Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 368th Edition

Welcome to the 368th Edition of my long running series. This is my first entry of the month and I will have some holiday selections but will be limited. I lost in Fantasy Football last week but I still have my wild card so far so hopefully I'll put this one away and keep that lead if not retake my division. I will now get on with my selections for this week.

The Book of Eli (2010): I start the week out with this post-apocalyptic tale from the Hughes Brothers. Denzel Washington stars as the title character who is a drifter possessing a book that could hold the key to save humankind. He soon encounters a mobster named Carnegie, played by Gary Oldman, who takes his own interest in the book and tries to get it for himself. Mila Kunis stars as Solara who is sent to get the book but ends up joining Eli instead. Jennifer Beals, Michael Gambon, Tom Waits, and Malcolm McDowell co-star. I prefer the post-apocalyptic tale THE ROAD over this one but this movie still has its moments. Oldman returns to his villain roots after years of playing Commissioner Gordon and Sirius Black and makes a good return. There are also some good action scenes and pretty compelling.

Marwencol (2010): This is my documentary for the week. This is filmed in a small New York town about a man named Mark Hogancamp. Hogancamp is a man who was attacked severely and was left brain-damaged. His way of coping with this new life is to create his own WWII-like world through dolls and action figures and creating stories with each one through pictures. He also bases some characters upon other local people. Soon, his work is discovered by a New York gallery and is seen as art forcing Hogancamp to choose between his fantasy world and the real world. This was a very interesting documentary and person. There is a very good website on this film on http://www.marwencol.com and the movie is available on Instnat Netflix.

Bad Santa (2003): This is a holiday selection and this is for those who do not want to see those sappy tv movies. Billy Bob Thornton stars as Willie who is a con man who gets employed at the mall as Santa in order to rob stores. Tony Cox co-stars as his partner in crime Marcus who not only plots a heist but must keep Willie in line. Things become complicated for Willie when he meets a troubled 8 year old boy. This is by no means for everyone as Thornton is very foul-mouthed and couples could make a deal to agree to watch a more moving holiday film then follow with this one. Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham, John Ritter, and many others co-star is this politically incorrect holiday comedy. This is John Ritter's last movie.

Music Made Simple (1938): This is my comedy short for the week which stars Robert Benchley. Benchley fills in as a replacement music critic but shows his lack of knowledge and has some technical difficulties. This is part of a series of comedy shorts that star Benchley. This is about eight minutes long and is pretty funny.

Star Wars Holiday Special (1978): This is part one of a two-part Mark Hamill series. This is my bad holiday selection which came out shortly after the first STAR WARS. I actually obtained this from my stepbrother Mike as I have always wanted to check this out of curiosity. In this special they celebrate Life Day and it shows Han Solo and Chewbacca. Chewbacca is trying to get home to his family but is delayed as the Empire is trying to kill them. We then meet Chewbacca's very anxious family that consist of his father, son, and wife who never make appearances again throughout the rest of the series. Many parts of this movie are of Wookies talking to each other but we don't even get subtitles. There are also other celebrities that make appearances Bea Arthur, Art Carney, Diahann Carroll, Harvey Kormann, among others. Arthur and Carroll even have musical numbers as well as Jefferson Starship and a musical number from Princess Leia which is not one of her brightest moments. There is also an animation sequence which introduces us to Boba Fett. Maybe that is the best part of this movie of which many will wonder what the actors were thinking. George Lucas wants to destroy every copy of this movie and apparently was not involved in the making of it. So if you are actually looking for quality, this really is not it. This is more to watch for laughs. Now there are segments available on Youtube.

The House on Telegraph Hill (1951): Robert Wise directed this film noir. Valentina Cortese stars as Victoria who is a survivor of the holocaust and assumes an identity of someone who died in order to get the United States. She soon arrives in San Francisco to see her "son" and falls in love with Alan, played by Richard Basehart, who is the boy's guardian. She soon finds that there is more to her situation and finds her life is in jeopardy. Fay Baker co-stars as their nanny Margaret who is not very welcoming of Victoria. This is a pretty good story that works without a really known cast. This is available on Instant Netflix and something for people who really like the film noir genre.

Read My Lips (2001): This is part two of my two-part Vincent Cassel series. Jacques Audiard co-wrote and directed this French film. Emmanuelle Devos stars as Carla who is nearly deaf and works as a secretary who feels unappreciated for her hard work. She soon decides to hire an ex-con named Paul who has no experience in what he does but has other reasons for hiring him. She soon becomes involved in his life and even helps him on some jobs with her lip reading skills. This is a good French film that has both good performances and script. Cassel and Devos work very well together. Part of it shows the difficulty of an ex-con getting work shown when Paul's parole officer was shocked when he got the job. It also does a good job of showing the darkness of the workplace. This will be great to watch as long as you're okay with English subtitles.

Air Force (1943): Howard Hawks directed this war drama paying tribute to the air force. An air force unit arrives in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack and must prepare for an attack on the Japanese. Gig Young, Arthur Kennedy, John Garfield, and many others are part of this unit. The highlights include the air battles that are very well shot. It has quite a bit of action for a movie of that era. It also has a group of good, diverse characters. This was an obvious tribute to the military as it is filmed while WWII was still going on but it is a very good look at a unit.

