Welcome to the 314th edition of my series. As some may know I recently
got a part in a version of THE NUTCRACKER at the Minnetrista Cultural
Center in Muncie during the Enchanted Luminaria Walk on December 2nd and
3rd from 6 pm to 9 pm. I will be the character of Drosselmeyer which I
played 5 years ago at the Cornerstone Center for the Arts. That
version was the ballet version of which I did more character movements
rather than ballet but was satisfied by what I accomplished. In this
version, this will be told more through imagery and only have five
people in the show. I really expected there to be more and was quite
surprised to find out that I got this part. I will actually be getting
paid for this show which I have never been paid for the acting. I have
been paid for the ring announcing in wresting but this is a first for
me. When I first heard I got the part, I thought I must have some small
part but for pay I was going to do whatever they needed me to do but I
was quite wrong as I am reprising the part of Drosselmeyer. Hopefully
the weather will not be too bad as the show will be performed outside.
I'll go over more details next week on this. I hope everyone has a
great Thanksgiving and let's be thankful for what we have because it
could be so much worse. Let's now get to the movies.
The
Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972): I start out with this French
film from Luis Bunuel. This is a film that really does not have much
plot but focuses on six friends of upper class who are trying to have a
dinner together but keep having interruptions. Each character have
their own dream sequences and even have dreams within dreams which are
all done very well. This is a very unconventional and surreal film but
is quite the classic among the French cinema.
Election (1999):
It looks like I featured this around the right time as we have just had
local election. This dark comedy focuses on the ever popular position
of school president at a high school. Reese Witherspoon stars as the
conniving Tracy Flick who gets the position every year unopposed and
assumes in the senior year she will get it again. Matthew Broderick
co-stars as teacher Jim McAllister who decides he wants a more
democratic election and talks star football player Paul Metzler, played
by Chris Klein, into running against her. Eventually his loose cannon
sister Tammy, played by Jessica Campbell, decides to run herself. Jim
does everything he can to sabotage the election for Tracy but finds his
own life going downhill and also begins to stoop pretty low to get what
he wants. This is a great dark comedy and satire with Witherspoon and
Broderick doing a great job in their parts. This is a very underrated
comedy that was produced by MTV and likely their best movie produced.
Teeth
(2007): This was what I call a leftover for what I intended to use for
Elizabeth's contest but I did not get to it as I was very busy. I see
this would have gotten me quite a bit of points. This is another movie
that shows the hardship of high school. Jess Weixler stars as Dawn who
finds she has quite an advantage with men try to take advantage of her.
She is first an advocate for things like abstinence but temptation
arrives and is when she discovers her strange gift. NIP/TUCK alum John
Hensley co-stars as her stepbrother Brad. This is a pretty fun
horror/comedy but must have a good stomach and is not for everyone.
My
Boy Jack (2007): This is my BBC film for the week which takes place
during WWI. Daniel Radcliffe plays John Kipling, the near 18 year old
son of famed JUNGLE BOOK writer Rudyard Kipling, played by David Haig.
Rudyard is determined to get his son into the war to fight for his
country and uses his influence to get him into the military even though
his eyesight is very bad. John soon goes pretty high up in the military
but comes up missing. SEX AND THE CITY alum Kim Cattrall plays
Rudyard's wife Caroline and Carey Mulligan plays the daughter Elsie.
The females of the family are more opposed to John joining the military
and talk Rudyard into looking for their family member. Radcliffe showed
in this movie that he can go past Harry Potter and Cattrall also put on
a good performance showing she is more than Samantha from SEX AND THE
CITY. This was a pretty moving film and a good depiction of WWI.
Spanish
Fiesta (1942): This is my short film for the week which was on the dvd
of last week's feature IN THIS OUR LIFE. This takes place in Spain and
shows a group performing the ballet CAPRICCIO ESPAGNAL. This was a
pretty entertaining few minutes and is good for classic short film
buffs.
Anne of Green Gables (1934): This is based on the famed
novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Actress Anne Shirley plays the title
character whose name just happens to be Anne Shirley. O.P. Heggie plays
elderly farmer Matthew Cuthbert and Helen Westley plays Marilla
Cuthbert who is his sister. They are expecting to adopt a boy to help
with the farm but instead get this red-headed girl who Matthew takes an
immediate liking but Marilla must get a little more used to her. This
takes a look at a young girl trying to adjust to a new society of people
being a bit of an outsider. I had seen this as a play one time at
Muncie Civic Theater and that version was a bit different. This is the
first movie version I have seen. Shirley pulled the part of pretty well
and is a pretty moving story.
The Next Voice You Hear... (1950):
This is a movie on the Smith family. James Whitmore stars as Joe who
works at an aircraft family. When listening to the radio he says he
hears the voice of God and learns that other people heard the same
thing. This continues to happen upon the radio in which some people
react negatively and positively but focus most on the Smith family
consisting of the two parents and their son Johnny. William Wellman
directed this film and is one of his more unknown films. This movie is
not the greatest but is watchable and interesting in the way the
characters must rethink their beliefs.
Short Eyes (1977): This
is a prison film which is based on a play by Miguel Pinero. Bruce
Davison stars as Clark Davis who is sent to prison for being a child
molester and finds that the justice within the prison is even harsher
than the justice in the court. This movie in no way glorifies prison
life and appears to be a pretty authentic look into prison though I
guess I would no know since I have never been there. This would be a
pretty daring play to actually do in most theaters. This would have to
be done in the Muncie Civic Studio Theater is they were ever to take
this project on. Look for younger Luis Guzman and Mark Margolis who
have parts in this film. The writer of this play wrote this while in
prison himself in Sing Sing prison as part of a writers workshop. When
the movie premiered he was incarcerated for armed robbery and was said
to have lived on the streets upon release even after the success of the
film. This is a pretty overlooked prison film that I hope to put on the
radar.
Chloe (2009): This is part two of a two-part Julianne
Moore series in which I used CHILDREN OF MEN last week. Atom Egoyan
directed this erotic thriller which stars Julianne Moore as a doctor
named Catherine who is married with a teenage son. Liam Neeson plays
her husband David who she suspects of cheating on him. She soon hires
an escort named of the title, played by BIG LOVE alum Amanda Seyfried,
to spy on her husband and try to seduce him. Soon, more unforeseen
events end up putting others in danger. If I explain anything else I
might give this away. This is by no means for everyone and is pretty
erotic. I was actually watching this at home and my mom came back and
surprisingly watched the last hour or so with me. I noticed she was at
least intrigued by the film on what might happen next. I thought
Seyfried did a pretty good job as the title character. I was also quite
intrigued by the film up to what I felt was a good conclusion. This is
not for the family.
loudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies
(2006): I end this week with this rock documentary on the alternative
band who were popular in the mid 80s to early 90s until their breakup.
Kurt Cobain has acknowledged them as a big influence to him and many
other bands. This movie focuses on a 2004 reunion tour they put on. A
lot of this focuses on band member Kim Deal's rehabilitation with
alcohol and Frank Black's family. There is a lot of reflection on
events that broke them up. One of the highlights is a younger fan who
learned of them through a book and wanted to form a cover band for them.
The Pixies is not a band that everyone who reads this will know. I
had some knowledge of them before the film but now I have a new respect
for them and their music. This is a great rock documentary of an
unknown group who may then make you look for their music on cds or the
internet sites. This can be found on Instant Netflix and next week will
start with a rock documentary.
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 another rockumentary, Michael Sheen, and many
others.
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