Welcome to the 323rd Edition of my series. Later today I will be
watching the 49ers taking on the Giants for the NFC spot in the Super
Bowl. I have been a Niners fan for many years and good to see them on
top again. Hopefully they win today. I recently attended a meeting at
Muncie Civic Theater with people wanting to start an improv comedy
troupe. I have never been involved with improv comedy and was a much
different world. On the first night of learning improv, I was
speechless but I hope to learn more and maybe be part of this. I hope
to be able to get better and broaden my horizons more. Last week, I
wrote a note which I reflected on my year of 2011 so when you are done
reading this, please check out my more personal note on Facebook.
Crank
(2006): Starting the week out with this adrenaline rush of a film.
Jason Statham stars in this film as assassin Chev Chelios who has been
poisoned by his rival Verona, played by Jose Pablo Cantillo, and learns
he must keep moving to stay alive while he seeks revenge and a cure.
Amy Smart plays his loyal girlfriend Eve and Dwight Yoakam plays his
doctor who advises him to keep moving. This is one of those that if you
can just suspend your disbelief a bit this is a very fun action film
that never stops.
Blue Valentine (2010): Derek Cianfrance
directed and co-wrote this film which stars Ryan Gosling and DAWSON'S
CREEK alum Michelle Williams. Gosling stars as Dean and Williams stars
as Cindy who are a struggling married couple. It jumps around in time
periods showing them in their current marriage, when they first meet,
and other times of their relationship. It also goes into the home lives
of the characters of which affect them later in life. This movie is a
great portrait of a contemporary married couple with great performances
from the leads where there was a lot of improvisation that the director
wanted. This is a great independent film which is hard to describe but
great to watch. Cianfrance took many years to get this movie finalized
as he made many draft modifications and did some documentaries for
funding to get this finished product.
The Pledge (2001): This is
part two of my two-part Jack Nicholson series where last week I used
him in a comedy for AS GOOD AS IT GETS but here gets a more serious
role. Sean Penn directed this movie which stars stars Nicholson as
Jerry Black who is a cop on the eve of his retirement. He soon learns
of the murder of a little girl and promises the parents that he will
find the murderer. He soon learns there is a serial killer at play and
dedicates his life to finding that killer after feeling that the person
arrested was not the killer. He then moves into the mountains where the
murders take place hoping to find the killer. He then forms a
relationship with a local named Lori, played by Penn's then wife Robin
Wright, and her daughter who appears to be a target of the killer. This
movie has some great performances from Nicholson and has quite a cast
involving Aaron Eckhart, Benicio Del Toro, Helen Mirren, Mickey Rourke
and many others. Most who know me know that I am a big fan of Mickey
Rourke and he is very good in his small part as a janitor whose daughter
was killed. In his biography, it notes that Rourke was very grateful
to Nicholson for "taking a step back" to allow his performance. I
thought the movie was very well done but was not sure what to think on
what was such an unsettling ending I thought. It is still a pretty good
movie though and a good performance from a more toned-down Nicholson.
The
Mad Doctor (1933): This my animation short for the week that came from
a DVD that my Dad got me for Christmas which shows many animation
shorts from the 30s from the many animation studios and this one
features the iconic Mickey Mouse and his dog Pluto. Pluto is soon
abducted by a mad scientist who intends to put his head on the head of a
chicken. Mickey soon tries to rescue Pluto but has a lot of trouble.
This one has lot of funny moments and also rather disturbing at times
but is a very entertaining Mickey short.
Roxie Hart (1942):
Ginger Rogers played the title character who is most known for the
musical CHICAGO. This takes place in the town of Chicago of which
publicity is of much importance. Roxie has admitted to a murder and her
attorney Billy Flynn, played by Adolphe Menjou, who does everything he
can to swing the story to get the publicity and to win the hearts of
jurors. This movie is actually based on a true story and this movie was
probably pretty controversial for its time with the strict guidelines
by movie companies. People looking for a musical will not get it here
but this movie was very entertaining and had some great dialogue with
Rogers playing the part of Roxie very well with this story inspiring the
musical we have come to love today.
Thunderbirds Are GO (1966):
This is based on the tv series of which uses puppetry as the
characters. This is a sci-fi film of which a family of pilots who must
investigate a sabotaged mission. Being based on the tv series, it may
be easier for those who have seen it to know the characters better but
this was greatly filmed even by today's standards with the use of
puppetry. This is available on Instant Netflix.
Rebel Without a
Cause (1955): This is one of the dvds my Dad got me for Christmas.
This is the 2nd of the three movies with James Dean. James Dean comes
from the town of Fairmount, Indiana which is about an hour from me and
every year there is a big car festival out there where people from all
over the United States come out. In this movie he plays Jim Stark who
is the new kid in town that has a troubled past. Immediately, people
start trouble with him and challenge him to things like knife fights and
a game of "chicken" where he feels he must prove he is not one. He
soon finds live with Judy, played by Natalie Wood, who has a troubled
life as well with her family. Sal Mineo plays Plato who befriends Jim
but also has his own troubles being bullied which makes him react in
violent ways. These three people come together as friends and leads to
quite a climax in the end. The three stars did a very good job and are
all known for all dying at a very young age. Jim Backus, who is most
known for voicing the iconic Mr. Magoo, plays Jim's father. Look for a
young Dennis Hopper as one of the local gang members. Nicholas Ray
directed this film and rode around with some gangs to get an
understanding of them. This movie does show a lot about effects of
bullying, especially towards the character of Plato. The first time I
saw this was as a kid, it was shown in the Paramount Theater in Anderson
when my Dad took me to see it. I saw it years later on a big screen at
Muncie Civic Theater which was shown during a film festival. It is
quite the classic and still holds up.
