Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 226th Edition

Welcome to the 226th Edition of my long-running series. I am happy to say that I now have the Roku player to stream my Netflix instantly so some of my selection process will change but not much. This week I pay tribute to the late Mark Linkous, a musician most known for the indie band Sparklehorse. I have five selections from the Random Myspace Profile selection for this week. Next week will have at least one selection with possibly more but unlikely. I don't usually use this blog to rant on things but I have something to say in this paragraph which includes Farrah Fawcett. As many know, she was left out of the "In Memorium" segment of the Academy Awards. The decision was made on basis that she was "more known for television". Now Michael Jackson was included even though he is far more known for his singing. Farrah was remarkable in THE APOSTLE and would it have really hurt to put her picture up for a split second? I'm not asking for some all-out tribute like they did with John Hughes but to just exclude her name I thought was quite wrong.

Michael Jackson's This is It (2009): I start off with this documentary which focuses on the rehearsals for the planned London tour was sold out but was not meant to be due to Jackson's untimely death. It's unfortunate this movie was even made seeing as many wanted to see this live. However, this was some great rehearsal footage with Jackson working closely with other dancers on the show to get the best production possible. It was really cool observing him during the rehearsal process. He seemed like someone who really knew what he wanted but was very good to the people around him. This footage was originally just going to be part of Michael's private library and for the producers to observe. I had not listened in depth to Michael Jackson in years but it was great to take time to watch him work again as he was very talented and groundbreaking.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977): This is a selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I chose the Richmond Reviewers. Now I bring you one of Steven Spielberg's masterpieces and one of the best sci-fi films of all time. This movie takes place in my hometown of Muncie, Indiana so that was pretty cool even if it was not really filmed there. They did visit the hometown for props like getting a lot of Ball State merchandise. Richard Dreyfuss stars as Roy Neary who like many others believes he witnessed a UFO. He then becomes very obsessed with his findings and the musical notes he continues to hear in his head. He becomes so obsessed he ends up alienating his wife and kids. This takes him on quite a journey working with other UFO experts to find out what is going on and what they want. Francois Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban, and many others co-star. The special effects hold up in today's CGI world from Michael Kahn's first special effects movie he is very good at. John Williams wrote a good music score. Grateful Dead member Jerry Garcia supposedly is an extra in the India scene.

Year of the Dragon (1985): This is another selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I used Mickey Rourke Online. Michael Cimino directed this movie and wrote alongside Oliver Stone. Mickey Rourke stars as Captain Stanley White who is a New York cop put in charge of some murders in Chinatown. He has a prejudice towards Asians since the Vietnam war but is fair to the ones who obey the law and is determined to end the violence that was started by an understanding of the NYPD and the Chinese Mafia. The people who had to pay most are the people in his life due to his determination to end the rule of the Chinese mafia. Much of this movie was filmed in North Carolina with a very realistic New York set. I really liked Mickey Rourke in this movie as a cop on the edge. This is pretty violent and is not for everyone. Of course maybe I'm biased for being such a Mickey Rourke fan but I really believed him as the flawed cop determined to do the right thing whatever the cost.

London After Midnight (1927): This is part two of my Lon Chaney series and likely the last for right now. This was actually distributed through Turner Classic movies. This was something that was thought to be lost but some of the footage was found where they had to use still footage to put it together which was put together pretty well. Tod Browning directed this movie where Lon stars as Inspector Burke investigating a mysterious death thought to be suicide. Chaney probably had his best makeup job during one scene where he uses it as a disguise but unfortunately we cannot see a live-action performance of him in this part.

The Out-Of-Towners (1970): This is based on a story written by Neil Simon. Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis are a married Ohio company named George and Gwen. George has a job interview for a job in New York for a vice president job. It was going to be a simple trip for a possible job but turned out to be the misadventure of a lifetime when they lost their luggage, they could not find a hotel room, they get mugged, and many other things. The two stars worked very well together and were very funny where you were just pulling for them all the way through for George to get to that damn interview. Neil Simon wrote this directly for the screen when he found it might be hard to do it on stage with the numerous locations. This was remade in 1999 with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn which I never saw but have not heard good things about. Look for Billy Dee Williams as the lost and found agent in the airport who one one of many that was threatened of a lawsuit by George. There were some very funny moments in this film.

Legends of the Fall (1994): This is another selection from the Random Myspace Selection process and for this one I chose the one called Young Kill Bill who is my friend Melissa who I worked with some at Muncie Civic Theater. Anthony Hopkins stars as Colonel William Ludlow who is discharged from the military and decides to raise his three children in a remote Montana location to keep them away from the government he has come to despise. Aidan Quinn, Brad Pitt, and Henry Thomas play his children Alfred, Tristan, and Samuel all in that order. They are a very close-knit family but the childrens' decision to join WWI and other betrayals threaten that bond in this beautiful epic. Julia Ormand also co-stars in this film. The performances in the movie are great. Edward Zwick directed this film which took him a long time to get it off the ground. I really liked Aidan Quinn the most as the son who was torn between what he wanted and his father's anti-government attitude.

The Killers (1946): This is a novel based on a story by Ernest Hemingway. This is one of the film-noirs that defined the genre at the time. Edmond O'Brien plays an insurance investigator named Jim Reardon. He decides to investigate the murder of a boxer named "The Swede" Ole Anderson, played by Burt Lancaster. This is based on a short story by Hemingway in terms of its beginning which was then expanded into a series of flashbacks that lead into the murder. In Reardon's investigation, he comes across a mysterious dame named Kitty Collins, played by Ava Gardner, who seems very involved in what happened. This was Lancaster's first big role and the name of Ole Anderson would carry onto the wrestling world. This was a very good-moving film with a great ending.

Jumper (2006): This is a selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for the one I chose Carsten Kurpanek who has done his own short films has an imdb profile. This is a short film which he directed where a man is about to kill himself and an eccentric business woman tries to talk him out of jumping on account of her new car he could potentially destroy. This had some pretty good dialogue and was a pretty fun 8 minutes though I liked him 2007 short film THE WHITE ROOM better. This was still pretty good and both can be seen on his myspace profile at http://www.myspace.com/kurpanek.

Dandelion (2004): This is my tribute to the late Mark Linkous whose song IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE is featured here. ANGEL alum and MAD MEN star Vincent Kartheiser stars as Mason, a lonely young man in a small town. He then meets a troubled girl named Danny, played by Taryn Mason. They soon form a very big bond but Mason is taken away to a juvenile center for something he did not do. Arliss Howard and Mare Winningham plays Mason's parents who he has a very uneasy relationships with and Howard seems to care more about his political career. This is an independent film which I can't really describe very well but is a beautiful film in many ways and stands a place in history as the first movie streamed through my Roku player.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935): I end with this selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I chose the tribute profile to Olivia de Havilland who plays Hermia in her film debut. This is some rare Shakespeare that I am featuring here. I have see a few stage versions of this play which I have always honestly had a little love/hate relationship with through the years. I like some Shakespeare like ROMEO AND JULIET and MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING but I always thought this one is just all over the place. However, with the cast, the scenery and some pretty good special effects for the time I could look past my feelings for this a bit. Mickey Rooney was just very strange as puck even as a portrayal. He was actually 14 at the time. The all-star cast includes Dick Powell, James Cagney, Jean Muir, and many others. Cagney plays Bottom which is one in many in who I believe is the most versatile actor of all time along with the underrated Paul Muni. I guess if I ever get a part in this play I would be best for the role of Flute, played here by Joe E. Brown.

Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you dislike. Stay tuned next week which includes an adaptation of Dickens, Carlos Diegues, Kate Winslet, and many others.