Welcome to the 335th Edition of my long running series. I return to
normal format after the last time of doing the short film edition and
music edition. I am now in season two of TRUE BLOOD and I'm enjoying it
quite a bit. I am about halfway through reading THE HUNGER GAMES now
and I'm getting into that as well. Hopefully I'll be able to get that
done soon. Now let's get to our movies for the week.
Hot
Tub Time Machine (2010): John Cusack stars in this comedy where they
discover a time machine taking them back to the 80s in the form of a hot
tub. He along with two of his friends and a nephew where they go back
to a fateful day to make sure everything remains the same so that the
nephew is born. THE OFFICE co-star Craig Robinson plays one of his
friends who lost focus on his singing career and relives the day. Chevy
Chase is amusing as the repairman of the time machine which tends to
malfunction a lot. John Cusack is great in this very fun look at the
80s. If you can look past the little flaws and just remember it is a
comedy, this will be enjoyed. This is available on Instant Netflix.
Lenny
(1974): This is one of three films that have been presented by Travis
at the Co-Op film series. Dustin Hoffman stars as comedian Lenny Bruce
who in his era was very groundbreaking and challenged the establishment
in many ways. Bob Fosse directed this movie which was shot in many ways
like a documentary style where people reflected on him in his career
and his problems with drugs. Hoffman played the part of Lenny Bruce to
perfection. I admit I really knew nothing about Bruce before this movie
but when watching this, he reminded me some of Larry Flynt in his quest
for his freedom of speech. Valerie Perrine is also very good as his
drug-addicted wife. I really enjoyed the way it was shot and it was
executed very well. This is one that should be seen if you can obtain
it.
Casablanca (1942): Not much needs to be said about
this classic. I saw it on their 70th anniversary presentation at the
movie theaters being presented by Turner Classic Movies. The first part
of it was presented by the host Robert Osbourne and it went into a
brief documentary on the making of the film and the troubles that
presented themselves. Humphrey Bogart stars as Rick Blaine who runs a
nightclub in WWII Casablanca and is an exiled American and former
freedom fight who claims to stick his nose out anyone. Soon he is
visited by his former love Ilsa, played by Ingrid Bergman, who comes
with her lover Laszlo who is on the run from the Nazis. Rick is very
bitter towards Ilsa but soon rekindles his relationship with her leading
to one of the best conclusions of all time. Everybody was perfectly
cast and includes Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Conrad
Veidt, and many others. Michael Curtiz directed this film which is
looked upon as one of the best movies of all time. This is a great
story of love, betrayal, and sacrifice that has lived on for many years.
A Good Man (2011): This is the second of the Co-Op
film series selections and this is my documentary for the week. This
documentary focuses on choreographer Bill T. Jones and takes on a very
daring project of doing a dance theater piece for Abraham Lincoln. It
goes into the casting, rehearsal process, and the actual show. It shows
a very grueling rehearsal process but goes into some background on
Jones and his dancing career as well as his decision to do a piece on
Lincoln. It also focuses on the controversy as many cannot image a
dance theater show on our 16th president. This was a very insightful
documentary that provoked a lot of thought. This was presented on
AMERICAN MASTERS on PBS.
Flesh (1932): I found this
on TCM On-Demand and while the title indicates some horror film, it is
actually an early story of wrestling. Wallace Beery stars as German
wrestler Polokai who soon falls for an ex-con named Laura who manages to
get her old partner in crime Nick out of jail and soon con Polokai into
thinking he is the father of Laura's baby. They soon move to America
where Polokai falls in with crooked promoters including Nick who want
him to cheat. This was an interesting look into wrestling in this era
and is a pretty decent story. Look for Ward Bond in an uncredited part
as one of the wrestlers. This is an early John Ford film who is
uncredited as the director but is the producer. Not exactly his best
work but is a good watch, especially for wrestling fans.
American
Heart (1992): Martin Bell directed this independent film. Jeff
Bridges stars as ex-con Jack who is just getting out of jail and soon
meets his adolescent son Nick, played by Edward Furlong. Jack soon
tries to raise his son and get his life together but being on parole and
former friends don't make it easy for him. This is a very honest
portrait of a single father and teenage son who are both quite troubled
but want to make everything right. Jack is trying to hold down a job
and to keep from going back to a life of crime while keeping Nick in
line. Nick is experiencing rebellion and hanging out with an
influential crowd. Both Bridges and Furlong carry this movie on their
back and turn a rather simple script into a great independent film.
Jeff Bridges considers this his favorite of his films. There is not much
to say on this except to go out and get this one.
Union
Station (1950): This is my film noir for the week. Nancy Olson stars
as Joyce who is on a train and is suspicious of a couple men with a
gun. She soon informs the police and no-nonsense Lieutenant Calhoun,
played by William Holden, takes charge and while skeptical at first, he
soon stumbles onto a kidnapping ring. They soon do what they can to
rescue the kidnapped woman. This was a pretty suspenseful film that did
not get all gory. This is available on Instant Netflix and people into
this genre should check it out.
Ghost in the Shell
(1995): This is my Anime selection for the week. This takes place in
the year 2029 where the world is very information oriented and humans
are well connected. A lot of crime takes place by hacking into the
interactive network. They soon for District 9 which is a group of
cyborg cops to stop this crime. A female cyborg cop and her partner
soon hunt a powerful hacker called The Puppet Master. This is some
classic anime and ranks up high among its genre and is also a good entry
into the science fiction genre. This has some great animation, action,
and music. It also might have helped get the genre bigger in the
United States. This is available on Instant Netflix and is a must for
anime fans.
Last Life in the Universe (2003): This is
the third of Travis' Co-Op film series selections. This is my Asian
film for the week. We first have Kenji who is a suicidal, introverted
Japanese man who is living in Bangkok. He soon meets a Thai woman named
Noi and they are brought together through tragic events. Kenji is a
neat freak and Noi does not clean, dresses sloppy, and smokes pot.
Through their differences they form a very unusual relationship and
tolerate each other like with Kenji's suicide attempts. This is a
deliberately slow paced film but works very well. This is a very good
love story that anyone can watch as long as you tolerate subtitles with
some good narration. This movie will have you thinking all the way to
the end.
Captain Kronos- Vampire Hunter (1974): I was
looking for something from this era on Netflix and came across this
movie. Seeing as we are on quite the vampire craze, I thought this
would be a good fit. This is a British film and is part of the Hammer
film series. Horst Janson plays the title character who is a master
swordsman and former soldier who along with his hunchbacked assistant
hunt vampires. They soon go into a small town where a vampire's bite
also results in woman aged. Caroline Munro plays the part of Carla who
joins Kronos and his assistant. This is a very unknown entry into the
vampire genre and even unknown through Hammer films but is a pretty good
vampire genre I hope to get out in the open. This was at first to be a
series of films but box office numbers kept that from happening. This
is available on Instant Netflix and is a good chiller.
Well,
that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay
tuned for next week which so far includes Jesse Eisenberg, Richard
Harris, and many others.
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