Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 441st Edition

Come see the 441st Edition of my long-running series.  This week, I pay tribute to the late Mickey Rooney who I once saw at a live show in my town. I hope everyone has had a good week and I will now be putting out some recommendations.

American Reunion (2012):  It has been a few years since the last official entry into the series which was AMERICAN WEDDING in 2003 and was the third in the series.  All the group from the series reunites and all return home for their high school reunion.  Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan return as Jim and Michelle who are married with a son.  Chris Klein returns as Oz who is now a very successful tv man but in a loveless marriage.  Seann William Scott returns as Stiffler and clearly has not changed.  The rest of the gang rounded out by Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, and Eddie Kaye Thomas all come back into town for all new comical situations.  Some of the other actors like Eugene Levy, Jennifer Coolidge, John Cho, Shannon Elizabeth, and a few others make appearances.  If you are involved with the previous one, this is some great nostalgia to look into.  I really like the way each one is kind of their own movie and not a rehash of the first ones.  This one had some good moments where they are trying to relive their high school youth through some of the current students in town.  This is the one to start out with but if you like the previous ones, this is one to continue with in the end.

Scarface (1983):  This is part 8 of what is possibly a 12 part Al Pacino series.  Brian de Palma directed this remake of the 1932 classic where a few changes were made.  The 1932 version has the main character named Tony Camonte whereas this one is Tony Montana.  In the 1932 version, Tony was a bootlegger and heavily based on Al Capone hence Capone's nickname of Scarface.  In this version Tony is a Cuban cocaine dealer.  Pacino stars as Tony Montana who leaves Cuba during the Mariel exodus of 1980 and is part of a Florida refugee camp.  Him and his friend Manny, played by Steven Bauer, are offered a way off in the way of a contract killing and then would get their green card.  Tony soon begins a life as a Cuban drug dealer slowly moving up to the top but then becoming more and more paranoid of the people around him.  Robert Loggia co-stars as Frank who gives Tony his first work as a dealer and targets Frank's empire and mistress Elvira, played by Michelle Pfeiffer.  Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio co-stars as Tony's sister Gina who he is protective to no end which clouds his judgment more.  F. Murray Abraham, Harris Yulin, Miriam Colon, and Paul Shenar all co-star and look for Mark Margolis and Richard Belzer in bit parts.  Oliver Stone wrote the screenplay while he was battling his own addiction.  This movie is not for everyone.  There is a lot of foul language, violence, and the use of cocaine including the f word being said a lot which might have had a record at the time for the number of times it has been said.  Still a very compelling film to me with some great one liners and big climax.  Pacino is great and creates an icon which still lives on today and still sells a lot of merchandise like me buying a poster and a wallet.  Please say hello to my little friend and the world is yours.

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997):  I continue on with the action in this James Bond selection.  Pierce Brosnan makes his second appearance as 007 and goes against media mogul Elliot Carver, played very well by Jonathan Pryce, who looks to create the bad news.  His main mission is to put Britain and China against each other and start World War 3.  Bond teams up with Hong Kong agent Wai Lin, played by Michelle Yeoh, in order to stop his scheme from happening.  Teri Hatcher co-stars as Paris who is Bond's former love but now Carver's wife.  Ricky Jay, Gotz Otto, Joe Don Baker, Vincent Schiavelli, Judi Dench, Desmond Llewelyn, and Samantha Bond all co-star in this film.  I always have enjoyed this one and might be my favorite of the Brosnan era.  I loved seeing Michelle Yeoh in action and admit this was probably my first exposure to her and then went on to check out her Asian films.  I also like the idea of a corrupt media mogul trying to take over the world who essentially creates the news.  This is a pretty fun 007 outing if you can accept Brosnan as Bond.

Hoppy:  The Bunny (1949):  This is my short film for the week which was produced by Coronet which did a lot of videos meant to educate but really just entertain including some being used at times for MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 before they do their feature film.  This time they go the route of a children's story and then shifts to a real bunny visiting a farm, meeting a raccoon, chickens, pigs, and other things.  It was really just a bunch of footage of animals that was not nearly as compelling as they thought it would be but still sort of enjoyable and is available on my pub-d-hub app on my Roku and on the public domain.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939):  This is my tribute to the late Mickey Rooney who recently left us.  My mom and I had the pleasure of seeing him and his wife Jan at a live show at Emens Auditorium in Muncie a few years ago and he could put on a show.  Seems like he performed from birth up to his death at 91 years of age.  Richard Thorpe directs this adaptation to the famous novel by Mark Twain.  Rooney plays the title character who has a hard time living in a civilized world.  He is then joined by a runaway slave named Jim, played by Rex Ingram, who lives in the home Huck is staying with.  They soon sail in a raft down the Mississippi river hoping to earn his freedom.  Things get complicated when they are joined by two con artists, played by Walter Connelly and William Frawley, who claim to be British royalty but are really just out for their bounty to capture Jim.  I was once in a musical version called BIG RIVER and the more I think about it, this might be the first Huck Finn adaptation I have seen.  There are some changes from the novel but still a pretty decent adaptation with Rooney great in his role.  This character might have been the first youth character to express non-conformity like in not wearing shoes, smoking pipes, and not going to school.  Ingrim was also very good as Jim and made a good duo.

