Welcome to the 221st Edition of my long running blog. So later today we
will see the Colts and the Saints go at it. Some watch for the football
and some watch for commercials. I am in Indiana but I still want a good
game and hope The Who make some good music selections in their limited
time on stage. This week I pay tribute to the late Pernell Roberts,
Teddy Pendergrass, Karen Schmeer, and Kate McGarrigle.
Body Heat
(1981): This turned into my two-part Mickey Rourke series that was not
intentional. Both of these are very early and bit roles for him as last
week I featured the controversial Heaven's Gate. Lawrence Kasdan wrote
and directed this homage to the 40s and 50s film noirs. William Hurt
plays attorney Ned Racine who meets Matty Walker, played by Kathleen
Turner, who is a very unhappily married woman. They soon start to have
quite an affair, then Ned joins her in a plan to murder her husband. I
won't go any further on the plot from here but if you have seen enough
in the Film Noir genre, you'll know that nothing goes as planned.
Richard Crenna plays the hated husband. Ted Danson co-stars as the
prosecutor. Mickey Rourke also has his first notable part as arsonist
Teddy Lewis. This is very enjoyable if you like this genre but not
really for everyone.
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940): This is my dance
movie for the week. Maureen O'Hara is an aspiring ballerina in a dance
troupe named Judy. I LOVE LUCY alum Lucille Ball plays the more
eccentric Bubbles who is called into the world of Burlesque. Bubbles
gets Judy the job but Judy is reduced to being "the stooge". They soon
come at odds when they like the same man. This is an interesting film
portraying this industry. If anything, it is worth seeing Ball play
this type of role and did a good job. O'Hara gave a great speech
towards the end of the film. This is more than some cheesy song and
dance movie which made me actually like it more than I thought.
Born
to Win (1971): Ivan Passar directed this film which focuses on the
difficult life of a junkie. George Segal stars as J.J. who is a petty
thief and heroin addict. Karen Black co-stars as his love interest and
fellow junkie. A young Robert De Niro plays a detective who promises to
let J.J. go if he helps bring in bigger criminals. This is nothing
great but watchable. I honestly checked it out to see a young De Niro
in a bit role who showed signs of big things to come.
Ride
Lonesome (1959): This is my tribute to the late Pernell Roberts. This
is my western for the week which stars Western legend Randolph Scott.
Scott plays bounty hunter Ben Brigade who captures Billy John, played
by James Best, intending to take him to Santa Cruz. Karen Steele plays
a feisty female that joins Ben as well as outlaws Pernell Roberts and
James Coburn. Brigade must contend with indian attacks, Billy John's
brother played by Lee Van Cleef, and the outlaws who want Billy John
for themselves. This was a pretty entertaining western and had quite a
bit of action. Budd Boetticher directed this western which was part of
a boxed set. I don't know what the others are since I just got this
from Netflix. James Coburn makes his film debut here.
A Hard
Days Night (1964): The Facebook friend I chose for this week is Joe who
was co-worker of mine when I worked at Isanogel Summer Camp. This is a
movie starring all four members of the Beatles. This is a "typical" day
in the life of the Beatles. They have a concert later that day and they
have many misadventures like Ringo becoming missing the day before a
crucial concert. They must also deal with all the screaming fans.
Through it all, much of the Beatles' biggest hits are played like the
title song, CAN'T FIND ME LOVE, TELL ME WHY, and many others. Look for
a young Phil Collins in the audience. This movie is a very funny movie
and it is just something you gotta see since there is not much else I
can tell you.
Choose Me (1984): This is my tribute to the late
R& B singer Teddy Pendergrass whose music is used a lot in this
film. I guess this is the closest I will come to paying tribute to
Black History Month this week but I'll try to in the coming weeks but
it will be limited just like December is with Christmas films. This is
a character driven film with a nightclub owner, mysterious drifter,
radio talk show host, aspiring writer, and I am not sure what PRETENDER
alum Patrick Bauchau who plays the husband having an affair and having
the tables turned on him. Keith Carradine in the drifter in town.
Lesley Anne Warren in the nightclub owner. Genevieve Bujold is the
radio talk show host who gives advice all the time but does not know
what to do in real-life. Rae Dawn Chong is the aspiring writer. All
their lives kind of intertwine for the good and bad and is a nice, dark
love story.
Baby Be Good (1935): This is my animated short for
the week and this one focuses on Betty Boop. In this one, Little Jimmy
is being very naughty and not going to be so she tells him a fairy
tale. We then see a fantasy situation where Betty Boop is the fairy and
Jimmy is the mischievous boy doing a lot of bad deeds. This was a very
good 8 minutes. I really know nothing about Little Jimmy if that is her
son or what. If someone wants to chime in on the comments, go for it.
Varsity
Blues (1999): This is my football movie for the week but this one is
not as inspirational as many other football films. DAWSON'S CREEK alum
James Van Der Beek stars as high schooler Jon Moxon. He is on the
football team but seems to only be on the team because his father was
on the team and high school football is very important in Texas. He
does not play any but he is brought in as the quarterback when the
other one goes down with an injury. He becomes very good but gets fed
up with the seriousness of the game. Jon Voight plays the authoritarian
coach who only really cares about winning and will do so at any cost.
This selection will get mixed reactions I'm sure and this will not go
down as one of my favorite movies but I do believe that it is sadly,
rather accurate.
