Saturday, January 26, 2013

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 364th Edition

Welcome to the 364th edition of my series. My Fantasy football team is now 5-3 and I'm looking to tie for the lead in my division. I am now second in my division but number one in scoring in my lead. This is the last of The Madness. It has been a fun time but ready to move onto my usual selection process. In HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, I got a third part in the show so I am now in a straight play with three parts so I'm sure this will be interesting and I hope to rise to the challenge. Now let me get onto my movie selections.

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011): I start this week out with this animated DC movie. In this movie, main Green Lantern Hal Jordan prepares a new recruit for an upcoming battle. He soon tells her stories about some of the first Green Lanterns and some of the others. Nathan Fillion voices Hal Jordan in this film. If you are looking for a movie centered all around Hal Jordan, this will not be the one but it does go into some pretty good stories so fans of Green Lantern may enjoy this but should have some background before watching. Jason Isaacs, Elizabeth Moss, Henry Rollins, and Arnold Vosloo also lend their voices to the movie.

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998): This is Jamie Lee Curtis's 1st film in the franchise since 1981 in HALLOWEEN 2. In this movie, Curtis reprises her iconic role as Laurie Strode who works at a private school and under a different name hoping to stay away from her brother Michael Myers. Myers soon tracks her down there and targets her son John, played by Josh Hartnett in his debut film. Laurie must soon face her past and once again stand up to Michael Myers. Michelle Williams, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adam Arkin, Janet Leigh, LL Cool J, and many others co-star. Steve Miner directed this sequel to what John Carpenter started. This sequel may not be a John Carpenter film but it gives respect to what he started and pays homage and is possibly the best sequel of the franchise.

Let the Right One In (2008): This is my vampire film for the week and my foreign film. Tomas Alfredson directs this film which focuses on a boy named Oskar who is bullied by the kids at school. He soon meets a young girl named Eli who turns out to be a vampire. They soon form an unusual friendship and she teaches him to stand up to the bullies. He also understands that she needs blood to live so he must decide how far he is willing to go. In 2010, there was a remake called LET ME IN and I will say I liked that one better but this one is still very enjoyable. This is available on Instant Netflix and if you can get past the gore and English subtitles, this might be for you.

Scenic Grandeur (1941): This is my short film for the week that is from the Traveltalk series. This one takes a tour through the Northwestern United States like Mount St. Helens and Spirit Lake in the state of Washington. It also shows some of Alaska. This is a pretty informative few minutes.

The Mummy (1932): I now bring you my Univeral Horror classic for the week. Boris Karloff stars as Imhotep who was condemned to die. In the modern day, in an expedition, a scroll is found and Imhotep is soon brought back to life. He then sets out to reunite with his former love who appears to have been reincarnated. Usually, I favor Hammer films and even more modern films at times but in this franchise, this one has not been topped and the best of the Universal horror films in my opinion. Karloff is very good as the title character who poses as a scholar named Ardeth Bay. There is also some good use of camera on some of the flashbacks and one that is being watched in the modern day. This is available on Instant Netflix

The Noose Hangs High (1948): This is my Abbott and Costello film for the week. Our comedy duo are a couple of window washers who are mistaken by a bookie to be messengers sent to pick up $50,000. With this misunderstanding, they soon begin to do the wrong thing and are then caught up in a mob war where the rival gangsters believe they are smart mobsters. There is a funny bit with Costello at the dentist. This one is not their best but a good, overlooked effort that is available on Instant Netflix.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994): This is a shout out to my good friends Becky and Ashley who are some very good hula hoopers and this movie gives the fictional account on the invention of the hula hoop. The Coen Brothers directed this satire to the working place and the corporate ladder. We first see Waring Hudsucker, played by Charles Durning, commit suicide after some bad business decisions. This leaves Sidney Mussburger, played by Paul Newman, who comes up with a big idea to make a lot of money by putting a moron in charge and when stock falls low enough they can buy it back at a cheap price. Tim Robbins stars as an idealistic college graduate named Norville Barnes who is looking for work and gets hired there for the mailroom. He soon presents his idea for an invention and Mussburger believes he is the perfect person to be put in charge. Jennifer Jason Leigh co-stars as reporter Amy Archer who investigates Norville's promotion. Bill Cobbs, John Mahoney and Bruce Campbell co-star in this comedy. This is a very funny movie but even has a message as to how power can corrupt and how the corporate world is very cutthroat. The character of Norville Barnes is from my town of Muncie, Indiana and has a very amusing fight song. I'm not sure if the Muncie College of Business Administration was ever a real college but cool to hear the Coen Brothers reference my town.

Eyes Without a Face (1960): This is Travis's selection for the Co-Op film series which is a French horror film. A surgeon named Dr. Genessier has a daughter whose face was disfigured in a car accident. Along with his assistant Louise, they kidnap young women with the intention of using their face on his daughter. Each experiment fails resulting in the death of the kidnapped women but Genessier does not give up. This is a horror film but in some ways beautiful. Edith Scob plays the daughter who usually wears a mask and does a good job of conveying her emotions through that mask. Billy Idol would soon write a song of the same name which pays tribute to this movie.

