Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 698th Edition

Welcome to the 698th Edition of my series.  It's good to see the weather getting warmer and good to see we are getting closer to A FEW GOOD MEN.  Opening night is on Friday at the Marion Civic Theater at 7:30.  Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 pm and Sunday shows are at 2 pm.  Shows are April 5-7 and April 12-14.  We have been working like crazy to get this thing together and now it comes to life.  If you are in the area, please come see me as a religious obsessed marine.  There is not much else going on so I will just get to my selections for the week.

Charlotte's Web (2006):  This is part four of my four part Steve Buscemi series where he provides the voice of Templeton the Rat.  Gary Winick directed this live action version of the classic novel by E.B. White.  Dakota Fanning stars as Fern who is the daughter of a farmer and stops the killing the a runt pig which would go onto be named Wilbur, voiced by Dominic Scott Kay.  Wilbur is still in danger of being killed for food and meets a nice spider named Charlotte, voiced by Julia Roberts, who lives in his pen.  They form a friendship and Charlotte looks to find a way to save Wilbur's life.  John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Cedric the Entertainer, Kathy Bates, Reba McEntire, Robert Redford, Thomas Haden Church, Andre Benjamin, Abraham Benrubi, Kevin Anderson, Essie Davis, Gary Basaraba, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Beau Bridges, and many others co-star in this family movie.  Sam Shepard provides the narration.  I found this live-action adaptation to be pretty enjoyable.  I'm hoping this helps people who have arachnophobia to have a newer respect towards spiders and not fear them so much.  I found Buscemi's performance as the rat to be the most entertaining part of the movie.  This is one that can be watched by the family and venture to say this has made some people become vegetarians.  This could be a good to watch as a double feature with the movie BABE which both have a rather similar statement.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017):  I go from an adaptation of a book centering around a spider and farm animals to an adaptation of a famous murder mystery.  Kenneth Branagh directed this adaptation of the novel by Agatha Christie.  Branagh also stars as detective Hercule Poirot who decides to leave on the Orient Express train where a murder occurs and must investigate everyone on the train to get to the bottom of the situation.  Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Daisy Ridley, Leslie Odom Jr., Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Lucy Boynton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, Olivia Colman, Willem Dafoe, and many others co-star in this film.  I will first say that I have never read the book and it has been awhile since I have seen the 1974 version.  I did enjoy what I saw and thought the characters were well developed and well cast.  I am going to seek out the other version at some point but was guessing throughout in this version which was worth a look.

Snitch (2013):  This is part two of my Susan Sarandon trilogy.  Ric Roman Waugh directed this film that is based on a true story.  Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars as successful business owner John Matthews whose son Jason, played by Rafi Gavron, was arrested for drug trafficking and has a harsh sentence for a first time offender.  The Rock offers to go undercover for the DEA in hopes of laying the smackdown on the drug cartel in order to get his son's sentence reduced.  Barry Pepper, Jon Bernthal, Michael Kenneth Williams, Melina Kanakaredes, Nadine Velazquez, Benjamin Bratt, Lela Loren, JD Pardo, David Harbour, Harold Perrineau, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a pretty compelling watch and focuses on the minimum sentence laws that can be very unjust for people with minimal involvement.  This is based on a 1992 case where a man named James Settembrino assisted prosecution to get a lower sentence for his son who was serving ten years.

Educated Fish (1937):  This is my animated short for the week.  This centers around a school of fish and one that is very rebellious and will not listen to his teacher.  He soon ventures out to the real world to learn that education is important.  This has some pretty fun elements and worth a few minutes.  This is available on Amazon Prime as part of "Cartoon Classics Vol. 3".

