{"id":2603,"date":"2024-08-20T18:48:20","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T18:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=2603"},"modified":"2024-10-12T21:37:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T21:37:35","slug":"the-blues-brothers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/20\/the-blues-brothers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Blues Brothers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Blues Brothers <\/strong>(1980)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal Pictures\/Comedy-Musical\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 148 minutes (Restored Director\u2019s Cut)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: John Landis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Dan Aykroyd and John Landis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Ira Newborn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Stephen M. Katz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 20, 1980 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, The Blues Brothers Band (Steve Cropper, Donald \u201cDuck\u201d Dunn, Murphy Dunne, Willie Hall, Tom Malone, Lou Marini, Matt Murphy, Alan Rubin), James Brown, Cab Calloway, John Candy, Ray Charles, Carrie Fisher, Aretha Franklin, Kathleen Freeman, Henry Gibson, John Lee Hooker, Steve Lawrence, Jeff Morris, Charles Napier, Frank Oz, Paul Reubens, Twiggy, Steven Williams, Armand Cerami, Chaka Khan, Steven Spielberg, Ben Piazza.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $54.2M (US)\/$115.2M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019m going to go out on a limb here and say that The Blues Brothers<\/strong> is my favorite movie from the \u201cHoly Trinity of Comedy\u201d (Animal House, The Blues Brothers and Caddyshack). While not as funny as Animal House, it has something more going for it\u2026.. THE MUSIC!<\/p>\n

\u00a0You see, The Blues Brothers<\/strong> is more than just a mere follow-up to Landis\u2019 Animal House. It\u2019s a celebration of the music without which there would be no rock and roll. I\u2019m talking about blues, R&B, gospel and soul. The main characters, Jake (Belushi) and Elwood Blues (Aykroyd), grew up listening to it and now perform it. That is, when one of them isn\u2019t in prison.<\/p>\n

\u00a0These characters were first introduced on SNL (January 17, 1976) where they performed R&B numbers backed by a band of well-known and respected musicians. The Blues Brothers took on a life of their own with a hit 1978 album (\u201cBriefcase Full of Blues\u201d) and the eponymous 1980 movie.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Much was made of the fact that The Blues Brothers<\/strong> became an out of control production that fell behind schedule and went over budget mainly due to Belushi\u2019s excessive partying and drug use. When all was said and done, it cost $27.5 to make and stood little chance of turning a profit due to its lengthy running time and the reluctance of exhibitors to book a film that would predominantly appeal to black audiences.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It was shown once in its entirety at an early screening (2 \u00bd hours with an intermission) before Universal head Lew Wasserman demanded that Landis cut 15-20 minutes from it. At any length, it\u2019s quite a movie. In addition to the outstanding musical numbers featuring such noted R&B\/soul stars like James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, The Blues Brothers<\/strong> also features several elaborate car chases and accidents in which countless vehicles are destroyed. Like I said, it\u2019s quite a movie.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The movie opens with \u201cJoliet\u201d Jake Blues being released from Joliet Correctional Center after serving three years of a five-year stretch for armed robbery. His brother Elwood is waiting outside to pick him up in the \u201cBluesmobile\u201d, an old Mount Prospect police cruiser he picked up at an auction. As if Jake wasn\u2019t already irritated enough, Elwood reminds him that he promised to visit Sister Mary Stigmata aka \u201cThe Penguin\u201d (Freeman, Johnny Dangerously), the head of St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud, the Catholic-run orphanage where they grew up, immediately upon his release from prison.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The tough sister informs the boys the orphanage be closed for good unless somebody comes up with $5000 to cover the property taxes. She refuses Jake\u2019s offer to raise the money and orders him not to return until he redeems himself. Their friend, orphanage janitor Curtis (singer\/bandleader Calloway), sends them to an evangelical church to hear a sermon by Reverend Cleophus James (soul musician Brown). While there, Jake comes up with the idea of putting the band back together and performing a few gigs. Call it divine inspiration. It\u2019s not going to be easy. His old band mates have all gone their separate ways and taken legitimate (and better paying) jobs. Jake and Elwood track all of them down and convince them to go back on the road.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Along the way, Jake and Elwood manage to make a few enemies who spend the rest of the movie pursuing them. Like the two Illinois State troopers they lead on a wild car chase through a crowded shopping mall. Like the parole officer (Candy, SCTV) who wants to send Jake back to prison for violating his parole. Like the Nazi leader (Gibson, Laugh-In) whose rally they drove through, sending his men into the river. Like the angry C&W band leader (Napier, Rambo: First Blood Part II) whose gig they stole at a redneck bar. And the mystery woman (Fisher, Star Wars) who keeps making attempts on their lives for some unknown reason. It all culminates in a wild, chaotic chase through the streets of Chicago as Jake and Elwood make their way to the Cook County Assessor\u2019s office at City Hall. Everybody is after them \u2026 the police, the SWAT team, pissed-off Nazis and C&W musicians, even the National Guard. Like I said, it\u2019s quite a movie.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Needless to say, the two musicians, always clad in black and never without their sunglasses (even at night!), leave a considerable path of vehicular destruction in their wake. There is more vehicular destruction in The Blues Brothers<\/strong> than both Cannonball Run movies combined. These scenes are absolutely incredible! Landis really knows how to stage some amazing stunts.<\/p>\n