Two for the Road (1967):  Stanley Donen directed this film which is partly a road movie but is mainly a look into a long-term marriage and all its ups and downs.  Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn co-star as Mark and Joanna Wallace which flashes back and forward a lot reflecting on the times like when they met, into parenthood, up to the modern times where they must examine if it is worth fixing their marriage.  This is a really good look into the ups and downs of a marriage and there are some comedic and even sad moments.  I might consider this Hepburn's best performance and Finney was great as well.  Jacqueline Bisset has a small part in the film.  I feel this movie goes beyond the phrase "chick flick" and is really a more enjoyable date movie that the guys might get more into.  This has gone onto being rather underrated and is available on Amazon Prime which I just got the year subscription. 

Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957):  John Huston directed and co-stars this WWII film which stars Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr who are really the only two actors in the film besides a few extras.  Mitchum stars as Marine Corporal Allison who is shipwrecked on an island and is alone.  He then meets Sister Angela who is a nun and has been shipwrecked herself.  They have no communication where they are so must wait out the war on the island while trying to survive.  Allison must also rely on his survival skills in order to keep himself and Angela alive when the Japanese invade the island.  The two actors do a great job in keeping the movie going.  Allison soon forms a love for Angela and she must decide on keeping her vows or forming a relationship.  This is another one that has really gone very overlooked through the years and I had not heard of it until I was on Instant Netflix looking for something of this era.  The movie takes place during WWII but is not really a war movie and more of a drama than anything though a little more action happens near the end.  Check this out on Instant Netflix.

When Did You Last See Your Father?  (2007):  Arnand Tucker directs this film based on the book by Blake Morrison which is based on his life.  Colin Firth stars as Blake Morrison whose father Arthur, played by Jim Broadbent, is diagnosed with terminal cancer.  Blake leaves his wife and kids in order to take care of his father in his last days and trying to understand him more.  Through the years, we see they have a very difficult relationship from childhood into his adulthood and does not seem to feel accepted by his father and maybe feelings of being in his father's shadow.  This movie uses a lot of flashbacks to show the father/son relationship.  I noticed the Broadbent and Firth were pretty well cast, having similar facial features and was very believable.  This was a pretty simple and moving film of a father and son relationship.

Drunken Master (1978):  I continue with this martial arts film directed by Yuen Woo-Ping and starring a young Jackie Chan as a younger version of Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-Hung.  Fei-Hung's father is looking to teach him Kung Fu but finds that he is too undisciplined and sends him to his rather cruel and strange uncle who teaches him the unusual style of drunken boxing where .  He then puts this style to use when he returns home to stop an assassin from killing his father.  I will admit, I have always had mixed opinions on Jackie Chan's slapstick style of martial arts.  This had a lot of funny moments and good fight scenes.  I personally prefer the 1994 sequel THE LEGEND OF THE DRUNKEN MASTER which is actually my favorite of Chan's.  I did like in this movie, the use of Wong Fei-Hung theme song which is used a lot in the ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA films.  This does provide some pretty good entertainment and is good to take a look at for a younger Chan.  This is available on Crackle.

Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson (2005):  I end this week with what might be more like a tv special but since this is my blog and I am my own boss, I get to decide what gets included.  This is a roast hosted by Jimmy Kimmel where the focus is towards Pamela Anderson.  I remember growing up and in middle school always fantasizing about her and would usually watch BAYWATCH when getting home from school.  The roasters on this night were her ex-husband Tommy Lee, Adam Corolla, Eddie Griffin, Sarah Silverman, Nick DiPaolo, Andy Dick, Greg Giraldo, GOLDEN GIRLS alum Bea Arthur, Elon Gold, Lisa Lampanelli, the Lady Bunny, Courtney Love, and recorded roasts from David Spade and Hugh Hefner.  They take jabs at her on things like her acting, breast implants, the sex tape with Tommy Lee, and her heavy involvement with PETA.  There is nothing that in politically incorrect nor is anything really held back.  These people really enjoy what they do in roasting Pamela and the rest of the roasters.  I do kind of respect that people can sit in that chair and take this stuff.  I do not believe I could take this sort of thing nor would I be a very good roaster myself.  In this, I was not aware that she wrote a novels called STAR and STAR STRUCK which was made very known by Bea Arthur.  This was pretty entertaining and liked that Bea Arthur was on the roasting panel.  If you are offended easy, this is not for you.  The money made on this was donated to PETA.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and what you don't like.  Stay tuned for next week which so far includes more Al Pacino, Kim Basinger, Humphrey Bogart, Jack Lemmon, and many others.  Read on as I returned with my "Movie Night at the Shera" segment.



