1941: everything that was wrong about The Blues Brothers and none of its virtues. Plus clumsy misogyny is hilarious, right? Well, no.
Neighbors: you know you're in trouble when the film's score attempts to serve as a laugh track.
Nothing But Trouble: an almost complete misfire...strange, incoherent, unfunny, and not even a good try.
North: not really Aykroyd's fault, but he doesn't help. Compare the Marx Bros. in The Story of Mankind. The late Roger Ebert's famous hatred of this one got me thinking about DA's film career.
The Twilight Zone: Aykroyd the best thing about this one. But the film actually managed to kill people, and was actually just one bad rehash after another. Lithgow did what he could, as did Robert Bloch with a novelization.
Exit to Eden: When one's coping with what one knows is a piece of garbage from beginning to end, and one simply means to acquit one's self as painlessly as possible...should we call it a Gershon? (as in Showgirls)
Six Worthwhile Aykroyd Films:
Stardom: Aykroyd's fine in one of the tougher roles in this satire of mediated lives.
Ghostbusters: Not perfect, but certainly solid.
The House of Mirth: I was half-asleep before I caught this one night some time back, so should see it again, but I remember DA doing well in a good film here.
Trading Places: Rather good till it goes stupid in the train sequence, and stays too broad for most of the rest of the film...still...
All You Need Is Cash: The kind of role he was born to play.
Gross Pointe Blank: The other kind of role he was born to play. John Cusack has made three or five too many machismic geek films at this point, but getting Aykroyd to play his friendly adversary was only sensible.
Bless Their Pointed Heads:
The Coneheads: even at its most blatant, I can't hate it. Though, of course, the concept was built for short sketch comedy.
Nothing Lasts Forever
Todd, I like Dan Ackroyd, he's quite an affable character on screen. I enjoyed GHOSTBUSTERS (and Ray Parker Jr's theme song) and TRADING PLACES too, the former more on account of Ackroyd and the talented Harold Ramis (who deserves more than he gets) than Bill Murray, the last two being Reitman's favourite boy scouts. His STRIPES was a riot. One Ackroyd film I didn't much care for was SGT BILKO, not the best of Dan Ackroyd or Steve Martin films I have seen. I don't think I have seen THE HOUSE OF MIRTH and ALL YOU NEED IS CASH.
ReplyDeleteAnd STARDOM, even better without Hulu ad breaks (I suspect it isn't visible at all in India at the link).
ReplyDeleteBut he has had one of the most hot and cold careers in film one can think of.