Welcome
to the 227th Edition of my weekly series. This was a very difficult one
to put together due to my unwritten rules but I finally have a finished
product I hope you'll like. I chose one movie from the Random Myspace
Profile Selection process. Next week will have at least one but possibly
two.
Alien Raiders (2008): This is a selection from the Random
Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I chose the myspace
profile for this very film. This movies starts out at the grocery store
where we see another night of closing and someone even stealing money
but then things change when a group of masked men take the place hostage
and even kill some of the customers. They are revealed to be a group of
rogue scientists who tracked an alien infestation in the store and must
find who is infected at any cost. This was pretty entertaining and a
pretty decent sci-fi flick. I'm not big on this genre but I kind of
liked this and some of the effects. The only person I even recognized
was 24 alum Carlos Bernard. It also had a pretty good back story leading
to the horrific situation.
A Tale of Two Cities (1935): I now
bring you some Charles Dickens which is his story that takes place
during the French Revolution. Ronald Colman stars as lawyer Sydney
Carton. He is a troubled attorney who agrees to defend French aristocrat
Charles Darnay, played by Donald Woods, for charges of being a spy.
Elizabeth Allen plays Lucie Manette who is the fiance of Darnay and is
the one who becomes enamored with Carton convincing him to defend
Darnay. Sydney Carton is then captured by revolutionaries and learns
redemption when trying to escape. Basil Rathbone stars as Marquis St.
Evremonde. This is a pretty good movie production directed by Jack
Conway. I make no claims to having any knowledge or expertise on this
Dickens story and it is really hard to explain in detail but captures
the French Revolution and the oppressed society with the poor. Colman
was very good as Carton.
Bye Bye Brazil (1979): This is my
Brazilian film for the week directed by Carlos Diegues. This is about a
group called the Caravana Rolidei which is lead by the Gypsy Lord. There
are lots of performers like a mute man showing his strength, an erotic
dancer named Salome and the Gypsy King doing magic tricks. We then meet a
young accordion player who asks to join the troupe. He immediately
becomes smitten with Salome even though he has a pregnant wife who also
joins the group. When bad financial times hit, the accordianist must
choose between seeing his wife a prostitute or leaving the caravan. This
was a pretty well-done foreign film with some cool performances and
good characters.
Heavenly Creatures (1994): The Facebook friend I
selected for this week is Elizabeth who runs the annual Horror Movie
Madness contest and has given me the nickname "King of the Loophole"
during these contests since I include a lot of films where it "does not
have to be horror". She gave me a lot to choose from where she named
many actors and directors. I settled upon director Peter Jackson since I
have this movie in my Netflix Queue so I'm not sure how she'll feel
about the selection but here it goes. Kate Winslet, in her film debut,
and Melanie Lynskey star in this true story of a friendship in the 1950s
that lead to murder. Winslet plays Juliet Hulme who is new to the
school and is very outgoing. Lynskey plays Pauline Parker who is more of
an introvert but likes Juliet's defiance of authority. They soon for a
very close bond where they become very inseparable and even create their
own fantasy land. The parents of the two become very concerned about
their friendship and feel it is too intense. Jackson did a great job
here and the two girls worked very well together and for Winslet was the
start of a good career as well as Lynskey. This is a good look at a
teen friendship from the era. Juliet Hulme is actually mystery author
Anne Perry.
Scream (1996): It was good to revisit this Wes Craven
film which I see as "misunderstood". People expected some all out
horror movie and acted like it was surprising for them to laugh. Well,
this is a parody to the genre of Horror. When I said that to someone,
they replied "That SCARY MOVIE is the parody of SCREAM" and yes that is
true but this was a less comedic spoof. Maybe instead of calling this a
parody or a spoof, maybe we should call this an homage to the popular
slasher genre. We start with Drew Barrymore in the beginning where she
has a pretty iconic scene which gets us started in a small but very
important role. We then turn to PARTY OF FIVE alum Neve Campbell who
plays Sydney Prescott who is still haunted by the murder of her mother
and one year later a psychopathic killer is out murdering students just
like in a slasher film. FRIENDS alum Courteney Cox plays tabloid
reporter Gale Weathers who is still investigating the murder of Sydney's
mom not believing the person in prison is guilty. Courteney Cox's
future husband David Arquette plays Deputy Dewey. I thought this movie
had some pretty well written characters and the movie also co-stars
Skeet Ulrich, Jamie Kennedy, Rose McGowan, Matthew Lillard and even
HAPPY DAYS alum Henry Winkler. Also look for an uncredited cameo from
Linda Blair. This is a pretty decent series of film and I hope part four
impresses, I have a little concern but I'll wait until it comes around.