MOVIE NIGHT AT THE SHERA

August:  Osage County (2013):  My friend Shera and I decided to get a movie for the night and went to a Redbox machine when out and about.  We then agreed to check out this one.  John Wells directed this film that is based on a play by Tracy Letts in which he wrote the screenplay to his own play.  Meryl Streep stars as Violet Weston who has cancer and an addiction to pills and alcohol.  Her three daughters Barbara, played by Julia Roberts, Ivy, played by Julianne Nicholson, and Karen, played by Juliette Lewis join her as well as the rest of the family after a tragedy.  When the family gets together, many secrets get out and tensions go through the roof for this family.  Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Ewan McGregor, Margo Martindale, Sam Shepard, Dermot Mulroney, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Misty Upham all co-star.  I enjoyed Cumberbatch in this film as someone who tries so hard to do right but has a hard time.  This is not a very upbeat film at all but a very good portrait towards a dysfunctional family and the price of secrets.  We both watched this movie, not really knowing what to expect.  There were many times both of us cringed on scenes but enjoyed it for the most part.  When it was over, we both discussed our feelings toward the end of the movie but won't go into detail on what was discussed seeing as this is not a spoiler blog.  This was a very good cast, each character was developed pretty well.  I would also like to see my local theater put this on as a play in the studio theater.  This was not easy to watch but was pretty compelling and if looking for a really upbeat family comedy, this is not the one.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 440th Edition

Welcome to the 440th Edition of my series.  I hope everyone is having a good Easter and maybe just a good 4/20 if that is what is being celebrated.  Our show is coming along very well and hope people in or near my area can make it out there.  I will now get on with my selections for the week.

A/K/A Tommy Chong (2006):  I start the week out with this documentary that I feel fits today's date of April 20th.  Josh Gilbert directed this documentary that mainly focuses on the government case on Tommy Chong for selling bongs over the internet which ended him up in prison for nine months.  This was a case started during the Bush administration and this documentary focuses on the ridiculousness of the witch hunt.  For those who do not know, Tommy Chong was one half of the duo Cheech and Chong who were a rather groundbreaking comedy duo that became very controversial for they way they made humor out of marijuana. In addition to the government case, it also goes into some background on Tommy Chong's life like his early music career and the beginnings of when him and Cheech Marin met and formed that legendary comedy duo.  It also talks about his stand-up comedy act that seemed to have formed from the government witch hunt.  This is a very insightful and well done documentary which gives a whole new side to Tommy Chong that many may not know.  This is available on the app Crackle.

Heat (1995):  I now bring part 7 of my Al Pacino series.  Michael Mann wrote and directed where Al Pacino and Robert De Niro have their historic on-screen encounter.  Notice I say "encounter" so I am not referring to them both being in THE GODFATHER PART II due to them playing characters in different eras.  Al Pacino stars as Lt. Vincent Hanna who leads a robbery/homicide division investigating a series of robberies.  Robert De Niro stars as Neil McCauley who leads the robbery crew which includes people like Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, and Danny Trejo.  One of their robberies goes bad when their new guy, played by Kevin Gage, flies off the handle resulting in the deaths of police officers.  The biggest focus this has is towards those two characters whose personal lives are rather similar and the respect they form for each other leading to a great climax.  Jon Voight, Diane Venora, Ashley Judd, Mykelti Williamson, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Dennis Haysbert, William Fichtner, Natalie Portman, Hank Azaria, Henry Rollins, Tone Loc, Jeremy Piven, Xander Berkeley, and many others co-star in this great cops and robbers film.  This is partly based on a detective friend of Mann's and actual thief named Neil McCauley.  This is a very compelling film that really holds nothing back and is rather moving at times behind all the violence.

