'Airplane!' Is a Comedy Classic. In 1980, No One Saw It Coming.

In the summer of 1980, there were only two big-studio comedies that anyone was buzzing about. Neither one of them was 'Airplane!' If you have trouble reading this message, view it in a browser.       Airplane! Is Considered One of the Best Comedies of All Time. But 40 Years Ago No One Saw it Coming.   Forty years ago, the summer movie season looked like a very different beast than the one we know today. Night and day, really. Back in 1980, as Memorial Day approached, there was only a small handful of sequels on the release schedule, but they were mainly of the Smokey and the Bandit and Cheech and Chong variety. Sure, the can't-miss blockbuster, The Empire Strikes Back, was on the calendar, too. But the very idea of superhero movies didn't exist yet, unless you counted the lone exception of Christopher Reeve's Superman II. In other words, it was a better and simpler time when celluloid comedies still had a fighter's chance in the warm-weather marketplace. And heading into that long, hot summer four decades past, there were only two big-studio comedies that anyone was buzzing about. Neither one of them was Airplane! Chris Nashawaty explains how it became the stuff of comedy legend. Read More           Remembering Action Park, New Jersey's Deranged Theme Park, "Where You're the Center of the Accident"   From 1978 to 1996, thrill-seekers from around the world flocked to Action Park, a "human zoo" where guests were injured nearly every hour. Here, in an excerpt from his book, Action Park: Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America's Most Dangerous Amusement Park, author Andy Mulvihill, the owner's son, remembers the wave pool where a summer job became a struggle to keep people alive. "My father's name was Gene Mulvihill, and, before he opened Action Park, he had no experience of any kind running an amusement park," Mulvihill writes. Read More           The Time Will Never Be Right to Leave Afghanistan   Even Donald Trump has some instinctive sense that we must extricate ourselves from these quagmires of our own making in Afghanistan, though it rarely manifests in his policy. When it does, it's haphazard, as he announces on a whim that we're getting out of Afghanistan only to reverse himself within the week, presumably under pressure from political allies and military brass. It would be preferable to have a real plan for leaving the country we have waged war in for two decades, one that gives the people who live there the best chance at a good life when we're gone. But it feels sometimes as if every one of these plans is doomed, that the framework becomes a continuing justification to stay longer. A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee reinforced this notion Wednesday. Esquire Politics Editor Jack Homes explains why we need to learn from ourselves. Read More           Naomi Osaka: I Never Would've Imagined Writing This Two Years Ago   "I love the thought of a biracial girl in a classroom in Japan glowing with pride when I win a Grand Slam. I really hope that the playground is a friendlier place for her now that she can point to a role model and be proud of who she is. And dream big," writes legend-in-the-making Naomi Osaka. In the wake of George Floyd's murder, the decorated tennis star hopped on a plane to Minneapolis to join the fight and pay her respects. In this exclusive op-ed, Osaka reflects on her place in the world, and using her platform to make her voice heard. Read More           The 10 Best Movies Based on Real Life of 2020   Once you've come to peace with that, movies and TV based on real-life events are actually the best. You get to know about events only previously chronicled in a 15,000-word New Yorker article you never got around to reading, and you can do it in the comfort of the theater with a big bucket of popcorn on your lap—or, even better, your couch. Learning can be fun, kids. But the stakes are high for real-life projects this year. If you're the biggest Aretha Franklin fan, you're looking forward to Jennifer Hudson's depiction of the legend in Respect. And Bowie fans will anxiously await the arrival of Stardust, starring Johnny Flynn as the man himself. Sure, you may have to wait a bit longer than expected for a few of these, but 2020 is still going to be a good year for biopics and real tales—so bring on the (sort of) true stories. Read More           Lenny Kravitz Can Break Every Style 'Rule' and Still Look Cool as Hell   In posing for a photo for his new toothpaste (yes, toothpaste) venture yesterday, Kravitz came through in a double-denim number so good I almost spit out my lunch. In a classic jean shirt and some broken-in denim (worn sans shoes, naturally), the man couldn't look more like the rule-breaking style renegade he is. Double denim? Bootcut jeans?! While barefoot?!?! Kravitz is shooting for a strangely compelling trifecta of red flags here, and pulling it off with expected aplomb. Read More         Read More on Esquire.com       Follow Us     Unsubscribe  Privacy Notice   esquire.com ©2020 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019