Flashback Friday- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

Hollywood is complicated. So is marriage.

In Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Roger Rabbit (voiced by Charles Fleischer) , a cartoon star, is worried that his wife, Jessica (voiced by Kathleen Turner) is cheating on him. He hires a detective, Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) to find out if his wife is actually cheating on him. When Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye) is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect, Eddie must find a way to prove that Roger is innocent.

For the late 80’s this movie is incredible. The in jokes about Hollywood and marriage, the incredibly well done mixture of live actors and special effects just make this movie extremely enjoyable.

I recommend it.

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Uhm….No

It’s a well known fact that women in Saudi Arabia are denied a whole host of unalienable rights, including the right to drive.

Now, a Saudi Arabian historian claims that the ban on women drivers protects them from being raped.

I love the reaction of the host. She is trying to be professional, but she is obviously laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of this man’s statements.

Rape is still a world wide crime. It doesn’t matter where a women lives, how she lives her life or what she does to occupy her day.

His statements are an excuse to keep women out of the schools and out of the workplace.

Uhm…. no

Flashback Friday-Robin Hood Triple Feature-Robin And Marian (1976), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) & Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

Robin Hood is the immortal outsider. A former aristocrat who returns from the Crusades to find that his family is dead, his lands have been confiscated and the woman he left behind, Maid Marian may have moved on with her life.

His story has been immortalized on screen multiple times over.

In 1976, audiences were introduced to a middle aged Robin and Marian in a movie of the same name. Years after the original story ends, fate has again separated our lovers. Robin (Sean Connery) returned to the Crusades to find that Marian (Audrey Hepburn) is now the abbess of a priory. It seems that she is content to live out the rest of her days as a nun. But when the Sheriff Of Nottingham tries to arrest Marian on religious grounds, Robin must step in and fight for the love of his youth.

I like this movie. But then again, I always like when we see old, familiar characters in new situations and in different places in their lives. Another quality that makes this movie an excellent film is the two leads, who are age appropriate and have excellent chemistry.

Fifteen years later, in 1991, a traditional film of adaption of Robin Hood premiered. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves starred Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.

I like this movie. There is something about the traditional re-telling of a familiar story that never gets old, no matter how many times one has read the story or seen the movie. And of course, there is the Bryan Adams song that gets stuck in your head, no matter how many times you try to get rid of it.

Finally, in 1993, Mel Brooks, as he always does, put his own spin on the Robin Hood story in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. This time, Cary Elwes stepped into the role of Robin Hood with Amy Yasbeck as Marian and Roger Rees as his longtime nemesis, The Sheriff of Rottingham.

This movie is a solid Mel Brooks production. As he did with Young Frankenstein, he lovingly satirized and altered the story of Robin Hood. And like most Mel Brooks movies, this movie is incredibly funny and quotable.

I recommend all three.