Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 404th Edition

 

Welcome to the 404th Edition of my long-running series.  Hope everyone is has a good week.  I will now get to my selections for the week

Scotland, Pa. (2001):  This is part two of my Christopher Walken series which may go five parts.  Billy Morrisette directed and wrote the screenplay for this very interesting adaptation of Shakespeare's MACBETH.  I'll give the basic synopsis of the original Shakespeare play.  A general named Macbeth is visited by three witches being told he will be the King of Scotland.  His scheming wife, who is referred to as Lady Macbeth, compels him to kill the king and does so becoming the king but soon is wracked with guilt and paranoia making him commit more and more murders.  In this story, we are in 70s suburban Pennsylvania and James LeGros stars as Joe McBeth who is a very hard-working fast-food employee but lacks ambition.  Soon his scheming wife Pat, played by NEWSRADIO alum Maura Tierney, sets forth a plan to get him to rob the safe and kill his boss Norm, played by James Rebhorn, and then buy the restaurant for himself.  Walken plays police detective McDuff who is investigating the death of Norm and believes there is a lot more to it than people say.  Kevin Corrigan, Tom Guiry, Amy Smart, Andy Dick, and Timothy Levitch in this cleverly done dark comedy adapted from possibly Shakepeare's darkest play.  I also really like the idea of modernizing Shakespeare and taking place in a fast-food restaurant which Morrisette sites he came up with the idea when working at a Dairy Queen and reading a lot of Shakespeare at the time.

Les Miserables (1998):  This is part two of my Claire Danes series.  Billie August directed this adaptation to the classic novel from Victor Hugo.  I will admit that before this, the only adaptations I had seen are some musical versions that were released to DVD including last year's movie version which I cited as my favorite of 2012 and is really has become one of my favorite musicals.  This is the first time I have seen a non-musical version but I tried to stay open minded and liked it a lot more than I thought I would.  I'll just give the basic synopsis of the story.  In the beginning, we meet convict Jean Valjean, played by Liam Neeson, who has gotten paroled for many years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread.  He soon finds that living a life as a paroled convict is far too difficult and is then able to start a new life.  In his new life, he cannot escape the encounter of ruthless police officer Javert, played by Geoffrey Rush, who is determined to take back Jean ValJean for breaking his parole.  Uma Thurman co-stars as Fantine who is a mistreated factory worker who resorts to prostitution to support her daughter and asks Jean Valjean to see over her daughter Cosette, played by Claire Danes in her grown years, which changes his life forever but must still evade Javert.  Watching this compared to the musical versions I have seen, it is mostly the same story but things unfold differently at least in this movie version and there were even some elements I liked better than the musical versions.  The book was first published in 1862 and Hugo bases Valjean loosely on the real-life Eugene Francois Vidocq who was on the run many years but pardoned and became very important in the world of criminology.  Toby Jones, Hans Matheson, and Peter Vaughan co-star in this film.  If you can get past not having musical numbers and the very brief appearance of the character Eponine, you might really enjoy this movie and I will probably start looking into more versions now.

Is it College Yet (2002):  This is actually a tv movie and is really the series finale of the animated MTV series DARIA.  For those of you that do not know, this was a spin-off from BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD about a smart and unenthusiastic young girl of the title name who observes the world around her and giving off her sarcastic wit to just about anyone.  In this movie, all the students face high school graduation and try to figure out what they will do after high school.  This show was surprisingly very good and a very good satire to high school life perfectly portraying each high school stereotype.  This is actually the second movie from this series and the first one was IS IT FALL YET? which was also pretty good.  It might be good to start with the tv series first to at least get to know these characters and it will be easier to enjoy this tv movie.

The Lone Chipmunks (1954):  This is my Disney animated short and I am pretty sure my first one to feature the chipmunk duo of Chip and Dale.  This features Pegleg Pete robbing a bank and deciding to hide the look in Chip and Dale's tree.  This does not sit will with the duo and on top of that they learn there is a reward so they take it upon themselves to capture Pete.  This is a pretty funny short from Disney and are somewhat overlooked categories though as a kid I did watch CHIP AND DALE'S RESCUE RANGERS.

American Madness (1932):  I saw a boxed set for Frank Capra and decided to take a look at this early piece of work.  Walter Huston stars as Thomas Dickson who owns a bank during the depression era of the 30s.  This was obviously a hard time to run a bank and made even more difficult when he learns that $100,000 was stolen and must figure out who did it.  Keep in mind this is very early Capra but shows shades of his future greatness and this is a pretty good story. Pat O'Brien and Kay Johnson also co-star in this film. 

Two-Lane Blacktop (1971):  Monte Hellman directed this film that starred musician James Taylor and musician Dennis Wilson who is known for being with the Beach Boys.  They star as a couple men drag racing with their grey 55 Chevy where Taylor is billed as the driver and Wilson is billed as the mechanic.  They are serious about what they do and do not have much to say to each other though are joined by a girl, played by Laurie Bird, who is intrigued by their world.  They soon meet another driver named G.T.O, played by Warren Oates, who they challenge to a drag race where the winner gets the loser's car.  Along the way, the race metaphorically depicts the lives of these people and the struggle to get to that destination.  This is the only movie in which Wilson and Taylor have acted but do a pretty good job here.  Also, look for Harry Dean Stanton as one of the passengers early in the movie.  This was released through the Criterion Collection and is a really good watch.

Hot Coffee (2011):  This is my documentary for the week.  It starts out talking about the infamous McDonald's case where a woman spilled coffee and sued for it being too hot.  I will admit that this did really open my eyes when I listened to some of the facts of the case.  The coffee spill actually caused actual burns on the body and it turned out that there were many other complaints about that before this case.  It also turned out that they were leaving the water very hot, more than other places.  It then goes on to talk about how this was one of the ones used to start a crusade against frivolous lawsuits which affected the ones that were more justified.   Some of the biggest moments were seeing George W. Bush propose a cap on lawsuits and Senator Al Franken really championing for a young woman who was raped at the workplace and they did nothing about it.  This was very eye-opening for me and also made me realize how sad it is that the media is able to manipulate just about every story to their beliefs before looking into the facts.  This documentary is available on Instant Netflix.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946):  William Wyler directed this film about WWII veterans and their lives after the military.  This movie centers around three people in a small town returning home from the war and finding that it is not that easy.  Fredric March stars as Al Stephenson whose kids are mostly grown and has not really gotten to know them.  He also has a hard time adjusting at the bank he has always worked at when being given the Vice President position.  Dana Andrews plays Fred Derry who has a hard time finding a job and is in a marriage where the love only seems to happen when there is money.  Harold Russell stars as a Navy veteran whose hands were burned off and has a hard time adjust to a life where he is pitied.  Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, and Hoagy Carmichael all co-star in this classic.  This movie really ranks very high for me in films of this era.  It is a something that holds up today with veterans finding it difficult to adjust back into society.  This subject was not dealt with much in this era as much of the movies from this era are promoting patriotism but Wyler did such a good job bringing this movie to life.

Walkabout (1971):  Nicholas Roeg directed this film about survival.  Jenny Agutter and Luc Roeg star as young siblings who are left in the Australian outback to fend for themselves.  On their journey they meet an aborigine teen who is on a "walkabout" which is a ritualistic separation from the tribe.  There is not a lot to say except that the direction, acting and cinematography was great.  The limited dialogue also works very well.  There is a little bit of nudity from the girl but was tastefully done if you can get past that element.  This is a film really about innocence and survival and really deserves a look. 

The Guest Room (2009):  I end this week with this short film which stars my Facebook friend Alana Jo Beckman whose birthday was last Thursday so I thought this would be a good birthday present for her.  Louis Kerman directed this short that was written by Jacquie Floyd.  Mary Lynne Gibbs and Jeff Priskorn play parents and Beckman plays their little girl and according to her imdb profile, this was her second film but has done quite a bit in her young age.  It is really hard to describe this movie without really giving it away but was a pretty well done short with good performances from the actors.  This is available on http://vimeo.com/9219839 and is a good 10 minute film.  We should all watch out for Alana Jo Beckman in the future.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and dislike.  Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Sharon Stone, Christopher Walken, and many others.