Welcome to the 379th Edition of my series. For all of you that live
in or near the Muncie area should check out THE ODD COUPLE which is at
Muncie Civic Theater and SOUTHERN BAPTIST SISSIES which is in the Muncie
Civic Studio Theater. Both shows are going on next weekend and you can
get details at http://www.munciecivic.org. Tonight, I will be going to
the Anderson Buffalo Wild Wings to see the WWE ppv ELIMINATION CHAMBER
so join me if you want. I will now get onto my selections for the week.
Delirious
(2006): I start the week out with this independent comedy wrote and
directed by Tom DiCillo which is kind of a satire towards fame. Steve
Buscemi stars as Les who is a small-time celebrity photographer who
really wants his fame and fortune. He soon meets a homeless young man
named Toby, played by Michael Pitt, and reluctantly takes him in making
him an assistant. Toby has a desire for acting and soon meets pop star
K'Harma, played by Allison Lohman, and becomes famous through her taking
the world by storm with his homeless background. Les soon becomes
jealous of Toby's fame and plots revenge. Gina Gershon co-stars and
Elvis Costello has a cameo as himself. This was a very good comedy
taking a stab at our desire for fame with good performances. Keep in
mind that Buscemi and Pitt would go onto star in the hit HBO series
BOARDWALK EMPIRE so I hope to get this on the radar.
The
Silent Partner (1978): This is part five of my 6-part Christopher
Plummer series. Elliot Gould stars as dedicated bank teller Miles
Cullen who gets a note that the bank will be robbed. Christopher
Plummer stars as the ruthless bank robber Harry who soon learns that
Miles moved a lot of the money into a safe deposit box and that he was
outsmarted by a bank teller. This does not sit well with Harry and the
two get into a battle of wits. Susannah York and John Candy co-star in
this thriller. This was not exactly the most realistic film but one
where I could suspend my disbelief and just really enjoy with the good
performances. I have expressed interest in working at a bank but I do
not think I'm going to resort to the types of things that Miles did to
outsmart the bank robber. This movie is not for everyone and has a
pretty graphic scene but if you can get past that, this is a very fun
film and Plummer is good as the villain and the many different
disguises.
Eyes of the Navy (1940): This is my short
film for the week and is a documentary short towards the navy. This
talks about becoming a Navy flier and the process. It also talks about
the preparations they make in case of attack and the interesting part
about this is that the Pearl Harbor attack took place a year later.
This does pack quite a bit of information about being in the Navy.
The
Iron Lady (2011): This is my political movie for the week. Meryl
Streep stars as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the
only woman to ever hold that position which was from 1979-1990 until her
resignation. This movie starts with an elderly Thatcher who has a hard
time coming to terms with her husband Denis', played by Jim Broadbent,
death as well as the fact she is no longer Prime Minister. It then
flashes back to her younger days where Alexandra Roach plays Thatcher in
her college years and Harry Lloyd plays the young Denis. It then went
into her controversial political career. Streep plays Thatcher very
well where you might not know it's Streep if you did not already know
she stars in the film. I'm not really sure how accurate her later days
were and would have liked to see more focus on her rise. BUFFY alum
Anthony Head co-stars. This movie did go to mixed opinions but I found
Streep and Broadbent to hold it together well and I am always glad to
see Anthony Head in something. I also thought it did a good job
painting a human portrait on such a controversial figure.
Arrowsmith
(1931): This is an early directing job for the legendary John Ford and
based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis. Ronald Colman stars as the very
idealistic Dr. Martin Arrowsmith who looks to find a cure for things.
He soon marries Leora, played by Helen Hayes, and moves into a nice
country place where he becomes everyone's local doctor even for some
cows that were all getting sick. He soon agrees to take a research trip
to the West Indies where he leaves Leora behind and meets another
woman, played by Myrna Loy, to complicate his life. This is a pre-code
film and probably could have done a lot more in this era. I really
liked the beginning a lot better where he was establishing his country
life. Clarence Brooks plays one of the first successful black
characters of film in which he has a degree and does not act
stereotypically. This is worth a look and has some tragic moments that
later were harder for movies to have when the Hayes Code came out.
Bullitt
(1968): Steve McQueen stars as touch San Francisco cop Frank Bullitt.
He is soon asked to guard a witness who is soon to turn states evidence
again the mob. It seems like a pretty easy job but things get very
complicated leaving Bullitt to question the people appointing him to the
job. McQueen plays this part as a very no-nonsense cop who will do
what he can to get the job done. Jacqueline Bisset co-stars as Cathy
who is his love interest but finds that people in this line of work can
be difficult. Robert Vaughn, Don Gordon, Norman Fell, Robert Duvall,
among others co-star in this film. The movie is filmed in San Francisco
so it has a very authentic feel to it. The most famous scene from this
is the car chase scene which is considered by many to be the best car
chase scene of all time. I admit when watching this, I was feeling a
little dizzy during the car chase with the hills they kept going down on
the road but was a great scene. There is a cast member named Bill
Hickman which is the same name as my uncle and I learned he is mostly a
stuntman and drove the car that McQueen was pursuing in this film.