I Spit on Your Grave (1978): Camille Keaton stars as aspiring writer named Jennifer who moves to a cabin to finish her work. She is soon raped and humiliated by four of the local men. When she recovers, she sets out to get revenge on the people who wronged her. This is an exploitation film to the core and is by no means for everyone. The rape is very graphic and holds nothing back which could be good in some ways to show that the act of rape is very wrong. When Jennifer goes on her killing spree, those scenes hold back no violence and revenge. Camille Keaton is the great niece of the legendary Buster. This movie is available on Instant Netflix and can be enjoyable if you like this type of film.

Zombieland (2009): I start this week out with this zombie comedy. Jesse Eisenberg stars as a shy college student who believes he is the only survivor and explains what rules you must go by to survive the zombie apocalypse. He soon meets a gun-toting no-nonsense survivor in Woody Harrelson who refers to himself as Tallahassee and refers to Eisenberg as Columbus. They soon meet two female survivors in Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin who are very resourceful in their survival. I admit, I have taken a liking to Emma Stone lately with her acting and personality so I enjoyed her as Wichita. They soon all team up hoping to get to an amusement park they believe is free of zombies. This is a good zombie film which has some great comedy including a hilarious cameo with Bill Murray.

Well, that is it for this week. Stay tuned for next week. Keep reading for the last week of the Madness which so far includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Donnie Yen, Buster Keaton, and many others.

The Madness: Week 5

This is the last week of the annual contest and I always enjoy doing these and it is a good way to clean out my Netflix queue. As always, I use the four 6 system.

The Amazing Screw-On Head (2006, 22 minutes, 666): This is an adaptation of Mike Mignola's comic book series. Screw-On Head is Lincoln's number one adviser and must take on Emperor Zombie. This has zombies and even vampires and is a pretty fun 22 minutes. I now propose that next year we make Abraham Lincoln a wild card so any movie that features Lincoln counts. (2.5 points)
-Bonus point: Vampire
-Bonus point: Vampire to bat

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009, 90 minutes, 666): Bruce Campbell animated loophole. (2 points)

Eyes Without a Face (1960, 88 minutes, 666): This is a foreign horror film so it should count (2 points)

Fight Club (1999, 139 minutes, 666): This is my Rob Bottin Loophole. (2.5 points)

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011, 84 minutes, 666): This comic book movie should qualify because it has a lot of sci-fi elements. (2 points)

Gremlins (1984, 106 minutes, 666 1/2): Another good horror comedy. (2 points)

Halloween Dinner Theater (2012, 2 hours, 666 1/2): This was a play put on in Farmland and was a cabaret style show that features the Wolf Man, Dracula, The Invisible Man, Frankenstein's monster, and many others. It also has scenes where they act scenes of Edgar Allen Poe. This show was very enjoyable an well put together by Darrin. My facebook friends Tom, Sean, Jessie, Julie and Barry were some of the actors featured. (2 points)

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998, 86 minutes, 666): No explanation needed here to qualify this one. (2 points)

The Howling (1981, 91 minutes, 666): This werewolf movie with Dee Wallace needs no explanation. (4 points)
-Bonus point: Werewolf
-Bonus point: Man to wolf and vice versa

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994, 111 minutes, 666): This one counts because of Bruce Campbell. (2 points)

I Spit on Your Grave (1978, 101 minutes, 66 1/2): This exploitation film is billed as horror and has some very graphic violence. (2 points)

Let the Right One In (2008, 115 minutes, 666): This is a vampire film so qualifies. (3 points)
-Bonus point: Vampire

The Mummy (1932, 73 minutes, 666 1/2): Boris Karloff makes this count no matter what but no explanation is needed. (2 points)
-Bonus point: 1932

The Noose Hangs High (1948, 77 minutes, 66 1/2): This is my Abbott and Costello loophole. (3 points)
-Bonus point: 1948

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012, 102 minutes, 666 1/2): I'm just going to give this a shot to being a loophole. This is a really good independent comedy/drama. What I want to argue is that there is a play within the movie of ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW which also has movie clips. (2 points)

Se7en (1995, 127 minutes, 666 1/2): This should count because of a serial killer. (2 points)

Seven Days (2010, 105 minutes, 66 1/2): I feel this foreign film should qualify due to the torture elements of him torturing the man who killed his daughter.

Train (2008, 94 minutes, 66 1/2): Thora Birch stars in this film as part of the college wrestling team and go to Europe for a meet. They soon miss their train and board a train that turns out to be the wrong train as soon they many are captured, tortured, and killed and must fight for survival. (2 points)

X-Men: First Class (2011, 132 minutes, 666): This should count for the mutants and such. This is a good origin story centering around Professor X and Magneto and their lives they were destined for. (4 points)
-Bonus Point: Shapeshifter in Mystique
-Bonus Point: I think Hank McCoy's transforming from Man to what we know now as Beast should count.

Zombieland (2009, 88 minutes, 666): This zombie comedy should qualify with no problem. (2 points)

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