\u00a0However, the real raison d\u2019etre <\/em>here is the music. The number in the church (\u201cThe Old Landmark\u201d) is impressive with worshipers dancing in the aisles and flipping through the air. Ray Charles (as a pawn shop proprietor) belts out \u201cShake a Tail Feather\u201d as people on the street get down and shake their tail feathers. Ms. Franklin, as a soul food caf\u00e9 owner, sings \u201cThink\u201d as her husband contemplates rejoining the band. Calloway does his trademark \u201cMinnie the Moocher\u201d song. The Blues Brothers belt out renditions of soul tunes like \u201cSweet Home Chicago\u201d and \u201cEverybody Needs Somebody\u201d as well as C&W songs like \u201cStand By Your Man\u201d and the theme from \u201cRawhide\u201d. Cast and crew come together to sing \u201cJailhouse Rock\u201d over the closing credits. Not to mention incidental tracks by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and Fats Domino. All I can say is \u201cWOW!\u201d I LOVE this kind of music. The Blues Brothers<\/strong> has one of the best soundtracks that I\u2019ve ever heard. The choreography is incredible as well. It\u2019s amazing how physically agile the rotund Belushi was when he performed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The movie is funny as well with some great deadpan lines from straight man Aykroyd (\u201cWe\u2019re on a mission from God.\u201d). Belushi is at his manic best, especially when he coerces a former band mate to leave his job at one of Chicago\u2019s finest restaurants by threatening to show up every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner until he changes his mind. Landis makes excellent use of the Chicago locations- Wrigley Field, Richard J. Daley Center, the 95th<\/sup> Street Bridge, Maxwell Street (where John Lee Hooker performs), etc.- which acts as a loving tribute to the Windy City.<\/p>\n

\u00a0There are NO wrong notes in The Blues Brothers<\/strong>. It\u2019s perfect in every way. It has a lot of quotable lines, amazing music and plenty of vehicular mayhem. I never get tired of it. Like I said, it\u2019s quite a movie.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Blues Brothers (1980)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal Pictures\/Comedy-Musical\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 148 minutes (Restored Director\u2019s Cut)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: John Landis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Dan Aykroyd and John Landis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Ira Newborn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Stephen M. Katz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 20, 1980 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, The Blues Brothers Band (Steve Cropper, Donald \u201cDuck\u201d Dunn, Murphy Dunne, Willie Hall, Tom Malone, Lou […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-musical","category-thats-some-funny-stuff"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/The-Blues-Brothers-PIC-Copy.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2603"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3425,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603\/revisions\/3425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}