All About Eve (1950):  Joseph L. Mankiewicz wrote and directed this film into the cutthroat world of theater.  Bette Davis stars as the established and aging theater actress Margo Channing and Anne Baxter stars as Eve Harrington who makes her way into the group as a seemingly innocent fan offering to help wherever she can but has other deceptive plans.  George Sanders co-stars as the cynical theater critic Addison Dewitt who is the only person that sees through Eve.  Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Gregory Ratoff, Barbara Bates, Marilyn Monroe, Thelma Ritter, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a really good look at the world of theater.  This is an early role for Monroe and has a very amusing line about a butler.  There is not much else I can say except that it is one of the best from the era.  I also learned this has been done as a play in London starring Gillian Anderson so sounds like a play that would be up my alley.

Katherine (1975):  Now I follow with a tv movie which was written and directed by Jeremy Kagan and based on a true story.  Sissy Spacek stars as Katherine Alman who is born into a wealthy family but goes her own path in becoming part of a radical group against Vietnam the Vietnam war.  Henry Winkler co-stars as her love interest Bob Kline.  Art Carney, Julie Kavner, Jane Wyatt, Joe De Santis, Hector Elias, Jenny Sullivan, Rene Enriquez, Mary Murphy, Todd Bridges, and many others co-star in this tv movie.  This is likely the first time I have ever featured Todd Bridges in this series.  This is shot in semi-documentary format.  This is based on the life of Diana Oughton who was an Illinois heiress and joined the radical group Weather Underground.  Spacek does well as the title character.  This is available on Amazon Prime and deserves more exposure.

Mary and Tim (1996):  I follow with another tv movie which was directed by Glenn Jordan and based on the novel by Colleen McCullough.  Tom McCarthy stars as Tim who is a mentally challenged young man who works hard in his community and ends up getting hired by an older and lonely widowed woman named Mary, played by Candice Bergen.  This focuses on the friendship and love between these much different people.  Richard Kiley, Louise Latham, Kelli Williams, Shirley Knight, and many others co-star in this tv movie.  This is a remake of the 1979 film TIM which stars a young Mel Gibson.  I feel both versions have their qualities and like this movie just as much as the 1979 movie.  Bergen and McCarthy are great together and this really deserves a watch.

Thunderball (1965):  Now I bring in the fourth James Bond film which was directed by Terence Young and stars Sean Connery as Agent 007.  Bond must take on S.P.E.C.T.R.E. agent Emilio Largo, played by Adolfo Celi who steals two nuclear warheads.  Claudine Auger co-stars as Domino who is Largo's mistress not knowing that her brother was murdered by him.  Luciana Paluzzi, Rik Van Nutter, Molly Peters, Martine Beswick, Bernard Lee, Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Maxwell, Philip Locke, Anthony Dawson, and many others co-star in this film.  Paluzzi is good as the female villain and Auger has always been one of my favorite Bond girls.  Maybe that is why this is my favorite from the Connery era.  I also like a lot of the underwater action scenes and other elements that have always drawn me to this Bond film.  I admit I'm more into the Daniel Craig era of Bond but still get into the older ones.  This is available on Netflix.

Joan of Arc (1948):  Now I bring a historical biopic which was directed by Victor Fleming in his last film and based on the play by Maxwell Anderson.  Ingrid Bergman brings this fifteenth century heroine to life.  This starts out with the young farm girl Joan of Arc claiming to hear voices from heaven asking her to lead God's army against Orleans and the crowning of Charles VII as King of France.  She gets arrested and put through a painful political trial and must question her principles and calling.  Francis L. Sullivan, J. Carrol Naish, Ward Bond, Shepperd Strudwick, John Emery, Leif Erickson, Cecil Kellaway, Jose Ferrer, Selena Royle, Robert Barrat, John Ireland, Alan Napier, and many others co-star in this film.  I don't think Joan of Arc movie will ever beat the silent film THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC.  Bergman brings the martyr to life very well as she tried for a long time to get this movie off the ground.  I saw the version that is 145 minutes long as opposed to the 100 minute version and venture to say this one is a lot better.

