Welcome to the 406th Edition of my long-running series. I would also like to congratulate my friend Allen who I work with in the wrestling industry to his marriage yesterday. Hope everyone has a great week as we will soon be ending the month of August getting us soon out of summer which I seem to be a minority but I'd just like it to stay. Either way, I'll still get you your movie recommendations for the week so read on and enjoy.
Igby Goes Down (2002): This is part four of my four-part Claire Danes series. Burr Steers wrote and directed what I suppose could be a coming of age story. Kieran Culkin stars as the title character who is a 17 year old struggling to adjust to the world and must deal with a dying mother, played by Susan Sarandon, who he has never really gotten along with and his father, played by Bill Pullman, who is insane. Igby soon escapes to Manhatton without anyone's knowledge and soon forms a relationship with a older girl named Sookie, played by Claire Danes. Ryan Phillippe co-star Igby's older and favored brother Oliver. Jeff Goldblum, Rory Culkin, Amanda Peet, Jared Harris, and Bill Irwin all co-star in this. This is something that is rather hard to explain as it is really more driven by characters. Those who don't really like "coming of age" stories might like this one since I'm not really sure one would call it that and it is a darker one. Culkin is very good as the title character. This is available on Instant Netflix.
Mousehunt (1997): This is part four of my five part Christopher Walken series and he makes a pretty funny cameo as Caesar the Exterminator. This is my family oriented comedy for the week. Gore Verbinski directed this comedy which stars Nathan Lane and Lee Evans as brothers Ernie and Lars Smuntz who inherit a home after their father dies. They soon learn the home is worth a lot of money but must fix it up but then find there is a mouse living there who does not want to go anywhere. They are determined to rid the home of the mouse but the mouse is quite resourceful and they find that is no easy task. This is one that must be taken for what it is worth which is a comedy. I thought the two leads worked pretty well together. I will say that I began to feel more for the mouse than I did for them though when it showed the mouse's living quarters and really did nothing wrong. Vicki Lewis, Maury Chaykin, Michael Jeter, and Ian Abercrombie all co-star in this comedy.
The Pleasure of Being Robbed (2008): This is my independent film for the week which was directed by Joshua Safdie. Eleonore Hendricks stars as kleptomaniac Eleonore who steals anything which gives her a sense of connection like a scene where she got some kittens and even a car. This movie went to a lot of mixed opinions so I watched it with an open mind and felt for a rather low-budget movie, this was not bad. It is mostly driven by the character of Eleonore but have some rather quirky characters that she meets and is a pretty likable person despite her flaw.
Grandad of Races (1950): This is my short film of the week that documents a Barbary horse race that started in medieval times in the Northern Italian town of Siena. It is a very difficult and rough race and is a pretty informative short film. It has some very good photography and they have some great outfits.
Les Miserables (1935): I have lately gotten on quite a kick for this Victor Hugo story and decided to dig deeper and look into this older version which as you might guess does not have all those great musical numbers but still a good story. Fredric March stars as Jean ValJean who was sent to a very rough prison for 19 years after stealing a loaf of bread and finally gets paroled. In his life of parole he finds that it becomes very hard to adjust when everyone just sees him as a convict which is an age-old situation. He finally meets a very noble priest, played by Cedric Hardwicke, who is able to help him start a new life. In this new life, he becomes a new person an a respectable person in his community but find he cannot escape the ruthless policeman Javert, played well by Charles Laughton, who is pursuing ValJean for violating his parole. Javert in this one is portrayed as a pretty good person but sees the law in a very black and white sense and feels it is his duty to capture Valjean for committing this crime bringing a very good climax. Valjean also agrees to look out for a dying woman's daughter Cosette, played by Rochelle Hudson, making him more determined to evade Javert. In the struggles of these two men, they find it even more complicated when they find themselves in the French Revolution. March was very good as Valjean and one thing I liked about this one that the musical nor the 1998 film version had was in the beginning they show Valjean being sentenced many years for his petty crime. This is another great adaptation of a very timeless classic that stands even today which I believe is a statement that even after they have done their time, we do not let them more on with their life to try to get it back together which can cause them to commit crimes they do not want to commit but must to survive.
Five Easy Pieces (1970): This is my tribute to Karen Black who recently left us. Bob Rafelson directed this film based on a story by Carole Eastman. Jack Nicholson stars as Robert Dupea who leaves his career as a concert pianist behind and works in a oil rig field while mostly dropping out of the upper-class lifestyle. He is also in a very uncommitted relationship with Rayette, played by Karen Black, who is a waitress. Robert soon gets news from his sister that his father is not well and decides to take a road trip along with Rayette to visit. When there, gets confronted by his rich, cultured family which he left behind. This is really more of a character study on Robert and manages to take a simple story to make it quite complex. Billy Green Bush, Fannie Flagg, Toni Basil, and Lois Smith all co-star. This is a very good entry for Nicholson that deserves a watch.
Randy Orton: Evolution of a Predator (2011): This is my WWE documentary for the week which obviously focuses on wrestler Randy Orton. This focuses mostly on his wrestling career starting with the WWE's developmental league at the time Ohio Valley Wrestling and to his evolution into the World Wrestling Entertainment. It touches some on his childhood and his deserting the military which is pretty well known and why he was not cast in THE MARINE 3. It also talks about his maturity through the years. It was good to see the softer side of Randy Orton who has been billed as things like Legend Killer, the Viper, and the Apex Predator. I really enjoyed watching this one and has some good matches with the DVD but is likely only for wrestling fans. I have always been a pretty big Orton fan so I really enjoyed this one.
Boom Town (1940): Jack Conway directed this film which stars Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy. Gable plays Big John McMasters and Tracy plays Square John Sand who are friends who become partners making it big in the oil industry. Their friendship is put to a test when Big John falls in love with Square John's longtime girlfriend Betsy, played by Claudette Colbert, where they have a very complicated relationship over the course of twenty years. Hedy Lamarr, Frank Morgan, Lionel Atwill, and Chill Wills all co-star. This was a pretty decent film on greed, that had quite a bit of action like a really good bar fight. It is also a good love story that that starred four of the biggest stars at the time. This was possibly the last movie where Tracy received second billing and after this would put a clause in his contract to get top billing and this would be the last time him and Gable worked together.
Starcrash (1978): This is my guilty pleasure Sci-Fi movie for the week which was produced by none other than Roger Corman. Caroline Munro stars as the scantily clad outlaw Stella Star who along with her alien companion Akton are hired by the Emperor of the Galaxy, played by Christopher Plummer whose choice here obviously was not his best, to rescue his son and destroy the evil Count's secret weapon. There was also a robot that helped her that sounded very southern and we also have a young David Hasselhoff. STAR WARS may have very well spawned off many rip-offs and this seems to have drawn some inspiration but did not match STAR WARS in any way but is still quite fun. This is available on Instant Netflix.
The White Dragon (2004): I end this week on this Asian swordfighting and martial arts comedy. Cecelia Cheung stars as a young noblewoman who falls in love with a prince. She soon acquires the powers of the "White Dragon" by accident making her a very good martial artist. She soon comes across a blind swordsman, played by Francis Ng, who she learns is trying to assassinate the prince. She tries to prevent it by killing the assassin herself but after failed attempts, she begins to understand the assassin more and more. There is a lot of great action in the beginning but also quite a bit of comedy like in the way she gets her powers. I am usually not as much into martial arts comedy but this still had a good blend of action and love story where I could tolerate it and did laugh quite a bit. Not really my favorite of this genre but still tolerable and enjoyable.Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment