01:28:56
Speaker
So, yeah. I miss Chicago. mur So just interestingly enough, this film opened I don't know exactly how many weeks, but Empire Strikes Back was in theaters when this film opened.
01:29:10
Speaker
So it opened to a second place spot behind Empire Strikes Back, which... Hard hard to blame it on that, because that's a huge movie.
01:29:23
Speaker
Uh... The film grossed $57 million domestically and $58 at the foreign. It was ranked 10th at the domestic box office for the year.
Box Office Success and Audience Reception
01:29:34
Speaker
By genre, it is the 9th highest grossing musical and the 10th highest earner among Comedy Road movies. It ranks 2nd between Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2 among films adapted from Saturday Night Live sketches. Yeah.
01:29:51
Speaker
I wanted to say, like it maybe part of this made me think of of Wayne and Garth a little bit in the whole Wayne's World kind of concept and like the comedy with the bits of music mixed in. Yeah. yeah It received mostly positive reviews, including the rare four stars from Gene Siskel, who said it's one of the best, it is the best movie ever made in Chicago, according to him.
01:30:19
Speaker
Oh, right. It said it is technically superb. And I will say it for me, one of the things that I like most about it is like Adam was saying, I've been to most of those places. I've driven down some of those roads that that car scene, that car chase takes place on.
01:30:38
Speaker
I recognize a lot. I recognize locations from whether they're verbally spoken or we see them in the film. And it creates a connection with the film that I enjoy.
01:30:51
Speaker
I will say ah had to come down a little bit on my score because i feel like this is a movie that is fading from the cultural discussion.
01:31:04
Speaker
I don't hear it talked about. And yeah I think that's a shame. I do think a lot of it has to do with how dry this movie is.
01:31:15
Speaker
The comedy in this movie is plain white toast with no butter, no jam. It is dry as could be.
01:31:28
Speaker
And that is not the thing anymore. People aren't into that for their comedies. no That there shouldn't be a knock against it, but I get why not as many people would be into it.
01:31:42
Speaker
It is a different kind of comedy. And for me, myself, I had to watch this movie three times before this because I told you the first time I didn't finish it.
01:31:54
Speaker
Second time, I liked it a lot. Third time, I picked up so much more. And I think that's the type of movie this is. the more you watch it, the more you appreciate it and that appreciation for it is going to grow.
01:32:09
Speaker
And so I think that kind of actually works against it. Because some people aren't going to be willing to give it a second shot. Some people might not even finish it the first time.
01:32:21
Speaker
yeah So for me, my it factor, i gave it a four because it is one of those movies that I've heard about my entire life and people say, you need to see it.
01:32:33
Speaker
So it's been there. It's a four.
01:32:39
Speaker
All right. And I'm right there with you, buddy. I'm on a four as well.
01:32:44
Speaker
I'm going to be that one dude and say I'm a top notch five because of that, um, of that, um, you know, I'm from Chicago and like see all this, but you know, I'm, I'm kind of on, I'm kind of teetering though, between a four and a five now that, um, um, that,
01:33:13
Speaker
It's, you know, it's very localized that for for me, like I'm very, um I see this film as like, I'm from the area. I love it. And so like, it might overshadow that love might overshadow some other things that, you know,
01:33:30
Speaker
It's the same thing for other other films. like For example, big cult, not classic, but big cult film, The Room. like It's an awful film, in my opinion. but like so many people like Me in college, like we talked about that film like it was like a god.
01:33:47
Speaker
Did you say it was an actor artist? you see master
01:33:54
Speaker
I saw a little bit of it. the that is so good It's so good. but you You mentioned that. i was Ferris Bueller is one of those movies that it's a Chicagoland movie.
01:34:07
Speaker
My roommate when I was living there, Coach, you remember Sam, he He knew somebody whose house is one of the yards that Ferris Bueller ran through in that movie. And he'd be like, yeah, my buddy Ferris ran through my buddy's yard in that movie. So like it's just one of those things that being in that area is super cool.
01:34:29
Speaker
But anyways. Or like even, even, um, um, home alone, you know, like the house is in Winnetka. Like I visited that place so many times and I like showed all my cousins, friends and, and, and everybody that's like, you remember this house, you know? And I'm like proud of that. That was like, I know where this is. I think somebody bought it not too long ago.
01:34:49
Speaker
Yeah. Maybe. Yeah. What's an Airbnb now? It used to be a private residence and and like they closed it off because like they didn't want people walking on their... Yeah. So it was purchased.
01:35:01
Speaker
It was for a period of time. I don't know it still is. It was available to stay in on Airbnb. It was like thousands of dollars a night.
01:35:12
Speaker
But the catch is... the inside has been completely remodeled to be like super modern and everything's white and gray and ugly. And I'm like, Nope, that's, that's not the home of the loan house anymore.
01:35:27
Speaker
Sorry.
Timeless Appeal and Multi-generational Enjoyment
01:35:28
Speaker
i Yeah. anyway good Yeah. But all right. So that moves us. How entertained were we?
01:35:39
Speaker
You can lead into your final score with that and wrap up your final, this is your final thoughts moment for it. So Jonathan. Well, yeah, ah for me, I'm sitting at an eight for my entertainment. There was a lot of good comedy.
01:35:56
Speaker
Some of the dryness of it, some of the slapstick of it, you know, is is my kind of thing. um So I dig it quite a lot. It's definitely one I would recommend. um You know, a lot of my friends that I grew up with, we all know this film and we could talk bullshit about it all day if we wanted to. Yeah.
01:36:12
Speaker
I think this film has a lot of strong presence and hopefully it won't die out. Like you were saying that it might, you know, or as it seems to culturally with film relevance, hopefully get a resurgence.
01:36:24
Speaker
ah They, I mean, they, they made a sequel and that was cool, you know, but you know, they did some stretches on that. It'd be cool if there was a third, but who knows how that would pretty no that would probably be super, super, super, super hacky, but I think it's good though.
01:36:41
Speaker
right.
01:36:43
Speaker
Nice. so i ah was and and still am very entertained by the film. Like with my previous points that, you know, you could pick apart the film and notice a different thing every single time you watch it. I mean, that could be true with a lot of other films. But for this one, you know, the different...
01:37:05
Speaker
things that happen in it, the quotes, like you can attribute quotes to different things in the film that you didn't think of previously, you know? And I think that's pretty hard for some films because it's just like so cut and dry that like this person says this and it doesn't apply to anything else, you know? But in the, in the Blues Brothers, like it does.
01:37:24
Speaker
And so um I rated this, no surprise here, 10 out of 10, because like, like I said earlier, just so easy to follow. And you know, it's one of those films like Jonathan said, you can just talk about it with like your friends that have also watched the film and you can, you know, you can crap on it. You can, you know, say all this, but at the end of the day, you still watch and you're like, nice. This is a great performance on this scene. This is great here. And you know, you leave the film,
01:37:56
Speaker
yeah It's one of those where you watch it, you know what's going to happen, but you still watch it anyways because that is just great fun. It's just a fun film, and you can just go back to it and keep going back to it instead of some of them where you watch it. Great. Glad that I watched it. This was a hard movie to watch.
01:38:14
Speaker
Thanks. Bye. Blues Brothers, not that. You can just keep re-watching it and re-watching it and be entertained. Yeah, I would agree. Like I kind of already said...
01:38:25
Speaker
I think this is a movie that gets better with repeated watches. ah So for me, i actually, each time I watched it, my enjoy, my how entertained were you has gone up.
01:38:38
Speaker
First time, it was like a five. I wasn't feeling it. Yep. Second time, fill went up a little bit. Third time, i'm at a seven.
01:38:49
Speaker
So I'm getting there. I'm not quite all the way there. But each time I've watched it, I was five, then I was six, then I was seven up. And it's growing into something that, yeah, I do want to see it again.
01:39:02
Speaker
You know? But first time I watched it, I was like, i hit ah don't want to watch this again. And then I did. And I was glad I did. I thought it was much better the second time.
01:39:14
Speaker
ah So... Yeah, I look forward to watching this and like Adam says, I do think it's a movie where you'll pick up on those little things like the first time... What did I notice? i Never mind, I forgot.
01:39:29
Speaker
So you start to notice things on repeated watches that you didn't catch and that makes the movie that much better. so I fully expect my entertainment value on this to go up the more times I see this film.
01:39:48
Speaker
I do. So, I was a 7. That puts my final score at a 39, which would be rounded to 4 stars out of 5.
01:40:00
Speaker
Oh, wow. I actually came in at a 38. So you went up on me. I'm a little surprised. Nice. I came up as a 42. 42. So if we do our thing and we average what the three of us think...
01:40:17
Speaker
That is a 39.67 or out of 5 stars. And that is, the idea of that is averaging multiple people's opinion to give you an idea of if this movie works in a crowd or a social setting.
01:40:36
Speaker
This is a movie that is probably better to watch with some people. But also, no know your audience. I think people who appreciate music and old school comedy are going to appreciate this more than random movie. you know If their favorite movie is The Hangover, maybe skip this one.
01:40:56
Speaker
but i I think it's also like the age and like who you talk to, like, like Tim said that like, for example, me and like at work or like my friends, you know, like we're younger, we're like, you know, early twenties kind of vibe.
01:41:13
Speaker
And so like, if I bring it up in like a group setting like that, you know, they're, they usually they like brush it off. It's like, heard of the film. Cool. You know, there's, there's other stuff that, that that's there, but I bring it up to an older cod, like, you know, for example, my parents,
01:41:28
Speaker
kind of deal. And you know, where they, they have an understanding of that time, you know, like, like maybe eighties nineties kind of deal. And like, they, they understand the film, you know, it's easier to talk to cause they're like, Oh, Hey, yeah. Like love this, love that love X, Y, and Z. It's so much easier to talk to those, those kind of peeps.
