Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 393rd Edition

Welcome to the 393rd edition of my series.  I had a great birthday on Wednesday so I want to thank everyone involved in that great evening. I'm still awaiting casting for ROMEO AND JULIET which should happen this week.  Also, please visit http://www.gofundme.com/Family-Documentary and if you can, please help my friend Sarah in getting a camera to get her documentary off the ground.  I believe it will be quite good if she is able to do it.  I will now get to my recommendations.

The Fighter (2010):  This is part two of my Christian Bale series which I know will have three parts but possibly four.  David O. Russell directed this biopic of the early years of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward, played very well by Mark Wahlberg.  Bale plays Ward's half-brother Dicky Eklund and won a Best Supporting Actor academy award for his portrayal.  This takes place in a small Massachusetts town in which Micky is considered more of a brawler and considered a "stepping stone" for better boxers but is not the kind of career he wants.  Dicky is a local hero and lives through his claim to fame in a match against Sugar Ray Leonard where he managed to knock him down but eventually lose.  He is also dealing with a drug addiction and is under the belief he is being filmed by HBO for a career comeback but is really being filmed for a documentary about drug addiction.  Both of their careers are being managed by their domineering mother Alice, played very well by Melissa Leo.  In a move done by Alice and Dicky that ends with very bad results for Micky, he comes to believe they are more looking out for themselves.  Amy Adams co-stars as a local bartender named Charlene who becomes Micky's love interest and helps him stand up against his family who she believes is holding him back.  RESCUE ME alum Jack McGee co-stars as Micky's more understanding father.  Micky's manager Mickey O'Keefe actually plays himself in the film.  There are also many cameos from the boxing community as well as the real-life Dicky Eklund making a cameo.  This gave a very authentic look into the world of boxing and gave great performances.

Looper (2012):  This is part two of my two-part Joseph Gordon-Levitt series but part one of a two-part Emily Blunt series.  Rian Johnson wrote and directed this very interesting futuristic film on the mafia.  Gordon-Levitt plays a "looper" named Joe who works for the mafia in killing people who are sent back in time.  He seems to have everything going for him until he sees his future self, played by Bruce Willis, who then hesitates resulting in an escape from his older self which is looked down upon and makes his life more complicated.  In seeing his future self, he also learns some things about his life and meets Suzie, played by Piper Perabo, whose son Cid, played by Pierce Gagnon in what I believe is possibly the creepiest performance by a child I have seen, who has quite a future ahead of him.  This is a rather complicated film and if I say anything else, I really believe I'm giving it away.  Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Noah Segan, Jeff Daniels, Tracie Thoms, and Garret Dillahunt all co-star in this rather clever sci-fi film that might need a couple viewings to grasp and does require full attention but with reward.  Gordon-Levitt really did a good job in playing to Willis who I thought were very believable as young and old selves and watched a lot of Willis films to impersonate mannerisms.

Thursday (1998):  Skip Woods wrote and directed this crime drama.  Thomas Jane stars as Casey who has been a drug dealer in L.A. and moves to Houston to try and start a new life.  It is there, he makes a new life for himself as an architect and is married to someone named Christine, played by Paula Marshall, who is unaware of his past.  Things get very complicated when his old cohort Nick, played by Aaron Eckhart, comes to visit and brings a lot of heroin.  Not wanting to return to the lifestyle, Casey sinks the dope down the drain where he then must deal with some very touch customers.  Paulina Porizkova co-stars as Dallas who is Nick's current partner in crime and love interest.  I admit that I had not heard of this movie but found that Mickey Rourke was in it so gave it a show and I really enjoyed it.  Rourke does not come in until the end but in quite good in his part.  Michael Jeter, James Le Gros, and Glenn Plummer.  I really liked the way the movie began which was a scene involving Nick and Dallas where they get right to the point.  This had a pretty good blend of action, comedy, and drama and is available on Instant Netflix.

Plane Crazy (1928):  This is my animated short for the week which features Mickey Mouse in his first cartoon, just not the first to be released which was STEAMBOAT WILLIE.  In this short, Mickey tries to imitate Charles Lindbergh and builds his own plane where Minnie Mouse joins him in his flight.  At the same time of Mickey flying, he also makes advances on Minnie which are unsuccessful leading to some pretty funny moments.  Also making an appearance is Clarabelle the Cow which is the first one from all of these.  My understanding for the reason this was not released right away was because Walt Disney was under contract to Universal with his character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit which was pretty much a predecessor to Mickey Mouse.

