Welcome to the 267th Edition of my long-running series. I hope everyone
is having a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or a Happy Kwanzaa. This
one is the last installment for the year 2010 and a good year it has
been. This week I pay tribute to the late Blake Edwards who recently
left us. This week I am in the finals of fantasy football and if I win
this week I win a $150 cash prize so we'll see how that goes.
The
Hurt Locker (2008): This is the seventh link of the chain and the
first one for Brian Geraghty who co-starred in last week's JARHEAD,
another war movie. JARHEAD was based on Desert Storm and this one was
based on the current war in Iraq. Jeremy Renner stars as Sergeant James
who joins an elite group and proves to be a man who lives on the edge
as part of a bomb disposal team. His reckless actions really dismay
Sanborn, played by Anthony Mackie, and Eldridge, played this this week's
chain link Brian Geraghty. The movie was filmed in Jordan hoping to
make the look authentic. I know this has went to very mixed opinions
and have found that its biggest haters are people in the military and
the portrayals. Many have said that the Explosive Ordinance Disposal is
not nearly as active as they are in the film. There has also been
criticism towards the character of James and his recklessness. I will
not pretend to have any kind of expertise towards this war and maybe if I
was in Iraq I would have thought different but I have heard praise that
it captures the war conditions very well. Ralph Fiennes, David Morse,
and Guy Pearce are the biggest names of the film but have very small
parts as director Kathryn Bigelow wanted as many unknowns as possible.
The film was written by Mark Boal who was a freelance journalist and
wrote a fictional story about the things he saw. This movie beat out
the visually stunning AVATAR which was coincidentally enough directed by
Bigelow's ex-husband James Cameron. Maybe there was some exaggeration
which was to be expected but I also thought it was a good portrayal on a
unit in the military though I liked last week's war film JARHEAD better
but not really into the war genre much anyways. The Chain will
continue next week with another Brian Geraphty film.
Strangers
With Candy (2005): This is part three of my four part Philip Seymour
Hoffman series which features a very small part from him. This is
actually a prequel to the short-lived cult series of the same title in
1999. Amy Sedaris plays Jerri Blank, a 47 year old ex-con, who returns
home to find that her father is in a coma and that he has married with
another son who are not eager to accept Jerri. Jerri feels that if she
does something to make her father proud that he will come out of the
coma. With that she decides to re-enroll in high school which was the
storyline in the tv series in order to finally graduate. She then finds
that it is not an easy task when she gets put on a science team and
must learn to be a team player. I have not seen the tv series. I may
check it out on Instant Netflix when I am done with NIP/Tuck, but this
had some pretty funny moments. Stephen Colbert, Sarah Jessica Parker,
Dan Hedaya, and Matthew Broderick co-star.
A Christmas Carol
(1910): Last week, I promised another adaptation to the Dickens classic
and found this Thomas Edison produced version on my Pub-D-Hub app on my
Roku. With Edison's invention of the video camera, he produced
countless short films including this 10 minute version of the timeless
classic. I wondered how good this would be with only being a few
minutes but it ended up working pretty well using the basic elements to
put it together. With the scenes with the ghosts, they actually had
some pretty good special effects for the time with double exposures. It
is on public domain so it can probably be obtained through websites
that feature this.
The Pink Panther (1963): This is my tribute
to Blake Edwards who directed this film which introduced us to the
bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau. Peter Sellers plays the detective
who is investigating the master thief The Phantom who he does not know
is right under his nose. David Niven stars as Sir Charles Lytton who
becomes one of the main suspects. Robert Wagner, Capucine, Robert
Wagner, and Claudia Cardinale also co-star. I liked the sequel A SHOT
IN THE DARK a lot better but this was a good introduction with a great
opening sequence, the birth of one of the best movie scores of all time
from Henry Mancini, and a great performance from Sellers who I did not
feel was used enough.
Holiday Affair (1949): I found this one on
TCM which I find is a very overlooked holiday film. Robert Mitchum
stars as sales clerk Steve Mason who gets fired due to a
misunderstanding with a customer named Connie. Janet Leigh plays Connie
who is a single mother and widowed from a husband who died in the war.
Connie then feels bad for what happened where she forms a friendship
with him which does not sit well with her suitor Carl, played from
Wendell Corey, but sits well with her son who really likes Steve. From
there romantic complications follow. Mitchum was great as Steve who is a
very friendly person. Mitchum took the part in order to clean up his
"bad-boy" image he had and this was something different for Robert
Mitchum. Leigh was also very good as Connie and Gordon Gebert was good
as her son who did not want Carl as a stepfather but really took a
liking to Steve.
Always (1985): Henry Jaglom wrote, directed,
produced and stars in this romantic film on a couple on the verge of
divorce. Jaglom and Patrice Townsend star as married couple David and
Judy where Judy wants to get a divorce. When about to sign the papers,
their divorce attorney makes them wait until after the weekend. To
distract them, they are joined by some of their other friends which are
two other couples where they begin to question their divorce. This is a
rather personal film for Jaglom who had his own divorce settlement
going on where while there is poor editing and such, he captures this
type of couple pretty well. I also liked the way it ended.
