Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 370th Edition

Welcome to the 370th Edition of my series. I am now officially out of the running for my fantasy football league. I had a good team and even had the most points in the league but just never got the right matchup. I will now move onto next year and hope to do even better. I will now fully focus on my real team the 49ers which are doing very good right now. This friday, my friends Ashley and Stephen are visiting from Philadelphia and are putting on a show at the Folly Moon in Muncie from 8-10. If you are in the area, you should come check it out. I will now get to my selections for the week.

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989): I start the week with this sequel to the successful series of film. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover reprise the roles as partners Riggs and Murtaugh. They are assigned to protect a witness named Leo Getz, played by Joe Pesci who would play the part in later films, but find that is not a very easy task. Joss Acklund and Patsy Kensit also star in this action sequel that has a great blend of action and comedy with Gibson, Glover, and Pesci, making a very fun trio of very mismatched people who find a way to work together. If you want a movie for the guys, a good double feature would be the first one and followed by this one.

My Week with Marilyn (2011): This is a true story that was based on the filming of THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL. DAWSON'S CREEK Michelle Williams alum stars as the legendary Marilyn Monroe who is brought to London to co-star with Laurence Olivier, played by Kenneth Branaugh. Eddie Redmayne stars as Colin Clark whose book this movie is based upon. Clark was someone who aspired to be involved in film and after much persistence gets the third assistant director position. Monroe is clearly out of place being in London and working with someone like Olivier who struggles to meet her demands. Clark soon befriends Monroe to try to help her get through the movie. Williams played the part of Monroe to perfection and Redmayne was very good as Clark. Branaugh was also pretty good as Olivier whose film career have been quite similar in terms of their Shakespeare experience. Julia Ormond, Toby Jones, Dominic Cooper, Emma Watson, Judi Dench, and many others co-star. This was a great movie that shows a different side to the sex symbol of Monroe.

Twin Warriors (1993): This is my Asian film for the week. Jet Li stars as Junbao and Siu-Hou Chin co-stars as Chin Bo who have been friends since childhood at a Shaolin temple. Due to an incident, they both get kicked out and must learn to fend for themselves in the outside world. Soon they join a group of rebels but Chin Bo joins a ruthless military regime and betrays his friend and his group which pits them against each other into a final battle. In Junbao's preparation he looks to learn the art of Tai-Chi. Michelle Yeoh co-stars as an ally of Junbao. This is a very good entry into the martial arts genre that has some great fight scenes as well as a good story. In the DVD that I got, it is dubbed in English so for those who cannot watch with subtitles can watch this one and is a must for those who like the genre.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965): This is more of a tv special but it's my blog so if I want to call this a movie, I have every right to. This is the first tv special of the characters brought by Charles Schulz and has remained very popular after all these years during the season. This is something my dad always showed me and was always a fan of Charlie Brown and remain so to this day. The hapless Charlie struggles to find the meaning of Christmas during all the commercialism of Christmas. He is soon appointed to direct the school play but struggles to get everyone to cooperate. He also gets a Christmas tree that to most does not fit the holiday and was one of the many things his friends get mad about. Linus is who soon teaches us the meaning of Christmas. This is a great time with friends like Charlie, Lucy, Snoopy, Linus, Sally, and many others. I also have the Charlie Brown Christmas tree that I am proud to put up and call my tree. This is a timeless classic that every parent should be showing their children.

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944): Vincente Minnelli directed this musical which stars Judy Garland as Esther Smith. This is a musical which centers around an average family learning lessons of life and love and just trying to make it in life. Margaret O'Brien who was the child star at the time co-stars as Tootie and has many funny moments. There are a lot of good musical numbers including Judy Garland introducing the world to HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS. The song was originally meant to be more melancholy than what it is today and had lines like "it may be your last" which both Garland and Minnelli opposed and demanded rewrite of the lyrics. It was also very amusing having O'Brien sing about being drunk which might have carried a bit of controversy at the time. Garland and O'Brien also had a fun song and dance number. Mary Astor, Leon Ames, Marjorie Main, Hugh Marlowe, and others co-star in this fun musical about family and love.

The Fighting Sullivans (1944): It is not often that I have back to back selections that have the same year but here is another from 1944. This is actually a true story about the Sullivan brothers who went into WWII together and were all killed. The movie is based more on the closeness of the family from the Sullivan parents to their six children which five were boys and one was a girl. They were an Iowa family during the depression and while there was a lot of bickering, there was obvious love within the family no matter the financial situation. Lloyd Bacon directed this slice of Americana and a great tribute to this family. This movie was also the inspiration to SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Some of the actors in this film include Ward Bond and Anne Baxter but most are not known today but everyone still did a good job and worked together very well.

