The verdict seems clear: Mel Brooks continues to thrive as the auteur of disorder. Further, his blasphemies on Hulu this week serve as a welcome distraction from the numbing debates that usually dominate Oscar Week.
Twenty years ago, insiders assured us that The Producers would never work because Broadway disdains sketch comedy. Later, skeptics said Brooks’ career would not survive streaming because his hit-and-miss routines need the shared guffaws of a movie theater.
Still, History of the World, Part II was applauded this week by reviewers who seem delighted that a 96-year-old continues to deploy comic confusion, and wade into issues that might not survive even a Chris Rock special — yes, Rock’s new Netflix special is also a study in “selective outrage.” Brooks and Rock have each provided welcome distractions as well as offbeat hits.
The customary dialogues of Oscar Week usually focus on weighty questions like: Has this been a good year for movies or bad? (the answer: never good enough).
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