Loose Shoes (1978)

What makes this movie special is that it tries to give you a comedic history of film in trailers, starting with silent films and ending with Star Wars. Obviously some of these parodies are more successful than others, but quite frankly it towers above the stupidity of Kentucky Fried Movie and others of that genre by its intelligence. Ira Miller and Royce D. Applegate who both wrote and directed the film were alumni of the great improv theater groups: Second City and the Committee. Their ability to not only craft such a brilliant comedy but also to involve a cornucopia of the best improvisational actors of that decade brings a sense of that lost era to life. These were the actors who changed the nature of American comedy. I cannot imagine how one could explain why this film has become the cult favorite of the twenty-first century except to wonder how soon it will be before the next 'History of Film as Seen Through Its Trailers' will arrive on our screens.

I saw Loose Shoes featuring Bill Murray when it first came out (1980) and enjoyed it, but filed it under the same satiric label as Kentucky Fried Movie and Groove Tube also from that era, and forgot about it. But I saw it recently, and suddenly realized that over a dozen modern movies (as well as TV shows) totally did RIP-OFFS of the many parody plots from this flick! The writers of this thing turned out to be total psychic geniuses when it came to future entertainment! For instance:Does a talking pig from the farm going to the big city, like Babe sound familiar? And a bio on Howard Hughes, like Aviator? And Skateboarders From Hell, ala the recent skateboard flick Doggtown And Z Boy? Or how about a western slant to the Wizard Of Oz, like that recent Richard Dreyfus thing? And a Space Odyssey spoof, like the later Space Idiocy starring Leslie Neilsen, plus a Star Wars take-off like the later Spaceballs by Mel Brooks. Add to that a raunchy sequel to the Bad News Bears, like the recent... raunchy sequel to the Bad News Bears, starring Billy Bob Thornton. And the list goes on and on!

This is a low budget production which parodies life's situations. It is a pop-culture-driven vehicle which feels like Monty Python Meets Mel Brooks Meets Benny Hill. While it truly has not withstood the tests of time, it is still a highly amusing film! There is a skit which parodies the old Ma and Pa Kettle movies, some nice and darkly amusing work at the front meant as a tongue in cheek social commentary on the execution of the death penalty (featuring a VERY young Bill Murray), and ending with an irreverent take on Star Wars. In between, there's Buddy Hackett (as Buddy Hackett) speaking up for STOPIT, and more!This is funny if not witty, and entertainingly amusing.It rates a 7.6/10 from...the Fiend :.

An occasionally amusing, often confusing, gleefully profane 70's movie that hasn't really aged well. A precursor to Saturday NIGHT LIVE, it's a hodgepodge of spoofs and takeoffs of popular movies of the time. Some of the material is quite good ('The Shaggy Studio Executive,' where Walt Disney comes back as a guy in a dog suit), some of it's dated badly (A 'Snacktime' concession stand advert featuring a stoned guy with the munchies), a lot of it you have to think for a minute or two to figure out what's supposed to be funny (Who knew the eulogist at the biker funeral was supposed to be a takeoff of Georgie Jessel?). Best if you remember the time.