Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 326th Edition

Welcome to the 326th Edition of my long-running series. I now have Sundays and Mondays off now there is no more football so this will be difficult. Last week, I saw the Super Bowl and was glad of the good game. I lead on like I was for the Patriots but that is just because everyone else was rooting for the Giants and wanted to be a bit controversial. I really don't have anything against either team. I will soon be trying out for 12 ANGRY MEN in Noblesville and hope that is my return to the theater scene. This week, I pay tribute to Ben Gazzara who recently left us. Get out your Netflix queues and continue to read.

A Stolen Life (1946): I was looking through TCM On-Demand and thought about this after learning through a Facebook app that the song BETTE DAVIS EYES from Kim Carnes was number one the day Ashley and myself were born which was May 22nd of 1981 for me and the next day for Ashley. I start out the week with some Bette Davis who gets to play a dual role of twins where one of them is good and one is very bad. Kate is the very nice one of which we do not always get to see Bette play. Patricia was the meaner twin and the one of which that we are more used to seeing Bette play. Kate soon falls for a lighthouse inspector named Bill, played by Glenn Ford, but soon Patricia falls in love with him and ends up marrying Bill. Soon, the twins go on a boating trip and in the bad weather, Patricia falls out and drowns. Kate then assumes the identity of Patricia hoping to be with the man she is in love with. This is one of those older films that appears to be forgotten but I hope to put this back on the radar. Davis was great in her dual role and Ford was very good in his part. It is a very compelling film that moves very well.

Masked and Anonymous (2003): This is part one of a two-part series for John Goodman. My mom recorded this film on the DVR of which Tony first watched and really liked. Mom soon began talking about the all-star cast and officially brought me in when and shows she knows me very well and mentioned Mickey Rourke knowing those were the words to get me to watch it. He has a small but very compelling part in this film. This film takes place in South America where John Goodman and Jessica Lange play promoters Uncle Sweetheart and Nina Veronica who try to get a benefit concert together but have a lot of trouble getting big names to agree. They soon agree to book singer Jack Fate who is a political prisoner and are able to get him out for the event. Legendary musician Bob Dylan actually stars as Jack Fate and Dylan actually co-wrote the film. Jeff Bridges co-stars as Tom Friend who is an investigative journalist who is looking to see who will really benefit. This movie has quite the all-star cast with Penelope Cruz, Luke Wilson, Angela Bassett, Ed Harris, Chris Penn, Val Kilmer, and many others. This is a film that does not really have what it takes to win a bunch of awards but it does entertain and is very interesting and different. I was not sure what to expect but I really enjoyed watching this. Bob Dylan did a good job in his part and his writing.

Good Sportsmanship (1950): This is my short film for the week which comes from the great Coronet Instructional series of which I found on my Pub-D-Hub app on my Roku player which shows public domain material. This film is trying to educate people on good sportsmanship where the narrator continues to ask the question of what someone with good sportsmanship would do. This starts with basketball but extends to things like the classroom. Like many of these films meant to educate but end up entertaining more than educating with the cheesy narration, rather bad acting and so on. That is why I like watching these though so it's likely findable through youtube and other places so get some laughs
with this and others from the Coronet Instructional videos.

Appleseed (2004): This is my Anime selection for the week. One of the first things I noticed on this film was how great the animation and visuals were. In this film, a utopian society was created at the end of the third world war. A female warrior soon wakes to find this utopian society where half the people are manufactured humans and must question both groups of people to see what the motives are in the society. While I am not always into the whole 3D craze, I feel this would have been perfect to release in the theaters for the 3D. This movie is not exactly strong on plot but is great on the action scenes, animation, and the soundtrack and very fun to watch. This movie is available on Instant Netflix.

Gulliver's Travels (1939): This is an animated version of the Jonathan Swift novel that came from that Golden Year for film. This was a feature film that was directed that came from the Fleischer Brothers and not Disney. This was likely one of few feature films from them as they were more known for their animated shorts. In this one, a man of the title character is washed ashore on his capsized boat and finds himself in Lilliput where people there are much smaller than him. There are two opposing lands who are in a civil war because of the romance between a princess and a prince who are on opposing sides. Gulliver soon tries to prevent a war from happening. They did not exactly match Disney in this era but it was a good effort and a timeless classic of the story that is watchable with a good message. This is available on Instant Netflix.

