Welcome to the 94th Edition of my blog. Today is my last performance
for MASH, it's been a great show and will be very sad when it's over,
though I am in Frankenstein next. Tony D asked me to announce that he
is keeping his profile and will read blogs, though I'm sure most of you
already know that. This week starts the real NFL season which is on
Thursday night and I am with Tony F's myspace league on Yahoo and my
first opponent will be Mike's Space Cowboys and hope to rebound from a
bad fantasy season last year. Now for what you came to see...
The Absent-Minded Professor (1966): I start you out with a little
live-action Disney where Fred MacMurray stars as the title character who
just can't help but be more dedicated to his job than his fiancee who
is getting frustrated. On one long day at work, he accidently discovers
"Flubber" which is flying rubber and some people might be familiar with
the title movie starring Robin Williams which is a remake of this.
This is a very fun movie in a time where they focused on making
something for the family and not just something to put on the Disney
Channel that you'll like as a teen but realize the stupidity when you
mature.
Man of the Year (2006): We now go to the man who starred in the
remake of the movie above where here, he plays a comedian who runs for
president and wins. This one might get some mixed opinions. I for one
did not really find this to be an all-out comedy as advertised. Barry
Levinson directed this political satire but his other one was better
which was Wag the Dog. This movie still has some pretty funny moments
and an interesting premise. Christopher Walken was good as the advisor
for the new president elect. It shares some of my views on Republicans
and Democrats which I refuse to label myself as either one. Not the
greatest, but worth a viewing. Look for Billy Crystal and Robert De
Niro in an interesting post-9/11 advertisement which was directed by
Levinson.
U2: Rattle and Hum (1988): I caught this documentary at the last
outside Co-Op film viewing. This focuses on a tour from U2 in the Fall
of 1987 right after their success to their album The Joshua Tree. It
focuses some on them backstage but is almost always about the music.
One interesting scene shows them learning "All Along the Watchtower"
which has been remade many times and remember Bob Dylan wrote it not
Hendrix so don't say they ripped him off. It also documents a
performance with BB King. There is also a very powerful scene of
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" where you can actually see tears coming down
Bono. There is also a performance from Edge, no not the wrestler. I am
a U2 fan so I really liked this movie but I believe that even a non-fan
of U2 can enjoy and appreciate this documentary, especially a touring
band.
The Motel (2005): This is the second film in the Co-Op night. This
takes place at exactly what the title says which is owned by a poor,
Korean family and is from the point-of-view of the oldest son in the
family who must deal with his puberty and his strict mother. He later
forms a strange friendship with a rather sleazy man and they both take a
liking to each other but is it good for the boy? This is a very
underrated Sundance selection which is a pretty dark comedy.
Rebirth of Mothra (1996): I found this on Fearnet On-Demand and have
always meant to check it out. This was not as good as the original
Mothra but I was still entertained. An aging Mothra is joined by her
son Mothra Jr. in a battle against the evil King Ghidorah, a 3-headed
dragon who ended life on Mars and killed the dinosaurs so we know if it
is said on here, it is true so Ghidorah is the reason we can't live on
Mars right now. The beautiful miniature people, sorry I don't remember
what they are called, are not twins this time and must enlist the help
of a young boy to help them, almost like how in Transformers, they
needed a regular person to help them in their fight against evil. It
was a little too kid-oriented but there was still good effects and
beautiful music and good action and this was followed by two sequals.
Jesse James at Bay (1941): Last week I brought you Wyatt Earp
and Doc Holiday, now I bring you the outlaw who is regarded as a Robin
Hood which is still to very mixed opinion by historians and here he was
portrayed as very heroic by the legendary Roy Rogers. Here, Jesse
returns to his home town and tries to help them overcome corrupt
land-barrens. This western has a lot of action and probably not much
historical accuracy but still entertaining and has a lot of action
packed up in one hour.
The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950): I found this relatively
unknown Film Noir on a Classic Film Noir dvd which I used last week to
watch Orson Welles' The Stranger so I decided to use it again and watch
this one. Lee J. Cobb stars as a veteran detective whose socialite
girlfriend kills her husband right in front of him and he tries to help
her get away with the murder and must deal with his dedicated,
idealistic younger brother who is assigned to the case. Next week, I
will feature another Film Noir from this DVD collection that I have.
Don Juan (1926): The Jazz Singer has been credited a lot for being
the first "Talkie" but no one really remembers this movie to being the
first to have sound and an actual music score in the movie. John
Barrymore, Drew's grandfather for anyone who doesn't know, plays the
title character which has become a term people use for a ladies' man
type. This starts out in Don Juan's childhood where his father, also
played by John Barrymore, is screwed over by a woman putting into his
head that women give you life, disillusionment and death. Don Juan
returns to Rome from the University of Pisa and finds the town is quite
corrupt and must deal with the corruption and must rethink his views
towards women.
The Big Store (1941): Now I bring you the Marx Brothers in a
relatively unknown film. This time the Marx Brothers wreak a lot of
havoc at a department store where the worst private eye, Wolf J.
Flywheel, guess which Marx plays this part, is hired to protect the
manager and is joined by his always hilarious Chico and Harpo. This is
not the greatest of the Marx Brothers buts still has some hilarious
moments like an interesting dream sequence from Harpo, a piano scene
with Chico and a hilarious musical number from "Sing While You Sell".
The Italian Job (2003): I now end with this heist remake. Mark
Wahlberg leads a heist along with Donald Sutherland, Jason Statham, Mos
Def, Buffy alum Seth Green, and Edward Norton. The last person listed
has his own plans and betrays the group and a year later the team
reunites along with safecracker Charlize Theron to avenge the betrayal.
I don't want to give too much away here. Wahlberg is great as Charlie
Croker and it also has great action. Seth Green plays Lyle who claims
to have been the real creator of Napster and in a flashback sequence
from his point of view, look for the real creator of Napster Shawn
Fanning. I will check out the original in the future but this was a
pretty decent remake.
That is it for this week. On Wednesday I will be releasing a
wrestling blog, my first one in over a year, which will be partly
personal to my own life. Everyone have a great week and if you would
like to come to Anderson, Indiana, my show is at 3 pm.
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