Welcome to the 344th Edition of my series. Happy Father's Day to all
the dads out there. I'm in a little later than usual but I got back
from rehearsal from THE PRODUCERS which is going very well. This week I
pay tribute to Frank Cady and Kathryn Joosten who recently left us.
Now onto my selections for the week.
Wall Street
(1987): I start this week out with some Oliver Stone who shows the dark
side of the stock industry. Charlie Sheen stars as young and ambitious
stockbroker Bud Fox who is out to make some money. He soon meets with
the very ruthless Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, who takes him
under his wing. They soon formulate a plan for illegal insider trading
which Fox takes to at first but then forms a conscience when he sees
that people he knows, including his father, would lose jobs. Martin
Sheen, the real-life father of Charlie Sheen, plays his father who is a
more blue-collar person and does not like that path Bud has taken. John
C. McGinley, Daryl Hannah, Hal Holbrook, James Spader, Terence Stamp
and many others co-star in this film. Douglas is great as Gekko which
is a very complex villain role which he pulled off very well letting us
now how great greed is and how much it works. Also, anyone who can use
NAIVE MELODY from the Talking Heads in the soundtrack is okay in my
book. I admit, I have not seen the sequel as of yet.
Minority
Report (2002): I now go from Oliver Stone to Steven Spielberg in this
great futuristic film. This takes place in the year of 2054 where Tom
Cruise stars as Chief John Anderton who is part of the Precrime unit
which predicts murders before they even happen and can arrest the people
who attempt the killing before it happens. This system appears to be
flawless until John himself is accused of a future murder and he does
not even know the victim and sets out to figure out what happened.
Colin Farrell co-stars as a detective who does not like the precrime
system but still looks to pursue Anderton. The direction and special
effects are great in this film. Samantha Morton is very good as Agatha
who is one of the three "Pre-cogs" that helps predict these murders.
The rest of the cast also did a good job and John Williams has a good
music score. I feel this movie ranks very high in the sci-fi genre of
this era. It was also obvious that Spielberg put a lot of effort into
this film. This is based on a short story from Sci-Fi author Philip K.
Dick.
127 Hours (2010): Danny Boyle directed this film
that is a true story on mountain climber Aron Ralston who gets his arm
stuck under a boulder for the amount of time in the title. While he is
stuck under this boulder he examines his life through friends, family,
lovers, and a couple hikers he had met. James Franco stars as Ralston
and carries the movie so well. This movie is shown with him under that
boulder and doing what he can to make the most of it and figure a way
out. It is also shown through flashback and some fantasy sequences.
Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn play the hikers he meets in the beginning
and Treat Williams plays Aron's father. This is based on the book by
the real Aron Ralston called BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE. This is a
very well-done and inspirational film.
Teenagers on
Trial (1955): This is my short film for the week which actually focuses
on juvenile delinquency. Yes, that did exist even in that era. It
takes a look at the root cause of delinquency and then talks about
possibly solutions for the problem. It talks about how the schools are
overcrowded and underfunded. It also talks about how parents are
getting overworked. This was was actually rather informative and not
entertaining like some of these I find. It is very interesting for that
era and a more serious issue today but it did exist even then.
Waterloo
Bridge (1931): This is the last from TCM's Forbidden Hollywood DVD
that I checked out. Mae Clarke stars in this one as Myra who is an out
of work chorus girl trying to make ends meet in WWI London. Soon after
an air raid, she meets an American in the Army named Roy, played by
Douglass Montgomery, who soon falls for her. He soon takes her to meet
his family but is reluctant to keep the relationship as he is unaware of
her past. Bette Davis has a small part as Roy's sister. This was a
pretty good melodrama from that era with Clarke very good in her role.
