Welcome to the 239th Edition of my long running series. I just finished
the second weekend of GUYS AND DOLLS. It's been a great show, we have
one more weekend of performances so go to http://ibelfry.org
for information on ordering tickets. Forgive any lackluster writing I
might do since I have not really been writing on this much this week and
am putting this together on the spot.
Novecento (1976): This is
my epic film for this week which was directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and
stars a young Robert De Niro and Gerard Depardieu. This movie takes
place during Fascist Italy from 1900 to 1945. Depardieu plays a peasant
and De Niro plays a wealthy land owner. This movie focuses on these
characters on what the events of Italy do to tear them apart. Other
people in this film include Sterling Hayden, Burt Lancaster, and Donald
Sutherland. It is a very long film so give yourself time to watch it and
you might find it rather rewarding.
Flash Gordon (1980): This is
a selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for
this one I chose Johnny Devine who has worked a lot for TNA wrestling.
This is an updated version of the legendary hero where Sam J. Jones
stars as the title character who is a quarterback from the New York Jets
who becomes a hero when ending up in the planet Mongo and must go up
against Ming the Merciless, played by Max Von Sydow. Topol, Melody
Anderson, Timothy Dalton, Richard O'Brien and many others also co-star.
There is also a great theme song to this movie by Queen. This was just a
great one for me to watch with the special effects for the time, the
imagery and the action.
Black Christmas (1974): This is a
selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this
one I chose my loyal reader Jeremy the Critic. I know we're a little
ways away from Christmas but I had to check this one out when it
presented itself to me. This is the worst Christmas for the girls in a
sorority house when a psycho is out making prank calls and killing
people at the house one by one so they must find out who is killing
everyone. Olivia Hussey, who is most known for playing Juliet in the
1968 film ROMEO and JULIET, and Margot Kidder, most known for playing
Lois Lane in the SUPERMAN films in the '70s and '80s, both co-star in
what some call the first slasher film. John Saxon also co-stars as the
cop investigating the murders.
House of 1000 Corpses (2003): The
Facebook friend I chose for this week is Meredith who I went to school
with and was a grade below me I believe. I might get some heat for this
horror selection which is by no means for everyone and is the
directorial debut of heavy metal star Rob Zombie. We first meet two
young couples in Texas looking for Offbeat roadside attractions for a
book. When their car breaks down, they get taken in my a family who
turns out to be a lot of psychos who capture them and put them through
all kinds of torture. THE OFFICE co-star Rainn Wilson, Sid Haig, Karen
Black, THE SHIELD alum Walton Goggins, and others co-star in this film.
Rob Zombie clearly put a lot of effort into this film and to be honest
this is the first time I have seen a Rob Zombie film so this is his
debut on this list. While it fell short among some horror fans, it is
clearly a start for Zombie.
Princess Mononoke (1997): This is
another selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and
for this one I chose Fantasy Scribbler. This is part one of a two-part
anime series and the next one will be featured next week. I know my
friend John will like this. Hayao Miyazaki wrote and directed this
Japanese animation film which we all come to know as anime. We start
with the young warrior Ashitaka who while protecting his people is
wounded with a deadly curse and is considered dead by his village. He
then sets out for a cure by going to the far east and stumbles upon a
war between animals of the forest and a group of humans trying to
destroy the forest. Leading the animals is the brave Lady Eboshi who was
raised by wolves. This movie has some great action and animation. Billy
Crudup, Minnie Driver, X-FILES alum Gillian Anderson, MY SO-CALLED LIFE
alum Claire Danes, Billy Bob Thornton, and many others lend their
voices for the English track.
Hush (2009): This is actually a
British horror film I found on IFC. In this film, we have Zakes and his
girlfriend Beth who are out driving and end up angering a truck driver.
Zakes then believes he sees a girl at the back of the truck who is bound
and bloodied. Beth then makes him investigate what he saw. When at a
service station he then finds that his girlfriend is missing. He is then
the only witness towards anything and must convince the police of what
he saw. This was a pretty decent thriller with William Ash in a pretty
good performance as Zakes.
Murder on the Orient Express (1974):
This is a murder mystery with quite the All-Star cast. Sidney Lumet
directed this movie based on the novel by Agatha Christie which features
one of her top detectives Hercule Poirot who is played by Albert Finney
here. He is not intending to work as he is on board on a train
intending to take it easy but then it becomes more complicated as there
is a murder on the train and then the train is stopped due to the snow.
