Welcome to the 362nd Edition of my series. I am now 3-3 in Fantasy
football but am still in it so I'm not giving up now. This is week
three of five for The Madness where I am quite a bit down but still
enjoy the ride. I will now get to my selections for the week.
Easy
A (2010): I start this week out with this modern-day variation of
Nathaniel Hawthorne's THE SCARLET LETTER. Emma Stone stars as Olive,
who is a high school student who is a clean-cut student and not real
known. Things change though when she makes up a fictional story of a
weekend affair with a college students which starts her on the rumor
mill. Soon, she agrees to make up a story for a bullied student which
then escalates into a lot more. Recently controversial actress Amanda
Bynes plays religious fanatic Marianne who looks to make Olive's life
more difficult because of all the rumors. So far this is her last movie
and her fame comes from legal issues. I really hope she can get it
together. Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Thomas Haden Church,
Malcolm McDowell, Lisa Kudrow, and many others co-star. I really
enjoyed this comedy and I really like Emma Stone. I also really liked
the way it was narrated from a web cam series that Olive was doing.
This is a good comedy and a good homage to THE SCARLET LETTER so you
might look to get a basic idea of what that story is about to understand
the references in the film.
The Lost Boys (1987):
This is my vampire feature for the week which was directed by Joel
Schumacher. We start with a couple brothers Michael and Sam, played by
Jason Patric and Corey Haim, who move from a big town to a much smaller
town. Michael soon falls in with a gang who Sam believes are
vampires. Kiefer Sutherland plays the lead vampire David. Corey
Feldman and Jamison Newlander star as the Frog Brothers who claim to be
vampire hunters and help Sam to save Michael from a bad fate. Dianne
Wiest, Edward Herrman, and Alex Winter co-star in this film. This is
one of the most iconic vampire films from this era. It also has a great
soundtrack including CRY LITTLE SISTER from Edgar McMann. This is a
very fun vampire film that combines horror with comedy.
The
City of Little Men (1938): This is my short film for the week which is
a documentary on the real-life Boys Town which was a movie in the same
year that starred Spencer Tracy as Father Flanagan. This short film
features the real-life Father Flanagan and talking about his place where
he takes in troubled boys looking to give them a better life and in
real-life he saved many young boys and gave them the future they might
have never gotten. This film documents what goes on at the place and
him making the kids empowered. The movie is great but I believe this
gives a little more insight about what they do withing Boys Town. This
business still exists to this day and founding this organization made
way for better juvenile laws.
1941 (1979): This is my
WWII spoof for the week which was directed by Steven Spielberg. This
movie takes place in California right after the Pearl Harbor attack
where a military group fears an attack there. Jon Belushi is great as
Captain Wild Bill Kelso. Robert Stack is great as a military man who
loves DUMBO and is crying to the movie and singing along. Dan Aykroyd,
Treat Williams, Warren Oates, Nancy Allen, Pattie Lupone, Slim Pickens,
John Candy, and many others co-star. Legendary Japanese actor Toshiro
Mifune leads the Japanese army who observes the American soldiers and
aligns himself with a German captain played by Christopher Lee. A young
Mickey Rourke makes his feature film debut as one of the soldiers but a
very small part. There are some really funny scenes like the
Japanese disguising themselves as Christmas trees and the opening scene
spoofing JAWS. This was considered a flop for Spielberg but is still a
fun film to watch.
You See Me Laughin' (2002): This
is a Co-Op film series selection from Travis and my documentary for the
week. This takes a look at blues singers from Mississippi. Most of
them stay there and enjoy the small followings that they have. Much of
these people were self-taught and wrote their own music. A recording
agency called Fat Possum records who tries to get their music out but
also deal with people who are not looking for a big career. The
highlight of this movie is the interviews with the various blues
singers. You can look into some of this music on
http://www.fatpossum.com. This movie was very well received and
attended at the viewing including a lot of music majors offering some
good insight.
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956):
Last week, I included the Japanese version GOJIRA and this is what
people call the American version. This is a reedited film from the 1954
movie where Raymond Burr is added as a reporter named Steve Martin.
This is where the creature forms out of atomic testing and wreaks havoc
all over Tokyo. The 1954 version is a lot better but this one still
works well and good to watch this one if you do not like Japanese
subtitles. This one is available on Instant Netflix.
Ghost
Town (2008): Ricky Gervais stars in this comedy as dentist Bertram
Pincus who has a near death experience and gains the ability to see
ghosts who all want something from him when he is not a friendly
person. The main ghost is Frank, played by Greg Kinnear, who wants him
to break up an impending marriage with his widowed wife, played by Tea
Leoni. He soon finds himself loving his wife. I really enjoyed this
comedy and Gervais was a lot of fun. I consider this the comedic
version of THE SIXTH SENSE.
The Day the Earth Stood
Still (1951): Robert Wise directed this sci-fi film where an alien
named Klaatu, played by Michael Rennie, along with his robot Gort visit
the cold-war era Earth. Soon after the ship lands, the town
automatically assumes it is just and invasion of Earth and must save
their planet. All Klaatu wants to do is to deliver his message that if
we continue to war the way that we do that the world will be destoyed
and offers how to do that. This is a sci-fi movie that still holds up
and has a great message in it. Patricia Neal co-stars as the mother of a
family he is staying with who soon learns that he is an alien but helps
him when realizing he has good intentions. This also talks about how
we fear the unknown. This is possibly the best sci-fi film from that
era and is a good movie not "so bad it's good" like many from that era.
