Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 309th Edition

Welcome to the 309th Edition of my series and to the second week of the contest. I'm losing hope right now in Fantasy Football but luckily I'm enjoying the rest of things going on in my life. This Thursday, SWEENEY TODD opens at the Arts Center in Portland, Indiana. The show goes on October 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30. Thursday-Saturday shows are at 7 pm and Sunday shows are at 2 pm. Tickets can be reserved at (260) 726-4809 and are $10 for adults and $7 for students. For those who do not know, I will be playing Beadle Bamford. I had concerns at first but I think things are coming together pretty well and will pull off a good show. In my annual October horror film contest The Madness, I am pretty far from the lead but no one will take my ever-important title "The King of the Loopholes" be taken from me. Now, I will get to my ten selections for the week and then read on for my results of what I watched for the contest where many horror fans will cringe at what I came up with.

Breathless (1960): I start this week out with this French classic from director Jean-Luc Godard. Jean-Paul Belmondo stars as petty thief Michel who is a petty thief and murders a cop. When going on the run he looks to renew his relationship with Patricia, a hip American girl, and tries to convince her to go with him on a getaway to Italy. This is quite an homage to a classic Hollywood film from the 40s giving its own spin. The leads were great and this is something for all foreign film buffs.

Titanic (1997): James Cameron directed this epic to the ill-fated ship the Titanic and creates a fictional story with some historic context. We start out in the modern world where Gloria Stuart plays Rose who recognizes a painting of her that was found by an team of people interested in the titanic lead by Bill Paxton. Rose then tells the story of her experience on the ship in 1912 where she is then played by Kate Winslet in a breakthrough performance. Young Rose is in a high-class family but does not like all the values and lack of freedom. She is being forced to marry the ruthless Cal Hockley, played very well by Billy Zane. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jack Dawson who along with his friend wins a ticket in a poker game and becomes a third-class citizen. When meeting, Rose takes a liking to this more free-spirited person much to the dismay of her fiance and family. After it is all said and done, they must then deal with the Titanic hitting the iceberg. Kathy Bates plays the real-life "The Unsinkable" Molly Brown. Other actors include Frances Fisher, ALIAS alum Victor Garber, and for all you YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS fans Eric Braeden has a part and is known by most as Victor Newman on that show. This was one of those that many loved and many hated. Some could not take the love story, some could not take the fictional story within the ship, some could not take DiCaprio, but I will say that I really like this movie. I saw no problems with it and had good performances. Celine Dion had quite the hit song MY HEART WILL GO ON. This is a good story on the ship and a good date movie but much more.

The Tuba Tooter (1932): This is by animated short for the week which feature the characters Tom and Jerry and no not the cat and mouse like many would expect. These are two guys and in this a guy named Schultz is a tuba player and then gets just about everyone involved in what is really a big animated musical number. It has some entertainment and good for classic animation buffs. I found this on the Pub-D-Hub app.

A Christmas Carol (2009): See below on my contest results why I am doing an adaptation of the Dickens novel in October. Robert Zemeckis directed this Animated Disney film which stars Jim Carrey providing the voice of Scrooge, among other characters. Gary Oldman, Robin Wright, Colin Firth, and Cary Elwes also provided voices. This is Zemeckis' follow-up to his 2004 film THE POLAR EXPRESS which I had a real hard time with. Both films make the characters to look like the actors which I am always uneasy with but Carrey did do a pretty good job with voicing Scrooge. Just about everyone knows this story, Ebenezer Scrooge is a cranky man and very anti-Christmas so gets visited by three ghosts in hopes he will change his ways. I have been in two versions of this show and this is a pretty fun adaptation for the family. This is available on Instant Netflix.

The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942): This is the fourth in the Universal series for FRANKENSTEIN which is mostly the sequel to SON OF FRANKENSTEIN. Bela Lugosi reprises his role of Ygor and is able to resurrect the Creature, in this one being played by Lon Chaney, Jr. after Karloff decided to no longer play the part that made him an icon. Ygor then takes him to Ludvig Frankenstein, played by Cedric Hardwicke who is the son of Henry Frankenstein and the brother of Wolf who was featured in "SON". Ludvig has made a good life for himself and his daughter hoping to put everything his father and brother did behind him which did not work. He then hopes to be able to bring the Creature to life but give him a good brain but everyone around him has different ideas. This is not as good as the first three but still watchable. I believe Lugosi's performances as Ygor as some of his best.

