Welcome to the 89th Edition of my blog. I just had performances this
weekend for State Fair. I have two more outside performances next
weekend at the Minnetrista Center in Muncie Indiana. Now for your
weekly fix of movie recommendations.
From Here to Eternity (1953): This movie takes place in 1941 Hawaii
at the Pearl Harbor base just days before the infamous Japanese attack.
This movie shows life on a base and how it can change really quick.
There are different subplots. The biggest one being Montgomery Clift
playing an ex-boxer being pressured to the extreme by his captain and
peers. Burt Lancaster plays a soldier who is falling in love with his
captain's wife, played by Deborah Kerr. Frank Sinatra plays a
street-wise soldier in a comeback role in a time when his career was at a
low. All these things will not matter when they are attacked by the
Japanese. Other actors in this film include Donna Reed, Ernest Borgnine
and Superman alum George Reeves.
The Good Girl (2002): In the 87th Edition, I brought you "The
Notebook", last week's edition I brought you "Love Actually", now I
bring you this. First off, this is considered a comedy but I would use
that term rather loosely, though there are funny scenes. Jennifer
Aniston stars as a bored, cashier wife whose husband, played by John C.
Reilly, and his friend, played by Tim Blake Nelson, usually sit down on
the couch and get high. Enter in Jake Gyllenhaal, a big fan of "Catcher
in the Rye" and takes the name of Holden from the book's main character
and has an affair with you know who. After things get escalated, that
is where the comedy part dies and the drama is brought in. This was a
very good movie with good performances, possibly Jennifer Aniston's
best. Zooey Deschanel is amusing as the rebellious worker of the store.
Aguirre- Wrath of God (1972): Werner Herzog directed this German
classic which stars his usual actor Klaus Kinski as the ruthless title
character who is part of a Spanish Expedition and becomes their leader
after killing the leader which brings a lot of tension to their
journey. All Aguirre really wants is the gold. Herzog also had his
usual "Man against Nature" theme when they had to battle the elements as
well as each other. Herzog and Kinski were also said to have had their
usual tension between each other at filming, something they were quite
known for.
Back to the Future Part II (1989): I'll probably get some mixed
opinions on this one but note that I have already featured part one
which is in my Tournament of Champions so I decided to view this on
On-Demand. The story continues from where part one left off where
Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd reprise their roles as Marty McFly
and Doc Brown and must go into the future to prevent Marty's life from
becoming hell but through scheming of Biff, they must go back to 1955 to
prevent some disasterous changes. I felt this was a good continuation
and that many of the actors had to play through different ages which I
thought they did a good job of doing.
Baby Doll (1956): Elia Kazan directed this adaptation to the
provocative Tennessee Williams play. Karl Malden plays Archie Lee who
has a childish 19-year old girl, played by Carroll Baker as the title
nick-name character, as a bride who he really wants to marry but
promised her father he wouldn't until she said she was ready which
really complicates his life. Enter Sicilian Eli Wallach, in his movie
debut who plays Archie's business rival Silva who tries to force Baby
Doll into revealing Archie's crimes in some rather extreme measures.
This movie earned a lot of controversy for its time including criticism
from the Legion of Decency board and a catholic boycott.
Before Night Falls (2000): This is a biographical film on Cuban poet
and novelist Reinaldo Arenas whose life was marked by oppression and
fought for his freedom and for his work to be published. Javier Bardem
plays the poet in a very good performance. Sean Penn and Johnny Depp
both have cameos including a dual role from Depp as a transvestite and
as a warden.
The Replacement Killers (1998): I might get a little heat for this
pick and make no mistake, it does not match Chow Yun-Fat's Hong Kong
work with John Woo but I have to say though, it is what introduced me to
Chow in his American debut. Chow brings his anti-hero persona to
America where he is a hit-man who is told to kill a cop and his son but
refuses to do the job. This obviously does not sit well with his
superiors and send the title characters out to finish the job. He
enlists the help of an expert forger, played by Mira Sorvino, and she
gets a little more than she bargained for and reluctantly agrees to help
him protect her rival cop from these killers. It has some good action
and is better than some of the other movies Asian actors have tried to
do here in America.
Murder! (1930): I was looking for a movie from the 30s and in my
search, I found this early Hitchcock film. Herbert Marshall plays a
theater actor who is on jury duty who agrees to convict a woman of
murder but later rethinks his decision and looks for who he believes is
the real killer. This is an interesting early film from the "Master of
Suspense" and will keep you guessing.
Red Eye (2005): My mom recorded this Wes Craven thriller to the DVR
so I decided I would check it out. Rachel McAdams is the manager of a
hotel who on a routine flight falls prey to an assassination plot of the
head of Homeland Sucurity. Cillian Murphy plays the man who charms his
way into her life only to try to use her to get to the assigned
target. This was an interesting thriller and wasn't a slasher film that
Craven in known for.
The Ostrich (1949): I found this British animated short on TCM which
was done through Animaland which was their answer to Disney and Warner
Brothers and managed to do some pretty good things including this one
about a father ostrich and his young in Egypt where they imagine
interacting with hieroglyphics which scares the father but not the
young. Very entertaining with a pretty good musical score.
Well, that is it for this week, leave your comments telling me which
ones of these you have seen and your favorites and least favorites.
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