Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 272nd Edition

Welcome to the 272nd edition of my long-running series. This week I feature three animated selections which is pretty rare for me. I also pay tribute to the late actress Susannah York who recently left us. Next week will be the first edition in February and most know February is Black History Month so some of my selections will be reflecting that month but not all. I looked to see what I have in Netflix to see what is good for that month.  Tomorrow night I will likely be hitting the Anderson Buffalo Wild Wings to see the ROYAL RUMBLE PPV.  Don't forget that on February 12th, I will be in a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater comedy called THE DUMB AND THE DESPERATE at the Muncie Amvets which I will be playing the host and my mom is directing and will be co-starring as well.  There are limited seats so reserve your tickets at 765-287-9054 and tickets are $20 which includes the show and dinner.

The Loveless (1982): This is the 12th link on The Chain and this link goes to the director of the film Kathryn Bigelow which is the first link so far that goes to a director. Willem Dafoe stars in this film as Vance who is part of a biker gang who stops in a small southern town on their way to a Daytona race and makes trouble in that town while they are there waiting for one of the motorcycles to get fixed. This is compared a lot to Brando's biker film THE WILD ONE but this has its own image and should not be considered a "remake" or "rip-off". Dafoe makes his debut in this film which was a good performance in a start to a good career. This is also Bigelow's feature directorial debut who directed along with Monty Montgomery. They are the only two in this that went onto have a big film career to my knowledge. Next week, the chain will continue with another Kathryn Bigelow film. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Play it Again, Charlie Brown (1971): This would by my short film for the week which was really just a tv special but I reserve the right to put this into a movie blog. The title does not make any reference to Bogart or CASABLANCA which some may lead into. Charlie Brown is not really focused on very much in this one. This one puts the focus more on Schroeder and Lucy. Lucy is continuing to try to win over Schroeder's affections so takes the advice of Peppermint Patty and advises him to perform his music for the school talent show. Schroeder accepts at first but then learns that only rock music will be played and that he cannot play his idol Beethoven. Schroeder must then consider his friends in the show and his own values. This one does have a pretty good message about staying true to one's self. The only problem I had with this one was Pamelyn Ferdin's voice as Lucy. I guess I thought her voice was a little too deep for the character and just was not the same to me. I see Ferdin has done a few movies and tv shows and I'm sure she is good at her job but I felt she was miscast here. Otherwise a very enjoyable Peanuts special.

Thunder on the Hill (1951): This is another selection from the Douglas Sirk boxed set my dad got me for Christmas. Sirk was the director for this movie which stars Claudette Colbert as Sister Mary who is a nurse at a convent hospital in Norwich. Ann Blyth co-stars as a convicted murderess named Valerie Carns who is being transported there with her guards but stranded by the big storm. As Sister Mary gets to know Valerie, she becomes convinced that she is innocent of the crime that she is accused of committing and sets out to find the truth of what happened. People in the convent including Mother Superior do not want her trying to prove what they feel is a long shot. Colbert and Blyth are great in the roles and the film is very moving and even suspenseful at times, especially at the climax.

Toy Story 2 (1999): This is my Pixar film for the week and quite possibly one of the greatest sequels in the best animated trilogy of all time. Believe it or not, this was the first time I had ever seen this movie. I had seen part one and part three but kind of missed this one but it was worth it. Part of why I never saw it was because when I was that age, I guess I just was not into animation like I am now thinking it is "just for kids" but then I grew up and realized it's for everyone. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen both reprise their roles as toys Woody and Buzz Lightyear. In this one, their owner Andy goes off to summer camp where he cannot bring his toys. Andy's mom was soon having a rummage sale and the noble toy Woody went down to make sure his friend did not get sold but in the process is stolen by a greedy collector named Al who owns "Al's Toy Barn". Once Al gets Woody, he then gets his collection complete that includes Jessie the Cowgirl, Stinky Pete and the horse Bullseye where Woody learns he was the character on a short-lived cartoon. Al then intends to sell them to a museum in Japan. On the homefront, Buzz and friends set out to rescue Woody. Randy Newman writes some great music for the film. Many actors have voices here including Joan Cusack, CHEERS and FRAZIER alum Kelsey Grammar, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, CHEERS alum John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, SEINFELD alum Wayne Knight, and many others. This sequel matched what was already a great part one in a film that really teaches loyalty. It also teaches us to respect our toys even when grown up. A Disney sequel done right for a change.

