Quicklinks
Top Links
biographyby votesawardsNewsDeskmessage boardFilmographies
categorizedby typeby yearby ratingsby votesby TV series awards titles for saleby genre by keyword power search credited with tv scheduleBiographical
biography other works publicity contact photo gallery resume NewsDeskmessage boardExternal Links
official sites miscellaneous photographs sound clips video clipsNews for
Mel Brooks (I) More at IMDbPro »
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 1999 | 1998
1-20 of 117 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
Blu-ray Giveaway: The Mel Brooks Collection
15 hours ago | TheHDRoom | See recent TheHDRoom news »
Mel Brooks oldies but goodies are coming to Blu-ray in a big way on December 15 in The Mel Brooks Collection. This massive 9-disc set includes the high definition debut of High Anxiety, History Of The World Part I, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, Silent Movie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Twelve Chairs, as well as Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles and Spaceballs.
One lucky reader will have these 9 Mel Brooks films on Blu-ray mailed to their doorstep on us. For a chance to win, fill out and send in the entry form below. You can optionally return any or every day thereafter to enter again and increase the odds each time. Good luck!
Best known as a creator of broad film farces and uproarious parodies, jack-of-all-trades Mel Brooks has been entertaining audiences for years with his wacky and absurdist humor. Now just in time for the holidays, the »
Will Robin Hood be bashing some pommes?
15 hours ago | t5m.com | See recent t5m.com news »
There’s a new Robin Hood in town and at least this one drives on the left hand side of the road! Sorry to get patriotic here but Robin Hood is English. From his legendary home in the heart of Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire to the very gallant concept of robbing from the rich just to the feed the poor. Yet when it comes to casting the film versions of the story, Hollywood could not accept a lead English actor. From Tasmanian Errol Flynn (The Adventures of Robin Hood), to Scottish Sean Connery (Robin and Marian), Irish Patrick Bergin (Robin Hood) and of course the very American Kevin Costner (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves). Only London born Cary Elwes has flown the flag for the English and that was in parody - Mel Brooks’ Men in Tights. The latest owner of the green tights will be Australian Russell Crowe. At »
- Michael Shelton
MovieWeb's 2009 DVD Holiday Gift Guide
24 November 2009 5:51 AM, PST | MovieWeb | See recent MovieWeb news »
Black Friday is approaching, fellow readers. No, I'm not talking about some sort of economic free-fall or any apocalyptic event that we might see in 2012. I'm talking about the shopper's paradise/nightmare that is the day after Thanksgiving, where all the hot holiday items are paraded about with slashed prices galore. While this day does wonders for your pocketbook, it takes a toll on your sanity with malls full of shoppers packed in like sardines, scurrying to complete their lists. We all know how trying these times are, so we here at MovieWeb are trying to make it a little easier on our readers. No, we won't be selling Blu-ray players for under $100, but we are compiling a tidy little list of our own complete with our top DVD buys of the season. Below you'll find a comprehensive guide to all of the hot titles that will be on the shelves this season, »
Gora's Cem Yilmaz Goes Western With YAHŞİ Bati
23 November 2009 9:29 AM, PST | Twitch | See recent Twitch news »
Regular readers of this space should be well familiar with the name of Cem Yilmaz by now. The hugely popular comic was already a highly sought after performer when he also hit international success as a director with his scifi comedy Gora. A film that drew immediate comparisons to Mel Brooks with its blend of high concepts, lowbrow slapstick, and Yilmaz's portrayal of multiple roles Gora traveled widely on the international festival circuit and still stands in my mind as the most technically accomplished genre film to ever come out of Turkey.
