Welcome to the 191st Edition. I have two selection from the Random
Myspace Profile selection process this week. Next week will have none
but I have made nine more selections for it and it will come out
periodically starting in the 193rd edition so get some movies in that
movie section of the profile to have a chance to be included. I will be
starting BIG RIVER performances on Friday of next week so come check it
out if your or near the Muncie area. Performances will be
Friday-Sunday. It is at 7:30 on Friday and Saturday and 2:00 on Sunday.
Rock
'n'Roll High School (1979): This is part of the Random Myspace Profile
selection and for this week I choose independent wrestler Sami Callahan
who is someone to be noticed in the wrestling world. This is a great
satire on high school life in the 70s and the overbearing adults who
don't want them having so much fun. It takes place at Vince Lombardi
high school where principals are driven out each year by the rock and
roll loving students but this year they have Miss Togar, played very
well by Mary Woronov, who will not be as easy to drive out as she bands
together parents to stop the horrible rock and roll craze. This leads
to the students to do a takeover of the school which includes the
Ramones at the school. Clint Howard was great as Eaglebauer who did a
lot of matchmaking for the students. This movie gives a lot of laughs
and is a great students vs. teachers movie. P.J. Soles stars as the
rebellious student Riff Randel who leads the takeover at the school.
Logan's
Run (1976): This is my tribute to the late Farrah Fawcett. Michael
Anderson directs this interesting sci-fi film which deals with
overpopulation. This takes place in a domed city where humans must die
at the age of 30 and they can choose to be exterminated in a bizarre
execution process called Carousel where they are promised rebirth or go
on the run in search for sanctuary which is not easy. Michael York
stars as the title character who is a Sandman, which is someone who
goes after the runners, but decides he is not ready to die at 30 and
becomes a fugitive along with Jessica 6, played by Jenny Agutter, who
helps runners escape. Together they set out to find an interesting new
world and even meet an old man which they had never seen due to the
world the live in. Farrah Fawcett plays one of the runners who live
underground. This was a great sci-fi film that really goes along well
and interesting when the strange world to them is out own when they
have no idea who Lincoln is when seeing his statue. York is great and
never gets the credit he deserves in my opinion.
Rent (2005):
The facebook friend I chose this week was Ashley who I was in some
classes at Ball State with. This is definitely one of my favorites and
I was hoping I'd get a part in the Fishers community theater but I
didn't. This is a musical that I have noticed that people either
absolutely love or absolutely hate. It takes place during the start of
the AIDS crisis and a group of eight friends trying to survive the
tough times. Most of the original Broadway cast was in it except
Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thomas. The others include Anthony Rapp, Adam
Pascal, Taye Diggs, Idina Menzel, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, and LAW AND
ORDER alum Jesse L. Martin who were all original members of the 1996
cast. I really don't need to explain much more here and even some of
the great numbers like SEASONS OF LOVE, OUT TONIGHT, the title song,
and many others. Look for Sarah Silverman in a cameo. I saw this
musical last night which featured my Facebook friend Alli as Mimi.
Les
Mistons (1957): This is my French short film for the week which was an
early film from the legendary director Francois Truffaut. This shows 5
kids who have nothing to do but to eavesdrop on lovers Gerard and
Bernadette and follow them everywhere. It was interesting to see the
price of what simple mischievous acts can do to ruin lives. This is a
short film worth its 18 minutes and something that can be obtained
through Netflix. It was good to get a hold of a foreign short film for
a change.
The Last Unicorn (1982): This is a selection from the
Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I chose
Lacey. This is an animated film which centers around a unicorn named
Amalthea, voiced by Mia Farrow, who believes she is the last unicorn
and sets out to find others. She finds allies in an aspiring magician
named Schmendrick, voiced by Alan Arkin, and Prince Lir, voiced by a
young Jeff Bridges. The unicorn must do what she can to avoid the Red
Bull and the evil King who seems to hate unicorns. Christopher Lee
provides this voice of the King. Other voices include MURDER, SHE WROTE
alum Angela Lansbury, Keenan Wynn, and Rene Auberjonois who was very
amusing as the Skull. Bridges even sung pretty well. There was some
good music my America and it is a very entertaining animation film for
the family and did not have to come from Disney or be computerized.
Miss
Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008): I found this one on On-Demand at my
dad's house and wanted a newer movie so I settled on this one. Frances
McDormand stars as the title character who is a governess in London
which I believe was in about the 1930s. She is dismissed from her
employment and is desperate to find a job. She ten finds herself in the
strange world of actress Delysia LaFosse, played by Amy Adams, who
wants a "social secretary" to get a part where she has some
competition. Pettigrew's role is to try to make sure she gets the part
and in the 24 hour period leads life like never before trying to make
the most of life even in the inevitability of war. I had to watch this
very closely but seeing these two characters made it worth it for me
and is very interesting to see the portrayal of the entertainment world
of that era.
The Gunfighter (1950): This is my tribute to the
late Karl Malden who plays the bartender in this psychological western.
Gregory Peck stars as Jimmy Ringo, a gunslinger who is trying to escape
his past but young gunslingers always want to make a name for
themselves. When he encounters one of them at a bar and shoots the
gunslinger, he must go on the run which is not from the law but from
his three brothers who want to avenge their brother's death. He then
goes to his old hometown and wants to see his former love but she won't
see him. He also reconnects with his old partner who is now the town
marshall. Ringo then has a big spectacle of people wanting to see him
kill someone and has another young gun wanting to make a name for
himself. This is a great western which looks at the concern for the gun
and shows where sometimes people just can't escape their past. Peck is
great as Ringo and as I look into this, it is based some on the
real-life Johnny Ringo.
Talk to Her (2002): This is my tribute
to choreographer Pina Bausch who recently died and has a part in the
beginning as a dancer. This is a Spanish film that takes a look at two
men who sit together at a theater and meet later. One is Benigno, who
is the nurse at the side of a woman in a coma and who becomes very
close and a little too close. The other is Marco, whose bullfighter
girlfriend is also in a coma from an accident and in the same hospital.
It takes at the four of their lives in the use of flashback and flash
forward to lead into their situations. This was a very moving film and
I was able to stay right in with it. Pedro Almodovar wrote and directed
this movie which is definetly one of the great in the world of foreign
films. The Benigno character is based somewhat on Almodovar's friend
Roberto Benigni.
Keepers of the Frame (1999): I know I have
lacked documentaries lately when at one time I put a documentary each
week but when finding this on the Doc channel I had to see it. This
movie looks at the preservation of film in film, tv, commercials,
newsreels, and even home video with looking at the history and
importance of it. You get to see a lot of rare clips with interviews
with film critic Leonard Maltin, MASH alum Alan Alda, Debbie Reynolds,
and Roddy McDowell. It is very entertaining for the movie buff and very
informative while sad at times. The moral of the story is to keep your
home movies and always preserve them.
Grass: A Nation's Battle
for Life (1925): This is my silent film for the week and a very rare
second documentary in the installment but this one interested me so I
recorded it to the DVR. Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, two
high-profile directors, decide to follow a nomadic tribe in Iran. They
must herd their livestock up a snow-covered mountain and must also go
barefoot in the dangerous mountains. They also had some interesting
title cards in this one. This is a good, early documentary which should
at least get watched for historical purposes.
Well, that is it
for this week. I will be back next week with the 192nd Edition which so
far includes a cult classic, Mira Sorvino, Steve McQueen and an Asian
film. Sorry, no Fun Little Trivia category this week.
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