Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 541st Edition

Welcome to this week's edition of my series.  I hope everyone is having a good Easter.  I don't really having anything new going on at the moment so I'll just get to my selections for the week.

JFK:  3 Shots that Changed America (2009):  I start out the week with this two-part documentary from the history channel.  The entire documentary is footage put together and a lot of never before seen footage on the assassination and the aftermath of it dealing with all the conspiracy theories that are out there.  There is no narration and there is also no current interviews of people close to the situation.  It also goes into things like the shooting of Oliver Stone's film JFK and footage of the real Jim Garrison.  It is very well put together and compelling without the narration.

Habeas Corpus (1928):  I follow up with this silent comedy short from the team of Laurel and Hardy.  a mad scientist hires them to dig up bodies in a cemetery for his experiments.  When trying to get to the cemetery, all kinds of mishaps happen.  There are some really funny moments like them trying to get over the rock wall.  This is the first Laurel and Hardy film to use sound effects.  They are really more known for their talkies and this might be their most known silent.

Experiment Perilous (1944):  George Brent stars as Dr. Huntington Bailey who has an encounter with a woman named Cissie, played by Olive Blakeney, who says she is visiting her brother Nick, played by Paul Lukas, and his wife Allida, played by Hedy Lamarr.  He soon learns that she died and decides to meet Nick and Allida himself.  When arriving, he becomes suspicious of Nick's treatment of his wife and Nick is trying to get his wife committed for being crazy.  He starts to fall for Allida and tries to free her from her husband leading to a rather violent climax.  This is a pretty decent melodrama that is worth a look from classic movie buffs.

Undefeated (2011):  This is my sports documentary for the week which was directed by Daniel Lindsey and T.J. Martin.  This chronicles a high school football team the Manassas Tigers who are an inner-city Memphis school.  This is a very underfunded and underprivileged school who even got hired out as a practice team for more successful schools.  A lot of this focuses on Coach Bill Courtney who stepped into the coaching job for no pay and found different ways of funding and looked to do what he could to make the team more successful as well as the students.  This is a very moving documentary and always good to know that there are good people like Bill Courtney in this world.  This would be a really good double feature to go along with the basketball documentary HOOP DREAMS both of which are available to watch on streaming.

Fahrenheit 451 (1966):  This is part two of a two-part Julie Christie series.  Francois Truffaut directed this film based on the sci-fi novel by Ray Bradbury.  This takes place in a very bleak future where books are banned by the government with the fear they promote free thinking.  It is also a society where houses are fireproof and the job of a firefighter is to burn books so in other words they start fires instead of putting them out.  Oskar Werner stars as firefighter Guy Montag who does his job while others like his wife Linda, played by Christie, are drugged into compliancy and getting their info from wall-length television screens.  Guy has an encounter with a woman named Clarisse, also played by Christie, who makes him rethink his views and his job.  Soon after he meets Clarisse, he starts to keep confiscated books.  Cyril Cusack also co-stars in this film.  This was shown by the Muncie Public Library through the Bookworms and Brews Book Club where much of them had read this book then watched the movie.  I was not one that read the book, I just decided to go see the movie and makes me wonder if I am kind of like Linda seeing as I don't read that much and I have a big screen television.  I also say that Linda is the worst wife ever and just watch the movie and you might understand.  Christie does a really good job in her dual role.  For some reason it also reminded me of REPO:  THE GENETIC OPERA maybe in the way that the protagonist in each one is trying to obey society and do their job but a conflict of interest gets in the way.  Maybe with that being said that can be a double feature that I am obsessed with trying to come up with.

Jurassic World (2015):  So I bring this latest continuation of the series starting with Michael Crichton's novel JURASSIC PARK.  Many years after the failure of Jurassic Park, other people decide they will open up the site as a theme park.  They decide to get inventive by creating a genetically modified new breed of dinosaur that is not only very violent but turned out to be very resourceful by escaping and wreaking havoc on the park.  Chris Pratt stars as Owen who works for the park as a raptor trainer forming a rather special bond with them.  Bryce Dallas Howard stars as Claire who is a high up person at Jurassic World who realizes the mistakes made and looks to help Owen save the place.  Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson co-star as Claire's nephews who are there for the park but then fight for survival so in the end it was kind of a similar setup to the first one.  Irrfan Khan, Vincent D'Onofrio, Omar Sy, Judy Greer, BD Wong, and many others co-stars in this film.  This by no means tops the original but I did like the premise and had a lot of fun with it.  BD Wong is the only one from the original to return to this movie.  Maybe make a double feature of JURASSIC PARK going into this one.  I believe there are sequels in the work so hopefully we can get Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, and Sam Neill in the future but this was still did it for me maybe enhanced by my big screen television.

