Welcome to the 411th Edition of my long-running series. I am now 0-3 in Fantasy Football so not looking good but it is not over yet. Next week starts the annual Madness contest so I decided to give a little preview here featuring serial killers, creating life, Tolkien, and a Hunchback. I just got out of auditions for ANNIE at the Muncie Civic Theater which I should find out this week if I got a part. I will now get on
Ted
(2012): I start the week out with this very raunchy comedy which
includes a teddy bear but is by no means a children's film. I have been
meaning to see it but then I realized I had to check it out soon when
my friend Sirena referred to me as a Thunderbuddy and let me know it was
from this movie. Seth McFarlane directed, co-wrote, and provides the
voice of the title character. Mark Wahlberg stars as John who was
picked on a lot as a child. When he becomes eight years of age, he gets
a teddy bear that he calls Ted and then wishes that he were alive and a
friend. For some reason the wish becomes true and they become best
friends and Thunderbuddies for life. They both grow up together and at
35 years of age John is still quite a slacker while Ted is very
foul-mouthed and crude. Mila Kunis co-stars as John's girlfriend Lori
who is growing tired of John being so irresponsible and makes him choose
between her and Ted. This was a comedy that went to many mixed
opinions and there were even times where even I was saying wtf but yet I
could not take my eyes off the film. I expected the raunchiness but I
did not expect it to be a rather dark comedy mostly due to the weird
father and son combination. Giovanni Ribisi, Patrick Warburton, Patrick
Stewart and many others have parts in this film including some
celebrities playing themselves including Sam Jones who is known for
playing Flash Gordon in Ted and John's favorite movie FLASH GORDON. I
did enjoy this movie, I laughed a lot, and I am glad that now I have a
thunderbuddy. This is available on HBO On-Demand.
H.H.
Holmes: America's First Serial Killer (2004): This is my documentary
for the week which features serial killer H.H. Holmes who is billed as
the first American serial killer. He began his life of crime in the
late 1800s and was actually a doctor which was his front to be a serial
killer. He designed a hotel that was made for his victims in which he
killed in a variety of ways. This documentary follows his life as a
criminal mastermind and even got the nickname Torture Doctor. Through
the years, I have heard a lot about serial killers like Ted Bundy, David
Berkowitz, Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, and many others but I had
never really heard of him until I came across this title when looking
for selections on Instant Netflix which I had not watched until Ashley
posted a status about watching a documentary about him on the History
Channel which I guess was different from this one. This was a very
interesting documentary on a person who put up quite a front as a
successful doctor but was really a very sick man. This is available on
Instant Netflix and is a great viewing if you are into these types of
documentaries.
Music
Land (1935): This is my Disney animated short for the week. This is a
love story among musical instruments which consist of a Princess Violin
and a Prince Sax who are in a forbidden love due to being in feuding
kingdoms. This is a really fun short film with a really good story and
very well done with the musical instruments. This is findable through
Youtube and should really get a look, especially classic animation
buffs. 
Plan
9 from Outer Space (1959): I actually had the pleasure of viewing this
on a big screen at Cornerstone Center For the Arts in Muncie and being
put on by the local group Scarevania. They put on a very fun pre-show
that lead into all of us seeing the best bad movie of all time directed
by "The Worst Director of All Time" Ed Wood. The plot here is that
aliens resurrect the dead into essentially zombies to stop the humans
from making what is called a Solbonite which I guess is a sun-driven
bomb. In Wood's defense to some extent is that he did have a very low
budget to work with on his very ambitious project. Bela Lugosi is in
his last role here and dies during the filming. To replace Mr. Lugosi,
Wood cast his dentist Tom Mason and being much taller than Bela, they
had the bright idea for him to cover his face with his cape so sometimes
you see Lugosi and sometimes you see some guy covering his face with
his cape. Other legends include Vampira, Tor Johnson, and Criswell.
This has to be appreciated for what it is which is a b-movie classic
which have cardboard tombs, really bad looking flying saucers, not great
acting, among other things that make it what it is today. The
Scarevania group really made this experience fun by doing their own
commentary and antics. This group has a Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/scarevania and have a website at
http://www.scarevania.com.
The
Curse of Frankenstein (1957): As someone who is more of a casual
viewer to the horror genre, this has always been my favorite franchise.
I love the idea of a scientist who has good intentions of creating life
but finds there is a price of playing God as many might say. There is
also that really emphasised theme of fearing the unknown as this
creature he creates is seen as a monster and becomes one due to the fear
of others. In 2007, I had the pleasure of being in a great version at
Muncie Civic Theater where I played a psychotic gravedigger who helped
Victor Frankenstein in his quest to create life. In the movie world, I
have seen quite a few versions and consider this my favorite. Terence
Fisher directed this entry into Hammer Films which is based on the novel
by Mary Shelley. Peter Cushing stars as Victor Frankenstein who
becomes obsessed with the origins of life. He then successfully
re-animates a dog thought dead so then sets out to create a person, much
to the dismay of his tutor turned partner Paul, played by Robert
Urquhart. Also in his life is his cousin Elizabeth who then becomes his
fiance which makes Paul stay to protect her from harm. Christopher Lee
plays the creature in this film who tries to be good but never was able
to learn the world. I really love the way the story was told here and
the ending. I usually do not consider myself very OCD but I cannot tell
you how many times I have given the lecture that the Frankenstein is
Victor Frankenstein and that the creature really does not have a name.
This is the first of many teamings of Cushing/Lee which have always been
my favorites in this genre. Most people when they think classic horror
probably think the stuff of Universal but I have usually preferred
movies of Hammer films myself and hope to get more exposure with this
one.
Willy
Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971): I went on a bit of a
road trip over the week so I wanted something from this era that I could
rent from itunes and sync to my ipod touch and I thought what better
than this one. Mel Stuart directed this musical adaptation to the
children's book by Roald Dahl. Gene Wilder stars as the title character
who runs a chocolate factory and has been reclusive for years but holds
a contest for five kids to get a tour of his place. They each must get
a golden ticket. Peter Ostrum stars as a very poor but very kind boy
named Charlie who is determined to get that golden ticket and through
persistance finally gets it opting to take his Grandpa Joe, played by
Jack Albertson, with him. The other kids are not as kind and respectful
as Charlie and learn the hard way they must follow directions. This is
really one of my favorite musicals from this era and really prefer this
version to Tim Burton's version years later. This is a rather dark
story but they don't have to really shove it down your throat with the
cinematography. Wilder is great in the title role and the Oompa Loompas
are also very entertaining with their musical numbers. This is one of
those that I never get tired of and one of the better musicals from that
era in my humble opinion. 
The
Lord of the Rings (1978): This is an animated version of the classic
fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien which was directed by Ralph Bakshi.
This is centered around a young hobbit named Frodo who is charged with
destroying a ring that was created by the dark lord Sauron. He must set
out on quite a journey with the help of wizards, humans, elves, and
dwarves. This movie is a little over two hours long so is not quite
everything in the epic that Peter Jackson brought us many years later.
It is obviously a rather condensed version which really takes place in
the first half of the story. Despite not having the fully story, it was
still fairly well done with vocal talents that include John Hurt and
Anthony Daniels. It is also some very well done animation that was done
from Bakshi which was really pretty realistic. This may not be for
younger kids but the older crowd may really enjoy this underrated
adaptation.
Robyn
Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death... and Insects (2007): This is another
documentary for the week which takes a look at the singer of the title.
I will admit that I had not heard of this person until I recorded this
from the Sundance network. He is an English singer/songwriter who has
lyrics of surrealism and comedic elements and has been able to gain
quite a following. This takes place in a time of his life in 2006 where
he was recording a group of new songs that included collaborations from
R.E.M. member Peter Buck, Led Zeppelin member John Paul Jones, and
Gillian Welch. This was a pretty insightful documentary that goes some
into his background but if looking for a life story this is not it.
This is a good way to get to know the wory of Robyn Hitchcock if you
have not yet.
Lipsett
Diaries (2010): This is my modern day short film for the week which is
an animated one taking a look at filmmaker Arthur Lipsett who died in
1986 at the age of 49 years of age. A narrator recounts the life of a
bad childhood, a mother who abandoned him, and an unhappy adult life.
He was known for some very innovative short films in the 60s that
influenced filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick and George Lucas even if he
did not do any feature films that I am aware of. This movie took hand
drawn images, montage of clippings, and a few otehr elements. This was a
pretty good use of animation that uses Lipsett's collage animation
style and a good way for people to look into Arthur Lipsett which I now
intend to do because of this short film.
The
Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996): I end with this Disney film that is
based on the classic novel from Victor Hugo. This story centers around a
deformed bellringer named Quasimodo, voiced by Tom Hulce, in the 15th
century of France. All his life, he is raised by corrupt goverment
official Frollo, voiced by Tony Jay, who makes Quasimodo believe that he
is the only one who cares and the rest of the world is evil. Quasimodo
soon decides from encouragement of his gargoyle friends to sneak out of
the home to go to an annual festival where he soon meets a very
accepting gypsy girl named Esmerelda, voiced by Demi Moore, and an
honorable soldier who does not like Frollo's ways named Phoebus, voiced
by Kevin Kline. Esmerelda leads a group of gypsies who are opposing
Frollo's oppressive ways which makes Quasimodo slowly see the evil of
his caretaker. Other voices include Jason Alexander, David Ogden
Stiers, and Charles Kimbrough. This is a pretty dark tale so might not
be for little children but is a very compelling Disney film. For me, I
like Disney the best in the 90s and music wise this is really my
favorite. Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz write some really good
musical numbers, has some really good action, and is a pretty good
Disney story in my opinion. This is available on Instant Netflix.Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week.
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