Reviews for The Big Screen Comedies of Mel Brooks

The average rating for The Big Screen Comedies of Mel Brooks based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-02-05 00:00:00 Eric Ryder When I was a kid dinosaurs loomed large in my imagination. I loved anything with the giants in them. Godzilla was a favorite, of course, and I was always on the lookout for other dino related movies. They were a gateway into the world of horror, a world that I'm now very well versed in. I still love a good animatronic or claymation dinosaur though but honestly there's a lot of boring stuff out there. Thankfully the Dinosaur Filmography can help me sort the good from the bad, the fun from the boring. This massive book (nearly 500 pages!) exhaustively catalogs ever single movie with a dinosaur in it ever made. I'll admit there was at least one movie with a dino that wasn't listed (Tammy and the T-Rex, though it could have been omitted due to the fact that the dino was a robot), but every other movie I tried to find was covered here. Each film is given a thorough listing of the cast/crew the made the film, the year and country of production, a lengthy synopsis, and an in-depth review. Some last paragraphs, others are pages long and many include behind the scenes information that you won't find anywhere else. Mark Berry did a tremendous amount of work putting this book together and it shows on every page. The Dinosaur Filmography is an exhaustive reference guide that was obviously a tremendous labor of love compiled by a guy who loves dinos more than Hammond in Jurassic Park. My only gripe is that the book was published in 2002 and I'd love an updated version covering movies from then to today. It's a small gripe considering the hundreds of films that I can now track down and enjoy thanks to this book. If you love dino movies, you gotta pick this up.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-11-22 00:00:00 Scott Mayes This is Wells' updated version of H.C. Andersen's The Little Mermaid. But it is obvious from the beginning that this Sea Lady has ulterior motives. She has set her hat, as they say, for Mr. Chatteris, despite his engagement to Miss Glendower (who from the very beginning expresses distrust of this sudden rival). But then, the little mermaid hoped to win the prince away from his betrothed too, as I recall. Wells certainly makes use of the “mermaid searching for a soul" theme from Andersen's tale (and earlier folklore). It makes the perfect cover for her insertion of herself into the Bunting household. As an immortal being and an outsider to human culture, she provides an excellent viewpoint for Wells to use to critique his society. No being struck mute for this interloper, she talks everyone into treating her as a disabled gentlewoman. She has not struck any deals with a witch, just covers her tail with long dresses and blankets and fakes humanity masterfully. She points out absurdities in polite behaviour to cousin Melville, sometimes revealing her absolute alien status through her ability to mesmerize him. You can also infer that she is a comment on the clandestine nature of women's campaigns to marry men of their choice. She has potentially had hundreds of years to become a master manipulator and Wells also gives her the draw of the siren to help her to bewitch men. And this story, while superficially about the Sea Lady and her rivalry with Adeline Glendower, is about the men. Chatteris is having to choose between duty and freedom. Melville watches this, they confer, but he understands the dilemma. Whether to be a good person and have a boring life of dutiful service, or to throw caution to the wind and have an exciting (if short) existence following one's heart. It's a choice we all have to make—can we support ourselves in a way that doesn't kill our soul? What I have never understood in the mermaid mythology is the reason that they seek to bewitch and take men away to undersea. What use to them is a drowned man? Maybe its just that old dog in a manger thing—if they can't have him, no one can. If you like this book, you might also be interested in The Pisces, a novel which uses a merman to examine the exaggerated significance that romantic relationships are given in women's lives. Cross posted at my blog: