Welcome to the 118th Edition of my series. The March Movie Madness
contest starts next sunday on Febuary 24th since March starts that week
on Saturday. I will announce the rules later in the week so stay tuned
for that blog. Right now we have myself, Tony D., Fred, Jenny, Zombie
Boy, the Critic Wannabe, Tournament Man, Garney, and the recently added
The Rub. I am still accepting new competitors but when this starts on
the 24th, that will be it. Now to the movies.
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993): I decided to use this after the
recent death of Chess master Bobby Fischer even though this movie only
references to him and shows footage. Max Pomerac stars in this movie as
young chess master Josh Waitzkin who becomes friends with a hustler
named Vinnie, played by Lawrence Fishburne while parents hire chess
coach Bruce, played by Ben Kingsley. Being taught by two different
people, Bruce is more rigid and he prefers Vinnie. Josh gets tired of
Bruce's ways and jeopardizes his chances on being the chess champion.
Joe Mantegna plays his father, who really wants to see his son become
champion but realizes that his son's love is more important. From what I
understand, the real-life Bobby Fischer really hated this movie and
that's too bad because I don't believe this was any exploitation of him.
This movie is based on a true story and the real life Waitzkin and
Vinnie can be seen in this movie.
The Cider House Rules (1999): Now we go to a more coming-of-age tale
based in an orphanage I believe in the 1930s. Michael Caine plays the
role of Dr. Larch who while running the orphanage also runs an abortion
clinic. Larch takes interest in a young boy named Homer and raises him
like a son. Tobey Maguire plays the role of Homer and while being
trained as a doctor, he decides to set out on his own in search of his
own life. When Wally and Candy, played by Paul Rudd and Charlize Theron,
come to the orphanage, he decides to go with them to the apple farm.
Wally must go off to war while Homer and Candy become very close. I
really liked the way this movie ended. Kieren Culkin plays one of the
orphans and is the second week in a row I have featured a Culkin. Also
look for MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE alum K. Todd Freeman who was one of the
orphans. Other good performances included singer Erykah Badu, Heavy D,
and Delroy Lindo. This was a very moving film.
The Men (1950): I decided to take a look into the debut film of
Marlon Brando. This movie actually takes place at a Veteran's hospital
with many parapalegics including Ken, played by Brando. He is very
bitter but slowly becomes more positive with help of his doctor and
fiancee and other patients. This was a pretty propagandic film even
reminding me just a little bit of REEFER MADNESS in one scene and seems
to make negative of people being in wheelchairs. However, it remained
quite compelling and shows good footage of a real-life Paralyzed
Veterans Association games of water polo and wheelchair basketball. If
this was out today it would be quad-rugby. Definetly a great film debut
for Brando.
Copacabana (1947): Long before Barry Manilow sang the song of this
title, Groucho Marx was in his first movie without his brothers which
had mixed success. Groucho plays an agent who has his only client pose
as both a French girl and Brazilian bombshell. This time Groucho had an
actual mustache instead of his trademark greased mustache. It lacked a
lot of the magic without the brothers by his side but Groucho still had
some pretty good one-liners to keep it going.
Rocky (1976): Here is the movie which I will one day write as a
musical. This is the ultimate underdog movie which was written by
Sylvester Stallone in a time in his life where this was hit or miss
sparking off a great series and creating a pop-culture icon in Rocky
Balboa. Rocky was a low-level boxer also working as a loan shark on the
side. Carl Weathers plays the publicity-hungry boxer Apollo Creed who
decides to give a nobody a once-in-a-lifetime chance and chooses Rocky
in likes of his name the Italian Stallion. Burgess Meredith gives a
great performance as trainer Mickey. Talia Shire plays Adrian, a shy
girl who Rocky helps bring her out of her shell. This movie was based on
a fight between Muhammed Ali and unknown Chuck Wepner. Look for an
appearance from Sly's brother Frank. I don't need to say any more about
this great film, just wait for ROCKY: THE MUSICAL.
I'm Not There (2007): I will admit, I really didn't know much about
this movie. It was at a local independent movie theater in my dad's
hometown so I thought I would support it while I'm there. This movie is
based on Bob Dylan through six different characters at different times
of his life. Child actor Marcus Carl Franklin was very well as a young
child calling himself Woody Guthrie and very talented. Christian Bale,
Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Ben Whishaw, and Cate Blanchett also star.
Blanchett was the standout in the cast who was very believable as a man.
I thought Richard Gere was a bit wasted as "Billy the Kid" but he did
his best. If you're a fan or at least tolerant of Bob Dylan, you may
like it but it's not for everyone.
Monkey Business (1952): Many may know this title from the Marx
Brothers film in the 30s but this is actually much different and
directed by Howard Hawks. This is a rather underrated film from both
Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers. Cary Grant is a scientist looking for a
formula to stay young. In most movies with this subject manner, you see
the eternal youth come at a very disturbing price but here it turns into
a very comedic price. Grant is Barnaby who first tries his formula out
on himself with hilarious results of him acting like a teen. It finally
wears off on him but his wife, played by Ginger Rogers decides to try it
with her own results. It was a pretty fast-paced comedy for the time.
Marilyn Monroe plays Barnaby's secretary. This was actually part of a
Marilyn Monroe collection and while her performance was okay, she really
didn't have that big of role so if you're looking for a starring
vehicle with her, this is not it.
Poor Little Me (1935): This is my short film for the week which was
part of a dvd of a film most likely to be featured next week. This was
an early animated Warner Brothers short taking place in a small
woodlands where a skunk feels very lonely and scaring off other animals
in the process. What was funny was the song he sang which was I AIN'T
GOT NOBODY which I had no idea David Lee Roth borrowed for his song JUST
A GIGALO.
The Barbarian Invasions (2003): I found this French-Canadian film on
IFC. It focuses on a dying man who is reunited with many people in his
life including former loves, his ex-wife and his estranged son. It's
hard to really say anything more on this film but it's a good look at a
man coming to terms with his life and regrets. Performances were pretty
good. The title definetly does not reflect the story but you can still
get a lot out of it.
The Shaolin Drunken Monk (1982): I decided to use
http://www.moviesfoundonline.com and I came across this Gordon Liu
martial arts film. This movie is mostly for the fighting. If you want a
great story, see some of Jet Li's movies. Take this for what it is
worth. If you don't like martial arts movies, you probably won't like
this but if you do and you want good entertainment, bad english dubbing,
go to the website.
Well, that is it for this week. Please leave comments, I know you've
seen at least one of these movies so tell me what you love and what you
hate, I can't impress everyone. As I said before, I will be releasing
the rules for my contest later in the week and next sunday, Febuary 24th
is when it starts which coincidentally is the same night of the Academy
Awards. I'll see you all next week
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