Larceny, Inc. (1942):  This is possibly part one of an Edward G. Robinson series.  Lloyd Bacon directs this heist comedy that stars Robinson, Broderick Crawford, and Jack Carson as three ex-cons who just get released and plan on resorting to their old ways of robbery.  They do want to be careful about it though and they buy a business right by a bank as their front so that they can dig a hole to get to it without having to hold it up.  They soon experience some unexpected success with the business which makes their leader Robinson abandon that plan.  Anthony Quinn plays Leo who gets word of their plan and will not let them go legit as he looks to move in on the plan.  This is more of a comedy from Robinson and is pretty entertaining, especially the things that go wrong when digging the hole in attempt to get to the bank.  Harry Davenport, Jane Wyman, and Jackie Gleason also co-star in this film.

Executive Action (1973):  David Miller directs this film and the screenplay was written by Dalton Trumbo.  This is a movie where we see the planning for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  We all know that there will never be a full answer to what happened and this is pure speculation as per the disclaimer before the movie.  Burt Lancaster stars as the leader of this group of James Farrington, a black-ops specialist who leads the group in their plan to assassinate the president.  This group consists of rogue intelligence agents, ultra-conservative politicians, greedy businessmen, and free-lance assassins.  This was a pretty compelling look of what could have happened though just about everyone has their opinion on the matter.  Robert Ryan, Will Geer, and Ed Lauter also co-star in this movie.  We will never know the accuracy but this is a good place to start in the events that lead up to November 22, 1963.

The Desert Fox:  The Story of Rommel (1951):  I now bring the Nazi era where James Mason stars as Nazi Erwin Rommel whose nickname is of the title.  He was a very well-respected general who lead a group called the Afrika Corps.  As much as he was respected, he did not agree with much of Hitler's beliefs and ignored many of his orders.  Later, Hitler suspected Rommel of being a part of the plot to assassinate Hitler.  Jessica Tandy co-stars as Rommel's wife.  To my knowledge, there is no proof that he did take part but Hitler thought so and that is all that mattered.  Mason is great in his role as Rommel.  Luther Adler played the part of Hitler and while he had the look, he sounded too American for me but Mason's performance makes it worth the watch.  Cedric Hardwicke, Leo G. Carroll, and Richard Boone co-star in this film that is available on Instant Netflix.

Brooklyn's Finest (2009):  Antoine Fuqua directs this movie where we see the lives of three unconnected cops.  Don Cheadle plays Tango who is an undercover cop who is promised a promotion but must set-up the bust of an ex-con, played by Wesley Snipes, who saved his life.  Ethan Hawke plays Sal, who is a family man but has fell short of cash and is resorting to corruption to get a big enough house for his family.  Richard Gere plays Eddie who is a week away from retirement but witnesses a very bad situation and but make a decision on what is right.  All three really do a good job, and I thought that Gere stood out from the three.  Will Patton, Lili Taylor, Michael Kenneth Williams, Ellen Barkin, and Vincent D'Onofrio co-star in this movie.  This is not great but is a good look at the lives of these officers and how much it can take a toll.  

The Man Called Flintstone (1966):  I found this one in the library and just could not resist.  This is the first feature length movie for the famous cartoon family THE FLINTSTONES.  In this, an agent named Rock Slag is injured during a chase in Bedrock and Fred bears a big resemblance so he is recruited to replace Slag.  Fred is soon sent to Paris and then to Rome taking Wilma, Barney, and Betty and their kids Bam-Bam and Pebbles but cannot tell them of the real reason they are going.  This is a pretty good spy spoof and based on the original cartoon which was made right after it ended but many new incarnations came after this one.  One thing I learned is that Mel Blanc, most known for Bugs Bunny, voiced Barney Rubble which I did not know.  For those of you that do not know the Flintstones were a stone age family in a parody to the modern times like having a foot-powered car.  Both fans of the cartoon and those who have not seen it can really enjoy this though it might be good to watch a few episodes to know the characters.

She's So Lovely (1997):  I now end with this part four of my Harry Dean Stanton series that was directed by Nick Cassavetes while his father John wrote the screenplay.  We start out in this movie with Maureen, played by Robin Wright, who is pregnant and her husband Eddie, played by Sean Penn, is missing.  During her worries, she then shares a couple drinks with her neighbor Kiefer, played by SOPRANOS alum James Gandolfini, who then proceeds to rape and beat her.  When Eddie returns, he soon goes ballistic and a tragedy makes him go into a psychiatric institution.  He finally gets out after ten years and finds that Maureen divorced, remarried to a man named Joey, played by John Travolta, and even got her life together through Joey.  Eddie then sets out to take back Maureen who has a big decision to make.  Debi Mazar, Chloe Webb, Burt Young and Gena Rowlands co-star in this film.  I really do enjoy this movie and the performances.  I thought they did a good job of jumping into the many years later and showing how far everyone had come.  The three leads work together very well and Travolta puts on one of his best performances in my opinion.  This was not a very upbeat film but still a decent character driven one.  I also felt the beginning does a good job of showing what can happen when a couple does not know how to communicate.  This is available on Instant Netflix.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and hate.  Stay tuned for next week which so far includes more Christian Bale, more Emily Blunt, Steve McQueen, and many others.

