Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 537th Edition

Welcome to the 537th Edition of my series.  I started my rehearsals for MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING and on the bottom I replaced the end with details of information for the show and where to buy tickets.  Tonight are the Oscars so we'll see if this is the night Leo will win the Oscar and judging from the way award shows have been going this year, I believe he will get it this year.  I don't have a lot more to say so I'll just get on with my selections for this week.

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls:  How the Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'N' Roll Saved Hollywood (2003):  I start out with this documentary which is part three of my three-part William H. Macy series where he is the narrator.  This is based on a novel by Peter Biskind which takes a look at the '70s movement in Hollywood.  This was a time where movies focused a lot on counter-culture and where the director was the star of the movie.   The main directors of focus are Martin Scorsese, Arthur Penn, John Schlesinger, Sam Peckinpah, Roger Corman, Roman Polanski, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola, Bob Rafelson, Warren Beatty, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Warren Beatty, among others.  it also has interviews with many of the survivors from this era in Hollywood.  I never really knew what a significant period this was in film. This is a very entertaining and informative look at the film industry.

Plane Nuts (1933):  This is my classic short for the week.  It focuses on a on a lot Vaudeville routines and big dance numbers.  The main point of interest is of Ted Healy and the Three Stooges before the Stooges came to popularity while Nealy did not seem to be very known beyond Vaudeville.  The Stooges would go onto do a lot better things but show some early signs in this one.  They were in last week's selection DANCING LADY.  It is of worth to see for early Stooges.

Harvey (1950):  Henry Koster directed this adaptation of the play by Mary Chase.  James Stewart stars as Elwood P. Dowd whose best friend is a tall rabbit named Harvey that only he can see.  His sister and niece Veta and Myrtle Mae, played by Josephine Hull and Victoria Horne, have a hard time keeping friends with others with them always seeing Elwood as insane because of his rabbit friend.  When Veta tries to have Elwood committed to a mental institution, misunderstandings happen that get her committed instead.  This has always been one of my favorites from this era and find Elwood P. Dowd is one of the best characters in film history.  I always say if more people had a friend like Harvey, this world would be a better place.  I suppose you could call this the lighter version of DONNIE DARKO and maybe that can be a double feature for some.

David Copperfield (1999):  This is my BBC selection for the week and no this is not about the magician even if it features a Pre-Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe but even with him the movie has nothing to do with magic.  This is based on the classic Charles Dickens novel.  Radcliffe plays Copperfield during childhood and by Ciaran McMenamin in his young adult years.  During childhood, David lives a pretty ideal life having a really good relationship with his mom but the simplicity changes when his mom marries the very strict Murdstone, played by Trevor Eve.  When David's mother dies, he is sent to work at a very young age to a factory.  I suppose there are a lot of similarities to OLIVER TWIST in the way of a young boy forced to grow up and learn to survive and fight adversity.  Pauline Fox, Pauline Quirke, Maggie Smith, Michael Elphick, Zoe Wanamaker, Ian McKellan, Bob Hoskins, Imelda Staunton, Ian McNeice, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tom Wilkinson, and many others co-star in this tv movie.  I think this is my favorite BBC mini-series I have seen so far though favor this story in the period of David Copperfield's childhood but still does very well to the finish.  Radcliffe makes his film debut in this series while co-starring with a few that would be part of the Harry Potter series.  Those who like Dickens and period pieces really should give this a shot.

Trouble Man (1972):  I continue with some Blaxploitation and I guess this is fitting being the end of Black History Month, I'll let the readers decide that one.  Robert Hooks stars as private investigator Mr. T who is hired to "fix" things but appears to get set up in the gang wars with the police trying to bring him down as they don't like Mr. T.  He is able to stay cool through it all with his swagger.  There is not a lot more to say but that this is one of the better Blaxploitation movies out there and Hooks is very enjoyable as Mr. T.

Freedom's Fury (2006):  This is my second documentary for the week which is directed by Colin K. Gray and Megan Raney.  Mark Spitz narrates this film which is centered around a water polo match in the 1956 Olympics between Hungary and Russia which is considered to be the bloodiest game in Olympic history.  What the documentary goes into is the events that lead to how this game came to be.  This has some interviews with survivors from that game reflecting on these times.  This was a very informative documentary on a part of history that never gets talked about much.  I also like when they go into the history of water polo in Hungary.

Rob Roy:  The Highland Rogue (1953):  This is my Disney selection for the week.  Most people when they think of Robert Roy MacGregor think of that 1995 film with Liam Neeson.  In this one, Richard Todd stars as Rob Roy who is a Scottish Highland leader fighting for his freedom from the British who see Rob as a nuisance.  Glynis Johns stars as his wife Helen who stands by him through it all.  Michael Gough and Finlay Currie also co-star in this Disney film.  Granted, I prefer the darker 1995 film but this is still enjoyable.  This is done well enough to be a good action film for the family to watch.  Richard Todd does a great job as the Scottish outlaw.  This movie and its 1995 version are both available on the library website hoopladigital.com which has been a pretty good source for me lately.

Dirty Pretty Things (2002):  This is my British film for the week.  Stephen Frears directed this film which was written by Steven Knight.  Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as illegal Nigerian immigrant Okwe who works as a hotel receptionist but is a doctor where he is from which also comes into play illegally.  He comes upon an illegal scheme by his boss Juan, played by Sergi Lopez, who gives him a very tempting offer that could lead to his freedom or to disaster.  Audrey Tautou co-stars in her first English speaking role as Senay who is also an illegal looking for her own freedom through Juan's scheme.  Sophie Okonedo, Benedict Wong, and Zlatko Buric co-star in this film.  This was a sleeper hit from that year.  It was a pretty realistic film with some good performances.  This crime drama is available on Instant Netflix and will keep you the whole way through.

Le Samourai (1967):  This is my French film for the week which was directed by Jean-Pierre Melville.  Alain Delon stars as hitman Jef Costello.  He is usually very careful and precise at his job but one job left witnesses and him trying to maintain an alibi which gets him more and more into a corner.  Francois Perier is the police commissioner determined to prove he is a killer.  Jef also must watch for his employers who do not like the idea of him being questioned by the police even if he was released.  This movie has been an inspiration to many including Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, and John Woo.  This might actually be my favorite French film I have seen from this era.  Delon is great as Costello and Melville does a really good job of not using much dialogue but still making it work like in the beginning.

In the Future (2016):  It's been a pretty busy week with my show and work so I decided to end with a short film.  Courtney Jines directed and wrote this short.  Wendy McColm stars as Max who narrates her very underwhelming life from the future.  This was a Sundance Ignite Fellowship winner in 2016.  It is really pretty clever and a very interesting three minutes.  This is available at the website http://www.sundance.tv/series/shorts-on-sundancetv/videos/in-the-future so give it a look and some of the other short films on that website.

Well, that is it for the week but continue to read for the return of my Movie Night at the Shera segment.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Elizabeth Banks, Kristen Bell and many others.

MOVIE NIGHT AT THE SHERA

Trainwreck (2015):  I ended up on Tuesday not having a rehearsal so I texted Shera to see about a movie night and she texted back with this asking if I had the new Amy Schumer movie so I figured she was referring to this one and I went along.  I made a rare rental at a Redbox machine to get this and then soon her over to The Shera.  Judd Apatow directed this raunchy romantic comedy which Schumer actually wrote.  She also stars as someone named Amy who is a writer that is a commitment phobic woman who must rethink what she has been taught in her new assignment of interviewing sports doctor Aaron, played by Bill Hader, despite knowing nothing about sports.  Aaron begins to like her and wants a relationship with her making her rethink her views on monogamy.  Some might say that the title reflects the movie and while it did not end up being one of my favorites, we were both still quite amused.  There were a lot of cameos from athletes and actors playing themselves and others.  I was rather intrigued and really did not know what to think when seeing John Cena and thinking I hope those Make-A-Wish kids that look up to him do not see this movie.  I was also very surprised when her daughter was in the room with us and actually knew his entrance song.  From what I could gather, she has seen some Youtube videos of Cena.  While I'm not really a basketball fan these days, Lebron James was a lot of fun as himself and a friend of Aaron.  I also liked Colin Quinn as her dad and the one who put the thoughts into Amy's head about relationships.  The movie had a very mixed reaction and the roles were kind of reversed in terms of the type of character Schumer played which is usually the man with that personality.  If you are not looking for something real serious and don't get offended to easily, this might be a good watch one night.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 536th Edition

Welcome to the 536th Edition of my series.  Tomorrow I am starting rehearsals for MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING where I make my debut for the Alley Theater in Anderson, Indiana and have performances on March 11th and 12th.  I am playing the part of George Seacoal in my second Shakespeare show.  This how process is about three weeks and soon after this we will be shooting our web series PIGFOOT 2 and more details will come after that is done.

Robin Williams:  Weapons of Self-Destruction (2009):  Last week I featured stand-up comedy from Bo Burnham and this week I follow it with the well known comedic actor Robin Williams.  He is his usual energetic self but those who only know him from film and tv are in for quite an awakening.  He covers topics like drugs, global warming, politics, sex, even the porn industry on titles they have made of movies he has done.  He is far more vulgar than usual but still his very funny self.  He does some very obscene celebrity impersonations.  It is just too bad that things ended with him the way they did.  Please keep in mind, this is an HBO show so many lines can be walked so if you offend easy, stick to the movies and tv shows of Robin.

