Welcome to the 304th Edition of my series. I started rehearsals this
week for SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET. It is coming
along pretty well and believe this will be a good show. Today is the
start of the regular season and with last Thursday's game between the
Saints and Packers I am down in fantasy but hope that my guys can get me
an opening week victory. It's been a pretty fun weekend. Last Friday,
I went to Vecino's to support Ashley's singing gig and while it was a
small crowd it was a very good one even if it was one we had to conjure
up. Last night, I had a wrestling show for Action Packed Wrestling and
while it was rather chaotic, still had a lot of fun. Today, I went to
the Westfield Playhouse to see my friend Doug in the musical DON'T HUG
ME and was a very fun musical. Now I am just hoping that my fantasy
team wins. I'll get to my picks for the week now.
Brothers
(2009): This is part three of my four-part Natalie Portman series.
This is a remake of a 2004 Denmark film. Tobey Maguire stars as Captain
Sam Cahill and Jake Gyllenhaal plays his ex-con brother Tommy Cahill.
Natalie Portman plays Sam's wife Grace. Grace and Sam are the ones who
are married and he is sent on another tour of duty in Afghanistan.
While in Afghanistan Sam is captured and was tortured being forced to do
unspeakable things. He is also believed to be dead. Tommy is the
brother getting out of prison and more of the black sheep. In his
getting his life together, he tries to help Grace and he two kids cope
forming more of a relationship with Grace. When Sam gets out of the
prison and back home he is very bitter and difficult to deal with
bringing tension with everyone. This was a pretty well-done film with
good performances from the stars. Sam Shepard and Mare Winningham
co-star as the parents of the brothers. This is available on Instant
Netflix.
The Old Grey Mayor (1935): This is my short film for
the week which stars Bob Hope as Bob. Him and his fiancee are trying to
break the news to her father but finds that is not easy as her father
does not want her to marry him. She then has to go through some comic
means to marry her. There are some pretty funny moments and good for
purposes of seeing Bob Hope.
School For Scoundrels (1960): Yes,
this is the original movie to the 2006 film with Billy Bob Thornton and
Jon Heder. This is a British comedy which stars Ian Carmichael as Henry
Palfrey who always wants to impress but loses out to the rotten Raymond
Delauncey, played by Terry-Thomas. Most notably he is interested in a
girl but Raymond also wants her. Henry then enrolls in the College of
Lifemanship in order to learn the secrets of success. Alastair Sim
plays the so-called professor of this college. This is a pretty funny
but must appreciate British humor. This is available on Instant
Netflix.
The Outsiders (1983): Francis Ford Coppola directed
what I call this Before They Were Stars films which includes C. Thomas
Howell, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Tom
Cruise, Ralph Macchio, and Diane Lane before they became the actors they
are today. S.E. Hinton wrote the novel. The guys are part of the
Greasers and when some members of their rival gang the Socs are killed
in self-defense it sets off a bad chain of events leading into a rumble
between the two gangs. C. Thomas Howell is the main person Ponyboy who
narrates the story. Patrick Swayze plays his oldest brother who must be
the father to him and Sodapop who is played by Lowe. Estevez is the
more comic relief. The rest put on pretty good, early performances
helping their careers. Coppola is good about helping people's careers
get going like Pacino in THE GODFATHER. Look for 80s teen star Leif
Garrett and musician Tom Waits. This is a pretty moving film on just
trying to survive and does not really put the focus on gangs as it is
just part of the story. I remember reading this book and seeing the
movie in Middle School which English classes use this a lot.
The
Long Night (1947): Henry Fonda stars in this film where he is to be
arrested for murder but is not letting anyone in even though he is
surrounded. He then reflects on how he ended up there as he does not
remember everything so we see flashbacks and
flashbacks-within-flashbacks of how he ends in the situation. Vincent
Price co-stars in this film. It is had to really explain this story but
it is very suspenseful and uses the flashbacks very well leading into
what happened. This is a more unknown Henry Fonda but still a very good
one.
It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955): This is my sci-fi
film for the week and not bad for a movie about a giant octopus. This
movie shows the price of H-Bomb testing and the testing resulting in an
octopus becoming quite big and wreaks havoc in California. People must
then band together to stop it before it destroys Golden Gate Bridge.
This was a pretty compelling story making this more than a B-Movie.
The
Panic in Needle Park (1971): This is an early Al Pacino film of which
was right before THE GODFATHER and that Francis Ford Coppola saw and
really liked him. This takes place in the "Needle Park" part of New
York City and gives a portrayal on a group of heroin addicts. Pacino
plays Bobby who is an addict and small-time hustler. Kitty Wynn
co-stars as Helen, who is homeless and meets Bobby but also becomes
homeless. This is a very honest look into this world with good
performances from the leads. The next year is when Pacino would become
Michael Corleone in THE GODFATHER. Coppola really wanted him for this
part but producers did not want this unknown actor until Coppola showed
the producers this film.
The Company Men (2010): I had never
heard of this movie until Tony got this on Netflix so I thought I'd give
it a shot. This last selections portray the world of drugs and this
portrays the corporate world. Ben Affleck has been with his corporate
job for a long time but is let go due to cost-cutting measures. He has a
wife and kids and this firing shows the effect it has on his self-worth
and his difficulties in trying to find a job. Chris Cooper is someone
who has been with that company for a long time and is very paranoid
about his job. Tommy Lee Jones is the boss who is not liking having to
let go of employees and the idea of downsizing. Kevin Costner, Maria
Bello, and Craig T. Nelson co-star. I was not sure what I would think
of this but really like this look at a big job and the effects of
downsizing.
Red White Black and Blue (2006): This is one of my
documentaries for the week which was produced by PBS. This movie
focuses on an attack from Japan to Alaska on June 7, 1942. In the
modern day, some of the survivors go back and retrace their steps and
reflecting on the forgotten battle of WWII. This is pretty informative
and not a very long movie that is available on Instant Netflix.
There's
Something Wrong with Aunt Diane (2011): I end this week with this HBO
documentary. This focuses on the case where Diane Schuler drove on the
wrong side of the road where eight people died including her, a daughter
and three nieces. There was a high amount of alcohol and marijuana in
her system. Her widowed husband and sister-in-law are determined to
prove that was another cause like a stroke. This movie does not
discriminate and looks at every side. This is available on HBO
On-Demand.
Well, that is it for this week. I kind of wrote this
at the last minute so forgive the writing. Next week will include more
Natalie Portman, Rock Hudson, Roger Moore, and many others.
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