Welcome to the 545th edition of my series. This evening I am starting rehearsals for my new show MURDER AT THE GAZEBO at the Goldspace Theater in Downtown Muncie. This will be my first show at this place so excited to be taking part in another Muncie theater and making my temporary "no musical" rule worth it. I know I'm a minority when I say that I like it in Muncie and am grateful for all the opportunities I have been given in the town and in the outskirts. This show gets put on May 20th, 21st, and 22nd with the 22nd being my birthday. Enough about me for now, I'll just get to my selections for the week.
Midnight in Paris (2011): This is part two of my Woody Allen trilogy. Last week I featured a Woody Allen film where he was the star but had nothing to do with the writing and directing. This week I feature this movie where he is the writer and director and does not have a part in the film. Owen Wilson stars as screenwriter Gil who is with his fiance Inez, played by Rachel McAdams, on a trip to Paris with her parents, played by Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy. Gil is working on his first novel and struggling. He soon begins to find what he feels is his inspiration and wants to move to France after they are married which is not an idea that Inez shares. Gil takes daily walks at midnight where he gets picked up and finding himself in the 1920s which he considers the golden age. Along the way, he meets people like Cole Porter, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Josephine Baker, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Salvadore Dali, T.S. Eliot, and a few others. his meetings with the people, however real they might be help him with his novel and to consider the rest of his life. Yves Heck, Allison Pill, Tom Hiddleston, Sonia Rolland, Corey Stoll, Daniel Lunch, Kathy Bates, Marion Cotillard, Lea Seydoux, Adrian Brody, Michael Sheen, and many others co-star in this film. I thought this was a very clever film with Owen Wilson very fun and likable in his part and good performances for the historical figures.
The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004): Niels Mueller directed this film based on the real life assassination plot by Samuel J. Bicke, played by Sean Penn. This portrays a man who has hit rock bottom and is separated from his wife, played by Naomi Watts, and has a job in sales where he is looked down upon. He has an unusual idea for a small business but is rejected for the loan. With all the thinsg happening around him, he blames President Nixon for everything that is wrong in the world and in his life prompting him to hatch his plan. Don Cheadle, Jack Thompson, Brad William Henke, Nick Searcy, Michael Wincott, Mykelti Williamson, and many others co-star in this film. I think we all know the assassination was not successful but people were unfortunately hurt. The real name was Samuel Byck and not really sure on why it was changed. This person is also a character portrayed in the Sondheim musical ASSASSINS. I'm not sure where the events came from as far as his life goes but still a pretty good look on the dark side of the American dream and how far it can drive someone.
Runaway Bride (1999): We'll call this the date movie of the week or a possible selection for girls' night. Garry Marshall directed this romantic comedy reuniting the stars of his 1990 film PRETTY WOMAN in Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. Julia stars as Maggie who has taken part in some weddings to be married but can never finish and leaves them at the alter. Richard stars as columnist Ike who has a rather cynical column and learns of Maggie making him want to write a story on her which he does but gets fired when Maggie complains about inaccuracies. This prompts Ike to go to the small town of Hale, Maryland to get a closer look at the story and finds she is engaged again to a high school football coach, played by Christopher Meloni. Joan Cusack, Rita Wilson, Hector Elizondo, Paul Dooley, Donal Logue, and many others co-star in this romantic comedy. Not a lot more needs to be explained in what happens next and in watching this you'll probably be able to guess what happens. Roberts and Gere continue to work well together. This is not for everyone but is a harmless watch for those not looking for something complicated to watch. As I said before, it would be good to have during a date night and maybe even a double feature with the first teaming of the director and the two leads.
Annie Was a Wonder (1949): This is my short film for the week and part of the Passing Parade series. John Nesbitt narrates this short on Annie Swenson, played by Kathleen Freeman, who worked for his family as a cook and housekeeper. This talks about how she was one of many young Scandinavian women coming to America in the early 20th Century looking for a better life out here in the United States. The short also pays respect to those that helped in a home that became family in the long run. This is available on TCM's website in the On-Demand section until May 1st. They do provide some good selection so if you like older movies, that might be a good place to look.