Standard Operating Procedure (2008): This is my
tribute to editor Karen Scheer who was very respected in her line of
work and recently left us. She is the co-editor of this documentary
from Errol Morris which does not hold back. This documentary takes a
look at the Abu Ghraib prison where in 2004, American soldiers were
suspected of abuse and torture of the prisoners. The movie shows many
of the graphic photographs and interviews the people involved in the
scandal. The photos were very sick and the interviews were very
interesting where some were showing their disdain and people involved
telling their side of the story. Those photos show of a time where the
U.S. was wrong in the way they handled themselves. This movie is not
for everyone but Morris did a great job of directing this documentary
keeping it from getting the Michael Moore treatment.
DVD REVIEW: THE SQUID AND THE WHALE (2005)
PREVIEWS
There were lots of previews to watch before the film and most of them being independent R-rated films from about the same year.
-The
Tenents (2005): This is one of many of these previews I had not heard
of. We start with it being from author Bernard Malamud and then
starring Dylan McDermott and Snoop Dogg. What a combination there and
in looking into it I see it got pretty mixed reviews from critics and
fans.
-London (2005): Another one I had not heard of and this
time seeing the trio of Chris Evans, Jessica Biel and Jason Statham.
Statham looked a lot classier than what I have seen him in the past.
Looks like a movie with a lot of drug dealing. Looks kind of
interesting with once again lots of mixed opinions.
-Capote
(2005): This is the only preview on here that I have seen and recall
liking it quite a bit. Philip Seymour Hoffman was good as the
flamboyant Truman Capote but I liked the HBO film INFAMOUS better
though where I felt Toby Jones played the part a little more
flamboyantly which was how it was meant to be played. Both films are
pretty good though and maybe one day I'll do a comparison blog.
-It's
All Gone Pete Tong (2004): This seems to be a mockumentary of DJ
Frankie Wilde. The previews look very good and it won an Audience Award
so this is something I would like to check out.
-Junebug (2005):
This is one of those movies where an outsider must meet the in-laws.
This one does not different from the usual formula with Amy Adams
looking pretty enjoyable.
-Pretty Persuasion (2005): I was
sucked in by this preview pretty quick when I saw Evan Rachel Wood who
may very well be one of my favorite actresses. This seems to be a
comedy where she accuses her english teacher of sexual harassment
causing a big uproar.
-Saint Ralph (2004): This was an unlikely
true story of a 9th grader who ran the Boston Marathon in 1954 even
though everyone doubted his abilities. This one of many I had not
really heard of or remembered hearing but was something that interested
me.
-The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005): This was based on a true
story on an exorcism and then mentioned how a priest made a
controversial decision. This is a horror film that got some mixed
reviews and I just haven't gotten to it. I'm sure I'll give it a shot
one of these days.
-Thumbsucker (2005): It seems like I might
have heard of this but knew nothing about it and it is about a grown
boy still sucking his thumb and trying to relieve of the habit. The
preview looked pretty good and look like my type of film that focuses
on a script and good characters.
-Where the Truth Lies (2005): I
took note mostly of Kevin Bacon being in this movie and he looked like
he was pretty good. The movie seems to have gotten mixed reactions but
did look pretty interesting, though previews usually do.
Those
are my ten previews for the week. Some I have gone a little in-depth,
some just not at all. I liked the array of these and that most I had
not heard of and they may get checked out in the future.
FEATURE FILM
The
Squid and the Whale (2005): This is actually my tribute to the late
folk singer Kate McGarrigle who formed a duo with her sister Anna and
their song HEART LIKE A WHEEL is featured here. This is a very good
portrait on a married couple getting a divorce. Jeff Daniels and Laura
Linney star as Bernard and Joan. They are a married couple who have
been together for a long time but decide they should get a divorce.
What the movie focuses more on however are they two kids. Jesse
Eisenberg plays their teenage son Walt who shows a lot of resentment
towards his mother for the divorce. Owen Kline is their younger son
Frank who deals with the divorce in a very strange way. William Baldwin
and Anna Paquin co-star in this film. Noah Baumback wrote and directed
this beautiful portrait on how divorce can effect many people. I
thought it was kind of funny though when Walt claims to have wrote HEY
YOU by Pink Floyd and how long it took for someone to realize it.
AUDIO COMMENTARY
This
was commentary from Noah Baumbach which he starts by saying this is not
a traditional commentary where he speaks through the movie. This is
about an hour long which focuses on certain scenes and working with the
actors. He spoke on his experiences of working with the four actors
that played the family members and the others in the film. It was very
insightful which I liked that he did his commentary in this form.
BEHIND THE SCENES FEATURETTE
This
was a ten minute short film just talking about what went on behind the
scenes and spoke quite a bit on the child actors. I always like a good,
short featurette, that speaks on the important parts of the film.
INTERVIEW WITH NOAH BAUMBACH AND PHILLIP LOPATE
This
was an interview at the New York Film Festival where Baumbach and
writer Phillip Lopate discuss the themes of the film. Lopate talked how
how the characters are so good just about anyone can relate. It is a
pretty entertaining discussion but I did grow somewhat bored with it
after the first 20 minutes or so. However, some good points were made
towards a film I really liked.
L.A. TIMES REVIEW BY KENNETH TURAN AND FAMILY MATTERS BY DAVID DENBY
These
were a couple reviews written which is in the DVD booklet which is a
very good read and analysis of someone who perfectly portrays a married
couple.
OVERALL
I really liked the special features along
with the film. I feel some DVDs overdo the special features but I'm
sure many disagree. I feel like with all these, it really brings
together a great independent film.
Well, that is it for this
week. Put down what you like and what you hate. I will also take one
suggestion per person and put the movie into Netflix if I have either
not used it or used it for some time. Stay tuned for next week which
includes Pierce Brosnan, Gary Cooper, Robert Englund (no, not any
NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET films), director Robert Wise, and many others.
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