01:41:51
Speaker
And yeah, ah yeah i'm I'm the older peep in the in this group discussion. I'm 41, bro. So I'm like in your parents' group there. My brother doesn't watch anything after 2005, and he's missing out.
01:42:06
Speaker
Most of what I watched is from pre-1996.
01:42:12
Speaker
<unk> what i've been want Fascinating that you bring that up because the blues brothers is one of the oldest films that I watch. Like, yeah you know, there's like the classic like Disney classics, but you know, it's a Disney classic. And so, but like for like a I guess, proper film or things like that were, you know, pre what, like 2000s.
01:42:35
Speaker
Like that's maybe the oldest film that I've watched, but because it was introduced to me by, you guessed it, my parents, like I probably would not pick up the blues brothers and be like, Hey, I'm going to watch this. Like it's cause my parents played it. And then i recall, Oh, Hey, there's a DVD. I remember I watched this when I was like eight. So I like put it back in and I'm like, I like this and then put it back in another time, another one. So like, yeah.
01:42:58
Speaker
That's what got me in the older, you know, crowd. Yep. Bro, i would I would recommend go watch some Marx Brothers films. go Go a little further back. Go hit some black and white. Go watch some old school film.
01:43:11
Speaker
Check out Duck Soup by Marx Brothers. Watch that. my I watched that growing up with my mom, dude. And like that was some like the early comedy that that I got into as a child.
01:43:23
Speaker
I often say, I'll tell people that like, When it comes to modern day sarcasm as humor, there are two sources that I think really were the pioneers for modern sarcasm turning into comedy Number one was the Marx Brothers. Groucho Marx, man. Groucho. Yep, Groucho especially. He's cutting humor.
01:43:47
Speaker
Awesome. Duck Soup is fantastic. But the other one that I attribute for that kind of humor, and it's also, he did a Groucho Marx impression very often, was MASH.
01:44:00
Speaker
The MASH TV show was very sarcastic. It was very good. But... Any final thoughts on this? We can wrap this up. That's that's it for the Blues Brothers.
01:44:12
Speaker
was Was anybody else creeped out by the the the Jesus on the cross right by the top of the stair at the Penguin's office? that your The way it's hanging, just ominously right off the side. You know I love that little horror element.
01:44:26
Speaker
and is it Is it not expanded in the director's cut? like The door swings open on its own, swings closed on its own. It's a little bit creepier in the director's cut.
01:44:39
Speaker
Yeah. For me, like I mentioned ah earlier probably in the episode, I don't really Halloween or horror anything. so And this is magnified by the fact that i don't i I absolutely don't do anything with paranormal at all.
01:44:56
Speaker
And to combine that with nuns, I will note myself out of the room so fast. So like the only thing that keeps me in the chair... during that scene is the fact that I know it's a comedy and I know what happens.
01:45:11
Speaker
So, yeah. Hello, I'm in Chicago. I got to get back there again soon. it was with the family hit my food spots. I just wanted to get I was watching four throughout the family was like, oh, the movie was was food spots.
01:45:25
Speaker
There are restaurants in Chicago dog spots. I'm like, oh, yeah man, it was a Maxwell Street, you know, whatever. All right. It kind of changed, but it didn't change. so I think that covers it, guys.
01:45:38
Speaker
So that's going to wrap it up for this episode. Huge thanks to Adam for joining us. It was awesome having you. Thank you. Absolutely. And for those who missed the intro, Adam is the genius behind the original theme for both of our 13 Nights of Halloween series.
01:45:53
Speaker
ah So, Adam, where can people find more of your music?
Promotion for Adam's Music
01:45:57
Speaker
They can find me on all streaming platforms. My artist's name is CMP Music.
01:46:04
Speaker
um Pretty much camp without the A. And um you can find me everywhere. Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple Music, Deezer even. you know um You can find me there. I'm primarily electronic music, but I make you know lo-fi and the sorts. So you can probably fly pretty much find a little bit of everything.
01:46:24
Speaker
Nice. And you can find him with custom songs at the beginning of every 13 nights of Halloween episode that we did. We contacted him for that music.
01:46:39
Speaker
I was going to try to show it on my Apple music, but I can't pull it up right now. ah
01:46:46
Speaker
That's okay. Yeah. So seriously, go check out his work. We used to play it. i remember we used to include it on our our swim team playlists. Get you some plays in there. Yeah. A couple cents every listen.
01:47:03
Speaker
Yeah. right. So before we go, don't forget to like subscribe and drop your total score on the comments. You can find us on Apple podcast, Spotify, and YouTube, wherever you listen, we're there. And remember movies are more than just what's on screen. They're the conversations we have after the credits roll.
01:47:21
Speaker
So keep the dialogue going, share your thoughts, and let's turn in every movie night, every movie night into something unforgettable. This is the average where the real review happens with your friends. See you next time.
01:47:46
Speaker
Bye.