The
Blue Bird (1940): This is my Shirley Temple film for the week where
she a spoiled and ungrateful child instead of that bubbly personality we
know her today. She plays Mytyl who along with her little brother is
sent by a fairy to find the Blue Bird of happiness where she must learn
to be happy and appreciative of what she has. This movie has a lot of
resemblance to THE WIZARD OF OZ that came out the year before. It
started out as black and white and then turned to color in the fantasy
world. Then the journey starts where they meet some rather interesting
people like their grandparents who are alive again because they are
being thought of. They also meet Mr. and Mrs. Luxury who they find has
money but nothing else. This was a pretty entertaining movie and good
to see Temple a bit mean for a change which was in turn made less money
as people did not want to see her that way. I still say it was a good
decision in the long run.
Lady and the Tramp (1955):
This is my Disney film for the week which is the best love story between
dogs of all time and ranks up with love stories in general. Lady is a
pampered Cocker Spaniel who meets Tramp who is a mutt on the other side
of the tracks who teaches Lady life without a leash or collar. They
really meet up when Lady's owners are on vacation and the new babysitter
drives her out especially with the devious Siamese Cats. We also get
to know Lady's dog friends Jock and Trusty who are kind of the comic
relief. The dogs in this movie are more like kids who go to other
friends house in the afternoon. This was a very fun Disney film and has
the iconic scene of Lady and the Tramp eating spaghetti.
Ace
in the Hole (1951): This is my tribute to GREEN ACRES alum Frank Cady
who stars as Mr. Federber. My first selection stars Michael Douglas and
now I bring his father Kirk Douglas, both of which play rather ruthless
people. Douglas plays out of work journalist Chuck Tatum who ends up
in Albuquerque, New Mexico and must take a job for their local paper.
He soon grows bored of everything but finds a story that can potentially
get him back on top. He soon finds a man trapped in a cave in which he
turns into a big media circus in order to get the story. Douglas is
great as Tatum and the film is very compelling. Billy Wilder directed
and co-wrote this drama which at the time was his first commercial
failure at the time which is quite an injustice. Jan Sterling plays
Lorraine who is the estranged wife of the man trapped but is not on very
good terms with him. This was probably pretty controversial for its
time. This is a movie that deserves a lot more exposure and is
available on Instant Netflix.
The TV Set (2006): This is
my tribute to DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES alum Kathryn Joosten who recently
died and I have kind of come to see as an inspiration. She did not
enter the world of acting until she was 42 years of age and ended up
taking the acting world by storm. She has a small part as an editor of
this one. This movie takes place in the world of TV. X-FILES alum
stars as idealistic TV writer Mike Klein who wrote a pilot in the
aftermath of his brothers suicide. For those of you that do not know, a
pilot is an episode to a tv series that they hope to get off the ground
and become an actual series. This movie shows what goes into the
process. At first, they must cast the parts, then film the show. This
shows the frustrations of Mike who must deal with changes that the
producers want. Sigourney Weaver co-stars as Lenny who is one of the
producers. Ioan Gruffudd, Judy Davis, Justine Bateman, and Philip Baker
Hall co-star. Jake Kasdan wrote and directed this film which he cites
is inspired by his own experiences.
The Rocker (2008): I
end this week with this rock comedy that stars THE OFFICE star Rainn
Wilson as Robert Fishman. He is living the music dream as a passionate
drummer with a band on the rise called Vesuvius but for them to get
their big break he was fired. Many years later, he finds his chance to
relive his dream through his nephew whose band needs a drummer so they
reluctantly take him in as a drummer. Emma Stone, Teddy Geiger, and
Josh Gad play the bandmates. Jeff Garlin, Christina Applegate, and Jane
Lynch co-star as some of the parents. Wilson is great as the washed up
drummer who is far less mature than his high school age bandmates who
are more focused on the music instead of the partying which I feel sends
a good message there. Will Arnett, Jason Sudeikis, and Bradley Cooper
are Vesuvius members who Fish is very bitter towards. This is loosely
based on the original drummer of the Beatles Pete Best who can be seen
sitting with Wilson on a park bench. Best was the original member of
the Beatles before Ringo Starr joins them and was actually fired under
the direction of Paul, John, and George. This is a very good comedy and
one many struggling musicians can relate to.
Well, that is all for this week. Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Natalie Portman, Ben Stiller, and many others.
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