Welcome to the 317th Edition of my long-running series. I just finished
THE NUTCRACKER at the Minnetrista Cultural Center. Looks like my next
play will be sometime in March as my mom has been asked to do another
murder mystery for the Amvets like we did last February so I'll keep you
up on that as I get more details. I want to thank Minnetrista for this
opportunity and the cast and director involved to put the show
together. It has been a lot of fun and I hope to get to do more for the
Minnetrista Cultural Center in the future. Now I will get to this
week's recommendations.
Flushed Away (2006): This is the first
of quite a bit of animation that I have for this week. This one is
brought to us by Dreamworks. Hugh Jackman provides the main voice of
Roddy who is a pet rat in a high-class home. He is soon as the title
says where ends up in the sewers with a community full of rats. There
he meets Rita, voiced by Kate Winslet, who is very free-spirited and
reluctantly teams up with her. They must contend though with a The
Toad, voiced by Ian McKellan, who wants all rats and mice iced. Jean
Reno, Bill Sighy, Andy Serkis, and many others provide voices. This was
actually a pretty well-done film with good animation and voices.
Jackman was a lot of fun as Roddy.
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear
Vision (1994): This is my documentary for the week. Maya Lin is the
artist that is responsible for such sculptures as the Vietnam Memorial
Wall. This documentary takes a look at the controversy of the wall
during its making. Lin was a college student who submitted this design
for a contest and won. There was a lot of mixed feelings for this.
Some did not like that she was an Asian-American that was creating the
wall and there was a lot of other factors like veterans who did not like
this. Through all this controversy it has become a very iconic
sculpture. This was a very informative documentary. Maybe it could
have gone a little more into Maya Lin's life but still a very
interesting documentary.
The Incredibles (2004): This is the
second of my animated selections and this one is a Disney film. This
was a very clever animated film brought from Pixar. COACH alum Craig T.
Nelson provides the voice for Mr. Incredible who was at one time one of
the top superheroes but due to unfortunate events had to live a normal
life and not be superheroes. He soon marries Elastigirl and have kids
who have their own powers but had to keep them secret. Incredible and
his friend Frozone work secretly to stop crime. Things begin to go
wrong and the family is forced into action where the kids must also
fight for good. Holly Hunter provides the voice for Elastigirl and
Jason Lee also has a voice. There are a lot of very funny moments in
the movie and the movie is just as the title says.
Let's Talk
Turkey (1939): This is my short film for the week and this is more
geared towards Thanksgiving. This is one of the many Pete Smith shorts.
This shows a simple man who is trying to cut a turkey for his
demanding in-laws in very humorous ways. This is probably what I would
do if I tried to cut a turkey.
Christmas Classics: Vol. 1 (1952): This is really a group of Holiday
shorts from the era which are mostly animated. This includes RUDOLPH
THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, JACK FROST and many others. These are some fun
little short films for the holiday and for me to get the holiday kicked
off. This is available on Instant Netflix.
The Car (1977): I must say that I had never heard of this movie about a
murderous car. Cars are usually pretty nice like Herbie and K.I.T.T.
but this one is a different story. James Brolin is the sheriff in town
that must deal with this car and keeping his town calm. This is
referred to a lot as "Jaws on wheels" and there was a similar music
score. This would have fit more in The Madness contest but I have to
diversify this so I was glad to give this a shot. You must watch this
for the fun element to enjoy it so get your friends together and enjoy
yourselves. This is available on Instant Netflix.
My Favorite Spy (1951): This is my Bob Hope film for the week where he
plays Burlesque comic Peanuts White who reluctantly accepts a job from
the U.S. Government to impersonate an international spy named Eric
Augustine. Hedy Lamarr co-stars as Lily who is an old friend of
Augustine. Bob Hope was very amusing in his dual role and had quite a
bit of suspense with some slapstick to go with it. This is some classic
Bob Hope humor and is also available on Instant Netflix.
The Runaways (2010): This is part two of my two-part Kristen Stewart
series whose movie SPEAK I included last week. This is my rock biopic
for the week for the title band which was formed in the 70s. Stewart
plays iconic female rocker Joan Jett who was determined to form her own
all-girl rock band. Dakota Fanning plays the part of Cherie Currie who
was the lead singer but the one who went downhill with drugs. This
focuses a lot on the relationship between the two and Currie's actions
which compromised the band. Scout Taylor-Compton plays Lita Ford who
went on to have a pretty successful career after the band with her most
known song being CLOSE MY EYES FOREVER with Ozzy Osbourne. I really
felt Stewart played the part of Joan Jett very well and that Fanning
worked pretty well as Currie. Many will see there is not much focus on
Lita Ford but she did not lend much of the rights for her life story but
did really like the casting of Taylor-Compton playing her.
Cleopatra Jones (1973): This is my tribute to actor Bill McKinney who
plays Purdy who is a rather corrupt cop. This is my Blaxploitation film
for the week which stars Tamara Dobson as the title character who is a
U.S. Special Agent who is assigned to crack down on drug trafficking.
Her main target is the drug lord Mommy which is played by Shelley
Winters in that sleazy female role that she really knows how to play and
uses her connections with the corrupt police hoping to bring down
Cleopatra. This is another which you must watch for the fun and action.
The Sky Crawlers (2008): I end this week with some Anime. This takes
place on an alternate earth which focuses on two young pilots called
"Kildren" who are destined to live their lives in adolescence and never
grow up. They believe they live in an innocent world but soon question
their fate. In the air, they fear of meeting "The Teacher" who has shot
down every pilot. This is a very hard movie to really explain but it
is a very beautiful film and has some really good animation. This is
available on Instant Netflix and on Crackle.
Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you do not like and stay tuned next week.
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