Dov'e La Liberta...? (1954):  This is my Italian film for the week which was directed by Roberto Rossellini.  Italian comedic actor Toto stars Salvatore who is being paroled after 22 years of being in prison.  In the outside world, he finds it is a much different world and decides he would rather go back to prison where he felt more appreciated.  This is the first time I had ever seen this actor but really took a liking to him.  This was a really well done and clever comedy making a serious situation into comedy as there are a lot out there who have gotten used to prison life.  This is available on Amazon Prime.

Trevor (1994):  This is my second short film for the week.  Peggy Rajski directed this film centering on a young boy named Trevor, played by Brett Barsky.  This takes place in the 70s in Bible Belt, USA where after hitting puberty finds that he is homosexual.  When this happens, he becomes resented among friends, family and his priest.  Taking place in the '70s, being gay was not very accepted and in the '90s when it was made it was not accepted so a rather daring film to do.  Stephen Tobolowsky co-stars in this film as the priest.  This was really good and I believe that schools should have kids watch this to educate a bit.  I know I was very ignorant of it growing up and wish I had been more educated.  This is also available on Amazon Prime and is worth about 20 minutes of your time.

Thunderball (1965):  I continue with some action and some early James Bond.  Terence Young directed this Bond film with Sean Connery in his 4th outing as 007.  The terrorist organization SPECTRE has stolen two warheads so Bond must head to Nassau to recover them going against SPECTRE member Largo, played by Adolfo Celi.  He also meets the beautiful Domino, played by Claudine Auger, who is in the middle of what is happening.  Luciana Paluzzi, Rik Van Nutter, Martine Beswick, Bernard Lee, Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Maxwell, and many others co-star in this film.  I have always favored this one in the Connery era.  Maybe one reason is I always had a crush on Domino.  I also liked the underwater action sequences that went on.  There is also a really good theme song sung by Tom Jones and in my opinion is his best song.  This is available on Amazon Prime but looks like until Thursday so get some Bond in before it goes away if you have Amazon Prime.

The Frighteners (1996):  I end the week with this horror comedy directed and co-written by Peter Jackson.  Michael J. Fox stars as psychic investigator Frank Bannister who has the abilities to see and communicate with ghosts including a couple he uses to con people.  Things begin to get more serious when more people are dying by a grim reaper type.  When this happens, he begins to investigate and stop them from happening.   John Astin, Chi McBride, and Jim Fyfe are all very amusing as Frank's ghost friends.  Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, Dee Wallace, Jake Busey, R. Lee Ermey, Melanie Lynskey, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a really well crafted horror comedy that did bring a lot of laughs and has some really good effects on the ghosts.  This is some really good earlier work from Jackson that is great to watch during Halloween and good for the rest of the year if you are looking for this genre.

Well, that is it for this week though continue to read for my returning Movie Night at the Shera segment.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Rooney Mara, Winona Ryder, and many others.

MOVIE NIGHT AT THE SHERA

The Hunger Games:  Mockingjay:  Part 2 (2015):  We decided to have one of these nights again and we agreed on this movie when she named off movies she had not seen and neither had I.  Francis Lawrence directed this finale to the series based on the novels by Suzanne Collins.  Jennifer Lawrence reprises her role as Katniss who tries to return Peeta, played by Josh Hutcherson, to his normal state while leading a rebellion against the Capital.  She also has her own personal goal to assassinate President Snow, played by Donald Sutherland, to help return peace to the Districts of Panem.  Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Willow Shields, Sam Claflin, Jeffrey Wright, Jena Malone, Stanley Tucci, Wes Chatham, and many others co-star in this finale.  I was more into the first two movies of this series.  I still enjoyed this continuation of this series.  These movies made me fall in love with Jennifer Lawrence who I felt was perfect for the role.  I will say that I wish that Jena Malone had a bigger part in this one as Johanna Mason who was a notable character in CATCHING FIRE.  I really believe if Collins had foreseen Malone doing so well with that character she might have made the character a bigger part of the story in the MOCKINGJAY films.  In the end, Shera seemed to really enjoy this movie herself so was worth the rare Redbox rental.  Maybe it's time though to resume trying to get her to watch BUBBA HO-TEP with me.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 540th Edition

