Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 396th Edition

Welcome to the 396th Edition of my series.  I would like to start by saying Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.  INHERIT THE WIND is going so well and hope people can check this out on either today at 3 pm, Friday or Saturday at the Anderson Mainstage Theatre.  Message me for details.  Also, visit http://www.gofundme.com/Family-Documentary and help support my friend Sarah on her documentary project if you can.  I will now get to my selections for the week.

Laurel Canyon (2002):  I start the week out with this movie wrote and directed by Lisa Cholodenko.  Christian Bale stars as Sam who has just graduated as a psychiatrist and will soon go to grad school.  Kate Beckinsale co-stars as his fiance who along with Sam moves into his mother's house in Laurel Canyon and were under the impression she would be gone but this was not the case.  Frances McDormand plays Sam's mother Jane who is a music producer and still trying to get an album for her boyfriend Ian, played by Alessandro Nivola, released though she seems more interesting in smoking pot and drinking.  Alex slowly becomes more immersed into their lifestyle and getting distracted in writing her dissertation much to Sam's dismay.  Sam though is distracted by an intern named Sara, played by Natascha McElhone, and their relationship is in much danger.  Rick Gonzalez also co-stars in this film.  I actually really enjoyed this complex tale of love and lust and what can happen when people have a hard time communicating.

The Tree of Life (2011):  Terrence Malick wrote and directed this film which is about a family through the point of view of the oldest son Jack, played by Hunter McCracken as a child and Sean Penn as an adult.  As a kid, he struggles with his loss of innocence as well as struggling with his parents' conflicting ways of parenting.  As an adult, Sean Penn plays the part of Jack as a lost soul in the modern world seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life.  Brad Pitt plays the father who is a rather authoritarian father and Jessica Chastain plays the mother who is quite the opposite.  Both of them do a great job. With Malick, his style is quite hit or miss as far as how people will see his films and this is no exception.  We may see people like Pitt, Penn, and Chastain but the real star of this film and others is the cinematography and even the music soundtrack.  It is really hard to describe this rather poetic film and I believe everyone will see this in a different way and a different journey.  The imagery is quite beautiful and the narrative used is quite interesting as well.  If you are not a fan of Malick's previous films, this probably is not for you but if you can just sit down and take it in, it can be rewarding.  This could also demand more than one viewing to be able to take it in.

Australia (2008):  This is part two of my Hugh Jackman series and included OKLAHOMA last week.  Baz Luhrmann directed and co-wrote this film that as you might guess takes place in Australia.  This takes place during WWII and it starts with an English aristocrat named Lady Sarah Ashley, played by Nicole Kidman, who inherits a cattle station, teams with a rough-hewn stock man named Drover, played by Jackman, and an Aborigine boy named Nullah, played well by Brandon Walters, to stop a plot of corrupt cattle barons.  This also takes place during the time when Aborigine children were being taken to become more "westernized" and an attack from Japan that happened shortly after Pearl Harbor.  This movie gets a lot of mixed reaction but I found it to be a very fun romantic adventure with some pretty moving moments at times.  I also thought Kidman and Jackman worked very well together.  I tend to enjoy Baz Luhrman films like MOULIN ROUGE and while it was a little less than three hours, it really did not feel that way to me. 

Weasel Stop (1956):  This is my animated short for the week and this week decided to focus on the Looney Tunes character Foghorn Leghorn who I do not believe I have ever used in the past.  In this one, a shaggy dog is on guard at the chicken coop.  There was a weasel who was looking to get access to the chickens but Foghorn never likes to side with dogs and helps the weasel to get to the dog in some pretty funny moments.  Foghorn was a very big rooster and a stereotypical southern accent being rather obnoxious.  He would usually play pranks on dogs, most notably the Barnyard Dog.

Trouble in Paradise (1932):  Ernst Lubitsch directed what I would call a crime comedy love story.  Herbert Marshall stars as high-class European thief Gaston Monescu who soon meets Lily, played by Miriam Hopkins, who is herself a pickpocket masquerading as a countess.  They decide to team up to rob a beautiful jewelry store owner named Madame Mariette Colet, played by Kay Francis.  They soon become employed by her and make their plans but Gaston's relationship with Colet soon complicates things finding himself having to choose between two beautiful women.  This has some great direction, performances, and dialogue and is a very underrated film that Criterion released.  Marshall was a lot of fun in his role despite his profession and may have gotten some criticism for glorifying theft.  This is absolutely worth a watch and stands the test of time.

