Welcome to the 369th Edition of my series. This week I introduce the
Random Facebook Profile selection process. I did this for Myspace so I
will do it here so if you have movies in your profile, then you are
fair game. This week, I pay tribute to the late DALLAS alum Larry
Hagman who recently left us. This week is the last week of the regular
season in my Fantasy Football league and I am as of now out of the
playoffs but I believe a win will put me back in there so hopefully I
get that needed win. I will now get onto my selections for the week.
Marnie
(1964): I start the week out with my first selection of the Random
Profile selection process and for this one I choose Esther who I worked
with in THE NUTCRACKER. She listed Alfred Hitchcock in her profile so I
chose this one to feature. Hitchcock directed this film which stars
Tippi Hedren as the title character who is a compulsive liar and thief.
Sean Connery co-stars as Mark who has a pretty high position in the
bank and hires Marnie even when suspecting she might be the thief he has
heard about. He soon sets out to understand why Marnie is the way she
is as both a thief and psychologically as she also has psychological
problems like being afraid of the color red. This is a great mystery
which has a very good climax when Mark confronts Marnie's mother to
understand her problems. Alan Napier and Bruce Dern co-star. For all
you YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS fans, look for MELODY SCOTT THOMAS who plays
Marnie as a child. Hitchcock and Hedren had a falling out after this
film was finished and their last collaboration.
Women
at War (1943): This is my short film for the week which focuses on the
Women's Army Corps during WWII. This is a fictional story about three
people and their different reasons for joining. Don't mistake this
title for the women going to direct combat because they do not but they
have other important roles like transport and informational jobs. This
is a pretty interesting look at the war effort and the role some women
had in the war.
Nixon (1995): This is my tribute to
Larry Hagman who plays one of Nixon's backers. Oliver Stone directed
this presidential biopic on the controversial Richard Nixon. This movie
focused partly on Nixon's childhood where he dealt with a lot of death
in his family. It then went into his early days of politics and his
rivalry with Kennedy up to his resignation of being president. Anthony
Hopkins plays Nixon in this presidential epic and did a great job. Joan
Allen co-stars as his wife Pat Nixon who had a hard time dealing with
him during politics. Powers Boothe, Ed Harris, Bob Hoskins, David
Paymer, FRASIER alum David Hyde Pierce, Mary Steenburgen, James Woods,
and many others co-star in this film. This movie really conveys Nixon
as human and it is not really a bashing towards Nixon. If anything, it
is pro-Nixon in some ways. One of the interesting things I found was
how it portrays Nixon with a Lincoln complex and looks to Lincoln's
photos a lot hoping to be what Lincoln was. It then shows kind of a
jealousy towards Kennedy.
A Christmas Carol (1999):
This is my holiday selection for the week and an adaptation to the
Dickens classic. I have been in a couple theatrical productions of the
classic and I have seen many theatrical and movie adaptations. This is a
tv movie that was shown on TNT. STAR TREK alum Patrick Stewart stars
as Ebenezer Scrooge in this movie. He really does a good job in the
beginning playing the part very mean and even meaner than others I have
seen. He really makes the transitions of the character work as he
realizes the wrong he has done leading into his fully change. I hope
that when I get older I get the opportunity to tackle the character of
Scrooge. Joel Grey and Dominic West co-star in this movie. I'm sure in
seven years of doing this series that each December has featured a
version of this classic so I am a pretty big fan of this show and I
usually begin to tear up in the middle of the movie. If you like this
story, I think this is a pretty good entry to check out. I liked in the
beginning, it showed Ebenezer at the funeral of Marley kind of setting
the tone what what Ebenezer would become.
History is
Made at Night (1937): Jean Arthur stars in this film as Irene who is
going through a divorce and falls for a charming Parisian named Paul,
played by Charles Boyer. Colin Clive co-stars as Irene's husband Bruce
who does not accept the divorce and goes through underhanded tactics to
make Irene come back to him. She soon goes back to him to protect Paul
but he does not give up on her. This is a very unknown love story that
works very well in my opinion. Clive is most known for playing Dr.
