Welcome to the 312th Edition of my long running series and I have now
been going for six years. I just want to thank everyone who has
supported me through the years who actually reads these to get their
recommendations. This week I seemed to focus a lot on musicals which
gave me an idea to do a special edition in the first week of 2012 which
will involve music. It will include live musical theater, live
concerts, and musicals both live-action and animated. This will involve
some long-term thought on my end and hope to give you all the best in
that edition. I am now back to my normal life. I am not really sure
when and where my next show will be but will let know as soon as it
happens. Let me now get to my ten recommendations for the week.
Moulin
Rouge (2001): I decided to start with this musical directed by Baz
Luhrman and one is one of my favorite movies. This movie takes place in
France at the infamous Moulin Rouge where modern day music is cleverly
worked into the year 1900. Ewan McGregor stars as Christian, a
struggling writer obsessed with love and joins a Bohemian acting group
headed by John Leguizamo. He then goes to the Moulin Rouge meeting and
falling in love with the star dancer Satine, played by Nicole Kidman.
Satine returns the love but has the powerful Duke who also wants to
marry her. Jim Broadbent co-stars as the flamboyant head of the Moulin
Rouge Harold Zidler. It is interesting that when I present this film to
people, everyone immediately places Zidler as the villain because of
his flamboyancy and being the head of a rather sleazy venue. He is not
exactly the hero of the film but is not a villain. He cares for the
people there and even is protective of Christian even if one may not
agree with his methods. Many songs are used including LIKE A VIRGIN
from Madonna, DIAMOND DOGS from David Bowie, SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT
from Nirvana and many others. It also has some more original songs like
COME WHAT MAY and NATURE BOY. I know many who hate musicals actually
liked this one. It is a rather dark story at times and crosses the line
beyond chick flick. McGregor and Kidman work so well together and
Broadbent is great as well. Look for Kylie Minogue as The Green Fairy.
Sin
City (2005): This is part one of a two-part Clive Owen series. Robert
Rodriguez, along with Frank Miller and a guest spot from Quentin
Tarantino directed this film based on the graphic novel from co-director
Frank Miller. This takes place in the very bleak town of Basin City
and focuses on three tough male characters who must deal with the
corruption of the police force and politicians. Bruce Willis plays
Hartigan who is a police officer who is about to retire but looks to do
what he can to save a little girl from kidnappers. He seems to be the
only police officer that is not corrupt in that town and pays a big
price. Mickey Rourke plays rough yet compassionate ex-con Marv who is
framed for the murder of a woman he loved and was very nice to him. He
must also deal with all the corruption. Clive Owen co-stars as Marv who
is a love to Shelley, played by Brittany Murphy, and must deal with her
abusive ex-boyfriend Jackie Boy, played by Benicio Del Toro, who is a
pretty powerful person himself. I'm not really sure what Marv's story
is in this movie. I remember first seeing the previews and immediately
recognizing Mickey Rourke even behind the heavy make-up and exaggerated
chin. As many know I am a big fan of Rourke and at the time this was
billed as his "comeback movie" when years later THE WRESTLER was
referred to as such. I feel this one got him about 75% of the circle
while THE WRESTLER took him the rest of the way. Many other actors make
their way into the film like Elijah Wood, Jessica Alba, Michael Madsen,
Alexis Bledel, Nick Stahl, and many others. This is a rather bleak
film and very violent but a very intriguing and entertaining film. I
liked the way this was filmed though feel it has become a bit overdone.
OMG!
The Top 50 Incidents in WWE History (2011): I decided to go the WWE
documentary route with this one where they rank the top 50 moments in
the company. This has a few superstars reflecting on these moments
including the Montreal Screw Job, the evil twin angle involving Hogan, a
Jeff Jarrett guitar attack, many Stone Cold moments and something many
WWE fans can reflect upon. The only problem I had was them having to
play the "Oh My God" sound clip after each number. This is mostly for
wrestling fans like me. This is available on Instant Netflix.
A
Clockwork Orange (1971): I now bring you this bizarre futuristic film
from the mind of Stanley Kubrick. A young Malcolm McDowell stars in
this film as Alex who is a leader for the gang the Droogs. They go
around to people house and terrorize the house and people. Alex gets
arrested when the rest of the gang turns on him. He agrees to go up to
an experimental process to get out early. He gets put up to a device
which makes him fear everything he loves which is most notably violence
and Beethoven. When he gets out, everyone he hurts is out to get
revenge and due to his new fears he is left defenseless. One of the big
things of this movie is the imagery like statues of private parts and
many other strange things. Another scene that just really amuses me
when it shouldn't is when Alex is torturing a couple and singing SINGIN'
IN THE RAIN. Gene Kelly, most known for singing that song was very
dismayed on the way the song was used. This film was originally rated X
because it was just so weird and ahead of its time they did not know
what to think. It has since gone down to R. This film is not for
everyone but is an interesting statement about psychological drugs and
remains one of my favorites. This is available on Instant Netflix.