Land of the Zuider Zee (1951):  This is my short film for the week which is part of the Traveltalks series which is always narrated by James A. FitzPatrick.  In this one, they travel to Holland.  They take a look at the economy of the country and much of the locations there.  The Zuider Zee was a bay by the North Sea.  Like most from the series, nice use of technicolor making the imagery stand out a lot with good footage of the country.

Dancing Lady (1933):  This is my Burlesque and Broadway pick of the week I guess.  Joan Crawford stars as Janie who is a dancer and will do her passion however necessary taking a job as a Burlesque dancer.  The group gets arrested for some sort of indecent exposure which in those days was probably pretty bad but now it really is nothing new.  A rich playboy named Tod, played by Franchot Tone gets her out of jail with the fine they required and looks to get her into a Broadway musical.  She tries to get into a musical directed by a well-known director named Patch, played by Clark Gable, who at first thinks Janie is using her charm rather than her talents to get to the top but things change.  Most of the highlights for me are some of the cameos like Fred Astaire, Nelson Eddy, Robert Benchley, and Ted Healy and the Three Stooges.  Astaire plays himself making his film debut and has a pretty good dance number with Crawford who is actually Astaire's first on-screen dance partner so there is a pretty interesting fact.

Out of Order (2003):  This is part two of a three part William H. Macy series.  This is actually a mini-series from Showtime but the copy i had was I believe the pilot episode.  Eric Stoltz stars as Hollywood screenwriter Mark Colm who is in a troubled marriage with his wife and writing partner Lorna, played by Felicity Huffman, who has issues with depression and alcohol.  He looks to resist the temptation to cheat but is very hard for him.  Macy co-stars as their neighbor and has-been producer Steven.  Kim Dickens, Dyllan Christopher, Justine Bateman, Peter Bogdanovich, and many others co-star in this mini-series.  What I saw very well written with a good ending to this particular episode that really played out like a movie.  Stoltz does a great job and also has some really entertaining narration.  I might just have to look into the series sometime.

Shaft in Africa (1973):  This is my Blaxploitation classic for the week and a tribute to actor Frank Finlay who left us a couple weeks ago.  This is actually the third and last in the Shaft series until the 2000 remake.  Richard Roundtree reprises his role as the private investigator John Shaft.  As the title implies, Shaft goes to Africa after he is hired to go undercover in a slavery ring.  This was a pretty good end to the series.  I have seem the first one but it has been a while and have not seen the second one.  This is possibly the best of Blaxploitation.  Some might call this a "poor man's James Bond" which works pretty well.  Good action, pretty women, and fair entertainment.  I think this can be watched without the first two but why not have a night with the trilogy of Shaft and then do the decent remake.

Hoop Dreams (1994):  This is one of two documentaries for the week.  Steve James directed this documentary on inner-city Chicago boys Arthur Agee and William Gates where they follow them through their four years of high school where they both dream of playing college basketball someday and then the NBA.  This goes through all their struggles like injuries, slumps, struggling with grades and many things.  This was a very well-done documentary on people who were very easy to get behind through the struggle and triumph.  This is really well worth the three hours for both basketball and non-basketball fans.  This is available on Instant Netflix.

Liliom (1934):  Last week I featured the classic musical CAROUSEL from Rodgers and Hammerstein after checking out the dvd at the library.  The further I looked at it, I noticed this movie which was the inspiration for the musical so how could I turn this one down.  This is a French film directed by Fritz Lang based on a play by Ferenc Molnar.  Charles Boyer stars as carnival barker Liliom who falls in love with Julie, played by Madeleine Ozeray, but loses his job to his jealous employer in the process.  Now that they are together, they have a very difficult marriage with Liliom struggling to find a job and then as things come to a head when he chooses a life of crime resulting in his death.  In the afterlife, he looks to make amends with his family in his one day he gets to go back to Earth.  The afterlife sequence and story was done in a very unique and interesting way where pretty much heaven and hell were the pretty much the same place where they decided where to put them and it was not permanent.  This is part of the 50th Anniversary dvd of CAROUSEL.

Big Easy Express (2012):  This is the second of the documentaries where the first focused on basketball, this one focuses on the music industry.  This shows a tour with the folk rock musicians Mumford and Sons, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes.  The transportation they use is a train going from San Francisco to New Orleans where they are usually at the show or jamming together in the train.  I'll give a brief reminder of a song or two each band is known for.  Mumford and Sons is likely most known for their song THE CAVE.  Old Crow Medicine Show is likely most known for WAGON WHEEL which it was a long time before I heard that song sung by them after hearing it a lot from Ashley and other local musicians.  Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are likely most known for the popular duet song HOME which I have heard sung many times at karaoke bars.  This was a pretty cool tour idea they did and was a well-done documentary.  I suppose if you hate the songs I have named off it may not be for you but if you are at least tolerant, this is a really good watch.

