Saturday, January 26, 2013

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 311th Edition

Welcome to the 311th Edition of my series and the last week for the Madness. I have just finished SWEENEY TODD. I have really enjoyed doing my first show in Portland, Indiana and playing the part of Beadle Bamford. It was a good cast and good show and I am proud to have been part of it. Next week will be my six year anniversary for this blog. I will now get to my recommendations for the week.

The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009): I start this week out with some Rob Zombie which is based on a comic book that he writes. El Superbeasto, voiced by Tom Papa, is a washed-up Luchadore wrestler who is out to fight crime no matter how vulgar he might be. In this film, with his sidekick Suzy X, he must take on a villain named Dr. Satan, played by Paul Giamatti. This film is not for everyone but it is quite entertaining and has some pretty funny moments. This is a very violent film and very vulgar and is adult animation to the core. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Paris Je T'Aime (2006): This is a film taking place in Paris which have many different short stories dealing with some type of love. Many directors like the Coen Brothers, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuaron, Gus Van Zant, and many others direct these segments. Many actors like Steve Buscemi, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Maggie Gyllenhall, Nick Nolte, Natalie Portman, and many others. This is a very well done film dealing with multiple stories and showing the beautiful town of Paris.

The Bye-Bye Sky High Murder Case (1977): This is actually an episode of Columbo but it is over an hour so I made the call to put it here and see below as to why I included this movie. Peter Falk plays Columbo. In this one, Columbo must investigate a Mensa type group where one of them came up murdered. Columbo was a very popular detective who looks like a bum but knows exactly how to solve a big murder. Look for a young Jamie Lee Curtis in this show. This is available on Instant Netflix.

The Lion Tamer (1934): This is my animated short for the week. This animated short features the characters of Amos and Andy in which Andy is the title character dealing with a fake lion. This was rather entertaining but mostly for classic animation buffs. There are some rather racist elements with these black characters but something more acceptable in that time period.

Magic (1978): Long before we had that murderous doll Chucky, we had Fats the dummy. Anthony Hopkins stars in this film as Corky who is a magician and gets his first solo appearance but it bombs. He is then given a ventriloquist puppet named Fats which improves his act but Fats begins to form a mind of his own and controls Corky in every way he can. Ann-Margret co-stars as an old friend Corky is trying to reconnect with but does not become easy with Fats in the picture. Hopkins in very good in this performance even doing some good things with the puppet. Burgess Meredith co-stars as his agent. This is a pretty unconventional and good horror film.

Green Lantern: First Flight (2009): This is an DC animated film based on the origins of the Green Lantern. LAW AND ORDER: SVU alum Christopher Meloni voices cocky test pilot Hal Jordan and comes across a dying alien accepting a ring. He is then recruited by the Green Lantern Corps but must prove his worthiness. He is mentored by the leader Sinestro, voiced by ALIAS alum Victor Barber, who Hal learns has his own agenda and must stop him. Other actors like Michael Madsen, John Larroquette, and Kurtwood Smith provide voices. I always like the DC animated movies and I have not seen the live-action version. I also don't know much about Green Lantern but found this to be quite enjoyable.

The Road (2009): John Hillcoat directed this post-apocalyptic film which stars Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee co-stars a father and son trying to survive by any means possible. They are in search of a better place but things seem to get worse. They also have to avoid some of the cannibalistic people out there in this not-so-distant bleak future. I watched this not really knowing what to expect but it became one of those pleasant surprises for me. Mortensen and Smit-McPhee work very well together and carry this film. It is also a very beautiful film with these interactions of the leads. To add to that Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, who also did the great score of THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD, wrote the music score to this film. Charlize Theron co-stars in the flashback scenes and was evidently the mother in the situation. Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce have good cameo appearances. This is not the easiest film to watch but is very moving.

The Face of Marble (1946): This is an older horror film I found that stars John Carradine as Dr. Randolph. Randolph is kind of like a Dr. Frankenstein in his obsession with life and death and does some experiments with some very bad results like with a dog. This is more for the classic horror buffs and good for the holiday. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Curse of the Demon (1957): Dana Andrews stars as Dr. John Holden who is quite the skeptic and he looks to expose satanic cult leader Dr. Karswell. Holden does not believe that he is a real cult leader but strange things begin to happen. This is actually a well-written chiller with a pretty scary demon that came into the picture. Andrews was very good as the cynical doctor who was determined to prove that science can explain all the happenings.

