Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 337th Edition

Welcome to the 337th Edition of my series. Lots going on next weekend. Ashley Gray returns to Muncie for the weekend with Stephen Thomas and they will both play at Doc's Music Hall on May 4th from 7-9 pm. Come on out there for some good music. Also, make your way to the theater as Muncie has CHICAGO from May 4-6, Farmland has ALL SHOOK UP from May 4-6, and Anderson has OKLAHOMA from May 3-6. There is also an Art Walk on Thursday starting at 5 PM and going to about 8 pm. This is an entertaining weekend to be in the Muncie and Anderson area. Now let's get to the recommendations for the week.

Judy Garland: The Concert Years (1985): This is a documentary which focuses on Judy Garland in her later days after leaving MGM. It focuses some on her career in the beginning like her start with the Gumm sisters and highlights of her film career. Her daughter Lorna Luft hosts this documentary focusing a lot on THE JUDY GARLAND SHOW and some of her live performances. It also shows the footage of her performing with and to her children including a moment where Judy, Liza Minelli, Lorna Luft and Joe Luft perform the song CONSIDER YOURSELF. It also talks about her friendship with John F. Kennedy which I did not know about. This was a nice tribute to Judy Garland and a must for her fans especially for the live performances of many of her signature songs like OVER THE RAINBOW.

Office Space (1999): Mike Judge wrote and directed this workplace comedy where many hate their cubicle jobs. Judge is most known for writing two of the greatest cartoon series in BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD and KING OF THE HILL and shows he can also direct a live action comedy. Ron Livingston stars as Peter Gibbons who hates his job and his greedy VP, played by Gary Cole. He learns that some downsizing is occurring and of his two best friends. They soon concoct a scheme to make money but things go very awry. David Herman and Ajay Naidu play the two friends who also hate their job and go along with the scheme. This movie is based on some animated shorts that Mike Judge has done called MILTON which are obtainable on Youtube. FRIENDS alum Jennifer Aniston plays a waitress and the love interest of Peter which also has some comedic restaurant scenes and the overbearing boss. NEWSRADIO and KING OF THE HILL alum Stephen Root plays the part of the slow-minded Milton who never seems to get his paycheck and is always forced to move desks. This movie delivers a lot of laughs and is available on Instant Netflix.

Fighter (2000): This is my second documentary for the week and one of Travis' Co-Op film selections. No, this is not that boxing movie which had Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. Amir Bar-Lev directed this film which features two Czech Holocaust survivors Arnost Lustig and Jan Wiener. They revisit a labor camp where Arnost was interned for five years. Together they reflect on the good and bad times of what they went through but have some tension when they disagree on things. This was a documentary about some sad times but the two friends bring a lot of humorous moments to make this documentary pretty entertaining. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Stop, Look, and Listen (1967): This is my short film for the week from Len Janson and Chuck Menville which talks about road safety where the people are the cars for a lack of a better explanation. This is a very unusual one to say the least where is uses stop motion live animation. This does provide some good entertaining moments where we see a "good" driver and an "overly-aggressive" driver which has no dialogue but is very creative.

The Viking (1931): Charles Starrett stars in this movie as Luke Oarum who reluctantly joins a expedition team to go to Antarctica. This movie is based on a true story where the real person who it is based upon has a little speech in the beginning of the film talking about how accurate the movie was on his life. In the movie itself, they tried to make this as authentic as possible and the ship they used exploded in ice which killed 27 of the people involved in the film. This is very interesting and good to watch for historical purposes. Charles Starrett would go onto make a career of playing western icon The Durango Kid. This is available on TCM On-Demand.

Chained for Life (1951): I guess this could be considered film noir. The real-life Siamese twins Violet and Daisy Hilton play the Hamilton sisters. In the credits, they are billed as the Hilton Sisters so I suppose these are the original Hilton sisters long before Paris and Nicki came into the picture. These sisters have a singing Vaudeville act going where one of them gets married but kills that man when he leaves her. They are soon tried for murder but the judge has a hard time deciding on what is to happen to them when one of them did not commit the murder. This is what it is, an exploitation film. The Hiltons were a real-life Vaudeville act and the movie is partly based on a sham marriage that they did for publicity. They even did a Broadway musical called SIDESHOW that was loosely based on their lives which was critically acclaimed but short-lived. One interesting thing I found was that Houdini taught them self-hypnosis so they could feel alone sometimes. This is also available on TCM On-Demand.

