Welcome to the 397th Edition of my series. INHERIT THE WIND went very well. It was a great cast and crew to pull it off. It is possibly my favorite to have been in. I will now be moving onto ROMEO AND JULIET next month. We recently lost a great person in the acting world of James Gandolfini who was only 51 years of age and is most known as Tony Soprano on THE SOPRANOS. Next week, I will likely start a James Gandolfini tribute series which could be as many as six parts but I do not know yet. Also, I want to remind everyone to visit http://www.gofundme.com/Family-Documentary in which my friend Sarah is looking for funding in order to get a camera to shoot a documentary on her family. I believe this will be quite compelling once she gets what she needs to get started. I will now get on with my selections.
God Bless America (2011): I start out with this satire from comedian Bobcat Goldthwait who has really found his niche in directing. Joel Murray stars as Frank whose life has gone into a downward spiral and has had enough of our media driven society. He soon takes his gun and begins offing people like reality tv stars believing he is doing the world a favor. He finds an unlikely accomplice in a 16 year old named Roxy, played by Tara Lynne Barr, who shares his views and joins him on their unusual killing spree. Some may remember Joel Murray from the sitcom DHARMA AND GREG where he played Pete. He was very fun as the unlikely killer and played his part very well. I really do not know what more to describe this, it is rather twisted and funny if you take it for what it is which is satire and at times it has some good points. This really not is for everyone so use your judgment but it was quite enjoyable to me. This is available on Instant Netflix.
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012): Colin Trevorrow directed this independent film written by Derek Connolly. Aubrey Plaza stars as Darius who is a bit shy and an intern with a magazine. She soon goes on a road trip with the staff writer Jeff, played by Jake Johnson, and fellow intern Arnau, played by Karan Soni. They set out to interview a man who put an ad in the paper wanting someone to travel back in time with him. Mark Duplass co-stars as Kenneth who puts up this ad and claims to have built a time machine. Darius forms a bond with him and begins to understand him more and more forming a relationship with him. Kenneth is a very likable person while a bit out there and Plaza is really good as Darius. This is a very enjoyable independent film and a love story with more everyday kind of characters. Jeff Garlin and Kristen Bell both have cameos in this movie. This is also available on Instant Netflix and is far less violent than my first selection.
The Butcher Boy (1997): Neil Jordan directed and co-wrote this film based on the novel by Pat McCabe. This is another rather unusual one. Eamonn Owens stars as Francie who is a pre-teen to early teen boy whose harmless fantasies become more violent and real due to his abusive and alcoholic father, played by Stephen Rea and his suicidal mother, played by Aisling O'Sullivan. Owens played the part very well, slowly going off the deep end. He has some interesting fantasies with the Virgin Mary, played by Sinead O'Connor of all people. It is from the perspective of the young boy and does a good job keeping the movie likable even with the murder, abuse and alcoholism. This is one that deserves more exposure and is worth a watch if you can get past the disturbing elements of the film.
Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959): This is my animated short for the week. This is possibly the best educational short film of all time which stars Donald Duck who learns that Math is used in so many ways. I do recall at one point seeing this I believe in middle school and remember the billiards segment of it. There are also many other elements like how math is used for legendary works of art. This is a timeless Disney classic that is important for kids but enjoyable fo. r adults.
Crime and Punishment (1935): Josef Von Sternberg directed this movie which stars Peter Lorre as Roderick who is a very intelligent criminology student and writer but still struggles to support his family. He lives in an apartment complex where a pawnbroker named Raskolnikov makes life difficult for many so he resorts to murder through his knowledge of criminology. Edward Arnold co-stars as Inspector Porfiry who is investigating the murder. Roderick does the perfect murder but his conscience continues to haunt him. This is a rather unknown Peter Lorre film but is worth a watch. Lorre and Arnold work very good together in the scenes where he is trying to keep the detective from finding out.
