Wild and Crazy Guys Quotes

“Try to imagine what cinema would look like without them. Collaborating with behind-the-camera talents including John Landis, Ivan Reitman, Carl Reiner, and John Hughes-and fellow stars such as Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, and Golden Hawn-this new wave would produce a litany of big, brash blockbusters and evergreen oddities: National Lampoon's Animal House, The Jerk, The Blues Brothers, Caddyshack, 48 Hrs., Trading Places, The Man with Two Brains, Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, Fletch, Coming to America, and Scrooged, to name but some. That list alone makes a compelling case that this period is as good as things have ever gotten for big-screen comedy.

Quentin Tarantino certainly thinks so. "I think the '80s is the worst decade, with the '50s being the second worst, in the history of Hollywood," the director said in 2015. "The only movies from the '80s that I find myself really, really hanging on to, oddly enough, are the silly comedies. They're the ones that you have the most affection for.”
― Nick de Semlyen, Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the '80s Changed Hollywood Forever

“Hollywood would never be the same again. Because what was possible, this scruffy and slightly shambolic band had proven, was absolutely anything. They had battled ghouls, made a giant action movie based around blues music, set the template for the buddy-cop film, and inspired millions around the world to memorize and repeat their quips. They had even, on occasion, made people cry.

Not all of their material has aged well, and some of it wasn't even funny at the time. But there is no denying that their vast ambition, raw talent, and total disregard for the rules combined to create a movement that was beloved, influential, and truly special. Their movies have been remade, spun off, and homaged to death, and fans still dress up as Ghostbusters, Blutos, and Blues Brothers (the mutant troll-babies from Nothing But Trouble, not so much). Hollywood scouts now keep a close eye on TV sketch shows, particularly SNL, as well as web series on the cutting edge of comedy, in the hopes of finding the next big star. And studio comedies have become raunchier, weirder, bigger, and looser, always chasing that elusive alchemy that happened in the 1980s, when a bunch of very silly men were given very large sums of money and allowed to go play.”
― Nick de Semlyen, Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the '80s Changed Hollywood Forever

“One morning as Eddie Murphy stepped out of his Porsche in NYC, his foot came down into a curl of dog crap. Gingerly taking off his expensive, now-besmirched Italian shoes, he left them on the street and walked on. Another pair was hurriedly couriered direct to his feet.”
― Nick de Semlyen, Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the '80s Changed Hollywood Forever

“Sometimes you gotta say "What the fuck". If you can't say it, you can't do it.”
― Curtis Armstrong, Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the '80s Changed Hollywood Forever