Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 450th Edition

Welcome to the 450th Edition of my long running series.  I like that number at it gets closer and closer to 500 thought that is still about a year away.  I could not be happier right now with my Acer Chromebook so far.  I feel it is just as good as any Windows or Apple computer and the price is less than both.  It was quite a week in Indiana where everyone that we had a big direction in the way of equality where same sex marriage was to become legal in this state, only to have it taken away a couple days later.  It will be appealed but we should not lose hope.  I hope everyone has a good 4th of July and I will get to my selections for the week.

The Kids are All Right (2010):  I start this week out with this film directed and co-wrote by Lisa Cholodenko and how fitting I do it right after the same sex marriage ban gets lifted in Indiana which was coincidence.  Julianne Moore and Annette Bening star as Jules and Nic who are in a committed relationship who have two teenage kids through artificial insemination.  Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson co-star as Joni and Laser who are their kids.  Laser develops an interest in meeting his biological father Paul, played by Mark Ruffalo, who has a rather successful business but leads a free-spirited lifestyle which really complicates the lives of all of these characters when he comes into the picture.  This is more character driven than anything.  It is an interesting look into a family with same sex parents and have the same kinds of problems as any conventional couple.  I don't want to go too far into this plot in the fear of possibly giving things away.  This is a pretty well-acted film and is available on Instant Netflix.

Extract (2009):  I continue with a comedy written and directed by Mike Judge.  ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT alum Jason Bateman stars as Joel who owns an extract plant and is dealing with a lot of personal and professional problems in his life.  One issue is that his employee Step, played by Clifton Collins Jr., got injured on the job and could put his workplace in jeopardy.  Second, he believes his wife Suzie, played by SNL alum Kristen Wiig, is being unfaithful and takes the strange advice of his friend Dean, played by Ben Affleck, on how to test his theory.  The other problem in his life is his new employee Cindy, played by THAT 70S SHOW alum Mila Kunis, who is really a con artist looking to take the company for all its worth.  I find a lot of people did not like Affleck in this movie but I thought he was rather amusing as Joel's drugged out friend and had an interesting look.  David Koechner plays the most annoying neighbor of all time and is very fun in his role.  J.K. Simmons, Beth Grant, and even Kiss member Gene Simmons all co-star in this comedy.  This was not the greatest work of Mr. Judge but still was pretty fun and delivered a lot of laughs to me.  This is also available on Instant Netflix.

The Last Tycoon (2012):  This is my Chinese film for the week which was directed by Jing Wong and no this is not a remake of the 1976 film of the same title.  Chow Yun-Fat stars as gangster Chen Daqi through a 30 year span though Xiaoming Huang plays the character in his younger days when he was just getting started.  In his later years, he rises to become a mob boss and must deal with a love triangle, murder plots against his life and even war in his country.  Sammo Hung also co-stars as a mentor and friend of Chen.  It was good to see Chow Yun-Fat star in another Asian action film which is where he is at his best in my opinion and does great in this one.  There is a lot of really good action but has a well told story to go along with all the violence.  This is loosely based on a real-life person named Du Yuesheng.  This is available on Instant Netflix and is a must for fans of the Asian cinema and those that are tolerant of subtitles.

So You Want to Be a Paper Hanger (1951):  This is part of the Joe McDoakes series of comedy shorts from this era.  George O'Hanlon stars as Joe whose wife gives him a virtually last minute job of putting wallpaper on their wall for a gathering she is having later in the day.  Joe and his neighbor friend Marvin get the job done with lots of complications.  It is of worth to see Arthur Q. Bryan who most will recognize as the voice of Elmer Fudd.

Slaves in Bondage (1937):  I found this on a dvd I checked out at the library that has a lot of cult movies and took interest in this title.  This is an exploitation movie on white slavery and prostitution from the 1930s which were rather taboo things at the time.  To watch it now is pretty laughable with the dialogue and acting and is really more to see when you have a group of friends together while getting drunk and/or high when watching.  I'm not going to go too far into plot and is really for those who enjoy the exploitation genre.

Paper Moon (1973):  Peter Bogdanovich directs this depression period piece which stars real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O'Neal.  Ryan stars as a con man named Moses Pray who ends up with a young girl named Addie, played by Tatum in her debut, whose intention is to get her to a relative's house after her mother has died but along the way they form an unlikely partnership after seeing she is quite the con artist herself.  Madeline Kahn, Noble Willingham, and Randy Quaid all have parts in this comedy-drama.  Ryan and Tatum are great together.  It has great black and white cinematography to go along with good performances and a great depression era story of people struggling to make money.  Tatum won an Academy Award at 10 years of age and remains the youngest to win.  In 2011, the Oprah Network had a reality series where they were estranged and were trying to reconnect with therapy.  I would much rather see them here instead of that reality series.  I hope they were able to become closer but I did not feel they needed a reality series to do so.  This is available on Instant Netflix and Amazon Prime and is much better than RYAN AND TATUM:  THE O'NEALS.

I Know Where I'm Going! (1945):  I continue with this British film written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger which is available on the Criterion Collection.  Wendy Hiller stars as Joan Webster who is a stubborn and determined English woman who is to marry industrialist Robert Bellanger but gets stranded on an island where she is stuck due to the weather.  On this island she meets Naval officer Torquil MacNeil, played by Roger Livesey, who she slowly falls in love with on the island while trying to get off for her convenience marriage.  This is a very well-told romantic story with believable characters and great scenery.

The Cake Eaters (2007):  Mary Stuart Masterson makes her directorial debut with this script written by Jayce Bartok who co-stars as Guy.  This is a small town drama that shows the interconnections between families.  Kristen Stewart stars as Georgia who is a teenage girl with a deadly disease that gives her cerebral palsy type issues and affects her speech.  Despite her issues, she is determined to experience love and forms a relationship with Beagle, played by Aaron Stanford, much to the dismay of both families who do not feel they are right for each other.  There are many other characters that center around them.  Bruce Dern, Miriam Shor, Elizabeth Ashley, Talia Balsam, Jesse L. Martin, Tom Cavanaugh, and Melissa Leo co-star in this small town drama.  It's really hard to explain an actual storylines since there are a few effective ones.  I thought Stewart did a good job in this film and the rest of the cast worked very good in this character driven drama that I feel is well worth a look.

The Spook Who Sat By the Door (1973):  Ivan Dixon directed this film based on the novel by Sam Greenlee.  A senator is trying to win the black vote and decides to recruit black people to the CIA.  After a lot of grueling training, they hire soft-spoken veteran Dan Freeman to a job in the CIA as the "token black".  After five years, he decides to leave the CIA and go to Chicago.  When there, he uses his CIA training to train a group of militant blacks to start a race war.  I had never heard of this movie until I saw it at the library and took a lot of interest.  It appears to be a satire on both civil rights and a focus on black militancy.  This is actually a quality and significant film making it go beyond "Blaxploitation".  This was unavailable for many years until someone found a bootleg and it became ore attainable.  This is a very significant and compelling film which actor Robert Townsend cites that it changed his life when seeing it.  In 2012, the National Film Registry chose it for their annual 25 movies that are culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant.

2010:  The Year We Make Contact (1984):  This is a preview to our annual October contest we call the Madness where the theme this year is "Attack of the Automations" and take a look at all kinds of Halloween related film and television.  I am known as "The Kind of the Loophole" due to finding non-horror material relating to qualified names of actors and directors but still have some genre selections.  This movie immediately qualifies due to the Hal 9000, voiced by Douglas Rain.   Peter Hyams directed this sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 2001:  A SPACE ODYSSEY and based on the novel by Arthur C. Clarke.  Roy Scheider stars as Dr. Heywood Floyd who is recruited to go on a joint American-Russian expedition into space to see what went wrong for the U.S.S. Discovery.  They also look to reprogram the Hal 9000 in order to get answers on why the computer did such horrible things.  The two movies are far different from each other and this is a pretty decent sequel.  John Lithgow, Helen Mirren, Bob Balaban, Keir Dullea, Mary Jo Deschanel, and Candice Bergen all have parts in this film.  This movie is more political and has a backdrop to the cold war.  A scene of interest was Roy Scheider at the beach with his futuristic computer which was an Apple IIc which has come very far through the years.  This is also more direct than 2001 which some like better and so do not like better.  It is better to at least watch 2001 first but not to dismiss this sequel if you do not like 2001 as this answers a lot of questions towards the first one.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and what you dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Anne Hathaway, Edward G. Robinson, Keira Knightly, and many others..  Continue to read for my Fun and Useless Facts segment.

FUN AND USELESS FACTS

I decided to return with this segment of my blog.  I do not have any interconnections in this, only actors from different movies.

Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are All Right), Mila Kunis (Extract), and Kristen Wiig (Extract) were in the 2011 comedy DATE NIGHT.

Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are All Right) and Talia Balsam (The Cake Eaters) were in the 2006 movie ALL THE KING'S MEN.

Julianne Moore (The Kids are All Right) and Beth Grant (Extract) were in the 1995 movie SAFE.

Clifton Collins Jr. (Extract) and Chow Yun-Fat (The Last Tycoon) were in the 1998 action movie THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS.

Clifton Collins Jr. (Extract) and Madeline Kahn (Paper Moon) were in the 1992 tv movie FOR RICHER, FOR POORER.

Clifton Collins Jr. (Extract) and Bob Balaban (2010) were in the 2005 film CAPOTE.

David Koechner (Extract) did a live stand-up comedy show at the Muncie Civic Theater in my town which I had the pleasure to see.

J.K. Simmons (Extract) and Jayce Bartok (The Cake Eaters) were in the 2002 film SPIDER-MAN 2.

Beth Grant (Extract), Noble Willingham (Paper Moon), and Bob Balaban (2010) were in the 1994 comedy CITY SLICKERS II:  THE LEGEND OF CURLY'S GOLD though Balaban was uncredited.

Tatum O'Neal (Paper Moon) and Kristen Stewart (The Cake Eaters) were in the 2010 film THE RUNAWAYS.

Jesse L. Martin (The Cake Eaters) plays Collins in the 2005 film RENT.  My Facebook friend Jabrael played the part in a 2011 version at Muncie Civic Theater.

Jesse L. Martin (The Cake Eaters) plays the Ghost of Christmas Present in the 2004 tv movie A CHRISTMAS CAROL:  THE MUSICAL.  My Facebook friend Marty played the part in the same version in a 2004 version at Muncie Civic Theater which marked my return to the stage and my first show in my adult life.  Marty is on the top of my list of those I thank for my community theater career.

John Lithgow (2010) plays Reverend Shaw Moore in the 1984 film FOOTLOOSE.  My Facebook friend Barry plays the part in the musical version in a 2007 version at the Muncie Civic Theater where he was also playing the blind man in FRANKENSTEIN when they were doing two shows at once and had one of my best scenes with him in FRANKENSTEIN.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 449th Edition

Welcome to the 449th Edition of my series.  I hope everyone is doing well but I cannot really think of much to say right now.

Walk the Line (2005):  I start the week out with this music biopic was directed by James Mangold.  This is based on country music legend Johnny Cash and based on his autobiography.  This movie takes a look into the childhood of Cash, then into his rise in country music.  Joaquin Phoenix stars as Cash which charts a lot of his ups and downs.  It shows his first marriage to Vivian, played by Ginnifer Goodwin, which ended due to his constant absence and drug problems and his eventual marriage to June Carter, played very well by Reese Witherspoon.  Robert Patrick, Dallas Roberts, Shelby Lynne, Tyler Hilton, Waylon Payne, Shooter Jennings, Jonathan Rice, and many others co-star in this film.  Payne was very good as the wild Jerry Lee Lewis.  Phoenix and Witherspoon were great together and really fit their roles well as well as their singing.  Shooter Jennings is the son of Waylon Jennings who he portrays.  This is a very good bio-pic that is brutally honest and really worth checking out.

Hitler:  The Rise of Evil (2003):  This is my mini-series for the week which as you might have guessed is based on famed German dictator Adolf Hitler.  Robert Carlyle stars as Hitler and this starts out with his childhood going into his younger years in adulthood where he was an aspiring artist but rejected from art school.  It also shows days in WWII and his rise in the Nazi party up to his years as an evil leader.  Liev Schreiber co-staras as Ernst Hanfstaengl who was a friend of Hitler but slowly sees he is a very dangerous man.  Matthew Modine co-stars as Fritz Gerlich who was a reporter and did everything possible to expose Hitler but was unsuccessful.  Jena Malone co-stars as his niece Geli Raubal which was someone I was not aware of and someone Hitler obsessed over to the point of pretty much holding her prisoner.  Stockard Channing, Peter Stormare, Peter O'Toole, and many others co-star in this mini-series.  I thought Carlyle did a good job of portraying Hitler.  As I look into the history, I find that the writers of the mini-series did take a lot of liberties in how they portrayed many events and was historically inaccurate in many ways.  It was still pretty entertaining and I have read that the disturbing scenes with his niece were pretty real.  I still enjoyed this mini-series charting a very bad part of our history.

Thor:  The Dark World (2013):  This is my superhero film of the week.  After saving the world in New York, Thor, being reprise by Chris Hemsworth, returns to Asgard only to find that he must protect the world from the Dark Elves.  Thor is also looking to bring peace to the nine realms.  Natalie Portman also reprises her role as Jane Foster who longs for the return of Thor who she has not seen for a couple years.  He finally returns after learning that she has disappeared from the grid.  He also discovers that she is possessed by a great power that could lead to her death.  In order to save Jane from this, Thor is forced to team up with his mischievous brother Loki, reprised by Tom Hiddleston.  Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Christopher Eccleson, Jaimie Alexander, Idris Elba, Adewale Akkinnuoye, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgard, and many others co-star.  I believe Hiddleston is the standout in this film as Loki who was originally not going to be in this movie but was rewritten into the script due to his popularity in the 2012 film THE AVENGERS.  This does not beat THE AVENGERS by any means but still had good performances and was pretty entertaining.  This is available on Starz On-Demand.

Mickey's Parrot (1938):  This is part four of my animated Disney shorts and this one will be the last for a while.  A tempered parrot takes refuge in Mickey's home.  Mickey hears about a killer on the radio and believes the parrot he is hearing is that parrot.  Pluto soon runs into the parrot and tries to catch it but is very unsuccessful.  This is some really good early Disney and classic Mickey.

Jim Thorpe- All-American (1951):  This is my third biopic of the week and this one focuses on the legendary athlete Jim Thorpe, played by Burt Lancaster.  Michael Curtiz directed this one on the Native American who is sent to a school for Indian children to get educated where he finds his place in the world of sports and in college athlete in Track, football, and baseball where he also becomes an Olympic gold medalist but gets it all taken from him in a technicality.  He soon excels in pro sports but also goes off the deep end with his alcohol problems which cost him things like his marriage.  Charles Bickford co-stars as Pop Warner who knows Jim from childhood and never gives up on him.  This is a pretty good portrait which charts just as many downs as it does ups but is pretty realistic.  Lancaster does a very good job as Thorpe.

The Fortune Cookie (1966):  Billy Wilder directed and co-wrote this comedy which was the first teaming of the comedy team of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.  Lemmon stars as Harry Hinkle who is the cameraman for the NFL and gets knocked out by a player having to go to the hospital.  Matthau stars as his brother-in-law Willie Gingrich who is an ambulance chaser attorney who sees an opportunity to get a lot of money by exaggerating Harry's injuries.  Harry reluctantly goes along with the scam in hopes that his ex-wife Sandy, played by Judi West, will come back to him.  He also gets to know Luther, the star player that ran into Harry, who becomes affected by what is happening.  This in my opinion is the best of the teamings and is very overlooked today compared to THE ODD COUPLE which I also love.  I hope to get this one on the radar which is the start of a great comedy team.

How Green Was My Valley (1941):  John Ford directed this drama of a Welsh mining family.  Donald Crisp stars as Gwilym who is the patriarch of his family and whose oldest sons all work at the coal mine.  This is seen through the eyes of the youngest Huw, played by a young Roddy McDowell, whose father wants a better life.  Walter Pidgeon co-stars as the new preacher Mr. Gruffydd who develops a mutual attraction to Gwilym's daughter Angharad, played by Maureen O'Hara.  This is a pretty good portrait of a turn of the century town with good performances and well-written characters.

Lars and the Real Girl (2007):  Craig Gillespie directed this independent comedy-drama.  Ryan Gosling stars as the title character who is a rather shy and socially-awkward young man.  He soon announces a new girl named Bianca which is a sex doll he orders off the internet but sex is far from what Lars has in mind.  He has in mind a meaningful relationship.  His brother and sister-in-law, played by Paul Schneider and Emily Mortimer reluctantly go along with this delusion but soon begin to accept him and the rest of the community accepts Bianca as a member of the community.  This is one of my favorite movies and always like when someone can take a rather absurd plot and turn it into something so good and even beautiful.  Patricia Clarkson co-stars as Dagmar who diagnoses Lars as delusional but encourages his family to go along with him.  Gosling is great as Lars and is very likable and someone you can really understand.  I did not think I would like something like this but was pleasantly wrong.  This is available on Instant Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1968):  Melvin Frank directed this comedy which could be considered the inspiration to the musical MOMMA MIA.  Gina Lollobrigidia stars as Carla Campbell who lives in an Italian village and has for years told three former U.S. servicemen they are the father of her daughter Gia, played by Janet Margolin.  The three men who are believed to be the father are Telly Savalis, Phil Silvers, and Peter Lawford.  Each of them have had some good times with Gina but now they are all together and things get very complicated and comical.  Shelley Winters co-stars as one of the wives.  Lollobrigidia is great as Carla and the movie is something that has gone overlooked so maybe this will help get it on the radar some.

Monumental:  David Brower's Fight for Wild America (2004):  I end this week with this documentary.  Brower was an enviromentalist through much of the 1900s and fought to preserve what he could of our wilderness.  He was the founder of many organizations like the Sierra Club Foundation.  Many of his friends and family reflect on the kind of man he was and his early days where he did a lot of rock climbing.  Brower is a very valuable historic figure but not really known and I admit I had no knowledge of him myself until I watched this one.  This is available on Instant Netflix.

Well, that is it for this week.  Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Julianne Moore, and many others.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 448th Edition

Welcome to the 448th Edition of my long-running series.  I am proud to report that I have a new laptop.  I bought an Acer Chromebook and I am pretty happy with it.  I want to wish all the fathers out there a happy Father's Day including my own father who is also a good friend.  So I'm glad to have a computer again and Happy Father's Day, now time for this week's selections.

The Big Lebowski (1998):  I start the week out with this cult classic from the Coen Brothers which I had the pleasure of watching it outside in Downtown Muncie at the Fickle Peach.  Jeff Bridges stars as Jeff Lebowski who is a rather lazy man and goes by the Dude.  Some thugs mistake him for an older and richer man also named Jeff Lebowski, played by David Huddleston.  These thugs believe he owes them a big debt and even pea on his beloved rug.  The Dude learns about the man who shares his name and looks to get compensation for his rug.  When visiting, the Dude accepts a job from Lebowski where he becomes involved in a kidnapping ring and his tempered, gun-toting friend Walter, played by John Goodman, does not help much with his anger issues.  Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore John Turturro, Peter Stormare, Flea, Tara Reid, Sam Elliot, David Thewlis, and many others star in this great dark comedy.  Turturro is very amusing as Jesus Quintana who is a ruthless bowling star.  There is not a lot that I really need to explain as popular as the film has become through the years.  It is a very innovative film that has some great comedy and violence.

Ferdinand the Bull (1938):  This is my animated short for the week which is from Disney.  Ferdinand is not like other bulls, he would rather just relax and smell the flowers instead of being part of bullfighting.  he accidentally sits on a bumblebee which makes the bullfighters mistake him for a vicious bull and choose him for the bullfighting.  I know I have used a lot of Disney classics lately and this one is pretty good and a good character based on a children's book that Disney did a good job adapting.  A Disney gem that has been forgotten.

Wizards (1977):  I go from children's animation into a more adult oriented animated tale from Ralph Bakshi who wrote and directed this dark fantasy tale.  A wizard named Avatar, voiced by Bob Holt, looks to save the world from his fascist twin brother Blackwolf, voiced by Steve Gravers, and his mutants.  Blackwolf is almost like a Hitler and in fact likes to project videos of Hitler for his cause.  The world shown here is like a cross between WWII Europe and Tolkien's Middle Earth.  Mark Hamill and David Proval also lend their voices.  I am not usually into the Fantasy genre though like this more than the LOTR films and like that it had references to Hitler and seems to reference what he wanted to do in starting a whole new human race.  The character of Peace kind of reminds me of FUTURAMA's Bender in terms of the way he was drawn.

Mandela:  Long Walk to Freedom (2013):  This is my biopic for the week.  Idris Elba stars as the famed political figure who spend 27 years in prison and becomes the first democratically elected president in Africa.  This movie starts out in his early years where he is an attorney who does not take well to the oppression for the people in his race.  He then leads a resistance group in rather violent protests which get him and a few other members life in prison for treason.  Naomie Harris co-stars as Mandela's wife Winnie who becomes abused by the authorities when her husband is in prison and becomes a very ruthless as a result.  Mandela never gave up and eventually won the release for him and the others where afterwards he looks to turn Africa into a more peaceful society instead of going for revenge which bring a lot of disagreement from him and his wife.  I found this to be a very good and human portrayal of the late South African president which chart his ups and downs like his first marriage which ends because he focused more on his activism than his family and trying to get people to go along with him when running for president.  Elba does a great job as Mandela.  This movie was actually made before his death and his sisters were informed during the London premier and the rest of the audience got word after the movie was over.

The Furies (1950):  This is my western for the week which is more of a western drama than western action but works quite well.  Anthony Mann directed this western which was based on the novel by Niven Busch.  Walter Huston and Barbara Stanwyck star as dysfunctional father and daughter T.C. and Vance Jeffords.  T.C. runs his ranch called the Furies which he got by borrowing from banks and pays his hired help with "T.C.s".  Vance is promised the ranch but forms an interest in her father's enemy Rip Darrow, played by Wendell Corey, who is a gold digger himself.  Vance also becomes dismayed in her father's selection of a wife which leads to a very interesting scene involving scissors.  This is a rather different for of a western but one that works very well and never has to get extremely violent to get its point across granted I have been known to watch and enjoy pretty violent movies.  Huston and Stanwyck work very well together and this is Walter Huston's last film.

Edge of Darkness (2010):  Martin Campbell directed this action drama which brought Mel Gibson back to the role of the action star.  Gibson stars as Boston detective Thomas Craven who is paid a visit by his daughter Emma, played by Bojana Novakovic, who is soon gunned down with a bullet that Thomas thought was meant for him but discovers there is a lot more to it.  During Craven's investigation, he discovers his daughter was involved in some causes to uncover corruption leading hi to discover more than he wants to know.  Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Wayne Duvall, and many others co-star.  I might be a bit misleading which I say action because it is really more of a mystery than anything and it is not even so much about revenge but more about truth.  It does have some good action scenes but I thought it also had a good mystery story.

Psycho (1960):  Alfred Hitchcock directed this classic horror film based on the novel by Robert Bloch.  Anthony Perkins gives an iconic performance as the Norman Bates who manages the Bates Motel which is in a very remote area.  Norman is a very quiet and timid man whose life seems to be domineered by his mother.  Things star when Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, goes on the run and takes refuge at the motel leading into some life changing events for her and a few people close to her.  Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Martin Balsam co-star in this infamous film.  Most people already know the story so I'm not going to go too in-depth for those who have not seen it but will after reading this summary.  This movie has lead into a few sequels, a remake and a pretty successful current tv series.  It has the very famous shower scene. and the very memorable performance from Perkins which is unfortunately the only role he is known for and while this is possibly his best, he did a lot more admirable work.  Another really great part of this movie is the music score by Bernard Herrmann which comprises of all stringed instruments and contributed to the creepy feel of the film.  This is based loosely on real-life serial killer Ed Gein which was has been the inspiration for many.  A great double feature would be this film and the 2012 film HITCHCOCK which is based on his efforts to get this movie made and went through some extreme measures to get this movie made when no one really wanted to help him.

Lilian's Story (1996):  This is my Australian drama for the week.  Ruth Cracknell stars as the title character Lilian Singer who is being released from a mental hospital after 40 years when her father had her committed.  She soon begins to explore Sydney and tries to enjoy life to the fullest with the new people she meets.  A young Toni Collette plays Lilian in her younger days and documents her relationship with her abusive father.  This is loosely based on real-life Australian eccentric Bea Miles who was known to recite any Shakespeare dialogue and her relationshipl with the cab drivers.  This is a decent film with good performances by Cracknell and Collette playing well off her to seem like a younger version of herself.

Blackout (1954):  This is my Hammer Films selection for the week and while they are known for horror, this was one of their rare entries into Film Noir.  Terence Fisher directed this one, maybe the most prominent director of Hammer Films.  Dane Clark stars as Casey Morrow who is a down on his luck American in London.  He meets a beautiful blonde named Phyllis, played by Belinda Lee, who offers him a lot of money to marry her.  Out of desperation and drunkenness, Casey agrees to it but wakes up the next morning discovering his wife's father had been murdered and does not know what happens and must piece it together.  This is pretty watchable.  I have considered a lot of Hammer's horror films to be better than ours but when it comes to the Film Noir genre, I have seen a lot from this era that was better.  This is good to watch for historical purposes especially to the classic movie buff.

Nobody's Baby (2001):  I start the week out with a crime comedy and end with one.  David Seltzer wrote and directed this film which stars Skeet Ulrich and Gary Oldman as career dim-witted criminals Billy and Buford who are a couple escaped cons.  Billy saves a baby from a burning vehicle and starts to become more attached to the baby while getting help from a family he meets who help him.  Billy must make the decision what what to do with the baby he has come to love.  This is a very offbeat and dark comedy and a couple moments even making me cringe but I still found myself really enjoying this movie.  Radha Mitchell, Mary Steenburgen, Peter Greene, Ed O'Neill, and Matthew Modine all co-star in this fun dark comedy but not for everyone.  Oldman was very amusing and Buford and was pretty quite unrecognizable.  This appears to be hard to obtain as it was always on "very long wait" for a Netflix DVD which I found to record from Starz.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and what you dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, Natalie Portman, and many others.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 447th Edition

Welcome to the 447th Edition of my series.  It's been a rough week with my computer going out on me.  I look to get a new one this week.  No matter what happens, I always manage to put out this blog on a Sunday.  Tonight are to Tony's so I have that recording while I do karaoke at the Valhalla.  I will now get to my recommendations for the week.

Kick-Ass (2010):  Matthew Vaughn directed this homage to the comic book world.  Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as Dave Lizewski who is a nerdy high-schooler who is unnoticed and loves comic books.  He then decides to become a superhero though he has no training or powers and becomes the title character.  In his attempts toward the superhero world, he encounters a 10 year old girl who calls herself Hit-Girl, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, and someone called Big Daddy, played by Nicolas Cage, which is Hit-Girl's father.  They team up to take down a mob boss, played by Frank D'amico.  Elizabeth McGovern, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jason Flyming, Yancy Butler, Xander Berkeley, and many others co-star in this film.  I remember seeing this in theaters with my friend Lisa and not really knowing anything about it but becoming pleasantly surprised by what I saw.  I believe Moretz has the highest kill right of a girl of her age and is really good in her role.  Another movie of hers that year was LET HER IN where she also racked up quite a body count.  I thought Nicolas Cage had his best performance in years as her father who is pretty much raising his daughter to become a vigilante and has some rather extreme measures in his training.  This movie has a lot of violence but it has a lot of comedy as well.  This is a very clever and original superhero movie.

Interview (2007):  Steve Buscemi directed and stars this remake of Theo Van Gogh's 2003 film of the same name.  Buscemi stars as reporter Pierre Peders who is usually a political journalist but has a falling out with his editor and is forced to interview a soap star named Katya, played by Sienna Miller.  The interview is supposed to happen at a restaurant but gets off on the wrong foot when she is late but then Pierre is quite unprepared and rather belligerent.  When leaving, Pierre gets injured and Katya goes ahead and takes him home with her so she can tend to the wounds and there they start their interview which really goes both ways and is enhanced by alcohol and their competitive natures.  This is a pretty decent film with the leads very good and carrying the movie quite well.  Steve Buscemi's brother Michael Buscemi co-stars in the movie.  This is available on the app Crackle.

The Horse Whisperer (1998):  Robert Redford directed and co-stars in this more serious one compared to my first two selections so far which is based on the novel by Nick Evans.  A young Scarlett Johansson stars as Grace who is injured in an accident involving a horse which causes both physical and psychological trauma.  Her concerned mother Annie, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, learns of a man in Montana named Tom Booker, played by Redford, who is said to be of the title.  She decides to take Grace and the wounded horse to this ranch in Montana to see about getting both the horse and Grace healed.  In the process, Annie begins to fall in love with Tom even though she is married to Robert, played by Sam Neill.  Diane Wiest, Chris Cooper, Cherry Jones, Jeanette Nolan, Jessayn Gilsig, and Kate Bosworth all co-star.  This might be more a a date movie or a girls night movie but is a pretty moving film.

Paul Bunyon (1958):  This is my animated short for the week which is brought by Disney.  This tells the story of the legendary tall tale where a giant lumberjack must adjust to the newer technology and his friendship with Babe the Blue Ox.  The animation is not the greatest but still has a pretty good story and catchy song.

Network (1976):  Sidney Lumet directed this film which was written by Paddy Chayefsky.  Peter Finch stars as news anchor Howard Beale who is just not getting the ratings that he did so he is fired by the network.  He then does an unexpected rant where the ratings soar even higher making the executives exploit the rather deranged man for their ratings but find they are in over their head.  Robert Duvall, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Ned Beatty, Beatrice Straight, and many others co-star in this film.  This movie meant to be satire is very ahead of its time and is something I can always watch.  Finch plays Beale to perfection.  I read that actors like Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford, Gene Hackman, and George C. Scott declined the part of Beale but the more unknown Finch fit the part to perfection.  I want you to get mad and yell out the window, I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore.  I believe this would be a great play to do on stage.

Princess Tam-Tam (1935):  This is my French film for the week which is one of many stories inspired by PYGMALION.  Albert Prejean stars as French novelist Max who is in Tunisia and meets a shepherdess named Alwina, played by Josephine Baker, who he believes he can turn into a high class woman.  A few misunderstandings happen in the process.  Josephine Baker was a black actress who knew she would not have an easy time doing film in the United States so she moves to France where she gets some really good parts.  Some of this is more for historical purposes but was pretty fun and Baker was very fun in this film.  I recorded this from TCM and anytime I have the great Robert Osborne introduction, I am content.

A Bucket of Blood (1959):  Roger Corman directed this film which takes place a lot in a Bohemian Cafe.  Dick Miller stars as Walter who is a nerdy busboy at the cafe who longs to be an artist like much of the regulars there but does not have much talent.  He accidentally kills his landlady's cat and gets the idea to put plaster over the cat and when doing so, his work is acclaimed as a sculptor masterpiece.  This finally gets him the popularity he wants but knows he must repeat the success and resorts to homicidal methods to continue his success.  I actually consider this one Corman's best work.  I thought it was a pretty well-done satire and a coffee shop person like me can really appreciate this one.  The title is not quite what it sounds so try not to be fooled by it and check out Corman's best film.

Idina Menzel Live:  Barefoot at the Symphony (2012):  This is my concert movie for the week which is technically a tv special but I make final ruling as to what is considered a movie on this.  She performs some of her music in RENT, WICKED, GLEE, as well as songs like THE WAY WE WERE.  She also goes into her own backstory making for a pretty entertaining story with a special appearance by Taye Diggs.  For those who do not know her, she was the first Elpheba in WICKED, known for Maureen in RENT, recurring character in the tv series GLEE, and now has probably gotten more into the mainstream with her movie FROZEN as Elsa.  This year's Oscar ceremony might have given her some publicity with John Travolta's butchering of her name calling her something like Adele Dazeem which I do not know where that came from.  She is a very talented singer and actress and puts on a very good show that really deserves a watch.

High Anxiety (1977):  I continue with this Mel Brooks film and his tribute to the Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock.  Mel directed, co-wrote, and stars in the Hitchcock spoof as Dr. Richard Thorndyke who is the new administrator of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous.  When getting there, he stumbles onto some strange happenings and is framed for murder.  To clear his name, he must overcome is condition of "high anxiety".  The main Hitchcock reference is for VERTIGO but find some great references to PSYCHO, THE BIRDS, REAR WINDOW, and many others.  It might be a good idea to see some of the Hitchcock films from the 50s and 60s to appreciate the references and humor this movie brings.  Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, Dick Van Patten, Barry Levinson, Harvey Korman, and many others co-star in this film.  This is not Mel's best but still pretty fun and is available to watch on Instant Netflix.

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011):  I end with this crime thriller directed by Brad Furman.  Matthew McConaughey stars as defense attorney Mick Haller whose office is his Lincoln car.  He defends a wealthy young man named Louis, played by Ryan Philippe who claims innocence but the more Mick looks into this case, the more he finds there is a lot more to what is being said.  Marisa Tomei co-stars as his ex-wife and is also a prosecutor but still remain friends despite being on opposite sides.  William H. Macy also co-stars as Mick's investigator Frank and does a great job.  McConaughey is great in this film as a smooth-talking attorney who seems to only care about money but has a crisis on conscience with his questionable client.  Josh Lucas, John Leguizamo, Michael Pena, Bob Gunton, Bryan Cranston, Frances Fisher, and Trace Adkins all co-star in this film.  This has a great blend of comedy and drama with some really good twists and turns.  This is a very enjoyable film that should get a watch.

Well, that is it for this week.  Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Julianne Moore, and many others.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 446th Edition

Welcome to the 446th Edition of my long running series.  I want to take this time to wish my mom whose birthday is today a happy birthday. I don't really have too much to say right now so I'll just get on with my selections for the week. 

Patton (1970):  I start the week out with this biopic on the famed and controversial General George S. Patton which was directed by Franklin Schaffner and co-written by Francis Ford Coppola.  George C. Scott portrays the general to perfection and takes place in this WWII years in North Africa, the invasion of Europe and the fall of the Third Reich.  It also shows a lot of his faults like his ego and tendency toward insubordination that at lead to his downfall like being the lead general in the Normandy invasion.  Karl Malden co-stars as General Omar Bradley who is Patton's friend through the years but does not always agree with his ways.  It has a really good beginning with Patton in front of a big U.S. flag and making his speech.  This movie does a great job of portraying the man and the war with Scott giving it everything he had to no longer be George C. Scott but to become General Patton.  Scott won an Academy Award for this film but did not accept it citing he did not like the idea of competition between actors.

Clerks (1994):  Now I make a big jump from a war film to this independent comedy.  Kevin Smith makes his big debut where he directed, wrote and co-stars in this portrait of a couple clerks like the title implies.  I believe all of us can relate to this one in some way or another.  Brian O'Halloran stars as Dante who works at a convenience store and is called in on his day off and unexpectedly works the whole day even though he had a lot planned.  Jeff Anderson stars as Randal who really had no customer service or people skills but works at the video store across the street and tends to hang out more with Dante.   Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith co-star as Jay and Silent Bob who would become regular characters in these movies and hang out in front of the store all the time.  Marilyn Ghigliotti co-stars as Dante's girlfriend Veronica and Lisa Spoonhauer co-stars as Veronica who is Dante's ex-girlfriend and cannot let go of her.  This movie is in black and white which really was not a statement by Smith, just all he could afford.  This has a very low budget and Smith sold his comic book collection in order to get the funding though bought them right back with the success of this film.  I also notice that Kevin Smith always had good, subtle messages about letting people move on from their past which was Dante's big problem.  Smith clearly shows how much he cares about this project and his determination made this possible and is possibly one of the best comedies of this era.  He did not have a lot of money, state of the art equipment, but had one was important, a great mind and a very clever script.  He also is great on dialogue like the STAR WARS debate between the two.  This is available on Instant Netflix.

Noah's Ark (1959):  This is my animated short for the week which is from Walt Disney and their first stop-motion animated movie.  This is a retelling of the famed tale done in a rather unusual way that includes things like Jazz music.  The animals were done with all kinds of objects like funnels, eggs, pipe cleaners, corks and many other things.  I know there has been a lot of controversy with that new movie NOAH which has taken a lot of anti-religious critique.  This one is very fun and very clever in their first stop-motion animation film.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011):  Stephen Daldry directed this movie based on a novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.  This is based post 9/11 where one of their employees Thomas is killed.  Thomas Horn stars as his nine year old son Oskar who has a hard time making sense of his father's death.  He soon finds a key that his father left behind and searches all over New York City to find the lock that belongs to it.  Sandra Bullock co-stars as Oskar's single mother Linda who is trying to help her son understand the loss of his father and her husband.  A lot of this uses flashback to show past interactions between Thomas and Oskar.  Zoe Caldwell, John Goodman, Max Von Sydow, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright, and many others co-star in this movie.  Von Sydow was very good in his role as a mute and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the Academy Awards  I really see this as a movie showing a young boy how he copes after such a tragedy and the difficulty to understand it.  Horn was very good and really carried a lot of this movie.  

Romeo and Juliet (1936):  George Cukor directed this earlier adaptation of the Shakespeare classic.  Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer play the star-crossed lovers who are from rival families.  Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is the daughter of the Capulets which is the rival family.  John Barrymore is very amusing as Romeo's friend Mercutio and Basil Rathbone plays the villainous Tybalt.  There were some interesting casting her in terms of ages.  The leads are much older than the characters intended to be though if I heard correctly, they took out lines involving age.  I have always considered this my favorite Shakespeare and this one was pretty well acted despite the older age casting.  It does not beat the 1968 version in my view but is still watchable for those who are okay with Mr. Shakespeare.  I had the pleasure of being in an abridged version of the tale as Paris and this movie had some dialogue I would have liked to say but I had a good part in the show.

Red Dust (2004):  Hilary Swank stars as attorney Sarah Barcant who returns to her homeland of South Africa in order to represent Parliament member Alex Mpondo, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who was tortured during Apartheid by a police officer named Dirk Hendricks, played by Jamie Bartlett, who has applied for amnesty.  This is rather unknown but a movie I felt did a good job of giving an understanding to both sides even towards Sarah who has her own past where she was arrested for having a black boyfriend which was against the law during Apartheid.  It also has a very good message towards forgiveness.  This is a BBC produced film which was directed by Tom Hooper and did a great job.

Decoy (1946):  This is my film noir for the week.  Robert Armstrong plays gangster Frank Olins who is to get the gas chamber.  Jean Gillie stars as his girlfriend Margot who recounts the story of reviving Frank's body in order to find $400,000 that only he knows.  Gillie plays possibly the most vindictive femme fatale in noir history and did a great job.  Sheldon Leonard co-stars as Sergeant Joe Portugal who is trying to piece together this complex plot.  This was unknown for a long time but has achieved a cult status since its 2000 rediscovery.  This is one for anyone who loves the genre to check out.  It is available on DVD as a double feature with last week's CRIME WAVE.

John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band: Sweet Toronto (1988):  D.A. Pennabaker put together this concert documentary which features the only time John Lennon played live with the Plastic Ono Band. This was a Toronto concert in 1969.  The beginning feature Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Chuck Berry performing some of their stuff and good footage there.  When Lennon was up there, Eric Clapton is featured as the guitarist.  Lennon had an interesting version of BLUE SWEDE SHOES.  The last 10 minutes or so are rather laughable with Yoko Ono and I have no real description for what she was doing except I was cracking up.  Usually, I love Asian music, even if I do not know what they are saying but Yoko was terrible.  This is about an hour long and worth a watch despite Yoko.  Keep in mind the last 10 minutes or so are weird sounds from Yoko.  Even John Lennon is looking at her like "WTF" as well as Clapton.

North Dallas Forty (1979):  This is my sports comedy for the week but a rather dark one.  Nick Nolte stars as aging NFL receiver Phil Elliott who is trying to stay off the sidelines.  He also questions if he is still fit to play and if he fits into the sport.  This is loosely based on the Dallas Cowboys teams of the 70s and is the first movie to take a look at things like drugs, alcohol, and many other things that were a little taboo in the era.  Charles Durning, Bo Svenson, Steve Forrest, G.D. Spradlin, Dabney Coleman, and many others co-star in this film.  This is not one of the inspirational football films but one which takes a look more at the dark side of the game.  This is based on the semi-autobiographical novel from Peter Gent in which Nolte's character is based upon.

Get the Gringo (2012):  I end with this film directed by Adrian Grunberg.  Mel Gibson stars as career criminal who is sent to the strange and dangerous Mexican prison El Pueblito.  This was a new sort of place for him and had to rely on a 10 year old boy, played by Kevin Hernandez, to learn the ropes.  Peter Stormare, Scott Cohen, and Bob Gunton all co-star in this film.  This one is a bit hard to put into words for me.  It is an interesting sort of prison but a pretty realistic one from what I am understanding.  It also has a pretty good storyline which takes it way beyond the prison.  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 which so far includes Nicolas Cage, Steve Buscemi, Scarlett Johannson, and many others.