Man of Steel (2013):  This is my superhero film for the week which was directed by Zack Snyder in this reboot to Superman.  The first part of the film focuses on the fall of the planet Krypton and goes more in-depth than I have seen in the past.  Russell Crowe plays Jor-El who struggles to save Krypton from their from the maniacal General Zod, played very well by Michael Shannon.  Jor-El soon understands that to keep his newborn son safe, he must send him to planet Earth where I'm sure you can guess that he becomes Clark Kent, played by Henry Cavill.  The next storyline focuses a lot on Clark Kent and his adopted father Jonathan Kent, played by Kevin Costner who also did a very good job.  It shows Jonathan teaching Clark values but to also not expose his gift to anyone though Clark always felt compelled to help others in need.  The next main storyline is Clark struggling to find himself and an encounter with reporter Lois Lane, played by Amy Adams, makers her see that he is not an ordinary man and is determined to learn more about him.  The main storyline is of General Zod invading Earth and Clark being the only one who can match his strength leading him to being called Superman.  This is possibly the best Superman approach so far in film and television.  Cavill was well-cast in the role and put a lot of effort getting his body fit for the part.  Diane Lane, Christopher Meloni, and Lawrence Fishburne co-star in this film.  I was glad to see Meloni get a good role in a feature film like this after being part of a lot of tv shows like OZ and LAW AND ORDER:  SVU.  I know even a lot of anti-Superman fans really enjoyed this take to the legend.  I also really like how it takes the approach of Superman just trying to help out where he can and not trying to be a hero and feel this movie did a great job of portraying that part of Superman.  I also really liked Adams as Lois Lane and there was a more fearless approach to the character than has been done in the past.  This is right now available on HBO On-Demand

Pest Control (1950):  This is my comedy short for the week which is part of the Pete Smith Specialty short.  Comedic actor Dave O'Brien stars in this short as a man dealing with human pests.  One of them is him as a manager at an antique shop and had to deal with a child handing fragile merchandise.  Another funny segment was a scene involving a fountain pen.  This is not the best entry in the series but still very entertaining while still being a good entry into this series which gets shown on TCM a lot.

You Only Live Once (1937):  Fritz Lang directs this film noir.  Sylvia Sidney stars as Joan who is the secretary to a public defender, played by Barton MacLane, and is able to use her influence to get an early release of her lover Eddie Taylor, played by Henry Fonda.  Eddie is a career criminal who Joan believes is a good person but has had a lot of bad breaks.  Eddie gets his release and tries to go straight but finds that is not easy and they go on the lam together.  Fonda and Sidney work very well together.  This is a really good look at the difficulty of going straight and one that really took a challenge to the production code at the time.  This is not the most upbeat movie of all time but is a very enjoyable one to watch that stands the test of time.  This is available on Instant Netflix.

Quadrophenia (1979):  Franc Roddam directed this film based on the album of the same name by the Who.  This movie takes place in 1960s London.  Phil Daniels stars as Jimmy who hates his job and does not have a very good relationship with his parents.  He lives for his scooter and his mod mates and do battle with their rival mates the Rockers.  He soon has a downward spiral into paranoia and isolation.  This has a pretty good disturbing look to it and a good 60s soundtrack to go along with it including the introduction of the Who's LOVE REIGN O'ER ME.  Sting and Ray Winstone co-star in this film.  The Who produced this film and is based on their soundtrack but is not a musical film. 

The Steel Helmet (1951):  Samuel Fuller wrote and directed this Korean war film and was one of his earlier works.  Gene Evans stars as Sergeant Zack and is aided by a young South Korean boy which he named Short Round, long before Indiana Jones had him as a sidekick.  They encounter a group of American soldiers and look to get to a Buddhist temple which was believed to be abandoned.  When arriving, they realize there is a group of North Koreans residing there and must fight for survival.  This is the first Korean war film and is a very good one even with the very little budget that fuller had at the time.  This was also during the time of the McCarthy era and was investigated by the FBI on what they felt were Pro-Communist moments.  This is a very gritty and realistic look at the Korean war that did not need a big budget or big actors to succeed and still be relevant today.

Burn After Reading (2008):  The Coen Brothers wrote and directed this crime comedy which was even funnier and clever than expected but I know why I did not have higher expectations. John Malkovich stars as Osbourne Cox who gets fired from the CIA and decides to write a memoir.  His disk falls out of his gym bag and two employees at the gym stumble upon it.  Employees Chad, played by Brad Pitt, and Linda, played by Frances McDormand, come upon the disk and try to blackmail Osbourne with money into giving it back to him.  George Clooney and Tilda Swinton also co-star in this caper.  Pitt  and McDormand are great especially McDormand who is unsatisfied with her body and wants plastic surgery which she finds the opportunity for money.  However, they soon find they are way out of their league in trying to blackmail.  I actually laughed many times during this rather dark comedy including McDormand accusing people of being negative when she is the one desperate for plastic surgery. J.K. Simmons and Richard Jenkins also co-star in this well-written comedy.

