Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 394th Edition

Welcome to the 394th Edition of my series.  Right now, I am busy with rehearsals for INHERIT THE WIND that is happening at the Anderson Mainstage Theatre in Anderson.  The show is going very well and starts in a couple of weeks and will give more information next week.  I learned that in July, I will be making my debut in Farmland, Indiana and in my first Shakespeare show of ROMEO AND JULIET in which I have two parts.  I play Abram in the first scene and then I become Paris.  Before I get to this week's selections, I ask that you visit my friend Sarah's page at http://www.gofundme.com/Family-Documentary where she is looking for donations to get a camera in order to shoot a documentary on some events that happened in her family.  I really believe this will be good if she is able to do it.  I will now get on with my selections for the week.

All the Little Animals (1998):  This is part three of my three-part Christian Bale series.  Jeremy Thomas directed this film based on the novel by Walter Hamilton and was pleasantly surprised by this one.  Bale plays a mentally slow young man named Bobby whose mother has just died and is now under the care of his very sadistic and abusive stepfather, played by Daniel Benzali.  He soon runs away from home and meets a strange man named Mr. Summers, played by John Hurt, who uses his time to find roadkill and bury it.  Summers soon takes in Bobby becoming a better father figure than his stepfather and teaches him his ways.  I really liked Bale in this movie and seeing him play a more lighter role than usual.  Hurt was also very good as his mysterious character.  I will say that I was quite moved by this film.  This is good early Bale and is worth a look in my opinion.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006):  I continue with part two of my two-part Emily Blunt series as well as Tracie Thoms who were both in last week's feature LOOPER and both have good parts in this movie.  David Frankel directed this movie that was based on the novel by Lauren Weisberger.  Anne Hathaway stars as Andy Sachs who has just graduated with a journalism degree and takes a job with fashion magazine Runway even if she does not fit into that world.  She is the second assistant to the ruthless and powerful executive Miranda Priestley and takes it as a temporary personal challenge.  Emily Blunt co-stars as Emily who advises Andy on how to act around their cruel boss.  Stanley Tucci co-stars as Nigel who has worked there for a long time and helps Andy dress better to fit into the workplace.  Andy slowly begins to fit in more and more with the magazine causing tension with her friends and family.  ENTOURAGE alum Adrian Grenier plays Andy's boyfriend who has a hard time dealing with her schedule and the person she is becoming.  Simon Baker, Rich Sommer, Daniel Sunjata, David Marshall Grant, and James Naughton co-star in this film.  This is a very interesting look into the fashion world and similar to the tv series that came out about that year UGLY BETTY in terms of the main character not really fitting into that world and must adjust to the other personalities.  Meryl Streep is great in her role as the ruthless boss but a complex performance.  I really liked Hathaway in what appears to be a trademark role for her in characters who do not fit in very well but must learn to fit in like THE PRINCESS DIARIES.  This is one that some really liked and some did not so just use your judgment.  That's all.

The Getaway (1972):  Sam Peckinpah directed this movie based on the novel by Jim Thompson.  Steve McQueen stars as ex-con Doc McCoy who has just been paroled.  Ben Johnson co-stars as the corrupt Sheriff Beynon who arranges his parole but has the catch that he must rob a bank.  Joining Doc is his wife Carol, played by Ali MacGraw, who goes along with the plan.  Al Lettieri co-stars as Rudy, who is a partner of the robbery.  The heist goes absolutely awry and Doc and Carol must escape Beynon and Rudy who are both after him.  Slim Pickens also co-stars in this film.  This is my favorite of Steve McQueen that I have seen which had a great blend of action and drama with good performances from him and MacGraw who work very well together.

Winning Your Wings (1942):  This is my short film for the week which is an Air Force promotional video directed by John Huston and has real-life Air Force member James Stewart who joined the military during WWII and encourages people to join the Air Force.  He talks about the benefits and many others things.  This is a pretty good and interesting video and something we likely will not see today as we really don't see many celebs joining the military like we did then as it was far more supported in that era.  This is available to see on Youtube and is quite good to watch to see the difference then and now as far as military goes.

Kid Galahad (1937):  This is part two of my two-part Edward G. Robinson series and part one of a two-part Humphrey Bogart series.  Michael Curtiz directed this early boxing film.  Robinson stars as boxing promoter Nick Donati whose last protege did not work out.  At a party, he sees a bellhop named Ward, played by Wayne Morris, punch out a champion and soon sees potential in him as a future champion.  Ward is a rather naive and innocent man being brought into a world that is not that way but is open to making that money to start his farm and is soon rebilled as the title name.  Nick begins to change his mind when his mistress Fluff, played well by Bette Davis, begins to fall for him and Ward begins to fall for Nick's sister Marie, played by Jane Bryan.  Humphrey Bogart co-stars as more of a villainous promoter leading into a rather violent climax at the end.  This is a pretty good early look into the world of boxing and has a great story as well as performances.

Jane Eyre (2011):  This is the latest adaption to the classic novel by Charlotte Bronte and there have been many.  Cary Fukunaga directs this adaptation which stars Mia Wasikowska as the title character who had a very bleak childhood and finds work at the Thornfield Hall.  Michael Fassbender plays Rochester who is the head of Thornfield Hall and can be rather dark and cold in his personality but soon forms a friendship and relationship with Jane.  A secret of Rochester could destroy their future.  I will admit, I do not believe I have seen any of the other productions but judging this movie as a whole, I thought it was pretty well done.  It had a good look into that time period with good costumes and performances.  Jamie Bell, Amelia Clarkson, Sally Hawkins, Judi Dench and many others co-star in this film. This is a pretty good period piece if you are into that genre.