Kalifornia (1993): This is my serial killer film for the week. X-FILES alum David Duchovny stars as Brian who is a journalist and has a fascination with serial killers. Michelle Forbes is his girlfriend Carrie who convinces him to leave in order to go to California. On the way, Brian wants to go to historic sites for serial killers in preparation for his book he is writing. To save gas, they decide to take people along to share the expenses and to drive. The people they pick up are a guy named Early, played well by Brad Pitt, and his dim, naive girlfriend Adele, played by Juliette Lewis. They soon begin to see that Early is very unstable and even abusive and even worse a killer. This is a pretty good road movie with the element of a serial number with them. This is available on Netflix.

The Tomb of Ligeia (1964): Roger Corman directed this adaption of the Edgar Allen Poe story which stars Vincent Price. Price stars as Verden Fell who buried his wife Ligeia many years ago. He then marries the Lady Rowena while still longing for his late wife and is haunted by her memories. This is an atmospheric chiller and pretty suspenseful. This is the last of the Poe stories that Corman did.

Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah (2001): This is my Toho film for the week which feature the three title creatures. Things happen where Godzilla awakens 50 years after the destruction he caused and looks to destroy Japan. To counter Godzilla, the "guardian monsters" Mothra, King Ghidorah, and another called Baragon. The military and the guardians must all combat the powerful Godzilla to save Japan. I have seen a few of these and I feel this one is the best. This movie has compelling characters with a pretty good story and some good fight scenes. Mothra has been a rival to Godzilla many times and is a hero character. King Ghidorah is usually more of a villainous monster but is considered the protector in this one.

Desire Under the Elms (1958): This is based on a play by Eugene O'Neill. Burl Ives plays the patriarch Ephriam Cabot of the Cabot family who is a very greedy man who has kids from both his late wives. The one he is at odds with the most is Eben, played by Anthony Perkins. Ephriam then leaves for a while and brings back an Italian wife named Anna, played by Sophia Loren. Soon Anna forms a relationship with Eben. This was a pretty good portrait of a dysfunctional family and Loren was good as the wife who married out of circumstance. I was quite uneasy about the ending though. I cannot imagine this one being performed on stage. Ives and Perkins also work well together as father and son who do not really like each other as well as Loren working well with both of them. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Sunlight: The Vampire in Retreat (1990): I end this week with this vampire comedy which turned out better than I thought. David Carradine stars as the vampire Count Mardulak who changed his name from some other famous name. Mardulak decided that he wanted vampires to live in harmony with humans and moved to a western town. In the changing times, they developed a sun screen to go out in the day and also drink a synthetic blood. There are other vampires though that want to go to the old way of life and a war ensues with some interesting weapons. Bruce Campbell co-stars as Robert Van Helsing who is the grandson to Dracula's former rival of the same name. Campbell is quite funny his his part and it was a pretty good vampire comedy if you're not too serious.

Well, that is it for the recommendations for the week but keep reading for my results for this week. Stay tuned next week which so far includes Lloyd Kaufman, Katie Holmes, George Romero, Vincent Price, and many others.

THE MADNESS: HACK AND SLASH EDITION- WEEK 2

This is the second week of the contest and I have some good selections but not as much as last week. As always I use the four 6 rating system.

ANTHONY PERKINS (2 points)
1. Desire Under the Elms (1958) 66: I found another loophole for Mr. Perkins. Not a bad movie but a bit uneasy about certain parts though. 111 minutes, 2 points.

BRUCE CAMPBELL (2 points)
1. Sunlight: A Vampire in Retreat (1990) 666: I know I have lacked Bruce this year. Usually I use quite a bit from him but I just don't have as much time right now but this is a pretty good vampire comedy. 104 minutes, 2 points

CREATURES AND MONSTERS (5 points)
1. Monsters, Inc. (2001) 666: This is my Pixar film for the week which focuses on a company of the title keep the energy of a town by scaring children but a child goes through their door turning things upside down. This is like an annual viewing I do for the contest. 92 minutes, 2 points.

2. Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidora (2001) 666: Three of the most famous Toho monsters go at it in what was a pretty good movie. This gets a bonus point for being in Japan. 105 minutes, 3 points.

CHUCK RUSSELL (2 points)
1. Collateral (2004) 666 1/2: This movie counts for this contest for being a wild card having Chuck Russell as the executive producer for this film directed by Michael Mann starring Tom Cruise in I feel is one of his best performances. If you hate Tom Cruise, this might change your mind a little bit. Also Jamie Foxx stars as a cab driver at the mercy of a hitman. 120 minutes, 2 points.

DARK FANTASY (2 points)
1. Alice in Wonderland (2010) 66 1/2: I really believe this Tim Burton film qualifies as dark fantasy like with the fight with the Jabberwocky. This was pretty weird even for Burton but the animation was great. 108 minutes, 2 points.

DAVID WARNER (4 points)
1. Titanic (1997) 666 1/2: Here's one of my loopholes where David Warner co-stars so anything with him counts. Many will cringe when seeing I have included this in a horror contest but more would disappoint if I did not find loopholes like these which have become a bit of a trademark for me. Just an FYI, this can get you a lot of points with the running time so if your significant other just does not want to watch a lot of blood and guts this might get you on their good side and points for you. 194 minutes, 4 points.

EDGAR ALLEN POE (3 points)
1. The Tomb of Ligeia (1964) 666: In the genre of horror, a lot is owed to Mr. Poe who wrote many stories quite ahead of their time. This is a horror story and is made in Britain for a bonus point. 81 minutes, 3 points.

FRANKENSTEIN (4 points)
1. Son of Frankenstein (1939) 666: This is the third entry in the Universal series for this franchise which stars Basil Rathbone as Wolf Frankenstein trying to make amends for his father's reputation. This is Karloff's last appearance as the Creature and Lugosi is great as Ygor. 99 minutes, 2 points.

2. Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) 66 1/2: This is the fourth entry to this series and follows the one just posted. Lon Chaney Jr. plays the Creature for the first time in this one with Lugosi reprising his part of Ygor. Cedric Hardwicke plays Ludvig Frankenstein. 67 minutes, 2 points

GHOSTS (3 points)
1. A Christmas Carol (2009) 666: There was an announcement in the beginning that I had what I called an "Ultimate Loophole" for if it gets approved so lets get to my argument as to why this Dickens classic should be counted. The most significant thing here is that there are four ghosts which a a very important part to this story as each must show Ebenezer the error of his ways. We start with the ghost of his business partner Jacob Marley whose evil deeds only earned him a long chain. Marley is also a rather creepy figure and scares Scrooge quite a bit. The Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present are not really creepy but they are ghosts and very important to this story. My final part to this argument is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. This ghost resembles Death and possibly the Grim Reaper and this is a pretty creepy character as well. I will now let Elizabeth make the final judgment on whether or not this gets approved. If approved, I get an extra point because of it taking place on Christmas. 96 minutes, 3 points

JEKYLL AND HYDE (2 points)
1. Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953) 66 1/2: Abbott and Costello play bumbling cops looking for the mysterious Mr. Hyde who has killed some people. Boris Karloff plays the dual role in this film and is pretty good though Jekyll and Hyde are portrayed a little different that usual. In most adaptations Dr. Jekyll is a good person who has good intentions but go awry when he cannot control his Mr. Hyde side. In this version, Jekyll is actually quite evil and appears to have become Hyde to be the monster that he wants to be with Hyde pretty much being just that, a monster. I don't even believe he is even addressed as Mr. Hyde in this movie. This was still pretty entertaining but has nothing on ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN. 76 minutes, 2 points.

SERIAL KILLERS (2 points)
1. Kalifornia (1993) 666 1/2: This movie features a serial killer so should count in this contest. This is a pretty good road movie with that interesting element of a serial killer. See my recommendations for a more detailed description. 117 mintutes, 2 points.

TOTAL: 31 points, about half as much as last week but more is coming.