I even liked the soundtrack and the use of the song RED RIGHT HAND by
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. This was also pretty groundbreaking into
the teen horror series of film that was launched right after this one.
The
Big Heat (1953): This is my film-noir for the week which stars Glenn
Ford as Sergeant Dave Bannion who loves his wife and son and is a very
touch cop. Things change for him when his wife is murdered and is
determined to not only find the killers but to put an end to a gang lead
by Vince Stone, played by Lee Marvin. Gloria Grahame plays the abused
mistress of Stone who reluctantly helps Dave bring him down. Glenn Ford
was great and very believable as the vengeful officer who does not
listen well to authority. It is a very intense and violent film noir for
that era. Jocelyn Brando, older sister of Marlon, plays Ford's doomed
wife.
Bold King Cole (1936): This is my animation short for the
week starring Felix the Cat in this surreal eight minute animation
piece. We first see him sitting in the tree playing his guitar but then a
big thunderstorm hits. When seeking shelter he finds the very boastful
King Cole. The ghosts of the kings before him come out of their frame
when they tire of hearing King Cole's boasting and pretty much subject
him to torture. Still a pretty funny eight mintues.
Brute Force
(1947): This is part two of my Burt Lancaster series that might have a
part three next week but I don't know though. I really like these
classic prison propaganda films where Lancaster plays prisoner Joe
Collins. He really hates the rule of chief guard Captain Munsey and is
determined to muscle him and lead an escape. Hume Cronyn plays Captain
Munsey who really abuses his power and even frames the prisoners which
provokes Collins into banding together the prisoners for a daring
escape. This is another pretty intense film especially during the
climatic jail break which may very well be the most violent 40s film I
have seen to date. There is also an interesting moral message at the end
hence my term propaganda.
Crazy Heart (2009): I went to the
movie theater with my friend Lisa last Thursday and checked out this
award-winning film. Scott Cooper wrote and directed this movie based on
the novel by Thomas Cobb. Jeff Bridges won many awards for playing
has-been country singer Bad Blake who is confined to playing little
venues like bowling alleys. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays small-town newspaper
journalist Jean Craddock who wants to do an interview with Blake and
then forms an unusual relationship. He really likes where he is and
Jean's four-year old son who he might be trying to make up for his
relationship with his own son. He then finds himself in a gig for Tommy
Sweet, played by Colin Farrell, who he is scheduled to open for. Bad
Blake helped Tommy get started and seems jealous of his popularity but
still agrees to do it. Things start looking up but his destructive
lifestyle with things like drinking threaten to ruin everything. I heard
someone call this movie "This year's the Wrestler" which I guess there
are some similarities but both films are such a realistic look into
their respective professions. This is one of those "character studies"
where we see the journey of a man looking for salvation but finds it to
be very difficult. I feel that Bridges deserved every Best Actor award
he got and shows one of many great performances in his career. Bridges
and Farrell did their own singing and were pretty good. T-Bone Burnett
won a lot of awards for his song THE WEARY KIND.
DVD REVIEW: A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001)
DVD INSERT
-Production
notes: This is about a page worth of things describing the film and
what went on during production. This is a pretty good read, not sure who
wrote it.
-Also Available on Dreamworks DVD
--Almost Famous
(2000): This is a great piece of work from Cameron Crowe which is
semi-autobiographical to his career as a reporter with Rolling Stone.
This is a rock film where Patrick Fugit stars as a reporting following a
fictional rock band. Kate Hudson co-stars as one of the bands
"band-aids" but not a groupie. This was Kate Hudson's first notable
performances and one that has just not been matched as she does a lot of
romantic comedy now.