Death Wish (1974): Now I bring a much darker film to the mix that many will enjoy and some will see it as the wrong message. Charles Bronson stars as New York architect Paul Kersey. Paul was leading a great life with a good job and a loving wife and daughter. Things change when his wife and daughter are attacked by muggers murdering his wife and raping his daughter which did not kill her but left her in a catatonic state. Things did not get better when someone tried to mug him which became the start of becoming a local vigilante in his crime-ridden town. This has some good social commentary in which people in the movie have mixed opinions on Paul's actions including Detective Ochoa, played by Vincent Gardenia. Look for Jeff Goldblum, Denzel Washington, and Christopher Guest early bit roles and would all go onto have great careers. Shortly after this movie, vigilante acts increased in the United States. Brian Garfield wrote the novel that this movie is based on and did not like the advocacy of vigilantism. Bronson was good as Kersey and was someone to side with no matter what your beliefs of being a vigilante might be and he did not start doing it until the police were not finding the culprits of his family's attack and him being mugged himself. This was probably the first notable vigilante film. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Water For Elephants (2011): Francis Lawrence directed this film based on the novel by Sara Gruen. I know this was a very popular novel and I'm sure there will be some that is faithful to the book and some that might say that it butchered. Admittingly, I am not much of a reader so I usually cannot judge a movie on that basis. Robert Pattinson stars as veterinary student Jacob during the great depression. He has a great life ahead of him but then his parents die and he is left broke and homeless which leads him to a circus group where he becomes the veterinarian of the group. Christoph Waltz co-stars as August who is the head of the circus group and has violent tendencies which go towards humans and animals. Reese Witherspoon co-stars as Marlena who is the star attraction and August's wife in an unhappy marriage. Jacob soon falls in love with Marlena which makes things very complicated. I really liked the feel and look of this film. Hal Holbrook co-stars as the older Jacob and the two parts were cast very well as I noticed some resemblance between Pattinson and Holbrook in his later years. This movie has a good love story to it as well as the circus scenes and all the eccentric characters. There are some scenes of elephant abuse which are rather disturbing but if you can get past that I believe you'll have some satisfaction.

Amateur Crook (1937): This is more of a b-list movie from this era and not a bad one. Joan Barclay stars as Mary Layton who poses as a thief in order to get an important jewel back. She soon meets artist Jimmy Baxter, played by Bruce Bennett, who believes she is the thief but agrees to help her keep the diamond from a couple loan sharks. There are some funny moments and was worth a watch for fans of older movies. I found this on my Pub-D-Hub app on my Roku player.

Peter and Vandy (2009): Jay DiPietro wrote and directed this independent romantic drama. Jason Ritter and Jess Weixler star as the title characters who are a New York couple and shifts out of order. This movie focuses on their beginnings and things that lead up to their problems as a couple. This was pretty cleverly done and the leads to a good job. Tracie Thomas, Jesse L. Martin, and Bruce Altman co-star. This would be a pretty good date movie and one that maybe couples can learn from since many couples having problems might wonder how they got that way. On the imdb website it only gives a 6 but I don't really understand that and feel that should be ignored. I also really liked the soundtrack in this movie that is available on Instant Netflix.

Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes James Cagney, Anthony Hopkins, Seth Rogen, Red Skelton, and many others.

FUN AND USELESS FACTS

Jet Li (Twin Warriors) made his American debut in the 1998 film LETHAL WEAPON 4 working with some of the actors in this week's feature LETHAL WEAPON 2.

HAMLET FRANCHISE

-Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon 2) plays Hamlet in the 1990 film HAMLET.

-Kenneth Branaugh (My Week With Marilyn) plays Hamlet in the 1996 film HAMLET which he also directed.

-Judi Dench (My Week With Marilyn) plays Hecuba in the Branaugh version of HAMLET.

-Derek Jacobi (My Week With Marilyn) plays Claudius in the Branaugh version of HAMLET and played Hamlet in the 1980 tv movie HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK.

-William Redfield (Death Wish) plays Guildenstern in the 1964 film HAMLET

WIZARD OF OZ FRANCHISE

-Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn) plays Glinda in the upcoming 2013 film OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL

-Judy Garland (Meet Me in St. Louis) plays Dorothy in the 1939 film THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Eddie Redmayne (My Week with Marilyn) and Joe Pesci (Lethal Weapon 2) were in the 2006 film THE GOOD SHEPHERD.

Judi Dench (My Week With Marilyn) and Michelle Yeoh (Twin Warriors) co-star in the 1997 Bond film TOMORROW NEVER DIES.

Christopher Shea and Kathy Steinberg voice the parts of Linus and Sally in this week's feature A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS. My facebook friends Corey and Melissa played the parts in an Anderson Mainstage Theatre production of YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN.

Thomas Mitchell (The Fighting Sullivans) played Huck Finn's father in the 1955 tv movie THE ADVENTURES OF HUCK FINN. My Facebook friend Tom played the part in a musical version in 2009 called BIG RIVER at the Muncie Civic Theater in which I was in the chorus.

Ward Bond (The Fighting Sullivans) and Mary Astor (Meet Me in St. Louis) worked together in the 1941 film THE MALTESE FALCON.

Vincent Gardenia (Death Wish) plays Mr. Mushnik in the 1986 film LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. My Facebook friend Derek played the part in 2010 version at Jay County Civic Theater.

Jeff Goldblum (Death Wish) and Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon 2) worked together in the 1998 animated movie THE PRINCE OF EGYPT.

Jeff Goldblum (Death Wish) and Judi Dench (My Week With Marilyn) were in the 2005 film MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS.

Denzel Washington (Death Wish) and Kenneth Branaugh (My Week With Marilyn) worked together in the 1993 Shakespeare film MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.

PETER AND VANDY actors Jesse L. Sullivan and Tracie Thomas plays the characters Collins and Joanne in the 2005 film RENT. My Facebook friends Jabrael and Amanda played the part in 2011 version at the Muncie Civic Theater.