Swamp
Women (1955): I decided to use some Roger Corman for the week. Carole
Matthews stars as police lieutenant Lee Hampton who goes undercover in
a women's prison to lead an escape to find a stolen loot of diamonds
which leads them into a very swampy place. They then take a couple
hostage which really complicates things as the women start fighting each
other and Lee begins to like the man whose girlfriend did not seem to
care much about him. This is the directorial debut for Roger Corman
which is you are expecting a great plot, this is not it but it is a good
B-Movie to watch with the friends.
The Rookie (1990): Clint
Eastwood directed and stars in this buddy cop film as veteran cop Nick
Pulovski who is stuck with rookie cop David Ackerman, played by Charlie
Sheen. Together they go after Pulovski's rival Strom, played by Raul
Julia. This is not one of Eastwood's better films but is a fun action
film and has some humorous moments. Sheen was pretty fun as the tense
rookie who becomes a very loose cannon when exposed by his partner
including a scene where he drives through his own home on his motorcycle
knowing his wife is in danger. He also has the death of his brother on
his head from when they were kids which he still blames himself for.
Sonia Braga, Tom Skerritt, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Xander Berkeley
co-star. The beginning takes place at Christmas.
Superman
(1978): I found this one on Encore On-Demand which is the special
edition version of the film and is two and a half hours rather that the
version that is a little over two hours. Richard Donner directed this
superhero film which was a great superhero film before it became the big
thing that it is today. This film holds its own among all the
superhero fans we have. Christopher Reeve plays the Man of Steel in
this film which takes a look at his father Jor-El, played well by Marlon
Brando, condemns three criminals and must get his baby boy Kal-El sent
to Earth before Krypton is destroyed. Kal-El is sent to the small town
of Smallville where he is adopted by the Kents and becomes Clark Kent.
It takes a look at how difficult it was for him to grow up where he is
quite different from other. Clark then becomes a mild-mannered reporter
in the Metropolis and doubles as Superman who gets his power from our
sun. Gene Hackman stars as Superman's arch-enemy Lex Luthor who is a
great criminal mind whose efforts are complicated by Superman. Margot
Kidder plays Lois Lane who would become a good friend of Superman and
have a bit of a love triangle with Clark and Superman. We also get a
great music score from John Williams and some great opening sequences
which I seems to be commenting quite a bit on this week. Jackie Cooper
plays newspaper editor Perry White who reminded me of a nicer J. Jonah
Jameson who is the editor in the world of Spider-Man. Look closely for
Kirk Alyn who plays the father of young Lois Lane in the beginning on
the train. Alyn was the first live-action Superman. The sequel was
also very good and this was a near-perfect superhero film that is just
as good if not better than most of the superhero films they put out
today.
Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006): I end with this HBO
mini-series which takes place after the real-life tsunami that took
place in Southeast Asia in 2004. These are fictional situations that
were inspired by the stories of people who lived it. Chiwetel Ejiofor
and Sophie Okonedo co-star as a couple who lost their daughter in the
tsunami and who deal with her disappearance in much different ways. Tim
Roth plays a reporter who is obviously a loose cannon and is trying to
uncover the truth of the knowledge people had of the tsunami. Toni
Collette and Hugh Bonneville also co-star. This one did go to mixed
opinions and the first part was a lot better. I liked the segments with
Ejiofor and Okonedo the most who lent the most emotional depth. I can
always watch Toni Collette who plays a relief worker. Maybe it could
have been better if they took out one or two of the stories but still
pretty well-done.
Well, that is it for this week. Stay tuned for
next week which so far includes more Brian Geraphty, more Philip
Seymour Hoffman, and many others. I decided to use a couple Honorable
Holiday Mentions so keep going.
HONORABLE HOLIDAY MENTIONS
These are two of my favorite annual holiday viewings. I know there is a lot more but this is all for right now.
A
Charlie Brown Christmas (1965): This is such a timeless special where
Charlie Brown seeks the meaning of Christmas when he sees that everyone
is going commercial. He is appointed director of the Christmas Pageant
and finds even that is going to be quite difficult when his actors are
not the most cooperative and must have Linus' help to discover the true
meaning. This year I decided to buy the great Charlie Brown Christmas
Tree which plays the Charlie Brown theme. This a timeless classic that
each generation can appreciate even in the year 3000.
It's a
Wonderful Life (1946): This is something that I can watch every year on
Christmas. James Stewart stars as George Bailey who is a small-town
boy looking to get out of Bedford Falls but things happen when his
father dies and must stay in town to keep his father's banking business
going. Lionel Barrymore plays Mr. Potter who is doing everything he can
to take over the town and needs Bailey's business to go further.
Things happen to Bailey where everything comes full circle where a
second-class angel named Clarence, played by Henry Travers, is sent down
and shows George the kind of life he would have if he had not been
born. Frank Capra directed this ultimate holiday film which shows us we
must embrace life and doing little things can go a long way. Look for a
grown-up Alfalfa from THE LITTLE RASCALS during the reunion scene.
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