Welcome to the 409th Edition of my long running series. I am as of now 0-1 in my Fantasy Football league but hopefully I can get an even record after Monday night. Now on a bright now, my team the San Francisco 49ers are now 1-0 so I am happy about that. I am right now trying to win a karaoke contest at Folly Moon. I am unsuccessful so far but I'll just keep plugging away. That is about all I have to say so I'll just get one with my recommendations for the week.
The
Beaver (2011): Jodie Foster directed and co-starred in this film which
stars Mel Gibson as Walter Black. Walter is a very successful ad
executive who has delved into depression and anger while unsuccessfully
trying to kill himself. It gets to the point where he is kicked out of
his home. He then comes up with a very interesting coping mechanism in a
beaver puppet. He then uses the beaver to talk to himself and then try
to reconnect with his family. This movie will probably get a lot of
mixed emotions but I really enjoyed this one. It was really quite
bizarre but an interesting movie showing the dealings of anger and that
it can take unusual mechanisms to get through it. Jodie Foster co-stars
as his wife who is trying to deal with the new version of her estranged
husband while Anton Yelchin co-stars as his older son who is very
bitter. Jennifer Lawrence also co-stars. This movie in some ways is
very uplifting but at the same time, it was quite downbeat. I will also
call the movie quite bizarre but I really enjoyed it.
How
to Vote (1936): This is one of my short films for the week. This is
from the Robert Benchley series of comedic shorts. He is the
replacement spokesperson for a political candidate to promote that
person but clearly is not a very good public speaker. He stumbles upon
his words and is just not sure what to say. This is a very entertaining
10 minutes and one of the better from that era.
Make
Mine Music (1946): This is my Disney film for the week and one that is
more overlooked. This is in the tradition of FANTASIA but while that
movie used a lot of classical music, this one used more contemporary
music. It has many different animation sequences which use people like
the Andrews Sisters, Nelson Eddy, Dinah Shore, Benny Goodman, and many
others. A couple of my favorite sequences were CASEY AND THE BAT and
PETER AND THE WOLF, but there were some other decent ones while some
were not great. This was still some pretty fun sequences and one I'd
like to get more on the radar.
Howl
(2010): Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman directed and wrote this film
based on a part of poet Allen Ginsberg. James Franco plays Allen
Ginsburg who is put on trial in 1957 for his his poem of the movie title
for obscenity. It also focuses on events that lead to the
counterculture artist and poet that he became and what lead into him
writing it. James Franco, Jon Hamm, David Strathairn, Bob Balaban,
Mary-Louise Parker all co-starred in this film. It also has some really
interesting animation sequences that show the poem's surreal style.
Franco was very good as Ginsburg in a very important part of his life
that begged the question of what was acceptable in society.
The
Sandpiper (1965): Vincente Minnelli directed this movie which was a
teaming of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Taylor plays the very
free spirited Laura Reynolds who is a single and unwed mother who
teaches her son her way not wanting him in a traditional schooling
system. Her son Danny runs into legal problems and is forced into a
private school ran by Reverend Dr. Edward Hewitt, played by Richard
Burton. Hewitt looks to convince Laura that the school is really not so
bad and slowly wins her over beginning an affair even though Hewitt is
married which obviously leads to some trouble. Eva Marie Saint, Charles
Bronson, and Robert Webber all co-star. It was interesting to see
Bronson in the character he played. This was a bit of Hollywood fluff
but it was not bad with the leads pretty good in their roles and another
movie on the list that challenges the system.
Captain
America (1979): This is a tv movie of the superhero which never really
got off the ground. This is more of a guilty pleasure but probably
better than the 1990 movie which I have yet to see. Reb Brown plays
Steve Rogers who becomes injected with a serum that makes him a lot
stronger and develops the persona of the title. This really has nothing
to do with the origin story so take that for what it is worth. Brown
does the best he can in this script. It is a guilty pleasure more than
anything. This was not exactly the start of a franchise but something
that can be fun to watch with some friends.
To
Have and Have Not (1944): Howard Hawks directed this film based on the
novel by Ernest Hemingway but understand that it bears little
resemblance to the novel. Humphrey Bogart stars as Harry Morgan who
runs a ship for hire on the island of Martinique during WWII. When he
is desperate for money, he takes a job for the resistance to transport a
fugitive from the Nazis to Martinique while romancing Slim, played by
Lauren Bacall in her film debut and the first of many teamings
together. Hoagy Carmichael, Walter Brennan, and Sheldon Leonard all
star in this film that has quite a bit of action for a film of this era
and the dialogue is even a bit racy for its time. The movie does well
despite being altered with the novel which is considered Hemingway's
worst and Hawks made a bet with Hemingway that he could change it to a
successful film which he won.
The
Evil Dead (1981): I decided to feature the start of the great
franchise that has had two very good sequels, a remake I have heard good
things about, and a musical which I hope to one day be in. Sam Raimi
directed this rather ground breaking horror comedy which was made on a
very low budget and would go onto become the cult classic that it is
today. Bruce Campbell stars as Ash who goes on a vacation with some
friends to a cabin in the woods that appears to be demonic like the
demonic tree, among lots of other things making Ash take charge turning
him into the hero to many in the movie world. Raimi and Campbell pretty
much got their careers started in this movie and are the only ones
whose film careers really soared after it. This is not for everyone and
if you do not have a good stomach, this is not the one. Otherwise,
this is a very well-done action film that succeeded on many levels.
After watching this, it might be a good idea to read Bruce Campbell's
autobiography IF CHINS COULD KILL, CONFESSIONS OF A B-MOVIE ACTOR which
describes the difficulty of getting this movie filmed which might make
you appreciate it more. This is available on Instant Netflix.
Enter
the Dragon (1973): This is my martial arts film for the week and
possibly the best of the era and the best for Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee
stars as Lee who goes undercover to infiltrate a crime lord named Han
and goes undercover into a martial arts tournament which Han hosts.
John Saxon co-stars as Roper who is a martial artist on the run from the
mafia and ends up in the tournament. Jim Kelly co-stars stars as
Williams who is harassed by racist police officers and defends himself
against him and then uses a police getaway car to get to the island.
This is really a big showcase of martial artists around the world like
Bob Wall, Bolo Yeung, Angela Mao, and many others. This has some really
good fight scenes and is possibly the best of the martial arts genre,
especially of its time. A young Jackie Chan is an extra and a young
Sammo Hung is also in it. Anybody into this genre should give this a
look and give credit where it is due. An interesting fact about this is
that Lee accidentally struck Jackie Chan with a fighting stick where
Lee apologized and told him he could always be in his movies but Lee
died three weeks before the premier.
This
Way Up (2008): I end the week with this Oscar nominated animation
short film. A father and son who work at a funeral parlour are trying
to get a coffin where it is supposed to be but their hearse is flattened
by a boulder. They must then do what they can to get the coffin their
running into all kinds of funny obstacles as well as a really
interesting scene in which appears to be hell. This really was a lot of
fun and the animation was very well done. This is worth a watch if it
can be obtained.Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you dislike. Stay tuned for next week.
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