Welcome to the 330th Edition of my long running series. I guess
happy Daylight Savings Time, at least I don't have to work today. It is
good to see that the weather is getting a lot better. This week, I
focus more on animation that usual and have four animated selections
this week. I also pay tribute to the late Robert Sherman who wrote
music for many movies and recently left us. I will now get to my
selections for the week.
Henry V (1944): This is my
showing of Shakespeare for the week which stars Laurence Olivier who
also directed and produced his vision of the tale. The first part of
this film takes place at the Globe Theater and is a play in that era
where it is outside, people are not so quiet and they work in any
conditions like the rain. It then shifts to the more conventional
movie. When Olivier made this film, it was in hopes to boost morale to
the British troops during WWII. Olivier plays the title character who
was the king and lead a military campaign in France in 1415. People who
like Shakespeare will love this adaptation in which Olivier gives it
everything he has. I did really like the theatrical element in the
beginning that gave a pretty realistic feel of theater in that era.
The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (1968): Now I go from
Shakespeare to the world of classical music. Christiane Lang plays the
title character who was the wife of the legendary composer Johann
Sebastian Bach. Much of this movie is over her voiceover narration
talking about their marriage. The other parts really on his music and
the conducting of his compositions. It is not an all-out biopic and
mostly focuses on his music. This is one that people will take either
way. It did interest me with the narration but have preferred AMADEUS
and IMMORTAL BELOVED. I would say like the first selection, if you're
not into classical music, this might not be the one. This is available
on Instant Netflix to give a viewing.
Ducktators (1942): This is my animated short for the week from
Warner Brothers and a great wartime propaganda piece. This portrays
Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito as ducks who are taking over the
barnyard. The most obvious was the Hitler duck and was interesting that
the things they talk about I recall hearing and were pretty accurate.
There is a hilarious disclaimer that apologizes to all the other good
ducks and geese out there that might be offended. I found this on my
Pub-D-Hub app on my Roku player but is probably obtainable on Youtube.
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009): This is my second animated selection
this week that was directed by Wes Anderson where I go from ducks to
foxes. George Clooney plays the title character who specializes in
raiding farms but tries to change for his wife Mrs. Fox, voiced by Meryl
Streep, and become more responsible. He soon gives into temptation to
return to his ways and rob from the three meanest farmers which gets him
in trouble and must do what he can to protect the animal community and
his family. Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Dafoe and many
others lend their voices. Anderson pulls off a great animation film to
compete with Pixar that has great dialogue, a good story, and good
characters. It is a very fun movie to watch and Clooney is perfect for
the part. It is based on the book by Ronald Dahl who is most known for
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. This is one that the whole family
can enjoy but the adults will probably enjoy it the most.
The Secret World of Arrietty (2010): This is my third animated
selection for the week and am now using some anime produced by Disney
which is based on the book THE BORROWERS written by Mary Norton that is
turned into a beautiful anime film. Arrietty is the title character who
is a four-inch tall person who lives with her parents of the same
size. They go around taking things that no one really needs. Arrietty
is soon discovered by a young boy who takes interest in her. She soon
believes that the big humans and the borrowers can live in harmony but
her parents do not want her to see him. Unfortunately not all the
humans are so nice. Amy Poehler and Will Arnett voice the parents in
the U.S. version and actually do a very good job in my opinion. This
comes from Studio Ghibli on Disney and is the fourth feature and the
first not to be directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Hiromasa Yonebayashi makes
his directorial debut but was involved in the animation of the others. I
went to the movie theaters to see this one and it is still there so go
see it while you have a chance.
China Seas (1935): Clark Gable stars in this film as Captain
Alan Gaskell who is looking to get a ship from Hong Kong to Singapore.
Jean Harlow stars as Dolly who is on the ship and the ex-girlfriend of
Alan who is jealous of his current high-class girlfriend Sybil, played
by Rosalind Russell. There is soon an invasion of pirates along with
Dolly planning to get Alan back. This movie is a pretty fun action film
from that era that has romance, action, tragedy, betrayal, and even a
bit of torture. Gable and Harlow were a lot of fun in their roles in a
movie that gives something for everyone.
