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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