Welcome to the 540th Edition of my series.  There is not a lot going on for me right now.  Hopefully I'll be returning to the theater soon though I have made myself a "no musicals until 1776" rule as 1776 happens in November I would love to have my second round of that show and my biggest supporter of this blog Jim gets to direct.  For right now I just want to see what else is out there.  I do have a few prospects in mind and will keep all posted.  I will get to my selections for the week.

Inherent Vice (2014):  Paul Thomas Anderson directed this film based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon.  Joaquin Phoenix stars as hippie private investigator Larry "Doc" Sportello who is visited by his ex-girlfriend Shasta, played by Katherine Waterston, who tells of a new lover named Mickey Wolfman, played by Eric Roberts, and believes his wife Sloane, played by Serena Scott Thomas, wants to have him committed to an asylum.  She asks Doc to help prevent the abduction of Mickey and being put into an asylum.  Along the way, he meets some rather unusual characters and learns a lot more than he wants.  Josh Brolin, Michael Kenneth Williams, Maya Rudolph, Benicio Del Toro, Jena Malone, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Martin Short, Martin Donovan, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a rather unusual film and there will be some that really like it and some that do not like it.  For me, it was rather intriguing and good to see people like Eric Roberts and Martin Short.  It is really hard to describe this surreal film without giving more away.  Could be one of those that would be good to be stoned.

Hamlet (1996):  This is part two of my Robin Williams series where he makes a cameo in this one as Osric.  Kenneth Branagh directed this film in which he stars as Hamlet.  It is the usual Shakespeare story where Hamlet comes home to attend his father's funeral to discover his mother Gertrude, played by Julie Christie has married his Uncle Claudius, played by Derek Jacobi, setting out Hamlet to seek his revenge.  It has quite the all-star cast in addition to those already mentioned like Richard Attenborough, Brian Blessed, Billy Crystal, Judi Dench, Gerard Depardieu, John Gielgud, Rosemary Harris, Jack Lemmon, Rufus Sewell, Timothy Spall, Kate Winslet, and many others.  Most who want to see this know what to expect.  This is a full version in every sense of the word being about four hours long.  Branagh does a great job in both his direction and acting.  It has some really good visuals.  Even with all this, if you are not into Shakespeare, this will not be the one for you.  It might also be good to get a little background on the story before watching.  Also after watching this, maybe have some fun by following up with HAMLET 2 which I think should also be done on stage sometime.

Muppet Treasure Island (1996):  Now I bring more family entertainment.  This is the Muppets' version of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson novel which was directed by Brian Henson.  Tim Curry stars as Long John Silver who teams up with Jim Hawkins, played by Kevin Bishop, Gonzo, voiced by Dave Goelz, and Rizzo the Rat, voiced by Steve Whitmore.  The rest of the Muppets are on board to take on a band of pirates and most of them play different characters like Kermit the Frong and Miss Piggy, voiced by Frank Oz.  Billy Connelly, Jennifer Saunders, Jerry Nelson, Kevin Clash, Bill Barretta, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a real fun adaptation of the novel and with the Muppets, not much can go wrong for me.  This one has a lot less celebrity cameos than most.  Curry is really good as Long John Silver and Connelly is very amusing as Billy Bones.  Curry has cited this as one of his favorite roles.  It also has some pretty underrated music numbers.

Social Seminar:  Changing (1971):  This is my short film for the week.  This is a documentary where an aging hippie reevaluates his life and leads a more conventional one to what society looks more up upon.  He is also married with two kids and discusses and argues with his wife on how to deal with their children.  They also talk about if they should continue their use of marijuana in the way of being an example for their children with the legality issues of it.  He also talks about how it has never lead him to take any heavier drugs.  It is an interesting look at the changing of society.

