Welcome to the 132nd Edition of my blog. This week I have focused on
quite a bit of independent films and I have made a lot of use of the IFC
channel. Now it is time to get your queues from Netflix and Blockbuster
and add to it with some of these.
Tango and Cash (1989): Andrei
Konchalovsky directed this buddy cop film which stars Sylvester Stallone
and Kurt Russell as the title cops who are from different parts of L.A.
and are quite different but when framed for murder by a drug kingpin,
played by Jack Palance, they must come together in prison where they are
tortured. This is an action film but a pretty good one as long as you
can suspend your disbelief for a while. DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES star Teri
Hatcher plays Tango's (Stallone) wild sister. Stallone is actually quite
enjoyable in this movie.
The Sea Inside (2004): This is part 1
of 2 in my Javier Bardem series where we go to something a little more
realistic, maybe because the story is true, story of a real-life
Spaniard named Ramon Sampedro who was a quadriplegic who fought a
30-year battle in favor of euthanasia which garnered a lot of mixed
opinions. This movie might be frowned upon by some but we must remember,
it is a true story and this was what Sampedro wanted. He was not out
for some big cause but he did not feel much value to his life in his
state and wanted to die peacefully while inspiring others in the
process. The scene where it shows his becoming paralyzed was quite
painful to watch. This movie begs many ethical questions of what is
right and what is not and up to you to decide.
The Little
Princess (1939): Walter Lang directed this story of a brave girl finding
her missing father and that brave girl was none other than Shirley
Temple. Shirley Temple plays Sara whose father leaves her at a rigid
boarding school while he goes to Africa during the Boer War. All Sara
has now is her imagination and when she learns her father died she
refuses to believe it and sets out to find him. This movie was remade in
1995 which was really quite different though I really liked that remake
but this one did start it all. Maybe in time, Shirley will make a
comeback to the big screen like Gloria Stuart in TITANIC.
Onibaba
(1964): We now go to Japan into the 14th Century where a mother and
daughter-in-law are left to fend for themselves so to make money, they
kill Samarai to sell their armor and weapons. There is not a whole lot
to say about this film, though it is quite dark and once again raises
questions on ethical dilemma where the mother is the more extreme of the
two. It is also quite creepy and not for all tastes.
The
Invisible Boy (1957): This is part two of my Robby the Robot series who
remains overlooked among the great actors, perhaps because he is a robot
and is not taken very seriously. Here, we center around a dedicated
scientist who really wants his son to be more into his work and when the
super computer works with him, he can do everything and he becomes
friends with Robby and they must stop the super computer from taking
over the world. I can't really explain it that well. Something that is
for our entertainment and not as good as Robby's debut in FORBIDDEN
PLANET which was featured last week.
El Santo and Blue Demon vs.
Dr. Frankenstein (1974): Here is another entertaining sci-fi film. For
those of you who do not know who El Santo and the Blue Demon are, they
are legendary masked wrestlers from Mexico and many of the Mexican
wrestlers, mostly these two, made many of these movies where they took
on someone. They were Mexico's answer to people like Superman and Batman
except these guys were real people. Here, they learn that Dr.
Frankenstein and his henchmen are kidnapping women to bring back his
deceased wife and when a friend of theirs is kidnapped, they must find
her before things get worse. There is also some good footage of Mexican
wrestling and some other Mexican wrestlers when they have their match.
Yes, they usually have matches in these movies as well including one
they just had to do before going to save their friend. Take this for
what is worth.
Moments in Music (1950): This is my short film for
the week which was just a bunch of clips of people singing in movies
like Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and many others. Pretty
entertaining, probably something of a Hollywood advertisement.
Michael
Clayton (2007): Tony Gilroy made his directorial debut. George Clooney
stars as the title character who is an attorney known as "the fixer". He
has a big gambling problem and is divorced with a son. He then comes
across a case of a senior partner going off the deep end, played very
well by character actor Tom Wilkinson. Tilda Swinton is also good as an
attorney on the case. This was a very suspenseful film and something
good for 2007.