FUN AND USELESS FACTS

Emily Blunt (Looper) turned down a role in this week's feature THE FIGHTER.

Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter), Thomas Jane (Thursday) and Don Cheadle (Brooklyn's Finest) were in the 1997 film BOOGIE NIGHTS.

Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter) declined playing Jake Roenick in the 2005 movie ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 which would ultimately go to Ethan Hawke (Brooklyn's Finest).

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN BATMAN FRANCHISE
-Christian Bale (The Fighter) plays Batman in all three films.
-Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Looper) plays Blake in the 2012 film THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.
-Aaron Eckhart (Thursday) plays Harvey Dent in the 2008 film THE DARK KNIGHT.

Christian Bale (The Fighter) and Richard Gere (Brooklyn's Finest) were in the 2007 film I'M NOT THERE where they both played different versions of Bob Dylan.

Christian Bale (The Fighter) and Piper Perabo (Looper) were in the 2006 film THE PRESTIGE.

Christian Bale (The Fighter) plays Jesus Christ in the 1999 movie MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS.  Garret Dillahunt (Looper) plays Jesus in the 2006 tv series THE BOOK OF DANIEL.

Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and James Gandolfini (She's So Lovely) were in the 2010 film WELCOME TO THE RILEYS.

Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and Sean Penn (She's So Lovely) were in the 2003 film 21 GRAMS.

Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and James Le Gros were in the 2011 mini-series MILDRED PIERCE.

Jack McGee (The Fighter) and Mickey Rourke (Thursday) were in the 2005 film DOMINO.

Jack McGee (The Fighter) and James Gandolfini (She's So Lovely) were in the 2001 film THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE.

Jack McGee (The Fighter) and Piper Perabo (Looper) were in the 2000 movie COYOTE UGLY.

Jack McGee (The Fighter) and Glenn Plummer (Thursday) were in the 1995 movie SHOWGIRLS.

Amy Adams (The Fighter) and Emily Blunt (Looper) were in the 2011 film THE MUPPETS, the 2008 film SUNSHINE CLEANING and the 2007 film CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR.  They are good friends in real life.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Looper) joins the cast in the 2013 sequel SIN CITY:  A DAME TO KILL FOR which has Bruce Willis (Looper) and Mickey Rourke (Tuesday) reprising their roles from the 2005 film SIN CITY.  Willis and Rourke also had appearances in the 2010 film THE EXPENDABLES.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Looper) and Mickey Rourke (Thursday) are partners in crime going after Thomas Jane (Thursday) in the 2008 movie KILLSHOT.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Looper) cites Gena Rowlands (She's So Lovely) as one of his favorite actresses.

Bruce Willis (Looper) and John Travolta (She's So Lovely) were in the 1994 film PULP FICTION.  They were also kind of father and son in the LOOK WHO'S TALKING series where Willis provided the voice for Mikey and Travolta played the person Mikey wanted as a father.

Bruce Willis (Looper) and Richard Gere (Brooklyn's Finest) were in the 1997 movie THE JACKAL.

Paul Dano (Looper) and James Gandolfini (She's So Lovely) provided voices to two of the creatures in the 2009 film WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.  Before that, Dano guest-starred in a couple episodes of the HBO series THE SOPRANOS which stars Gandolfini.

Jeff Daniels (Looper) and Glenn Plummer (Thursday) were in the 1994 film SPEED.

Piper Perabo (Looper) and Paula Marshall (Thursday) were in the 2003 movie CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN.

Thomas Jane (Thursday) and John Travolta (She's So Lovely) were in the 1997 film FACE/OFF.  They would then go onto play hero and villain in the 2004 movie THE PUNISHER.

Thomas Jane (Thursday), Mickey Rourke (Thursday), John Travolta (She's So Lovely), and Sean Penn (She's So Lovely) were in the 1998 film THE THIN RED LINE though Rourke's scene was unfortunately deleted though it can be found on Youtube and is a great scene and performance from Rourke.

Aaron Eckhart (Thursday), Mickey Rourke (Thursday), and Robin Wright (She's So Lovely) were in the 2001 film THE PLEDGE.

Michael Jeter (Thursday) and Wesley Snipes (Brooklyn's Finest) were in the 1994 movie DROP ZONE.

Mickey Rourke (Thursday) and Don Cheadle (Brooklyn's Finest) were in the 2010 film IRON MAN 2.

Mickey Rourke (Thursday) and Ellen Barkin (Brooklyn's Finest) were in the 1982 film DINER.

Broderick Crawford (Larceny, Inc) stars as Willie Stark in the 1949 film ALL THE KING'S MEN.  Sean Penn (She's So Lovely) stars in the 2006 remake of the same title.

Jack Carson (Larceny, Inc) and James Mason (Desert Fox) were in the 1954 film A STAR IS BORN.