Day-Time Wife (1939):   This is my romantic comedy for the week.  Linda Darnell stars as Jane who is the wife to businessman Ken Norton, played by Tyrone Power.  She realizes he is getting involved with his secretary Kitty, played by Wendy Barrie.  To get a form of revenge, Jane decides to apply for the secretary job for architect Barney Dexter, played by Warren William, in order to make her husband jealous having a rather funny climax when Ken realizes what his wife was doing.  Binnie Barnes and Joan Davis co-star in this film.  This does not rank high in the golden year for film but still a very interesting watch that brings some laughs for a little over an hour.  Darnell is not really known by today's standards but gives a good performance in this one.  This was probably controversial in its time and is available on Comcast On-Demand on FX Retro.

The Red Badge of Courage (1951):  This is my war movie for the week which was directed by John Huston.  This is based on the Civil War novel of the same name by Stephen Crane.  Real-life war hero Audie Murphy stars as Henry Fleming whose view is who the movie is from.  He is a very young soldier who wrestles with the ideas of really wanting to fight and doubting his own courage.  After a very bloody encounter he runs away but guilt gets him back to fight with his unit.  Bill Mauldin, Douglas Dick, Royal Dano, Andy Devine, and many others co-star in this film.  This story does a really good job of conveying the fear of a soldier and a pretty realistic depiction.   The novel was released in 1893 and might be a statement from Huston that not a lot had really changed since the Civil War.  It is actually only 69 minutes long even though originally was to be two hours but was cut due to a power struggle with MGM.  Even with the cut time, it stands very well today even though at the time it was considered a flop though Huston refers to it as his best.

The Tree of Life (2011):  How to even really describe this Terrence Malick film that he also wrote.  This is a story of a 1950s family whose father, played by Brad Pitt, was very strict and the mother, played by Jessica Chastain, was far more compassionate.  It is centered around their oldest son Jack, played by Hunter McCracken, in the childhood years and by Sean Penn in the adult years.  As an adult, Jack seeks to understand his family life and just life in general.  Laramie Eppler and Tye Sheridan co-star in this film.  Like most of Malick's work, it is rather poetic and really centers around the cinematography by the Oscar winning Emmanuel Lubezki more than anything.  It has managed to get some mixed opinions and always will.  I guess you have to understand Malick first.  I have also found with Malick is that his work sometimes needs a second, maybe third watch.  It also might work better on a big screen tv which is not something I usually discuss but this is an exception.  I had seen it before but this tie on my Smart tv and I think it had a different effect this time.  It is hard to explain but it kind of reminds me of 2001:  A SPACE ODYSSEY.  There is a lot of very beautiful imagery that goes around this story of redemption leading to a rather interesting ending.

A Woman Under the Influence (1974):  John Cassavetes wrote and directed this film and is another one that is bit hard to really describe.  Peter Falk stars as blue collar husband Nick whose wife Mabel, played by Gena Rowlands, is for a lack of a better description mentally unstable.  He tries to keep things together with his wife's strange behavior but things happen where her children become endangered and has her committed.  A lot of this focuses on Nick trying to raise his kids by himself and maybe even testing his own sanity in the process.  The last part focuses on the adjustment for when Mabel returns home.  This is a very well done film with great performances from the leads on dealing with mental illness.  One that is easier to understand by watching than me describing.

Gate of Hell (1953):  This is my Japanese film for the week.  Teinosuke Kinugasa directed this film based on a play by Kan Kikuchi.  Kazuo Hasegawa stars as samurai Maritoo who takes a liking to a married woman named Kesa, played by Machiko Kyo.  This request comes after he helps a village defeat another and is rewarded with whatever he wants but they had to draw the line.  He begins more of an obsession with her as he threatens those closest to her.  This was one of the first Japanese films to use color in their films.  This is a much different samurai tale and a good story on obsession.  This is available on the Criterion Collection.