The Princess Diaries (2001): This is my live-action Disney film for the week which was directed by Garry Marshall. Anne Hathaway stars as teen Mia Thermopolis who is quite the geek and invisible to most. She is having a hard enough time getting through high school but soon meets her estranged grandmother Clarisse, played by Julie Andrews, who is a queen in her country and informs Mia that she is heir to the throne which complicates her life even more as she must learn more to be proper. This is probably my only family oriented movie of the week. Hector Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, and Mandy Moore all co-star in this comedy which really focuses on the difficulty of high school life then learning some big news. Hathaway is great in her debut in this film and has come a very long way. If you are looking for something to watch with your young daughter, this would probably be one that the parents can also enjoy.

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976): I end this week with this thriller which stars a young Jodie Foster who is a lot more villainous than usual. She is a 13 year old girl named Rynn who lives in a home at a seaside community. It is soon clear that she appears to be alone and does whatever she must to protect her freedom of living alone including murder. Martin Sheen co-stars as Frank who lives in the community and is clearly a sleazy person who is no better than Rynn. If you are looking for a lot of violence, this really is not it but it does carry well with the atmosphere. It is also of interest to see such a young Jodie Foster and realized that in this part of her life is when she played the more sleazy roles like in TAXI DRIVER whereas now she usually plays the female hero like when playing Clarice. I will say that Martin sheen makes reference to Frankenstein's monster and not addressing it by just Frankenstein which is one of the few OCDs I have. This movie is available on Instant Netflix and I believe is worth a watch.

Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you do not like and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Patrick Stewart, more Mark Hamill, and many others. This week, I have my "Fun and Useless Facts" segment to check out.

FUN AND USELESS FACTS

I mostly looked for inter-related facts and not two people that were in the same movie. If there is anything you want to point out that I may have missed, go ahead and leave a comment.

BATMAN FRANCHISE

-Gary Oldman (The Book of Eli) plays Commissioner Gordon in the Christopher Nolan trilogy

-Mark Hamill (Star Wars Holiday Special) voices the Joker on many of the cartoons

-Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries) plays Catwoman in the 2012 film THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

Gary Oldman (The Book of Eli) hijacks Harrison Ford's (Star Wars Holiday Special) plane in the 1997 film AIR FORCE ONE

Mila Kunis (The Book of Eli) and Vincent Cassel (Read My Lips) worked together in the 2010 film BLACK SWAN

Tom Waits (The Book of Eli) plays Buck Merrill in the 1983 film THE OUTSIDERS. Billy Bob Thornton (Bad Santa) plays the part in the short-lived 1990 tv series.

Tony Cox (Bad Santa) and Mila Kunis (The Book of Eli) are in the upcoming 2013 film OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL

Lauren Tom (Bad Santa) and Malcolm McDowell (The Book of Eli) are in the 2004 movie IN GOOD COMPANY which was featured a couple weeks ago.

Mila Kunis (The Book of Eli) has cited the tv show 8 SIMPLE RULES to being her favorite which starred John Ritter (Bad Santa)

Alex Borstein (Bad Santa) and Mila Kunis (The Book of Eli) play mother and daughter in the popular animated series FAMILY GUY

Octavia Spencer (Bad Santa) and Malcolm McDowell (The Book of Eli) are in the 2009 film HALLOWEEN II

Carrie Fisher (Star Wars Holiday Special), Art Carney (Star Wars Holiday Special) and John Ritter (Bad Santa) are in the 1978 tv movie RINGO

James Earl Jones (Star Wars Holiday Special) plays Malcolm X in the 1977 movie THE GREATEST. Denzel Washington (The Book of Eli) plays Malcolm X in the 1992 film MALCOLM X

Vincent Cassel (Read My Lips) and Bernie Mac (Bad Santa) were in the 2007 film OCEAN'S THIRTEEN

Arthur Kennedy (Air Force) plays Pontius Pilate in the 1961 film BARABBAS. Gary Oldman (The Book of Eli) plays Pilate in the 1999 tv movie JESUS

Charles Drake (Air Force) plays Dr. Sanderson in the 1950 comedy Harvey. My Facebook friend Sean played the part in a 2012 version at Muncie Civic Theater.

Julie Andrews (The Princess Diaries) plays Maria in the 1965 musical THE SOUND OF MUSIC. My Facebook friends Katie, Shanna, and Alaina have all played the part in various stage productions.

Julie Andrews (The Princess Diaries) plays Ethel Thayer the 2001 tv movie ON GOLDEN POND. My Facebook friend Phoebe played the part in a recent production at the Muncie Civic Studio theater which she won a Best Actress award for at the Civies.

Julie Andrews (The Princess Diaries) plays Cinderella in the 1957 tv movie CINDERELLA. My Facebook friend Kellin played the part at the Artists Studio which was in Fishers, IN.

Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries) played the Princess in ONCE UPON A MATTRESS in a theatrical production in New Jersey. My Facebook friend Katie played the part in a Muncie Civic Theater production of the musical.

Heather Matarazzo (The Princess Diaries) and Jennifer Beals (The Book of Eli) have both been in the series THE L WORD.

Jodie Foster (The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane) and Denzel Washington (The Book of Eli) worked together in the 2006 film INSIDE MAN

Jodie Foster (The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane) and Jennifer Beals (The Book of Eli) both attended Yale at the same time.

Martin Sheen (The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane) and Harrison Ford (Star Wars Holiday Special) were in the 1979 film APOCALYPSE NOW.

PRESIDENTIAL FRANCHISE

-Michael Gambon (The Book of Eli) plays Lyndon Johnson in the 2002 tv movie PATH TO WAR

-Art Carney (Star Wars Holiday Special) plays Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1960 tv movie THE RIGHT MAN

-Martin Sheen (The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane) plays John F. Kennedy in the 1983 mini-series KENNEDY