L.A. Story (1991)

Harris Telemacher (Steve Martin) is a TV weatherman in Los Angeles - Temperature 72 degrees.  He has had 5 heart attacks - imaginary - because he is depressed.  One evening, while driving on the freeway with his girlfriend (Marilu Henner), the car stalls and he pops the hood.  The digital road sign said 'Hiya.'  Puzzled, he ignores it.  The sign is insistent.  Soon, he is having a conversation with the sign and it tells him that the weather will change his life twice.

Sara McDowel (Victoria Tennant) is an English journalist who has come to L.A. to meet with her ex-husband (Richard E. Grant) and interview locals for an article.  By chance, she meets Harris at a luncheon where they have instant chemistry.

The movie is full of gags about Los Angeles and has lots of cameos.  Patrick Stewart plays a snooty Maitre D' at an exclusive restaurant.  Chevy Chase, Woody Harrelson, Rick Moranis, and several others appear in small roles.  There is a road rage shooting that makes it look like such things were not only common, but scheduled.  Sarah Jessica Parker appears as SanDeE* the bouncy girl from a Gap like clothier.  This was a breakout role for her that moved her from mousy supporting roles to Sex in the City lead role.  Fun from beginning to end, a quirky rom-com that pokes fun at L.A.

Recommended.

Sgt. Bilko (1996)

When this movie premiered in 1996, I was unaware that it was based on a 50s TV show.  After watching It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, I noticed that Phil Silvers had played Bilko.  Huh.  Maybe I'll check that out.  So I did.

Master Sergeant Ernie Bilko (Steve Martin) is in charge of the motor pool at Fort Baxter, commanded by Col. Hall (Dan Akroyd), but his primary occupation is gambling.  The motor pool is mostly a casino and the soldiers are mostly oblivious to actual soldiering.  Yet somehow, through charm and distraction, Bilko has managed to play his cons for many years.  In fact, he tells a story of Fort Dix where he was beset by Lt. Thorn (Phil Hartman), who tried to tame Bilko.  However, Thorn was eventually reassigned to Greenland, after taking the fall for one of Bilko's cons.

"What happened to Lt. Thorn, Sarge?"

"I don't know."

Later that day, Major Thorn arrived to inspect progress on an experimental hover tank being developed at Ft. Baxter.  As luck would have it, he also discovered that Bilko was still in the Army!  Payback time!

The end result is so-so.  Any one of Bilko's cons might have been hilarious in a given episode of a TV show but all together in one movie makes Bilko a blight on the Army.  It would be one thing if he did his cons on the side and did some real work.  Nope.  It's all con, all the time.  As for Thorn, he finds computer files showing that Bilko rents motor pool vehicles to the public, beer funds, gambling enterprises, and several other items but decides to frame Bilko for something he didn't do.  Sigh.

Mediocre.