Film 64 in the "1001 Films to See Before You Die" challenge was 1987's "Raising Arizona". As the credits to the film play on my TV and the banjo music plays through the headphones, I can honestly say that I knew very little about this film going into it and enjoyed it very much. This was my first taste at seeing Nicolas Cage acting many years before the Cage that I grew up with who was complete batsh*t crazy 24/7 and went on to ruin The Wicker Man remake for me and star in National Treasure. This film also taught me a few things. The big one being that you should never steal. Whether that be stealing Huggies or robbing a bank or a baby. It also taught me that it isn't easy to adapt to having a newborn in the family. Yes it has it happy moment but after seeing this film, it makes it feel like it's harder than it is. This is coming from someone who doesn't have kids and only knows about what it was like growing up with a child from stories that my mum tells me. I did not know that John Goodman was in this film so I kinda got a little excited when I saw him onscreen. I have no idea why but I smiled when I saw him burst out of the ground after escaping prison. I did find it rather funny when he and his buddy have realised that the baby is not in the car and they're both screaming as loud as they can. I had flashbacks to a Jackass stunt that Johnny Knoxville did where he drove around Los Angeles with a fake baby sat in it's booster seat on the roof as random people shout and point at him and say how much of a bad father he is. Sadly, none of the Jackass movies made it on the 1001 films list but I might review one of them in the future after this challenge is over. This film, according to the description on Amazon Instant Video, was influenced on Tex Avery cartoons, Sam Raimi horror movies and B-Movies from the 1940's. Also, a total of fifteen babies played the babies of Mr and Mrs Arizona. One of the babies was actually fired during production when he learned to walk. Bit harsh. I recommend giving this a watch and it's currently free on Amazon Instant Video (not a sponsor). If you have seen this film then let me know what you thought of it in the comments. Here is what I had to say while watching 1987's "Raising Arizona"
Film - Raising Arizona
Year - 1987
Director - Joel & Ethan Coen
Staring - Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson
IMDb Rating - 7.5/10
My Rating - 7.9/10
Length - 94 min (1h 34min)
Genre - Comedy, Crime
Looks like something normal in Nicolas Cage's life
Flirting with a cop?
Well that jail time wasn't long
And back in jail within one hour
H.I. is helping a cop with her life
What's John Goodman doing there?
You ate sand?
And back out of jail and back to robbing the same store
H.I. has a tattoo of Woody Woodpecker!
Eat, Sleep, Get Arrested, Repeat
H.I. only went and married the cop
Socks with sandals!!!!
So that's how babies are made
Nothing like a crazy man trying to sell you bathrooms on TV
That is a nice sunset
I'm gonna have this banjo music stuck in my head for some time
It's Wednesday April 12 at 8:45PM at the Arizona Household - Feel like the voice over guy from Big Brother reading that
Is H.I. stealing a baby?
How big is that kids room?
Please don't shake your ass at the camera
Attack of the toddlers
It's like 3D... only better!!!
How have none of the Arizona's gone up to see what all the noise is upstairs?
One's only gone and gotten hidden
Now they check on them
She's making him steal a baby
Everything I'm seeing Cage do in this film seems normal to me
H.I. has got a baby! He's got Nathan Jr.... He thinks
Hide the Playboy Magazines from the baby
Babies don't know swear words
Time for a family portrait
John Goodman just came out of the ground
It's like Shawshank Redemption
Better pull your friend out by his feet
How much hair gel do you need?
How the hell did they find H.I.'s house?
There's already problems in the reunion
Better let them stay a night or two
Is that Ghost Rider?
NOT THE BUNNY!!!!
NOT THE TINY LIZARD!!!!
H.I. had a dream about Mrs Arizona finding out Nathan Jr has gone
Better sing songs about murder to the baby
Meanwhile... Mr Arizona is confronting the news
Better promote the shop even in crisis
How can Mr Arizona focus on who to answer questions
Ghost Rider's arrive at the hole that those men escaped from
And he's found the hair gel in the restroom
I'm calling him Ghost Rider... just because
CORN FLAKES!!!!
Life lesson from this film - If you don't breast feed your babies, they'll be in prison
ATTACK THE CAR!!!
ATTACK THE HOUSE!!!
Glen's jokes are rubbish
That kid just squired his gun at H.I.'s crotch
Nothing like writting "FART" on the wall! REBEL!!
