Quick Thoughts; The Blues Brothers

Last week we didn't do a watch along over in my discord channel, but I believe we made up for it in a big way this week with The Blues Brothers starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Released in 1980, it is without debate the greatest movie based on characters created for Saturday Night Live, and probably the greatest musical comedy of all time. Yes that's right, The Blues Brothers is a musical, with entire sequences of characters breaking out into song and dance routines. Anyway, the version we watched this we was the extended cut which added in a lot of scenes and details to make the narrative of the plot move a lot smoother, and explaining various details that were not a part of the original theatrical cut, which also meant a number of the music performances were longer as well.

One of the first thoughts that came to mind this week was, is there a better driver in a work of fiction than Elwood Blues? Think about it, in the world of the Movies and TV shows, Elwood is pretty much untouchable with his skills as a driver with a 1974 Dodge Monaco Sedan that was modified for police use and that's it. Probably the closest would be Nicholas Cage's character of Randall Raines in Gone in 60 Seconds with what was done with a 1967 Ford Shelby GT500. For those who will bring up any of the characters in the Fast and Furious Franchise, lets also point out the cars they mostly used were heavily modified within the context of that universe.

Movie forward, in regards to Carrie Fisher's character 'The Mystery Woman'... where and how does she get every weapon she intended to use to take out Joliet Jake? Think about it, she uses a rocket launcher, a flamethrower, an assault riffle and takes down part of a city block with demolition charges! Hell how did she set that up!Also of note, I still love the fact that the name of the salon 'The Mystery Woman' is at when she is reading up on how to use the flamethrower is called 'Curl Up & Dye'.... sometimes the simplest puns are the best.

One of the extra scenes in the Extended cut involves Curtis telling the Band that Jake and Elwood intentions and motivations for getting the band back together and donating the money from the Palace Hotel gig to cover the taxes of the Orphanage... and while it gives even more context to the Band continuing to play as Jake and Elwood make their escape, it does raise a question. What if instead of saying 'We're On A Mission From God', Jake and Elwood explained to the band as they were recruiting them their intentions.Yes some of the set ups for things like Aretha Franklin' 'Think' out, but I think if that is moved up to be earlier than it was with Elwood saying 'We're On A Mission From God', she'll still go forward into song and then follow that with Jake explaining the situation, it would take some of the awkwardness of Matt Guitar Murphy just walking out on her with Blue Lou Marini following shortly after. Plus It would put a moral dilemma on Mr. Fabulous Alan Rubin's character in the fancy restaurant that he doesn't want to leave his job. Hell if anything, all these circumstances involving the Nazis, the cops and the Good Ol Boys can still work as is

Anyway, that's my quick thoughts here on The Blues Brothers.... maybe next week we'll watch Blues Brothers 2000?