Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 99th Edition and Horror Movie Madness- Week 1

Welcome to the 99th Edition of my blog. Last week in Fantasy Football, I defeated the Rub to become 3-1 making me 4 in the Myspace Football league. This week, I take on the Parrot Heads and I'm not sure who that person is so may the best man win and hopefully that is me. I joined Cavepearl's Horror Movie Marathon contest. I had two performances for Frankenstein last night and on Friday and they went very well. I have another performance on Saturday. Now for the recommendations, then I will get to the Marathon contest.

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985): One night I was in Shelbyville, Indiana watching a wrestling show and my friend Brandon cited this movie as his favorite movie so I decided to watch it again for the first time in years. Tim Burton makes his feature film directorial debut here in a script written by Paul Reubens and Phil Hartman and I think we all know who Paul Reubens plays here. Unfortunately, we all learned that in real life Reubens is by no means like Pee-Wee Herman and it's unfortunate all the trouble he got into, who knows what he could have done with this character in the future. In this story, Pee-Wee loses his beloved bike and treks across the USA in order to get it back and along the way meets bikers, a killer, and many other strange people along the way. This is a remake of the Italian classic "The Bicycle Thief" and might be the inspiration for "Beavis and Butthead Do America". Look for cameos from Jan Hooks, Phil Hartman, James Brolin, Morgan Fairchild and former wrestler Professor Toru Tanaka.

In the Line of Fire (1993): We had a free preview of Showtime so I wanted to make the most of it and I found this one. Clint Eastwood stars as an aging secret-service agent named Frank Horrigan whose biggest memory that haunts him is the assassination of Kennedy, one he was not able to save. This time, a very bitter man, played by John Malkovich, plots to kill the modern-day president and involves Frank in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Frank's biggest problem is getting his colleagues, including the president himself, to believe him. "Practice" alum Dylan McDermott plays Frank's young partner. This is a great action film in a great collection of Clint Eastwood.

Sherrybaby (2006): I found this independent film on Showtime which stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as the title character in this character study. I had to think on this movie on different levels. First, I thought, "should I really care about this character?", then I realized, that is just life, people don't always know things. Sherry is just getting out of prison for her drug problems and really wants to turn her life around which includes getting custody of her daughter who has established a good relationship with her aunt and uncle. Sherry thought that she gets out, she is in paradise but then realizes soon that it is not that simple. It is a very simple, realistic story and if you are looking for something really over-dramatic, you might find this movie quite boring.

Silver Hawk (2004): I also found this Michelle Yeoh sci-fi, b-action film on Showtime. It's nothing great and nothing horrible. She plays a masked vigilante by night and a model by night and teams up with her childhood friend who is now a cop to battle a villain out for world domination, what else. I will admit that the name drew me into this movie and if it were two absolutely unknown names and I saw the plot, I would have looked elsewhere but I did enjoy the movie and the characters. I hated the dubbing though.

Hollywood Party (1937): This was a rather strange short I found on On-Demand which was hosted by underrated silent film comedian Charley Chase who here was Charley Chan Chase obviously donning a chinaman outfit. This was around the rise of Technicolor and even having cameos from Clark Gable and Joan Bennett.

House of Frankenstein (1944): This Universal classic boasts an all-star monster cast of Frankenstein's creature, Dracula, and the Wolf Man. Boris Karloff stars in this movie but not as the creature this time. This time he is a mad scientist who is picking up where Dr. Frankenstein left off. Character actor John Carradine plays Dracula in a good, small role which was his first of two performances as the famed vamp. Lon Chaney Jr. plays Larry Talbot aka the Wolf Man who continues to look to cure his curse. Glenn Strange plays the creature this time. It's a fun time for a classic horror fan.

Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control (1997): This was this week's Co-Op film selection and I ran in about 10 minutes late due to my rehearsal. This is a documentary that takes a look at four different people. One of which is an aging topiary gardener who designs trees, kind of like in "Edward Scissorhands". The next is a retired lion tamer looking back on his glory days. The next is a man fascinated by mole-rats, someone PETA would hate. The last is a robotics designer making some state-of-the-art products. All of them have some very fascinating stories to tell in this unconventional documentary.

Friendly Persuasion (1956): I decided to take full advantage of "Does not have to be horror" in this contest I am in and looked for a non-Norman Bates film and this is the result. Gary Cooper plays the patriarch of a Quaker family in my state of Indiana named Jess Birdwell. This is going on in the time of the Civil War and southern troops are passing through and running rampant. Villagers in the town feel the need to fight but Jess is torn between his beliefs and what is right. Anthony Perkins plays the son Josh who is also torn as to what is right. This is originally uncredited to the screenplay writer due to the blacklisting of Michael Wilson. This is an interesting tribute to the Quaker religion.

Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (1967): I found this at the library in the Horror Classics dvd collection which feature this Japanese horror fiilm. If you want an absolute blockbuster, you might not like this cheesy film but if you love this genre, this might just be for you. This movie first takes place on an island where a group of natives worship a mysterious Gappa. When an expedition group discovers a big egg, they take it back out of curiousity. However, mom and pop Gappa realize their baby is gone and they go to retrieve their son. Those were some pretty good special effects for its time.

The Other (1972): Notice the year and that this title is not plural. I had never heard of this movie until yesterday when I found it on On-Demand so needing a 70s film and hoping to find one for the contest, I chose this movie. This is the story of two twin brothers named Niles and Holland who are very close but when they get older, one turns out to be good while the other one becomes quite evil. This was a pretty creepy non-gore horror film with many twists and an interesting, uplifting music score to go with the unpleasant things.

