Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 286th Edition

Welcome to the 286th Edition of my long-running series. This week, I pay tribute to writer Madelyn Davis who recently left us. I did not get a part in the Anderson version of A FEW GOOD MEN but I will just move on and see what is next. As of right now I am ring announcing for Action Packed Wrestling on June 11th in Muncie.

Lord of War (2005): This is part 26 of The Chain and this link goes to Donald Sutherland whose voice was used for the part of Colonel Oliver Southern. This is also part two of a two-part Nicolas Cage series. In this movie, he plays arms dealer Yuri Orlov who is somewhat based on post-Soviet arms dealer Viktor Bout. This movie deals with his rise in arms dealing, along with his younger brother, played by Jared Leto. We see Yuri questioning the morality of what he does. Ethan Hawke plays detective Jack Valentine who really wants to arrest Yuri but can never prove anything to have him arrested. We also see the relationship with his brother Vitaly who complicates a lot of things with his drug problems. Bridget Moynihan plays his future wife Ava Fontaine who was a model and shows their difficult relationship and him keeping his career from her. Andrew Niccol wrote and directed this film and states that they worked with actual arms dealers to get authenticity. None of the US studios would back this film so they had to go through international financing. This was a great part for Cage and a good story.

Red (2010): This is a pretty fun action film which stars Bruce Willis as retired govenment agent Frank Moses. He is bored in his retirement and likes calling the pension department to speak with Sarah, played by Mary-Louise Parker, who is just as bored as he is. Frank is then attacked at his home by masked assailants forcing him to come out of retirement. He then goes to find Sarah and abducts her saying her life is in danger which is the start of their unusual relationship. He also seeks out other retired colleagues Joe, Marvin, and Victoria. Morgan Freeman plays Joe who is at a nursing home but still shows he is very dangerous. John Malkovich plays Marvin and is my favorite in the movie. Helen Mirren is also a lot of fun as Victoria and it is priceless to watch her toting around a machine gun. NIP/TUCK alum Julian McMahon, XENA alum Karl Urban, and Brian Cox co-star. They are all retired and extremely dangerous and a decent action film.

Social Seminar: Changing (1971): This is my short film for the week which I found on TCM On-Demand which was produced by UCLA. This focuses on a family which is trying to deal with all the social changes in society where the parents must questions what they do. They are looking at a real family. This is a pretty realistic look at a hippie-type family and a bit ahead of its time.

Salt of the Earth (1954): This is a movie based on a real-life strike in New Mexico against the Empire Zinc Mine which was put on by Mexican-Americans for the safety issues that go on in their job. This movie made quite a statement. This is also a look at feminism because of the wives who played a big part of the strike and getting the changes made but the husbands did not feel they should have been involved. I was very intrigued by this film and was a very good watch to me. Much of the people involved including director Herbert J. Biberman, screenwriter Michael Wilson, producer Paul Jarrico, and composer Sol Kaplan were "blacklisted" at the time where funding had to be found elsewhere and they had a hard time finding a location. They decided to make this movie as pro-communist as possible to fit the crime they had been accused of doing. It was the only American-made blacklisted film of all time. Actress Rosaura Reveultas was a pretty big actress in Mexico and was accused of communism during the Cold War scare and was deported from the United States and never made another U.S. film again but continued to work in Mexico. Many real-life members of International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter workers appear as extras as supporting members. This was a very realistic look at the treatment of minority workers and them standing up to them. This is available on Instant Netflix and is one that I believe everyone should watch if they have a chance.

The Thief of Bagdad (1940): John Justin stars as Prince Ahmed who is to become King of Bagdad but evil wizard Jaffar blinds him and casts him out as a beggar. When imprisoned he meets thief Abu, played very well by Sabu, and becomes friends while escaping together. Ahmed then sets out to reunite with the princess he loves but is in for a touch journey. Along the way, they find a genie in a bottle, a mechanical flying horse, a magic jewel, and a flying carpet. This was a very colorful film to say the least and had pretty good special effects for the time like making the genie very giant and the flying carpet. This is a fun film for the whole family and is available on Instant Netflix.