Gulliver's Travels (1939): This is my animated selection for the week which comes from the Golden Year of film. This comes from Max Fleischer's studio and is their first feature film. It is also the first feature animated movie in America from someone besides Walt Disney. They decided to take a chance with this adaptation to the classic novel from Jonathan Swift. Gulliver, voiced by Sam Parker, is a sailor washed up ashore to an island called Lilliput where those living there are much smaller making them perceive him as a giant. He looks to get off the island but not before trying to stop the two families from going to war with each other. I found this on the Premier app of my Roku and is not a bad watch though the constant commercials were a bit annoying at times. Another one of their feature movies was MR. HOPPITY GOES TO TOWN but they mostly specialized in animated shorts. Nothing great but a decent effort trying to keep up with Disney.
The Battle of Algiers (1966): This is my Italian/Algerian film for the week which was directed by Gillo Pontecorvo who co-wrote along with Franco Solinas. This is based on the real life Algerian war that lasted from 1954 to 1962 and where Algeria was trying to gain freedom from France. This was not a biased film and showed the point of views on both sides and also showed how each side was wrong in their own way. It is very violent but also realistic. This was a very well done film almost shot like a documentary and showing how there really aren't any winners in times like these.
Creed (2015): Ryan Coogler directed and co-wrote this continuation of the Rocky saga. Sylvester Stallone reprises his iconic role of Rocky Balboa where he has mostly left boxing in every way and runs his restaurant. Michael B. Jordan co-stars as Adonis Johnson whose father was Rocky's later friend and rival Apollo Creed who died before he was born and Adonis is determined to follow in his footsteps asking Rocky for his help in mentoring him. Balboa is reluctant at first but through Johnson's persistence he agrees to mentor him to be a good fighter. Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Tony Bellew, Ritchie Coster, Jacob Duran, and many others co-star in this film. This was a really good entry into the series with a pretty well-written story really good performances from Stallone and Jordan. Carl Weathers, who played Creed, even gave the movie a strong endorsement and compliments to Michael B. Jordan. The movie also brought back some memories of when I was in Philadelphia visiting my friend Ashley and the only part of the tourism that mattered to me was to see the Rocky Statue and I got to see the statue as well as run up the steps.
Last Year at Marienbad (1961): This is my French film for the week which was directed by Alain Resnais. Giorgio Albertazzi stars as a man who tries to convince a married woman that they met and had an affair though she does not agree with it. When reading the plot, it sounds rather simple but the dreamlike sequences make anything but simple. This is a very surrealistic film that really keeps attention and allows the viewer to consider what might be real or imagination. It is one of those that is very difficult to explain kind of like much of Fellini's films.
Prisoner of Paradise (2002): I end the week with this PBS documentary on a rather overlooked part of the film industry. This is a documentary on German actor Kurt Gerron whose most known movie is I suppose THE BLUE ANGEL in 1930 and was a pretty popular actor at the time. This was also at the time of the rise of Nazi Germany where he was rather daring even doing parodies of Nazi Germany and to add to that he was a Jew. He was eventually put in a concentration camp and was forced to do a documentary to portray the Nazis in a positive light. It also shows how much of his friends like Peter Lorre escaped to the United States and Gerron refusing to leave maybe thinking things would get better. This was a very insightful documentary on Gerron's career and his time in the concentration camp.
Well, that is it for this week though I have included the returning "Movie Night at the Shera" segment. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Woody Allen, Randolph Scott, Gael Garcia Bernal, and many others.
MOVIE NIGHT AT THE SHERA
The Peanuts Movie (2015): I know I featured this in the 542nd Edition and Shera and decided to do a movie night at her house and as much as I wanted her to watch BUBBA HO-TEP, I still could not convince her and she had this suggestion. As I thought about it, i had seen it, enjoyed it and understood that she has three daughters so we would not have to worry about it getting too inappropriate so decided to watch it again with her and the kids. Steve Martino directed this film which was written by Craig and Bryan Schulz who are the son and grandson of Charles. The two main plot points of the film are Snoopy in his heroic battle against the Red Baron and even bringing out Joe Cool at one point and Charlie Brown, voiced by Noah Schnapp, trying to pursue the Little Red Haired Girl but is hindered by his shyness and lack of confidence. In the end, they were all on board with this film and is a nice feel good movie to watch. The father and son team who remained very respectful of their father and grandfather Charles in what he started while making it into their own. One might want to be familiar with the animated specials first before tackling this one but it will all be worth it in the end.
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