Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 391st Edition

 

Welcome to the 391st Edition of my long-running series.  Hope everyone is having a good Mother's Day whether spending it as a mom or celebrating with your mom.  Before I get to my recommendations for the week, I want to give a reminder that my friends Travis and Sarah are looking to shoot a documentary about Sarah's family and are looking for donations in order to get a camera for filming.  I think this will be a great feature and you can learn more about the project and how to donate at http://www.gofundme.com/Family-Documentary .  I will now get to my movies for the week.

Bolt (2008):  I start the week out with this Disney animation film.  Byron Howard and Chris Williams direct this film about a dog of the title, voiced by John Travolta, who is the star of a fictional series where he is a heroic dog.  This dog is made to believe that everything he does is real.  Soon, Bolt gets separated by the studio on accident and meets an female alley cat named Mittens, voiced by Susie Essman, and a hamster named Rhino, voiced by Mark Walton, who help Bolt find his way back.  Along the journey, Bolt learns that his powers are not real and neither is the show so in a sense, I suppose this could be another TRUMAN SHOW.  Miley Cyrus provides the voice of Penny, who is the human star of the tv show but does not like the way Bolt is treated.  Malcolm McDowell, James Lipton, Greg Germann, Diedrich Bader, Chloe Grace Moretz, Randy Savage, John Dimaggio, and many others provide their voices.  This is a very fun Disney film that the whole family can watch and has pretty good messages.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012):  Lorene Scafaria wrote and directed this comedy about the apocalypse.  An asteroid named Matilda is on a collision course with the earth and is inevitable.  THE OFFICE alum Steve Carell stars as Dodge who is an insurance agent and his wife Linda, ironically played by Steve's own wife Nancy Carell, leaves him.  He decides he wants to make the most of his three weeks on Earth and sets out to pursue his high school love.  Joining him is his neighbor Penny, played by Keira Knighley, who is having problems of her own in her life.  In their search, they begin to develop feelings for each other.  Adam Brody, Melanie Lynskey, Patton Oswalt, CSI alum William Peterson, Derek Luke, and Martin Sheen co-star.  I'm not usually big on apocalyptic films but this was a pretty well done film with some funny moments and the stars working well together.

Knights of the South Bronx (2005):  This is my tv movie for the week which was directed by Allen Hughes.  CHEERS and BECKER alum Ted Danson stars as Richard who is a businessman between jobs and takes a teaching job at an inner city school for fourth grade.  At first he was overwhelmed with the cynical children who did not seem to feel they had anything to live for.  Richard then uses his expertise towards chess to teach the children how to play which slowly gives these kids something to live for and in turn helped them with other things in school.  He then sets out to enter them into a chess tournament which not only must he teach them how to play but also how to act.  Malcolm David Kelley, Keke Palmer, Clifton Powell, Devon Bostick, and Kate Vernon all co-star in this movie.  This is actually inspired by a true story and is pretty realistic.  Children do function a lot better if they have something to live for and do on a daily basis.  It also made me think of something my mom's friend said to her young granddaughter which was "if you don't find something you like to do, you're going to get in trouble" which I find to be very true.  This is a very inspirational movie that even made me shed tears at times.  Danson is great in his role.

The Wabbit Who Came to Supper (1942):  As you might guess from the title, this is a cartoon short which features Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny.  Elmer soon learns that he will inherit a lot of money but part of it is not to harm animals especially rabbits which will be very hard for him.  Bugs soon does what he can to exploit it and takes advantage in comical ways.  This was a pretty different one for the two in which Elmer Fudd must use restraint.  Fritz Freleng directed this one and is very enjoyable one and one you can probably find on youtube. 

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935):  This is part two of a Univeral Horror series which last week I featured THE INVISIBLE MAN which was directed by the same person James Whale.  This is a sequel to the 1931 film FRANKENSTEIN which is actually my favorite of this series in Universal Horror.  This continues with Boris Karloff reprising his role as the creature where he is learning more about the world.  He soon even learns to speak which is something he did not do in the first one.  In this one, he has an encounter with a blind man which is a common scene in just about any adaptation of the horror classic.  The creature meets a blind hermit who is the first person that does not fear him as he does not see him and form a friendship.  A lot of what Frankenstein is about is the fear of the unknown and the blind man does not see the unknown.  When the creature, is separated he sets out in pursuit of Dr. Henry Frankenstein, who is reprised by Colin Clive.  Henry is about to get his life together and is soon getting married.  Things then become more complicated when being visited by Doctor Pretorius, played by Ernest Theisger, who is even madder than Dr. Frankenstein.  The creature then demands he is made a mate and Frankenstein does not agree until Pretorius kidnaps his fiance, played by Valerie Hobson.  Elsa Lanchester plays the Bride but is billed as "?" like Karloff was in the first one.  Lanchester is credited though as playing FRANKENSTEIN author Mary Shelley who in the beginning is explaining how her story continues.  Una O'Connor and Dwight Frye co-star in this film.  This is probably my favorite horror franchise and even had the honor of being in a stage version where I played an evil grave digger.  In these, Frankenstein is portrayed as more of a mad scientist and even change his name from Victor to Henry which I never really understood.  This started out as a novel which like last week's feature from Universal, it consists of a scientist with good intentions but go awry.  I tend to like later versions like CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN by Hammer Films but these are important and help get the franchise going.  This is available on Instant Netflix and is a good classic horror film, especially the scene of the creature and blind man bonding.  I want to remind everyone that Frankenstein is Dr. Frankenstein and that the Creature is not Frankenstein but Frankenstein's Monster.  The bride also has a very iconic look that has been parodied many times even if only having a five minute appearance.

