Tag Archives: Weird Al Yankovic

The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell Fear (1991, directed by David Zucker)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Frank Drebin is back!

Now separated from Jane (Priscilla Presley) and working in Washington D.C., Frank (Leslie Nielsen) finds himself investigating a bombing at the offices of Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer (Richard Griffiths), an advocate of renewable energy who has just been put in charge of America’s energy policies by President George H.W. Bush (John Roarke, who was better-known for playing Ronald Reagan on Friday’s).  With the help of Captain Ed Hocken (George Kennedy) and Officer Nordberg (O.J. Simpson), Drebin’s investigation leads him to Quentin Haspburg (Robert Goulet), an oilman who is plotting on replacing Dr. Meinheimer with a double.  It also leads him back to Jane, who is now working as an assistant to Meinheimer and being wooed by Hapsburg.

The Naked Gun 2 1/2 is a worthy sequel to the first Naked Gun.  It’s more plot-heavy than the first film and some of the jokes feel a little bit too familiar but it’s still a very funny film.  That’s largely due to Neilsen, Kennedy, and Presley, all of whom really commit to playing their absurd characters.  (Robert Goulet gives a game performance but he really can’t match Ricardo Montalban’s villainous turn in the first movie.)  Nielsen was probably the only actor alive who could keep a straight face even while hitting Barbara Bush in the face while opening a door and then struggling to eat lobster at a state dinner.  As was often the case with the ZAZ films (even though Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker didn’t have anything to do with the screenplay of the sequel), the funniest moments are also the most random and the stupidest.  I laughed a lot harder than I should have at Leslie Neilsen struggling with a very small towel that had been thrown against his face.  And don’t worry, O.J. Simpson fans.  Nordberg gets injured in this movie too.

Leslie Nielsen was one of those actors who could make anything funny.  Whether he was delivering his hard-boiled dialogue or doing absurd physical comedy with an absolutely straight face, it was impossible not to laugh when Leslie Nielsen was onscreen.  He was a true cinematic treasure.

 

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988, directed by David Zucker)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Let’s take a moment to appreciate Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen), a true American hero.

Even though Frank is just a Los Angeles cop, he still goes to the Middle East and disrupts a conference of America’s greatest enemies.  He beats up Fidel Castro.  He knocks out Gadafi and Yasser Arafat.  He cleans Gorbachev’s head.  (“I knew it!” he says as the birthmark disappears.)  He takes out Idi Amin and he sends the Ayatollah Khomeini through a window.  Thirty-seven years ago, this scene opened The Naked Gun and, after all that time, it is still funny because Leslie Nielsen plays it all with a straight face, delivering his silly lines without flinching.  It’s also interesting that none of the leaders taken down by Frank Drebin are around anymore.  Khomeini died just a few months after this film came out.  Gorbachev was the last to go, in 2022, by which time he was no longer an enemy.  Consider it the Frank Drebin Effect.  He’s making the world safe for democracy.

When Drebin returns to Los Angeles, he’s informed by Captain Ed Hocken (George Kennedy) that Police Squad has been put in charge of security for a visit from Queen Elizabeth (Jeanette Charles) and that Officer Nordberg (O.J. Simpson) is in the hospital and suspected of being a dirty cop.  The Mayor (Nancy Marchand) doesn’t want Los Angeles to be embarrassed by a police scandal before the Queen arrives so Drebin has 24 hours to exonerate Nordberg.  Drebin’s attempt to clear Nordberg’s name leads him to a shipping magnate (Ricardo Montalban) who has come up with a diabolical scheme to assassinate the Queen at a baseball game.  It also leads to love between Drebin and Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley).

Though Liam Neeson did a fine job in the recent reboot, there really is only one Frank Drebin and his name is Leslie Nielsen.  The original Naked Gun is nearly 40 years old and, even if some of the jokes are dated, it’s still laugh out loud funny.  Most of the credit has to go to Leslie Nielsen and ability to deliver even the most bizarre bits of dialogue with natural authority, gravitas and a straight face.  Whether he’s mumbling his way through the National Anthem, paying an informer for information, or hamming it up as an umpire, Nielsen is never less than hilarious.  By the end of the movie, it’s impossible to look at Nielsen without laughing.  Kennedy, Presely, and Montalban also generate their share of laughs.  John Houseman has a great cameo as an unflappable driving instructor.  (“Now, extend your middle finger.”)  As for OJ Simpson, he doesn’t seem to be in on the joke like the rest of the cast but he does frequently get injured and re-injured throughout the movie and there’s definitely some pleasure to be found in that.

(When Simpson died, director David Zucker said, “His acting was a lot like his murdering: He got away with it, but no one believed him.”  That sounds about right.)

Liam Neeson made for a fine Frank Drebin, Jr.  I hope he has many more adventures.  But the greatest Frank Drebin will always be Leslie Nielsen and the original Naked Gun will always be one of my favorite comedies.  Sometimes, it’s good just to laugh.

Thank you, David Zuker.

Thank you, Jerry Zucker.

Thank you, Jim Abrahams.

And most of all, thank you, Leslie Nielsen.

Music Video Of The Day: Christmas At Ground Zero by Weird Al Yankovic (1986, directed by Weird Al Yankovic)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

“The sad part is, I can’t really play the song live anymore because too many people misunderstand the connotations of Ground Zero. It’s not a reference to 9/11, obviously. It was written in 1986 when ‘ground zero’ just meant the epicenter of a nuclear attack.”

— Weird Al Yankovic

Try to force Weird Al to do a Christmas album and this is what you’re going to get.

In 1986, Weird Al’s record label insisted that he record something for the holiday season.  In response, Yankovic came up with Christmas At Ground Zero, a Phil Spector-style production about Christmas in the aftermath of a nuclear attack.  It wasn’t really what the record company had expected and, at first, they refused to release it.  Yankovic responded by creating his own music video for the song.  This video was not only his first stab at directing but it also proved to be popular enough to convince the record company to change their position on the song.

Though the majority of this video is made up of stock footage, the live action scenes of Weird Al and the carolers performing surrounded by rubble were filmed in The Bronx.  No nuclear explosions were needed to get the bombed-out feel.  Instead, they just filmed in New York in the 80s.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Brad reviews THE NAKED GUN (2025), starring Liam Neeson!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

When I first saw that THE NAKED GUN was being rebooted with Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin, Jr., I must admit that I was quite skeptical. You see, the original THE NAKED GUN (1988) with Leslie Nielsen came out when I was 15 years old, and I remember watching it at the movie theater on a field trip with our high school’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club. I loved it so much! I eagerly watched THE NAKED GUN 2 1/2 (1991) and NAKED GUN 33 1/3 (1994) at the theaters as well. To be completely honest, this series is one of my favorites of my “growing into an adult” years, and I didn’t want to see it screwed up. When the trailer was released a couple of months ago my reaction was cautious optimism as I must admit it looked quite funny, and I decided that I would go watch it in the theater when it came out. Well, tonight my wife and I headed to the Cinemark in Little Rock to see what director Akiva Schaffer and his crew had come up with…

In THE NAKED GUN (2025), dedicated Detective Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) follows in his father’s footsteps by leading Police Squad and causing an endless array of problems for Police Chief Davis (CCH Pounder). When a bank heist is staged by Sig Gustafson (Kevin Durand) in order to obtain a mysterious P.L.O.T. Device, Drebin teams up with his partner, Captain Ed Hocken Jr. (Paul Walter Hauser), and the beautiful crime novelist Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson) to investigate. Their subsequent probe leads them to tech mogul Richard Cane (Danny Huston) and his sinister plot to use the device to revert humanity to a base barbaric state as the balls drop on New Year’s Eve. With the help of his deceased father’s spirit that’s being housed in the body of a large owl, Drebin goes all out to foil Cane’s plans while simultaneously falling in love with Beth! 

I’m going to go ahead and alleviate any suspense and state that I love the new NAKED GUN movie. I laughed out loud throughout the entire film, including the end credits, and I wasn’t the only one as there were people in our showing that were laughing much louder than me. It was a fun “crowd experience,” and I’m so glad we caught it in the theater. Not every joke is funny, but in the tradition of the original series, they come so fast and furious that there’s a good chance the next joke will be hilarious. Liam Neeson does a great job as Frank Drebin, Jr., infusing the character with just the right amount of seriousness to allow the absurdity all around him to be played for laughs. I told a friend a few months ago that I’d be really impressed if Neeson was able to pull this role off, and I’m glad to report that he passes with flying colors. He doesn’t make you forget the comedic genius of Leslie Nielsen, but he’s darn good. And Pamela Anderson is perfect in the crime novelist / love interest role. I haven’t seen her in anything in a long time, but she’s truly hilarious in the film. After watching her performance, I honestly don’t think any actress could have done any better. The rest of the game cast, including Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston and Kevin Durand each have good moments that add to the fun. I also enjoyed some of the specific throwbacks to the original series, including brief appearances by Priscilla Presley, Weird Al Yankovic, and especially the stuffed beaver, which got a big laugh out of me, just like it did when I was 15! 

