100 movies: Young Frankenstein

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100 movies of 2012
Every year I set myself a target, usually of about 100, of films to watch. These are new films. Not new, new films. But films that are new to me. Any time I’ve seen a new one, I post a bit of a brain dump of my thoughts on the film here. Enjoy!

Young FrankensteinYoung Frankenstein (25/09/12)

Dr. Frankenstein’s grandson, after years of living down the family reputation, inherits granddad’s castle and repeats the experiments.

So it felt like it made sense to give this film a watch having seen the original title=”Frankenstein”>Frankenstein not too long ago. Sense in that, I probably would appreciate this film a whole lot more having seen the original. I look back and know, I am completely right. While, I reckon I still would have found the fun in the film, it was the little things that tied this with the original Frankenstein that I really loved.

The biggest of those little thing in Young Frankenstein was just the look and feel of the film. They captured the feel of the 1930s film almost perfectly. Not just the fact it’s black and white, but the sets, sound and make-up. Loved it. It felt so like a 1930s film to my very untrained eyes.

Gene Wilder is excellent. Well, that’s pretty much a given. He is brilliantly hilarious as Dr. Frankenstein. Comic timing is perfect. Marty Feldman’s Igor almost stole the show. Just as funny. Knack for making me laugh out loud.

Parody films are not what they used to be. This such an original parody film. It takes everything from the classic and toys with it, but doesn’t make a mockery out of the original. Very cleverly done. Shame parody films nowadays are just so cheap and probably one of my least favourite film genre.

Young Frankenstein is a fantastically funny film. Lots of laughs from the just plain silly to the slightly more clever. I’d say, worth it even if you haven’t seen the original Frankestein.
Rating: 5/5

Read on to see all the films watched this year…

74 Films so far this year

  1. The Tourist 1/5 (02/01/12)
  2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 5/5 (03/01/12)
  3. World’s Greatest Dad 2/5 (14/01/12)
  4. Haywire 3/5 (19/01/12)
  5. Dead Snow 3/5 (20/01/12)
  6. The Artist 5/5 (21/01/12)
  7. Priest 2/5 (05/02/12)
  8. The Muppets 5/5 (15/02/12)
  9. Faster 4/5 (19/02/12)
  10. Chronicle 4/5 (22/02/12)
  11. Safe House 4/5 (24/02/12)
  12. Reservoir Dogs 4/5 (25/02/12)
  13. This Means War 4/5 (02/03/12)
  14. The Royal Tenenbaums 3/5 (03/03/12)
  15. Reign of Fire 3/5 (04/03/12)
  16. Dear John 2/5 (04/03/12)
  17. Road to Perdition 5/5 (05/03/12)
  18. The Three Musketeers 3/5 (06/03/12)
  19. The Eagle 2/5 (10/03/12)
  20. Everybody’s Fine 2/5 (14/03/12)
  21. Frankenstein 4/5 (15/03/12)
  22. Love and Other Drugs 2/5 (15/03/12)
  23. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger 2/5 (17/03/12)
  24. The Big Lebowski 5/5 (18/03/12)
  25. The Hunger Games 3/5 (23/03/12)
  26. Headhunters 4/5 (07/04/12)
  27. Super 1/5 (07/04/12)
  28. The Cabin in the Woods 5/5 (13/04/12)
  29. Watchmen 4/5 (14/04/12)
  30. The Hurt Locker 3/5 (21/04/12)
  31. Avengers Assemble 5/5 (26/04/12)
  32. 22 Bullets 2/5 (28/04/12)
  33. Bad Teacher 1/5 (29/04/12)
  34. Red Riding Hood 1/5 (04/05/12)
  35. A Perfect Getaway 4/5 (05/05/12)
  36. Ca$h 1/5 (13/05/12)
  37. Kung Fu Panda 2 3/5 (14/05/12)
  38. Everything Must Go 2/5 (24/05/12)
  39. New York, I Love You 2/5 (25/05/12)
  40. Beginners 4/5 (26/05/12)
  41. Prometheus 4/5 (03/06/12)
  42. The Tree of Life 2/5 (04/06/12)
  43. The Lovely Bones 3/5 (05/06/12)
  44. Snow White and the Huntsman 3/5 (06/06/12)
  45. The Devil’s Backbone 4/5 (07/06/12)
  46. Britain in a Day 5/5 (11/06/12)
  47. The French Connection 4/5 (15/06/12)
  48. Insomnia 3/5 (16/06/12)
  49. Rebel Without a Cause 4/5 (22/06/12)
  50. A Lonely Place to Die 3/5 (26/06/12)
  51. Killer Joe 3/5 (29/06/12)
  52. The Amazing Spider-Man 4/5 (03/07/12)
  53. Raising Arizona 4/5 (04/07/12)
  54. Horrible Bosses 4/5 (06/07/12)
  55. Broadcast News 3/5 (07/07/12)
  56. We Need to Talk About Kevin 4/5 (07/07/12)
  57. Miller’s Crossing 4/5 (18/07/12)
  58. The Dark Knight Rises 5/5 (20/07/12)
  59. 21 Jump Street 5/5 (29/07/12)
  60. The Mystery Team 3/5 (07/08/12)
  61. The Help 4/5 (11/08/12)
  62. The Bourne Legacy 3/5 (13/08/12)
  63. The Expendables 2 4/5 (17/08/12)
  64. Brave 5/5 (19/08/12)
  65. Dracula 3/5 (19/08/12)
  66. The Woman in Black 3/5 (24/08/12)
  67. The Mummy 4/5 (28/08/12)
  68. Lawless 3/5 (30/08/12)
  69. Real Steel 2/5 (31/08/12)
  70. [REC] 3 Genesis 2/5 (04/09/12)
  71. Take Shelter 4/5 (15/09/12)
  72. Dredd 3D 3/5 (19/09/12)
  73. The Apartment 5/5 (23/09/12)
  74. Young Frankenstein 5/5 (25/09/12)

19 Comments

  1. I actually watched the first 20 minutes or so of this not long ago, but something came up and had to stop it.
    This is yet another one of those films that has been sitting on my queue for a very long time but never quite managed to make it to my TV.
    Your liking certainly helps in making the case to finally get to it.

  2. In my opinion, this is Mel Brooks’ best film. Everything was just done so well, and all the actors were perfect in it. Did you know the “Putting on the Ritz” sequence wasn’t in the script? Wilder and Boyle came up with that just goofing around one day. One of the most gut-bustingly funny moments in comedy, and it might not have happened had the cast chemistry been even slightly different.

    • I did not know that! That’s a great sequence – properly laugh out loud funny!

      I really need to search out more Mel Brooks.

  3. I just can’t get into any Mel Brooks film and Young Frankenstein is one of those films that’s never worked for me. I like Blazing Saddles but I still don’t see the “genius” others do.

    • Not seen Blazing Saddles. Will have to give it a go me thinks. I’ve not seen that many Mel Brooks films, but overall, I think I’ve enjoyed them mostly.

  4. Jaina, this is one of my Dad’s favorites when I was young. So you can imagine how many times I have seen this. It still cracks me up to this day. It’s worth checking out Bride of Frankenstein (1935) as well if you want to check you some more references in the film. I think I might even like that film better than Frankenstein.

  5. I tried, I tried, I tried to watch this all the way through. I just couldn’t. I’m glad you enjoyed it so much (perfect score), I just could not.

    and it’s interesting to me, growing up with Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, I cannot see him as anything else, unfortunately.

  6. Hooray for a 5/5! I love this flick. Its an all time classic! Glad you think so too, Jaina, this is one of the funniest comedies ever! 😀

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