Roxanne (1987): Steve
Martin stars in this film and he wrote the screenplay which was a modern
day adaptation to the play CYRANNO DE BERGERAC written by Edmond
Rostand. Martin stars as C.D. Bales who is the head of his local fire
department and is a very charming man but has a very big nose. Daryl
Hannah plays the title character who C.D. takes an immediate liking to
and she really likes him for his personality but also likes the new
fireman Chris, played by Rick Rossovich, for his looks. When watching
this, I found it very fitting where the character of Chris makes a
reference saying that he likes the 49ers, not so much the giants and
they are the teams that play tonight. This is a great comedy that while
a love story is involved, it goes way beyond the term "chick flick".
It opens with a hilarious fight scene with another great verbal exchange
in the bar. Shelley Duvall, Fred Willard, and Damon Wayans co-star in
this film. This is possibly one of best works of Steve Martin who was
great as C.D. but also wrote a very funny and moving screenplay.
Guess
Who's Coming to Dinner (1967): This is part one of a two-part
Katherine Hepburn series. This is another of the great DVDs my Dad got
me for Christmas. This is part of the Stanley Kramer DVD collection and
a very groundbreaking film for its time. Katherine Houghton, in her
film debut, stars as Joey Drayton who comes home to introduce her
parents to her fiance John, played by Sidney Poitier, who is black and
Joey is white. This movie was during the rise of segregation of the
blacks and whites so while it is still looked down upon some in today's
society, it's not nearly as bad as this time period. Spencer Tracy and
Katherine Hepburn play Joey's parents whose beliefs are challenged when
this unexpected event occurs and John tells the parents that for him to
marry her, he must have their approval. To add to the complications,
John's parents come to visit who also do not know of the interracial
relationship and must also try to adjust to this news. Houghton is the
actual niece of Hepburn. This is the last of many teamings between the
iconic duo of Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn and the last movie
for Tracy who died days after this movie was done. This movie really
did a lot for the segregation of that time period. When this movie was
made, interracial marriage was illegal in 14 states but lots of changes
were made after this film. Some of the younger generations might not
understand the significance today but remember, when this was made it
was very controversial where people who watched it had to analyze their
beliefs.
Lombardi (2010): I end with this documentary which I
felt was quite fitting being near the Super Bowl. This is an HBO
documentary which tells the story of the legendary Packers coach Vince
Lombardi. This talks about his childhood up to his death. There is
interviews by his widowed wife, children, and players. On my last
entry, I discussed the prejudice that blacks had to deal with and in
this one I found interesting that he dealt with his own prejudice about
him being of Italian descent but made him more open-minded. Much of his
players commented on his methods to get the best out of them but also
commented on how caring he was towards them. I don't remember which
player but they talked on this about how one of his black players wanted
to marry a white woman and actually asked his blessing in which
Lombardi had no problems with it. Like my last entry, it mentioned how
interracial marriage was illegal in some states. At the time, Lombardi
took some heat from his superiors for giving this approval showing how
far we have come. This obviously talks about his days with the New York
Giants, then his two Superbowls with the Packers, and his last days
with the Redskins but it goes far beyond that and is very informative.
This is available on Comcast On-Demand through the HBO documentaries.
Well,
that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and dislike. Stay
tuned for next week which so far includes George Clooney, Angela
Lansbury, Susan Sarandon, Porky Pig, Dustin Hoffman, Alfred Hitchcock,
more Katherine Hepburn, and many others.
HONORABLE COMEDIAN MENTION
David
Koechner: I have not done this category in a long time but last night
at the Muncie Civic Theater I had the pleasure of seeing him perform
live. This opened with an Indianapolis Comedian named Matt Holt who was
very funny in his own right and performed for about an hour. He talked
a lot about his unsuccessful marriages and the hard times he has
financially and made some good comedy about it but then came the one
everyone came to see. Many do not know this name of David Koechner but
is most known for playing the recurring character Todd Packer in THE
OFFICE and Champ in ANCHORMAN. He started out the night by doing some
showtunes in a very comedic way. He did a lot of interaction with the
audience including a Ball State girl whose name was Laurie when he
mentioned he was from Tipton, Missouri and then asked if anyone there
was from Tipton, Indiana where she rose her hand and lead to some
comedic interactions throughout the night. He also reenacted some of
his most famous movie lines. One of the highlights was him going
walking through the auditorium to find all the fellow bald men and then
kissing them on the bald head or sometimes kissing the female with them.
He also touched a lot on politics, neighbors, and his family. This
was a very fun night with lots of laughs.
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