Saturday, January 26, 2013

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 331st Edition

Welcome to the 331st Edition of my long-running series. I have really been liking this weather. I'm hoping soon to get back into theater but we'll just have to see. I'm still trying to learn this art of improv comedy and intend to keep working at it. I do not really have a lot to say this week so I'll just get to the recommendations.

The Rainmaker (1997): This is part one of my two-part Matt Damon series. So I start the week with this John Grisham film adaptation that was directed by Francis Ford Coppola that made Matt Damon a star. Damon stars as the very idealistic attorney Rudy Baylor. He soon takes on a big insurance company for a lower-income family when they will not approve an operation that could save the son's life. At the same time, he does what he can to help a battered woman named Kelly, played by Claire Danes, and starts falling in love with her. Danny Devito co-stars as Deck Shifflet who is a very cynical attorney but agrees to become partners with Rudy to help him. Mickey Rourke also co-stars as Bruiser Stone who Rudy and Deck first work for but was exposed for corruption. This is possibly Rourke's best role and performance from the '90s which was a lot of what I call his transitional period in film. Jon Voight, Virginia Madsen, Dean Stockwell, Roy Scheider, and many others co-star. Randy Travis even has a good cameo as a tempered potential jury member. This was a pretty well done film of the law that takes place in a rather small town with good performances. Grisham has cited this one to be his favorite of his film adaptations.

Shadowboxer (2005): Helen Mirren stars as veteran and terminally ill assassin Rose. She decides to take on one last job along with her lover Mikey, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. Rose decides not to go through with the assassination when seeing that the target, played by Vanessa Ferlito, is pregnant and instead helps her deliver. Mikey reluctantly goes along with this becomes the breadwinner to the unusual family. Stephen Dorff co-stars as Clayton who is the one who hires Rose and Mikey for the job. Macy Gray, Mo'Nique, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt co-star in this action movie. Not the greatest movie I ever saw but has elements I like including Helen Mirren with a gun. Not a bad action movie to watch when you're bored at home.

The King's Speech (2010): This is my film on royalty for the week which was directed by Tom Hooper. Colin Firth stars as King George VI who is suddenly made king of Britain during some of the darkest times of WWII. One problem for the king is that he had a stuttering problem. Helena Bonham Carter plays his wife Elizabeth who enlists speech therapist Lionel Logue, played very well by Geoffrey Rush, to help his speech problem knowing he would have to accommodate to the advent of radio. While George is reluctant, he knows he must get help somehow and takes him on forming a friendship between the two. Michael Gambon, Guy Pearce, and Timothy Spall co-star in this compelling film. It does a good job of showing the human side of royalty. The highlight of the film is Firth and Rush working so well together and forming that unlikely friendship.

Act Your Age (Emotional Maturity) (1949): This is my short film for the week which comes from the great Coronet Instructional series. These are some little movies that were made that were supposed to educate but really just entertain. I know I can always enjoy these so I decided to use one for this edition. In this one, we see a high school student who decides to carve his initials into a desk with his pencil. He is soon caught and must talk to the principal. The principal is very nice about it and tries to get down to the bottom of things. He then makes comparisons to how some behavior is of that of a five year old and has some very funny examples. I found this on my Pub-D-Hub app on my Roku player and is one of many entertaining shorts you can find from Coronet. Some of these have been known to be used on MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 and RIFFTRAX.