Is this baby named Hyde or is it called Ed?
The word "relax" is not in this woman's vocabulary
Those cactuses in the background look fake
I ain't wife swapping!
Glen now has a broken nose from running into a tree
I'll be stealing these Huggies
She's only left him behind to get arrested
I don't think I'll be living in this town anytime soon
You should have used the Huggies as body armour
A dog's #1 enemy - A CHAIN!!!
Better get my husband before the cops do
Better hop in a stranger's pickup truck
This is like a mission from Grand Theft Auto gone wrong
And that's the store clerk taken care off
Just cutting through your house
Better escape in the supermarket
Who lets loose dogs run freely in a supermarket
What the fuck is going on?
And the wife has H.I. back
Got my Huggies back too
Meanwhile at home
I guess the wife still has that cop mentality
Just gonna take all your Budweiser
Fancy robbing a bank tomorrow morning?
It's taken me 55 minutes to finally know that H.I wife's name is Ed
GHOST RIDER!!!
Better write a letter explaining my actions
H.I. says he isn't fit to raise a family
Looks like Ghost Rider's found H.I.'s home
Ghost Rider is one mean looking bastard
He kinda looks like my dad
"You want to find a Dunkin' Donuts, then call a cop"
Ghost Rider wants double the reward money for returning Nathan Jr
Mr Arizona is accusing him of stealing the baby
Where did they get shotguns from?
Glen's here... to spoil the party
Why does Glen have a "Caution: I Drive Naked" sticker
H.I.'s friends know about the baby and want the reward money
Better leave the big boys to the fighting while we hide in the bathroom
Crazy Cage Moment!!!!
Ed's freed H.I. from the chair and says he's getting the baby back
Better sing about Chicken Dumplings to the baby
The baby's crapped himself!!
How does one put a nappy on a baby?
They're driving down the road with the baby on the roof of the car
The baby's not on the roof
It's still at the gas station sat in the middle of the road
Awkward relationship moment
Well that's one way to say you want a divorce
GHOST RIDER!!!!
Is he after the two "jailbirds"?
Leave the baby in the car while we rob a bank?
Na... Take it with us
SHIT!!! Where did all the clerks go? They're on the floor
She just put a bomb in the money bag
IT'S A PAINT BOMB!!!
And they've left Nathan Jr behind... again!!!
Better take the book back and find the baby
EXPLOSION!!!
Ghost Rider's got the baby
And now he's after H.I.
That has to hurt
Ed just takes the baby and makes a run for it
Better hide under this car so I don't get beat up
That failed!
BEAR HUG!!!!
Ghost Rider also has a Woody Woodpecker tattoo
H.I. managed to set off a grenade on Ghost Rider's jacket killing him
Better return the baby and the book to the rightful owner
They don't want the $25,000 reward!!!
Better explain why we took Nathan Jr
Time for another one of H.I.'s dreams
His mates returned to prison the same way they left it
Glen's still doing on about H.I. and got arrested for making a Polish joke to a Polish cop
Nathan Jr grew up to be a top high school college football player
Everyone in the future will wear suits and ties
"Maybe it was Utah"
THE END
Film - Raising Arizona
Year - 1987
Director - Joel & Ethan Coen
Staring - Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson
IMDb Rating - 7.5/10
My Rating - 7.9/10
Length - 94 min (1h 34min)
Genre - Comedy, Crime
Looks like something normal in Nicolas Cage's life
Flirting with a cop?
Well that jail time wasn't long
And back in jail within one hour
H.I. is helping a cop with her life
What's John Goodman doing there?
You ate sand?
And back out of jail and back to robbing the same store
H.I. has a tattoo of Woody Woodpecker!
Eat, Sleep, Get Arrested, Repeat
H.I. only went and married the cop
Socks with sandals!!!!
So that's how babies are made
Nothing like a crazy man trying to sell you bathrooms on TV
That is a nice sunset
I'm gonna have this banjo music stuck in my head for some time
It's Wednesday April 12 at 8:45PM at the Arizona Household - Feel like the voice over guy from Big Brother reading that
Is H.I. stealing a baby?
How big is that kids room?
Please don't shake your ass at the camera
Attack of the toddlers
It's like 3D... only better!!!
How have none of the Arizona's gone up to see what all the noise is upstairs?