--American Beauty (1999): Kevin Spacey stars in
this dark portrait of suburban life as a husband and father who is not
happy in his marriage. Mena Suvari co-stars and has that iconic images
with the rose petals falling all over her.
--The Contender (2000):
This is the only one of the six films listed here I have not seen. I
have heard good things on this political thriller which is now in my
Netflix Queue. One of my favorite actors Gary Oldman stars in it so I
should check it out.
--Gladiator (2000): This likely ranks into my
top 20 favorite films. This takes place during in Rome where Russell
Crowe stars as a fictional general, turned slave, turned gladiator. He
is determined to avenge the murder of his wife and son. Long before
Joaquin Phoenix became such a successful rapper, he was an actor and
played the corrupt emperor Commodus who takes over after his father
Marcus Aurelius dies.
--Saving Private Ryan (1998): This was a pretty
groundbreaking war film through Spielberg which takes place during a
mission lead by Tom Hanks to get a soldier of the title out after his
brothers have all been killed. The beginning sequence was a very violent
sequence which I'll never forget a friend saying how "hilarious" it was
and I thought say that to someone who lived that. It was a scene so
violent but very realistic where a lot of WWII vets thanked Spielberg
for not holding anything back. Tom Sizemore co-starred in this film and
shows here what he is capable of and it saddens me to see what he has
become. Tom, if you read this, please take this rehab seriously and come
back to us. I want to see you in a good movie, not on CELEBRITY REHAB.
--What
Lies Beneath (2000): I saw this one time and recall liking this ghost
story starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford but just don't
remember enough to describe here.
FEATURE PRESENTATION
-A.I.
Artificial Intelligence (2001): This is a project that had been in
plans for many years. This is based on a short story called SUPERTOYS
ALL SUMMER LONG by Brian Aldiss. Stanley Kubrick really liked this story
and purchased the rights from Aldiss. He then went to Steven Spielberg
and wanted him to direct it believing he was more suited for that type
of film. Before this was put in production Kubrick died so Spielberg
decided to do it and try to keep Kubrick's vision while putting his own
thing into it. This takes place in a world where more and more robots
have been built but there have been built for certain jobs. William Hurt
plays an inventor named Professor Hobby who wants to build a robot who
can love. He succeeds in creating David, played very well by Haley Joel
Osment, who is then adopted by a family. Frances O'Connor co-stars as
Monica who along with her husband Henry, played by Sam Robards, adopts
David as a replacement son after their human son is in cryo-stasis for a
disease there is no cure for. David has an unending love towards his
mother but things change in the house when their son is cured and comes
home. Monica then abandons David in a forest. David remembers seeing
PINOCCHIO and believes if he can become a real boy that his mother will
take him back so he sets off on a journey to find the Blue Fairy. He
sets off on this journey and meets many strange characters including
Gigalo Joe, played by Jude Law, who helps David on his journey. Also
with David is the robotic teddy bear named Teddy who like like David's
mentor. Jack Angel did a great job of voicing Teddy. There are a few
other voice cameos from other celebs. This is not something that really
ranks in my favorites and I was a little uneasy at times but this one my
second viewing and I liked it better than the first viewing where I
really just did not like it. I thought it was a little longer than it
needed to be but that might just be me. It was still a very well-done
film, just not for everyone. They did do a good job on the robots and
the set.
CREATING A.I.
- This is a featurette talking mostly about Kubrick's original vision.
ACTING A.I.
-A
Portrait of David: This is a featurette about the character of David.
Osment speaks a lot on here about things he had to learn like scuba
diving. He also speaks of how he did the movie and the character never
blinked which was very hard for him. This was pretty good insight on
this character and what went into it.
-A Portrait of Gigalo Joe:
This is a portrait on the flamboyant robot character Jude Law played and
how he learned a lot of dance styles to get prepared for the part.
DESIGNING A.I.
-A.I.:
From Drawing to Sets: Chris Baker who is the conceptual artist, talks
about his work with Kubrick on the set designs and talks about his
illustrations.