The Pajama Game (1957): This is my musical for the week which stars Doris Day. This takes place at a pajama factory where the employees there are intent on a raise. John Raitt stars as Sid who is the new superintendent and wants to do be good to his employees but does not want to leave his job. Doris Day stars as the employee representative Babe Williams who forms a relationship with Sid. This was a rather upbeat musical but an obvious statement towards the working class for being overworked and underpaid. Richard Adler and Jerry Ross wrote the music and Bob Fosse was the choreographer. This was John Raitt's only starring role but did a good job. He is the father of famed singer Bonnie Raitt. Much of the cast of from the Broadway Musical. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Jacknife (1989): This is part two of my Robert De Niro series and is some of his more unknown work. In this movie, he plays Vietnam veteran Megs who is visiting an old army buddy named David, played by Ed Harris. David suffers from PTSD and is reminded of a tragic battle they were in during Vietnam. Things get worse for David when Megs and his sister Martha, played by PICKET FENCES alum Kathy Baker, who does not know how to get through to her brother. This is a pretty good look at what can happen to veterans. It is a film driven by the three stars who give great performances and is way under the radar.

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979): Robert Benton directed this movie on a custody battle and shows how far we have come today. Dustin Hoffman plays Ted Kramer who is a career man more dedicated to his job than to his family or maybe he's dedicated to his family so much he must do what he can to make money. Meryl Streep plays Joanna who does not like this and then just leaves. She not only leaves Ted, but their son as well making Ted have to adjust to a new life of being a single father to their young son Billy, played by Justin Henry. A few months later, Joanna returns months after not seeing Billy and takes Ted to court for custody. This is a very good movie on a broken family that does not get too sappy with the leads doing well, even Justin Henry playing the son who was nominated for an Academy award for best supporting actor. It's also a very good courtroom drama showing the effects of a custody battle. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Lightning in a Bottle (2011): I end this week with a movie in my local area that was filmed in the Muncie/Anderson area. I actually did audition for this movie but did not get the part and was not able to make times to be an extra. This is a fantasy film directed and co-wrote by Benjamin Lancaster. Jenna Bowers stars as Elysia who is a recent college graduate in a mythology field where she found it was hard to get a job in her area. Josh Baker stars as Greg Baker who works for a secret group that protects the local town from the occult and soon give Elysia an offer. She soon learns the things she thought was fantasy are real. WIFE SWAP alum Eric Schroeder co-stars as a wizard named Ambrose who is part of that organization. Ben Rockey was very funny as a nine inch tall pixie named Franklin. Many people other people I know had parts in this movie like Sonja and Larry Rees, Jim Banta, and Jim Dougherty. Some of the extras I know are the Francis family that includes Dianna, Fred, Robert, and Estella as well as Sean Heline who played ghosts. This was a movie that consisted of local people and Ball State students. They had a very limited budget but made the most of this budget to deliver a good independent fantasy film. This was the premier screening of this film that was done at the Paramount Theater in Anderson. Get news of this movie from http://dognamedspot.com/productions/lightninginabottle. I was glad to support a local movie and hope to be in the next movie from Dog Named Spot productions.

Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you dislike. Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Brittany Murphy, Humphrey Bogart, and many others. I returned with my "Fun and Useless Facts" segment this week so keep reading.

FUN AND USELESS FACTS

Judy Garland (Judy Garland: The Concert Years) plays Dorothy Gale in the 1939 film THE WIZARD OF OZ. My Facebook friend Lindsey played the part in a 2008 production at Muncie Civic Theater in which I played the Winkie General.

John C. McGinley (Office Space) plays Stu in the 1988 film TALK RADIO. My Facebook friend John played the part in a 2010 production at the Muncie Civic Studio Theater where I played Glenn and as of right now is the last thing I have done at Muncie Civic Theater but one day I'll make my comeback.

Robert De Niro (Jacknife) and Dustin Hoffman (Kramer vs. Kramer) worked together in 1997 film WAG THE DOG and in 1996 film SLEEPERS. They were each fathers to the main couple in the 2004 film MEET THE FOCKERS and the 2010 film LITTLE FOCKERS.

Robert De Niro (Jacknife) plays Dr. Wally in the 1996 film MARVIN'S ROOM. My Facebook friend Ryan played the part in a 2011 production at the Muncie Civic Studio Theater. Also, Meryl Streep plays the part of Lee in this film and my Facebook friend Cheryl played the part in the same production.

Robert De Niro (Jacknife) and Meryl Streep (Kramer vs. Kramer) have worked together in the 1996 film MARVIN'S ROOM, the 1984 film FALLING IN LOVE where they are love interests, and in the 1978 classic THE DEER HUNTER. De Niro has also cited Streep has his favorite actress to work with.

Kathy Baker (Jacknife) and Dustin Hoffman (Kramer vs. Kramer) worked together in the 2008 film LAST CHANCE HARVEY.

Meryl Streep (Kramer vs. Kramer) and Ed Harris (Jacknife) were in the 2002 film THE HOURS.

Jane Alexander (Kramer vs. Kramer) and Kathy Baker (Jacknife) played nurses in the 1999 film THE CIDER HOUSE RULES.

Jane Alexander (Kramer vs. Kramer) plays Calamity Jane in the 1984 tv movie CALAMITY JANE. Doris Day (The Pajama Game) played the part in the 1953 musical CALAMITY JANE.