Well, if Gora is Yilmaz's Spaceballs then Yahsi Bati is his Blazing Saddles. Yes, kids, we've got a Turkish comedy-western on our hands and, as you'd expect from Yilmaz, the technical work is stellar while the comedy - think lots of Turks in red-face - teeters right on the edge of bad taste. Check the first trailer below! »
Blu-Ray Review: ‘Bruno’ Lacks Freshness, But Delivers Plentiful Laughs
17 November 2009 9:30 PM, PST | HollywoodChicago.com | See recent HollywoodChicago.com news »
Chicago – “Fearless” is the best way to describe the comedy of Sacha Baron Cohen. People who find his humor too vulgar and over-the-top have missed the point. Cohen’s goal is to be as vulgar and over-the-top as humanly possible.
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0
I’m reminded of Mel Brooks’ oft-quoted quip, “My movies rise below vulgarity.” His comic personas are deliberately outrageous caricatures that seem to have been spawned directly from conservative America’s fear of the “other” (whether it be a homosexual or a Khazakistanian). When Cohen plunks his fictional creations into real-world situations alongside unsuspecting citizens, the results range from “Candid Camera”-style shock gags to brilliant evocations of repressed prejudices. At his best, Cohen is a triumphant champion of tolerance. He’s like Mel Brooks, Norman Lear and Peter Sellers all in one side-splitting package, and his package has never acquired more screen time than it does in “Bruno. »
- adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
Viennale 2009: Not Just Another Fest in the Crowd
13 November 2009 12:47 AM, PST | The Auteurs | See recent The Auteurs news »
I. Festivals And Ideology
"I cannot tell a lie," writes Jonathan Rosenbaum in the catalogue introduction to the retrospective on American film comedy he curated for this year's Viennale (in collaboration with the Austrian Filmmuseum), "the initial concept and impulse for this series weren’t my own." A paragraph later, he goes on to explain, "[...] both the selection of the films and the preparation of this catalogue [...] came only after I overcame a certain amount of resistance." And as if he weren't transparent enough, Rosenbaum adds, "I was tempted by [the Viennale and Filmmuseum directors' joint proposal], but various roadblocks stood in the way, most of them either logistical or ideological." One of these roadblocks, "a reluctance to restrict [himself] to 'American cinema' after living through eight years of American separatism and exceptionalism as propounded and promulgated by the administration of George W. Bush," is not much of an ideological leap for those familiar with Rosenbaum. »
Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre Presents The Producers 9/11-11/7
7 November 2009 12:30 AM, PST | BroadwayWorld.com | See recent BroadwayWorld.com news »
The show broke countless box office records and won every theatre award imaginable, including 12 Tonys in 2001, more than any production in history. It began as a movie, made its way to Broadway, and then found itself back on the silver screen. Now, the smash-hit musical comedy The Producers comes to the Frederick stage for the very first time!
From 2001 to 2007, the hottest tickets on the Great White Way were for Mel Brooks' first musical, which was based on his 1968 film about a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer and his mild-mannered accountant who come up with a scheme to produce the most notorious flop in history thereby bilking their backers (all "little old ladies") out of millions of dollars. Only one thing goes awry: the show is a smash hit! The antics of Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom as they maneuver their way fecklessly through finding a show (the gloriously offensive Springtime For Hitler), hiring a director, »
The Action Pack presents The Heathers Quote-along
4 November 2009 6:10 PM, PST | OriginalAlamo.com | See recent AlamoDrafthouseCinema news »
Action Pack presents the
Heathers Quote-along
Thursdays, Nov 5, 12 & 19
Advance tix available here!
“Dear Diary, my teen-angst bullshit now has a body count.”
Before Diablo Cody made talking in a teenage lingo mean dropping in dated Internet references as often as you can, Daniel Waters perfected the art of bitchy high school teen speak dialog in his screenplay for Heathers.
“What’s your damage?”
“Where’s your urge to purge?”
“If you wanna fuck with the eagles, you’ve gotta learn to fly!”
This is the movie that established the teen black comedy as the ultimate way of viewing high school, and way before Lindsay Lohan learned about a new way to play through the social politics of the clique system in Mean Girls, Christian Slater taught Winona Ryder that there are much more… physical ways of handling queen bees.
This movie may not be as chock full of one-liners as »
- caitlin
Walk This Way: Nine-Disc Mel Brooks Blu-ray Set!