The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975):  Melvin Frank directed this adaptation of Neil Simon's play.  I figured since I am busy with a Neil Simon show, this would be a good time to feature one of his movies.  Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft star as married couple Mel and Edna Edison.  Mel loses his job as an ad-executive causing him to have a nervous breakdown.  Edna tries to help but also struggles herself.  This is another comedy which manage to make humor out of serious situations.  The actors work so well together and Lemmon does a great job showing a broad range of emotion.  F. Murray Abraham and Sylvester Stallone both have early appearances with a very interesting encounter with Lemmon and Stallone.  I feel this is a more underrated work of Simon and Lemmon and hope this can put it some on the radar.  Please don't forget THE GOOD DOCTOR by Neil Simon on May 8th, 9th, and 10th in Lewisville, Indiana.  Yes shameless plug but it's my blog and I have the right.

Bad Words (2013):  I end with this comedy which stars Jason Bateman who makes his directorial debut while also starring.  He plays 40 year old Guy Trilby who manages to find a loophole in a spelling bee contest which is supposed to be for 8th graders.  Kathryn Hahn co-stars as Jenny who is a reporter trying to figure out his motivation for entering a contest.  Guy is very ruthless and foul-mouthed as he moves his way up the spelling bee much to the dismay of officials and parents.  He soon forms an unlikely friendship and partnership with the 10 year old Chaitanya, played by Rohan Chand, who is unfazed by Guy's personality.  There were times I felt guilty laughing as Bateman was pretty unlikable but was still able to keep it as a funny movie and pull off being a jerk dealing with children.  There were a lot of great interactions between Bateman and Chand.  Beth Grant and Philip Baker Hall also co-star in this comedy.  This was a very interesting comedy and might have been better than it should have been.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and do not like and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Mena Suvari, more Al Pacino, Michelle Yeoh, the late Mickey Rooney, and many others.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 439th Edition

Welcome to the 439th Edition of my series.  I want to start by saying we have lost a few people lately including iconic actor Mickey Rooney who performed to the day he died, WWE Hall of Famer Ultimate Warrior who just made an appearance on Raw the night before, and my friend Tommy who had Multiple Sclerosis and lived life to the fullest no matter his condition.  I will now get on with my recommendations for the week.

Phil Spector (2013):  This is part six of my Al Pacino series.  David Mamet wrote and directed this HBO movie which is a drama based on the murder trial of the famed music producer, played very well by Al Pacino, and the relationship between Spector and attorney Linda Kenney Baden, played by Helen Mirren, who looks to prepare Spector for a trial.  ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT alum Jeffrey Tambor co-stars as attorney Bruce Cutler who is most known for defending John Gotti and persuades Baden to advise him.  Whatever Spector has done, he did do a lot for the music industry bringing in acts like The Ronnetts, the Righteous Brothers, Tina Turner, the Beatles, and the Ramones.  He was put on trial for the shooting death of Lana Clarkson who ironically enough was in the 1983 film SCARFACE which starred Pacino.  The beginning of this movie is straight with us and indicates this is a fictional account of Spector.  I found this to be worth it for the performances of Pacino.  It appears this might have been Mamet's statement towards the legal system and the prejudging we tend to do.  It may also be shown on how someone is riding high but then their lifestyle catches up with them.  It could have been longer and gone more in-depth.  Chiwetel Ejiofor co-stars in this HBO drama.  Pacino and Mirren work well together and is worth a look on HBO On-Demand.

Inside Job (2010):  This is my documentary for the week which was directed by Charles Ferguson and narrated by Matt Damon.  This is an analysis of the events leading up to the global financial crisis of 2008 which cost many their jobs and homes.  This shows interviews from financial insiders, politicians, journalists, among many others and made on location in the United States, Iceland, Singapore, England, France, and China.  This was a very informative and well-researched documentary.

The Wise Quacking Duck (1943):  This is my animated short for the week which features Daffy Duck.  A mild-mannered man named Mr. Meek is sent by his wife to kill a duck and encounters Daffy who makes his job very hard.  Daffy does all kinds of things to escape and performs a rather interesting striptease.  This was a pretty fun short with a different rival in Mr. Meek and many funny moments.

For a Few Dollars More (1965):  Sergio Leone  co-wrote and directed this iconic western which is the second part of the "Man With No Name" trilogy.  Despite being billed as the "Man With No Name", Clint Eastwood stars as Monco who is a bounty killer who is chasing the gang of El Indio, played by Gian Maria Volonte.  He then meets Colonel Douglas Mortimer, who is another bounty killer and yes they are billed as bounty killers not hunters.  They decide to team up since they are after the same people which leads into some great shootouts and a great Spaghetti western.  Ennio Morricone wrote a great music score which is really the co-star of the film like a lot of his scores.  I actually liked this one better than the iconic one in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY.  At the time, Leone really did some taboo things for the time like horses being shot and even marijuana use among other things. This is available on Instant Netflix.

Great Guy (1936):  James Cagney stars as Johnny Cave who becomes the head of the Bureau of Weights and Measures and fights city corruption that is cheating the public and put one of his guys in the hospital.  Cagney had not worked in 11 months due to the litigation following the termination of his contract with Warner Brothers.  Cagney carries this movie very well making it watchable while not his most memorable or greatest.  This is available on the app called Premier which I got on my Roku and is worth a look for Cagney.

The Thin Red Line (1998):  Terrence Malick made his return to directing for the first time since the 1978 film DAYS OF HEAVEN.  This is a WWII film based on the autobiographical novel by James Jones.  This takes place during the conflict at Guadalcanal.  This war movie really has no star in it and is really in some ways like a philosophical war film which begs questions that have no answers.  This has quite the all-star cast like Sean Penn, Jim Caviezel, Ben Chaplin, Adrien Brody, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, George Clooney, John Cusack, Elias Koteas, John Travolta, Jared Leto, Dash Mihok, Miranda Otto, Nick Stahl, Thomas Jane, John Savage, OZ alum Kirk Acevedo, Mark Boone Junior, Tim Blake Nelson, among others.  There were also scenes that were cut of actors like Mickey Rourke which I wish the DVD I got had those scenes.  I have seen that particular scene on youtube and was really pretty good and a good performance from Rourke.  Some of my favorite moments in this film are from Chaplin who is missing his wife and making the most of the war.  Unfortunately, this movie was released in the same year as Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN which then drew unfair comparisons to it.  This one is not nearly as violent but is quite realistic when it is and this really is not as anti-war as SPR.  This is a more poetic war film which is to the style of Malick who really can be hit or miss to many.  I have found with Malick that I need a couple viewings to really get used to him but then feel rewarded in the end.

Easter Parade (1948):  I figure with Easter coming next week, it would be fitting to do a movie like this one.  Fred Astaire stars as Don Hewes who has had a successful partnership with Nadine Hale, played by Ann Miller, but then Nadine leaves to start her own career.  Don then recruits a chorus girl he sees named Hannah Brown, played by Judy Garland, and is out to prove Nadine wrong claiming he can make any girl as good as she is as a dancer.  At first, Don tries to develop her like Nadine, but finds she has her own style and when accommodating to that style, they become very successful.  I have seen a few Astaire films in my lifetime and really enjoyed this the most with a possible exception to HOLIDAY INN.  Astaire and Garland worked so well together.  Ann Miller is also very in this movie and has a really good song and dance number with SHAKIN' THE BLUES AWAY.  She was also pregnant at the time and in a lot of pain but did a great job hiding it.  Rat Pack alum Peter Lawford also co-stars in the film and also shows his musical talent.  Jules Munshin makes his film debut as the comic waiter.  This is really up there with my favorite musicals from that era and one of the best from Fred in my opinion.

Bringing Out the Dead (1999):  Martin Scorsese directs this film on a look at the life of a paramedic.  Nicolas Cage stars as Frank Pierce who is a paramedic that is burned out and overworked.  It gets to him so much that he is haunted by visions of people he tried to save.  The shifts for him do not get any easier with the people he is with like John Goodman, Ving Rhames, and Tom Sizemore who all of very unusual things about them.  Singer Marc Anthony is very amusing as the patient Noel and Patricia Arquette, who was Cage's wife at the time, co-stars as the daughter of a comatose patient who she keeps thinking there is hope.  Scorsese and Queen Latifah both provide voices to dispatchers.  SOPRANOS alum Aida Turturro also co-stars as one of the nurses.  I have always though this has gone very underrated.  It is a good look at someone who is just about at their breaking point and doing whatever possible to keep it together.  It is a rather dark film but manages to work in some pretty good humor.  This is one of my favorite Cage films and hope this puts it on the radar.

The Touch of Satan (1971):  This is from an episode of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000.  Michael Berry stars as Jodie who is making a trip through country and ends up on a farm where he falls in love with Melissa, played by Emby Mellay, who is actually a witch.  I'm not going to get into too much detail of the plot and just look at what show it is from to know what to expect.  This is one of the later episodes and has a different villain that I had never seen in Pearl Forrester which was different but pretty good.  This episode is available on Instant Netflix or you can get your own copy and do your own MST3K.

Olivia's Cross (2012):  I end this week with this short film which was directed by my Facebook friend Robert Joseph Butler and written by Joseph Johnson.  My Facebook friend Aaron Karns co-produced this short film.  Alana Jo Beckman, who is also my Facebook friend, stars as the title character who is still reeling from the loss of her mother, played by Athena Isabel Lebessis in flashback scenes.  Olivia and her father, played by Dan Howard, take a hiking trip to Northern Michigan in attempt to deal with their bereavement.  Olivia soon ends up alone and must use her courage and hope to survive.  The scenery is really good in this film as well as the performances.  The young Beckman is really someone to watch out for in the future.  It is also a really good story told from a child's point of view and is very likable.  This made it to many film festivals.  This is available on http://www.nuwavefilms.com under the "now showing section and is free to watch so take 15 minutes to view this independent film.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes more Al Pacino, Amy Adams, and many others.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 438th Edition

Welcome to the 438th Edition of my long-running series.  Tonight, I will be heading to Buffalo Wild Wings in Anderson to check out WRESTLEMANIA 30.  Not a lot going on right now so I will just get to my recommendations for the week.

I Knew It Was You:  Rediscovering John Cazale (2009):  This is part five of my Al Pacino series and my documentary short for the week.  This HBO documentary pays tribute to actor John Cazale who was in five movies in the 70s which include THE GODFATHER, THE CONVERSATION, THE GODFATHER PART II, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, and THE DEER HUNTER all of which were nominated for Best Picture and died at an early age of bone cancer making him remain very unknown.  He is probably best remembered as Fredo Corleone in the Godfather films.  This is a tribute to the actor where many of his co-workers, friends, and even fans show their admiration for his work.  Steve Buscemi, Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Francis Ford Coppola, Richard Dreyfus, Sidney Lumet, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman, and many others reflect on their thoughts of Cazale.  This takes a look at his career in theater and film and into his death.  People like Pacino and Streep cite he was an inspiration to them and that they learned a lot as actors from Cazale.  People really need to know this actor more and is a great tribute.  It is too bad that he died so early and would have likely had a big career.

The Place Beyond the Pines (2012):  Derek Cianfrance directed and co-wrote this film.  Ryan Gosling stars as Luke who is a motorcycle rider and tours a lot.  When returning to Synecdoche, he learns that his former lover Romina, played by Eva Mendes has a child which is his.  He then leaves that lifestyle in an effort to stay in town and provide for his son.  He then turns to bank robbery in order to get his money after learning that it was not easy for him to find a job.  Bradley Cooper co-stars as Avery who is a rookie cop trying to do good among a corrupt police force.  The encounter they have with each other changes the lives of many people throughout the years.  Ben Mendelsohn, Rose Byrne, Harris Yulin, Bruce Greenwood, Ray Liotta, Dane Dehaan, and many others co-star in this very compelling drama.  I felt this was a very well done film and unfolded in a great way that I really did not know what to expect.  The heist scenes are also very well done as well as the performances.

Perversion for Profit (1965):  This is another documentary short, this one more of a propaganda one that I found on TCM and recorded.   News reporter George Putnam narrates on things like porn magazines, smut peddlers, and other things that are decaying our society and how they are being sold in stores.  It also shows how this can lead into things like Homosexuality, bondage, rape, sadomasochism, and even drugs.  Most of the most famous porn magazines were not out yet like Penthouse and Hustler but I did find Playboy was out at that time but did not get mentioned.  This is a very interesting piece of propaganda that is just laughable today.

The Clown (1953):  Robert Z. Leonard directed this remake to 1931 classic THE CHAMP where the difference is that the 1931 film is about a boxer and this one features a clown.  Red Skelton stars as Dodo Delwyn who is reduced to performing in burlesque and amusement park shows due to his drinking problems.  Tim Considine co-stars as his son Dink who idolizes his father but is more of a father to Dodo than anything trying to keep him in line.  Skelton is known for his comic talent and in this movie he plays a funny person but a more serious role which I felt he pulled off very well.  Considine was great as his son.  This is a very moving story where Skelton shows his comic skills but also shows some range into drama.

Pocahontas (1995):  This is my Disney film of the week which came out during my favorite Disney era of the 90s.  Disney tells the story of the real-life Indian girl of the title, voiced by Irene Bedard and sung by Judy Kuhn.  She is part of the Algonquin tribe and is a rather free-spirited girl whose father is making her marry the warrior of the family and does not want to marry.  Mel Gibson voices John Smith who is part of a group of English sailors and soldiers going into the "new world" lead by the corrupt Governor Ratcliffe, voiced by David Ogden Stiers.  Pocahontas and John Smith soon meet and form a relationship though on much different sides which are in danger of war which the two try to prevent.  A lot of people cite this as very historically inaccurate but I don't think it's any more inaccurate than other stories being told.  I believe a lot of this is a good statement towards the fearing of the unknown where the white man feared the indian tribe and vice versa.  It also really focuses on the price of hatred like with the song SAVAGES which was sung by both sides.  There are also a lot of other really good musical numbers written by the great team of Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.  Gibson also does a really good job and has a pretty good singing voice.  This is really my favorite of this era I cite as my favorite Disney era.  Christian Bale, Linda Hunt, and Billy Connolly also lend their voices to this film.  This is available on Instant Netflix.  Unfortunately, the Instant Netflix version does not have IF I NEVER KNEW YOU except on the soundtrack version at the end. 

The Lost World (1925):  This is my silent film for the week which is based on the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Before there was JURASSIC PARK, we had this novel from Doyle who is most known for the iconic character of Sherlock Holmes.  Wallace Beery stars as Professor Challenger who leads an expedition to a South African country where they find a world of dinosaurs still exist.  In some ways this is kind of a pre-KING KONG and if watching both of there you will understand what I am saying.  The animation on the dinosaurs was pretty believable looking which was stop-motion animation.  Doyle got to see this movie and really liked this adaptation to his novel.  This is available on the Roku app Premier and is really worth a look.

Watch on the Rhine (1943):  Herman Shumlin directed this film based on a play by Lillian Hellman.  Paul Lukas and Bette Davis star as married couple Kurt and Sara Muller who return to Washington D.C. with their three kids after 18 years in Europe.  Kurt is working for an anti-Nazi group in Germany and is discovered by a Romanian count which leads into some life changing decisions by the family.  This was out around of the time of Fascism and the rise of the Nazis.  This has a great message on how these times senselessly made life difficult.  Lukas was very good as Kurt and I really don't know much else about him though he won the first ever Golden Globe Best Actor in a motion picture for his performances here.  Davis quickly took the role feeling it is a very important film and was very anti-nazi herself and plays a more toned down role in this one in a career known for villainous characters or rather dark characters.  This is a very good film from this era that goes a bit unnoticed today. 

Fish Story (2009):  This is my Japanese movie for the week which talks about punk music and the apocalypse.  In the year 2012, a comet is set to hit the earth threatening to end civilization on Earth.  A music store remains open during these dark times and insists that a song from a very obscure band that came out 37 years ago will save the world.  It then flashes back to this punk band in 1975 that came out a year before the Sex Pistols as many will let know.  This movie flashes back to the older eras to the world of now and is a pretty good light-hearted apocalyptic film which also pays a good homage to the world of punk music.  I really don't have much other explanation except what I just described so if you are okay with English subtitles, check this one out.

Bunny Lake is Missing (1965):  Otto Preminger directed this psychological thriller.  Carol Lynley stars as Ann Lake who settles in England with her daughter Bunny.  When picking her up at the preschool, she is nowhere to be found and there is no records of her registration leading the police to wonder if the daughter actually exists.  Laurence Olivier co-stars as Superintendent Newhouse who leads the investigation towards trying to find the daughter of if she even exists.  This is a very suspenseful and well-done film that makes guessing rather difficult.  This is available on the app Crackle.

Four Lions (2010):  Christopher Morris directed and co-wrote this very interesting satire.  This comedy takes a look at four Islamic Brits who want to become jihadists of the first order.  In their wanting to become terrorists it also shows their ideologies clashing leading to some disagreements and even tragedy.  It is a movie that I felt very bad laughing but could not really help it as it was a very well done satire and statement towards terrorism showing the stupidity of it.  Quite possibly the most funny and weird scene of the movie involves a bird.  This is available on Instant Netflix until tomorrow but hopefully it will come back.  This is a very clever comedy that really does not cross any lines in my opinion that it could have with its topic of terrorism.

Well, that is it for this week.  Stay tuned for next week which so far includes more Al Pacino, Matt Damon, Clint Eastwood, James Cagney, Sean Penn, Judy Garland, Nicolas Cage, and many others.