Welcome to the 380th Edition of my series. Tonight are the Academy
Awards so I will be watching those. To those who have bad weather, hope
things go well. I hope we don't get anything too bad this week. I
will now get onto my selections.
Secretariat (2010): I
start this week out with some live-action Disney and one based on the
true story of the legendary racehorse of the title. Diane Lane stars as
Penny Chenery who takes over her father's stable. She soon decides
against all odds to take on a horse and enter into the Kentucky Derby
looking to win the triple crown. She then hires Lucien Laurin, played
by John Malkovich, to train the horse to win. In doing this, she runs
into a lot of disagreement with her husband Jack, played by NIP/TUCK
alum Dylan Walsh and her accountant brother Hollis, played by Dylan
Baker. Margo Martindale, James Cromwell, Scott Glenn, among others
co-star in this sports film. This is a really good family story and an
inspirational story about following dreams. Much of the jockeys in this
film are real-life jockeys including Otto Thorwarth who was
Secretariat's in the film. The real-life Penny Chenery was on hand for
much of the filming.
Barney's Version (2010): This is
part one of a two-part Paul Giamatti series. Now I bring more of a
character study. Paul Giamatti stars as the title character who is a tv
producer and very politically incorrect. One thing that got my
attention right away was the name of the production studio which was
"Totally Useless Productions" which kind of reminded me of my "Fun and
Useless Facts" segment. He is experiencing some later times of his life
and remembers all the ups and downs of his life like his three
marriages. Dustin Hoffman co-stars as his father Izzy. Minnie Driver,
Scott Speedman, Mark Addy, Rosamund Pike, Saul Rubinek, among others
co-star in this film. Giamatti is great and has you with him throughout
the movie through all his ups and downs. This one is not as much of a
family film as my first selection but one that is still quite enjoyable.
Henry
(2011): This is my short film for the week where Doug and I went to
the Keystone Landmark Art theater to see the animated and live-action
short films that are nominated for tonight. Last week, I featured an
animated selection so this week I chose this one for my live-action
selection. This is a French-Canadian selection which was written and
directed by Yan England. Gerard Poirier stars as the title character
who is an aging concert pianist. He soon finds that his wife Maria,
played by Louise Laprade, has disappeared which takes him back to his
younger days and their good times together but must soon find out the
inevitable truth. Poirier is great as Henry and is a very moving short
film and we will see tonight if this short film wins Best Live-Action
short film.
A Date with Your Family (1950): This is my
older short film for the week which shows how to apparently act at the
dinner table. It has every gender stereotype in the book and shows how
not to get emotional at the table. It also has some interesting dos and
don'ts for the table and things like the daughter and mother must look
good for the son and father. It even advises the son to treat the
mother like a date. It is very weird and one that does not hold up very
well except for entertainment reasons. This is available on the
Pub-D-Hub app on my Roku player but is public domain. LEAVE IT TO
BEAVER alum Hugh Beaumont is the uncredited narrator.
Son
of Kong (1933): This is the sequel to the classic KING KONG which was
done in the same year. Robert Armstrong reprises his role as producer
Carl Denham who is dealing with the aftermath of bringing Kong to New
York and facing lawsuits and possible criminal charges. He then sets
out with his crew and circumstances lead them back to Skull Island where
they abducted King Kong. They soon encounter a Kong's son who is big,
but not as big and is very friendly and protective of the humans
protecting them from things like dinosaurs and even a big bear. Helen
Mack plays the female of the film and plays Helene. This is not nearly
as good as the first one, nor does Helen Mack come close to matching Fay
Wray. This is still very entertaining entertaining though and more
comedic than the first one. My dad got me this as part of a boxed set
that includes the first one MIGHTY JOE YOUNG.
Snake in
the Eagle's Shadow (1978): This is my Asian film for the week. Hong
Kong director Yuen Wo-Ping directed this martial arts film and helped
make Jackie Chan into the martial arts star he is today. Chan stars as
Chien Fu who is a janitor at a martial arts school who does not know
martial arts and is beaten up a lot by the instructors. He is soon
taken in by an old man who teaches Chien the style of kung fu called the
"Snake's Fist" and learns how to fight. The more that he learns the
more he develops his own style based on the movements of a cat. The Old
Man as he calls him soon runs into some trouble and Chien Fu helps
him. This is a pretty decent early martial arts film and Chan might
have been the first big martial arts stars since Bruce Lee that was not
an impersonator. We saw early moments of the comedy that Chan combines
with his Kung Fu. I usually prefer Jet Li but this one still was very
entertaining and important historically in the world of martial arts
films being the first collaboration between Chan and Yuen Wo-Ping.