Well, that is it for this week on Recommendations, now for my week in the contest. This is not exactly my genre but I will bite the bullet and look into some things I have been missing and I will give ratings like the rules state. Ratings are something I am really bad about but I do my best. Now instead of stars, I am going to give up to four 6's.

Deconstructing Harry (1997): I was told by Cavepearl that Horror Hotel could be included in this since my blog was released that sunday it started. Well, I looked at this movie again and it dawned on me that Billy Crystal plays the Devil in the Hell scene. This is probably Woody Allen's best in his later career. 666

Horror Hotel (1960): This was on my recommendations blog last week which features Christopher Lee as a mysterious professor who sends his female student to New England on Winter Break to research witchcraft and gets a little more than she bargains for. Definetly worth at least one view. 66 1/2

Forever Knight (1995): Now to the part of the genre that I do like... vampires. This was a cult series in the 90s which I finally saw when it came to DVD and I was already in the middle of watching the third and final season. Geraint Wyn Davies stars as an 700-something vampire who seeks redemption for his past evil deeds by being a night cop and looking for a cure to become human through his coroner friend Natalie. Nick is still being haunted by his vampire master La Croix, played by Nigel Bennett. This is a pretty decent vampire series, not the best but still pretty entertaining if you like those things. 666
Hearts of Darkness (Season 3, Episode 7): This one takes place in the vampire bar the Raven where there is a strange murder of a customer and Nick must find this vampire while keeping his secret from his partner Tracy, even though she knows about vampires.

Trophy Girl (Season 3, Episode 8): A very guilt-ridden Tracy is given three days leave after she guns down a perpetrator. Instead of getting rest, she goes undercover at an escort service making her an immediate target. Meanwhile in "Silence of the Lambs" fashion, Nick interviews a serial killer to get more information about the murders.

No Man Tear Me Asunder (Season 3, Episode 9): This episode is centered around a murder victim whose heart was removed which prompt Nick and Tracy to investigate the black market.

Night in Question (Season 3, Episode 10): In this episode, Nick is shot in the head which caused serious injury, however not death obviously. It did turn him amnesiac, which both Natalie and La Croix see this as a good thing, both for totally different reasons. Moonlight (2007): This is a new vamp show and I don't care what anyone says, I really like it. I know it's not original and quite similar to the previous show. This show centers around vampire Mick St. John who is a private investigator using his powers for good. I don't believe that Mick is seeking humanity like Nick Knight and even Angel, he just wants to help and still has people out to tempt him. I like this better than "Blade". 666 1/2
No Such Thing as Vampires (2007, Season 1, Episode 1): This episode introduces us to P.I. Mick St. John and his lifestyle. When he is investigating a murder, he sees a young girl from his past and falls for her.

Season 1, Episode 2: In this episode, Mick's past comes to haunt him a bit when a man he has an encounter with a newly paroled ex-con and is the only one who sees through him. House of Frankenstein (1944): I have already given my description to this movie. If you can accept Universal sequals like these, you'll like it. 666

Reaper (2007): This is the new CW series done by Kevin Smith. It centers around a young hardware store employee whose parents sold his soul to the devil years ago. Bret Harrison is really good as Sam, who is now hired by the Devil to be his bounty hunter to get lost souls who have escaped. Tyler Sabine stars as his best friend who likes to help him demon hunt. Ray Wise plays the charismatic Devil who does one of those portrayals that he just does what he has to do by keeping these escaped souls out. 666 1/2
Charged (2007, Season 1, Episode 2): In this episode, Sam must catch an escaped arsonist from hell and is torn as to what to tell his mom about his new life. The Amityville Horror (1979): I found this so-called true story on Fearnet On-Demand so I thought I would check it out. A family moves into a house and guess what...it's possessed. James Brolin and Margot Kidder star in this chiller. Rod Steiger plays the priest who is suspicious of the house but his colleagues won't agree. I was going to include this on my recommendations but I realized that James Brolin had a cameo in my first movie that I featured in my recommendations so due to my unwritten rule, which I have accidently broke before and I might have unknowingly done it as well, this will not go on the recommendations at this time. Not my favorite, but not bad. James Brolin actually got to know the family this movie is based on but did not believe their story. 66 1/2

Friendly Persuasion (1956): My description on this one is up above. This is clearly not horror but according to the rules it does not have to be as long as Anthony Perkins has a part. It's interesting to see him in something besides "Psycho" which is all people really remember him for. 666

Pushing Daisies (2007): I do not know if this counts and this very well could get rejected but I'll try. This is a fantasy-comedy I guess you could call it. Lee Pace stars as Ned, the owner of a pie-shop, a man with a gift to touch people to bring them back and put them back under if needed but it comes at a price. Anna Friel plays "Chuck" and Chi McBride plays a private investigator named Emerson who teams up with Ned to catch killers. Swoozie Kurtz and Ellen Greene play Chuck's aunts. Many people might remember Ellen Greene as Audrey in "Little Show of Horrors". This was a pretty upbeat and fun show. I really enjoyed this show a lot and I will continue to watch it. 6666
Pie-Lette (2007, Season 1, Episode 1): In this episode, his childhood crush Chuck dies and he is torn to the job with Emerson. Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical (2001): I checked out this live Broadway production at the library because I wanted to see the musical version. "Knight Rider" and "Baywatch" alum David Hasselhoff stars as the title characters in this adaptation to the Robert Louis Stevenson classic novel. Hasselhoff was actually pretty good playing the dual role. It said this was from the Broadway Television Network. What I wouldn't give for that one. 666

Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (1967): Again, I have the description above. Not one of my favorites but still pretty enjoyable. 66

The Other (1972): And my last of the movies to feature. 66 1/2

Again, I did the best I could on the ratings, not really my field of expertise.