Saturday, January 26, 2013

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 313th Edition

Welcome to the 313th Edition of my long-running series. I don't really have a whole lot to say on this one so let's just get to the recommendations.

Into the Storm (2009): This is my biopic this week on Winston Churchill who most know was prime minister of Great Britain and this takes place near the end of WWII. This takes a look at his political and married life. Brendan Gleeson plays the part of Churchill and Janet McTeer plays his wife who finds their marriage hard while he is leader. Len Cariou is good as FDR who comes to admire the arrogance of Churchill. This was an HBO film and a pretty good look at times in WWII.

Children of Men (2006): This is part two of my two-part Clive Owen series. This is a film which takes place in 2027 which stars Owen as Theo who is a former activist turned bureaucrat. This takes place in a world where babies have not been born for 18 years. Julianne Moore co-stars as his ex-lover Julian who remains an activist and asks him to transport a woman who is miraculously pregnant to safety. Theo is very reluctant to take the job but takes it. Michael Caine is kind of the comic relief who plays Theo's hippy friend Jasper. He based this character on John Lennon. This is a very bleak futuristic film with Owen great in his role of the unlikely hero. This is not for everyone but is a pretty clever film and moves very well.

Maryam (2002): This is kind of my social drama for the week. Miriam Parris stars as the title character who is Iranian born but only really knows her American side. Her family soon takes in a family member from Iran who begins to make her question her beliefs and brings out secrets of her father. This is also around the time of Iran taking Americans hostage where they had to deal with prejudice because of their heritage. This was a pretty compelling film and kept my interest throughout.

Shoot the Piano Player (1960): Francoid Truffaut directed this French film. Charles Aznavour stars as Charlie who is a piano player who is in love with a waitress named Lena. Charlie's brother Chico is on the run from gangsters and takes refuge in the night club. We then learn a lot more about Charlie who was once a very successful pianist. Charlie then has to deal with his brother and the gangsters. This is a must for fans of the French cinema and a very well-shot film.

Good Table Manners (1951): This is my short film of the week from the always entertaining Coronet film series which did a not of informational videos which are mostly entertaining now. This shows a 17 year old boy who lacks table manners and is soon visited by his 21 year old self who teaches him these manners. It was quite funny and one thing I wondered was how that 21 year old even learned these manners to teach his younger self but oh well. I found this on the Pub-D-Hub app on my Roku player.

Faust (1926): This is my silent film for the week directed by the legendary F.W. Murnau. This one shows God and Satan at war with each other and battling for the soul of the title character, played by Gosta Ekman. Emil Jannings plays the part of Mephisto who comes to tempt Faust into eternal youth and falls in love with a young person but must decide what is more important. This was a very well done film for that era and kept my attention the whole way through. This is available on Instant Netflix.

In This Our Life (1942): I was looking for something from this era at the library and took interest in this drama. Bette Davis and Olivia De Havilland star as sisters Stanley and Roy, yes interesting names for women. Stanley is the bad sister who runs off with Roy's husband Peter, played by Dennis Morgan. In this process, Stanley had a fiance named Craig, played by George Brent, who she dumped. This is a great story of love and betrayal with Stanley then committing an ultimate act of betrayal. John Huston directed this film and his father Walter has a cameo as a bartender. Billie Burke who is most known for Glenda in THE WIZARD OF OZ co-stars as the mother and Hattie McDaniel plays the servant of the house. This was probably pretty controversial for its time and seems a bit overlooked today so hoping to get this on the radar. In real life Davis and De Havilland were good friends unlike Joan Crawford who did not get along with Bette Davis at all.

The Amazing Transparent Man (1960): This is my B-movie for the week which features a mad scientist named Paul. He soon makes plans to make a radiation to make an invisible army to sell to the highest bidder. He soon busts a criminal out of prison to experiment on the new formula with lots of side effects. That's the description, this is something where you get friends together to watch and crack jokes. This is available on Instant Netflix.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000): The Coen Brothers directed and wrote this film based loosely on Homer's THE ODYSSEY. This movie takes place in 1930s Mississippi which stars George Clooney as Everett who along with two other convicts escape from the chain gang in search for a treasure. The other two are John Turturro who plays Pete and Tim Blake Nelson plays Delmer. In the process they unexpectedly form a singing career while on run from the law. They meet up with many interesting characters along the way. John Goodman, Holly Hunter, Michael Badalucco, and many others co-star in the film. This is a great comedy that has the perfect soundtrack and carefully created characters.

Death Proof (2007): This is Quentin Tarantino's entry in the homage to Grindhouse in which Robert Rodriguez directed the other one called PLANET TERROR. In this film, Kurt Russell stars as Stuntman Mike who likes to prey on and murder women with his stunt car. He stalks two groups of women but one group turns out to be the wrong group for him who turn the tables on Mike. There is a great, climatic car chase near the end. Sydney Tamila Poitier, Jordan Ladd, Vanessa Ferlito, and Monica Staggs co-star as the first set of girls who are just out to have fun. Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are his next set of girls. To really appreciate the film, you must understand the Grindhouse concept. I liked the other a little better but Tarantino still delivers here. I'm hoping that sometime they release on DVD and Instant Netflix the whole Grindhouse series which was shown in theaters that has fake trailers and commercials.

Well that is all for this week. Tell me what you like and do not like. Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Luis Bunuel, Reese Witherspoon, and many others.

FUN AND USELESS FACTS

Len Cariou (Into the Storm) played Sweeney Todd on Broadway in the late 70s. My Facebook friend Jimmy played the part in our recent production in Portland, IN.

Danny Huston (Children of Men) is the son of John Huston (In This Our Life director) and grandson of Walter Huston (In This Our Life cameo). I feel Danny does not get the credit he deserves.

BATMAN FRANCHISE
-Michael Caine (Children of Men) plays Bruce Wayne's loyal butler Alfred in the Christian Bale era
-George Clooney (O Brother Where Art Thou) plays Batman in the 1997 film BATMAN AND ROBIN

John Goodman (O Brother Where Art Thou) and Danny Huston (Children of Men) co-star in the 2010 HBO movie YOU DON'T KNOW JACK.

Tracie Thomas (Death Proof) plays Joanne in the 2005 film RENT and on the final Broadway performance. My Facebook friend Amanda played the part in a recent production at Muncie Civic Theater.

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