Welcome to the 302nd Edition of my series. As many of you might know, I
am in the musical SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET in
Portland, Indiana at the end of October at the Jay County Civic Theater.
After a month of trying to get back to theater, I finally make my
return and I got the part I put in for at the audition of Beadle
Bamford. This will be my first show at the Jay County Civic Theater and
hope friends in my area can come check it out. I have also found this
is my most difficult part but am prepared to give it all I got. Now I
will get down to the recommendations.
The Other Boleyn Girl
(2008): This is part three of my three-part Scarlett Johansson series
and will continue with a Natalie Portman series which so far is a
three-part series. This is my film on royalty for the week where these
two girls I named off play the Boleyn sisters. Natalie is Anne and
Scarlett is Mary who are both vying for the affection of Henry VIII,
played here by Eric Bana, while he was still unhappily married to
Catherine of Aragon. Mark Rylance plays their father who is trying to
get them into the marriage of Henry while Kristin Scott Thomas plays
their mother who just wants her kids to be happy but in that era cannot
do that. Both girls worked very well together as the sisters and Bana
was good as Henry. This is a pretty compelling part to this part of
Henry VIII's life.
Pretty Persuasion (2005): This is part two of
a two-part series of Evan Rachel Wood. I now go to the world of
Beverly Hills high school where Evan plays the conniving Kim. She stirs
up a lot when she talks two of her friends into filing a sexual
harassment lawsuit on their drama teacher, played by Ron Livingston. 30
ROCK co-star Jane Krakowski plays a reporter named Emily who sees this
scandal as a way to advance her career. James Woods plays Kim's bigoted
father who is only focused on himself. This was a pretty funny film
with a good performance from Wood. It is also a bit dark and shows the
effects of people when something like this starts. This movie is
available on Instant Netflix.
Before I Hang (1940): I guess I
got to get prepared for the October Horror Movie Madness contest. I
decided to use Boris Karloff who plays a doctor who is found guilty of
murder for a mercy killing. He is then sentenced to death but while in
there he develops a serum to stay young. He tries it on himself and
sees a significant change. Soon, he becomes very valuable in the
medical field and is pardoned. However, there is a dark side to what
happened when he begins to experience Jekyll and Hyde type reactions.
This was a rather different part for Karloff who I may not have
recognized if I did not already know it was him. He plays a respected
person whose good intentions do not work and does a pretty good job.
A
Modern Cinderella (1932): This is my short film for the week which
stars Ruth Etting as Anita who is the title character. She is the
daughter of a costume shop owner where the customer has her try on
things for the ball and is very liked in the dress. She eventually
breaks out into song and dance. This is a rather entertaining musical
short with Etting who did a lot of these musical shorts.
Doctor
Zhivago (1965): This is my epic film the for the week which takes place
in Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution. Omar Sharif stars as Yuri
who is a poet/doctor who is married and has a family but still falls for
a political activist's wife named Lara, played by Julie Christie.
Geraldine Chaplin plays his wife. Alec Guinness plays Turi's
half-brother who narrates this story and meets a woman who is
potentially Yuri's daughter. Sharif is very good as Yuri and his life
hardships during very difficult times in Russia. This movie is over
three hours but it is a good three hours with great cinematography.
This movie is available on Instant Netflix.
The Secret in their
Eyes (2009): This is my Argentina film for the week. Ricardo Darin
stars as retired legal counselor Benjamin Esposito who is writing a
novel for an unsolved homicide case he was on when he was younger hoping
to bring closure. It flashes back from his younger days when he was on
the case of a brutal rape and murder of a girl into the modern day when
he is working on the case and investigating the case once again. Juan
Jose Campanella directed this film which was a very good mystery film.
Argentina is not known for their filmmaking but this is a great entry
that can stand up to other countries.
Superman Cartoons (1942):
This is something that is available on Instant Netflix and is really
more of a compilation of cartoons for the 1940s directed by Dave
Fleischer. Each one is kind of the same in which there is a villain and
at the Daily Planet, Lois Lane and Clark Kent are called upon to cover
the story. Lois Lane then finds a way to lose Clark as she wants to
cover the story herself. She then gets in over her head and gets
captured a lot of the time when Clark realizes "this is a job for
Superman" who then in turns saves the day. These were pretty
entertaining and well done for their time especially the Arctic Monster.
