Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 166th Edition

Welcome to the 166th Edition of my weekly series. Next weekend will start performances for A FEW GOOD MEN so if you're in the Greenfield area come check it out January 23rd, 24th, 25th, 29th, and the 30th. I have two selections from the Random Myspace Profile selection. Next week will have one and likely no others. It made my night seeing Mickey Rourke win a Golden Globe for Best Actor in THE WRESTLER. Well, I'll shut up now and get to my selections for this week.

Boondock Saints (1999): I open this week with part 10 of the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I choose wrestler Roderick Strong, the Messiah of the Backbreaker who has worked for such wrestling promotions as TNA and ROH. Troy Duffy wrote and directed this movie which many people consider a Tarantino ripoff but I say it is just a genre that Tarantino made popular therefore gets labeled that way. DEAD ZONE alum Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus play the McManus brothers, who are fraternal twins and set out to wipe out the "scum of the earth". On their trail is gay FBI agent Paul Smecker, played by Willem Dafoe, who comes to admire their ways and questions the ethics of tracking them down. It reminds me of TAXI DRIVER in terms of the way it ends. Adult film star Ron Jeremy has a small role in this one which is why this was featured this week and not last week. He was in the movie SPUN that I featured and I did not foresee him of all people being in two movies that I watch in the same week. This movie got mixed opinions but I had fun watching this and it has some pretty good action scenes.

The Man in the Iron Mask (1939): James Whale directed this adaption which probably got overlooked that year in the overabundance of film that it had. I admit, I like the 1998 version but this one was quite entertaining but quite different than the 1998 version. Louis Hayward stars as twins, one is the tyrannical Louis XIV and the other is a much kinder person named Phillipe and raised by D'Artagnan and the three musketeers. They are both unaware of each other's existence and which Louis learns of the brother, he has him imprisoned with the iron mask while D'Artagnan hatch a plan for the brothers to switch places. Nice performances from Alan Hale, Warren William and many others and a great action film even from that time period.

Memento (2000): Christopher Nolan directed this mind-boggling film starring Guy Pearce as Leonard, an insurance salesman whose wife was murdered and he was rendering unconcious making him uncapable of forming a long-term memory. When trying to find the killer, he takes notes, pictures and even gets tattoos for clues of who he believes killed his wife. Carrie-Anne Moss stars as Natalie, someone trying to help him piece together everthing and SOPRANOS alum Joe Pantoliano plays Teddy, someone who seems to know things. This has a lot of twists and we become very confused with Leonard so that we are on this investigation with him. Good performances by the stars and great direction make it worth a view. This is based on a story by Christopher Nolan's brother Jonathan.

Midnight Manhunt (1945): This is in tribute to the late Ann Savage. This is a little who-dun-it taking place at a wax museum where a gangster is found dead. Chaos ensues when two rival reporters try to solve the murder. It was a fun little hour, it is by no means any kind of classic, but worth getting from Netflix and seeing the old man who works at the museum and is quite abused by his employer who won't let him leave.

Blood and Black Lace (1964): This is part 11 of the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I choose the Patches Horror Infestation who is quite the horror buff and has turned me on to this Italian director Mario Bava who who would not be on here had I not started this unorthodox selection process. This is an Italian horror film referred to as Giallo which takes place at a boarding house for models and someone is killing the models off and many people become suspects. This actually inspired such slasher films in the coming years and this movie was very clever. Patches Horror Infestation seem to be bigger experts on this particular horror genre so if they want they can give further explanation but I can see Mario Bava is a director who is going unlooked in today's world.

Training Day (2001): This is in tribute to Dr. Dre, who has a part in this movie, whose son recently died of an accidental overdose. This movie will get some mixed opinions from my readers I'm sure but I really enjoyed this rough look at the LAPD. Ethan Hawke stars as Jake a cop who goes out with an experienced undercover cop, Alonzo, on a day on the streets and gets more than he bargained for when he realizes that Alonzo runs on a very thin line. Denzel Washington plays Alonzo, who has seen a lot and realizes there is a lot of gray where he shows a lot of corruption in front of the rookie. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Macy Gray all have small roles and a very entertaining small role from singer Macy Gray. Actors Tom Berenger, Raymond J. Barry, Eva Mendes, and many others have roles. This was a very gritty look at police corruption directed by Antoine Fuqua who tried to make it as authentic as possible, even having some of the real-life cryps and bloods on hand. It is also good to see Washington in a more villainous role than what he is used to as he usually plays the more heroic people. Hawke was also good as the idealistic rookie to the squad who is in for a very long day. Characters like Alonzo can beg the question of are they villains or have they just seen way too much and what they see just keeps blurring what they might believe is the right line. Two other people come to mind as I consider this, Lt. Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men) and Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis in the tv series The Shield). They have no sense of black and white and always walk a thin line. Maybe these characters come to life so we can question that in ourselves, make sure that our line of works does not corrupt us. Who knows but if you see yourself becoming like an Alonzo, take a look at yourself, is that they way you want to live? Alright, I've rambled on long enough, next movie.

