Welcome to the 268th Edition of my series and the first one of 2011. I
hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year. I officially won my 12
team fantasy football league so you do not have to hear about my fantasy
football updates again until next year.
Easier With Practice
(2009): This is the 8th link of The Chain and this link continues with
Brian Geraphty who has his last link. Last week, I used the movie THE
HURT LOCKER which he had a supporting part and this week I use this
independent film where he is the star. He stars as Davy Mitchell who
has an unpublished novel and goes on a road trip with his brother Sean,
played by Kel O'Neill, to promote his book. On this trip, when Davy is
on the hotel, he gets a random call from a mysterious woman named Nicole
who he then forms a phone relationship with and even has phone sex.
This makes him happier than ever and decides that he wants to meet her
which she does not make very easy. It is a pretty decent independent
film with a good performance from Geraphty in what is a bit of a
character study. Next week, the chain will continue with one of the
actors, actresses, or director.
Magnolia (1999): This is part
four of my four-part Philip Seymour Hoffman series. Paul Thomas
Anderson directed this three hour film which features several characters
in the San Fernando Valley who search for the happiness, meaning, and
forgiveness. Jason Robards is a dying man reflecting on his life.
William H. Macy was the child quiz winner when he was a child but has
not been able to move on and live up to his image as an adult. John C.
Reilly is great as an idealistic cop who forms a relationship with a
drug addict. Jeremy Blackman is a current child quiz expert whose
father is the one who seems to want it the most. I also really enjoyed
Tom Cruise and an infomercial host. There are so many subplots in this
film that it is really hard to explain but if you have three hours, this
is a good one to check out. It just requires full attention. With
all these subplots, it comes to a very unusual climax. Also
highlighting the film is the beautiful soundtrack from Aimee Mann
including a very well-directed scene with the song WISE UP.
A Day
at the Zoo (1939): This is my short film for the week from Merry
Melodies and a Tex Avery short. This is just as the title says with
some pretty funny situations like smoking animals. The strangest part
was a character named Egghead always teasing a lion even though the
narrator tells him not to feed them. There were also some monkeys,
panthers, an elephant, and many others. I also liked the monkeys
throwing food to the humans to catch in there mouth. I found this on my
public domain app I have on the Roku player.
A Christmas Carol
(1938): I decided to use one more holiday film with the combination of
me watching it with my mom on AMC during Christmas and as I feel we must
always be in the Christmas Spirit. Not in terms of giving presents all
the time but to be giving and help others in need. This is the third
adaptation in a row I have done of this Dickens classic. Reginald Owen
stars and the cranky miser Ebenenzer Scrooge in this version. This
version was a little different than others. Tiny Tim seemed a bit older
and more active despite being a cripple. Also, Cratchit actually gets
fired on Christmas Eve. Otherwise, everything else remains the same.
Leo G. Carroll co-stars as the ghost of Marley and was very good. Owen
was also very good in his role of Scrooge. Lionel Barrymore was
originally supposed to play Scrooge, as he played the part for years on
the radio play, but could not due to his health. Barrymore then
suggested his friend Reginald Owen to play the part which turned out to
be a great decision. Don't worry, no more CHRISTMAS CAROLS for a little
while now. I know no one wants to see any Christmas films for a while
but if you live Christmas 24/7, this one is for you.
Angel
Unchained (1970): I found this one on Impact On-Demand in the free
movie section on Comcast On-Demand. Don Stroud stars as the title
character who is a former member of a biker gang who joins a hippie
community wanting to change his ways. However, things become
complicated when rednecks in the community attack the group. Angle then
gets together his former biker gang to help combat this group of
close-minded and violent people. Things also get complicated when the
hippies do not care for the bikers way of life and vice versa with the
bikers. CAGNEY AND LACEY and JUDGING AMY alum Tyne Daly co-stars as
Angel's love interest. Not a bad b-movie biker film as long as you do
not expect the greatest plot.
Sleep, My Love (1948): This is my
film-noir for the week which I found on my dad and stepmom's Blu-Ray
player on their instant Netflix list. Douglas Sirk directed this film
noir which stars Claudette Colbert as Alison Courtland. Her troubles
start when she is on a train and not sure of how she ended up on the
train. She is then in a world of mystery and intrigue as she must look
to find how she ended up on the train but is still driven to the brink
of insanity in her search for answers. Robert Cummings, Don Ameche, and
PERRY MASON alum Raymond Burr all co-star. I'm not going to give away
too much but it is available on Instant Netflix so if you want a good
film-noir, this one may be it.
Coraline (2009): I watched this on On-Demand when I was at my dad's
house and was looking for something in animation so I decided it was
time to check this one out. Henry Selick directed this film and is most
known for A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Dakota Fanning provides the
voice for the title character who feels her parents are rather boring
and don't always pay attention to her. She then finds a portal and
finds herself in an alternate universe where people have buttons for
eyes and feels her parents in this world are very caring and fun. This
deals with the message of "be careful what you wish for" and "too good
to be true" as she soon learns that this alternate world has some very
dark secrets. This film uses the Stop-Motion animation and is the
longest one to date. This film has some great animation with fun
characters. In some ways it is a darker spin on ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms (2006): Here is my third animated
selection for the week which is quite rare. This is one of the animated
films of the comic-book character where Hellboy, Liz Sherman, and Abe
Sapien travel to Japan when a professor becomes possessed by a Japanese
scroll. When HB finds a sword he is transported into a strange world of
Japanese folklore with ghosts and monsters. FRAZIER alum Peri Gilpin
voices their ally Kate Corrigan who works to bring back Hellboy. It is
not as good as the live-action film released but still pretty fun. Ron
Perlman, Selma Blair, and Doug Jones reprise their parts of Hellboy,
Liz, and Abe. Abe Sapien seems to have more fighting ability in this
one than he does the live-action version. I liked the live-action look
that Jones pretty much created. In the very first HB film, David Hyde
Pierce dubs the voice of Abe Sapien but Jones proves to be just as good
in this film.
Alice's Restaurant (1969): I also found this from my dad's Instant
Netflix queue on his Blu-Ray player and one of his favorites. Arthur
Penn directed this film where Arlo Guthrie stars as himself. This film
is based on his song of the film title. Arlo narrates the film, and the
song plays during the film a lot. It also has a lot of comedic
misadventures like when Arlo dumps trash in a ravine and when he must go
through a physical when possibly drafted into the military. This is a
pretty true story that takes place with his long song. There is a trial
scene where the real blind judge who was the judge, plays himself
here. This is a great hippie film which can be found on Instant
Netflix.
Once Bitten (1985): I end with this vampire comedy which I found on
Encore On-Demand. Make no mistake, I watched this on account of seeing
early Jim Carrey. Lauren Hutton stars a 400 year old vampire who must
drink the blood of a virgin in order to keep her beauty. Cleavon Little
stars as a vampire named Sebastian and Little is most known from
BLAZING SADDLES. This has its funny moments but is quite flawed and was
not the star-making role from Mr. Carrey. It can be enjoyable for fans
of the vampire genre but not the best even for comedy standards. It
does contain laughs and shades of future LIVING COLOUR alum Jim Carrey
with a great comedic career.
Well, that is it for this week.
Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so
far includes Mickey Rourke, Alan Parker, Sandra Bullock, and many
others.
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