Welcome to the 139th Edition of my long running blog. Oklahoma starts
this friday so if you're near Muncie, come check it out. I really don't
have much else to say so get out your queues and start reading.
Juno
(2007): Jason Reitman directed this independent comedy. This movie kind
of reminds me of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE. No, not because of the storyline
but because of the following it recieved. Both were independent movies
going into the mainstream with a very mixed reaction which I'm sure I
will get here. Ellen Page plays the title character, a teen who ends up
becoming pregnant. She then looks for a good set of parents to adopt her
baby and finds a yuppie couple played by ALIAS alum Jennifer Garner and
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT alum Jason Bateman. When meeting these people,
everyone is forced to search their soul. This movie was nominated for
academy awards and should it have been? I really don't know. This by no
means is something that will live on in my soul but I found it to be
rather entertaining and I thought Ellen Page was very good in her role. I
found the character pretty likable so I guess some judgement might be
on how you view the character.
A Bronx Tale (1993): I end my long
Robert de Niro series with his directorial debut which is based on the
play which was written by the star Chazz Palminteri. De Niro plays
Lorenzo in 1960s Brooklyn as a city bus driver who was underpaid but
very proud. Lillo Brancato makes his film debut as his son Calogero who
wants a little more than what his dad has but is still proud of his dad.
Chazz Palminteri plays the local mobster in the area, Sonny, who
befriends Calogero and becomes like a second father to him. I really
analyzed this movie more than ever this time and it was interesting to
me how his father hated him being around Sonny who he did not want his
son to become like. However, it was Sonny who kept him on the right path
with the friends that Calogero hung out with who were an even worse
influence which Lorenzo did not seem to think much of. This movie really
deals with growing up in an urban area and takes on some pretty touchy
subjects. Look for Joe Pesci in a cameo. I hate to hear about Brancato
right now and the murder charges he is being brought up upon.
The
Yes Men (2003): The Facebook friend I chose here was Jerry who was in a
Political Science class with me. This is my documentary for the week
which takes a look at anti-corporate people Mike Bonanno and Andy
Bichlbaum who go around the world impersonating people from the World
Trade Center and use amusing pranks to look at the dark, corporate
world. This movie had some pretty funny moments. I did not like it as
much as some and have liked many of the other documentaries featured
here more but I still enjoyed this since they share some of my views.
Penny
Serenade (1941): This is part 4 of 5 in my Cary Grant series. This
movie has the most serious role from Grant I have seen where he and his
wife look to adopt a child. Irene Dunne plays his wife and she remembers
through a stack of records of their times together in both joy and
tragedy. This one is quite the tearjerker and one that just needs to be
seen. There is not much more to say here.
River's Edge (1986):
This is part 2 of my Keanu Reeves series. Tim Hunter directs this
strange movie of a town who reacts strangely to a murder done by a high
schooler who shows off the body to his friends. Crispin Glover stars as
Layne who does what he can to keep his friend from getting caught. Once
again, I really don't have much more to say but that it was a rather
bizarre film. Dennis Hopper has a very amusing, small role. Character
actor Daniel Roebuck also stars who went on to become a decent character
actor but it was too bad that not very many people really know him and
even I haven't really put much mention to him but I felt this was his
best performance. This movie also stars Ione Skye.
Wide Awake in
Nothing (2004): This was a strange short film I found on IFC which takes
place in a bleak, futuristic world where everyone seems to be slaves in
a factory. The boss is very domineering and is finally challenged by
his new employee. This was quite interesting. I don't know how easy it
will ever be to find but I'll give the filmmaker Paul Lingas his due.
Small
Town Girl (1936): William Wellman directed this romantic comedy which
stars Janet Gaynor as Kay Francis as a small-town girl who is unhappy
with life in the small town and wants to get away. Robert Taylor stars
as a wealthy man who meets Kay and takes her on a night in the town.
After a drunken night, they find themselves married the next morning.
They then try to stay married for 6 months for publicity reasons but you
all know how the story goes. James Stewart is fun in an early role.
Daughters
of Darkness (1971): Harry Kumel directed this erotic vampire tale. A
newlywed couple honeymoons in a French hotel and meet some rather
strange people which changes their lives forever. This is the vampire
genre and if you don't like that genre very much, you may not like this
one. It is rather strange and disturbing at times. To a point, it
reminds me of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW just on the aspect of a
newlywed couple ending up in the wrong place.
The Ladies Man
(1961): Notice the year, this is not the Tim Meadows SNL skit. Jerry
Lewis stars here as the title character Herbert Heebert who after
graduating college, finds his fiance with someone else. He then finds a
job in a mansion he finds is populated by women where he becomes their
slave and finds himself overwhelmed. I really enjoy the old Jerry Lewis
films and I found this one to be one of his best.
Oklahoma
(1955): I end with the show in which I am in starting on Friday which
features my myspace and facebook friends Corby (Curly), Jennifer (Laurie
and the musical director), Andrew (Will), Kristen (Ado Annie), Jason
(Ali Hakim), Sean (Ike Skidmore), Katie F. (Gertie) Kyle (Judd), Joseph
(Cord Elam) Lisa, Caity, Nick, Casey, Lindsey. I had never seen this
movie but figured it was time to watch it. It was interesting to watch
it and compare it to ours. We have a couple young cowboys, Curly and
Will, who return to town to seek their loves but find that their is
competition. Curly wants Laurie, played by Shirley Jones in her great
debut, but finds that the hired hand Judd, played by Rod Steiger, has
his own interests which lead to a rather violent feud. Will seeks Ado
Annie but finds she is with the peddler Ali Hakim. This movie omits
Judd's solo song LONELY ROOM, maybe because it was too dark for the
movie and Ali Hakims humorous song IT'S A SCANDAL but everything else
from the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic remains and I feel that our
version is coming along quite well and hope to see many people there.
Well,
that is it for this week, I will return next week with a lot of more
unknown films which consist of a tv movie, some foreign films and some
independent films. Leave your comments, tell me what you liked, what you
did not like and if you don't like my first choice, please say so but I
ask that you comment on one of my other 9 films if you have seen any of
them.
-Jason Bateman (Juno), Robert De Niro (Bronx Tale), and
Chazz Palminteri (A Bronx Tale) all provided American voices in the 2006
film Arthur et Les Minimoys
-Jason Bateman (Juno), Michael Cera (Juno) and Ione Skye (River's Edge) were in an episode of the tv series Arrested Development
-Allison Janney (Juno) and Chazz Palminteri (Bronx Tale) were in the 1996 film Faithful
-Allison Janney (Juno) and Crispin Glover (River's Edge) were in the 2000 film Nurse Betty
-J.K. Simmons (Juno) and Keanu Reeves (River's Edge) were in the 2000 film The Gift
-Cameron Bright (Juno) and Robert De Niro (Bronx Tale) were in the 2004 film Godsend
-Cameron Bright (Juno) and Chazz Palminteri (Bronx Tale) were in the 2004 film Running Scared
-Robert De Niro (Bronx Tale) and Jerry Lewis (Ladies Man) were in the 1982 film King of Comedy
-Joe Pesci (Bronx Tale) and Dennis Hopper (River's Edge) were in the 1989 film Catchfire
-Cary Grant (Penny Serenade) and James Stewart (Small Town Girl) were in the 1940 film A Philadelphia Story
-Irene
Dunne (Penny Serenade) and Robert Taylor (Small Town Girl) were lovers
in the original 1935 version of Magnificent Obsession
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