27 October 2009 4:48 PM, PDT | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »
If you're a fan of the irreplaceable and wonderful Mel Brooks, chances are you've already got The Mel Brooks Collection -- a DVD box jam-packed with most of the directors classic films. I already double-dipped to get them all in one spot, in space-saving super-slim cases, but now there's a collection worthy of a double or triple dip. And -- darn you all! -- yet another reason to get a Blu-ray player.
As DVD Snapshot shares, there's a new The Mel Brooks Collection on the way, and this time in glorious Blu-ray. But it's not just the old collection in high definition. It's the same roster +1 -- the film that was surprisingly lacking from the first release -- Spaceballs. That means, vacuum cleaner intergalactic hijinx along with Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety, History of the World Part I, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Silent Movie, To Be or Not to Be, »
- Monika Bartyzel
How Does Jim Carrey Playing Multiple Roles in 'A Christmas Carol' Benefit the Film?
26 October 2009 1:22 PM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »
The idea of one actor playing multiple characters in a film isn't a new one even though many people begin and end the conversation with Eddie Murphy for his performances in films such as Nutty Professor and Norbit all while forgetting the comedy he brought us in Coming to America.
Before Murphy we had the likes of Mel Brooks in History of the World and Spaceballs, Alec Guiness in the fantastic Kind Hearts and Coronets and Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove. Outside of Murphy it seems only Mike Myers has endured the same kind of ill treatment, primarily for taking the joke to the point it wasn't funny any longer (debatable) in the Austin Powers films and then dropping the bomb that was The Love Guru.
Looking at the performances listed above I am reminded of some classic films as well as a couple that missed the mark, but we »
- Brad Brevet
From 'Spinal Tap' to 'Machete' to 'Black Dynamite': My favorite movie parodies put the machete to reality
16 October 2009 3:27 PM, PDT | EW.com - The Movie Critics | See recent EW.com - The Movie Critics news »
When you think about movie parodies -- we could be talking Airplane!, the Austin Powers films, or one of those great old Mad magazine satires, which were really the first place that a lot of us, as kids, got to "see" movies made for adults -- the key to a terrific send-up would seem to be the art of exaggeration, pure and simple. But there’s a particular brand of cinematic parody that I love, at this point, almost more than any other. And though it does employ the art of exaggeration (in very, very deadpan ways), far more than that, »
- Owen Gleiberman
Fey Invites Goldberg Back Onto 30 Rock
15 October 2009 6:31 PM, PDT | WENN | See recent WENN news »
Comedienne Tina Fey cornered Whoopi Goldberg on U.S. TV on Thursday to entice her back onto hit comedy 30 Rock.
Fey made an appearance on The View, the talk show the Ghost star co-hosts, and presented the idea to a surprised Goldberg.
The Oscar winner previously made a cameo on 30 Rock in 2007, and Fey is so keen to have her return to the programme, she's already written the script for Goldberg's next guest spot.
Fey said, "Who we're hoping to get back on the show this year is Whoopi. There's a spot for you if you wanna come back? I'm putting the pressure on you on live TV!
"There's an episode coming up where (main character) Tracy (Morgan) wants to win an Egot, which is an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony (award) and Whoopi has done that in real life so he's seeking your advice in how to do that."
Goldberg, who was taken aback by the offer, admitted she'd welcome negotiations, responding, "Well, let's make some time and talk."
Goldberg is one of only 10 Hollywood stars who have achieved all four top accolades throughout their career - others include Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks and John Gielgud. »
Donna Davies' 'Zombiemania' documentary on Starz! Tonight!
13 October 2009 2:00 PM, PDT | Pretty/Scary | See recent pretty-scary news »
Starz Inside: Zombiemania, directed by Donna Davies and produced by Kimberlee Mctaggert (the team behind Pretty Bloody) premieres tomonight, Tuesday, October 13 at 10:00 p.m. on Starz! This documentary is a fun look at the Zombie craze around the world.
