Blues Brothers, The (1980)

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- Sam - 1900-01-01 00:00:00
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That previous retrospective rating of 10/10 may have been just a little generous, but when you grow up with a movie it's hard to be objective.

Jake (John Belushi) and Elwood (Dan Akroyd) Blues go on a road trip to get their band back together and raise the funds to save the orphanage where they grew up. Musical interludes are provided by a sensational lineup of jazz, blues and soul musicians including Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker and Cab Calloway; the comedy is a little more out there and includes, amongst other elements, neo-nazis and an ex-girlfriend (Carrie Fisher) with a rocket launcher.

Though at times it might be a little too over-the-top (flying nazi cars come to mind), it's full of great lines and great images. I wonder if today a film like this with white writers, directors and stars, but Black music, would be attacked for cultural appropriation. Apparently they had to fight the studio to include this "old" music instead of some contemporary garbage, and I'm so glad they did: this film was my first exposure to all of these songs and all of these genres and I was amazed, watching it probably 20+ years after the last time, to remember so many of the lyrics. Wonderful.

- Sam - 2021-10-10 10:59:48