Life
of Pi (2012): Ang Lee directed this film based on a bestseller by Yann
Martel. This is about a family from India who decide to move to
Canada. Suraj Sharma plays Pi, who is their son and as their is a big
storm that make him end up by himself. The family owns a zoo so on the
boat are other animals like an orangutang, zebra, hyena, and a bengal
tiger. Pi finds an unexpected connection to the tiger in his fight for
survival. Irrfan Khan plays Pi when he is grown up. Gerard Depardieu
has a cameo as a cook on the ship. I honestly really did not know what
to expect when going to see this in the theaters. I had heard this was
in 3D and I can see how this one would have worked in 3D in many
scenes. Lee also did a very good job of casting the characters and in
many ways was a character driven film full of adventure and survival.
Sharma did a good job of carrying this film by himself in the scenes
where he is stranded on the boat. It also has a very interesting twist.
Skellig:
The Owl Man (2009): This is my British film for the week. Bill Milner
stars as Michael, a young boy who along with his parents move into a
new home while having a new baby sister who does has a serious heart
condition. Michael soon encounters a strange, loner man living in their
shed who turns out to be the title character, played so well by Tim
Roth. Michael decides to befriend Skellig and learns a lot of things
about him that could make his life better. Skellig is someone who is
living in the shed in bad health and in possible regret and soon form an
unusual friendship. If I go too far with this, I could really give
things away. I will say that it is a very touching film where Roth is a
lot nicer than usual. This is a really good movie to get the family
together. It also teaches about hope and acceptance. There are some
fantasy elements of the film but focuses a lot more on the story. This
is available on Instant Netflix and it deserves a watch.
Fresh
Guacamole (2012): This is my modern short film for the week and one
soon nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Animation Short film. I
went with my friend Doug to the Landmark Keystone Art Cinema where they
showed both the Oscar nominees for short films in animation and live
action. What we saw in animation, some were better than others but I
decided upon this is my favorites. A guy named PES wrote and directed
this short film in this very clever creation of guacamole in this stop
animation film where he uses things that are not food like dice, poker
chips, and even monopoly houses. This film is very short and only two
minutes but this was a great two minutes that did a lot more than
animation shorts that are more than 10 minutes. Next week, I will
feature one of the live-action short films.
The Hoodlum
(1951): I end with this B-Movie Film Noir. Laurence Tierney plays
paroled hoodlum Vincent and continues his criminal ways. His brother
Johnny, played by Tierney's real-life brother Edward, gives him a job at
his gas station but that is not enough for him. He soon hurts everyone
around him like his mother and his brother's girlfriend. Soon, he
masterminds a heist and his brother must stand up to him. Tierney is
most known for playing Joe in the 1992 film RESERVOIR DOGS. In this
movie, he is very ruthless with no redeeming qualities and is very good
in it. This is available on Instant Netflix and a must for people into
this genre and even something for people who only know Tierney from RD.
Well,
that is it for this week. Stay tuned for next week which so far
includes John Malkovich, Paul Giamatti, Jackie Chan, more Christopher
Plummer, and many others.
FUN AND USELESS FACTS
Laurence
Tierney (The Hoodlum) hires Steve Buscemi (Delirious) and Tim Roth (Owl
Man) a jewel heist gone very wrong in the 1992 film RESERVOIR DOGS
which remains my favorite Tarantino film.
Elliot Gould (The Silent Partner) and Robert Duvall (Bullitt) were in the 1970 film MASH.
John Candy was in the 1991 comedy Delirious but nothing to do with this week's feature DELIRIOUS.
Charles
Middleton (Eyes of the Navy) and Ward Bond (Arrowsmith Uncredited) had
small parts in the 1939 classic GONE WITH THE WIND.
Meryl
Streep (The Iron Lady) plays Lee in the 1996 film MARVIN'S ROOM. My
Facebook friend Cheryl played the part in a Muncie Civic Studio Theater
production.
Jim Broadbent (The Iron Lady) plays Harold
Zidler in the 2001 film MOULIN ROUGE. My Facebook friend Edward played
the part in a recent production at the Muncie Civic Theater.
Jim
Broadbent (The Iron Lady) and Steve Buscemi (Delirious) were in the
2006 film ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL where Buscemi was uncredited.
Iain Glen (The Iron Lady) and Tim Roth (Skellig) were in the 1990 film ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD.
Alfred Newman (Arrowsmith music composer) and Thomas Newman (The Iron Lady music composer) are father and son.
Robert Duvall (Bullitt) and Steve Buscemi (Delirious) were in the 1989 mini-series LONESOME DOVE.
BOARDWALK EMPIRE FRANCHISE
-Steve Buscemi (Delirious) plays Nucky Thompson
-Michael Pitt (Delirious) plays Jimmy Darmody
-Kelly McDonald (Skellig) plays Margaret Schroeder-Thompson, marries Nucky.
Kelly McDonald (Skellig) and Alexandra Roach (Delirious) are in the 2012 film ANNA KARENINA.
Kelly McDonald (Skellig) and Jim Broadbent (The Iron Lady) are in the 2011 film HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2.
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