I absolutely loved Meatballs .I saw it when I was a kid and loved the mentorship relationship between Murray and the younger camper. I thought the movie was hilarious and all these years later still my fav camp movie ❤
I remember when this film came out. I was in one of the penthouse suites in Atlanta, in the other suite was Farrah, Jaclyn Smith and a few other people from Hollywood. They were having a party to celebrate the opening of Sunburn. We got invited over and it was a life-changing moment for me. Up until then I had been a huge Farrah fan (poster, Charlie's Angels all of it) and I thought Farrah was the hottest woman on earth--followed closely by Olivia Newton-John and Lynda Carter. Then I was face to face with Jaclyn Smith. I knew she was pretty. I was a Charlie's Angels fan, but I have to say that the camera was just not capable of showing just how beautiful Jaclyn was. She was standing there, her hair framing her face like a dark fan. Her smile wide and radiant, and instantly, she zoomed up on my 'crush' list to the top.
Jaclyn Smith was always my crush from the series. I thought she was so beautiful. Farrah was a wee bit overrated in my young mind and even then I preferred brunettes. She didn't stick around anyway.
Don't forget Tin Men (1987) one of Levinson's best! (plus I always love Danny DeVito / Rich Dreyfuss in just about everything they do, and they're on storming form in that pic)
I can't believe Gene's suggested that Meatballs should have been more like Animal House, "more rougher, lusty kind of comedy." For crying out loud, in Animal House they were young adults in college. In Meatballs, with the exception of the camp counselors, they're pre-teen kids.
Shows he really wanted stereotypes, not anything different or original. "This is more like a tv movie!" His reviews and review style definitely don't hold up to time.
It's not good criticism: Going into a picture with an idea of what you want the film to be, then _blaming the film_ when it's its own original 'animal' Gene made a hash of this one. it happens.
Today--I would love to go to a movie house and pay three or four bucks to watch Americathon on a big screen. Or Meatballs. Or Sunburn. Or Hot Stuff. Or even The Concorde: Airport '79, for that matter.
I was 10 years old in 1979 when Meatballs was released. While it's a good, funny movie, as a kid I hated it because I hated summer camp. Every summer my (abusive) mother sent me to camp against my will. One month of day camp and one month of sleepaway camp. She sent me not because it would be good for me, but just to get me out of her hair for extended lengths of time. As much as I hated my abusive, dysfunctional home, it was the hell I knew. I would have preferred to stay home. Stay up as long as I liked at night, sleep as late as I wanted in the mornings. Play outside with the neighborhood kids. Hang out with my best friends. Watch TV and see what I missed due to the usual school hours, etc. At day and sleepaway camp, I had to put up with being picked on and bullied not only by my fellow campers, but also by the camp counselors. The campers and counselors who didn't bully me, turned a blind eye to those who did. (When I wrote home about all the abuse and neglect I had to put up with, the camp office saw to it that my postcarda home didn't get mailed. Instead, they trashed them. When I got home, I discovered my mother received only 4 of my postcards when I wrote home 2-3 postcards a day, every day for the whole month. One of the 4 postcards that made it home was a phony "having a great time, wish you was here" type of message that they forced us to write). Not to mention the mattresses they furnished us with to sleep on, were all urine stained by bedwetting campers of previous summers. In Meatballs, sleepaway camp is portrayed as a real fun, charming, and happy experience. In my experience it was anything but.
You are in the distinct minority. Most kids who go to camp, particularly sleep away camp, absolutely love it and it becomes a major part of who they are. It was for me and it has been for my kids.
@gheller2261 I agree. I was in the minority. I didn't see any other kids getting treated the way I did. Years later I once asked my therapist, considering how I was an abused kid but never saw other kids getting treated the way I did, was I all alone in the world? Was anyone else being treated the way I was? He said no, I wasn't all alone in the world. There are other kids in the world who are being abused by adults (parents, teachers, camp counselors, etc) or other kids, but we are in the minority.
To be fair the characters have been in an on/offf affair for a coupla years in the pic, this fuller context is missing from the clips. (He's not just doing it outta nowhere / cold.)
I have never heard of Americathon until this very negative review. The clip was very good. I am going to watch this movie. These guys are great but that flew over their radar in my opinion. Clearly an influence on the misunderstood Idiocracy. That said I love these old episodes being available online. My introduction to reasoned discourse and respectful even admiring disagreement in my childhood. Thanks That Old T.V.
