Welcome to the 385th Edition of my series. I hope everyone is having a good Easter. It turned out to be a pretty long day for me with my flat tire but I got everything addressed and am home now writing this blog. I just recently started volunteer work at my local library which is the first volunteer experience, besides community theater, I have had since my college days. It is something I believe I will enjoy. I'm really ready for that warmer weather to start coming about. It's gotten nicer but I hear it's supposed to get back into the 40s again but will get back to the 50s. I suppose we cannot get 80s right now but maybe the 60s or 70s would be nice. Remember, on April 13th we have an Action Packed Wrestling show in Chesterfield where I will be bringing back a couple wrestlers to the promotion like I did the last show. As the talent agent of Action Packed Wrestling, I will see to it that I fix everything that is wrong. I will now get to my recommendations for the week.
Choking
Man (2006): I start this week out with this independent film wrote and
directed by Steve Barron. Octavio Gomez Berrios stars as Jorge who is
an Ecuadorian dishwasher and extremely shy. He soon develops a fixation
on the new Asian waitress Amy, played by Eugenia Yam, but is constantly
tormented by his co-worker Jerry, played by a pre-BREAKING BAD Aaron
Paul, and his domineering roommate. Mandy Patinkin co-stars as the
restaurant owner. This is something that received mixed reactions and
while I did not find it great, there were elements I liked. I did enjoy
some of the animation sequences in this movie. It is also an
interesting psychological thriller and something quite different with
this unlikely protagonist. This is available on Instant Netflix and
worth a look.
Carnage
(2011): This is part one of a two-part John C. Reilly series and a
two-part Jodie Foster series. Roman Polanski directed this comedy-drama
which is based on the play by Yasmina Reza. This movie centers around
two sets of parents who get together do discuss the altercation between
their sons. Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly star as Penelope and
Michael Longstreet are the parents to the boy that was injured. Kate
Winslet and Christoph Waltz star as Nancy and Alan Cowan who are the
parents to the boy that injured the other one. They have a meeting
which starts out as a civil discussion but then escalates into more of
an altercation that goes beyond their kids fighting and more about their
parenting, lifestyles, and marriage issues. The four actors were very
well cast in this film and do a good job. It also has some pretty funny
moments but also an interesting look about handling the bullying of
children. I would like to see this done as a play sometime. 
Summer
Hours (2008): This is my French film for the week which was written
and directed by Olivier Assayas. Edith Scob plays Helene who is 75
years of age and understands she will not be around forever. She then
has her three children over for a visit to discuss what to do with her
uncle's art collection and when she dies, they must all decide what they
want to do but must also think realistically. Juliette Binoche,
Charles Berling, and Jeremie Renier play the three kids. This is a very
good film about family coming together but must be realistic about the
future. This is a pretty touching film and deserves a watch as long as
you can watch a movie with subtitles.
The
Miracle of Sound (1940): This is my short film for the week which
features MGM sound engineer Douglas Shearer showing how sound gets into
film. It then shows a screen test for Greer Garson for BLOSSOMS IN THE
DUST. The rest of this short film features a montage of actors and
upcoming films for the year. One must remember that sound was still on
the rise in film since 1927 was the first talkie. It is also good for
any movie buff and is interesting to see in that era how it worked.
Enclosed is a photo of Douglas Shearer who did a lot for sound in movies
in this era and takes us into that world.
The
Roaring Twenties (1939): Raoul Walsh directed this gangster film which
was more of a statement for veterans who have a hard time finding work
especially during the depression which is where this takes place..
James Cagney stars as WWI veteran Eddie Bartlett who is just getting out
of the army and expects to get his job back at the auto shop that he
had been promised. When going back there he finds that his position was
taken and that his former employer cannot afford to hire him back.
After Eddie cannot find a job, he then takes to a very successful
operation which was bootlegging. Humphrey Bogart co-stars as Eddie's
friend George who joins him in bootlegging but becomes one of the
problems in the operation. This is a much different gangster film for
Cagney where in much of his movies, he was straight out ruthless but
this one it shows the circumstances of why he joins. Priscilla Lane,
Jeffrey Lynn, and Gladys George all co-star in this film that happened
during the Golden Year for film. This is the year that boasts titles
like THE WIZARD OF OZ, GONE WITH THE WIND, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON,
and many others. This movie holds up very well and was very enjoyable
in my opinion. This would mark Cagney's last gangster film for ten
years as he wanted to look into different roles.
Get
Carter (1971): Mike Hodges directed and wrote the screenplay based on
the novel by Ted Lewis and is my British film for the week. Most
probably know the 2000 remake which stars Sylvester Stallone. This is
the original that stars Michael Caine. Caine stars as British gangster
Jack Carter whose brother dies under mysterious circumstances in which
he suspects is murder. He then sets out to investigate his brother's
death and will not stop or hold anything back. This is a pretty violent
film and is not for everyone. I do always enjoy Caine in action films
though. Some may not like it for the way it may glorify a gangster like
Carter. Britt Ekland co-stars in this film as Anna. This is actually
based on a real gangster named Jack Carter that this movie was based
upon and was very critical of the movie.
