Welcome to the 351st Edition of my series. I have recently been
named an admin for the FB Film Geek Circle so that felt pretty cool to
be named one and even approved a couple members. I want to announce
that I will be starring in a web series called DOPE HOUSE which is
written by Ricky Ruckus. Tomorrow at 7:30, I will be on Sign Guy's Show
again with Ricky to promote our show. Will announce further when we
start shooting. This week I pay tribute to Gore Vidal who recently left
us.
Frost/Nixon (2008): Ron Howard directed this
film based on the play by Peter Morgan who wrote the screenplay. This
is a retelling of an interview that was conducted by David Frost, played
by Michael Sheen, who was a British talk show host and secures an
interview with disgraced president Richard Nixon, played very well by
Frank Langella. This film shows Nixon who thought he could outwit Frost
in the interview but finds that it is not as easy as he thought to
avoid answering some very personal questions about the Watergate Scandal
and turned out to be the battle of the wits. It does a good job of
playing it like a documentary and showing events that lead up to the
legendary interview. Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Hall, Oliver Platt, Kevin
Bacon, Toby Jones, and many others co-star in this very compelling film
from Howard. I would like to see this as a play sometime. Langella won
a Tony award in 2007 for his portrayal of Nixon and Michael Sheen
played Frost in the Broadway version. Howard agreed to direct it due to
the studio allowing him to use the two leads in the film.
Nothing
Sacred (1937): William Wellman directed this comedy that stars Carole
Lombard as Hazel Flagg. Hazel believes she is dying of radium poisoning
at the workplace but learns she was misdiagnosed. As glad as she is to
be staying alive, it threw off her plans of using the money paid to her
to go to New York. She then decides to keep the misdiagnose a secret
for now to do the things she wants to do. Fredric March plays
struggling reporter Wally Cook who hears of Flagg dying and decides to
pursue a story out of it not knowing it is a hoax. I think you can all
kind of piece together where this goes. I didn't really read into the
description before watching it and was expecting a serious story of a
woman dying of radium poisoning, but then I saw this was a comedy. I
was hoping to see the first description but this one still delivers.
This is available on Instant Netflix.
Camera Sleuth
(1951): This is my short film for the week which is a Pete Smith
Specialty and more that is more dramatic than usual. This features
real-life investigator Jo Goggin and dramatizes how he works. In this
one, a man is in a wheelchair and is looking to get $100,000 for an
accident. Goggin sets out to prove that he is a fraud and shows some
very interesting footage. Most of these kinds of shorts are very
comedic in their demonstration but this one is more serious but is a
good look towards a private investigator.
The Beat of a
Live Drum (1985): David Fincher directed this concert video of Rick
Springfield which has some live footage, and integrated videos. Most
know Rick through his hit song JESSIE'S GIRL but has so much more and is
a very good live performer unlike a lot of musicians who do not sound
very good on stage. I admit, I do own a Rick Springfield Greatest Hits
cd but even this has songs I had not heard before. I guess if you just
absolutely cannot stand Rick, then this is not for you. Now if you like
that hit song, then this is a very good concert video and he has some
very good music and is more than just an 80s singer. Some of his other
good songs are DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS, I'VE DONE EVERYTHING FOR YOU,
HUMAN TOUCH, and one that I had not heard dedicated to his father called
MY FATHER'S CHAIR. Again, this is some good music and live
performance.
Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm
(1951): I was at my Dad's house and he has this whole series on DVD so I
usually try to watch one of these when going over there. This is the
third entry in the series. Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride play the
title characters who in the first film called MA AND PA KETTLE, they are
a hillbilly couple of 15 children and win a contest to move into a very
technological home after their farm is about to be condemned. In this
film, the oldest of the family Tom, played by Richard Long in his last
appearance in the series, gets married and about to give his parents
their first grandchild. The mother of his wife does not like the
lifestyle Tom's family lives in and fights for her grandson to live in a
cleaner environment and shows her obsession with cleanliness. This
leads the Kettles into temporarily moving back to the farm and Pa Kettle
believing there is uranium on the farm. These are some very funny
movies of an inept but lovable family. You should probably at least
watch the first film first. This might be the inspiration for THE
BEVERLY HILLBILLIES.
Top Hat (1935): This is my
classic musical for the week which stars the iconic duo of Fred Astaire
and Ginger Rogers and you can probably guess they will be singing and
dancing. Astaire plays Jerry Travers and Rogers is Dale Tremont. Jerry
takes a liking to Dale but she mistakes him for someone who is married
making Jerry's quest to be in a relationship very difficult leading into
some comic situations and many song and dance numbers. Irving Berlin
wrote the music including the famous CHEEK TO CHEEK. If this is your
genre, you will love this one. There is not much more I really need to
say here. This is the fourth of ten collaborations between Fred and
Ginger and this is the one shows them dancing the most.
13
Assassins (2010): This is my Asian film for the week which is directed
by Japanese director Takashi Miike. This movie consists of 13 samurai
assassins uniting to take out a ruthless tyrant who is murdering and
torturing innocent civilians. In their quest, they must contend with
all the bodyguards proving to be a very hard and possibly suicidal
task. This is a very violent film and rather disturbing at times.
Miike shows he is a very versatile director in this film and fans of the
genre will love this as long as you can get past the violence. There
are some good action scenes. There is really not much more to say about
the film so just check it out if it's your kind of movie. This is
available on Instant Netflix.
A Passage to India
(1984): David Lean directed this epic that takes place in British rule
India. Judy Davis stars as an English tourist named Adela who accuses
an Indian doctor named Aziz, played by Victor Banerjee. This leads to
many things like tensions between the Indians and the British and how
difficult it can be for an Indian man at the time to get a fair trial.
Peggy Ashcraft, Alec Guinness, and many others co-star in this film.
This was a very well shot movie and had some great characters and
performances all around making this a very complex film and more than
just my description that focuses very well on India when it was under
the British rule.
Love and Death (1975): Woody Allen
directed this great spoof which is towards the era of Napoleon. Allen
plays Boris who is the black sheep of his Russian family. He is soon
drafted to be in the Russian army when he is not a military minded
person. Diane Keaton co-stars as Sonja who he convinces to marry him.
They soon set out to assassinate Napoleon with the very comical
results. This is possibly my favorite of Woody and I really knew
nothing about this until I saw it. It does a great job of spoofing
military, Ingmar Bergman, war, and even the title of the film. This is
another one that is available through Instant Netflix and I believe if
you don't like Woody Allen, this might be one to like of his work.
People just don't know spoofs like they use to.
Shrink
(2009): This is my tribute to Gore Vidal who plays George. Kevin
Spacey stars in this film as the title character named Henry who is a
counselor in Los Angeles but is having a lot of problems in his own life
after his wife commits suicide. He is a big pot smoker and getting
frustrated in his job. Keke Palmer co-stars as a troubled high school
student named Jemma who is sent to Henry to get counseling and find they
have similar lives. Mark Webber co-stars as Henry's friend who takes a
personal interest in Jemma. The events in these three characters all
come together in the end making a good ending. Robin Williams has an
amusing cameo as one of the patients. Spacey and Palmer make this movie
very watchable and Spacey is great as Henry. Some of my favorite
scenes are when he is getting his pot and kind of seeks counseling from
his pot dealer. This is also available on Instant Netflix.
Well,
that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you dislike.
Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Robert Altman, Matthew
Broderick, Errol Flynn, Mickey Rourke, Sonny Chiba, and many others.
No comments:
Post a Comment