At Close Range (1986):  I end the week with another movie based on a true story which I seem to be doing a lot of this week.  James Foley directed this film which stars a young Sean Penn as Brad Whitewood Jr. whose estranged criminal father Brad Sr., played by Christopher Walken, comes back into his life luring his son into a life of crime.  Penn's real-life brother Chris Penn co-stars as his brother Tommy in the only movie they worked together in and their mother Eileen Ryan plays their grandmother.  Mary Stuart Masterson, Millie Perkins, Tracey Walter, R.D. Call, David Strathairn, J.C. Quinn, Candy Clark, Kiefer Sutherland, Crispin Glover, Noelle Parker, Alan Autry, and many others co-star in this film.  This is loosely based on gang leader Bruce Johnston Sr. who lead a gang in the late '70s which involved his family.  This is not an upbeat movie by any means but is extremely compelling.  This is also the introduction of Madonna's hit song LIVE TO TELL where we hear the haunting instrumental music throughout the movie and eventually hear the song as a whole.  This is available on Amazon Prime.

Well, that is it for this week but continue on for my "Fun and Useless Facts" segment.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Susan Sarandon, and many others.

FUN AND USELESS FACTS

I decided to bring this segment back for the week.  I felt I have enough to work with so here are some facts.  As always, I use actors from different movies and don't to a lot of actors within the same movie unless another actor from another movie is connected.  I also could have a lot more useless facts but I stopped after a certain amount.  Feel free to comment on connections you find.

Julia Roberts (Charlotte's Web) and Susan Sarandon (Snitch) are stepmother and mother in the 1998 movie STEPMOM.

Johnny Depp (Murder on the Orient Express) and Mary Stuart Masterson (At Close Range) were lovers in the 1993 film BENNY AND JOON.

Julia Roberts (Charlotte's Web) and Tom McCarthy (Mary and Tim) are in the 1997 action movie CONSPIRACY THEORY and the 2009 movie DUPLICITY.

Dwayne Johnson (Snitch) and Christopher Walken (At Close Range) were in the 2003 action comedy THE RUNDOWN.

Julia Roberts (Charlotte's Web) and Kiefer Sutherland (At Close Range) were in the 1990 horror film FLATLINERS and were engaged to be married for a brief period of time.

Dwayne Johnson (Snitch) was considered for the role of Willy Wonka in the 2005 movie CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY which would ultimately go to Johnny Depp (Snitch)

Julia Roberts (Charlotte's Web) and Benjamin Bratt (Snitch) dated between 1997-2001

Willem Dafoe (Murder on the Orient Express) and Barry Pepper (Snitch) were in the 2005 movie RIPLEY UNDER GROUND.

Julia Roberts (Charlotte's Web) and Sissy Spacek (Katherine) play daughter and mother in the 2018 series HOMECOMING.

Benjamin Bratt (Snitch) and Kiefer Sutherland were in the 2014 mini-series 24:  LIVE ANOTHER DAY.

Susan Sarandon (Charlotte's Web) tried to save the soul of death row inmate Sean Penn (At Close Range) in the 1995 film DEAD MAN WALKING.

Willem Dafoe (Murder on the Orient Express) and Benjamin Bratt (Snitch) were in the 1994 action film CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER.

Steve Buscemi (Charlotte's Web) works for Chris Penn (At Close Range) in the 1992 film RESERVOIR DOGS.

Judi Dench (Murder on the Orient Express) plays Queen Elizabeth I in her later years in the 1998 film SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE.  Bette Davis (All About Eve) plays the queen in the 1939 film THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX and in the 1955 film THE VIRGIN QUEEN.

Steve Buscemi (Charlotte's Web), Johnny Depp (Murder on the Orient Express), and Crispin Glover (At Close Range) were in the 1995 western DEAD MAN.  Buscemi is uncredited in his role as a bartender.

Susan Sarandon (Snitch) portrays Bette Davis (All About Eve) in the 2017 series FEUD.