I notice that Lalo Schifrin didn't bother to write original music for Airport '79, he just went out and bought a fakebook of John Williams' score for Star Wars and changed a few notes around. The piece in that first clip is a carbon copy of "The Last Battle." I expected better from Schifrin.
Actually, the movie "Hot Stuff" was a pretty good entertaining movie for its time and it's hard to believe Siskel didn't think "Young Frankenstein" directed by Gene Wilder and co-written by Mel Brooks was very funny. It was a great movie with lots of laughs.
@@lindawallace4513But Siskel tries to claim "but the good ones were also comedy writers, that's why they make funny stuff". Wilder was also a comedy writer. Siskel just made a very poor argument that just looks worse with time. Doesn't help that for years and years, the media, and so then also the public, played down Wilder's involvement in Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. They were purely considered Mel Brooks movies, when they were not. It's why all other Mel Brooks movie are so different. And when people would complain "why aren't Mel's new movies as good as his earlier stuff?" no one was saying "because they were actually a joint effort with Gene Wilder."
I love Meatballs, but it shows how radically times have changed (for the better in some ways) as Murray's flirtatious "rough housing" would be considered full out sexual assault today with the outcome being a very lengthy prison sentence and civil suit.
It's funny, because that very scene raised the eyebrows of a couple of millennial reactors on RUclips. It was hilarious back in the day, and honestly, I laughed again watching it here. It was nice to not confuse comedy with reality back then. Now, that seems to elude people.
I wish they would have continued with the Dog of The Week segment, or something similar, on their subsequent review shows. God knows there is never a shortage of lousy movies.
You know, the worst thing today about Americathon, is that we would probably prefer John Ritter's President Roosevelt over Mr. Biden's predecessor. That's wrong. Actually, the film may actually be more interesting for a few predictions that would come true over time. Spooky. I first saw Americathon about 5 years ago, and it's definitely not as funny as it thinks it is, but I was amused in several places. Harvey Korman's host did get VERY annoying VERY quickly; all of the main characters seem to be working at cross purposes; and I just don't think the plot elements really came together. The telethon moments don't really work, but then through most of the film, none of the characters WANTED them to work. George Carlin was wasted in the film, essentially playing the straight man with a few gags when we really wanted more from him. The film does have some good points. It has early film appearances by Jay Leno and a pre-WKRP Howard Hesseman, Allan Arbus - Sidney Freedman from the MASH TV series - plays one of the "Hebrab" representatives, there's blink and you'll miss it appearances by Dorothy Stratten and Cybill Sheppard, and it has an excellent soundtrack with the Beach Boys and Elvis Costello. I am not sure whether the soundtrack ever came out on CD, but I found the LP about a year ago. In the end, just call the soundtrack a celebration of late 70s prog-rock, and skip the movie.
Yawn...Yeah...I HATED the booming economy, minuscule inflation, lower crime, more stable foreign relations, fewer minorities dying both in the country and at the border, etc. we had from 2017 to 2020 under "Biden's predecessor" compared to the last 2 years under Biden himself! How HORRIBLE!
I absolutely loved Meatballs .I saw it when I was a kid and loved the mentorship relationship between Murray and the younger camper. I thought the movie was hilarious and all these years later still my fav camp movie ❤
I still watch it to this day! I was 11 when it came out.Just a fun, silly,feel good movie!👍
Same!
It's on here.
I remember when this film came out. I was in one of the penthouse suites in Atlanta, in the other suite was Farrah, Jaclyn Smith and a few other people from Hollywood. They were having a party to celebrate the opening of Sunburn. We got invited over and it was a life-changing moment for me. Up until then I had been a huge Farrah fan (poster, Charlie's Angels all of it) and I thought Farrah was the hottest woman on earth--followed closely by Olivia Newton-John and Lynda Carter. Then I was face to face with Jaclyn Smith. I knew she was pretty. I was a Charlie's Angels fan, but I have to say that the camera was just not capable of showing just how beautiful Jaclyn was. She was standing there, her hair framing her face like a dark fan. Her smile wide and radiant, and instantly, she zoomed up on my 'crush' list to the top.
Jaclyn Smith was always my crush from the series. I thought she was so beautiful. Farrah was a wee bit overrated in my young mind and even then I preferred brunettes. She didn't stick around anyway.
My wife Morgan Fairchild is hotter
Check out photos of Jacqueline Smith today what if not the hottest 70 something I've ever seen
Speaking of the the Mel Brooks alumni, Barry Levinson turned out to be a pretty successful director. "Diner," "Good Morning Vietnam," "Rainman."
