Welcome to the 116th Edition of my series. I made the announcement last
week that I was starting my own movie contest, the March Movie Madness
contest which starts in late Febuary and so far I have myself, Tony D,
Jenny, Fred, Zombie Boy, and the Critic Wannabe. If you are interested,
give me a comment or message me. This week, I made three selections
based on account of deaths which I hate those circumstances but that's
what happens. Now, get out your queues and enjoy.
The Geisha Boy
(1958): I made this selection based on the lesser known death of Suzanne
Pleshette in her debut and played Sergeant Pearson. This movie stars
Jerry Lewis as a magician sent to entertain the troops in Japan and
befriends a family including a young boy who really takes to him. He
also likes his pretty guardian. This movie has many funny moments with
the rabbit and is probably Jerry's most moving film being the
father-figure to the young Japanese-Boy.
The Wasp Woman (1960):
This is part 4 of 4 of my Sci-Fi Invasion series and I end on this Roger
Corman film. Susan Cabot plays Janice Starlin, a cosmetics queen who is
obsessed with regaining her youth and meets a scientist with a formula
extracted from wasps. The scientist has only put the formula on animals,
but not on humans but Janice takes some anyways with bad side-effects.
It has the interesting theme of regaining youth and the price that can
be paid. It is to be watched, Roger Corman managed to make lot happen
for someone who had hardly any budget.
The Cure (1995): I made
this selection based on the death of Brad Renfro who died just a little
bit before Heath Ledger. It's just too bad that his movies live on in a
bit of obscurity because he had a great career ahead of him if he had
just had his head on straight. I've said enough, now to the movie. Brad
plays Eric and Joseph Mazzello plays Dexter. You might remember Mazzello
from films like THE RIVER WILD, and JURASSIC PARK. Eric is a bit of a
bully, but just in a way to avoid trouble and Dexter is a younger boy
next door who has aids. Eric befriends Dexter and when they learn of a
possible cure through a tabloid, they set out for New Orleans to find
that doctor and go on the adventure of their life. Annabella Sciorra
plays Dexter's single mom who her and her son have been shunned by the
community. I liked the way that she appreciated Eric simply for being a
friend to Dexter and even to her no matter how stupid his choices might
have been, knowing he meant well. It also took place in a time when we
were still pretty ignorant to the disease. This movie will bring out
every emotion.
Children of Men (2006): I decided to view this one
when I found it to record to DVR and decided to watch it again. The
actor who will play me in THE RISE AND FALL OF SHAUN BERKEY Clive Owen
stars as Theo in a bleak 2027 in a time when a child has not been born
for 18 years. He becomes the unlikely champion to a woman who is
miraculously pregnant and agrees to get her to a sanctuary at sea to a
group of scientists that can possibly help the future of mankind and has
a lot to go through. Julianne Moore plays his ex-girlfriend who leads a
group of freedom fighters and turning to Theo. Michael Caine plays
Jasper who is kind of a comic relief and a friend of Theo. I liked that
it didn't get over-technological and just focused on a story.
Song
of the South (1946): My friend Bill and his dad made me this copy of
the Disney classic which was an early blend of animation and reality.
I'm not sure if it is the first. This movie has very rarely been
released to the American public. Disney might feel it plays to
stereotype. This movie actually takes place during the Reconstruction
period after the Civil War which means the people working on the
plantation were not slaves, they were employees and maybe because they
could not find anything but some people seem to think that it is wrong
that they portrayed these blacks as so content and the white people as
pretty good people. Now, let's look at slavery, not all slaves
necessarily lead bad lives and not all slave owners were necessarily bad
people. The main one this movie focused on was Uncle Remus, played very
well by James Baskett. He is a friendly black man who tells stories of
the adventures of Brer Rabbit. He befriends a young boy whose dad has
left and he gets him happy again. Is that unrealisic, is that wrong?
Disney, let's get this released so that families can put it into their
dvd player and enjoy the movie. It is not racist, it's not like we have
the N-word being said or people getting whipped.
Crazy House
(1930): This is my short film selection for the week. This takes place
in the Lame Brain Sanitarium where Benny Rubin takes a tour and
encounters some rather strange people. It's a funny 10 minutes and it
was on a dvd of a movie that I will be featuring next week.
Earthquake
7.9 (1980): This is my grindhouse selection for the week and this is
not the Charlton Heston classic. This is one in Japan about a
seismologist who predicts an earthquake of high magnitude but no one
believes him and brings disgrace to his in-laws. This had some very bad
dubbing and was better storyline-wise than the other Grindhouse
selections I have used.
White Palace (1990): My mom recorded this
one to DVR so I decided to check this one out. BOSTON LEGAL star James
Spader stars as a young, widowed ad-exec named Max and meets a 40 year
old woman named Nora with a fixation for Marilyn Monroe and works as a
waitress at the White Palace, a White Castle type place. They form an
uneasy relationship slowly falling in love. SEINFELD alum Jason
Alexander is a friend of Max's. Some may remember Spader's guest
appearance on SEINFELD. When I saw the name James Spader, I thought I
was going to see some really disturbing, sexual film but I was quite
wrong. He was even less sleezy than usual. It was a pretty enjoyable
love story.
Ned Kelly (2003): Here is my Heath Ledger pick for
the week and this is something I had not seen so I wanted to check this
one out. I'm aware this is a remake and that Mick Jagger played the role
in 1970 which I have not seen. Surely Ledger's acting is better here.
Ned Kelly was an Australian Outlaw and folk hero. I guess he is their
Jesse James. I'm sure their are mixed opinions on both people but as the
story of Ned Kelly goes, his family was wronged so Ned turns to a life
of crime and forms the Kelly Gang to avenge the wrongs to his family.
Orlando Bloom plays his best friend and Naomi Watts is his love interest
and I thought she was used too sparingly. Geoffrey Rush plays the
ruthless lawman out to get the Kelly Gang. I probably could have picked a
better Heath Ledger film but as I said, I hadn't seen this one yet and
it was available.
Chinatown (1974): I end on this Roman Polanski
masterpiece which stars Jack Nicholson as a 1930s private investigator
named Jake Gittes who is first hired for a simple suspection of adultry
but like always there is far more to that. He then stumbles onto a
murder scheme and a water scheme. Faye Dunaway is a mysterious woman who
was impersonated by someone else into hiring him. John Huston plays the
role of Noah Cross whose 10 million dollars is not enough. This was a
great, dark neo-noir and something that must be followed very closely.
Look for Polanski as the thug who cuts Jake.
Well, that is it for
this week. Leave your comments of what you like and what you hate and
once again tell me if you want to be part of my contest.
No comments:
Post a Comment