A Rage to Live (1965): This is my tribute to Ben Gazzara who recently died of Pancreatic Cancer. Suzanne Pleshette stars as Grace who is pretty easy with the men. Her mother and brother take concern for her behavior but she soon meets Sidney Tate who is a farmer and she takes a liking to him. She soon marries him after admitting her past and promises to remain faithful. Things are going very well until an old acquaintance of hers named Roger Bannon comes into the picture and things change leading to some tragic circumstances. This is a pretty steamy soap opera film which kept my interest. It also has an interesting message on how an affair can affect so many different people in different ways and also even has a good ending. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Hugo (2011): I decided to make a very rare appearance to the movie theaters to see this movie. I know they showed this in 3D but I was content with the 2D. I honestly knew nothing of what to expect except that the director was Martin Scorsese and that it is winning a lot of awards. Asa Butterfield plays the title character who is an orphan living in the walls of a train station after his father dies. He learns how to keep the clocks going so he sneaks around there so he does not get put in an orphanage. Before his father dies, they have a robot they were trying to get working so he spends his life trying to fix it and stealing from a crank vender, played by Ben Kingsley, who he finds has an unexpected connection. Sacha Baran Cohen, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Jude Law, and Christopher Lee co-star. Christopher Lee had a small but very good part and was probably the most light-hearted character I have seen him play after years of seeing him playing parts like Dracula, Saruman, Count Dooku, among others. What this movie really is however is an homage towards the early days of cinema. This is Scorsese's first PG movie in 18 years and he put everything he had into this movie. I also remembered while watching this movie that Scorsese is a big advocate towards the importance of film preservation and really emphasizes that importance. This movie has a great story and very educational into the pioneering days of film but will not give anything more away. All I can say is see this as soon as possible. It is a beautiful film that I will be rooting for in award shows. I am so glad I
knew very little about this plot and just became surprised.

Night of the Zombie Chicken (2010): This is another short film that I found on my Popcorn Flix app on my Roku player which was in the Film School Original categories. A Vancouver Film School student named Steven Blomkamp created this animated short film that features a chef going about his usual business but finds more than he bargained for in one of his chickens. This movie has some really good 3D animation. This three minute short was quite entertaining and is something that is viewable on youtube.

Breaking Away (1979): This movie takes place and was filmed in Bloomington, Indiana which is the home of Indiana University. Dennis Christopher stars as Dave who does not really know what he wants in life but loves bike racing. Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, and Jackie Earle Haley are his other friends who are considered "cutters" which describes the working class and there is a lot of tension between them and Indiana University students. Dave and his friends soon decide to train for the famed Little 500 race in Indianapolis. One of the highlights of this film is the relationship between Dave and his used car salesman father who just does not understand his son. This is Stern's film debut. This is a very good sports movie which like any good sports movie makes the sport, which in this film is biking, secondary and focuses on the characters. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Roast of William Shatner (2006): Like many of the Best of SNL and concert DVDs, I guess this is technically not a movie but in this blog I make the rules. This was a comedy special on the STAR TREK icon where he gets to sit in the hotseat and listen to other celebrities bash him but then pay tribute. The beginning was a very funny phone conversation with fellow ST icon Leonard Nimoy. The roasters included fellow STAR TREK alums George Takei, Nichelle Nichols but other people like Farrah Fawcett, Andy Dick, and many others. The celebrities also bashed each other quite a bit but they all seemed to have a lot of fun, especially Takei who seemed to laugh at everything he heard even when they were gay jokes towards him. Fans of Shatner will love this one and this is also available on Instant Netflix.

Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you dislike. Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Ernest Borgnine, more John Goodman, and many others. Keep on reading for an honorable mention.

HONORABLE TV MENTION

The Office (2001): Yes, this is the British version which paved the way for that American version that we love today. Ricky Gervais stars as David Brent who runs the Wernhamm-Hogg paper company. The first couple of episodes will be quite similar to the American version. Mackenzie Crook plays the part of Gareth which is the equivalent of Dwight but is a little more toned down which I feel works a lot. Martin Freeman plays the part of Tim which is the equivalent of Jim in the American version who loves to play practical jokes on Gareth and longs for the receptionist Dawn. Dawn is obviously the equivalent of Pam. This show is shot in a documentary format and includes two seasons which is Britain they are called series. Each series consists of 6 episodes so there are 12 episodes plus a Christmas special. Gervais decided to end this show with the special and not go further. Many who do not get the British humor may not like this. I saw this show before the American version came out and it took a couple episodes to draw me in but it did really draw me in with the dry and subtle humor. Credit must be given where credit is due for the American version. This is available on Instant Netflix and you might need to watch a couple episodes but it does bring you in after a while. The special is also very funny with David talking about his unsuccessful career in music.