Once (2007):  I end the week with this contemporary musical.  John Carney wrote and directed this film which stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.  Hansard stars a Dublin singer who works for his father's vacuum shop and at night sings some of his music on the streets.  Irglova stars as a Czech pianist when she gets a chance and takes odd jobs to support her daughter and mother.  These two meet and as they get to know each other they decide to write some songs for a demo disk.  This is a really good story and has some really good songs including FALLING SLOWLY which I have karaoked from time to time.  Hansard and Irglova work really well together as people who have experienced recent hurt and dealing with it through the songs they write.  I think just about anyone can enjoy and be inspired by this film.  People like Steven Spielberg and Bob Dylan have endorsed this movie.  This Irish film is available on HBO On-Demand.

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

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 539th Edition

Welcome to the 539th Edition of my series.  Last night I finished MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING in my debut at the Alley Theater.  This was a good experience and hope to be able to do a show with them in their next season.  For right now I'm an unemployed community theater actor but will at some point be shooting PIGFOOT 2 and will give more details as they come.  With als that being said, I'll get to my selections for the week.

Petty Blue (2010):  I start the week out with this documentary directed by Mike Viney and narrated by Kevin Costner.  This is a biographical documentary based on four generations of the famous family of racing which spans four generations.  It starts with Lee Petty who was in many ways a pioneer of racing.  It goes into his son Richard who would become possibly the most famous and successful race car drivers of all time.  Then it touches on his son Kyle who had some success but never really had the drive his father did in racing.  He also had a bit of a country music career in the 90s.  The last of the racing petty's is Kyle's son Adam who likely had the most potential but died in a race at the age of 19 years of age.  I will be the first to admit I am not a racing fan by any means but I respect it and that it is a popular sport.  I know many speak negatively towards my football and wrestling.  Despite not watching racing, this was still very interesting and well put together.  I was never aware that Richard Petty is a second generation racer.  It also shows a very brutal crash that Lee took which ended his career and was lucky it did not end his life.  People will see that racing has come a long way if they see that crash.  It also shows that there is far more to the family than just the drivers.  It is a very uplifting and in many ways sad like with the death of Adam and the falling out of the family as far as their racing company goes.

In Search of Dr. Seuss (1994):  This is possibly part one of a Robin Williams series.  I continue with this tv movie which is in a sense a documentary with people playing that characters created by Dr. Seuss.  Kathy Najimy stars as Kathy Lane who is a reporter looking to get the story on Dr. Seuss.  She meets the Cat in the Hat, played by Matt Frewer, who helps her to find the history of Theodore Geisel who would become Dr. Seuss.  Along the way, she meets some very colorful characters played by Williams, Christopher Lloyd, Andrea Martin, David Paymer, Patrick Stewart, Billy Crystal, Howie Mandel, Eileen Brennan, Frank Welker, and many others.  This is a really informative and entertaining look into the man beyond Seuss.  It shows some of his early work like some of his art that is quite dark.  It also talks about how his books are political statements but still told very well that a child enjoys it as a children's story.

Another Year (2010):  Mike Leigh wrote and directed this comedy-drama.  Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen star as married couple Tom and Gerri who have been happily married for many years.  This focuses on a year period where they must witness their friends, family and colleagues who suffer some sort of unhappiness.  Lesley Manville, Oliver Maltman, Peter Wight, David Bradley, Philip Davis, Imelda Staunton, and many others co-star in this film.  This is well done making each situation very compelling to watch.  Manville might be the standout as Mary whose alcohol problems come full circle.  Leigh manages to make what would a lot of times be trivial situations into something quite compelling.

Water Trix (1949):  This is my short film for the week which is a Pete Smith Specialty.  This shows some really cool tricks from mostly water skiing and have some bloopers.  Charles T. Trego is the cameraman who is capturing this footage from a helicopter to show the beauty and difficulty of these water tricks.  Smith always manages to make anything fun to watch with his narration.

Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938):  Norman Foster directed this film which stars Peter Lorre as the title detective.  Lorre has his fourth performance as the Japanese detective.  Moto goes to Africa posing as an archaeologist while investigating a murder.  There is also a good subplot with a group of people trying to shoot a Newsreel which was a big thing in this era for people to get their news before they go to the movie theater.  Rochelle Hudson co-stars as Victoria who teams up with Moto in his investigation.  Lorre also has a great disguise as an elderly holy man.  Lorre does a good job despite not being Japanese and even has a pretty good action climax.