The End of Summer (1961):  This is my Japanese film for the week.  Yasujiro Ozu directed this drama centered around the widowed patriarch Kohayagawa who is the owner of a family run sake brewery.  It is a business which cannot compete with the bigger breweries so he looks to make sure his daughters are set financially after his passing.  This means finding husbands for his two daughters.  This is a really good slice of life film that has both comedy and drama.  The character Kohayagawa seems to be a more humorous patriarch than a lot of Japanese fathers in film.

Big Hero 6 (2014):  I end the week with this Animated Disney film.  This centers around a young slacker genius Hiro, voiced by Ryan Potter, and plus-sized inflatable robot named Baymax, voiced by Scott Adsit.  A tragic event takes place in his town where Hiro looks to make Baymax into maximum potential and gets together a few science nerd friends to become a group of high-tech heroes of the title name to save the city from danger.  Daniel Henney, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayons Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, James Cromwell, Alan Tudyk, Maya Rudolph, and many others lend their voices to this animated film.  This was a different and fun take toward the superhero genre that the family can watch.  This is available on Stars On-Demand at least with Comcast.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes William H. Macy, James Stewart, Maggie Smith, and many others.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 535th Edition

Welcome to the 535th Edition of my series.  I'm ready for this snow and cold weather to end but it will never stop me from putting this out.  Now I start post-football life and nothing else really going on for now so I'll just get to my selections.

Cry-Baby (1990):  I start the week out with this comedy out from John Waters who wrote and directed.  A young Johnny Depp stars as Cry-Baby who is a Drape which is essentially a form of a greaser and falls for the good girl Allison, played by Amy Locane, who is part of the "square" group wanting to be bad.  Allison's square boyfriend Baldwin, played by Stephen Mailer, becomes jealous and causes a scene getting Cry-Baby in trouble to put in juvenile detention.  Susan Tyrell, Polly Bergen, Iggy Pop, Ricki Lake, Traci Lords, Kim McGuire, Darren E. Burrows, Kim Webb, Troy Donahue, Mink Stole, Joe Dallesandro, Joey Heatherton, David Nelson, Patricia Hearst, Willem Dafoe, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a really good spoof on Elvis movies and Juvenile Delinquency scare films of the '50s.  It was also interesting how they portrayed the "squares" as the more vicious group.  There are a lot of fun musical numbers and did become a broadway musical.  This is available on HBO On-Demand.

Bo Burnham:  Words, Words, Words (2010):  This is my live special for the week.  The young comedian getting famous off youtube gets his first one hour stand-up special.  He walks the line on many topics and some through song.  He gets into more everyday topics and limits his political and celebrity humor.  This is an hour worth a look if you don't offend too easy.  Looks like this prodigy sensation is just getting started.

Oleanna (1994):  This is part one of a two possibly three-part William H. Macy series.  David Mamet wrote and directed this screenplay based on his play.  Macy stars as Professor John who is looking to get tenure at his job.  He is confronted by his student Carol, played by Debra Eisenstadt, who is failing his course and first seems to just be looking for help in terms of understanding.  It quickly escalates into accusations of sexual harassment.  Besides Extras, these are the only two people in the film.  I once tried out for it at Muncie Civic Theater years ago where I was originally there for reading purposes but took interest but did not get the part which I can see I was too young for but maybe another five years or so.  The two actors work real good together leaving us viewers to analyze the truth of what they are saying.

Symphony in Slang (1951):  This is my animated short from Tex Avery.  A man is at the gates of heaven and has a hard time explaining his story to the saints above who have a hard time understanding his modern-day slang which has not seemed to have changed much after.  As he explains his story, the saints imagine it in a very literal way.  This was a pretty inventive and unique animated short that I'm sure can be found on Youtube.

Prison Break (1938):  This is my b-list crime drama for the week and is not that hit tv series.  Barton MacLane stars as Joaquin Shannon who is wrongly charged with manslaughter and sentenced to prison.  He tries to lay low in prison but fellow prisoner Red, played by Ward Bond, does not make that easy.  He finally gets his parole when he helps to stop a prison break but finds that it is very difficult to find work as a parolee.  This is kind of a modern-day LES MISERABLES of a man who does what he can to move on but cannot not with his parole.  MacLane and Bond do a really good job in their having bigger roles than usual.  This was watched on a classic movie app I found on my Dad's Roku but don't really remember what it is called.