Tom Jones (1963): This is my tribute to Susannah York who co-stars in this film and recently left us. No, this is not that singer we all know. Albert Finney plays the title character here who was abandoned and brought up by a British country squire. When grown up he becomes quite the ladie's man which leads into a lot of trouble for him. Susannah York plays his love interest Sophie but her father does not approve of their relationship. This movie takes place in the 18th century and has a lot of very funny moments. Finney is great in the title role. This is available on Instant Netflix.

The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004): This is my anime, aka Japanese animation, selection for the week. This film is rather complicated but quite beautiful. This film takes place in an alternate postwar 1996 Japan where it is divided. Three people set out to unravel the big secret but their project is put on hold when the girl becomes mysteriously ill and transferred to Tokyo. Years later, they bring the project back on and set out to find her. It is very difficult to explain but it was a very moving film with a great narrative. Everything works in this film with the narrative, story, and music. This is available on instant Netflix.

Scarface (1932): Yes, the year for this is correct. The one that stars Al Pacino in 1983 is a remake but it's a pretty loose remake as you will not see much of the same things. Obvious differences are things like the F-word is not used at all with the year it is in unlike the 1983 version. Another difference is that in this film, the main character is named Tony Camonte and in 1983, he was Tony Montana. In this film, Tony is a bootlegger on the rise with the Chicago mob and in the remake, Tony is a murderous Cuban drug lord. Similarities include the things between Tony and his sister and mother as well as the phrase of "The World is Yours". With all that being said, I'll get to this movie now. Howard Hawks directed this movie which stars Paul Muni as Tony Camonte who starts out as a common gangster during the prohibition era who then works his way up to the top of the mob and hurting many that get into his way. George Raft plays his friend Guino who is equivalent to the Manny character in the 1983 version. Boris Karloff has a supporting part as Tony's rival Gaffney. There are also some interesting moments where he is overprotective of his younger sister and pretty much deems any guy as not right for her and also has a mother who does not like what he has become and fears the sister will be exactly like him. Paul Muni gives a great performance and as I have said many times is the most underrated actor from that era in my opinion. Like many gangster films from this era, they have a disclaimer that the activity must be stopped and looks to turn people off from admiring that lifestyle. This was a very daring film to make as this is loosely based on Al Capone during Capone's biggest rise as there are some obvious scenes like the recreation of St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Ben Hecht wrote the screenplay of the novel written by Armitage Trail and had some of Capone's gangsters questioning him but was able to smooth talk his way to get them to like what he was doing and even included them as advisers. The real Al Capone is actually said to have really liked this film and even obtained his own illegal copy which was something that was not nearly as easy to do as it is today.

Julie and Julia (2009): Nora Ephron directed and wrote the screenplay on this film which is based on Julie Powell's book of the title and Julia Child's MY LIFE IN FRANCE. There are two parallel stories where Amy Adams plays Julie Powell who moves to Bronx, New York and feels she is going nowhere and through suggestions of her husband starts a blog where she intends to go through lots of Child's recipes in so many days where she gets a lot of publicity eventually. Meryl Streep plays Julia Child where it takes a look at her rise as a cook where she starts out in a cooking school in France. The more popular segment is the one of Julia Child and many reviews I have seen really liked Julia Child's segment but finding Amy Adams' story as Julie to be much weaker. I guess Adams had a lot of pressure to have to be against a segment like that but I thought she did pretty good. Also, though the Julie stuff was not as interesting, I found myself relating to that being a fellow blogger. She started this blog knowing that she had a lot of other things to do like her own job and a husband but still was very determined to get it out as soon as possible. I have wrote this blog on a weekly basis for over five years now and I always get it out on a Saturday or Sunday and work on it throughout the week even though I have my job, I do a lot of theater shows, among other things because it is what I enjoy. Julie had many people, especially her mother, question why she does it and I have had people questions me as well, though my parents have always been pretty supportive, but I guess this is just a way of life for me now as I enjoy putting these together each week even though I may rack my brain like crazy. Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, and Jane Lynch co-star. Streep was great as the famous chef. Bon appetit everyone and just enjoy the film.

