Confession: I never cared for THE BLUES BROTHERS

[DerekG]

Some of the musical numbers are great, but the movie runs too long and there's something rather obnoxious about seeing such awesome Blues artists playing second fiddle to a couple of white comedians.

I just don't "get" this movie.

[Luciferous]

1. I don't either.

My family thinks I'm nuts because they all love it.

[Lars39]

2. The movie introduced a lot of people to good music and artists

who they might not have discovered otherwise.

[bigwillq]

3. Me neither.

It was ok. Not epic, imo.

[Archae]

4. I love it.

The second-best car chase in a movie ever.

(First place, "Bullitt," naturally.)

Good music.

Illinois Nazis.

Charles Napier.

Ray Charles.

Cab Calloway.

And...John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd.

[CBGLuthier]

10. Napier Rules

Best dang Space Hippie ever.

[Enthusiast]

32. I agree.

One great classic movie.

[6000eliot]

5. I don't even get the music.

It's played (of all places) on Bluesville on Sirius/XM. I thought of it even at the time as a novelty thing. I know the musicians are the cream of the crop, but Belushi and Ackroyd are NOT singers. I thought the sketches were funny on SNL, though.

[mikeytherat]

6. At a time when disco ruled, many of those musicians (and their music) had been forgotten.

Aretha, Brother James, John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles all got a well-deserved boost from that movie. And the band was comprised of one hell of a group of musicians.

mikey_the_rat

[Syrinx]

7. the "white comedians" were trying to get the artists their due

Sometimes the stereotypical "white liberal guilt" is comical. Better to languish in obscurity than to be promoted by popular "white comedians," I guess.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

35. Ever hear the story about the time The Rolling Stones met Muddy Waters?

He was on a ladder, painting the ceiling at Chess Studios. Leonard Chess was trying to help him out because no one was buying his records.

That changed down the road, of course, but yeah...in his twilight years, Muddy had a resurgence with the help of Johnny Winter. John Lee Hooker had slide guitarist Roy Rogers at the helm of his popular, guest-filled final albums. BB King did an album with Eric Clapton, and he's had a few "guest star" albums too.

I don't think that either Belushi or Aykroyd fancied themselves as "virtuosos." But a lot of talented musicians who'd been sidelined had a payday thanks to them, and I agree...giving those artists their due was probably the primary intention.

:toast:

[mucifer]

8. As someone who grew up in Chicagoland, it was the first

big movie to be filmed in the city in a long time. The first mayor Daley had policies that made it hard to film here because someone made a negative film about Chicago
politics. So as a kid it was a lot of fun to see the city on the big screen. My grandfather had a store on Maxwell St. The weekly street fair at Maxwell St has been
torn down to expand the University of IL at Chicago. That was the area in the film where Ray Charles had the music store and people were dancing in the street.

I can see why people don't like the movie. For me it was a guilty pleasure.

[WCGreen]

9. the skit was funny but like all skits on SNL....

they made for tedious movies...

[Patiod]

11. I have weird memories of that movie

Back before DVDs - when you had to catch something on TV

A boy I hung out with sometimes in college called me at about 11pm, and said "I'm coming by to pick you up, be outside your dorm in 10 minutes." I was intrigued - this wasn't a booty call, so what the hell. He pulled up on his motorcycle and drove me to his fraternity house, where we went to his room and.......drank beer and watched the Blues Brothers together. After which, he drove me back to my dorm.

I think if was some weird obsession with the city of Chicago, because he ended up living there for several years after college.

[HughBeaumont]

12. I liked the movie . . .

. . . I can see why purists who had to watch tons of white artists go onto massive success by ripping off (and in Led Zeppelin's case, blatantly stealing) destitute old blues artist's licks and style wouldn't like this. But it also introduced the MGs and NY jazz and blues session men to a younger sick-of-the-Bee-Gees audience.

[RedCloud]

13. To the contrary, Barclay was great, Bob a tough guy but funny...

http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2009/07/hockeys-battling-brothers-plager.html

And who was Billie?

[snooper2]

14. so you like Illinois Nazis then eh?

:)

[deutsey]

15. I like the movie, although I readily admit it's very flawed

Just like Caddyshack...as a coherent film narrative, it's a mess. But, man, it has some great parts.

I love the scenes like the ones in the fancy restaurant; when the Good Ol' Boys are chasing them and the accelerator of their RV gets stuck ("Goddam, boy, slow down"); the car chase through the mall; the quiet of the elevator ride contrasted with the chaos of the police/army/fire dept. closing in on Blues Brothers (cartoonish, I know, but that one works for me); and so on.

I think my biggest complaint about the Blues Brothers movie has always been that it's way too cartoonish, imo. Their apartment building collapsing when Carrie Fisher blows it up, the over-the-top (literally) dancing in the church, and so on just aren't funny to me.

Another complaint is that John Candy doesn't have a bigger role.

But, all that said, I'm still a fan.

[Brother Buzz]

16. Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago....

we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.

Jake: Hit it.

I loved the movie, but then again, I'm easily entertained.