The Last American Hero (1973):  A young Jeff Bridges stars as Elroy Jackson Jr. who has always been part of the moonshine business but leaves hoping to go into car racing.  He starts out in underground leagues that are mostly no rules and then works his way into NASCAR.   Valerie Perrine, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ned Beatty, Gary Busey, Art Lund, Ed Lauter, Lane Smith, and many others co-star in this sports drama.  This is based on a true story but a mostly fictionalized account.  Bridges is very good as Johnson and it is good to see Gary Busey as his brother.  The real Junior Johnson served as a technical adviser for the film and they did do a really good job on the racing scenes.  This is also a good look at small-town America.  This is available on FX Retro on Comcast On-Demand.

Love and Mercy (2014):  Bill Pohlad directed this biopic based on the Beach Boys member Brian Wilson.  This takes place in two eras.  In the '60s, Paul Dano plays Wilson in a time that was a little later for the band and had a vision to be progressive and create a very unique album while battling psychological issues and an abusive father.  The other era is the '80s where John Cusack plays Wilson where he is broken and confused while under the watch of his "therapist" Dr. Eugene Landy, played by Paul Giamatti.  Elizabeth Banks co-stars in the '80s era as Melinda Ledbetter who meets and falls in love with Wilson while noticing that Dr. Landy is not helping him and looks to take action.  Jake Abel, Kenny Wormald, Brett Davern, Graham Rogers, Erin Darke, Joanna Going, Bill Camp, and many others co-star in this biopic.  I thought that both eras were very well done with the two actors complementing each others very well.  I never really know the kinds of problems Brian Wilson had and disagreements with the band on ideas for his songs.  Wilson did have some very innovative music techniques which are also shown in the '60s era.  I was reading where the real Brian Wilson was on hand and really at one point believed Giamatti was Landy.  This was a rather different sort of music biopic.

Carousel (1956):  This is my musical for the week and I suppose another heavenly selection for the week.  Henry King directed this adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.   Gordon MacRae stars as Billy Bigelow who has been dead for 15 years.  When entering the pearly gates he refuses his chance to go back to earth for one day but hears that there is problems within his family and looks for a second chance.  He must explain his story to the gatekeeper, played by Gene Lockhart, to see if he can go back to Earth for a day.  Shirley Jones co-stars as Julie who is his widowed wife.  Cameron Mitchell, Susan Luckey, Claramae Turner, Audrey Christie, and many others co-star in this musical.  Of all the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals I have seen, this one might be my favorite.  This one is not nearly as upbeat as a lot of their work and has one of the better stories in my opinion as well as well-written music.  Even Richard Rodgers cites this as his favorite work.  This is available for streaming on Netflix.

Circus of Fear (1966):  This is my British film for the week and is also known as PSYCHO-CIRCUS.  This is billed as horror but I see it as more of a murder mystery, I think the horror label might have just been given due to Christopher Lee being in it and the cover I thought was a bit misleading.  This is where the police are investigating a robbery and murder and the investigation leads to the circus.  Leading the investigation is Elliot, played by Leo Genn.  Christopher Lee co-stars as Gregor, a facially scarred lion tamer who wears a mask.   Margaret Lee, Suzy Kendall, Klaus Kinski,   There are a lot of rather interesting characters to this mystery.  This also has some pretty good circus footage.  I found this one on the website Hoopla which is a website where people sign up through their library membership.

A Mighty Heart (2007):  I end the week with another movie based on a true story.  Michael Winterbottom directed this film based on the book by Mariane Pearl, played by Angelina Jolie possibly at her best.  This is based on the mostly known story of Daniel Pearl, played by Dan Futterman, who along with his wife Mariane are reporters and go to Pakistan.  When there, Daniel does not return home Mariane initiates a search to find him and learns he was kidnapped by Islamic terrorists.  Archie Panjabi, Denis O'Hare, Irrfan Khan, Will Patton, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a pretty well-done adaptation on this tragic story.  It shows the courage and dedication of a wife in very difficult times which Jolie brought across very well.

Well, that is it for this week but continue to read for the returning "Fun and Useless Facts" segment.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Robin Williams, Joan Crawford, more William H. Macy, and many others.

FUN AND USELESS FACTS

These are a few facts I found and did not focus on actors from the same movie unless there was one from another movie like the John Waters alums for example.  If you find some I missed, please go ahead and comment.

Johnny Depp (Cry-Baby) and Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart) star in the 2010 movie THE TOURIST.

William H. Macy (Oleanna), Jeff Bridges (The Last American Hero), and Ed Lauter (The Last American Hero) were in the 2003 film SEABISCUIT.

