Movies I Watched in June, Part 1

Watched this Mel Brooks classic for an episode of the Out of Theaters podcast (listen to it here), and though I've seen it many times, what struck me was what a loving tribute it is to the Universal horror movies. "Blazing Saddles" (released earlier the same year -- 1974 -- believe it or not!) was a taboo-breaking riot, but "Young Frankenstein" is much gentler, a comedy that almost plays like a (lighthearted) drama at times. Gene Wilder, who co-wrote the film, makes Frederic Frankenstein a real character, at first shunning and then embracing his corpse-reviving heritage. The moment he loudly declares "My name is Frankenstein" (as opposed to "Fronk-en-stein") is genuinely exciting. But, of course, there are plenty of laughs, and the entire cast -- Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn and Kenneth Mars -- is top notch. Plus, the black-and-white cinematography (courtesy of Gerald Hirschfeld) is gorgeous -- almost as good as the originals, in fact.
I'd heard great things, but holy hell -- this movie exceeded all of my expectations, and then some. From the first moments, when Max eats a two-headed lizard then blazes off across the desert, the movie never lets up -- and it's great because of it. It's essentially a chase in one direction, a brief (but fascinating pause) then a race back to the original starting point. In the meantime, there are more stunts (genuine), crashes (jaw-dropping) and battles (mind-bending) for a dozen movies. The original "Road Warrior" (review here) is great, obviously, but somehow George Miller topped himself with this one. You've heard about the refreshing lack of CGI, the practical effects, the feminist themes and the wild worlding building -- and all of that is true -- but believe me, hearing about "Mad Max: Fury Road" can't convey how balls-out amazing it is. This is one you need to see to believe. If we judge movies on how much they flat-out move and how much they thrill us while doing so, this is the best movie I've seen in a long time. Honestly? I don't know if I'll see a better one this year. As a fan of sleazy 1970s horror -- and of the movies of Larry Cohen in particular -- I was eager to watch his 1974 killer baby bloodfest, which I'd somehow missed in all my years of plumbing the depths of horror cinema. Sadly, after catching in on TCM (of all places), I can report that's it a big step down from other Cohen films like "Q" and "God Told Me To." This one, about a couple whose baby escapes mom's womb, kills everyone in the delivery room and goes on a rampage, is too cheap and dull to generate any real thrills, and even the goofiness of a clawed, fanged killer baby is too poorly put on screen to have any darkly comedic effect. Plus, everyone seems oddly blase about the fact that there's a mutant infant on the loose, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. And if the characters don't care, why should you?
Up next: The death of newspapers, Tom Hanks as a badguy and a deadly killer from "Downton Abbey."