-Dressing A.I.: Bob Ringwood who is the costume
designer and spoke about the different things he did with costume design
and wanted it to look somewhat modern but not real flashy. This was
some pretty good insight on the costume selection.
LIGHTING A.I.:
-This is a piece from cinematographer Janusz Kaminski talking about his work towards the set and camera shots and such.
SPECIAL EFFECTS
-Michael
Lantieri who was the Special Effects Supervisor talks about working
with Spielberg and giving him different options on each scene. They did a
very good job with special effects in this film to look fairly real and
not computerized like many films of today.
ROBOTS OF A.I.
-Stan
Winston who is the animatronics designer talks about the robots he
created and how each one looks different and how some of them were
puppets and some were human. Winston was very involved in this process
and a very important part of the film. Also Jack Angel talks some about
his work as the voice of Teddy which is one of my favorite parts of the
film.
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS AND ANIMATION: ILM
-An
Overview: Dennis Muren, who is the Visual Effects Superviser, talks
about his conversations with Stanley Kubrick on what they wanted for
this film. He also shows some of his drawings
-The Robots: This is another featurette which takes a look at the many various robots of the film.
-The
Miniatures: This talks some about the beginning set pieces but talks
more on the things in Act three for the new world we see under water.
-The New York City Sequence: Shot progression: This talks about the cg effects on the futuristic New York.
-Animating A.I.: This shows what went into animating the characters of Teddy, Dr. Know, the alien beings, and Blue Fairy
THE SOUND AND MUSIC OF A.I.
-Sound
Design: Gary Rydstrom who is the sound designer talks about his work on
the film and how he chose the people to the voices like Robin Williams
for Dr. Know.
-The Music: This is a piece with the legendary
composer John Williams who works a lot with Spielberg. He talks about
his collaborations on the music score and what to do.
CLOSING
-This
is the closing credits to what we have seen and Spielberg talking about
how the film may not be a false perception in the future and how in
society we as humans need to know how to use our genius so that we do
not go too far.
A.I. ARCHIVES
-Trailers
--Theatrical
Trailer 1: This trailer introduces the attributes like his age, high,
weight, hair but that he is not real and then gave the title.
--Theatrical
Trailer 2: This trailer starts with the warning before activating the
robot child which Monica had to decide if she wanted to do it. It then
shows scenes for David's journey as a real boy.
---I thought the first one was more clever but both were done pretty well for a modern-day trailer.
-Storyboards:
This shows some original drawings for "Joe's Goodbye", "David's Leap",
and "David and the Blue Fairy". Drawings were not the most clear to me
but they were for them. In the "David and the Blue Fairy" one, it looked
like they had more plans for Teddy but not real sure.
-Chris Baker's Portfolio: This shows some of Baker's drawings.
-Productions
Design Portfolio: These were designs more for the set and these
drawings were very good and probably could have made an animated piece
or graphic novel from these.
-ILM Concept Art: These are more drawings of character changes and set pieces.
-Portrait Gallery by David James: These are actual still photos from the film.
-Steven Spielberg Behind the Scenes Photographs by David James: These are still photos of Spielberg working with everyone.
CAST
-These are just profiles of the actors but pretty good mini-biographies.
FILMMAKERS
-These are mini-biographies on the people behind the scenes like Spielberg and many others.
PRODUCTION NOTES
-These
are more notes as there is a lot in the insert. This talks a lot about
Kubrick's vision and him not believing that he is the director for the
film so asked Spielberg to do it instead.
OVERALL ANALYSIS
-This
is something where lots of short featurettes are used. I believe that
these cover what an audio commentary would have done. I liked that it
had interviews with just about every department showing that when doing a
project like a movie, show, play, that every part of the show must
click, not just the actors, directors, and writers.
Well, that is
it for this week. I seem to have a theme for violence in this one. Tell
me what you love and what you hate. I also want a suggestion for a
future selection. It must be available in Netflix and I will take one
per person so really think hard about what you want me to view in the
future and you might see it here someday. Stay tuned next week which
includes the late Corey Haim, Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston, and many
others.
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