Welcome to the 123rd Edition of my series
and I want to wish everyone a Happy Easter. Things are starting to look
up for me in my return to community theater and hopefully I’ll be able
to get back into it by the summer. Thanks to everyone for their support
in my attempt to get on AMERICA’s GOT TALENT and it was a great
experience even though I did not make it to the round with tv judges but
I made it further than most people did by advancing a round. Now I will
get to my picks for the week.
My Girl (1991): I start with my Facebook pick for the week with Janna who was my partner for a Ball State project. Howard Zieff directed this story written by Laurice Elehwany centering around a young girl’s world. The world got introduced to Anna Chlumsky who plays Vada whose single father, played well by SNL alum Dan Aykroyd in a more serious role, owns a funeral home which is where they live. Vada is rather obsessed with death and her english teacher. When Shelley, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, gets a job and begins to fall in love with her father, Vada’s world is turned upside-down with jealousy. Macauley Culkin, fresh off his HOME ALONE success, plays Vada’s friend Thomas J. This movie does good at dealing with rough issues like death and growing up.
The Little Foxes (1941): We now backtrack 50 years from my first selection which is not quite as upbeat. William Wyler directed this adaptation from a play written by Lillian Hellman which focuses on the rich Hubbard family. Bette Davis plays Regina Gibbons who is married to one of them but is separated from her husband who schemes to take his money and uses her daughter to do so. This is not my favorite of Bette Davis but it is still good to watch, just think money, power, betrayal and that’s about all I need to say.
Midterm with Glasses (2007): I decided to use a movie from a myspace filmmaker so I chose Heidi Van Lier and chose this short film which is featured on http://www.myspace.com/heidivanlier. This is a very clever short film which focuses on a man with a midlife crisis and the changes that his glasses brings. There is not much more I can reallys say without giving it away so just go to that website and take 5-10 minutes to check this out.
Stop Making Sense (1984): Jonathan Demme directed this great Rock movie which focused on a concert from the Talking Heads of the title name. I enjoyed every minute of this film which looks at the whole band including the entaining lead singer David Byrne. Now if you absolutely hate the Talking Heads I guess you won’t like this but this was a pretty innovative rock documentary which most can enjoy.
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssssss Song (1971): This movie is obviously not for everyone. Melvin Van Peebles directed I gues we can call the granddaddy of Blaxploitation films. Like any Blaxploitation film, the white man is the bad guy and here, it was the police force. Melvin stars as Sweetback, a very sex-crazed man who becomes an unlikely hero after witnessing brutality. His son, Mario, plays Sweetback in the beginning as a preteen and what a role to have at that age. One thing we have here is good camera work, entertaining dialogue and it’s a movie that The Man does not want you to see and even an interesting message at the end. If you can look at this movie for the historical value and not so much a racist movie, you will really enjoy this groundbreaker.
My Girl (1991): I start with my Facebook pick for the week with Janna who was my partner for a Ball State project. Howard Zieff directed this story written by Laurice Elehwany centering around a young girl’s world. The world got introduced to Anna Chlumsky who plays Vada whose single father, played well by SNL alum Dan Aykroyd in a more serious role, owns a funeral home which is where they live. Vada is rather obsessed with death and her english teacher. When Shelley, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, gets a job and begins to fall in love with her father, Vada’s world is turned upside-down with jealousy. Macauley Culkin, fresh off his HOME ALONE success, plays Vada’s friend Thomas J. This movie does good at dealing with rough issues like death and growing up.
The Little Foxes (1941): We now backtrack 50 years from my first selection which is not quite as upbeat. William Wyler directed this adaptation from a play written by Lillian Hellman which focuses on the rich Hubbard family. Bette Davis plays Regina Gibbons who is married to one of them but is separated from her husband who schemes to take his money and uses her daughter to do so. This is not my favorite of Bette Davis but it is still good to watch, just think money, power, betrayal and that’s about all I need to say.
Midterm with Glasses (2007): I decided to use a movie from a myspace filmmaker so I chose Heidi Van Lier and chose this short film which is featured on http://www.myspace.com/heidivanlier. This is a very clever short film which focuses on a man with a midlife crisis and the changes that his glasses brings. There is not much more I can reallys say without giving it away so just go to that website and take 5-10 minutes to check this out.
Stop Making Sense (1984): Jonathan Demme directed this great Rock movie which focused on a concert from the Talking Heads of the title name. I enjoyed every minute of this film which looks at the whole band including the entaining lead singer David Byrne. Now if you absolutely hate the Talking Heads I guess you won’t like this but this was a pretty innovative rock documentary which most can enjoy.
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssssss Song (1971): This movie is obviously not for everyone. Melvin Van Peebles directed I gues we can call the granddaddy of Blaxploitation films. Like any Blaxploitation film, the white man is the bad guy and here, it was the police force. Melvin stars as Sweetback, a very sex-crazed man who becomes an unlikely hero after witnessing brutality. His son, Mario, plays Sweetback in the beginning as a preteen and what a role to have at that age. One thing we have here is good camera work, entertaining dialogue and it’s a movie that The Man does not want you to see and even an interesting message at the end. If you can look at this movie for the historical value and not so much a racist movie, you will really enjoy this groundbreaker.
Stardust Memories (1980): This is my Co-Op selection for the week which was written and directed by Woody Allen. This movie has a lot of resemblance to Felllini’s 8 1/2 where Woody plays a film director who wants to get out of comedy and direct more realistic films which makes him take a look at his many inspirations and tragedies in life. Look for Sharon Stone in the beginning. This movie has many great moments it has been cited as Allen’s favorite. I can’t explain this film like Travis can so if you want more info check out his myspace at http://www.myspace.com/muncieco_op. I don’t know where I’d be without his film screenings.
Across to Singapore (1928): I now go the silent route and feature Bette Davis’ co-star from WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE co-star Joan Crawford. William Nigh directs this adaptation of a novel by Ben Ames Williams. This is a story taking place a lot on a boat which shows lovers Joel (Roman Novarro) and Priscilla (Crawford). However, Joels brother Mark then announces his engagement with Priscilla which sparks quite a feud between the brothers. This is definetly of worth to see Joan Crawford in an early role.
Marlowe (1969): Paul Bogart directed this adaptation to a Raymond Chandler novel. James Garner takes the reigns in the role of Phillip Marlowe, made famous in THE BIG SLEEP by Humphrey Bogart which is to my knowledge no relation to the director. Marlowe, in a more psychadelic attitude is hired to find a brother and comes upon some icepick murders. This has a lot of drama and comedy with some good action. The funniest scene comes with Bruce Lee in an early role and is definetly of worth to see even if you don’t like this movie.
Blood Diamond (2006): Edward Zwick directed this adaptation of a story by Charles Leavitt. Leonardo DiCaprio, who had quite a year stars as a mercenary in South Africa and must team with a fisherman named Soloman to find a conflict diamond. Djimou Hounsou plays Soloman whose focus is to find his son and has a very uneasy alliance with the mercenary named Archer. Jennifer Connelly plays a reporter who looks to make a story of all the conflict. This was definetly a very moving film and very sad at times with great performances from the leads especially by DiCaprio who I was able to believe was a South African all the way through.
Well, that is it for this week. Leave your comments, what here do you like, what do you hate? I’ll see you all later in the week when I release the results for week 4 in March Movie Madness.
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