Welcome to the 419th Edition of my long-running series. I don't really have much to say today so I'll just get on with my selections for the week.
DMT:
The Spirit Molecule (2010): I start this week out with a documentary.
This takes a look at the molecule Dimethyltryptamine which is a
molecule found in just about all living organisms. This documentary
takes a look at the possible spiritual effects of the molecule. This
focuses on research from Dr. Rick Strassman's research and the effects
of it. It has interviews with many in the medical field and the
contributors for its theories like possible links to near death
experiences. This is a very interesting look into this and one I had
not really taken time to look into myself. This is available on Instant
Netflix.
Rambling
'Round Radio Row # 6 (1933): This is my short film for the week which
shows a radio salesman trying to sell a radio to a group of Gypsies but
finds it very difficult as the gypsies have a crystal ball where they
can get most of what they need. They demonstrate the ball by bringing
up music acts from that era. The music is not my kind of music but a
good showcase of music from that era.
Dr.
Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
(1964): Stanley Kubrick directed this dark comedy which is satire to
the Cold War with Russia. A tragic event causes a discussion of
possible nuclear holocaust. Peter Sellers stars as three roles. One is
of Captain Mandrake who is trying to get a code to recall the B-52
bombers that only General Jack D. Ripper, played well by Sterling
Hayden, knows but will not tell. Sellers also plays President Merkin
Muffley who does not really seem to be in the loop about everything.
The last part that he plays is of the title character who is a former
Nazi and his funniest of the three roles. George C. Scott is great as
the war crazed General Turgidson. Slim Pickens, Keenan Wynn, and James
Earl Jones are very amusing as the pilots about to drop the bomb and
Pickens is very funny as a redneck pilot. This is a great satire that
still holds up today and has a lot of laughs even among danger of
nuclear war.
Oldboy
(2003): This is my Korean film the for the week which was directed by
Chan-Wook Park. This is soon to become an American remake from Spike
Lee which has gone to a very mixed reaction. In some ways I really
understand the reasoning for remakes. Many people refuse to watch
foreign language films because they just do not want to deal with the
subtitles and the English dubbing is really bad which is really to be
expected as far as I'm concerned. I do not believe you can really do a
quality dubbing in putting your own language to theirs but that might
just be me. I do try to look into the realm of the foreign film from
time to time especially Asian films. I have been hearing about this one
for many years and finally get around to watching it. Min-Sik Choi
stars as Oh Dae-Su who has been abducted and imprisoned for 15 years
with no explanation. When getting out, he is equipped with money, cell
phone, and expensive clothes. He then sets out fo find his captors for
revenge and answers but finds that it goes very deep. This movie is very
stylish and really has a good story to it with a very good performance
from Choi. The movie has some rather graphic violence and if you can
get past that and the subtitles, it will be a great experience. This is
available on Instant Netflix and I am going to start looking ever more
into the Asian cinema.
Sudden
Fear (1952): This is my film noir for the week. Joan Crawford stars
as successful playwright Myra Hudson who marries actor Lester Blaine,
played by Jack Palance, who she had just fired from a play but become
friends afterwards. Myra soon stumbles onto a plot where Lester and his
mistress Irene, played by Gloria Grahame, are plotting to murder her.
This is really my favorite genre in this era and really liked the
theater element in this one. Crawford is great as the playwright who is
doing what she can to say alive. This is a very underrated and
suspenseful film which really deserves a watch. 
A
Time to Kill (1996): Joel Schumacher directed this film adaptation of
the John Grisham novel. Samuel L. Jackson stars as Carl Lee Hailey
whose daughter is brutally attacked by a couple racist rednecks in a
small Mississippi town. Enraged by what happened, Carl Lee takes
matters into his own hands by gunning them down as they go to court but
also wounds a cop in the process. Matthew McConaughey co-stars as up
and coming attorney Jake Brigance who agrees to defend Carl Lee but then
finds that his life and those around him are in danger due to the
resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan who obviously want to see Carl Lee
executed. Sandra Bullock, Oliver Platt, Donald Sutherland, Kiefer
Sutherland, Beth Grant, Kevin Spacey, Ashley Judd, Charles S. Dutton,
and many others co-star in this film that really in the end focus on
racial tensions and it really got me thinking. Many people who are
fathers will watch this and think "this is exactly what I would do if
someone does that to my child". In the beginning, these two guys are
running roughshot in the black community and doing very stupid,
unnessary, and cruel things to people of this community but their msot
heinous act was attacking an innocent 10 year old girl who was just
getting groceries for her family. This was a pretty well-mannered child
even to the point of apoligizing to her parents for dropping the
groceries which happened when she was attacked. After this, their
family members get the clan together and commit even more horrible acts
towards those of Jake who is just doing his job right or wrong. I will
try to speak realistically and say that vengeance does not erase
anything that happened but I am also someone who does not have children
and makes me wonder who I am to say I would not commit that sort of act
myself. It does beg a lot of gray areas of the way we treat each other
and how and act of cruelty can really start a chain of unncessary acts.
I will shut up now, I've gone on long enough. I did like a more toned
down Jackson in this one and McConaughey was also quite good as Jake.
My
Name is Julia Ross (1945): Nina Foch stars as the title character who
gains employment through an agency. She soon learns they are not who
they say they are when she awakens in a different home with different
clothes and having a different identity. She is being called by a
totally different name and soon learns she is part of a very sinister
plan that involves murder and must prove she is not this person the
family claims her to be. I really liked this movie and it is very
suspenseful. A rather unknown cast by today's standard but is still
very well done with the story and acting. This is available on TCM
On-Demand.
Pitch
Perfect (2012): Jason Moore directed this film that centers into the
popular world of a cappella. Anna Kendrick stars as Beca who is a
freshman at Barden University. Soon, she soon reluctantly joins the
all-girl group the Bellas to take on the all male group at the
University that is their rivals. She soon tries to get a new look and
sound to the group which brings a bit of tension among them and even
forms a relationship with their rival Jesse, played by Skylar Astin.
There are a couple other groups with a variety of sterotypical
characters from those sorts of groups. This I am sure has a lot of
mixed opinions. Fans of GLEE I'm sure will love this movie. I would
say that if you do not like this sort of performance, this might not be
your type of movie. For me, it was a lot of fun and I do admit to
usually enjoying this sort of thing. Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Rebel
Wilson, and many others co-star in this film.
The
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977): This is my more family
oriented selection. This is based on three short stories from A.A.
Milne. Each one we get to be with our friends Winnie, Tigger, Rabbit,
Kanga, Roo, Eeyore, Piglet, and Christopher Robin. They are pretty
closely related to the books. Sebastian Cabot, Sterling Holloway, Clint
Howard, and many others provide voices. This is very harmless fun that
everybody in the family can enjoy for the parents and the children no
matter what age. This is available on Instant Netflix.
Cannibal!
The Musical (1993): Trey Parker wrote and directed this really unusual
musical about the real-life Alfred Packer who is the only American to
have been convicted of cannibalism. Packer lead a group of gold
prospectors and a lot of tension came which lead to murder and possibly
cannibalism to survive. There were a lot of accounts that Packer was
innocent. Juan Schwartz whose name is really the same as the director
stars in this film as Packer. Matt Stone who would later become
Parker's writing partner in their hit show SOUTH PARK co-stars as
James. It is really not as tasteless as it sounds and is really pretty
funny with humorous musical numbers. As I look into the story, it is
somewhat accurate. This is a purposely silly and stupid movie but is
quite fun. This is the start of the team of Parker and Stone who would
go onto have a lot of success together in television, film, and
Broadway. This is available on Instant Netflix.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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