Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 389th Edition

 

Welcome to the 389th Edition of my series.  I just received word that ROCKY will finally be made into a musical so Broadway beat me to it.  Hopefully it's a great musical.  I am awaiting casting for the play INHERIT THE WIND which will happen in Anderson so I will let know next week if I got a part or not.  I don't really have a lot to say so I'll just get on with my selections.

The Bad News Bears (1976):  I start the week out with this great baseball comedy directed by Michael Ritchie.  Walter Matthau stars as former minor league pitcher Morris Buttermaker who is now a lazy, beer swilling swimming pool cleaner who takes the job of a little league baseball team in Southern California to get some money.  He soon learns the team he has is quite possibly the worst team in little league and they have virtually no talent for baseball.  Finding this, he seeks out the daughter of his ex-girlfriend Amanda, played by Tatum O'neal, who is a very good picture and discovers talent in a motorcycle punk named Kelly Leak, played by Jackie Earle Haley.  When these two join the team, they get a fire and become legitimate contenders.  The portrayals here are very realistic and holds nothing back.  Matthau plays the irresponsible coach to perfection and it gives good focus on the children who also put on good performances.  Vic Morrow plays the rival coach who is the meanest little league coach in movies.  This ranks up as quite possibly the best sports comedy of all time.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012):  This is my superhero film for the week.  Sam Raimi introduced us to the live-action film of Spider-Man and in some ways gave a resurgence to the genre.  There were three and pretty fun action films but saw disappointment in the third one.  I'm not really sure if it was just that in which brought about the reboot but director Marc Webb directed this one which is a more serious version and gives a darker edge.  With the origin story, there are a lot of similarities to the first one but this gives a good spin even going into the disappearance of Peter Parker's parents where he ends up living with his Aunt May, played by Sally Field, and his uncle Ben, played by Martin Sheen.  Andrew Garfield took up the role of Peter Parker who is bit by that radioactive spider giving him his gift to become Spider-Man.  In this movie, Peter is searching for answers about his father which leads him to Oscorp and meeting Dr. Curt Connors, played by Rhys Ifans, who was a partner to his father.  Connors has his own lab experiment which goes wrong where he becomes his alter ego the Lizard who Spider-Man must look to stop.  In the original trilogy, Dylan Baker plays Connors who is Peter's professor and my understanding is that they were soon leading into him becoming the Lizard but this reboot happened.  Emma Stone co-stars as Gwen Stacy who becomes friends with Peter while also forming a love interest.  Dennis Leary also co-stars as Gwen's father who is the captain of the police force who believes that Spider-Man is the enemy.  Garfield played Spider-Man very well and gave more emotional depth to the role in my opinion than what Garfield gave to it though I still like the other franchise.  Emma Stone has become one of my favorite actresses right now and her performance here makes that no different.  Campbell Scott, C. Thomas Howell, and many others have parts in this superhero film.  Next year there is to be a sequel which features Mary Jane and villains like Electro, the Rhino who both are new villains to the motion pictures.  It will also feature other characters the first trilogy not in this one.  I think we have a good franchise ahead of us for Spider-Man and look forward to the futures.  This is available on Starz On-Demand.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920):  This is Travis's selection for the co-op film series and my silent film for the week some say was the first feature horror film.  Robert Wiene directed this classic which stars Werner Krauss as the title character who goes around showing his somnambulist Cesare, played by Conrad Veidt, who awakens from a deep sleep.  Friedrich Feher co-stars as Francis who tells the story of bad events that happened that include murder and the mysterious doctor and his somnambulist.  For those wondering what a somnambulist is, all I can say is to watch the movie and you'll learn.  For those who like silent films, this is a must.  Also, horror movie buffs should give this a look as this is very important to the genre.  I had seen this movie a couple times and even have it on dvd but I liked the idea of seeing it on a bigger screen and was a very good experience.  This is available on Instant Netflix.

Austin Powers:  International Man of Mystery (1997):  This is part one of a two-part series on BUFFY alum Seth Green.  Now I bring the first of a trilogy to the James Bond parody which is directed by Jay Roach.  SNL alum Mike Myers wrote the screenplay and stars as the title character as well as his arch-enemy Dr. Evil, who is modeled after Donald Pleasance's portrayal in the bond film YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE.  Austin agrees to go into a cryofreeze in the 60s for when Dr. Evil returns.  He then comes out of the cryofreeze to deal once again with Dr. Evil while trying to adjust to the ways of the 90s.  Dr. Evil has many henchman like Alotta Fagina, Frau Farbissina, Random Task, and Number Two.  Elizabeth Hurley plays Vanessa Kensington who is assigned to team with Powers in the modern era and while trying to resist his charm, she soon succumbs to it.  Michael York, Mimi Rogers, Robert Wagner, SNL alum Will Ferrell, Clint Howard, and many others co-star in this well-written comedy.  This does deliver a lot of laughs but before watching this, it might do good to watch the first five James Bond films which are the ones most referenced to understand the jokes.