Johnny Depp (Cry-Baby) and Christopher Lee (Circus of Fear) play son and father in the 2005 film CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.  They are also both in CORPSE BRIDE which came out the same year as well as the 1999 film SLEEPY HOLLOW, the 2010 film ALICE IN WONDERLAND, and the 2012 film DARK SHADOWS all of which directed by Tim Burton.

Jeff Bridges (The Last American Hero) is a fan of Brian Wilson who was depicted in this week's feature LOVE AND MERCY.

Johnny Depp (Cry-Baby) and Gary Busey (The Last American Hero) were in the 1998 film FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS.

Ned Beatty (The Last American Hero) and Christopher Lee (Circus of Fear) were in the 1979 film 1941.

Johnny Depp (Cry -Baby) and Ned Beatty (The Last American Hero) were in the 2011 animated film RANGO.

William H. Macy (Oleanna) stars in the tv series SHAMELESS and Ed Lauter (The Last American Hero) was a recurring character.

Johnny Depp (Cry-Baby) and William H. Macy (Oleanna) were in the 1993 film BENNY AND JOON.  Also, Depp plays Ichabod Crane in the 1999 film SLEEPY HOLLOW and Macy played Crane in the tv animated movie THE NIGHT OF THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN in the same year.

Lane Smith (The Last American Hero) plays Richard Nixon in the 1989 tv movie THE FINAL DAYS.  John Cusack (Love and Mercy) plays Nixon in the 2013 film LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER.

Johnny Depp (Cry-Baby) and Gregory Walcott (The Last American Hero) were in the 1994 film ED WOOD where Walcott has a cameo and was in Wood's PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE.

William H. Macy (Oleanna) and John Cusack (Love and Mercy) were in the 1991 film SHADOWS AND FOG.

Susan Tyrell (Cry-Baby) and Jeff Bridges (The Last American Hero) were in the 1972 film FAT CITY and the 2003 film MASKED AND ANONYMOUS.

John Cusack (Love and Mercy) was considered for Hunter S. Thompson aka Raoul Duke in the 1998 film FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS which would ultimately go to Johnny Depp (Cry-Baby)

Susan Tyrell (Cry-Baby) and John Cusack (Love and Mercy) were in the 1988 film TAPEHEADS.

Gary Busey (The Last American Hero), Joanna Going (Love and Mercy), and Will Patton (A Mighty Heart) were in the 2005 tv mini-series INTO THE WEST.

Johnny Depp (Cry-Baby) and Paul Giamatti (Love and Mercy) were in the 1997 film DONNIE BRASCO.

Ed Lauter (The Last American Hero) and Cameron Mitchell (Carousel) both had stints in the 1976 mini-series HOW THE WEST WAS WON.

Johnny Depp (Cry-Baby) and Bill Camp (Love and Mercy) were in the 2009 film PUBLIC ENEMIES and the 2015 film BLACK MASS.

Ward Bond (Prison Break) and Gene Lockhart (Carousel) were in the 1948 film JOAN OF ARC.

Iggy Pop (Cry-Baby) and Paul Giamatti (Love and Mercy) were in the 2007 action film SHOOT 'EM UP.

Jeff Bridges (The Last American Hero) and Christopher Lee (Circus of Fear) were in the 1982 animated film THE LAST UNICORN.

Traci Lords (Cry-Baby) and Elizabeth Banks (Love and Mercy) were in the 2008 comedy ZACH AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO.

Jeff Bridges (The Last American Hero) and Dan Futterman (A Mighty Heart) were in the 1991 film THE FISHER KING.

Willem Dafoe (Cry-Baby) and Jeff Bridges (The Last American Hero) were in the 1980 western HEAVEN'S GATE which Dafoe is uncredited.

John Cusack (Love and Mercy) and Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart) were in the 1999 film PUSHING TIN.

Willem Dafoe (Cry-Baby) and Elizabeth Banks (Love and Mercy) were in the Sam Raimi SPIDER-MAN trilogy.

Paul Giamatti (Love and Mercy) and Archie Panjabi (A Mighty Heart) are in the 2015 movie SAN ANDREAS.

Mink Stole (Cry-Baby) and Gary Busey (The Last American Hero) were in the 1997 film LOST HIGHWAY.

Christopher Lee (Circus of Fear) was in the 1979 movie NUTCRACKER FANTASY as Uncle Drosselmeyer.  This is the only role that I can say I played twice which was in 2006 in a ballet version and in 2011 in my first paid acting gig.

Darren E. Burrows (Cry-Baby) and Lane Smith (The Last American Hero) were in the 1998 movie THE HI-LO COUNTRY.

