Welcome to the 279th edition of my blog. Open your Netflix and Blockbuster queues and keep reading.
The
Messenger (2009): This is the 19th link on this chain and it continues
through Steve Buscemi who has a small but significant part as the
father of a fallen soldier in this military drama. Ben Foster stars as a
decorated Iraq soldier named Will Montgomery who has a new assignment
of informing families that their kids have died in war. He must learn
from the very experienced Captain Tony Stone who does his job by the
book which is difficult for Will who is more idealistic. Harrelson was
great in this film as the soldier who has a very difficult job and has
clearly effected his own life where his last name seems to say it all.
Foster is also good as the more idealistic soldier who struggles with
his ethics when falling in love with the widow of a soldier.
North
By Northwest (1959): I now bring "The Master of Suspense" Alfred
Hitchcock in his use of the "mistaken identity" theme that he liked.
Cary Grant stars as advertising executive Roger Thornhill who is then
mistaken for a spy. He is then on the run from the government and other
spies with the help of the beautiful blonde Eve, played by Eva Marie
Saint. This ranks as one of Hitchcock's best. James Mason co-stars as
someone who accuses Roger of being the spy. There are also some pretty
iconic scenes like where he must run from a plane that is being flown by
someone trying to kill him and the great action climax on top of Mount
Rushmore. Also look for a young Martin Landau. This is action at its
finest.
The Corvair in Action (1960): This is my short film for
the week that was on TCM On-Demand. This is really kind of an
advertising video which has some footage on what this car could do.
Great for classic car fans. Looks like it is findable on Youtube. It
is a good seven seconds of entertainment.
The Expendables (2010):
The Facebook friend I chose for this week was Tony who works at
Blockbuster and has interviewed many celebrities including the director
and star of this film Sylvester Stallone. This is also part two of a
two-part Sylvester Stallone series as I included DEMOLITION MAN last
week. This could be considered "The Ultimate Guy Film" and was a very
fun throwback to action films of the 80s and 90s. This is not for
everyone. It is quite violent and if great plot is what you want, this
may not be it. However, if you want a fun action film and even some
nostalgia, this may be for you. This is something I went to see in
theaters with a very reluctant Lisa who agreed to come see it with me.
This really is not her type of movie and maybe she just had in mind that
I have seen a lot of the 3D movies with her so she came into my world.
Before the movie started, they always have highlights of movies and
such and then there was the advertisement for a UFC ppv which featured
Randy Couture so I let her know that he was in the movie which did not
seem to excite her any more. In the end, I believe she liked it for
what it was and was tolerant of the movie. Stallone stars as Barney
Ross who leads a group of mercenaries who are hired to kill a dictator
on a South American island. I do not usually go through actors that
thoroughly but I will here. One of the members of his team includes
Jason Statham who plays the knife throwing Lee Christmas. One thing to
note is that Stallone was in the 1975 film DEATH RACE 2000 and Statham
was in the 2008 remake DEATH RACE. Jet Li is also a part of this team
and plays the martial arts expert Yin Yang who is also even pretty funny
in the film. Dolph Lundgren plays Gunner Jensen but is a very loose
cannon and is quite unpredictable. This marks the reunion of Stallone
and Lundgren who were in ROCKY IV. Next we have UFC legend Randy
Couture who plays Toll Road and has a pretty comical monologue on how he
came to have the "cauliflower ears". Terry Crews rounds out this group
going to South America as Hale Caesar and makes himself known by a very
loud gun. Crews is the only person in this group that I was not
familiar with but found that he is a former NFL player from the 90s and
has been fairly successful in film. Also of note is Mickey Rourke who
plays Tool which is a person who was with this group but apparently got
burned out and now runs a tattoo parlor where the group hangs out a lot
reflecting on the old days. Some may call him the "boring" part of the
film but I feel he is more of the "acting" part and has a great
monologue. Granted, I am saying this and people who know me enough know
that he is my idol but I felt he gave a pretty good performance in his
small role. This movie also contains a scene of film history. For the
first time in film we get to witness Stallone, Bruce Willis, and Arnold
Schwarzenegger for the first time. Willis plays the mysterious person
who hires the Expendables and Arnold is someone who apparently used to
work with Stallone but never got along well. This is no action in the
scene but pretty amusing dialogue plus Sly had a very hard time working
around the schedules of the other two. The main villain of this film is
played by Eric Roberts who apparently used to work for CIA but went
Rogue. Roberts is the older and less successful brother of Julia
Roberts and friend of Mickey Rourke and possibly got the part on account
of Rourke. Roberts did play the villain pretty well and WWE Hall of
Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin plays his henchman who did all the dirty
work. Now if Austin is who you are watching the movie for then there
might be some disappointment as he does have a pretty small part with
limited dialogue. However, there is a pretty good fight scene between
him and Couture near the end. Even in the climax of the movie Stone
Cold and Stallone have a pretty brutal fight scene which actually
injured Stallone in real life. I guess what I am trying to say is that
these are the people that keep me tuned into the movie. We have the man
who created Rocky Balboa, a Hong Kong martial arts legend, an American
action star, a former WWE wrestler, a UFC fighter, and a former NFL
player. Now that is what I call diversity. Many of the Brazilian
soldiers are Brazilian MMA fighters. Many other actors either turned
down parts or could not do them like Jean-Claude Van Damme, DEMOLITION
MAN co-star Wesley Snipes, and Steven Seagal. I have heard that Chuck
Norris turned down a part. If only we could have seen maybe The Rock
and he could have had another rematch with Stone Cold. I would have
also liked to have seen Mr. T. Maybe we can also get Hulk Hogan, Carl
Weathers, and if you have any other suggestions feel free to post on my
comments. There are many that could have made this movie fun to watch.