Featuring clips from a vast library of Zombie films and Zombie experts, including the “grandfather of Zombie films” George A. Romero and best-selling author Max Brooks, it traces the evolution of the Zombie from its roots in African folklore and Haitian Voodoo to its current role as pop culture icon. Watch the trailer, and then watch tonight...
How do you kill a Zombie? How can you kill something if it’s already dead? We’ve been told to shoot them in the head or take a machete to the brain. Hey, whatever works. It beats being eaten alive, right? Starz Inside: Zombiemania (Tuesday, October 13 at 10:00 p.m.) is a »
- Superheidi
London Film Festival: ‘The Informant!’
13 October 2009 8:32 AM, PDT | t5m.com | See recent t5m.com news »
Dir: Steven Soderbergh Cast: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Melanie Lynskey ‘The Informant!’ is the true(ish) story of Mark Whitacre, the highest ranking whistleblower in corporate history. Mark (Damon) is a biochemist who has been promoted to the heady heights of agricultural giant Adm’s corporate infrastructure. But when his division loses money for a record year, he pretends that a Japanese competitor has infected Adm’s corn stock, and before he knows it the FBI is involved. Mark is clearly not a man who thinks his decisions through very carefully – he is one of those polite and hopelessly naïve Americans that we don’t see enough of outside the Us – and so he decides to tell Agent Shepherd (Bakula) about Adm’s involvement in one of the largest global price-fixing scandals in corporate history. What follows is basically what ‘The Insider’ would have looked like if Mel Brooks owned the rights. »
- Nicholas Deigman
Mike Nichols Has Achieved Much in His Lifetime, Says AFI
12 October 2009 11:51 AM, PDT | FilmSchoolRejects.com | See recent FilmSchoolRejects news »
Hear ye, hear ye! Variety has reported that Sir Howard Stringer -- an actual knight who, when he is not rescuing distressed damsels and fighting what we can only imagine would be rather incendiary dragons, serves as chair of the American Film Institute's board -- announced that director Mike Nichols will receive AFI's Life Achievement Award in a ceremony next summer. Here's 7 reasons why we're not surprised: 1. Nichols was honored at the Kennedy Center a few years back. (Some of our favorite Fsr readers were there.) 2. He's getting old. Like, really old. Keith Richards old. 3. Nichols is is one of only 10 people ever to win the statuette trifecta: Oscar, Tony, and Emmy. (Fyi? He's also won a Grammy. Others that have won all four include (but are not limited to) Whoopi Goldberg, Audrey Hepburn, and Mel Brooks.) 4. I love, love, love Elaine May. 5. His stage productions and movies have run the gamut from profound (Angels in America, Wit »
- Bethany Perryman
Moses Proclaims 'This! Is! Passover!'
12 October 2009 1:33 AM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »
The story of Moses is about to get seriously ridiculous and not in a Mel Brooks, History of the World kind of way as depicted to the right. Instead, 20th Century Fox has made a preemptive acquisition of a pitch to tell the story of Moses in the green screen, graphic novel style of 2007's 300. The tale will start with his near death as an infant to his adoption into the Egyptian royal family, his defiance of the Pharoah and deliverance of the Hebrews from enslavement.
The news comes from Variety saying Adam Cooper and Bill Collage will pen the script following their deal to reinvent Herman Melville's "Moby Dick," with a graphic novel feel, for director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted).
The popular mythical and magical elements inherent in the Book of Exodus will be there--including the plagues visited upon Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea. However, this »
- Brad Brevet
What I Watched, What You Watched: Installment #12
11 October 2009 1:08 AM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »
Okay, so I didn't watch only these two movies, but I have a few movies I am saving for actual reviews including the new Natural Born Killers Blu-ray and Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding which hits Criterion Blu-ray on October 20. While Monsoon Wedding will be a traditional review, I hope to encourage some conversation when I post my commentary on Natural Born Killers.