Gordon MacRae (Carousel) plays Curly in the 1955 film OKLAHOMA.  My Facebook friend Corby played the part in a 2008 version at the Muncie Civic Theater which I co-starred as Slim.

Troy Donahue (Cry-Baby) and John Cusack (Love and Mercy) were in the 1984 movie GRANDVIEW U.S.A.

Paul Giamatti (Love and Mercy) plays Friar Laurence in the 2013 movie ROMEO AND JULIET.  My Facebook friend Bob played the part in a 2013 version in Farmland where I played Paris.

Stephen Mailer (Cry-Baby) and Bill Camp (Love and Mercy) were in the 1990 film REVERSAL OF FORTUNE.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 534th Edition

Welcome to the 534th Edition of my series.  I have announced that in March I am to be in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING in Anderson at the Alley Theater.  Now I announce that also in March I will be shooting for a web series called PIGFOOT 2:  THE SQUEAKUEL for the group Ruckus-Ray productions as a hippie cameraman.  More details to come soon as we will try to get as much exposure as we can.  This evening I will be watching the Super Bowl and really just want to see a good game.  That's about all for now so I will just get on with my selections for the week.

Inequality for All (2013):  I start the week out with this documentary directed by Jacob Kornbluth.  Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich explores the widening economic gap within the United States of America.  This is a very informative documentary that is done in an entertaining way.  Reich also has a good way of explaining things that even a non-political person like me can understand.  This is something that everyone should take a look at whether you are Democrat or Republican.

Feline Follies (1919):  This is my animated short for the week.  This is considered the first Felix the Cat cartoon though Felix is referred to as Master Tom who is like a ladies' man cat.  When he is lured away, mice mess up the house.  Mostly to watch for historical reasons like the introduction of Felix the Cat and a silent cartoon short that is fairly entertaining.  This can be found on Youtube.

An American in Paris (1951):  This is my musical for the week which was directed by Vincente Minnelli and written by Alan Jay Lerner with the music being wrote by the Gershwins.  Gene Kelly stars as struggling American painter Jerry Mulligan who is living in Paris.  An heiress Milo Roberts, played by Nina Foch, see him displaying his art and takes an interest in him.  In turn, he falls for French girl Lise, played by Leslie Caron in her film debut, but she is engaged to a cabaret singer.  Oscar Levant is also very amusing as Jerry's friend Adam who is a struggling pianist.  Minnelli at the time was going through a divorce with Judy Garland which some of the time left Gene Kelly to do the direction.  It also has a famous climax scene referred to as "The Climatic Ballet" which was an amazing dance sequence.  This is one of my favorite musicals from this era.

Bringing Down the House (2003):  Adam Shankman directed this comedy of a lawyer and a convict for a lack of a better comedy description.  Martin plays Peter Sanderson who is the attorney who is now divorced and does not see his kids much due to his job dedication.  He begins a chat with another woman who is a fellow attorney at least that is what she says.  This great female attorney turns out to be escaped convict Charlene, played by Queen Latifah, who is trying to get him to help her get her name cleared saying she did not commit the crime she was accused of doing.  When this happens, Peter's life turns upside down in a comedic way.  Eugene Levy, Joan Plowright, Jean Smart, Kimberly J. Brown, Angus T. Jones, Missi Pyle, Michael Rosenbaum, Betty White, Steve Harris, and many others co-star in this comedy.  This was not the greatest comedy in the world but still a lot of fun with Martin and Latifah being a good duo coming from two different worlds.  Levy was also very funny in his role and how can anything go wrong with Betty White?

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970):  This is possibly part one of a two-part Charlton Heston series.  Ted Post directed this sequel to the 1968 cult classic PLANET OF THE APES.  James Franciscus stars as Brent who is an astronaut on a mission to find and rescue Taylor, reprised by Heston.  In his search he meets the mute and beautiful Nova, reprised by Linda Harrison, who leads him to meet with apes Cornelius and Zera, played by David Watson instead of Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter.  They look to lead him in the right direction to find Taylor where he soon discovers that there are a group of mutated and telepathic humans living underground which are really just as ruthless as the apes.  Maurice Evans, Paul Richards, Victor Buono, James Gregory, Jeff Corey, Natalie Trundy, Thomas Gomez, and many others co-star in this more bleak sequel.  This is the only one of the series that McDowell was not in which also includes a tv series.  This by no means beats the first one but is a pretty good continuation of the series though it is probably good to start with the first one and maybe just have night on the planet of the apes.