Sunday in New York (1963):  I follow up with this romantic comedy which was directed by Peter Tewksbury and based on the play by Norman Krasna.  This comedy centers on siblings Eileen, played by Jane Fonda, and Adam, played by Cliff Robertson, who both are in rather complicated relationships.  Eileen has just broken up with her boyfriend Russ, played by Robert Culp, and goes to visit her brother.  While there, she meets a man named Mike, played by Rod Taylor, who they meet on a bus and literally become connected to each other.  With Adam, he has a girlfriend in Mona, played by Jo Morrow, whose relationship is difficult due to his job as an airline pilot and his always being on call.  Things get even funner when Russ comes into the picture.  This did have some good laughs and I thought the best scenes were the ones where Adam and Mona try to meet up but his job gets in the way.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers:  The Movie (1995):  Yes, I am featuring this movie adaptation of the '90s children series.  This is the original incarnation of the group which I have found has evolved many times.  A lot of this movie revolves around the mentor of the Power Rangers Zordon, played by Nicholas Bell, whose old enemy Ivan Ooze who has been trapped in some egg for many years but finally becomes free.  Things seem hopeless at first when Ooze takes the power from them but they find some way to go back in time to do something or other and are helped by some hot Xena-like girl in the prehistoric era named Dulcea, played by Gabrielle Fitzpatrick, who knows Zordon and Ooze very well.  Original actors Karan Ashley, Johnny Yong Bosch, Steve Cardenas, Jason David Frank, Amy Jo Johnson, and David Yost reprise their roles.  When this was on, I was in middle school so I didn't really know a lot my age that was really into this show though I'll admit watching it from time to time for my crush on Pink Ranger, played by Johnson.  This is more of a guilty pleasure than anything and a way to relive your childhood.  It is pretty entertaining if you are not too serious.  This is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

Macao (1952):  Only I would from from featuring the Power Rangers to a movie starring Robert Mitchum.  Josef Von Sternberg directed this crime drama.  Mitchum stars as American Nick Cochran who is in the the country of Macao looking for a crime lord, played by Brad Dexter.  He meets a fellow American and night club singer in Julie, played by Jane Russell, who has a lot more to her and teams with Cochran not really knowing who to trust.  William Bendix also co-stars as salesman Laurence Trumble who leads some comic relief.  Gloria Grahame and Thomas Gomez co-star in this film.  The three leads make this rather convoluted movie watchable especially with Russell and Mitchum working really well together.

Midnight Express (1978):  No, this movie is not about that famous tag team in wrestling.  Alan Parker directed this film based on the autobiography by Billy Hayes and Oliver Stone wrote the screenplay.  Brad Davis stars as the real-life Billy Hayes who is a college student in Turkey and gets arrested for trying to smuggle Hashish through the airport.  He gets put into a really brutal prison in Turkey where he is sentenced to four years so is prepared to serve and take some torture that is given there.  When he has just a couple months left, the Turkish system changes and the new judges decide to give him a much longer sentence.  John Hurt and Randy Quaid play a couple fellow inmates who try to help him survive and plan an escape when they realize they won't just get released.  Giorgio Moroder wrote a really good music score that went perfectly along with the film.  Davis is very good as Hayes.  This is a really good film based on a true story and trying to make the most of a horrid situation.  Keep in mind, Billy Hayes is still alive today and was able to write a book about it.  This is one that has kind of fallen off the radar and I really don't know a lot about Brad Davis but was really glad to see this and maybe get it on the radar again.

4 Minute Mile (2014):  I end the week with this independent film that takes a look at track and field.  Kelly Blatz stars as Drew who is a teen that lives with his single mom Claire, played by Kim Basinger, and his drug dealing brother Wes, played by Cam Gigandet.  Richard Jenkins co-stars as Coleman who is a former track coach and rather reclusive and angry at the world.  Coleman sees potential in Drew as a track star and looks to train him in order to get a college scholarship and to get him out of his situation knowing his brother is very dangerous.  Analeigh Tipton and Rhys Coiro co-star in this film.  This is a very moving film on two people from different generations who have mostly hit rock bottom.  There are some very good performances like from Blatz who is rather unknown at least to me.  Gigandet was also very good as Wes and throughout the movie made me want to punch him.  This is available on Netflix for streaming and was a very pleasant surprise for me.