Planet of the Apes (1968): I decided to bring you the sci-fi film that started all those movies where apes are dominant and humans are the animals and oppressed. Charlton Heston stars as the iconic Taylor who leads a group of astronauts into the future and find this world run by apes where the humans are mute. In this society the gorillas are the soldiers, the orangutangs are the ones of political power, and the chimpanzees are usually the scientific ones. Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter play chimp couple Cornelius and Zira who help Taylor and his love interest Nova, played by Linda Harrison. Roddy McDowell became a cult icon in his portrayal as Cornelius. The biggest part of the budget is said to have been the make up used for everyone. This was followed by a few sequels, a short-lived tv series, and two remakes but this one still stands as the best and possibly one of the best sci-fi films of all time. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Duck Soup (1933): I haven't used any Marx Brothers for a while so I decided upon this when I came across it. For those who do not know who these guys are, they are a group of four brothers who started on Vaudeville and did a few comedic films. Groucho stars as Rufus T. Firefly who is made dictator of the fictional Freedonia where he declares war with the neighboring country. Chico and Harpo star as spies from that other country trying to get dirt on Rufus but prove not to be the best spies in the world. Zeppo was the fourth brother and would usually play the straight man and this was his last appearance with the Marx Brothers. Margaret Dumont plays Mrs. Teasdale who appoints Rufus as dictator. She was in a lot of the Marx Brothers films and have heard they the brothers liked her because she did not think they were funny and was perfect for the parts she played. Groucho was always known for his one-liners and had a couple musical numbers in this film. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini banned this film in his country feeling this is an attack on him. This movie is also quite known for the mirror trick which was not originated here but the best done between Groucho and I believe Chico. This movie ranks pretty high in its genre of comedy and is though by many to be the best of the Marx Brothers. This movie is available on Instant Netflix and is a pretty short movie that will not take your whole day but get lots of laughs.

War Photographer (2001): This is Travis' Co-Op selection for the week and is my documentary for the week. This was a documentary that focuses on war photographer James Nachtwey who is considered to be the best at what he does. It talks about the beginning of his career during Vietnam and focuses most of its time on the genocide and famine in Africa. It was very interesting to get his point of view on photojournalism which is a very controversial topic. I do not feel that this movie really had any political or anti-war messages. It really focused on his work and his motivation. Nachtwey is clearly a pretty quiet person and we hear more from the friends around him who do not understand why he does what he does. I found this to be a very eye-opening documentary. There are some very disturbing images displayed but they are unfortunately very real. It was also interesting to hear him speak of the difficulty in magazines getting him images. Clearly, if he went and got pictures of celebrities of which we obsess with, he could make a lot more money but I felt it was very obvious he wants get exposure to what should be more important. He has won a lot of awards for his work and is still working to this day. In 2003, he was injured in a grenade attack in Iraq but survived and has covered everything from 9/11, the Iraq War, among other things. Come out to Bracken Library this Tuesday and see the next Co-Op film selection which is the 1974 film LENNY.
 
Three Men in White (1944): This is my medical comedy for the week where Lionel Barrymore plays Dr. Gillespie runs a medical practice and is looking for an assistant. He has two interns in Dr. Ames, played by Van Johnson, and Dr. How, played by Keye Luke. Both of them are doing what they can to win the favor of Dr. Gillespie and each are looking for an unusual cure in hopes to win him over. Ava Gardner also co-stars in this film. I do always enjoy Lionel Barrymore and consider him my favorite of the Barrymore family. This is more to watch for historical purposes in film and is more of a b-movie. I still feel the movie entertained and was a positive message on the medical field. I also like that Keye Luke as an Asian could get a part like this in an era where minorities were usually stereotyped. I got this from TCM On-Demand.
 
They Might Be Giants (1971): George C. Scott stars in this film as a man named Justin Playfair who is in a psychiatric hospital for believing he is Sherlock Holmes. Joanne Woodward is the doctor assigned his case and her named is Dr. Mildred Watson and plays along with him being a Dr. Watson. She becomes fascinated by the case where Sherlock is trying to uncover his rival Moriarty to find who that person is. Scott is very good in his role and believes he is making a difference in his belief that he is Sherlock Holmes. In some ways it reminded me of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE from the Teddy Brewster character who believed he was Teddy Roosevelt and it is what made him happy. Many reading this when they saw the title probably thought that music band that many like and this is the movie that got them their name. This is a good movie which looks at fantasy vs. reality and is it wrong to live in a fantasy world when it makes them happy?

Lady & the Reaper (2009): I end this week with this animated short film that was directed and wrote by Javier Recio Gracia. This fun short film features an old lady whose husband died and she is ready to see him again. Soon the Reaper tries to take her but must battle the doctors trying to save her life. This had some great animation and does a good job of conveying the story without dialogue. This short film is really quite touching and does not get dark despite having the Grim Reaper as a character. This is available on Youtube and is a very entertaining eight minutes.

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 more Matt Damon and many others.

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