Wise Blood (1979):  This is part two of my Harry Dean Stanton series that could go four parts.  John Huston directs this film, while also having a cameo appearance, which is based on a novel by Flannery O'Connor.  Brad Dourif stars as Hazel Motes who is in a small town where he witnesses much fraud in the religious community and is tired of them judging others.  His response is to start a new church but one without Jesus and calls it the Church of Truth.  Harry Dean Stanton co-stars as blind preacher Asa Hawks who does not like what Hazel is doing.  Amy Wright and Ned Beatty co-star in this movie.  It is really hard to explain a movie like this one but is a very good character study on a man who is very idealistic but slowly corrodes his life.  Dourif is very good in this film and is most known for voicing Chucky in the CHILD'S PLAY films.  The Criterion Collection released this on DVD and is really worth a watch and seems like an interesting time for me to watch it being in INHERIT THE WIND.

Everything is Illuminated (2005):  Liev Schreiber directed and wrote the screenplay based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.  Elijah Wood stars as Jonathan who is a young American Jew journeying to Ukraine in search of a woman named Augustine who saved his Grandfather during a Nazi invasion.  Eugene Hutz co-stars as Alex who is part of a family touring business looks to help Alex along with his "blind" grandfather and crazy dog.  I really was not sure what to expect but found some unexpected laughs in the interactions of the eccentric Ukraine family.  Hutz is a lot of fun as Alex who is the interpreter for Jonathan.  They soon set off on a difficult but very rewarding journey to help Jonathan find what he is looking for.  In looking into this furthur, Foer appears to have written some biographical moments and turned it into more of a fiction.  In watching this, I found this to be a very funny and moving film with very good performances.  This is one that should be more on the radar so I hope this helps.

America, America (1963):  I came across this film at the library and it sounded rather interesting.  Elia Kazan wrote and directed this movie which starts out with Kazan narrating the story of his uncle whose immigration journey to the United States made his own life possible.  Stathis Giallelis stars in this film as Stavros who is a greek living in the country of Anatolia, where the Greeks and Armenian minorities were repressed by majority Turks.  He soon dreamed of a better life and begins a long and difficult journey in his quest to get to America.  Kazan did a great job of casting more unknown people for a more authentic feel.  The only actors who are somewhat known are John Marley and Joanna Frank.  Kazan has also called this his favorite of the ones he has directed as this is a very personal story to him.  Giallelis was good in his role as the kind-hearted but naive Stavros and carries the movie well which is almost three hours long.  I had never heard of this movie before encountering it in the library and was a pleasant surprise and also needs more exposure.

Margin Call (2011):  This is part two of a two-part Paul Bettany series.  J.C. Chandor wrote and directed this film taking a look at the dark side of the corporate world.  This movie takes place at a financial company which is downsizing and Eric, played by Stanley Tucci, who is the risk management division head is the first victim.  Before he was fired, he was working on a financial analysis soon finished by Will, played by Paul Bettany, and finds that there is a financial disaster that could cause everyone else to lose their job.  In this 24 hour period, everyone tries to work together to address the situation.  Kevin Spacey, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Jeremy Irons, HEROES alum Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, and Simon Baker co-star in this rather compelling film.  The actors do a very good job of portraying their characters in this bad situation.  This movie is available on Instant Netflix and deserves a look.

The Mark of Zorro (1940):  I end this week with film featuring the iconic Zorro which I believe is the best movie on Zorro.  Tyrone Power plays the title character whose real name is Don Diego Vega who returns to California after being in Spain.  He soon finds that his town is under a corrupt dictatorship in which is father is forced out.  Looking to address the oppression, Vega becomes the masked avenger Zorro who is kind of a Robin Hood figure.  Basil Rathbone co-stars as Pasquale who is the most villainous of the film.  This movie has some great dialogue and action scenes with Power doing great as Zorro.  I have always been a fan of the character as I have been Zorro for Halloween and I went to the movie theater to see THE LEGEND OF ZORRO while I was dressed as Zorro.  Zorro is a character created by Johnston McCulley in 1919 for pulp magazines and this movie was based on the story THE CURSE OF CAPISTRANO and has since been portrayed many times in film and television.  Keep in mind, this is really in many ways the inspiration for the dual identity like with Bruce Wayne and Batman.  Also, Power did his own fencing and Rathbone, who was a fencer spoke very highly of him.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and dislike.  Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Diane Lane, Anne Hathaway, James Stewart, Anne Bancroft, Allison Lohman, Bette Davis, more Harry Dean Stanton, Jessica Chastain, and many others.