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

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 538th Edition

Welcome to the 538th Edition of my series.  Next weekend is my show which is on Friday and Saturday with details below on ordering tickets.  I make my debut at the Alley Theater in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.  I will get on with my selections now so let me know if you have any questions on getting tickets.

Pitch Perfect 2 (2015):  I start the week out with this guilty pleasure sequel of the 2012 movie.  Elizabeth Banks takes the helm as the director while reprising her role as Gail.  This starts out with the all-girl singing group the Bellas where they are in show and end up in a wardrobe malfunction in a show the the President of the United States is watching.  Their school suspends them and find that they can get the suspension lifted if they can win the International singing competition in which no American team has won.  A lot of the story is with freshman Emily, played by Hailee Steinfeld, dreams of becoming a Bella like her mother, played by MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN and SONS OF ANARCHY alum Katey Sagal.  Anna Kendrick reprises her role of Beca where she is on board with the Bellas while trying to think about life after school while Brittany Snow reprises her role as Chloe whose life revolves around the Bellas.  Rebel Wilson, Skylar Astin, Adam Devine, Anna Camp, Ben Platt, John Michael Higgins, Snoop Dogg, David Cross, Keegan-Michael Key, and many others co-star in this comedy.  One part that made this worth it to me was Snoop Dogg in a recording studio recording a Christmas album.  Rebel Wilson shines in her comedic role.  I also just enjoyed the spins on a lot of popular songs out there.  The first one is the best but I was still pulled in by this sequel.

The Lifeguard (2013):  Liz W. Garcia wrote and directed this independent film.  VERONICA MARS alum Kristen Bell stars as Leigh who has a pretty successful life in New York City as a reporter but finds that the job is becoming too much and returns home to her childhood home in Connecticut.  One can likely guess the job she takes in the smaller town.  She moves back in with her parents and tries to reconnect with all her childhood friends while forming a dangerous relationship with a teen.  Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, Joshua Harto, Adam LeFevre, and many others co-star in this film.  I went into this thinking this would be some inspirational coming of age film or maybe the beauty of small town life but I was quite wrong.  I find this is more of a character study.  Bell is great as Leigh who is trying to find her place in life while struggling.  We can kind of relate to her character so it is easy to get taken in my her.  It also really conveys that not everything in our world is black and white and that there is a lot of gray.  To understand what I am saying or to disagree with what I'm saying, this is available to watch on Instant Netflix.

Nebraska (2013):  Alexander Payne directed this independent comedy-drama which was written by Bob Nelson.  Bruce Dern stars as Woody who is convinced he has won a million dollars through a letter he receives.  Will Forte co-stars as his son David who knows that this is not true but decides to take his dad on a road trip from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska for if nothing else to try to get to know his father better.  June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk, Tim Driscoll, Devin Ratray, and many others co-star in this film.  I can usually enjoy anything from Payne whose movies are driven more by characters and this is no different.  There is some really amusing scenes and some real emotional scenes.  The black and white cinematography also works very well in this film.  Dern is really good as the alcoholic father and Forte also does a really good job as his son.  Squibb is very amusing as the matriarch of the family who clearly has some bitterness towards her family.  A really well-done road movie.

Cliff Edwards and his Buckaroos (1941):  This is my western musical short for the week.  Cliff Edwards lives out on a dude ranch that is not going so well.  When him and his musical cowhands learn some Easterners are coming they do what they can to make a good impression.  This is mostly a few musical numbers but rather amusing.  Edwards was more known for his voices which most notably is Jiminy Cricket in PINNOCHIO.  Now maybe I have your attention and are curious to see what else this guy did

Master of the House (1925):  This is my silent film for the week which was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer whose movie THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC is my favorite of the silents.  He tones it down some in this one having both comedy and drama.  Johannes Meyer stars as Viktor who is a tyrannical patriarch and head of the household.  Astrid Holm stars as his wife Ida who no matter how much work she does can never satisfy Viktor.  Mathilde Nielson co-stars as their housemaid Mads who does not like the way Viktor treats his wife and helps Ida get revenge.  This is not revenge in trying to kill him or even physically harm him but revenge to show that he should not be treating his wife the way he does and has some rather comical moments when this is happening.  This is pretty touching and easy to follow.

