Andrew Worsdale Interview: John Landis
Last month I was very privileged to have a phone interview with one of my favourite comedy directors of all time John Landis. Youve got to love the man who made Kentucky Fried Movie, An American Werewolf in London and The Blues Brothers. His follow-up to that car-smashing, head- banging,rhythmnblues comedy unimaginatively titled The Blues Brothers 2000 opens this week and is a totally inferior deal compared to the wacky original.
And I told him so. But Landis said to me: I dont give a fuck what you think of the film. Youre a douche-bag film critic. Everyone hated the first one and it made millions. Youve gotta love a man who can insult you and still make you want more.
He says hes sick and tired of people lambasting Hollywood for its bad movies. Doesnt anyone realise, for Gods sake, that were dealing with a corporate reality? Hollywood isnt American. Its owned by the British, the Japanese, the Australians, you name it. Its a multi-billion industry and its the public that is so dumb. Jesus, give me the money to make a Bergmanesque comedy and Id be right there.
To that end he has just finished shooting Susans Plan, starring Nastassja Kinski, which he says is full of fucking and killing so we couldnt finance it out of the studios.
They wanted to make a sequel to The Blues Brothers immediately, but it fell through after the death of John Belushi. Dan Aykroyd had meanwhile opened several franchise music restaurants called House of Blues across the United States and really wanted to make another movie around the same theme.
I asked Landis why they didnt cast
Belushis brother Jim instead of John Goodman, who plays Aykroyds sidekick this time. We wanted Jim but his agent double- booked him. Anyway my reason to make the movie was to work with James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Sam Moore, Eric Clapton, Eddie Floyd … Hey fuck it, you name it the best line-up of rhythmnblues musicians ever assembled for a movie. Who would say no, kid?
This time around the story finds Elwood Blues (Aykroyd) released from prison to find his brother has died. His mission is to regroup the band so he hooks up with a singing bartender (Goodman) and goes on the road. Also on the trip is a 10-year-old kid whom hes been asked to take care of by Sister Mary Stigmata from the orphanage where he and his brother were raised. There is also a plethora of cops, a right-wing militia group and the Russian mafia. It all comes to a climax at a voodoo queens palace in New Orleans.
This is all rather disappointing for Landis, who started his career as a mail- boy at 20th Century Fox and developed a legitimate reputation as Hollywoods most funky and anarchic comedy director. Hes an incredibly cool person to talk to and Id be a gofer for him any day.
Blues Brothers 2000 flopped in the US, although the soundtrack album was a hit. Heres hoping Landis can get back to his funky base of humour with his next film. A degree of independence from the studios will give him the chance to do what he used to do so well. Otherwise its true mega- bucks and self-satisfied egos are ruining Hollywood, turning funky potential into a lazy bore.