Poirot is then asked to investigate by the head of the train in hopes of
not having to deal too much with the police. Poirot then starts an
investigation whose suspects include Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam,
Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bissett, Anthony Perkins, Sean Connery,
Michael York, Vanessa Redgrave, and many others. This is known to be the
only film adaptation of her novel that she really liked and died after
the premier. Finney is great as Poirot. He was known to play older
characters believably at a young age as he was Ebenezer Scrooge around
this time period and only in his '30s to play characters much older.
A
Nous la Liberte (1931): This is my French film for the week which was
written and directed by Rene Clair. This is a satire and musical which
focuses on two escaped cons who have just escaped prison. One of them
gets a good job as a factory owner and his friend who gets a job but
then sees that it is not much different from prison life. This is a very
interesting film that takes a look at the work conditions of the era.
The musical numbers are pretty fun too. The distribution company
actually put a lawsuit on Charlie Chaplin's 1936 classic MODERN TIMES
which they claim Chaplin actually plagiarized their ideas. Rene Clair
did not join in on the suit as he felt that if these charges were true
they were a compliment since he very much admired Chaplin.
The
Man With the Golden Arm (1955): Frank Sinatra stars in this film as
Frankie Machine who is just being released from prison hoping to pursue a
music career and not end up where he was. He finds that it is not easy
as everyone is trying to get him back into the life of gambling and
drugs. Eleanor Parker stars as his crippled wife who expects him to wait
on her hand and foot and Kim Novak plays the much nicer Molly who likes
him and his wife suspects her. I really enjoyed this performance of
Frank Sinatra and shows the difficulty of going straight when returning
to the same area. Darren McGavin, most known as "The Old Man" in A
CHRISTMAS STORY, co-stars as Louie who is trying to get Frankie back in
the game.
A Bout with a Trout (1941): I end with this animation
short which features the character Little Lulu. Lulu decides to skip
school and go fishing but then gets her conscience talking to her and
the angel wants her to go to school and the other wants to play hookie
but also meets all kinds of other interesting characters in a very
entertaining cartoon. I have used a couple Little Lulu cartoons and
prove to be very entertaining.
Well, that is it for this week. I
seemed to focus a lot more on sci-fi and horror that what I usually do.
Tell me what you like and what you hate and stay tuned next week which
will include Sidney Poitier, William Holden, John Cusack, Heath Ledger,
and many others.
FUN LITTLE FACTS
Gerard Depardieu
(Novecento) plays Porthos in the 1998 film THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK. My
Facebook friend Ed played the part in a production of THE THREE
MUSKETEERS at the Muncie Civic Theater.
Richard O'Brien (Flash
Gordon) plays Riff-Raff in the 1975 film THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW.
My Facebook friends Kevin, Cody, and Nic have all played the part in
various productions at the Muncie Civic Studio Theater
JAMES BOND FRANCHISE
-Max Von Sydow (Flash Gordon) plays Bond's arch-enemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the 1983 film NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN.
-Topol (Flash Gordon) plays Bond's ally Milos Columbo in the 1981 Bond film FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
-Timothy
Dalton (Flash Gordon) plays James Bond in two films in the late '80s. I
know I'm one of few that likes Dalton's portrayal of Bond.
-Robbie
Coltrane (Flash Gordon extra) plays Bond's uneasy ally Valentin Zukovsky
in a couple Bond films in the '90s during the Pierce Brosnan era.
-Minnie Driver (Princess Mononoke) has a cameo as Zukovsky's singer girlfriend Irina in the 1995 Bond film GOLDENEYE.
-Andreas Wisniewski (Hush) plays the secondary villain Necros in the 1987 Bond film THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS.
-Sean
Connery (Murder on the Orient Express) is the first James Bond and
considered by many to be the best. He played the part in the '60s and
early '70s.
Frank Sinatra (The Man with the Golden Arm) plays
Nathan Detroit in the 1955 film GUYS AND DOLLS. My Facebook friend Mark
plays the part in the production of the same name we are in right now at
the Belfry Theatre.
Darren McGavin (The Man with the Golden Arm)
plays The Old Man in the 1983 film THE CHRISTMAS STORY. Mark also
played the Old Man in a production but not sure of the theater he did it
at.
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