The Flaming Urge (1953): I found this on my Pub-D-Hub app on my Roku player which shows public domain material including movies. This would be mostly to watch for certain historical reasons and curiosity reasons. Harold Lloyd Jr. stars in this B-movie as a clerk who cannot resist temptation to chase fire truck and observe the fire. However, lots of unexplained fires are taking place in this small Michigan town leaving people to believe he started them. As many may know and some may not know, Harold Lloyd Sr. was one of the best silent film comedians in that era and my favorite of the silent comedians and is referred to a lot as "the third genius" meaning the other two are Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. This can put a lot of pressure for a child wanting to follow in the footsteps of their fathers, especially a junior. Harold Jr. was also a homosexual which in those days was not as accepted as it was today though his father was very supportive of him but in what I read was about his only supporter. Lloyd Jr. had a very short career and life as he became an alcoholic and even suffered a stroke at the young age of 34 and died at 39 years old, shortly after his father died. I guess this is really more of an education on him but that is what made me take interest when I came upon this film. This can probably be found at many public domain movie sites.

Be Here to Love Me (2004): This is my documentary for the week which focuses on the late singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt. This film reflects on his life and people like Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson get interviewed. Van Zandt really had a cult following but never really made it into the mainstream but is considered by many of his peers to be one of the best musical artists of all time. Many people including Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, the Meat Puppets, Norah Jones, Bob Dylan, and Steve Earle. This movie also has reflections from his kids in some of their moments with their father. It also talks about his drug and alcohol addiction that was likely what killed him at an early age. His most known song is most likely PANCHO AND LEFTY which was made famous by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. This was a very informative documentary on someone I really did not know anything about until now. Much of his music can probably be found on youtube so I encourage people to look into his music and get this on dvd which is available on Netflix.

Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you do not like and stay tuned for next week which so far includes more Kathryn Bigelow, Mo'nique, Bette Midler, and many others. This week I return with my Fun Little Facts segment so keep on reading.

FUN LITTLE FACTS

Willem Dafoe (The Loveless) plays our savior Jesus Christ in the 1988 film THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. My Facebook friend Michael played Jesus years ago at the Muncie Civic Theater in the popular musical GODSPELL.

Claudette Colbert (Thunder on the Hill) plays Cleopatra in the 1934 film of the title name. Lynn Redgrave (Tom Jones) plays the part in the 1983 tv movie ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.

Howard Hughes (Scarface producer) bought Ann Blyth (Thunder on the Hill) a Cadillac and swimming pool in 1951.

Tom Hanks (Toy Story 2) and Amy Adams (Julie and Julia) worked together in the 2002 film CATCH ME IF YOU CAN.

Kelsey Grammar (Toy Story 2) will be playing the Tin Man in the upcoming 2012 film DOROTHY OF OZ. My Facebook friend Ryan played the part in a production at the Muncie Civic Theater.

Kelsey Grammar (Toy Story 2) plays Ebenezer Scrooge in 2004 tv movie musical version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL of which I was in the Muncie Civic Production during my theater "comeback". Albert Finney (Tom Jones) plays Scrooge in the 1970 film SCROOGE which is also a musical but probably the better one of the two. Susannah York played Mrs. Cratchit in the 1984 tv movie A CHRISTMAS CAROL.

Albert Finney (Tom Jones) played Daddy Warbucks in the 1982 musical ANNIE. My Facebook friends Bill, Michael, and Marty have played the part in various productions through the years in Muncie and Anderson.

Boris Karloff (Scarface) voiced the Grinch in the 1966 tv special HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS. My Facebook friends Eric and Joe have played the part in various versions of SEUSSICAL: THE MUSICAL.

Boris Karloff (Scarface) played Mortimer Brewster in the original stage play of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE. My Facebook friend Elmore played the part last October in the Anderson Mainstage Theatre version of which I was in as Lieutenant Rooney.

Boris Karloff (Scarface) played Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the 1953 film ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. My Facebook friend Matt played the part in a Muncie Civic Theater production of JEKYLL AND HYDE: THE MUSICAL.

Boris Karloff (Scarface) played Captain Hook in a Broadway production of PETER PAN. My Facebook friend Kayla played the part in a production at Lee's Theatrical Productions.

Stanley Tucci (Julie and Julia) played Puck in the 1999 adaptation of the Shakespeare play A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. My Facebook friend Corey played the part in a production at the Muncie Civic Theater years ago.

Chris Messina (Julie and Julia) worked for Tom Hanks' (Toy Story 2) book store in the 1998 film YOU'VE GOT MAIL. Messina had a small role and the director was Nora Ephron who directed him in this week's feature JULIE AND JULIA.