The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (1968):  This is my Disney movie of the week that I came across at the library and decided to take a look at Kurt Russell's younger days when he made a lot of live-action Disney films.  Dean Jones stars as Fred who is a business executive who must come up with a campaign to promote a product called Aspercel and has very little time to do it.  His other problem is with his daughter Helen, played by Ellen Janov, who loves horses and wants one of her own.  She has had some success in competitions and takes riding classes.  He decides to combine the two and get a horse to call it Aspercel in hopes that her daughter will be able to win with this horse.  Diane Baker co-stars as Suzie Clemens who is Helen's horse instructor and plays an important part.  A young Kurt Russell co-stars as Ronnie who is Helen's love interest and believes she is overworking herself.  There are some pretty funny moments like a scene with Fred trying to track down the horse.  It is nothing great but a harmless movie for the family to watch and enjoy.

Crossfire (1947):  Edward Dmytryk directed this film noir which is really my favorite genre from this area and do not get the exposure deserved.  Robert Finley stars as Detective Finley who is investigating the murder of a military man which appears to have been done by someone in the unit.  Robert Mitchum co-stars as Keeley who is the leader of the unit who does his own investigation to clear his friend Mitchell, played by George Cooper, who is the main suspect but does not believe he did it.  Robert Ryan and Gloria Grahame co-star in this film.  This is a very gritty movie and has a very good story as well as characters.  I don't want to go too much further to give ideas of the plot or anything else away.  This is available on TCM On-Demand.

Invictus (2009):  Clint Eastwood directed this film based on a book by John Carlin.  This is a true story that takes place during Nelson Mandela's first team as president of South Africa.  This does not go much into his past background so I'll just give a few basic points.  He was arrested in 1962 for inciting Workers' strikes and leaving the country without permission and was held in prison as a political prisoner for nearly 30 years being released in 1990.  He focused on bringing the country together and even hired people who had previously wronged him.  When being released, he did not want to be bitter or focus on revenge towards his oppressors.  In 1994, he became president of South Africa.  Morgan Freeman stars as Mandela and does a great job.  He wanted to unite the apartheid-torn land and finds an unusual way of doing it.  He enlists the struggling South Africa rugby team and looks to motivate them to become better and win the rugby world cup.  Matt Damon co-stars as the team captain Francois Pienaar who meets with the president and becomes more motivated as a team in which many people seem to have given up on.  This movie is more about unification than anything.  If you want a bunch of suspense, this is not really it since it is predictable, especially if you know the story.  This is for people looking for inspiration and maybe more politicians should take a look at this one.  I am a big fan of Eastwood and really like what he does with this being no exception.  What I also like about him is that when casting, he limits his big name actors but still gets good performances out of the more unknown actors.  Freeman has been friends with Mandela for a long time and being the one Mandela said should play him.

Topaz (1969):  Alfred Hitchcock directed this spy thriller based on the novel by Leon Uris and based on events that lead to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.  Frederick Stafford stars as a French agent Andre Devereaux who uncovers information about Russia placing missiles in Cuba during the Cold War.  CHARLIE'S ANGELS alum John Forsythe plays American spy Michael Nordstrom who interviews a high ranking Russian who defects but is more reluctant when the French are involved.  This is one where you must give your whole attention.  It is by no means a high-ranking Hitchcock film but it still works with the performances from the more known actors in Hollywood.  This is mostly for fans of this kind of genre and can be a bit hard to follow at times.  Still has quite a few Hitchcockian touches though to make it worth a look.

Recon (1996):  I end with this short film that was written and directed by Breck Eisner that was a student film.  This is a short film which stars Peter Gabriel which if you know me, you know that he is my favorite singer and to my knowledge, this is his only acting job.  This is a futuristic short about a murder investigation in which Peter is someone who is unable to see the line between fantasy and reality.  This short also has Charles Durning, Elizabeth Pena, and Valarie Trapp.  This is available on Youtube.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week.