A MOVIE (1958):  This is one of two short films I am using this week.  Bruce Conner directed this interesting short film which tells a really good story through newsreel footage and old movies.  Conner was an artist in many ways and did quite a few short films with this being the most famous.  This is said to be a statement towards poverty and has some great footage that turns it into a great story and work of art.  This is something that can be seen on youtube and is only about 12 minutes long.

Julia (2008):  Erick Zonca directed this very gritty and brutal independent film.  Tilda Swinton stars as the title character who is unemployed, an alcoholic, and very short of money.  She then meets a very unstable Mexican woman who is planning to kidnap her son from the boy's grandfather saying he is a very bad person and talks about having a lot of money.  She then decides to this job on herself in her quest to make money and soon kidnaps the boy named Tom, played by Aidan Gould.  She soon asks his grandfather for the ransom but is connected to Mexican drug trafficking and finds she is in way over her head.  Swinton is great in this role of an alcoholic very desperate to make money.  Saul Rubinek and Jude Ciccoletta also co-star in this film.  There is nothing upbeat about this, there are some pretty disturbing scenes at times, and it is not for everyone but is a very well-written script with good performances.  It is also a rather overlooked independent film that I hope to give more exposure.

The Boy with Green Hair (1948):  I came across this one when on TCM On-Demand which was something I had not heard of but caught my interest.  Dean Stockwell stars as Peter Frye who is an orphan and passed around to selfish relative to the next.  He soon ends up with "Gramp", played by Pat O'Brien, who is an ex-Vaudevillian and far kinder than everyone else.  Peter finally starts to adjust to this new life but is not told about his orphan state and the day after he finds out, his hair mysteriously turns green.  He then must deal with the public who do not know what to do and jump to unreasonable conclusions just because his hair is a different color.  Gramp accepts the new hair as well as his teacher, played by Miss Brand.  Robert Ryan co-stars as a psychiatrist trying to understand Peter.  The movie itself is really a statement towards the horror of war which is the reason for him being an orphan as well as prejudice and intolerance.  As a MOULIN ROUGE fan, I never knew where the song NATURE BOY originated until I watched this movie and it being the theme song.  This was one of those unexpected gems that I found that really should be watched.

Raise the Red Lantern (1991):  This is my Asian film for the week that was directed by Yimou Zhang.  Usually, when I feature Chinese films they are some type of martial arts or some all-out action films but this one is quite different.  Gong Li stars as Songlian who is going to school but when her father dies, she becomes one of the wives to the wealthy Chen Zuoqian.  She becomes the fourth wife and that is a lot of times how they address each other which I found interesting.  They try to live harmoniously but compete for Chen's affections but things get out of hand that lead into tragedy.  If I say more, I might give things away but Yimou Zhang has directed some great movies and this is another one.  Gong Li also puts on a very good performance showing she is one of the best actresses in Hong Kong and pretty known in the states.  When this first came out, it was actually banned in China.  If you like the foreign and Asian cinema, this is one that must be viewed.

Inherit the Wind (1960):  Stanley Kramer directed this film that is based on the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial.  This movie takes place in a small Tennessee town which is a very religious town.  Dick York co-stars as Bertram Cates who believes in the Darwin theory and tries to teach it to his class only to get arrested.  Fredric March stars as fundamentalist prosecutor Matthew Brady who is very strong towards his religious beliefs.  Spencer Tracy stars as attorney Henry Drummond who is far more open-minded and defends Cates with everything he has.  Gene Kelly plays E.K. Hornbeck who is a newspaper reporter and finds the way the town is very laughable and tries to help get Cates off.  This is a very intense trial film trying to defend a man for expressing his beliefs in a very judgmental town.  This movie is very realistic in the way it portrays those times.  There is a good line in this film from the character of Cates who says "religion is supposed to inspire, not put fear into anyone" and that is so well said.  I have seen people who are church goers and are very judgmental towards others not really thinking about how even the bible says not to judge.  It also fits today in these times when we consider things such as gay marriage and the rights gays are to have.  Some of the events in the film are no better than what we see of the extremist Westboro Baptist Church.  This is a very good movie which lives onto today.

Zombie-American (2005):  This is my second of the short films of this week and decided to check it out after seeing a link on the Horror Movie Madness group I am in on Facebook.  This is kind of a mockumentary short which stars Ed Helms as Glen who is a zombie and wants to show people that they are not all so bad.  He talks about how difficult it is but that he is just like everyone else and teaching tolerance towards zombies.  With the big zombie craze that has happened lately, this was a very interesting spin put onto it.  Ed Helms is perfect as Glen in his pre-OFFICE and HANGOVER roles.

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 Emma Thompson, Scarlett Johansson, Claude Rains, Barbara Stanwyck, Naomi Watts, more Seth Green, and many others.