Episode 184 – All of Me (1984)/Newsletter #87

Steve Martin looks at his hand while doing that thing with his face that he thinks is feminine, which is just a furrowed brow.

Steve Martin is a lawyer. Lily Thomlin is dead. Can two souls inhabit one body without driving each other crazy? We go back to the Steve Martin/Carl Reiner well for this screwball comedy about living your best life, and have a great time doing it.

Starring Steve Martin, Lily Thomlin, Victoria Tennant, Richard Libertini, and Dana Elcar. Written by Phil Alden Robinson. Directed by Carl Reiner.

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This week: 5/1/2025

EPISODE 184 – ALL OF ME (1984)

I never could keep straight which movie was All of Me and which was The Man With Two Brains, another film directed by Reiner and starring Martin, which we will cover at some point in the future. Naturally, I haven’t see Brains, but now can say I’ve seen All of Me, which feels like an early step in Steve Martin’s evolution from Wild and Crazy Guy to romantic lead. He’d already made a stab at more serious work with the underrated Pennies from Heaven, but that was much more of a drama than All of Me, which feels more like a hinge point in his career–two years later he would be doing Roxanne and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, both of which, while still comedies, are a pretty far cry from The Jerk or even Three Amigos.

Starring Steve Martin, Lily Thomlin, Victoria Tennant, Richard Libertini, and Dana Elcar. Written by Phil Alden Robinson. Directed by Carl Reiner.

HOLLYWOOD AVALON – MACGYVER: GOOD KNIGHT MACGYVER (1991)

We delve into some prime late 20th century nonsense when we watch a two-part episode of MacGyver, wherein our mulleted hero is conked on the head and wakes up in Camelot, uncovers an assassination plot against King Arthur, trades tips with Merlin, rescue a fair maiden, and does battle against Queen Morganna.

Borrowing lightly–very, very lightly, I mean, if it was any lighter it’d be the sun–from Twain’s Connecticut Yankee, the first episode is a pretty lackluster affair that plays out more like the worst Renaissance Faire you’ve ever been to–cheesy costumes, bad accents, and Camelot is really just a series of tents. Worse, there isn’t a single woman–not even Guenevere–and no famous knights other than a very uncharacteristic Galahad.

The second half, once MacGyver and Merlin go up against the evil Morganna, is a lot more fun. There’s a castle, some stunts, a few decent explosions, and the mystery of MacGyver’s first name is revealed. Actually, I don’t know if MacGyver’s first name was ever a serious mystery on the show, but this was the first time it was ever used in the show, and coming as it is in the final season, I guess it must’ve been some kind of lore.

So is it Arthurian? Oh, sure, definitely. Is it any good? Eh. I guess if you like cheesy action shows from the 1980s as they hobble their way into the 1990s, there are worse ways to spend two hours.

Starring Richard Dean Anderson, Dana Elcar, Time Winters, Christopher Collet, Christopher Neame, Robin Strasser, and Colm Meany. Written by John Considine. Directed by Michael Vejar.

What else are we up to this week?

Mary: So we spent last weekend at the Ambler Theater, enjoying the 35mm Film Festival; granted, it’s wild that the film format that was dominant until Avatar is now held up as this niche interest, on a par with listening to vinyl on a tube amplifier stereo, but that’s the 21st century for you. Anyway, we saw seven films and multiple shorts over three days, and a full report will be coming in a bonus episode for the patreon.

Anyway, what struck me is how great the Philly movie scene is. Here I am in the suburbs, and there are several art house theaters: the Ambler, the County in Doylestown, the Hiway in Jenkintown, the Colonial in Phoenixville, the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, the Garden in Princeton, and other independent general theaters like the Water Tower in Montgomeryville or the State up in Boyertown. In the city proper, there’s the Philadelphia Film Society, which has taken over the Prince Theater and the old Ritz theaters; the Roxy is gone, sadly. Further away, there’s the Mahoning Drive-In with its special programming, with guests and weekend marathons of horror movies, found footage, and special double features. There’s even a film journal headquartered in Philadelphia–Movie Jawn, a quarterly Cahiers du Cinéma or Sight and Sound for people who pronounce it “wooder”.

On any given night, I can find something worth seeing in this area, and it won’t just be whatever’s at the multiplex. There might be a found footage show; a horror marathon; a silent movie with live accompaniment; a special showing of 2001 or How Green Was My Valley. One night last October, Dennis and I were downtown, with no real plans, and saw Coppola’s Dracula was playing at the PFI–how could we not stop in and watch it?

I don’t know what other cities are like, but Philly’s a great town for filmlovers.

Dennis: