Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

6/07/2022

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) - Spoofing funny, baby, yeah!

♥♥♥♥

+ Best New Franchise of the Year + Best Poster of the Year + Best Spoof Movie of the Year

A barrage of fun quotes from the film in psychedelic 1960s styled lettering and the inimitable Mike Myers fill out this hilarious poster for Jay Roach's Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

England's #1 spy is cryogenically frozen at the peak of 1960s 'swinging London' period, as his arch nemesis Dr. Evil does the same. 30 years later he is unfrozen, as his unique talents are needed again: Evil has reawoken with a new terrible scheme!

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is written by writer/co-producer/star Mike Myers (The Love Guru (2008)) and directed by great New Mexican filmmaker Jay Roach (Zoo Radio (1990)).

It is a wildly cheerful, coarse comedy that's a grand spoof of the Bond movies and the 1960s in the West. It opens with an irresistible dance sequence, and is followed by wacky scenes in London of the past, leading into a veritable sea of vulgarities, word puns and physical gags. Will Ferrell (Zoolander (2001)), Tom Arnold (Hard Breakers (2010)) and Christian Slater (True Romance (1993)) are fun in cameos, and Robert Wagner (The Hunters (1958)) as No. 2 is really funny!

Myers has created his best and most resilient character yet here in Powers, which pulls the leg hilariously on the sexualized, male-centric, reality-detached 007 fantasy universe of the past. One might suspect that some of the film's non-stop gags are there mainly to boost the playing time, because some of them truly are detours. - But since they are mostly so funny, it doesn't really matter.

Game Change (2012, TV movie) - Moore and Co. shimmer in Roach's dynamite political retelling
Dinner for Schmucks/Dinner with Schmucks (2010) - Carell carries Roach's flawed but utterly hilarious comedy

2000 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Meet the Parents (2000) - Roach, Stiller, De Niro and Co. make comedy gold

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Watch a very short trailer for the film here

Cost: 16.5 mil. $

Box office: 67.7 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.10 times its cost)

[Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery premiered 29 April (Los Angeles) and runs 91 minutes. Powers was an early 1990s SNL character that Myers created with inspiration from his father. Myers was paid 3 mil. $ for the movie. Shooting took place from August - October 1996 in Nevada, including Las Vegas, and in California, including in Los Angeles. Many of the scenes reportedly contain improvisation. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Breakdown, to a 9.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 4 weekends in the top 5 (#4-#4-#4-X-X-#5), grossing 53.8 mil. $ (79.5 % of the total gross). The film did not have a big reception in the UK, which is attributed to Princess Diana's tragic death shortly prior to its release there. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Daniel Craig said in 2014 that the Bond movies had to change to a more serious tone following Austin Powers, which made the gags the franchise had previously done "impossible" due to its satirizing them. The film spun two sequels, the first being Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999). Roach returned with said film. Myers first returned in 54 (1998). Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is fresh at 74 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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6/07/2022

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) - Spoofing funny, baby, yeah!

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