Welcome to the 104th Edition of my blog which in other words is the
two-year edition. I don't know how I've done it but if it wasn't for all
the readers who respect and appreciate what I do, this would have never
happened. This is not any kind of special edition, though a few
unknowns, this was a normal process from the others. I'm glad things are
back to normal even though the Horror Movie Marathon was fun. I'm
always up for contests like that, though I wasn't going to join until I
saw the many eligible loopholes which I embraced. I have really enjoyed
doing this and I intend to continue so now for what you came to see.
RFK (2002): I was at my dad's house last weekend and when I woke up
around 8:30-9 am, I decided I wanted to look for a movie and there were
some I already had planned so I needed to look into uncovered areas and
the 00-04 range wasn't covered yet so I found this tv movie which I
believe was on TNT. Linus Roache plays Robert Kennedy, the grandfather
of wrestler Ken Kennedy, though I could be wrong there. This movie
covers his life from the assassination of John Kennedy in 1963 up to his
own assassination in 1968 when he was campaigning to become president.
This wasn't bad for a tv movie. I thought Roache was good as RFK and
James Cromwell was good as Lyndon Johnson who replaced John Kennedy in
office and was challenged by RFK. My dad was on his laptop and would
every once in a while come out and explain to me some of the things
going on including Johnson's infamous speech and his big speech in
Indianapolis, Indiana. Martin Donovan plays the ghost of JFK who only
communicates through his alive brother Robert who feels he is still in
his shadow. I could not bring myself to believe that Donovan was JFK.
There might have been some accuracy to Robert thinking that he saw the
ghost of his late brother, I don't really know much on that subject. My
only critique was Martin Donovan as JFK.
The Nevadan (1950): I was searching on On-Demand and I came across
this Randolph Scott film. Randolph Scott was a B-Western star in this
era and made quite a name for himself. Here, he plays a town marshall
going undercover in a jail and helping a criminal escape so that he can
find a certain treasure and ends up getting some unexpected opponents.
Dorothy Malone co-stars as his love interest. Nothing real great but
still fun to watch.
Help! (1965): Once again, I found this on On-Demand. This is the
second film for the Beatles. Ringo's ring is targeted for some reason by
a cult where he will become the sacrifice unless John, Paul, and George
can stop it. This is a rather strange, convoluted movie with some
interesting technology at their house but it is still quite
entertaining, though their comedy doesn't compare to the Marx Brothers,
and they have many musical numbers including the title song. If you are
looking for a strong, compelling movie with great acting from the leads,
this is not for you, but if you want to be entertained, you might enjoy
this movie, especially if you are a die-hard Beatles fan
Mao Zedong in 1925 (2001): This seems to be a hard movie just to get
information on. This was shown at Ball State University for the
Celebration of Chinese Cinema. The title character was known as a
revolutionary who wanted to help the peasant farmers to become more
self-reliable. He brought up Karl Marx's idea of communism which was the
one that had good intentions until people like Lenin took it way out of
proportion. Mao Zedong would go onto becoming an icon in the modern
world of history but this movie focuses on his efforts in that year and
his poem he wrote that year called CHANGSHA.
Swingers (1996): Here is a more known movie for you all. This was the
sleeper hit of that year written by Jon Favreau where he stars as Mike,
whose girlfriend left him six months earlier and he hasn't moved on
yet. Vince Vaughn, in his break-through performance, stars as his friend
Trent who teaches him the unwritten rules on the dating scene and
together they become quite a pair in the nightclubs. Ron Livingston also
co-stars as Mike's friend who listens to him very well and some of his
views hit home with me. This is a great slice-of-life movie with great
performances, especially by Vaughn. Look for an interesting reference to
Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS.
A Real American Hero (1978): This is another tv movie, this time on
small-town sheriff Buford Pusser, most notably played by Joe Don Baker
in WALKING TALL. Here, he is played by Brian Dennehy. This version seems
to be more toned down than WALKING TALL which really plays with your
emotions. This was a more simple version of the sheriff who wanted to
rid his town of corruption. I actually bought this for $1 at a Dollar
General store and is very much worth the purchase.
An American Tail (1986): Another "American" movie, this one coming
from Don Bluth's animation about an immigrant family of mice which
decide to immigrate to America. Their youngest son Fievel gets lost and
sets out to find his family no matter what it takes and meeting up with
many interesting personalities in the process while dealing with the
mice oppressors; the cats. Dom Deluise plays a nice, big cat named Tiger
who helps Fievel find his family. The mice live the same way us humans
do, each have their powers-that-be to deal with, for them it is the
cats. For us humans, we could say the top corporate people, some of our
politicians, and everyone else out to make a buck which I guess I could
say the white man. We could explore all kinds of subtext here but it's
best to enjoy a movie about family values. Contains the hit song
SOMEWHERE OUT THERE.
West of Zanzibar (1928): In looking for an older movie, I found this
Tod Browning/Lon Chaney silent collaboration in the year right after the
"talkie" was invented with the Man of 1,000 Faces stars as a magician,
disabled by the man that his wife left him for. Lionel Barrymore plays
Mr. Crane, who steals his wife. Phroso (Chaney) goes to an African
nation, becoming "Dead Legs", a leader of a cannibalistic tribe and
plots his revenge. I have never really seen Lon Chaney's actual face and
I never realized how much resemblance Lon Jr. has with his father. I do
not believe that this African tribe was very accurate, but it was
compelling so Browning used it. I don't believe there is racist
connotation. This was definetly an interesting Chaney film, not his
best, but still important to watch.
I Love My Husband, But! (1946): This is one of Pete Smith's many
short films about a wife who points out her husband's faults that he has
in a very humorous way. Pete Smith narrates this short and Dave O'Brien
directs, writes, and stars as the husband who drives his wife crazy.
Pete Smith covered many things in his shorts including a few "I Love,
But" shorts including one from the husband's point of view. This was a
very funny movie showing that marriages had problems even then. I found
this on On-Demand.
A Prarie Home Companion (2006): This is Robert Altman's last movie
and he was able to go out with quite a bang in his career. This movie is
a backstage piece about the last broadcast of a radio show of the same
title. This was an ensemble film which included Meryl Streep and Lily
Tomlin as a couple gospel singers. Lindsay Lohan played the daughter of
Meryl Streep here and I had no problems with her in this film. I did not
think she was that bad and I really don't care what her private life
is, I just hope she is able to get better to return to good roles. Kevin
Kline played the detective who was a security guard at the time of the
concert. My favorites were Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly, who were
some pretty obscene singing cowboys. Other people in this film include
Virginia Madsen, Tommy Lee Jones, Maya Rudolph and many others. Altman
died shortly after this movie and actually did a lot of directing from a
wheelchair.
Well, that is it for the week. I want to thank everyone for reading
this blog, I can't ever say that enough. It's been a great two years. I
can see I made some pretty strange picks this time but they usually
happen for a reason. Also, I wrote a Gary Busey blog that you should
check out if you haven't yet.
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