Last Cup:  The Road to the World Series of Beer Pong (2008):  This is my second documentary for the week into a much funner and more irrelevant topic though professional Beer Pong players might not like my description of "irrelevant".  This follows a few players as they train and compete in the 2007 World Series of Beer Pong and yes this is a real thing.  This became popular among college frat houses and has clearly gone beyond having an annual tournament in Las Vegas with a five figure prize.  I played this a few times in my younger days and I know I could never make it that level or any level for that matter since I really sucked at that game so I actually had some envy towards these people who have pretty much dedicated their lives to this game.  These are my favorite kinds of documentaries where they have an unorthodox event like this one and do good interviews towards those very passionate about itas well as people from all walks of life.  For those interested, the website to look into getting involved is http://www.bpong.com/wsobp/ which happens in July of this year.  If this results into someone entering and winning the $50,000 first prize I believe I am entitled to a cut of the winnings.  If anyone is interesting, I would really suggest working on your skills.  Also, if the entry fee is too much, this website does have information on the satellite tournaments which have a much less fee and if winning one of those, that will win a spot at the World Series of Beer Pong.

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957):  This is my western for the week which was directed by John Sturges and a take to the legend of Wyatt Earp.  Burt Lancaster plays the famed lawman who made a name for himself in Dodge City, Kansas but leaves to join his brothers in Tombstone, Arizona hoping to lead a more simple life which we all know that was not to happen and lead to the famed shootout between the Earps and the Clanton gang.  Part of this movie is based on the meeting between Wyatt Earp and the outlaw Doc Holiday, played by Kirk Douglas, where they form an unlikely alliance and Doc would join Wyatt in Tombstone to help the Earps in the shootout.  John Hudson, DeForest Kelley, and Martin Milner co-star as Wyatt's brothers Virgil, Morgan, and James where I learned where wrestler Rtruth learned the phrase Little Jimmy after they called their youngest brother James that name.  John Ireland, Rhonda Fleming, Jo Van Fleet, Lyle Betger, Frank Faylen, Dennis Hopper, and many others co-star in this film.  This is differently told than TOMBSTONE which is the one my generation remembers the most.  It is not the most historically accurate film of all time like in this movie, they made the gunfight far longer than what it really was which was actually about 30 seconds.  It was still a good take on the legend with Lancaster and Douglas as a really good combination in their uneasy alliance which becomes friendship which is different than in a lot of portrayals where they usually have been best friends.

Ex Machina (2015):  Alex Garland wrote and directed this sci-fi film.  Domhnall Gleeson stars as young programmer Caleb who wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat owned by his reclusive boss Nathan, played by Oscar Isaac.  When arriving, he learns that the reason he was brought there was for Nathan's artificial intelligence creation Ava, played by Alicia Vikander, which is the first successful A.I. creation.  Caleb is to interact with Ava as part of an experiment to see if he can relate to Ava knowing she is A.I.  The longer he stays, the more dark secrets he comes across.  Sonoya Mizuno co-stars as Nathan's housemate Kyoko who also becomes significant to the story.  This is a really good independent Sci-fi film that has a really good script as well as the special effects being very well done.  Vakander does a really good job as the A.I. as well as the rest of the cast.  The movie leads to a really good climax.  Garland makes his directorial debut in this film that could be considered a sleeper for the year.

Zombie (1979):  This is my Giallo zombie movie for the week which was directed by Lucio Fulci that I recorded from the El Rey network.  A zombie is found on a boat off the New York coast.  This causes journalist Peter West, played by Ian McCulloch, and Ann, played by Tisa Farrow, whose father is a scientist to travel to an island and find that a disease is turning islanders into zombies.  I think these zombies might actually qualify for the ugliest zombies in film.  This does have some really good bits of gore.  The title of this is ZOMBI 2 and is not really a sequel of any sort except that it served as a sequel to DAWN OF THE DEAD but did not really reflect from that film.  This is a must for zombie enthusiasts out there.

A Girl in the River:  the Price of Forgiveness (2015):  When I arrived in Columbus, Indiana on Friday I decided to check out the Yes Cinema to see this year's Oscar nominated documentary shorts and one of those would be my 10th selection choosing this to be the one that stuck with me the most.  This is a documentary in Pakistan directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and the third documentary this week.  This is a documentary showing how a lot of women are killed in the name of "honor".  In this instance, they take a look at an 18 year old girl who married who she wanted instead of an arranged marriage by her father and is shot and left for dead by those closest to her.  She actually survives this murder attempt to tell the tale of what lead to the shooting and the aftermath with her very supportive in-law family.  This was a very powerful tale that centered some around the Quran which was explored some.  There was a police officer who appeared to be a very good person and while being Islam did not believe the Quran called for killing like many seem to think.  It also showed a rather strange legal system in Pakistan.  This is about 40 minutes long and really deserves a look once it goes public or if you can find a theater showing of these nominations which is really worth going to see.

Well that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Johnny Depp, William H. Macy, and many others.