American
Experience: Eugene O'Neill (2006): This is part six of six-part
Christopher Plummer series and he is the narrator in this one. This is
an episode of the PBS series THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. This documentary
goes into the life and career of playwright Eugene O'Neill known for
plays like A LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT and THE ICEMAN COMETH. It
goes into his family history and what inspired him to write more serious
and realistic plays. It also talks about him being the first big
American playwright. Actors like Al Pacino, Liam Neeson, Zoe Caldwell,
Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Sean Leonard and others reflect on his
importance and act out monologues from his plays. I admit that I really
did not know a lot about O'Neill before going into this but gained a
lot of respect and hope to one day be in one of these plays. It is a
very informative documentary and worth a watch.
Hondo
(1953): This is my western for the week which was directed by John
Farrow and based on a story by legendary western writer Louis L'amour.
John Wayne stars as the title character who is a despatch rider for the
cavalry and soon meets a mother named Angie, played by Geraldine Page in
her debut, and her son who lives in the middle of Apache territory.
She is married but has a husband who has been gone for a long time and
Hondo forms a friendship with the two and protecting them from the
Apaches. Angie believes she is safe from the Apaches but learns that is
not necessarily true and things get very complicated. Wayne and Page
work very well together and this movie has some pretty good action
scenes making this pretty enjoyable Wayne. Ward Bond has a pretty
significant part towards the climax named Buffalo Baker which may be his
best performance. This is available on Instant Netflix and is worth a
look.
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009): This
is my animated film for the week. Clancy Brown gets top billing as the
voice of long-time Superman rival Lex Luthor who manages to get elected
president. He soon initiates that meta-humans and costumed crime
fighters serve the government but the two title characters do not buy
into it. Soon, Luthor is able to brand Superman as a fugitive and
Batman as the accessory where friends and foes are soon coming after
them while Superman and Batman must work to stop Lex's scheme and clear
their names. Kevin Conroy reprises his voice of Batman while Tim Daly
reprises his voice of Superman. Other voices include Xander Berkeley,
SMALLVILLE alum Allison Mack, John C. McGinley, THE SHIELD alum CCH
Pounder, STAR TREK alum Lavar Burton, among others. There are many DC
characters featured and some I knew, some I did not so it could be a
good idea to research DC a little bit and you might learn about a lot of
characters. I always tend to favor DC in the animation department and
Marvel in the live-action department and this was a pretty good animated
selection.
The Warriors (1979): I end this week with
this classic action film directed by Walter Hill and based on the novel
by Sol Yurick. This takes place in a future dystopian New York City
that is populated by many turf gangs. Soon, a gangster named Cyrus,
played by Roger Hill, brings all the gangs hoping to bring them all
together to end rivalries but is soon killed and the title gang gets
blamed even though they did not do it. They soon must fight off other
gangs and evade the police to get back to their territory and look to
clear their names. This was a very well done film and did not have many
big stars but still had some very good performances and even costumes
like the Baseball Furies gang. Each gang had a unique look to it and
there are many gangs, even a female gang at one point. Michael Beck,
James Remar, and Mercedes Ruehl all had parts in this film. The
cinematography looks great showing a good bleak futuristic society.
This is available on Instant Netflix and is one of the best action films
from that era and may rank in that genre for today.
Well,
that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you hate.
Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Jennifer Lopez, more Paul
Giamatti, Ellen Burstyn, Farrah Fawcett, Cary Grant, Clint Eastwood,
and many others.
OSCAR PREDICTIONS
I
am taking part in this contest put on by Elizabeth so here are my
predictions and the rules state to give who will and and who should win
but I am just going to have all these predictions apply to "Will Win"
and "Should Win" so I can look to get 5 points for each one.
Best Short Film, Live Action: Henry
Best Short Film, Animation: Paperman
Best Documentary, Short Subject: Redemption
Best Documentary, Feature: Searching for Sugar Man
Best Achievement in Visual Effects: Life of Pi
Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Argo
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing: Life of Pi
Best Achievement in Music written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: Skyfall
Best Achievement in Music written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: John Williams, Lincoln
Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling: The Hobbit
Best Achievement in Costume Design: Anna Karenina
Best Achievement in Production Design: Anna Karenina
Best Achievement in Editing: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Achievement in Cinematography: Life of Pi
Best Foreign Language film of the year: Amour
Best Animated Film of the Year: Brave
Best Adapted Screenplay: Argo
Best Original Screenplay: Django Unchained
Best Director: David O. Russell
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway
Best Supporting Actor: Tommy Lee Jones
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis
Best Picture: Argo
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