Silent Movie (1976): I now bring some Mel Brooks for the week and his parody on the film industry. Mel Brooks stars as Mel Funn who is a has-been filmmaker and looks to get back in the picture by making the first silent film in 40 years which while not referenced, I'm sure they are referring to Chaplin's MODERN TIMES. He also tries to help a movie studio which people are trying to sabotage. Marty Feldman and Dom Deluise co-star as Mel's sidekicks who go along with him to find some big stars for their movie. Now did I mention this was actually a silent film with one spoken work. Sid Caesar plays the movie executive while Bernadette Peters co-stars as night club singer Vilma. Many celebrities like Paul Newman, Anne Bancroft, James Caan, Liza Minelli, Burt Reynolds and Marcel Marceau play themselves and who Mel is trying to get into his movie. I really enjoy this comedy that has gone onto become pretty unknown but is a pretty good homage to silent film.
4 For Texas (1963): This is my western for the week which stars Rat Packers Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Sinatra plays gunslinger Zack Thomas and Martin plays his rival Joe Jarrett. They are rivals but must team up with common enemies. Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress co-star as their love interests. Charles Bronson plays Matson who is the main villain as well as corrupt banker Harvey Burden, played by Victor Buono. There is also a cameo from the Three Stooges which were from Moe, Larry, and Joe. Richard Jaeckel, Mike Mazurki, Jack Lambert and Jack Elam also co-star. This is probably a western comedy more for Rat Pack fans as it is not really great but it was a fun movie and Dean Martin's scene with the Stooges was pretty funny and where can you go wrong with Ursula Andress? 
Reds (1981): Warren Beatty directed, co-wrote, and stars in this epic true story about radical American journalist John Reed who is played by Beatty. Diane Keaton co-stars as Louise Bryant who marries Reed and becomes a revolutionary alongside Reed. They go to Russia to help with the October Revolution of 1917 and then return to the U.S. to do similar things there. Jack Nicholson, Edward Herrman, Paul Sorvino, Maureen Stapleton, M. Emmet Walsh, and Gene Hackman co-star in this film. One thing I really liked about this is that Beatty had some of the actual survivors in this movie to reflect on those times so it is in some ways part documentary. Beatty is great as Reed and him and Keaton work great together. Beatty also clearly put a lot of effort into this film. Nicholson is also good as real-life playwright Eugene O'Neill. Stephen Sondheim wrote the music score for this film. This is a movie that is a little over three hours long and requires full attention but can be rewarded pretty highly for this one. This is available on Instant Netflix.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954): This is my musical for the week which was directed by Stanley Donen. Howard Keel stars as Adam who the oldest of the seven brothers who live in a backwoods home. Adam soon goes into town looking for a wife to help around the house and soon meets Milly, played by Jane Powell, who takes to him right away agreeing to marry. She expected it to be just the two of them but soon meets the six brothers. She immediately looks to teach them more manners and how to talk to women. The brothers soon become inspired and want to become married so they each go into town abducting the women they had met thinking they will get married. The women are stuck in the home for a few months due to an avalanche which makes everyone think on their lives. Russ Tamblyn and Julie Newmar are some of the many co-stars and probably most known. Keel and Powell were good together as always. I suppose some of the events could be considered questionable morally but it is easy to just let that go and enjoy the musical written by Johnny Mercer and Gene DePaul. This is a must for musical lovers and like this more than other musicals from this era.
X2 (2003): This is part three of my Hugh Jackman trilogy and I end with this superhero sequel. Bryan Singer directs this one which has most people in the original reprising their roles of X-Men like Jackman as Wolverine, Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, Halle Berry as Storm, James Marsden as Cyclops, Patrick Stewart as Professor X and Anna Paquin as Rogue. On the villain side Ian McKellan reprises his role as Magneto and Rebecca Romijn reprises Mystique. Their new enemy is in scientist William Stryker, played by Brian Cox, who hates mutants and has a way of getting to them which forces the rivals to team up in order to stop him. Alan Cumming joins the cast as unusual mutant Nightcrawler who teams up with X-Men and I thought Cumming was perfectly cast. Some of the characters we meet at the school are Iceman, Pyro, Shadowcat, Jubilee, Colossus, among others. Also look for a character named Dr. Hank McCoy which many will know who he becomes. Another addition is in Kelly Hu who plays the part of Lady Deathstrike and has a good fight scene later with Wolverine. Also, for all you fans of the tv series HIGHLANDER, look for Peter Wingfield, who plays Methos in the tv series, who is one of Stryker's military guys. This was actually a very good sequel that topped the first one and ranks pretty high in the superhero genre in my opinion. I do not feel much else needs to be explained except to check it out.
Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week.
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