[meegbear]

17. A bunch of us took street mescaline for the first time back then ...

one of my friends "wasn't feeling anything", so he took a second hit. He got bored and hooked up with some friends and went to see The Blues Brothers. That's when it all kicked in.

He said it was the most intense movie he ever saw.

[Whisp]

18. me neither!

but felt I couldn't say that out loud, for some odd reason.


yay!
it's a crappy movie with some great music.

[RebelOne]

19. Never heard of them until I saw the movie. n/t

[Old Troop]

20. They spoke very highly of you.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

21. Watch Blues Brothers 2000. The original will seem like Oscar material.

Blues Brothers 2000 picks up 18 years after The Blues Brothers, with Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd) being released from prison, this time a rather high-tech private prison rather than the old Illinois state prison depicted in the first film. He learns that his brother, Jake (John Belushi) has died, along with their surrogate father figure Curtis (Cab Calloway), and that the orphanage the two had saved is no more.

However, Elwood is told of a second brother (of sorts). The "brother" is the illegitimate son of Curtis, named Cabel "Cab" Chamberlain (Joe Morton), who until Elwood enters his life had no knowledge of being Curtis's son. Cab is a Commander in the Illinois State Police. He angrily refuses to support Elwood, a habitual criminal, but Elwood steals his wallet and buys a used police squad car at a lot owned by Malvern Gasperone (B.B. King), who is leaving the business to move to New Orleans.

Elwood takes a job as a master of ceremonies in a nightclub (a strip club owned by the drummer of the Blues Brothers band, Willie Hall). There he discovers that the bartender, Mighty Mack (played by John Goodman) has singing talent, while getting on the bad side of the Russian mafia who have been demanding payoffs from the nightclub.

After the Russian mafia burns down the club, Elwood puts the band back together. Mighty Mack is his new partner, with a 10-year-old orphan named Buster (J. Evan Bonifant) also tagging along. The band travels to several locations from the first film with a depiction of how they have changed. (Bob's Country Bunker for example is now Bob's Country Kitchen, a family restaurant.) As well as upsetting the mafia, Elwood also falls foul of a "white power group" (led by Darrell Hammond) and the Illinois police force, at least until the zealous and ruthless Cab "sees the light" and becomes a Blues Brother.Everyone heads south to Louisiana with the intention of entering a battle of the bands, held at the mansion of a voodoo practitioner named Queen Moussette (Erykah Badu). They compete against the Louisiana Gator Boys, a band fronted by Gasperone.

[kayakjohnny]

22. "Don't you blaspheme in here! Don't you blaspheme!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poBGgBKpqQw

[Oxy Contin]

23. You're not on a mission from god? It's better if you're high

much better

[UTUSN]

24. I'l kick this FOREVER!1 n/t

[bluesbassman]

25. I had such high hopes for you...

[bluesbassman]

26. Dupe

[TuxedoKat]

27. What!!!

The "Good Old Blues Brothers Boys"?! Sacrilege!!! :)

[Bake]

28. What really pissed me off was all the local knock-off club acts ...

I think every city had its "Booze Brothers," "Bluez Brothers," etc.

Really lame.

Bake

[PassingFair]

29. I don't like "Caddy Shack" or "Animal House" either.

:hide:

I also dislike every movie starring Adam Sandler,
with the exception of "The Wedding Singer".

[fishwax]

38. I think Caddy Shack is overrated

I like it okay, but don't think it's up to the level that some do. I feel the same way about another sports comedy: Slap Shot, though I've been meaning to give it another chance.

Animal House I like, though :)

[Zorra]

30. Well, some people never cared for BEER.

There just ain't no accounting for taste.

[Arugula Latte]

33. Eh -- beer tastes like bitter piss to me

Yes, even the "good" stuff. And I live in Microbrewland.

Gimme wine anytime! :9

[kwassa]

36. So, how long have you been drinking bitter piss?

I can't say I've had the experience.

[Bennyboy]

31. They were awesome live....

and gave a lot of musicians a much needed paycheck.

They also got white people digging the blues again and listening to these musicians again.

Thank God for the Blues brothers.

[DontBlameMe]

34. Really?????

Maybe it's just the Chicago family connection in me, but my family requires all marriages to be to watch this movie beginning to end. They aren't required to LIKE it, but they have to watch it, with other family members present (quoting word for word, of course). It's not Oscar worthy, in the usual sense, but it is a bit of Chicago history/culture. Think of all the wonderful musicians they got to take part in it. Aretha, Johnny Lee Hooker, Ray Charles, all the guys in the band(Matt Murphy, saw him play with Robert Cray in the late 80's or early 90's). A cornucopia of some of the best blues artists who weren't "popular" or had a contract/record deal.

Then throw in the best cop car chase (ok, ala Keystone Cops, "Huh, huh, huh, huh!" with the National Guard), and you have a classic!

Or, maybe I just like funny, feel good movies that don't include someone named Anniston or Roberts. I could be wrong.

[fishwax]

37. I like it, though I agree that it runs a bit long

(Like most things associated with SNL)

As others have mentioned, the movie provided some good publicity and a payday for many of those awesome Blues artists.