Welcome to the 400th Edition of my series. It is always hard for me to believe when I get to milestones like these whether being an anniversary or like this one. I just always enjoy putting these together though. Contrary to popular belief, I do still have a live outside of the movies that I enjoy. I want to thank everyone through the years who has supported my insanity. I want to also remind everyone that my friend Sarah is still looking to raise enough money to film a documentary on her family that I believe has a lot of potential. I know filmmakers reading this knows what it is like to struggle when making a film so please check out http://www.gofundme.com/Family-Documentary and support her efforts if possible. I will now get to my selections for the week.
Romance
and Cigarettes (2005): This is part two of my tribute series to the
late James Gandolfini. John Turturro wrote and directed this
contemporary musical. Gandolfini stars as Nick who is a working class
man who is married to Kitty, played by Susan Sarandon, and has three
daughters. He is also carrying on an affair with a red-head named Tula,
played very well by Kate Winslet. Everything soon begins to come out
but has everyone has a hard time expressing themselves through words so
they break out into song and dance. Steve Buscemi, Bobby Cavanale,
Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Christopher Walken,
Eddie Izzard, and Amy Sedaris co-star. This movie has a pretty good
sense of humor with some pretty well-choreographed numbers. Much of the
music are hit songs and the problem I had there was that they played
the song and the actor sang to it and I would have rather seen more of a
MOULIN ROUGE thing but I'll let that one go. This is not for everyone
but was a very good effort from Turturro that did work for me.
The
Ship That Died (1938): This is my short film for the week which is
from John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series. This takes a look at the
Mary Celeste which was a ship that set sail for the the Strait of
Gibraltar but was found days later with no crew. When found, there had
really been no signs of foul play or mutiny and this shows the theories
as to what could have happened. This is about a ten minute short that
is worth a look.
The
400 Blows (1959): I figured this would be fitting for the week.
Francois Truffaut makes his directorial debut with this French film
about a misunderstood adolescent who delves into delinquency for
attention. Jean-Pierre Leaud stars as Antoine who has parents that
fight a lot and struggles in school. He does everything from running
away, skipping school, sneaking into movies, and even stealing things.
There is not a lot more to explain except that it is a very good
character study from a child's point of view and it is very well-written
with a very good performances from Leaud. It is a very good
exploration of a child's life and while there are troubled moments,
there are also positive moments to fit in with the story. This is
something from the Criterion Collection that is available on DVD and is a
must as long as you are okay with subtitles.
Winnie
the Pooh (2011): Now I bring a more family oriented movie from the
week from directors Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall who brought back
our childhood friends and with respect. John Cleese narrates this story
of Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore, Owl, Piglet, Kanga, Roo,
and Christopher Robin. There are a couple things going on. One of them
is that Eeyore has lost his tail and Pooh puts on a contest to find
that tail with comical alternative selections. In another story, the
gang believes that Christopher Robin has been abducted by a creature
called a "backsoon". The other part of the story is Pooh becoming very
hungry and cannot get to any honey. This is something I grew up on and I
know many others reading this did too. It has some pretty good songs
in it and is very fun for the whole family. Jim Cummings, Bud Luckey,
Craig Ferguson, Jack Boulter, Travis Oates, Kristen Anderson-Lopez,
Wyatt Dean Hall, and Tom Kenny voice the characters. This is really
more of a throwback to what we know and stays very friendly to children
while being fun for adults. They stayed with regular animation showing
that computer animation is not always necessary. Also, do not stop the
movie when the credits start, just keep watching.
River
of No Return (1954): Otto Preminger directed this western which stars
Robert Mitchum as Matt Calder who is living on a remote farm with his
son Mark, played by Tommy Rettig, who he just got reunited after many
years. They soon encounter a couple unexpected visitors in gambler
Harry, played by Rory Calhoun, and his fiance Kay, played by Marilyn
Monroe. When Matt refuses to lend Harry his only horse and gun, Harry
knocks him out and takes his things but Kay decides to stick around to
nurse him back to health. They are soon subject to an Indian attack and
must go down a river on a raft to get through it. This movie did have
some pretty good action and I really liked the scene at the end. I
really though Monroe did a pretty good job in this more dramatic role.
This is nothing great but it also is not that bad and worth a look in my
opinion.
Step
Brothers (2008): I now bring a comedy from Adam McKay. Will Ferrell
and John C. Reilly star as the title characters. Ferrell plays Brennan
who is 40 and still lives with his mom, played by Mary Steenbergen, and
is unemployed. Reilly plays Dale, who lives with his rich father,
played by Richard Jenkins, and does not seem to really have any
aspiration except to play on his drum set. Each of their single parents
meet to make them stepbrothers which force them to become roommates.