As always, remember you can keep tabs on my personal Netflix queue right here. I now have 50 friends on the movie rental site and would love to have a few more if those of you out there with accounts are interested. Now, here's the recap of my week in movies...
The Thaw (2009) Quick Thoughts: I already mentioned the Ghost House Collection this was a part of in my DVD/Blu-ray round-up last tuesday and Sara reviewed all four films from the collection last week. I finally got »
- Brad Brevet
Classic Cameos: Count Basie, 'Blazing Saddles'
8 October 2009 11:45 AM, PDT | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »
Jazz fans may appreciate Count Basie more than the rest of us, but the jazz pianist's cameo in Blazing Saddles is pretty funny even if you don't know much about him. It's all part of the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy's shtick that plays with conventional aspects of Hollywood films, culminating in the sidesplitting climactic sequence that blends movie sets, pie fights and Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
The Count Basie cameo occurs fairly early in Blazing Saddles. Bart (Cleavon Little) is headed to the Old West town of Rock Ridge as the new sheriff, dressed to the nines. Count Basie's signature jazz number, "April in Paris," plays in the background, highlighting Bart's urbane demeanor. And as Bart rides across the prairie, he encounters ... Count Basie and his orchestra, performing "April in Paris" right there on the frontier. It's one of the more subtle laughs in the film, but it never fails to amuse me, »
- Jette Kernion
Blu-Ray Review: ‘Year One’ Fails to Deliver a Single Laugh
7 October 2009 1:22 PM, PDT | HollywoodChicago.com | See recent HollywoodChicago.com news »
Chicago – Here’s a thoroughly detestable comedy from some of the most appealing people in Hollywood. It could easily be mistaken for one of the fake movies advertised before “Tropic Thunder,” which cleverly spoofed the creative bankruptcy that befalls so many mainstream studio products. Jack Black and Michael Cera have both created comic personas that are wholly unique, and found great success with them in past films (Black’s pinnacle was “School of Rock,” Cera’s was “Superbad”). But both are guilty of using the same comedic well until there isn’t a drop of originality left, and in “Year One,” they are all dried up.
Blu-Ray Rating: 1.5/5.0
How could anyone, least of all Harold Ramis, think a caveman comedy would be a funny idea for a movie? When was the last time a caveman comedy was actually funny? From Ringo Starr’s “Caveman” and Mel Brooks’ “History of the »
- adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
A New 'World War Z' Script Due 'In The Next Few Weeks,' Says Author Max Brooks
5 October 2009 2:00 PM, PDT | MTV Movies Blog | See recent MTV Movies Blog news »
If you haven't read it, "World War Z" is one of the sharpest books to be released in the past decade. Set in a grim possible future, the book is presented as a series of interviews with survivors of a globe-spanning zombie war, an incident which very nearly brought about the downfall of human society. Author Max Brooks, the son of Hollywood filmmaker Mel Brooks, employs the full spectrum of commentary to create a frighteningly believable scenario in which the human race responds to a complete societal breakdown.
Last week, I had the opportunity to speak with Brooks, who is busy promoting his upcoming appearance on the Starz Inside special Zombiemania, premiering October 13 at 10pm. He was more than happy to discuss the adaptation plans for "Z," which was picked up by Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment a few years ago.
First, some back story may be in order. »
- Adam Rosenberg
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 1999 | 1998
1-20 of 117 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles. News articles are published for the entertainment of our users only. The news items do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the site responsible for the article in question to report any concerns you may have.
Home
| Search
| Site Index
| Now Playing
| Top Movies
| My Movies
| Top 250 |
TV
| News
| Video |
Message Boards
Register
| 
RSS
| Advertising
| Content Licensing
| Help
| Jobs
| IMDbPro
| IMDb Resume
| Box Office Mojo
| Withoutabox
| Follow us on Twitter
International Sites: IMDb Germany
| IMDb Italy
| IMDb Spain
Copyright © 1990-2009
IMDb.com, Inc.
Terms and Privacy Policy under which this service is provided to you.
An 
company.
