Movies I Want to See: Foxy Lady (1971)

Ivan Reitman's directorial debut (which he also produced and edited), Foxy Lady, is another one of the those films that I just can't seem to find a whole lot of info on. The movie's IMDb and Wikipedia pages don't really help so I had to glean info from other sources, mainly a synopsis written by Clarke Fountain for Rovi (a company that provides metadata for cable and satellite providers among many other things) that I found on The New York Times website. It's a romantic comedy based on the myth of Hero and Leander where the gender roles are reversed. In the original Greek story, Hero is an Aphrodite priestess who lives in Sestos and Leander, a young man from Abydos who falls in love with her. They live on opposite sides of the Hellespont, a strait connecting the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean Sea in northwest Turkey. Leander would swim across the strait every night to be with Hero and she would light a lamp in the top of the tower where she lived to guide his way. Eventually, Leander wooed his way into having sex with Hero and they enjoyed the remainder of the summer months in happiness. But on one stormy winter's night, the high winds blew out Hero's guiding light and Leander was lost in the waters and drowned. When Hero found Leander dead, she threw herself off the top her tower to the rocks below to join her beloved in death. In the film, Hero (Alan Gordon) is a super nice guy who can't help but to lend a hand to those in need and Leander (Sylvia Feigel) is the "richest girl in the world." Its a romantic comedy so guess what happens? They fall in love and get married! Written by Robert Sandler and Matt Seigel, this is Eugene Levy's first film appearance and he co-stars with Art Hindle and future fellow SCTV alum Andrea Martin. And how about this for obscure? I can't find any clips or a trailer for this movie anywhere on the internet!

Meatballs (1979)

Film Title: Meatballs
Released: June 29, 1979
Directed by: Ivan Reitman
Written by: Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg, Janis Allen & Harold Ramis

Starring: Bill Murray, Harvey Atkin & Chris Makepeace

Plot: The kids and counselors of the below average Camp North Star are going to make this a summer to remember, but not if their rivals at the prestigious Camp Mohawk have anything to say about it!

IMDb: 6.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 75/100
My score: 3/5

Meatballs is fun little romp through the now familiar comedy film territory of summer camp. Known mostly as the launching pad for the careers of Bill Murray (here in his first starring role) and Ivan Reitman, it also introduced child actor Chris Makepeace. Murray and Makepeace have a good chemistry as the head camp counselor and the kid he takes under his wing. The film spawned three sequels, only one of which has any thing to do with the original. The movie is also Matt Craven's first film appearance. The film won three Genie Awards (Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Kate Lynch; Best Original Screenplay: Len Blum, Janis Allen & Daniel Goldberg; Golden Reel Award: Ivan Reitman & Daniel Goldberg) and was nominated in another six categories.