A Boy and His Dog (1975): L.Q. Jones co-wrote and
directed this film which stars a young Don Johnson as Vic who is a
survivor in a post-apocalyptic world who travels along with his aging
dog Blood that advises him of what is best but other people cannot hear
the dog past the bark. He is soon lured into an underground society
where citizens have not been able to reproduce for a long time. They
use him to impregnate a woman and then get rid of him. This is a pretty
good post-apocalyptic film and some great dialogue scenes between Vic
and Blood. It was also a good performance from Don Johnson. This is
available on Instant Netflix and is worth a look especially if you like
the post-apocalyptic genre.
The Village (2004): This
is part one of a two-part Sigourney Weaver series. M. Night Shyamalan
wrote and directed this film. This is a more atmospheric thriller. It
takes place in a small, isolated countryside where one side is humans
and the others are creatures. For a long time, they have made a pact to
not cross into each other's area but things appear to change. Joaquin
Phoenix stars as Lucius Hunt who crosses the land to seek medical
supplies and that is when strange things begin happening. Bryce Dallas
Howard co-stars as Ivy, who is blind but aware of things around her and
decides to go to the other side to get some necessary supplies. William
Hurt, Jesse Eisenburg, Judy Greer, Michael Pitt, and Adrien Brody all
co-star. This is a pretty good thriller and moves in some ways
especially with Howard's great performance as Ivy who you are with
throughout the film.
Well, that is it for the
recommendations. Stay tuned for next week which so far includes
Michelle Pfeiffer, Gary Oldman, more Sigourney Weaver, Quentin
Tarantino, Fay Wray, Peter Saarsgard and many others. Keep reading for
week 3 of The Madness.
THE MADNESS: WEEK 3
These are my selections for this week and I do my ratings based on the four 6 system.
Batman:
Year One (2011, 64 minutes, 666 1/2): This is a great animated film of
Batman which focuses on Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham City and
becoming Batman as well as Jim Gordon, a very incorrupt cop who
transfers to a town full of corruption where Catwoman also tries to make
a name for herself. On the rules, it says on comic book films "think
Batman over Superman" so I figured I'd try to get this included. (2
points)
A Boy and His Dog (1975, 90 minutes, 666): This post-apocalyptic film should qualify for the minimum points. (2 points)
DC
Showcase: Catwoman/The Spectre (2010, 28 minutes, 66 1/2): These are
two short films of these characters. Catwoman looks to stop a
mysterious shipment in a cargo ship. The Spectre is a detective who
becomes a dark figure and takes extreme justice to those involved in a
murder. The issue with these are for one they are two short in my
opinion. This is my first exposure to The Spectre and I'm not sure how I
feel about this character. I don't really mind the killing part and
each one is quite different which makes it intriguing but it seems to
come to easy for the character. Maybe I just need to do a little more
background. Catwoman is a pretty dark story and The Spectre is a very
dark character and had some pretty brutal killings. (1.5 points)
-bonus point: Vampire that bites one of the victims before the killings
Deep
Blue Sea (1999, 105 minutes, 66 1/2): I feel this shark film should
qualify. A group of researchers are looking for an Alzheimer's cure by
genetically enlarging the shark's brains which then makes them even more
smart and more deadly. (2 points)
Easy A (2010, 92
minutes, 666 1/2): I loved this high school comedy which has not horror
elements whatsoever but has wild card Malcolm McDowell to make this a
loophole. (2 points)
Ed Wood (1994, 127 minutes, 666
1/2): This biopic counts because it is about wild card Ed Wood as well
as wild card Bela Lugosi. This is my favorite of the Burton/Depp
collaborations. (5 points)
-Bonus point: Lugosi in the movie makes a live appearance for a variety series as Dracula
Ghost
Town (2008, 102 minutes, 666): This is a comedy and should qualify
because there are ghosts in the movie making this my ghost loophole. (2
points)
Godzilla (1956, 80 minutes, 66 1/2): This is a creature feature that needs no argument for qualification. (4 points)
-Bonus point: 1956
-Bonus point: The destruction of Tokyo
Historically
Accurate Ghosts (2012, 2 hours 666): This was an actual event where I
played real-life Muncie resident Thomas S. Neely where I spoke in front
of his grave. This was education and not creepy but I was still
considered a ghost. (2 points)
Justice League:
Crisis on Two Earths (2010, 75 minutes, 666): In this Justice League
animated movie, a Lex Luthor from another dimension who is very heroic
in his dimension and asks the Justice League to help with some of their
enemies. I believe this has plenty sci-fi/fantasy elements like the
multiple dimensions, and the character J'onn J'onzz who is an alien. (2
points)
The Lost Boys (1987, 97 minutes, 666 1/2): Not much needed to qualify this one. (3 points)
-Bonus point: Vampire
1941 (1979, 146 minutes, 66 1/2): This war spoof qualifies because of Christopher Lee. (2.5 points)
The
Simpsons: Replaceable You (2011, 22 minutes, 666): This episode may
not be Treehouse of Horror but there is a scene with Itchy and Scratchy
which parodies Frankenstein. (1.5 points)
-Bonus point: Golem
The
Vampire Diaries (2009, 42 minutes, 666): This show is really growing
on me and this episode was one of the first where the Sandafor brothers
had more of a battle between the two. (2 points)
-Bonus point: Vampire
The
Village (2004, 108 minutes, 666): This Shyamalan film is a thriller
and has some creatures so should get me minimum points. (2 points)
Watchmen:
Tales of the Black Freighter (2009, 27 minutes, 66 1/2): This is about
a mariner returning home but to horrific results. The dark elements
should make this qualify. I just don't know much into the background of
Watchmen so maybe I should check it out more. (.5 points)
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