Welcome to Netflix Weekend! Each week I’ll be highlighting three films available to watch on Netflix Instant Watch that (hopefully) have a coherent theme about them and why they should be watched.
This week we’ll be highlighting three movies you could be watching instead of Seth McFarlane’s latest terrible movie, A Million Ways to Die in the West. Instead, let’s watch Spaceballs, Airplane, and The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, two genre satires that will actually make you laugh so hard you’ll probably fall out of your chair. Or giggle a bit. Either way, they’re funny. Oh and one western that happens to be a masterpiece.
Spaceballs needs no real introduction from me, but just in case, let’s very quickly recap. A satire of the great sci-fi films of the 60s and 70s, anchoring itself in Star Wars, and featuring jokes about Planet of the Apes, Alien, and a wealth of others, it’s one of Mel Brooks’ finest outings as a satirist. From classic bits like the chest-buster alien popping yet again out of Jon Hurt, to whether or not Mega-Maid was set to “suck” or “blow”, this movie takes the piss out of so many sci-fi greats while showing a deep affection for them. Also, it’s a Mel Brooks film, why do you need another reason to watch it?
Then there’s Airplane. I could talk for days about Airplane, but you should just watch it instead. Trying to recount the plot of this movie would be like trying to make sense out of the ramblings of an insane person, and the movie is all the more hilarious for it. Just know that it features Leslie Neilson delivering one of the greatest jokes in cinematic history, amidst a LOT of goddamned funny ones. I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about how this movie is effectively a parody of disaster movies of the 70s, like Zero Hour! and others. If nothing else, I’d encourage you all to watch those movies, too, they’re pretty neat.
Moving right along, we get to the meat of things here with The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Unless you’re copping out entirely, you have to own up to the fact that McFarlane’s film this weekend is not just a comedy, but a western as well. So now that I gave you two comedies to watch instead, let’s talk about a western. Why? Because I run this column and can make my own specious connections if I damn well please! Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a masterpiece of style. I wouldn’t say a hell of a lot actually happens in this film, but man alive is it a joy to watch it happen. There are so many moments filled with tension, heat, and Ennio Morricone’s iconic score that you forget just how long Leone sustains the almost unbearable suspense. If nothing else, it’s the pinnacle of the form at a time in which Ford’s westerns had inspired Kurosawa’s samurai films, only to then inspire Leone’s own westerns. Just trust me, it’s a terrific film.
That’s a wrap for this week’s edition of Netflix Weekend. Questions? Comments? Want to share what you thought of these movies? Hit up the comments section, and as always, happy streaming.