Overall, I had a great time at the movie theater with THE NAKED GUN (2025). Director Akiva Schaffer delivers a hilarious, 85 minute film that’s a worthy follow-up to the original Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker / Leslie Nielsen classics. What else could you ask for?!!

Music Video of the Day: Eat It by Weird Al Yankovic (1984, directed by Jay Levey)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Reportedly, Michael Jackson really liked the video for Weird Al Yankovic’s Eat It and why shouldn’t he?  The video so closely followed the video for Beat It, duplicating it scene-for-scene, that Jackson was actually paid royalties from it.

Another fan of this song and also of Fat was Kurt Cobian who was flattered when Weird Al asked to parody Smells Like Teen Spirit but who also specifically asked, “Is it going to be about food?”  (Al assured Kurt it would be about how no one could understand his lyrics.)

This is the song and the video that put Weird Al on the map.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Fat by Weird Al Yankovic (1988, directed by Jay Levey)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Yesterday, the video was bad.

Today, it’s fat.

This video was shot on the same set where the video for Bad was filmed.  Weird Al had to get permission for Michael Jackson to use the set and Jackson granted it.  Jackson appreciated almost all of Weird Al’s parodies, though he did ask Weird Al not to do a parody of Black or White.

I’ve always thought Fat was the better song.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies by Weird Al Yankovic (1989, directed by Jay Levey)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

On Friday night, myself, Lisa, Leonard, and several other people all watched UHF, the ahead-of-its-time comedy starring Weird Al Yankovic.  One of the highlights of the movie was this music video, which combined Dire Straits’s Money For Nothing with the Beverly Hillbillies.

The video’s animation was done by David Silverman, who would go on to work on The Simpsons.  Mark Knopfler and Guy Fletcher, both of Dire Straits, both performed on the song.  Knopfler later said was that his one condition for allowing the parody was that he and Fletcher be allowed to play on it.

According to Yankovic, the song’s strange title was due to the demands of the lawyers.  He prefers to call the song “Beverly Hillbillies For Nothing.”

Enjoy!

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix For UHF!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

 

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on Twitter and Mastodon.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, at 10 pm et, #FridayNightFlix has got 1989’s UHF, starring Weird Al Yankovic!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag!  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

UHF is available on Prime and Tubi!  See you there!

Music Video of the Day: Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me by Weird Al Yankovic (2011, directed by Koos Decker)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In honor of the coming release of his biopic, today’s music video of the day is from Weird Al Yankovic.  Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me is one of his more underrated song but, as anyone who has ever had to clean out their email inbox knows, it’s also one of his most important.  Thanks to the rise of Facebook and Twitter, it’s not as much of a problem as it used to be but there was a time when I dreaded sharing my email address with anyone because I knew I would soon be forced to deal with anything that made them laugh, cry, or think.  Anyone who says that they’ve never wanted to say, “Stop forwarding that crap to me!” is lying.

Enjoy!

Daniel Radcliffe & Evan Rachel Wood dare to be stupid in the Weird trailer!

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

That might sound like a rude title, but it’s not.

Most people who know Weird Al Yankovic’s music are aware of Dare to be Stupid, off The Transformers: The Movie soundtrack. If not that, then songs like Eat it! or the equally epic Trapped at the Drive Thru quickly come to mind. Though I don’t own a Roku (yet!), I’m kind of excited for this. The movie covers Weird Al’s humble beginnings and rise to accordion superstar. Daniel Radcliffe (Horns, Swiss Army Man) and Evan Rachel Wood (HBO’s Westworld, Kajillionaire) seem perfectly cast as Weird Al and Madonna here.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story will be available on November 4 on The Roku Channel.