Frankenstein in the Universal version so it was good to see him in
something else for a change. It is also a good story of forbidden love.
Castle
in the Sky (1986): This is part two of a two-part Mark Hamill series
and I'm sure much will like this one far more than my selection last
week. This is my anime selection and the first from the Studio Ghibli
series that Disney produces. Hayao Miyazaki directed this movie which
features a young girl named Sheeta who possesses a crystal and is on the
run from pirates, army and government agents. She soon meets a boy her
age named Pazu who joins her in a quest to find her identity leading to
a floating castle. Hamill voices Muska who is the main villain and
after the crystal. TRUE BLOOD star Anna Paquin, DAWSON'S CREEK alum
James Van Der Beek, Cloris Leachman, and Mandy Patinkin lend their
voices. I am not always big into anime but these movies always impress
me and this is no exception.
Beware, My Lovely (1952):
This movie does appear to take place around Christmas time as there is
someone singing DECK THE HALLS and there is a Christmas tree. Ida
Lupino stars as widowed woman Helen Gordon who hires a handyman named
Howard, played by Robert Ryan, to work in her home. She does not know
about his past and soon learns he is an escaped mental patient. Howard
suffers from mood swings and memory shifts and soon takes Helen hostage
in her own home by taking out the key from her door. This is a pretty
decent thriller with good performances from the two, especially from
Ryan who does a good job with the memory shifts. This is available for a
few more days on TCM On-Demand. The two leads do a great job of
carrying the film and keeping the suspense.
The
Learning Tree (1969): There are a little bit of holiday elements in
this movie. Gordon Parks directed, wrote the screenplay and the music
score to what is a semi-autobiographical film. This takes place in 20s
Kansas where Kyle Johnston stars as the teenage Newt who experiences
hard times being black in this era but tries to make the most of it.
This movie is quite a character study as he is forced to grow up fast
due to the times. It conveys very well what life was like and also
shows that much. This is the first major studio film directed by a
black director. The movie was quite realistic but not to the point
hateful as it portrayed each person as human and both the whites and the
blacks had good and bad people.
Ira and Abby (2006):
There is a Christmas element as they play THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE
YEAR This is my independent comedy. Jennifer Westfeldt wrote and
starred as the title character Abby in this film. Chris Messina played
the part of Ira. The title characters meet and shortly after they meet,
they decide to marry. Soon after they marry, Ira sees that Abby is
someone who lacks goals which is not good in his mind. They realize
that they did not get to know each other affecting each other and their
parents. I did get quite a bit of laughs watching this movie and it
really does a good job conveying trust. Robert Klein, Fred Willard,
Judith Light, SEINFELD alum Jason Alexander, Darrell Hammond, Chris
Parnell and many others co-star. This in some ways reminded me of the
comedy series DHARMA AND GREG, but with a lot more dysfunction. I
really enjoyed Westfeldt and probably related to her character a lot
more than Ira but Messina also did a good job. This is available on
Instant Netflix.
Robin Hood (2010): I end this week
with Ridley Scott's version of the legend which was written by Brian
Helgeland. Russell Crowe stars as the legendary figure and Cate
Blanchett plays Marian. We first see Robin as part of the British
military in 13th Century Britain. He soon encounters a dying Robert of
Loxley and vows to return his sword to his family which include his
sister Marian and Walter in Nottingham, played by Max Von Sydow. Walter
soon makes him his son and arranges a marriage between Marian and Robin
but must prevent a French takeover. Danny Huston, William Hurt, and
many others co-star in this film. This is a much different take to the
legend and I will admit I had a hard time putting this into words. In
this, the name is Robin Longstride and some of the characters were
portrayed differently like the Sheriff of Nottingham was more conflicted
than a villain. This does have some very good action scenes but the
movie did go mixed reactions for how different the legend is portrayed.
Usually, Robin Hood is the outlaw fighting corruption but this shows
him as less of an outlaw but showing him becoming one. I did like the
way this movie developed and the end of the film. Crowe was very good
as Robin.
Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what
you like and what you dislike. Stay tuned for next week which so far
includes Mel Gibson, Michelle Williams, Jet Li, Judy Garland, and many
others.
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