Inception (2010): This is part one of a two-part Joseph Gordon-Levitt series. This was written and directed by Christopher Nolan and was one of the most widely regarded films from that year. This film takes place in world where technology is used to enter dreams. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as master thief Dom Cobb who uses these dream states to learn corporate secrets and is very good at his job. However, it has also made him a fugitive but has a chance at redemption. In his life, he steals ideas from corporations but his new assignment requires him to plant an idea. Ken Watanabe co-stars as Saito who has hired Cobb and is very dangerous. Dom then puts together his own team. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Dom's right-hand man Arthur. Ellen Page co-stars as an architectural student who is very good at what she does and creates landscapes for these dreamworlds. This is one movie that requires a lot of attention so don't watch this if you're too distracted and cannot focus on the film. If you can sit through it, I think you will be satisfied but it is not for everyone. It is really hard to explain anything else on the plot and such. It does have some great special effects even for today. Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Marion Cotillard, Pete Postlewaite, Lukas Haas, and Michael Caine all co-star. Many BATMAN alums are in this film. This was a great team effort here including the actors and one to be viewed on a big screen tv if possible.

Yours, Mine and Ours (1968): This is my tribute to Madelyn Davis who wrote the screenplay. This is the ultimate story of big and blended families. Henry Fonda plays Frank, who is a wido in the navy and has ten kids. I LOVE LUCY alum Lucille Ball plays Helen who is a widowed mother of eight. Together, they meet and decide to marry. It then takes a great look at conflict in a family and having to adjust to being in a big house when there are 18 children in the same house. Fonda and Ball work well together. I have never bothered with the 2005 remake and this is the one to watch. Van Johnson and Tom Bosley co-star in this film. I also liked the narration in the film where many of the characters are reflecting on how Frank and Helen got together. The beginning shows where each one has a hard time revealing that they have lots of kids and many humorous moments come from that. This movie came about at around the same time THE BRADY BUNCH came about which was in beginning production. This is based on a true story.

Shot at Sundown (2010): This is a rare week in which I show two short films. I watched this short film at my local downtown Muncie bar the Fickle Peach where a couple people I know were involved. I believe this was shot in New York and co-directed by Karin Partin who also wrote and produced the film along with Kirk Wells. I actually worked with Karin in the show HONK! at the Muncie Civic Theater. My friend Ryan Lash stars in this film as a man whose wife is moving into a Brooklyn neighborhood and their parents being very concerned about them living in a racially shifting neighborhood. This short film packed in a pretty good story with some good dialogue. As I looked at my community theater career on Facebook, I counted that I have worked with Ryan six times where five times we were in the show and one show where he was the assistant director. In fact, HONK! was where I met him. This short film was selected for the Vancouver Film Festival and the Queens World Film Festival. Their website is http://shotatsundown.com and is on imdb.com so congrats to them. Karin has also got quite a little resume on that website so if you get a chance, give this a shot.

Gone With the Wind (1939): I watched this at the Maring-Hunt library in Muncie and I figured it would be cool to see it on a bigger screen and it was quite an experience despite seeing this a couple other times. What more can be said about this epic love story taking place during the Civil War and the Reconstruction period. This is based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell. Vivien Leigh plays Southern belle Scarlet O'Hara who longs for Ashley Wilks, played by Leslie Howard. Ashley clearly likes Scarlet but always chooses to be with Margaret, played by Olivia De Havilland, who remains very nice to Scarlet no matter what. Scarlet soon meets the infamous Rhett Butler, played by Clark Gable, who she forms a relationship with while still longing for Ashley making their relationship very difficult. We also see the hardship of the Civil War. Look for former Superman George Reeves and Ward Bond. We also have a couple pretty notable black actresses in Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen. McDaniel won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. There are many memorable scenes and quotes and most notably Rhett's "frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." Producer David O. Selznick was fined $5000 for having the word "damn" in the film by the Hollywood Production Code. Look and listen for Cliff Edwards who plays a wounded soldier talking about his "brother Jeff" and Edwards would go onto play Jiminy Cricket in PINNOCHIO. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008): The Facebook friend I selected for this one was Freddie. Only a guy like me would make a list that has GWTW to this horror rock opera. Darren Lynn Bousman directed this musical which is based in the not-so-distant-future where a company called Geneco offers organ transplants but at a very high price and if the payments are not made on time, they must face the Repo Men. The story centers around a young girl named Shilo, played well by Alexa Vega, who has a rare disease and must spend most of her time at home but becomes tempted by Geneco and learns of her connection to them and the secret life her father leads. BUFFY alum Anthony Head shows his musical talent as Shilo's father Nathan. Broadway legend Sarah Brightman makes her film debut as Blind Mag. This movie has some rockin' musical numbers and one I hope community theaters start to show one day. This is a very dark musical, very gory, and not for everyone. I liked the use of pictorial drawings to talk about some of the characters. Paul Sorvino and Paris Hilton co-star in this film. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Well, that is all for this week. Tell me what you love and what you hate. Stay tuned for next week which so far includes more Donald Sutherland, more Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and many others.