Steve Buscemi (Charlotte's Web) and Christopher Walken (At Close Range) are in the 1990 film KING OF NEW YORK and the 1994 film PULP FICTION.

Anne Baxter (All About Eve), George Sanders (All About Eve), and Alan Napier (Joan of Arc) were in the '60s sitcom BATMAN where Baxter plays the recurring roles of Olga and Zelda, Sanders played the part of Mr. Freeze in a couple episodes, and Napier was a regular as everyone's favorite butler Alfred.

Steve Buscemi (Charlotte's Web) and Judi Dench (Murder on the Orient Express) were in the 2004 animated movie HOME ON THE RANGE.

Sissy Spacek (Katherine) and Christopher Walken (At Close Range) were in the 1999 comedy BLAST FROM THE PAST.

Steve Buscemi (Charlotte's Web) and Willem Dafoe (Murder on the Orient Express) were in the 2000 prison film ANIMAL FACTORY which Buscemi also directed.

Henry Winkler (Katherine), Julie Kavner (Katherine), and Christopher Walken (At Close Range) were in the 2006 comedy CLICK.

John Cleese (Charlotte's Web) and Dwayne Johnson (Snitch) were in the 2009 animated movie PLANET 51

Willem Dafoe (Murder on the Orient Express) and Sissy Spacek (Katherine) were in the 1997 film AFFLICTION.

John Cleese (Charlotte's Web) plays weapons manufacturer Q in the Pierce Brosnan Bond Era and starts out as R until Desmond Llewellan of this week's 007 feature THUNDERBALL passes the torch to him to become Q in the 1999 Bond movie THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH.

Celeste Holm (All About Eve) and Jane Wyatt (Katherine) were in the 1947 film GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT.

John Cleese (Charlotte's Web) is a mentor to Kenneth Branagh (Murder on the Orient Express) in the 1994 film MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN.

Benjamin Bratt (Snitch) and Candice Bergen (Mary and Tim) were in the 2000 comedy MISS CONGENIALITY.

John Cleese (Charlotte's Web) and Sean Connery (Thunderball) were in the 1981 film TIME BANDITS.

Susan Sarandon (Snitch), Richard Kiley (Mary and Tim), and Millie Perkins (At Close Range) were int the 1985 mini-series A.D.

Kathy Bates (Charlotte's Web) and David Strathairn (At Close Range) were in the 1995 film DELORES CLAIBORNE.

Josh Gad (Murder at the Orient Express) and Tom McCarthy (Mary and Tim) were in the animated 2015 movie PIXELS.

Kathy Bates (Charlotte's Web) and Henry Winkler (Katherine) were in the 1998 comedy THE WATERBOY.

Tom McCarthy (Mary and Tim) and Sean Penn (At Close Range) were in the 2006 movie ALL THE KING'S MEN.

Kathy Bates (Charlotte's Web) and Susan Sarandon (Snitch) were in the 1990 movie WHITE PALACE.

Tom McCarthy (Mary and Tim) and David Strahtairn (At Close Range) were in the 2005 film GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK.

Robert Redford (Charlotte's Web) and Willem Dafoe (Murder on the Orient Express) were in the 2004 film THE CLEARING.

Louise Latham (Mary and Tim) and Sean Connery (Thunderball) were in the 1964 film MARNIE.

Robert Redford (Charlotte's Web) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Murder on the Orient Express) were in the 1996 movie UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL.

Leslie Odom Jr. plays Dr. Arbuthnot in this week's feature MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS and Sean Connery (Thunderball) plays Col. Arbuthnott in the 1974 film MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS.

Robert Redford (Charlotte's Web) and David Strathairn (At Close Range) are part of a heist team in the 1992 action movie SNEAKERS.

Desmond Llewelyn (Thunderball) and Christopher Walken (At Close Range) are in the 1985 Bond movie A VIEW TO A KILL.

Thomas Haden Church (Charlotte's Web) and Willem Dafoe (Murder on the Orient Express) play villains to Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN trilogy.