Johnny Got His Gun (1971):  Dalton Trumbo wrote and directed this film which I suppose is a war movie but there is a lot more to it.  Timothy Bottoms stars as WWI soldier Joe who is in an explosion and loses everything from his eyes, nose, ears, arms, legs so in other words he only has his mind.  A lot of it is him in his thoughts.  From there, he has a lot of flashbacks of his life before the war and dreams including him talking to Jesus Christ in a very interesting casting of Donald Sutherland as our savior.  Jason Robards, Kathy Fields, Marsha Hunt, and many others co-star in this film.  This is the inspiration for Metallica's hit song ONE.  This is a very powerful film with a really good performance from Bottoms whether in the flashback sequences or him bed ridden trying to communicate with others.  While sad, it is also a pretty moving film that deserves a look.

Ed Wood (1994):  This is my favorite of all the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaborations.  Johnny Depp stars as the title character who is regarded as "The Worst Director of All Time".  Wood was a very ambitious filmmaker and did the best he could to fulfill his dream no matter how much support he had.  Much of this focuses on the relationship between Wood and Bela Lugosi, played by Martin Landau in an Oscar-winning performance, where Wood befriends Lugosi in his last days and puts him in his movies even with him past his prime.  Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, Vincent D'Onofrio, Mike Starr, Max Casella, Lisa Marie, George "The Animal" Steele, Juliet Landau, and many others co-star in this film.  Also, Wood alums Conrad Brooks and Gregory Walcott have cameos in this film.  The movie has a very good black and white feel.  When done with this one, maybe check out some Wood like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and GLEN OR GLENDA which are some of the best bad movies ever made with Burton making a great portrayal in this film.

Napoleon and Samantha (1972):  This is my Disney film for the week.  Johnny Whitaker and Jodie Foster star as the title characters and the film debut of Foster when she was about 8 or 9 years of age.  Napoleon has a pretty good childhood living with his grandpa and they end up with a lion that was in a circus.  Things begin to change when his grandpa, played by Will Geer, dies.  He has no other family and fears ending up in an orphanage so sets out with his lion and joined by his best friend Samantha to find a man he had met in town named Danny, played by a very young Michael Douglas who was likely in his early 20s and appears to be before his star making show STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO.  Henry Jones also co-stars in this Disney movie.  I also read that Jodie Foster was attacked by one of the lions and I am glad this did not turn her off from pursuing an acting career. This is not the greatest but is still quite watchable.  It is also really good seeing Foster and Douglas before they had their huge careers.  This is available on the website www.hoopla.com which have some really good selections.

The Man With the Golden Arm (1955):  Otto Preminger directed this film based on the novel by Nelson Algren.  Frank Sinatra stars as Frankie Machine who is a skilled card dealer and a drug addict.  He has just been released from prison and is trying to change his life by pursuing a career in music as a drummer but the people from his past make it very difficult for him to move on with his life.  Eleanor Parker co-stars as Zosh who is his very unstable girlfriend and Kim Novak is another woman in his life who is a lot more level-headed.  Arnold Stang, Darren McGavin, and Robert Strauss co-star in this film about addiction.  Sinatra has referred to this one as his favorite movie and I am inclined to agree with him.  After all these musicals, he has the performance of a lifetime as a man trying to move past his drug addiction.

Lone Star (1996):  I end the week with this murder mystery which is written and directed by John Sayles.  Chris Cooper stars as Sheriff Sam Deeds who investigates a murder after 40 years when a skeleton is found.  This takes place in the modern day and in flashbacks where Kris Kristofferson co-stars as corrupt sheriff Charlie Wade and Matthew McConaughey co-stars as Sam's father in that era Buddy.  Stephen Mendillo, Elizabeth Pena, Clifton James, Miriam Colon, Joe Morton, Ron Canada, Tony Amendola, Frances McDormand, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a very gritty film and I don't really want to go into any further explanation in the risk I might give things away.  This does do a really good job of capturing the racial tensions in a small Texas town between whites, blacks, and Mexicans.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Kevin Costner, Robin Williams, and many others.