Welcome to the 146th Edition of my blog. This week I pay tribute to the
late underground comic writer Harvey Pekar who recently left us as well
as late character actor James Gammon. I had the pleasure of seeing
Pekar speak and meeting him earlier in the year when he was at Ball
State. This was a very hard one to put together but it all came
together in the end with a pretty satisfying end product. I'm
releasing this one a little early since I am not sure what I am doing
tomorrow and when I will get a chance.
Comic Book Confidential
(1988): This was one intended for my documentary edition I put out a
couple weeks ago but for various reasons I put it here instead. This is
also my tribute to Harvey Pekar who is featured in this film for his
underground comic AMERICAN SPLENDOR. This is a very good showing on the
history of comic books and the different forms like the superhero
comics, underground comics, and the other genres. It also talks about
psychiatrist Fredric Wertham's Comic Code from the 50s which made it
very difficult for a lot of writers but gave birth to the underground
comics like from Robert Crumb, Bill Griffith, and many others. My mom
pointed out a couple comics on here my dad liked which included Zippy
from Bill Griffith. This is a very informative film packed into 90
minutes.
Tyson (2008): This is another documentary intended for
the documentary edition but it also got thrown into this one. James
Toback directed this documentary about the famed boxer who at one time
was the most feared boxer but then became a publicity joke to many.
This is mostly interview footage with Tyson speaking of all the highs
and lows in his life. One part I really liked was him talking about his
original trainer Cus D'Amato who died which was when Don King got
introduced to the picture. He spoke very highly of D'Amato and maybe
things would be different if he had lived longer. He also talks some
about his rocky marriage with Robin Givens. There is a lot of his
interview footage and some good, archival photos. It also goes in depth
with him being a father and wanting to be a better person for his
children. It was very straight-forward documentary where he explains
his point-of-view while owning up to a lot of the problems he has had
in his life. This documentary and the one featured before this one can
both be found on Instant Netflix.
What's New, Pussycat (1965):
Peter O'Toole stars as Michael James who has a true love in his life
but cannot stop his womanizing lifestyle to settle down and marry.
Peter Sellers co-stars as Dr. Fassbender who is his psychoanalyst who
is not much help since he is having love problems of his own and wants
one of his patients who then logs for Michael. Woody Allen wrote the
original screenplay and even makes his film debut here as Victor. Other
actors include Capucine, Paula Prentiss, and Ursula Andress. This was a
pretty decent comedy with some pretty funny bits where some worked and
some did not. Woody Allen was pretty funny in debut.
The
Seapreme Court (1954): This is my animated short for the week which
features the character Little Audrey. In this one, we first see her
fishing and is then pulled into sea where she is captured by the fish
police. She then gets put on trial for her crimes against fish. It
might make some feel bad for fishing though I don't usually fish
anyways. This was rather predictable but still very entertaining.
Little Audrey was brought in after the character Little Lulu did not
get renewed. Lulu was better but these have their moments too.
Bicentennial
Man (1999): Chris Columbus directed this sci-fi film which is based on
a short story by Isaac Aminov. Robin Williams stars in this film as a
robot which is made to complete menial tasks. However, this one named
Andrew develops more human emotions than most of the others where he
then longs to become human which becomes a very long journey in his
life. Sam Neill plays Richard who purchases the robot. Embeth Davidtz
plays Richard's daughter Amanda grown-up and then plays Amanda's
granddaughter Portia since the movie spans many decades. I have seen
bits and pieces of this many times and decided to watch in instantly on
Netflix since I needed a 90s movie. I was actually very moved by this
film and I liked this better than A.I.: Artificial Intelligence which
have some similarities. Williams was great in the many evolutions of
this character. This movie is probably not for everyone but this moved
me quite a bit. I don't know that it needed to be as long as it was.
The
Dawn Rider (1935): I was searching for something from Instant Netflix
in my Roku player and this is what presented itself to me. This is one
of those many early John Wayne films before his big rise as "The Duke".
In this one, John plays John Mason who comes home only to find his
father has been murdered. The robbers then shoot and wound John where
John then goes after them. I guess this is actually a remake of a 1931
movie called GALLOPING THRU. If you like John Wayne, this might be good
to watch. It is a pretty short movie and not a horrible one.
Willy
Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971): This is the musical version of
the children's novel by Ronald Dahl. Gene Wilder stars as the title
character who is the owner of a chocolate factory and employs the
Oompa-Loompas to help with his chocolate. He has shut himself off from
society until holds a contest for five children to tour his factory and
win a prize. In his candy there are five golden tickets where we have
poor but very loyal child Charlie Bucket, played by Peter Ostrum, who
does everything he can for that golden ticket and gets it. Jack
Albertson is great as his grandfather who is determined to see Charlie
win. On the way there are four other children who are quite bratty and
fall into mishaps while on the tour. Many know of Tim Burton's remake
which stars Johnny Depp and while it is more to the book, I still
prefer this great musical which is rather dark without having to make
the set reflect it. This is one of my favorite musicals which has some
great numbers and is fun to watch. I found this on my instant Netflix.
The American Adventure (1936): I found this lesser-known Cary Grant
film on Instant Netflix. He plays a rich man who has never had to
work. He then makes a bet with his doctor that he can live off a
working class job for a year without touching his inheritance. He then
takes various jobs to live and realizes how tough it can be. This is
not the greatest Cary Grant film and he did a lot better before this
but he carries it pretty well for the hour of the film.
Gamer (2009): This is possibly part one of a Gerard Butler series but
I am not sure of that as of yet. This movie takes place in the near
future in a society where the video games become real. Gerard stars as
Kable, a wrongfully convicted soldier, who becomes a video game
character which can be controlled by video game players. DEXTER star
Michael C. Hall co-stars as Ken, the creator of this game who is being
pursued by Kable to regain his independence. Other people in the film
include Kyra Sedgwick, Amber Valletta, Allison Lohman, among others. I
went back and forth on this film. It was a very interesting premise
and something a little different from things like RUNNING MAN and THE
CONDEMNED. However, this is not for everyone but if you want some
action, here you go. Butler is pretty good in his part.
Don't Come Knocking (2005): I end this week with my tribute to James
Gammon who had a small but good role in the movie as a ranch hand. Wim
Wenders directed this film which was written by Sam Shepard who stars
as declining western star Howard Spence. While on the set for a film,
he gets a bit burned out and sets off to his old home town when hearing
he might have a son. Eva Marie Saint co-stars as his mother who does
not stop being his mother. Jessica Lange also co-stars as his
ex-wife. Gabriel Mann plays his potential son and Fairuza Balk is
rather amusing as his stupid girlfriend. Other actors include Tim
Roth, Sarah Polley, Marley Shelton, among others. This is another that
is not for everyone. It is rather dark and depressing where you must
focus on the characters. Shepard is good in the lead and it really fit
into my taste of the independent film.
Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you hate and stay tuned for next week.
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