Barry Pepper (Snitch) and Tom McCarthy (Mary and Tim) were in the 2006 war film FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS.

Abraham Benrubi (Charlotte's Web) and Sean Penn (At Close Range) were in the 1997 movie U TURN.

Michelle Pfeiffer (Murder on the Orient Express) declined the role of Vivian Ward in the 1990 comedy PRETTY WOMAN which would ultimately go to Julia Roberts (Charlotte's Web).

Dakota Fanning (Charlotte's Web) and Christopher Walken (At Close Range) were in the 2004 film OUT OF TIME.

Michelle Pfeiffer (Murder on the Orient Express) and Susan Sarandon (Snitch) were in the 1987 film THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK.

Dakota Fanning (Charlotte's Web) and Sean Penn (At Close Range) were daughter and father with Michelle Pfeiffer (Murder on the Orient Express) representing Penn in his custody battle for Fanning in the 2001 movie I AM SAM

Michelle Pfeiffer (Murder on the Orient Express) and Christopher Walken (At Close Range) were in the 1992 film superhero film BATMAN RETURNS and the 2007 musical HAIRSPRAY.

Gary Basaraba (Charlotte's Web) and Willem Dafoe (Murder on the Orient Express) are in the 1988 film THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST.

Johnny Depp (Murder on the Orient Express) and Barry Pepper (Snitch) were in the 2013 movie THE LONE RANGER.

Beau Bridges (Charlotte's Web) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Murder on the Orient Express) were in the 1989 film THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS.

Judi Dench (Murder on the Orient Express) plays MI6 head M in the Pierce Brosnan era and some of the Daniel Craig era.  Bernard Lee plays M in this week's feature THUNDERBALL as well much of the early franchise.

Sam Shepard (Charlotte's Web) and Penelope Cruz (Murder on the Orient Express) were in the 2000 film ALL THE PRETTY HORSES.

Kenneth Branagh (Murder on the Orient Express) plays Agatha Christie's detective Hercule Poirot in this week's feature MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS.  Francis L. Sullivan (Joan of Arc) played the detective in an episode of the series THEATRE PARADE on the episode THE WASP'S NEST.

Sam Shepard (Charlotte's Web) and Willem Dafoe (Murder on the Orient Express were in the 2013 film OUT OF THE FURNACE.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 697th Edition

Welcome to the 697th Edition of my series.  As many know, I recently made quite the sacrifice with my hair for authenticity for my role of as the religious obsessed marine Lieutenant Kendrick.  The show is getting closer so if you are close, come out to the Marion Civic Theater to see A FEW GOOD MEN.  Show dates are April 5-7 and April 12-14 with Friday and Saturday shows being at 7:30 pm and Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm.  Tickets are $12 and $10 for students and seniors.  Nothing else going on so I'll just get on with my selections for the week.

Master and Commander:  The Far Side of the World (2003):  Peter Weir directed this film based on the novels by Patrick O'Brian.  This takes place during the Napoleonic Wars on the H.M.S. Surprise frigate that is under the command of Captain Jack Aubrey.  They are under orders to find and destroy a French privateer called Acheron which they learn is a bigger and faster ship.  They must plan for this encounter which puts Aubrey at odds with his trusted adviser Stephen Maturin, played by Paul Bettany, and leads to quite the climax.  James D'Arcy, Chris Larkin, Max Pirkis, Max Benitz, Lee Ingleby, Robert Pugh, Ian Mercer, David Threlfall, Billy Boyd, Joseph Morgan, and many others co-star in this film.  Crowe leads this movie very well and is very realistic looking as the actors were put through training on what to do on a frigate.  Crowe also shows his musical talents when learning to play the violin in some scenes.  Take a look, it will be worth it to go to the other side of the world for a couple hours.