Snoopy, Come Home (1972): This is my fourth and final animated selection for the week and my tribute to Robert Sherman who wrote the soundtrack for this film and recently left us. When I saw this title and that it was available at the library it was the perfect choice. I have always been a fan of anything of the Peanuts characters and this is one of few feature length films. Most know of Snoopy as the independent Beagle and his owner the hapless Charlie Brown. He soon receives a letter from his former owner Lila who is sick and in the hospital. He then sets out to go visit her and feels obliged to stay with her feeling that she needs him. He first must let all his friends know. Another storyline was Snoopy dealing with discrimination where everywhere he goes there are "no dogs allowed". This is possibly a stab at the segregation of the 60s where blacks and whites had to have separate everything. This is the first animated movie or tv show to feature the characters of Woodstock and Franklin. I remember watching this as a child at my dad's house and really tearing up that Snoopy was possibly leaving them. My dad exposed me to these characters when I was little and are very timeless characters and parents should all be showing their children the Peanuts characters who are friends to many like me.
Machete (2010): Now I go into a movie for the adults and one
that is not so family oriented. Robert Rodriguez directed this action
film which was first a fake trailor in the Grindhouse homage that him
and Quentin Tarantino did where Rodriguez turns into a feature film.
Danny Trejo plays the title character who was an agent in Mexico but
betrayed and ends up as an illegal immigrant in the United States. He
is soon hired to assassinate a senator, played by Robert De Niro, but
soon sees he was set up and sets out to avenge his employers. 90s
action star Steven Seagal plays the main villain for a change and
declined a part in Stallone's THE EXPENDABLES to do this movie. MIAMI
VICE alum Don Johnson also co-stars as Von Jackson who uses very violent
means to keep illegal immigrants out. It took me a minute to actually
recognize him as he was quite different in this part. DARK ANGEL alum
Jessica Alba co-stars as Sartana who is an INS agent but must rethink
her values. Michelle Rodriguez plays Luz who is a revolutionary in the
states. Cheech Marin was also a lot of fun as Machete's priest
brother. Lindsey Lohan even co-stars in this film and is rather
amusing. If anyone had told me that Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal, Don
Johnson, and Lindsey Lohan, among the others, would be in a movie
together, I would have thought that person was crazy but it's happened.
This is not for everyone as it is very violent and very gory. It is an
homage to the Grindhouse genre but is a lot of fun if you can get past
the violence and suspend your disbelief. It is right now available on Encore On-Demand.
The Other Guys (2010): I remember first going to see this when
it was at the movie theater with Lisa and enjoyed it a lot more than
what I thought. Adam McKay directed and co-wrote this cop comedy. Mark
Wahlberg stars as Terry Hoitz who has made some mistakes in the line of
duty. Will Ferrell stars as Allen Gamble who is afraid to take risks.
These two are put together as mismatched partners reduced to desk work
and are disgraced New York cops billed as the movie title. Dwayne "The
Rock" Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson are perfectly matched as the
arrogant NYC detectives Danson and Highsmith. Gamble soon starts an
investigation of shady capitalist David Ershon where Hoitz and Gamble,
played by Steve Coogan, must put aside their differences and hope to be
accepted by their peers and idols but many things go wrong in the
process. Michael Keaton plays the head of the police department. Derek
Jeter has an amusing cameo appearance. Wahlberg and Ferrell work so
well together as the very mismatched detectives. Ferrell is more
low-key than usual and is actually very good. This movie delivers a lot
of laughs and ranks up among comedies of that year.
Katrina's Children (2008): I end this week with a documentary.
This documentary focuses on Hurricane Katrina and focuses on many
elementary age children to get their viewpoints of the effect it had on
them. Many of them made some artwork and the movie does some neat
little animation techniques of it. I don't pretend to remember any of
the children but was very interesting to hear their views on the effects
it had on their childhood. There was one boy who was experiencing
regret feeling he was very mean and disrespectful to them and was
determined to find himself. There was one girl who wore a headband and
she appears to see the importance of family and accepts she lost her
material things. I also liked a black boy who was living in Texas after
it and experienced some prejudice for his race. It was a very
eye-opening documentary and a very well done one which is from the
viewpoint of the children. This is one that has not had a big release
but is available on snagfilms.com which has a lot of documentaries that
are free to watch. I have the Snag app on my Roku to watch it that
way. I hope I can put this one on the radar.
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