Red Dawn (1984): John Milius directed this 80s classic which takes place in a small Colorado town where World War III is taking place and the Soviets decide to go after this small town. A group of teens, which include such 80s icons as Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen, and Jennifer Grey, band together to fight off this assault. It's really one of those that could have only worked in the 80s. There is really not much more to say on this one. You either like it or you don't, it by no means ranks up as a favorite but it was worth a shot. This is actually Sheen's feature film debut.

Spirit of the Marathon (2007): This is my documentary for the week which I found trying to find a newer movie to record on my television. This shows people for the famed 26.2 mile race. It shows people in their preparation for the big race and some with heartache when knowing they cannot run the race. I'll tell you right now, I could never do this. I was always made fun of at school for being such a slow runner but this was real good to watch, nothing flashy, no big vendettas, no real point to make, just a movie about runners and something I found on the Documentary channel.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910): See the year, it's not that 1939 film we all know, this is a short film which is more based on the 1902 Broadway musical and even the 1939 film. Dorothy as usual is a farm girl who realizes her scarecrow is alive and experience a cyclone which makes her end up in Oz where she meets the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Woodsman, and something called Eureka but she must battle Momba, The Wicked Witch of the West and we still have Glenda and Toto. This is on the new special edition of THE WIZARD OF OZ. Much different than that 1925 version I recently featured and better. It is a pretty good silent short which has naturally gone overlooked through the years.

Ben-Hur (1959): I now end with this religious epic from William Wyler adapted from the novel from General Lew Wallace. This is one of the movies my dad got for me for Christmas this year which stars former head of the NRA Charlton Heston as the title character Judah Ben-Hur. Ben-Hur is a Jewish nobleman who reunites with his Roman friend Messala, played by Stephen Boyd. Their reunion seems like a happy one until Judah sees what his friend has become and Messala in turn sells him into slavery. This starts a long journey for Mr. Ben-Hur which leads into the great chariot race scene which was possibly the inspiration for the Pod Races many years later in STAR WARS: EPIDSODE I. This shows his life through slavery, his freedom, his race to find his mother and sister who become Lepers and his encounters with Jesus Christ who we see the back of his head. This is my favorite of all the religious epics I have seen. On the DVD I have, they have a great documentary talking about the history of the story starting with the novel by General Lew Wallace, to it's play version in the early 1900s, to the 1907 short, the 1925 Epic version, to the one we all know most in 1959. At the time, this one had one of the biggest budgets with many extras, sets, costumes, props and so on and something everyone should see even if just for the chariot race scene. Charlton Heston was great as was all the supporting cast.

Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you love and what you hate and stay tuned next week which include movies from John Cusack, the controversial Michael Moore, and even Mickey Rourke.

HONORABLE TV MENTION

Boston Legal (2004-2008): One of my favorite shows through the years has come to an end. This is David E. Kelley's cross between his two law shows ALLY MCBEAL and THE PRACTICE which combines the comedy and drama. This is actually a spin-off of THE PRACTICE where Alan Shore, played well by James Spader was fired in the last season from Donnell-Young-Frutt and gets a job with Crane Poole Schmidt where he meets his best friend Denny Crane, played by STAR TREK alum William Shatner. Alan walks a thin line with ethics but usually for the benefit of his clients and Denny can't let go of his legendary status. Alan is full Democrat and Denny is full Republican and always had a long discussion in the balcony at the end of each episode. This show had many great supporting characters and always tackled some very interesting topics which always made us think. Some may not have liked the finale but I just cracked up thinking it was great.

FUN LITTLE FACTS

Willem Dafoe (Boondock Saints) and Tom Berenger (Training Day) were bitter enemies in their own platoon where they were Sergeants which did not get along at all and Charlie Sheen (Red Dawn) was the new soldier caught in the middle of the feud in the the 1986 film Platoon. I like that I managed to use all three of those actors for this.

Willem Dafoe (Boondock Saints) played Jesus Christ in the controversial 1988 film THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. Claude Heater played the role uncreditted as more of a stand-in of this week's feature, BEN-HUR.

Patrick Swayze (Red Dawn) turned down a part in this week's feature, BOONDOCK SAINTS.

RED DAWN actors Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey would later have their historical teaming in the 1987 film DIRTY DANCING.

Charlie Sheen (Red Dawn) played the role of Aramis in the 1993 film THE THREE MUSKETEERS and Miles Mander played the same role in this week's feature THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK