Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 418th Edition

Welcome to the 418th Edition of my series.  I really have nothing to say this week so I will just get to the recommendations.

Ichi the Killer (2001):  I start the week out with this violent Japanese film per suggestion of my Facebook friend Chris.  Takashi Miike directed this film which stars Tadanobu Asano as the very sadistic Yakuza enforcer Kakihara who is looking for his missign mob boss and has some very extreme ways of going about it.  Soon, him and his men encounter a young man named Ichi, played by Nao Omori, who is a repressed young man with very extreme strength and is trouble for Kakihara.  This movie is my no menas for everyone and when I say violent I really mean violent as well as very brutal.  There are some pretty good moments if you can get past the extreme violence.  The scenes of violence are also rather clever and the characters keep the interest.  I will say that I am not sure about the ending and will discuss it with anyone who wants to message me.

Polar Outpost (1957):  This is my documentary short which was put out by the Air Force.  This was at the time of cold war with Russia and talks about a Distant Early Warning System to monitor Russian aircraft coming.  This really have some good images of like rocks blown out of the water where ships would come in. This is a pretty entertaining short film and rather informative of our Cold War with Russia.

Elephant Boy (1937):  This is based on Rudyard Kipling's story TOOMAI, OF THE ELEPHANTS.  Sabu makes his film debut as Toomai who is a young native longing to be a hunter.  A lot of this movie focuses on the relationship between Toomai and the elephant Kala Nag.  This movie has some very good cinematography, music score, and good performances.  This is what made Sabu into a big star in the United States who was from India and went onto be in THE JUNGLE BOOK.  This is a very fun movie and deserves a look from people who like older movies.

American Hardcore (2006):  This is my documentary for the week.  This takes a look at the punk rock scene from 1980-1986.  This was a very counter-culture period from those venting their frustrations to the world in a very loud way including most of them being straight edge people.  There are interviews with members of bands like Black Flack, Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys, among many others.  I admit that I am really not into this type of music but respect it and really enjoyed this documentary talking about that important part of the music world.  This documentary is available on Crackle so free to watch.

Bang the Drum Slowly (1973):  This is my baseball movie for the week which was directed by John D. Hancock.  Michael Moriarty and Robert De Niro star as professional baseball players Author Wiggen and Bruce Pearson.  Author is the star pitcher of the team and Bruce is the catcher who become best friends within the team and Bruce learns he has a terminal illness which only Author knows about.  Author goes through some measures to insure that Bruce can play on the team.  Vincent Gardenia and Danny Aiello co-star in this film.  De Niro is great in this pre-GODFATHER 2 role as the dying catcher and works very well with Moriarty.  This is a movie that goes much deeper than baseball and is really about friendship.  It is one of the more unknown baseball films which is not right.  This really ranks up with the other baseball movies that were put out.  It is a much different role for De Niro.

The Fox and the Hound (1981):  This is my Disney film for the week.  When starting this movie, I found it sad that we can no longer think about a fox anymore without thinking about what it says but I was able to more on.  First we meet these two animals when they are very little.  The fox is taken in by an older lady when his mother is killed by a hunter and is named Tod.  The hound starts out as a hound dog puppy to a hunter named Copper.  When they are little they become best friends but as they get older Copper becomes a hunting dog which really endangers that friendship.  I was not sure what to expect out of this film but was really more disturbing than what I thought.  It does have a good story in it though where these two animals must decide who they are to become.  Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell, Jack Albertson, and Corey Feldman provide voices.  This also has a lot of good music numbers in it and is available on Instant Netflix.  This is a good movie for the family to watch.

Jane Eyre (1943):  Robert Stevenson directed this adaptation to the classic Charlotte Bronte novel and probably the most notable of the many film adaptations.  Joan Fontaine stars as the title character who is a governess to Edward Rochester, played by Orson Welles, who is twice her age.  With her rough childhood and lack of love in her life, she takes to Mr. Rochester forming a relationship despite their different classes.  I really liked the narration of Jane Eyre and actually reading some of the book passages.  Peggy Ann Garner plays Jane Eyre as a child who has a really hard time growing up in a religious school which is really my favorite part of the story.  This movie is available on Youtube in its full length.

The Secret of the Sword (1985):  I now bring my second animated film for the week which features our 80s heroes He-Man and She-Ra which was the introduction of She-Ra.  He-Man and the gang travel to Etheria in search of one who is meant for a special destiny which is Princess Adora.  When finding her, she is with an evil group called Horde not knowing she is working for a group of evil.  She slowly finds that they are not a good group of people and becomes who she is destined to become in She-Ra.  This is really the first time in a long time I have really watched anything with these characters but it brought back a lot of memories.  This was orginnally made as five episodes but is now a really fun animated 80s movie.  It might do some good to watch a few episodes of HE-MAN before watching this one but I think you'll have a lot of fun in the end.  Both cartoon series and this animated movie are available on Instant Netflix.

The Godfather (1972):  I think I featured this not that long ago but decided to go ahead and do it again.  This is the first ever Movie Night At The Shera feature where my friend Shera and myself viewed this film.  I mentioned this movie at some point which made her want to see it so how can I pass up an opportunity for one to view this great film.  Francis Ford Coppola directed this movie based on the novel by Mario Puzo which centers around the mafia family of the Corleones.  Marlon Brando stars as Don Vito Corleone who sees over this family.  There are many different plots but the main one is that Don Corleone refuses to go into the drug trade which brings feuds with rival mafia families.  A young Al Pacino co-stars as the youngest son Michael Corleone who has just gotten back from a war and does not intend to be a part of the family but slowly gets in with the family rising to the top when the don semi-retires.  James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Richard Castellano, John Marley, John Cazale, Talia Shire, Abe Vigoda, and many others co-star in this film.  The movie really focuses on family and does not have a lot of action and violence but when there is it means something.  There are also a lot of great quotes that come from this film.  Some have called this movie "long and boring" but is a great drama on a mafia family.  Shera at first thought it was slow but was willing to stick with it and as she got to understanding it more she really liked this three hour film.  This is the start of a great trilogy and should not be missed.

Cherry Waves (2012):  I end the week on this short film.  Carey Williams wrote and directed this short film.  A female underground fighter must consider her future in life with relationships, family, and her career.  This was a really compelling 15 minutes and really quite moving and sad at times.  I recorded this off of HBO and am glad to expose these shorts from time to time.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week.