Don't forget Tin Men (1987) one of Levinson's best!
(plus I always love Danny DeVito / Rich Dreyfuss in just about everything they do, and they're on storming form in that pic)
I can't believe Gene's suggested that Meatballs should have been more like Animal House, "more rougher, lusty kind of comedy."
For crying out loud, in Animal House they were young adults in college. In Meatballs, with the exception of the camp counselors, they're pre-teen kids.
More rougher...Gene should learn proper English.
Shows he really wanted stereotypes, not anything different or original. "This is more like a tv movie!" His reviews and review style definitely don't hold up to time.
There were plenty of lusty teen comedies going into the 80's, including camp movies like LITTLE DARLINGS and GORP.
It's not good criticism: Going into a picture with an idea of what you want the film to be, then _blaming the film_ when it's its own original 'animal'
Gene made a hash of this one. it happens.
Thanks for posting. Love these.
I'm happy to see a mention for "Breaking Away," one of summer's best.
Breaking Away is a good movie.
It's still getting played in revival moviehouses today,
in fact it may be more popular NOW than it was back then!
Forgot all about Sunburn--Love Charles Grodin.
I saw everything in 1979 but missed this. It's never on cable either.🤔🤔🤔
Today--I would love to go to a movie house and pay three or four bucks to watch Americathon on a big screen. Or Meatballs. Or Sunburn. Or Hot Stuff. Or even The Concorde: Airport '79, for that matter.
The cinema setting is back! Yay 🎉!
I was 10 years old in 1979 when Meatballs was released. While it's a good, funny movie, as a kid I hated it because I hated summer camp.
Every summer my (abusive) mother sent me to camp against my will. One month of day camp and one month of sleepaway camp. She sent me not because it would be good for me, but just to get me out of her hair for extended lengths of time.
As much as I hated my abusive, dysfunctional home, it was the hell I knew. I would have preferred to stay home. Stay up as long as I liked at night, sleep as late as I wanted in the mornings. Play outside with the neighborhood kids. Hang out with my best friends. Watch TV and see what I missed due to the usual school hours, etc.
At day and sleepaway camp, I had to put up with being picked on and bullied not only by my fellow campers, but also by the camp counselors. The campers and counselors who didn't bully me, turned a blind eye to those who did. (When I wrote home about all the abuse and neglect I had to put up with, the camp office saw to it that my postcarda home didn't get mailed. Instead, they trashed them. When I got home, I discovered my mother received only 4 of my postcards when I wrote home 2-3 postcards a day, every day for the whole month. One of the 4 postcards that made it home was a phony "having a great time, wish you was here" type of message that they forced us to write).
Not to mention the mattresses they furnished us with to sleep on, were all urine stained by bedwetting campers of previous summers.
In Meatballs, sleepaway camp is portrayed as a real fun, charming, and happy experience. In my experience it was anything but.
You are in the distinct minority. Most kids who go to camp, particularly sleep away camp, absolutely love it and it becomes a major part of who they are. It was for me and it has been for my kids.
Is your name Jason Voorhees?
@gheller2261
I agree. I was in the minority. I didn't see any other kids getting treated the way I did.
Years later I once asked my therapist, considering how I was an abused kid but never saw other kids getting treated the way I did, was I all alone in the world? Was anyone else being treated the way I was? He said no, I wasn't all alone in the world. There are other kids in the world who are being abused by adults (parents, teachers, camp counselors, etc) or other kids, but we are in the minority.
@@87dramarama
I wish. ;-)
This is a rare episode where I haven't seen any of the movies!
24:45-so THAT’S where Cartman got the idea!
Americathon is surprisingly accurste with some of its predictions. Still funny.
Without context that scene from Meatballs of Bill Murray not listening to her saying No over and over looks bad. Them both chuckling also looks bad
Attempted rape: hilarious!
@@Kyleologylol
Not attempted rape. Get a hold of yourself @@Kyleology
To be fair the characters have been in an on/offf affair for a coupla years in the pic,
this fuller context is missing from the clips. (He's not just doing it outta nowhere / cold.)
The Boatjacking of Supership 79 😆
Bill Murray is a comic genuis. Legendary.
Bill Murray is remarkably unfunny.
@@Kyleology Luckily you're in the minority
I have never heard of Americathon until this very negative review. The clip was very good. I am going to watch this movie. These guys are great but that flew over their radar in my opinion. Clearly an influence on the misunderstood Idiocracy.