There are a lot of these classic superhero cartoons available now on
Instant Netflix where credit must be given where it is due. They may
seem a bit cheesy today with what we have but they were rather ahead of
their time when they first came out.
Star Trek III: The Search
for Spock (1984): I have never been a real die-hard fan of this series
but understand its importance. This one picks up where the last one
left off where the crew must steal the decommissioned Enterprise to go
after the body of Spock, thought to be dead, on the lonely planet of
Genesis. They are at odds though with the Klingons, lead by Christopher
Lloyd, who do everything they can to stop Captain Kirk and crew.
William Shatner and crew all reprise their roles in a pretty decent
entry of the series. Leonard Nimoy, who did not have a big of part in
this film as Spock, goes behind the camera to direct this one.
Game
of Death (1978): This is the movie that Bruce Lee died during filming.
In this film he actually plays a martial arts actor named Billy Lo but
has people who want to kill him. In an unsuccessful assassination
attempt, Billy fakes his death and then avenges the underworld who tried
to kill him. Much of this movie is archival footage due to his death.
This movie is mostly entertaining but to say how good it is might not
be accurate. The last 15 minutes or so of his fight footage are worth
it. There is a memorable fight scene with him and basketball legend
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who have quite a height difference. Other actors
include Colleen Camp, Hugh O'Brian, Robert Wall, and a small part from
martial arts star Sammo Hung. I have never been a big fan of Bruce
Lee's movies but I also understand that credit must be given where it is
due as I said earlier as he paved the way for the people I like
including Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Michelle Yeoh, and others. This is
available on Instant Netflix.
The Thing Called Love (1993): I
end this week with this movie on the country music industry. Samantha
Mathis is a New Yorker named Miranda Presley making her way to Nashville
in hopes of a music career. River Phoenix co-stars as country singer
James Wright while Dermot Mulroney plays singer Kyle Davidson who
compete for the affections of Miranda. She makes a very rash decision
and must figure out what to do. This was nothing great but seems like
something that can be appreciated by the struggling musicians doing
everything they can to make it in such a difficult industry. Mathis was
very good in her role and this was River Phoenix's last film. Sandra
Bullock also co-stars as Miranda's friend Linda in one of her early
roles. Other country stars from this era like Pam Tillis and Trisha
Yearwood have cameo appearances.
Well, that is it for this week.
Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so
far includes more Natalie Portman, James Cagney, Susan Sarandon, Terry
Gilliam, Tim Blake Nelson, Lana Turner, and many others.
FUN AND USELESS FACTS
Natalie
Portman (The Other Boleyn Girl) plays Padme Amidala in the newer STAR
WARS films. Alec Guinness (Doctor Zhivago) plays Obi-Wan Kenobi in the
older STAR WARS films.
Natalie Portman (The Other Boleyn Girl)
and Scarlett Johansson (The Other Boleyn Girl) were considered for a
part in the upcoming 2012 film GRAVITY but the part would ultimately go
to Sandra Bullock (The Thing Called Love).
Jim Sturgess (The
Other Boleyn Girl) and Evan Rachel Wood (Pretty Persuasion) worked
together in the 2007 film ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. I believe they were at
one point set to do the SPIDER-MAN Broadway musical but likely pulled
out because of all the delays.
Evan Rachel Wood (Pretty
Persuasion) and Sandra Bullock (The Thing Called Love) play family
members in the 1998 film PRACTICAL MAGIC. Not sure if they are
niece/aunt or daughter/mother. If someone knows and wants to tell me,
please feel free to comment
Ron Livingston (Pretty Persuasion) and Eric Bana (The Other Boleyn Girl) worked together in the 2009 THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE.
Boris
Karloff (Before I Hang) played the first Jonathan Brewster on ARSENIC
AND OLD LACE on Broadway. My Facebook friend Elmore played the part in a
2010 version at the Anderson Mainstage Theatre.
William Shatner (Star Trek 3) and Sandra Bullock (The Thing Called Love) worked together in the two MISS CONGENIALITY films
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