Dumbo
(1941): Now I bring in a more family oriented film that is a Disney
classic. We first meet a stork who is giving animals their children.
Now I'm not sure where this stork concept started but this really
emphasizes how it's a stork that delivers babies. Circus elephant Mrs.
Jumbo finally gets her elephant baby who she calls Jumbo Jr. The
elephants of the group are full of women and Jumbo seems to be the only
nice one as the others are very judgmental of her baby elephant because
of his really big ears. One of them soon dubs the baby elephant as the
title name. Dumbo soon gets separated from his mother and also finds he
does not fit in the circus act with the other elephants. He soon gets
relegated to doing work with the clowns. He soon meets a very energetic
mouse named Timothy who does not judge Dumbo for his ears and tries to
help him get to good spirits eventually exposing a pretty cool gift that
Dumbo has. This is a movie that really teaches acceptance and has some
pretty funny moments. There is some crows later in the movie and one
even named Jim but they are pretty funny while being a bit
stereotypical. There is also a really good pink elephant sequence.
This is available on Instant Netflix and glad to see more Disney
available there now.
Joe
Kidd (1972): This is my western for the week which was directed by
John Sturges and written by Elmore Leonard who was more known for his
novels made into a movie but this just appears to be a screenplay.
Clint Eastwood stars as the title character who is a former bounty
hunter and has a small run in with the law. John Saxon co-stars as a
leader of a Mexican group named Luis Chama whose land claims are denied
and burned in a fire which really sets them off. Robert Duvall plays a
wealthy landowner named Frank Harlan who brings in a group of killers to
track Chama and wants Joe involved going so far as to paying his legal
fines. He's at first reluctant to join but then Chama does some things
that are very unsettling to Joe. Once joining, he realizes they are not
a good group of people. This is a pretty good Eastwood western and his
westerns tend to be my favorite. This is also available on Instant
Netflix.
Peter
Gabriel: New Blood (2011): This is my concert video for the week
which you might have guessed includes Peter Gabriel. Everyone who knows
me well enough knows that I am a big Peter Gabriel fan and is my
favorite singer. I had the pleasure of seeing him in 2003 in concert. I
have just about every cd he has put out and about every live dvd. This
comes from his latest album NEW BLOOD where he makes orchestral
arrangements of some of his biggest songs and has an amazing orchestra.
It also includes some of his remakes from the SCRATCH MY BACK albums. I
also own live dvd SHAKING THE TREE and GROWING UP and like those better
in terms of her is more active on stage but this has its moments too.
There are a lot of good art work in the background. I also like that he
does not have SLEDGEHAMMER on this one. I also like on this one that
he does his song WALLFLOWER which is not usually performed live and is
even better cd versions. Other singers he has on hand is his daughter
Melanie who is very talented in his own right as well as female singer
Ane Brun. Peter Gabriel is someone who is very underrated in my opinion
and if people listen to him past SLEDGEHAMMER, they might find they
like him the way I do. I first heard about Peter when I was in middle
school or so and started seeing his very interesting videos. I really
took note of him as a singer when I was visiting my dad's house and
listening to his DMX which I believe was a satellite radio where I heard
his song GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS and then slowly became a full-fledged
fan and have never turned back. I have mostly gotten away from the
mainstream music scene and have tastes that flow from Gabriel. This is a
very good live performance and deserves a look.
Hero
(2002): I end this week with this Hong Kong film directed by Yimou
Zhang. Jet Li stars as a nameless assassin in ancient pre-unified China
who is looking to assassinate the tyrant ruler, played by Daoming
Chan. To get to this ruler, he must defeat three assassins where they
go into flashbacks from different points of view as he tells Emperor Qin
the story of how he defeated these assassins. Donnie Yen, Maggie
Cheung, Tony Leung, and Ziyi Zhang all co-star in this story. The first
time I saw this movie, I did not think a lot of it but then when I
watched it a second time, it really stood out for me. There are a lot
of good fight scenes and a great music score. I found that it is a very
well told story with some of Hong Kong's best. I call this the third
of a trilogy which consists of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, HOUSE OF
FLYING DAGGERS and this complements the two very well. This is based on
a true story but could not find enough information to determine if it
has any accuracy but a beautiful film either way.HONORABLE TV MENTION
House
of Cards (2013- current): I decided to include a tv series this week
so I included this rather ambitious series. Kevin Spacey stars as the
Majority Whip Frank Underwood who gets passed over for for a position he
was promised and looks to manipulate his way to president in modern day
Washington D.C. Kate Mara co-stars as reporter Zoe Barnes who feels
she is not getting much respect and forms an unusual alliance with
Underwood that benefits her career and his quest in politics. Robin
Wright co-stars as Frank's ambitious wife Claire who is along for the
ride. This had quite an array of directors like David Fincher and Joel
Schumacher. I found that this is a remake of a British mini-series of
the same title in 1990. When this first came out, I expected to see an
episode per week but they released the whole season at the same time and
was very successful. This is only available on Instant Netflix and I'm
now ready for season two.Well that is it for this week. Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Drew Barrymore, more John C. Reilly, Martin Scorsese, more Jodie Foster and many others.
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