That said I love these old episodes being available online. My introduction to reasoned discourse and respectful even admiring disagreement in my childhood.
Thanks That Old T.V.
the previews were a lot funnier than the movie...
I didn't feel that Siskel thought Meatball's was a thumbs down, he was just a little upset that it wasn't more like Animal House.
Meatballs ........ one of the greatest movies of all times! I think Gene thought too highly of thyself.
Wow, that scene from Meatballs is rapey is hell.
I notice that Lalo Schifrin didn't bother to write original music for Airport '79, he just went out and bought a fakebook of John Williams' score for Star Wars and changed a few notes around. The piece in that first clip is a carbon copy of "The Last Battle." I expected better from Schifrin.
Actually, the movie "Hot Stuff" was a pretty good entertaining movie for its time and it's hard to believe Siskel didn't think "Young Frankenstein" directed by Gene Wilder and co-written by Mel Brooks was very funny. It was a great movie with lots of laughs.
Mel Brooks directed "Young Frankenstein." Gene Wilder came up with the original concept, but asked Brooks to help with the screenplay.
@@lindawallace4513But Siskel tries to claim "but the good ones were also comedy writers, that's why they make funny stuff". Wilder was also a comedy writer. Siskel just made a very poor argument that just looks worse with time. Doesn't help that for years and years, the media, and so then also the public, played down Wilder's involvement in Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. They were purely considered Mel Brooks movies, when they were not. It's why all other Mel Brooks movie are so different. And when people would complain "why aren't Mel's new movies as good as his earlier stuff?" no one was saying "because they were actually a joint effort with Gene Wilder."
...If only the pilot had called Frank Drebin;
surely he'd never have let this terrible day come to pass!
*_Need more comments on this RUclips page_*
Meatballs (Series) is a certified classic and a great summer camp movie that is not Friday the 13th.
Alien and the Muppet movie hell yes
I love Meatballs, but it shows how radically times have changed (for the better in some ways) as Murray's flirtatious "rough housing" would be considered full out sexual assault today with the outcome being a very lengthy prison sentence and civil suit.
It's funny, because that very scene raised the eyebrows of a couple of millennial reactors on RUclips. It was hilarious back in the day, and honestly, I laughed again watching it here. It was nice to not confuse comedy with reality back then. Now, that seems to elude people.
I wish they would have continued with the Dog of The Week segment, or something similar, on their subsequent review shows. God knows there is never a shortage of lousy movies.
First
Honestly, in Meatballs they couldn't find a more attractive young woman to play Tripper's girlfriend.
I assume you are being sarcastic but she was perfectly cast and I thought she dealt with him impeccably.
You know, the worst thing today about Americathon, is that we would probably prefer John Ritter's President Roosevelt over Mr. Biden's predecessor. That's wrong. Actually, the film may actually be more interesting for a few predictions that would come true over time. Spooky.
I first saw Americathon about 5 years ago, and it's definitely not as funny as it thinks it is, but I was amused in several places. Harvey Korman's host did get VERY annoying VERY quickly; all of the main characters seem to be working at cross purposes; and I just don't think the plot elements really came together. The telethon moments don't really work, but then through most of the film, none of the characters WANTED them to work. George Carlin was wasted in the film, essentially playing the straight man with a few gags when we really wanted more from him.
The film does have some good points. It has early film appearances by Jay Leno and a pre-WKRP Howard Hesseman, Allan Arbus - Sidney Freedman from the MASH TV series - plays one of the "Hebrab" representatives, there's blink and you'll miss it appearances by Dorothy Stratten and Cybill Sheppard, and it has an excellent soundtrack with the Beach Boys and Elvis Costello. I am not sure whether the soundtrack ever came out on CD, but I found the LP about a year ago. In the end, just call the soundtrack a celebration of late 70s prog-rock, and skip the movie.
Yawn...Yeah...I HATED the booming economy, minuscule inflation, lower crime, more stable foreign relations, fewer minorities dying both in the country and at the border, etc. we had from 2017 to 2020 under "Biden's predecessor" compared to the last 2 years under Biden himself! How HORRIBLE!
I rewatched Meatballs recently and it’s an awful movie.
Yes, i could not believe how unfunny it was and loved it as a kid.
AMERICATHON predicted lots of things now true....
I didn't like North Dallas forty.
1979 was a crappy year for movies