The
Curse of Frankenstein (1957): This is my Hammer Films selection for
the week and my favorite adaptation of the legend. Peter Cushing plays
Victor Frankenstein who we see in his later childhood up until he grows
up. Frankenstein and his childhood tutor Paul become interested in
medical science and bringing things to life. They start with a dog but
then Victor decides he wants to reanimate man which Paul does not agree
with. Hazel Court plays Elizabeth who naively awaits to marry
Frankenstein not aware of his demise. Christopher Lee plays the
creature in this one and as usual, not what Frankenstein intends to
happen in which he really pays for in the end. I really like this more
than the Universal version though Universal's is still pretty good. I
like that this one was a lot darker. Cushing was great as a scientist
with good intentions but has his judgment clouded.
Freaks (1932):
Now I go from the British Hammer Films to the US Universal films which
was directed by Tod Browning. This takes place at the circus in the
times of the freakshow. Hans who is a midget comes to really adore a
beautiful trapeze artist named Cleopatra and she seems to really like
him but everyone else see that she is out for his inheritance leading
the "freaks" to take some pretty extreme revenge. Tod Browning cast a
lot of actual people from the circus sideshow giving it a very authentic
feel. I have seem some say this was very exploitative but I tend to
disagree. Freak shows were already on the rise at this time and I
believe Browning wanted to show that these people are human and have
feelings like us "normal" people. There was also a message about the
"normal" people being the real freaks for the way they treated them.
This could be looked at in so many different ways but this remains quite
the classic of Universal. This was a very controversial film at its
time and had stars like Myrna Loy and Jean Harlow declining roles due to
the nature of the script.
A Town Like Alice (1956): This is a
pretty unknown film that that takes place in WWII Britain. In this film
the Japanese army captures a lot of the British territory. The story
is told from the point of view of one of the women in the camp while the
men are sent elsewhere. Virginia McKenna stars as Jean who tells the
story. Peter Finch also co-stars in this film. This is a pretty moving
film that is available on Instant Netflix.
Chocolate (2008): This is my martial arts film for the week brought
from Prachya Pinkaew who is most known for ONG-BAK: THE THAI WARRIOR
and THE PROTECTOR which starred Thai star Tony Jaa. This film starred a
female named JeeJa Yanin who played the young girl named Zen. This is a
girl who is probably an early teen who has autism and has learned a lot
about martial arts from watching other martial arts films. Her mother
has had some involvement with other mobsters that catches up with her
and Zen uses her abilities to protect the family. I was not sure what
to think of this movie but really ended up liking it. I liked the
beginning where we learn of her autism and what she can do. It appears
to do a good job portraying that as I have seen people with autism when I
worked at a summer camp for adults of special needs. Many with autism
have that expertise and what better than to use martial arts. The
fights were great in this film and Yanin shows she really has it. This
started out with a pretty good story transitioning into some great
action. This is available on Instant Netflix.
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973): Leave it to me to do some list that
includes A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and a movie about Jesus. This is the rock
opera written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. This movie is told
from the point of view of Judas, played by Carl Anderson, and the final
six days of Jesus Christ. Judas was played by a black actor so I
suppose that may have had some controversy but I thought he did pretty
good. Ted Neely plays the part of Jesus and knowing his fateful day was
coming soon. The followers were more dressed as hippies which added a
rather interesting element that could offend some. Ted Neely has been
playing this part on stage for years, even in 2010. This movie is all
singing and no dialogue. This is available on Instant Netflix.
Into the Woods (1991): This is an actual live performance of the
Sondheim musical which gave me the idea for my special edition coming up
in the beginning of 2012. This is a fairy tale story told in a way
that not everyone ends up happily ever after. The story centers around a
baker and his wife who do not have a child. Bernadette Peters plays
the witch who curses this couple to not be able to have children and
requires them to get certain things. In their quest they meet such
legends as Cinderella, Repunzel, Jack, and Little Red Riding Hood. I
have always liked this musical and have seen it a couple times but never
was in the show. Sondheim is my favorite of all the lyricists and this
one adds to it. This is available on Instant Netflix.
Well, that is it for this week. Stay tuned next week which so far includes Brendan Gleeson, Clive Owen, and many others.
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