One's only gone and gotten hidden
Now they check on them
She's making him steal a baby
Everything I'm seeing Cage do in this film seems normal to me
H.I. has got a baby! He's got Nathan Jr.... He thinks
Hide the Playboy Magazines from the baby
Babies don't know swear words
Time for a family portrait
John Goodman just came out of the ground
It's like Shawshank Redemption
Better pull your friend out by his feet
How much hair gel do you need?
How the hell did they find H.I.'s house?
There's already problems in the reunion
Better let them stay a night or two
Is that Ghost Rider?
NOT THE BUNNY!!!!
NOT THE TINY LIZARD!!!!
H.I. had a dream about Mrs Arizona finding out Nathan Jr has gone
Better sing songs about murder to the baby
Meanwhile... Mr Arizona is confronting the news
Better promote the shop even in crisis
How can Mr Arizona focus on who to answer questions
Ghost Rider's arrive at the hole that those men escaped from
And he's found the hair gel in the restroom
I'm calling him Ghost Rider... just because
CORN FLAKES!!!!
Life lesson from this film - If you don't breast feed your babies, they'll be in prison
ATTACK THE CAR!!!
ATTACK THE HOUSE!!!
Glen's jokes are rubbish
That kid just squired his gun at H.I.'s crotch
Nothing like writting "FART" on the wall! REBEL!!
Is this baby named Hyde or is it called Ed?
The word "relax" is not in this woman's vocabulary
Those cactuses in the background look fake
I ain't wife swapping!
Glen now has a broken nose from running into a tree
I'll be stealing these Huggies
She's only left him behind to get arrested
I don't think I'll be living in this town anytime soon
You should have used the Huggies as body armour
A dog's #1 enemy - A CHAIN!!!
Better get my husband before the cops do
Better hop in a stranger's pickup truck
This is like a mission from Grand Theft Auto gone wrong
And that's the store clerk taken care off
Just cutting through your house
Better escape in the supermarket
Who lets loose dogs run freely in a supermarket
What the fuck is going on?
And the wife has H.I. back
Got my Huggies back too
Meanwhile at home
I guess the wife still has that cop mentality
Just gonna take all your Budweiser
Fancy robbing a bank tomorrow morning?
It's taken me 55 minutes to finally know that H.I wife's name is Ed
GHOST RIDER!!!
Better write a letter explaining my actions
H.I. says he isn't fit to raise a family
Looks like Ghost Rider's found H.I.'s home
Ghost Rider is one mean looking bastard
He kinda looks like my dad
"You want to find a Dunkin' Donuts, then call a cop"
Ghost Rider wants double the reward money for returning Nathan Jr
Mr Arizona is accusing him of stealing the baby
Where did they get shotguns from?
Glen's here... to spoil the party
Why does Glen have a "Caution: I Drive Naked" sticker
H.I.'s friends know about the baby and want the reward money
Better leave the big boys to the fighting while we hide in the bathroom
Crazy Cage Moment!!!!
Ed's freed H.I. from the chair and says he's getting the baby back
Better sing about Chicken Dumplings to the baby
The baby's crapped himself!!
How does one put a nappy on a baby?
They're driving down the road with the baby on the roof of the car
The baby's not on the roof
It's still at the gas station sat in the middle of the road
Awkward relationship moment
Well that's one way to say you want a divorce
GHOST RIDER!!!!
Is he after the two "jailbirds"?
Leave the baby in the car while we rob a bank?
Na... Take it with us
SHIT!!! Where did all the clerks go? They're on the floor
She just put a bomb in the money bag
IT'S A PAINT BOMB!!!
And they've left Nathan Jr behind... again!!!
Better take the book back and find the baby
EXPLOSION!!!
Ghost Rider's got the baby
And now he's after H.I.
That has to hurt
Ed just takes the baby and makes a run for it
Better hide under this car so I don't get beat up
That failed!
BEAR HUG!!!!
Ghost Rider also has a Woody Woodpecker tattoo
H.I. managed to set off a grenade on Ghost Rider's jacket killing him
Better return the baby and the book to the rightful owner
They don't want the $25,000 reward!!!
Better explain why we took Nathan Jr
Time for another one of H.I.'s dreams
His mates returned to prison the same way they left it
Glen's still doing on about H.I. and got arrested for making a Polish joke to a Polish cop
Nathan Jr grew up to be a top high school college football player
Everyone in the future will wear suits and ties
"Maybe it was Utah"
THE END