What a Waste (The Blues Brothers (DVD))

Member Name: cbpotts

Product:	The Blues Brothers (DVD)
Date:	28/07/01 (255 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An incredibly funny, articulate, well made movie by one of the best comedians that's ever lived.

Disadvantages: He's not around anymore.

I’ve heard it said that we are all only three people away from knowing just about anyone. You just find the right person who knows so and so who knows so and so and there you have it. You’re connected to the Queen, the President, and maybe even The Artist Formerly Known as Whatever. The best stories, however, are the ones we can tell about when our own lives directly intersected that of someone "famous." My husband has a great tale about sharing a plane ride with Dom De Luis. My dad went to school with Martin Luther King Jr.

I attended the same church as Mike Singletary. Across the ocean I can hear people saying, "who??" However, for anyone in the U.S. that follows American Football, they recognize the main man behind the defense of the 1985 champion Chicago Bears, the Monsters of the Midway. Samurai Mike he was called. He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He had 10 Pro Bowl selections, 172 career starts, and was All-Pro 8 times. He was known for being a hard hitting defensive player as well as for his honesty and integrity. The way that he was able to stand in the spotlight, break record after record yet still maintain a high level of character is unheard of in this day. Mike Singletary is still one of my personal heros. Unfortunately though, I'm not writing this about him, which is probably a good thing since this isn't the Football section.

The person I am writing about was born on January 24, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois. He attended high school in Wheaton and was a middle linebacker on the football team (like Mike Singletary). He was voted Homecoming King and Most Humorous of his class. Have you ever noticed that most of the time when someone is voted "Most Something" in high school, they rarely are able to maintain that title once real life intrudes? I've seen many "Most Likely to Succeeds" pumping gas instead of behind t
he executive desk. He, however, just got funnier and funnier. Whether a bumble bee, a samurai warrior (like Mike Singletary), Jethro Tull, or Jake Elwood, John Belushi was able to make people laugh, and make them laugh hard.

When talking about the Blues Brothers, we have to talk about John Belushi because he and Dan Aykroyd WERE the Blues Brothers. I know, I know, there was a Blues Brothers 2000 and John wasn't any part of it. Maybe that's why it only grossed $13 million while the original movie, put out in 1980, grossed $57 million.

Amazingly, after a successful career with television on Saturday Night Live, John Belushi only made seven movies over the course of four years: Going South (1978); Animal House (1978); Old Boyfriends (1979); 1941 (1979); The Blues Brothers (1980); Continental Divide (1981); and Neighbors (1981).

While I'm a big fan of Continental Divide, The Blues Brothers is decidedly his best and most popular movie. Did he ever believe that this film would be a cult classic that would reach around the world? Could he have imagined that the dark sunglasses would be worn by everyone and line after line from the movie memorized and repeated? In truth, it's said that he was extremely disappointed at the initial reaction to the film.

In doing The Blues Brothers, John was true to his home stomping grounds. He knew Chicago and its suburbs because he had been raised there. The movie is about two brothers who go through a whole lot of trouble to raise money for a convent that's being threatened with foreclosure.

That may be the shortest movie description in history, but more important than what the movie is about is who's in it. Cameo appearances by Frank Oz (of the Muppet Show fame), Cab Calloway, James Brown, Chaka Khan, John Candy, Pee Wee Herman, Johnny Lee Hooker, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Twiggy, Steven Spielberg and Joe Walsh don't detract at all and in fact, add to
the richness of the Blues Brothers. The soundtrack contains some of the best music to date and should be in every person's collection. And, of course, there's the suit sporting, glasses bearing, hat wearing pair, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.

Many people talk about the number of police cars that were wrecked (there are rumors that up to 2000 were used, and others that the same 60 were fixed and re-wrecked), or that every time police cars wreck you can hear someone say, "they broke my watch." Some people think that John Belushi never takes off his sunglasses (but he does when confronted by a machine gun toting Carrie Fisher in the sewers). There's the amazing car chase on Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago with the el trains (elevated trains) running overhead which ends at the Daley Center. Could any other script ever come close to pulling together blues music, Catholic nuns, nazis and high speed chases into 148 minutes?

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when John died. It was the first time I ever cried over the death of someone I didn't know. Recently I read several opinions regarding the question, "Popstars and Drugs – What's Your Opinion," and I have to say, even though it will make some people mad, a lot of the answers I read were a crock of crap. I'm tired of losing these wonderful talens to drugs and alcohol. The list is far too long; Morrison, Hendrix, Joplan, Bonham, Moon, and more recently, John Panozzo (Styx), Shannon Hoon (Blind Melon) and Jonathan Melvoin (Smashing Pumpkins). And, John Belushi. What a waste. Have you ever watched Behind The Music on VH1? You’d think they’d learn. Kudos to Aerosmith, Billy Idol and all the others who learned before it was too late.

My life never quite intersected John Belushi's, but it came close. I also went to Wheaton Central High School, 10 years after he did. I worked at the local pharmacy with his
mom (a very nice woman) and met John's brother, Jim, before either one got famous. Jim used to come in the pharmacy and tell us what Hollywood was like. At least he was able to learn from his brother's mistakes.

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