Africa Screams (1949):  Now I bring Abbott and Costello in a more unknown movie.  In this movie, they play bookstore employees Buzz and Stanley.  Buzz convinces a customer named Linda, played by Hilary Brooke, that Stanley is an expert on Africa knowing she has a lot of money.  She then leads a group that abducts them and actually takes them to Africa in search of diamonds though leads them to think it is for the Orangutan Gargantua and along the way encounter lion tamers, lions, a gorilla, and a group of cannibals.  There are some pretty funny moments like Costello's fear of animals and an encounter with a lion and a cage.  Look for Joe Besser and Shemp Howard who are known as the "4th and 5th stooges" of Three Stooges fame.  This is more for fans of classic comedy and Abbott and Costello and is available on Instant Netflix.

Meet the Robinsons (2007):  This is my Disney animation selection for the week.  This centers around Lewis, voiced by both Daniel Hanson and Jordan Fry, who has been orphaned all his life and is quite the young inventor.  He soon meets a mysterious boy named Wilbur Robinson, voiced by Wesley Singerman, who turns out to be from the future and has a time machine which is was Lewis has always wanted.  Wilbur enlists Lewis to go in his time machine to help catch the Bowler Hat man, played by Stephen J. Anderson, and soon has quite the twist of fate.  Angela Bassett provides the voice to Mildred who is the very nice head of the orphanage.  If I talk too much more about this, I will likely give it away.  It is a very complex movie involving time travel but also has a good story and message to it.  Tom Kenny, who is most known as the voice of Spongebob, has a voice as Mr. Willerstein.  Laurie Metcalf, Harland Williams, Nicole Sullivan, Adam West, and Tom Selleck also provide voices.  This is a pretty complex film but still pretty easy to follow in the twists and is good for the kids and adults.  There are also a few good movie references that some may or may not get.  Keep Moving Forward.

Doctor Dolittle (1967):  Richard Fleischer directed this movie which is based on the novels by Hugh Lofting. Before there was Eddie Murphy, Rex Harrison starred as the title character.  Dr. John Dolittle decides he no longer wants to deal with humans as a doctor and learns how to communicate with animals and becomes a veterinarian.  Anthony Newley, Samantha Newley, Richard Attenborough, and Peter Bull all co-star in this family movie.  I do not feel there is much need to go into much more details.  I will say I have not seen the remake but I'm aware that in that one, each animal speaks in English but in this one, Dolittle knows how to translate most animals.  This movie is about two and a half hours and is also a musical.  I don't know that it needed to be this long and I was not big on the encounter and dealings with some island natives.  If you want an explanation, just message me.  The rest of the movie was a lot of fun though with Harrison great in the title role and is a movie like the last selection that the family can watch.

D.C. Cab (1983):  I end this edition with this guilty pleasure directed by a young Joel Schumacher.  This centers around a group of cab drivers in Washington D.C.  Adam Baldwin stars as Albert who has aspirations to start his own cab company which is always what he has wanted to do.  He then joins the group of the title run by his father's friend Harold, played by Max Gail.  This company includes the likes of Mr. T, Gary Busey, a young Bill Maher, Otis Day, Paul Rodriguez, Charlie Barnett, need I say more?  This movie is quite politically incorrect and much of the time quite illogical but if you approach it with the right attitude, it can be very enjoyable.  Irene Cara plays herself in this movie.  It is probably one to get a group of friends together to watch.  This is available on Instant Netflix and is enjoyable if looking for a little fun, I mean where can you go wrong with people like Mr. T and Gary Busey?  A funny thing I read is that Jim Carrey auditioned but Schumacher did not cast him on account of believing that Carrey was too talented to be in the ensemble.

That is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes more Humphrey Bogart, Hugh Jackman, and many others.  Continue to read as I return with the honorable tv mention.

HONORABLE TV MENTION

The Avengers:  Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2010-2012):  I will be the first to admit, I have never been a heavy comic book reader and get into the superhero genre through the movies and lately animated cartoon series like this one.  In 2012, we got exposed to the movie THE AVENGERS which is possibly by favorite superhero film.  I soon came across this animated series and really took to this series.  The series starts out with individual episodes of Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Captain America, Ant-Man, Wasp, and Black Panther.  You'll notice the last three characters were not in the live-action film though there is set to be one of Ant-Man but has not been cast as of yet.  In the movie, Nick Fury of the S.H.I.E.L.D. finds a way to bring these guys together.  In the series, Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, brings together these character to form the Avengers and would also take in Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, who left S.H.I.E.L.D. to join them.  Stark brought them together after many villains imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. escaped so thought it best to team up and they ended up staying in Tony Stark's mansion.  In this series, the Avengers try to distance themselves from S.H.E.I.L.D. as much as they can but work with them with necessary though have a very uneasy alliance.  One thing, I favor the series over the movie is the development of the character of Hawkeye where in this movie, he is portrayed as just as strong of a character as the others where in the movie I thought him a bit underdeveloped in the film but will hopefully do more in later movie.  In this series, he reminds me of the Flash from the Justice League in terms of his smartalec attitude.  In the series, I would have liked to have seen more from the character Black Widow who I thought was portrayed very well in the film but used sparingly in this cartoon series.  Other characters that would join the Avengers later in the series include Ms. Marvel, the Vision, and sometimes Captain Marvel.  There are many guest appearances from superheroes like the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Wolverine, War Machine, Heroes for Hire Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and many others.  I did learn more and more about much of these characters and now know what to expect for the upcoming CAPTAIN AMERICA:  WINTER SOLDIER.  I thought all the characters and the villains were very well-developed.  I am aware that there is now a new animated series that recently started called AVENGERS ASSEMBLE which I have recorded but have not gotten to it yet.  I have heard mixed reactions and will soon check it out for myself.  This is available on Instant Netflix which is where I found it.  I will now start getting into some of those more often.