Akira (1988): I end this week with anime which is very iconic to the genre. This takes place post-apocalyptic Tokyo and centers around a couple bikers named Kaneda and Tetsuo. Tetsuo gets abducted by the government and the experiments done on him turn him crazy. Kaneda does what he can to save him but runs into a lot of corrupt people in his quest to save Tetsuo. This is a pretty bleak film that has lots of violence but also moves very well. All anime fans should check this one out.

Well that is it for this week, continue to read for the last week of The Madness. Stay tuned for my six year anniversary which so far includes Nicole Kidman, Mickey Rourke, and many others

THE MADNESS: HACK AND SLASH EDITION: WEEK 4

BETSY PALMER
1. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) 666: Here is my one slasher for the series. This gets extra points for a boob shot, and "I'll be right back" and a specific day being Friday the 13th. 87 points, 5 points.

COMIC BOOK MOVIES
1. Green Lantern: First Flight (2009) 666: The live-action film counts so I feel this one should as well. Good animated action. 75 minutes, 2 points

2. Thor (2011) 666 1/2: This film counts because it was on Elizabeth's note for new releases that count. A very good adaptation on the god of Thunder and good Marvel film. 115 minutes, 2 points.

DEE WALLACE
1. The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009) 666: This movie would likely count either way but no explanation needed with wild card Dee Wallace who has a voice in the movie. There are some animated boob shots that should give one more point. 77 minutes, 3 points

HALLOWEEN SPECIALS
1. Beavis and Butthead: Werewolves of Highland, Crying (2011) 666 1/2: In the return of the icons, this takes place in Halloween and Beavis and Butthead see that chicks dig vampires and werewolves so they look to become one of the two in order to score. It is so good to see my friends back. 30 minutes, .5 points

JAMIE LEE CURTIS
1. Columbo: the Bye-Bye Story High I.Q. Murder Case (1977) 666: This will likely be my annual loophole as I used this show for Kevin McCarthy last year. Jamie Lee makes a small appearance as a waitress. Too bad she did not get killed so that I could get my bonus points. 75 minutes, 2 points.

MAD SCIENTISTS
1. The Face of Marble (1946) 66 1/2: This is a classic horror film that with a doctor obsessed with life and death with disasterous results. 75 minutes 2 points.

MURDERING PUPPETS
1. Magic (1978) 666: This is an early horror film starring Anthony Hopkins who is a ventriloquist whose dummy has a mind of its own. 107 minutes, 2 points.

POST APOCALYPSE
1. The Road (2009) 666 1/2: This is a post-apocalypse film and shows some cannibals. As I said above, this pleasantly surprised me. 111 minutes, 2 points.

2. Akira (1988) 666: This is anime and post-apocalypse so should count for the contest. I should also get points for it being in Japan and an animated boob shot. 124 minutes, 4 points.

RUTGER HAUER
1. Sin City (2005) 666 1/2: This is another that should count either way with a serial killer but I don't have to justify this with wild card Rutger Hauer. There are a couple good boob shots that should get me another point. 124 minutes, 3 points.

SATANIC CULTS
1. Curse of the Demon (1957) 666: This is about a doctor investigating a satanic cult leader and does not believe they are a cult or that type of thing is real. This was done in Britain so gets another point. 95 minutes, 3 points.

SCI-FI HORROR
1. Alien 3 (1992) 66: I feel this should count with the viciousness of the alien. Ripley lands on another planet and must once again contend with her rival. This has nothing on the first two films. 114 minutes, 2 points.

WALT DISNEY
1. Hocus Pocus (1993) 66 1/2: This is good family entertainment dealing with witchcraft with three witches executed are brought back to the modern day. Doug Jones is very amusing as Billy Butcherson who shows his talent with prosthetic make-up. This should get me an extra point for taking place on Halloween. This is an amusing live-action Disney film. 96 minutes, 3 points.

2. The Haunted Mansion (2003) 66: This is based on the same thing at Disney World. This is a mansion haunted by a lot of ghosts. 99 minutes, 2 points.

WEREWOLVES
1. The Wolfman (2010) 66: This is that remake of the Lon Chaney Jr. classic and with all the money and special effects you just cannot match the original. Benicio Del Toro plays Laurence Talbot and Anthony Hopkins is his father. I did not like the way they made the father all villainous and even Laurence is not that likeable like Chaney was. 103 minutes, 2 points.

WES CRAVEN
1. Paris Je T'Aime (2006) 666: I thought that this would just be a wild card with Wes Craven being one of the directors but there is a vampire segment that he did not even direct. This gets an extra point for being done in France. 120 minutes, 3 points.

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