Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Amazon Women on the Moon (1987)

In a return to his format from The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), John Landis presents a 1950's sci-fi movie - Amazon Women on the Moon - with a variety of commercials, channel surfing, and general silliness.  It opens with Arsenio Hall arriving home only to have everything in his apartment go awry in the most disastrous way.  In another skit, there is a new dating program that allows Karen (Rosanna Arquette) to profile Jerry (Steve Guttenberg); the system knows all, including his stock pickup lines and sexual habits.  Henry Silva pitches his latest TV show, "Bullshit or Not" during several commercial breaks; could the Loch Ness Monster be Jack the Ripper?  Great stuff.  BB King requests money to address "Blacks without Soul."  Don 'No Soul' Simmons (David Alan Grier) sings a series of soulless songs to show how desperate the problem is.  Mr. Gower (Ralph Bellamy) is the kindly old pharmacist who frowns when young George tries to buy condoms.  Through all of this, the incomplete story of three men and a monkey traveling to the moon is shown.  Of course, the moon has a breathable atmosphere and is inhabited by beautiful women.  Like The Kentucky Fried Movie, there is nudity.  Not for all audiences.

One of the funnier things is the technology.  The VHS player is shown in several skits.  The dating program uses a fax machine.  The telephones are all landlines.  Not only does the 1950s sci-fi parody provide a blast to the past, so does the movie itself at this point.  Lots of laughs and great popcorn fun.  Recommended.

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