Year of 100 Films: 4 Amazon Women on the Moon

This 1987 film had several directors and dozens of actors shoved together into a feature length sketch show style movie.

Plot: Plot is misleading as this has several high concept comedic skits based around the idea of channel surfing late at night. The eponymous story is a parody of sci-fi movies of the 1950’s with their chauvinist views on women and other outdated ideas played straight. Between bits of that film we get ideas like messages for a false charity “Black People without Soul” or adverts like “Hair looming.” There are also little fun sketches with big names of the time time like Michelle Pfeiffer, Rosanna Arquette and Steve Guttenberg. It’s silly stuff throughout. There’s not sort of over arching story or theme or anything, it’s a hodgepodge of things mixed up and poured out.

Notes: Fantasy stories can be relatively evergreen, action films and big romance also stand the test of times as does the best sci-fi, even if it ends up being outdated. However comedy, that ages like milk. What is funny or acceptable changes year by year and as a result, what made us laugh at 21 may make us cringe at 47 say. This is one of those, quite a bit sexist, quite a bit racist and yet, I found it charming.

The danger of nostalgia is the idea that “They don’t make ’em like that anymore!” is a negative. Looking at some of these jokes, they have no place today, so not making them like that is a good thing, but they did and as long as you can contextualise this comedy that’s okay. It’s not something I’d show my son, because I feel it’s something that belongs in the past and in that context, it was an enjoyable film. Would I recommend it? No. Do I think it stands up? Also no. But I did enjoy it and one of the reasons for doing this whole thing was to enjoy films again. 6/10