There is a sequel in the works which as far as I'm concerned won't be
any better or worse, just another fun action film with maybe new faces.
The
Big Sleep (1946): Now I go to this film noir classic which is based on
a novel by Raymond Chandler and directed by Howard Hawks. Humphrey
Bogart stars as private investigator Philip Marlowe who is hired by the
dying General Sternwood to investigate some troubling matters among his
family and finds that a lot centers around Sternwood's favored
employee's disappearance. This leads Marlowe into a very complicated
investigation for him and the viewers watching the film but we let go of
how convoluted this film was due to the performances and the excitement
of each scene. Lauren Bacall stars as one of the members of the family
who he begins to find love with in the movie and in real-life as Bogey
and Bacall were married months later and Bogey's marriage at the time
ended. Charles Waldron played General Sternwood in his last film making
him go out with quite a bang. This is classic Film Noir here and
should not be missed.
Ponyo (2008): This is my anime selection
for the week though produced by Disney. This is a family oriented Anime
film but one for everyone to enjoy. This movie centers around a 5 year
old boy named Sosuke who is quite smart for his age and discovers a
little goldfish that he gives the title name who then wants to become
human but Sosuke would have to pass a few tests for that to happen.
This is a very beautiful anime film with a great story. Frankie Jonas,
yes the youngest of the Jonas Brothers, and Noah Lindsey Cyrus, yes the
daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus and younger sister of Miley Cyrus, provide
the lead voices. This will probably be the only movie where they play
the leads and the movie is good. Other people providing the American
voices include Cate Blanchett, Tina Fey, Matt Damon, Liam Neeson, Betty
White, among others. This is available through Instant Netflix.
Rushmore
(1998): Wes Anderson wrote and directed this independent film. Jason
Schwartzman stars as the 15 year old Max who attends the title school.
He is struggling in all his classes but excels at all extra-curricular
activities. He then forms a crush on an elementary teacher named Miss
Cross, played by Olivia Williams. Bill Murray co-stars as Herman, a
wealthy industrialist who forms a friendship with Max but also has a
crush on Miss Cross. This sets off Max to do some rather underhanded
things forming an interesting love triangle. I really enjoyed this
independent film which was a rather dark comedy. This may have been the
start of Bill Murray in the type of characters he plays now. The leads
were good as well as the story so hopefully this can be put back on the
radar.
Shopworn (1932): I believe I found this on TCM On-Demand
which stars Barbara Stanwyck. Stanwyck stars as Kitty Lane who is a
hard-working waitress who then meets a college student named David,
played by Regis Toomey, from the upper-class who begin to like each
other. However, David's mother does not like the idea of a poor girl
marrying into the family and does everything possible to sabotage their
relationship. This is a very interesting love story about the
unofficial class system where in so many words, Kitty is deemed to be a
peasant. Stanwyck was very good in her role. The movie had a lot of
trouble getting approved with the rigorous Production Code standards.
Animals
are Beautiful People (1974): This is my documentary from the week
which really came upon chance. I was looking for something via Instant
Netflix on my Roku player and found a category from 70s movies which I
was looking for and thought this would be a good one to use. Jamie Uys
wrote and directed this documentary which was narrated by Paddy O'Byrne.
This is a very comedic look at the wildlife in the Namid Desert I
believe in Africa. Their is a lot of very good animal footage here and
narrates what many different animals like lions, laughing hyenas,
monkeys, elephants, among others do for survival. There is some rather
disturbing footage at times but the narration and camerawork is great.
This is something the whole family can enjoy. It is available on
Instant Netflix so if looking for something to watch with your kids,
here you go.
Snow Angels (2007): I now end this week with this
independent film directed by David Gordon Green. This is one of those
that I really did not know what to expect and was quite surprised. This
movie has a couple stories that interweave together. Michael Angarano
plays high school student Arthur who also works at a restaurant. He is
dealing with his parents' separation and a crush on another student.
His co-worker Annie, played by Kate Beckinsale, is separated from her
husband trying to raise a 4 year old on her own and having an affair.
Sam Rockwell plays her estranged husband Glenn who is trying to prove
that he is still fit to be around his daughter, has a new job but tends
to screw things up a lot. This was a very beautiful, if sad, film that
centers around the characters that are given very humanistic treatment.
I know Kate Beckinsale has been known to make bad choices but pulls
this one off pretty well. This is not very upbeat but quite realistic.
Besides, any movie where the high school marching band learns Peter
Gabriel is okay in my book, granted it's SLEDGEHAMMER which is not one
of my favorites by him, they are still focusing on Mr. Gabriel.
Well,
that is it for this week. Stay tuned for next week which so far
includes Jean-Luc Godard, more Steve Buscemi, Jean Harlow, Samuel L.
Jackson, the late Michael Gough, Claire Danes, and many others.
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