Sid and Nancy (1986): Alex Cox directed this bleak
biopic on Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his groupie girlfriend
Nancy Spungen. Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb played these roles to
perfection and were in fact these people. It mostly depicts the
destructive relationship between the two and Sid's attempts at a solo
career which was not to much success. Look for Courtney Love as one of
their friends. This is clearly not a movie for everyone. Some may know
what happened in the end but I won't give that away as it is not hard to
find and for people who want to see the movie. It is very dark and
depressing but very well performed, especially by Gary Oldman, one of my
favorites.
Picture Bride (1994): I end with this foreign film of
a Japanese girl in 1918 Japan is sent to Hawaii in an arranged marriage
to a much older man. She must then endure the harsh working conditions
and get along with her new husband who bought her from Japan. This is a
very good movie on the human spirit and very moving. Legendary Japanese
actor Toshiro Mifune has a great cameo as a silent film director coming
through town. Kayo Hatta both wrote and directed this very moving film
depicting what it was like in that time period and something we take for
granted in this modern time period.
Well, that is it for this
week. I had four foreign language films in this one which is quite rare.
I have my connections segment back but there really weren't many that I
could find like usual. Leave your comments, mention what you like and
dislike and stay tuned next week.
-Sylvester Stallone (Tango and Cash) and George Clooney (Michael Clayton) were in the 2003 film Spy Kids 3-D
-Kurt
Russell (Tango and Cash) and Cesar Romero (The Little Princess) were in
the Disney movies The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes in 1969, Now You See
Him, Now You Don't in 1972, and The Strongest Man in the World in 1975.
-Kurt Russell (Tango and Cash) and Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) were in the 2001 film Vanilla Sky
-Kurt Russell (Tango and Cash) and Gary Oldman (Sid and Nancy) were in the 2002 film Interstate 60
-Jack
Palance (Tango and Cash) and Cesar Romero (The Little Princess) were in
the 1968 film Madigan's Millions. Note that Jack Palance was an
uncreditted voice dub.
-Jack Palance (Tango and Cash) and Michael O'Keefe (Michael Clayton) were in the 2001 tv movie Prancer Returns
-Teri Hatcher (Tango and Cash) and George Clooney (Michael Clayton) were in the 2001 film Spy Kids
-Michael Jeter (Tango and Cash) and George Clooney (Michael Clayton) were in the 2002 film Welcome to Collinwood
-Michael Jeter (Tango and Cash) and Chloe Webb (Sid and Nancy) were in the 1993 mini-series Tales Of the City
-Clint Howard (Tango and Cash) and Xander Berkeley (Sid and Nancy) were in the 1995 film Apollo 13 and the 1996 film Barb Wire
-James Hong (Tango and Cash) and Xander Berkeley (Sid and Nancy) were in the 1999 film Spawn 3: Ultimate Battle
-James
Hong (Tango and Cash) and Cary-Hiroyaki Tagawa (Sid and Nancy) were in
the 1991 film The Perfect Weapon, the 2000 film The Art of War, the 2001
film The Ghost which is not to be confused with Ghost, and the 2007
comedy Balls of Fury
-Brion James (Tango and Cash) and Sydney Pollack (Michael Clayton) were in the 1992 film The Player
-Shirley
Temple (The Little Princess) and Judy Garland (Moments in Music
archival footage) were never in anything together but Shirley Temple was
one of the first people considered for the role of Dorothy Gale in the
Wizard of Oz which ultimately went to Judy Garland.
-Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) and Gary Oldman (Sid and Nancy) were in the 2005 film Batman Begins.
-Chloe Webb (Sid and Nancy) and Cary-Hiroyaki Tagawa (Picture Bride) were in the 1988 comedy Twins
-Xander
Berkeley (Sid and Nancy) and Cary-Hiroyaki Tagawa (Picture Bride) were
in the tv movies L.A. Takedown in 1989, Netforce in 1999, and Not of
this World in 1991
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