This makes each of their lives quite difficult leading to a lot of
bickering but then start getting along more. They are soon given a
directive to find a job which also shows something of lacking
experience. This was something I just took for the comedy that it is
meant to be. I laughed quite a bit and the two stars play stepbrothers
very well. Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, Andrea Savage, Seth Rogen, Phil
Lamarr, Ken Jeong, and Horatio Sans all have parts. This is by no means
for the family. Have some friends over for drinks and get some laughs
with this good comedy. I was reading that McKay wanted to make this
into a drama and I am glad that he either changed his mind or that the
producers told him to do a comedy since I do not see something like this
working as a drama unless you make the title characters actual
children.
The
Arrangement (1969): Elia Kazan wrote and directed this film which was
based on his own novel that he wrote. Kirk Douglas stars as Eddie who
is a very successful man having a midlife crisis. He is in an unhappy
marriage to a wife, played by Deborah Kerr, who does everything to hold
onto the marriage. Faye Dunaway co-stars as his mistress Gwen who makes
him realize the things he gave up for the success. The movie starts
out with a very fateful situation where Eddie must reevaluate his life.
It is pretty heavy handed at times and something that requires full
attention. It does give some really interesting flashbacks. Richard
Boone, Hume Cronyn, and Harold Gould all co-star. There is quite a
blend of drama with unexpected comedy. Originally, Brando was to play
this part but backed out in the end and Kazan always wished he had
played that protagonist. At the time, this was quite a flop in the box
office and by the critics. While it is not without flaw, it does have
its moments and was glad to give it a watch.
The
Expendables 2 (2012): Simon West directed this sequel to the 2010
action film that is written by Sylvester Stallone who also stars.
Stallone directed the first one but takes a backseat in this one while
still co-writing the screenplay. Stallone returns from the first one
where his group of mercenaries are given a new mission that is referred
to as "easy" but they find it is far from that. Joining him are the
ones from the first one like Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture,
Jet Li, Jason Statham, and are joined by Liam Hemsworth and Asian
actress Nan Yu which I am always a sucker for a fighting Asian woman.
Also joining them later are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis who
reprise their roles from the first one but their parts are more expanded
and even take part in quite a bit of the action. The other person that
helps them is Chuck Norris who plays Booker and calls himself the lone
wolf. The terrorist group they must stop is lead by Jean Claude Van
Damme, who actually declined the first one as well as Norris, which to
my knowledge is his first villain role unless he played villains early
in his career. BUFFY alum Charisma Carpenter has a cameo as Statham's
love interest from the first one. This movie has explosions, lots of
shooting, lots of violence and with this group of people, what more can
you really ask for? There is a lot of action but it also has some
comedy like some one liners referencing their own careers in many ways.
This for me, was a very fun action movie where I just suspended my
disbelief for a couple hours to see some pretty well-written characters
and some great action. This is available on Instant Netflix and is
another one to get a group of friends together. I will say that I
actually liked this one a little better than the first despite this one
not having Mickey Rourke. I believe this sequel stands on its own and
is not really a rehash sequel but just another mission but much
different from the first. For the next one, I'd like to see Steven
Seagal, Mr. T, and Carl Weathers. Those are who come to mind for now
but I'm sure I'll come up with others soon.
Brian's
Song (1971): I now tone it down from the last selection and this is my
tv movie for the week. I have heard this called the "chick flick for
the guys", among other things. It is also one that has made many a
tough man tear up. This is a true story about the friendship of Bears
players Gale Sayers, played by Billy Dee Williams, and Brian Piccolo,
played by James Caan. It starts with the first time they meet at
training camp as rival running backs and quite different on many ways on
their personalities which brought them together as friends. Also keep
in mind, this is during the time of segregation and they were purposely
made roommates in order to help with segregation. Jack Warden, Bernie
Casey, and David Huddleston co-star in this very moving tv movie. This
is far more than a football film but a really good movie about a male
friendship. The two leads worked so well together and were Sayers and
Piccolo. This is available on Instant Netflix and just have those
tissues ready.
Being
John Malkovich (1999): I end this edition with what I consider to be
one of my favorite movies. Spike Jonze directed this movie while
Charlie Kaufman wrote the screenplay. John Cusack stars as struggling
puppeteer Craig Schwartz who gets an office job and soon discovers a
portal to the brain of John Malkovich who plays himself. Cameron Diaz
co-stars as his wife Lotte and Catherine Keener co-stars as his
co-worker Maxine who are the two people he tells about the portal and
each of the three have their own motivation for taking over his brain.
In watching this, I'm thinking what kind of mind does Charlie Kaufman
have coming up with a movie about finding a portal to John Malkovich's
brain? In some ways this is a comedy but it could also be considered a
drama. It is a very dark film to say the least of the lengths people
will go to get what they want. Mary Kay Place, Orson Bean, Octavia
Spencer, Willie Garson, W. Earl Brown, and Charlie Sheen all have parts
in this very complex film that is really hard to describe in words plus I
don't really want to give anything away. This is another movie that is
available through Instant Netflix and should really be watched. Well, that is it for this week. Leave your comments on what you like and dislike. Stay tuned for next week.
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