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018):  Now I go to a music biopic which was directed by Bryan Singer.  Rami Malek stars in this movie as Farrokh Bulsara who would go onto be known as Freddie Mercury and was a part of that band named Queen.  This movie takes a look at Mercury when he first joined the band into their rise putting the focus on Mercury in his personal and professional life.  Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joseph Mazzello, Aiden Gillen, Tom Hollander, Mike Myers, Aaron McCusker, Maneka Das, Ace Bhatti, and many others co-star in this film.  Malek plays Mercury to perfection.  I'm sure there were flaws and I'm sure more ground could have been covered.  I have always been a pretty big fan of Queen and was glad to see my favorite song of theirs WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER to get played in this movie.  I did feel this did the band justice and was worth a look.

The Stranger Beside Me (1995):  I continue with this tv movie that was aired on the ABC network.  Sandor Stern directed this tv movie and is based on the book EVIL BESIDE HER:  THE TRUE STORY OF A TEXAS WOMAN'S MARRIAGE TO A DANGEROUS PSYCHOPATH by Kathryn Casey which is based on a true story.  SAVED BY THE BELL alum Tiffani-Amber Thiesssen stars as Jennifer who meets a man named Chris, played by Eric Close, and falls in love rather quickly.  He convinces Jennifer to marry him and as their marriage goes along, she starts to see a much darker side to him and also starts to believe he is the one that is committing a string of rapes within the town.  Lorrie Morgan, Steven Eckholdt, Casey Sandor, Alyson Hannigan, Gary Grubbs, Gerald McRaney, and many others co-star in this tv movie.  This is a pretty decent thriller with a really good performance from Close.  This can be watched on Youtube.

What Makes Us Tick (1952):  This is my animated short for the week.  This is a John Sutherland produced cartoon and he was known for his industrial cartoons from this era.  This is a pro-capitalist animated short that talks about the economic system and produced by the New York Stock Exchange.  Nothing great, nothing bad, of interest to see this industrial short from this era.  This is available on Amazon Prime as part of "American Cold War Cartoons".

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934):  This is some early work from Alfred Hitchcock.  Leslie Banks and Edna Best star as married couple Bob and Jill Lawrence who receive a clue about an assassination plot only to learn their daughter Betty, played by Nova Pilbeam, has been kidnapped to keep them silent.  Peter Lorre, Frank Vosper, Hugh Wakefield, Pierre Fresnay, Cicely Oates, and many others co-star in this film.  This is the only movie that Hitchcock would go onto remake which was an American version in 1956 with James Stewart and Doris Day which I admit is the version I like better which is really more of my preference to the Master of Suspense in general.  This is still a pretty good British film and a good performance out of Peter Lorre which is his first English speaking film.  This is available to watch on Hoopla Digital.

The Front Page (1974):  Billy Wilder directed this remake of the 1931 movie which is based on the play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.  Walter Matthau stars as tabloid editor Walter Burns whose top reporter Hildy Johnson is leaving to get married to his fiance Peggy, played by Susan Sarandon.  Things become more complicated when an escaped death row convict comes to the station conveying his innocence and Walter trying to get a good story.  Vincent Gardenia, David Wayne, Allen Garfield, Austin Pendleton, Charles Durning, Herb Edelman, Martin Gabel, Harold Gould, Carol Burnett, Paul Benedict, and many others co-star in this comedy.  This is the third pairing of Lemmon and Matthau out of ten pairings.  This has a really good blend of comedy and drama and worth a look.  This is available to watch on Hoopla Digital.

Con Air (1997):  This is part three of my four-part Steve Buscemi series.  Simon West directed this action film.  Nicolas Cage stars as the newly paroled Cameron Poe who is looking to get back with his wife and daughter that he has not yet met.  He must take a prison airplane with some of the world's most dangerous criminals and the plane gets hijacked getting lead by Cyrus, played by John Malkovich.  John Cusack stars as United States Marshal Vince Larkin who looks to stop the situation from the ground and believes through Poe's track record that he has an ally to help stop the hijacking.  Ving Rhames, Danny Trejo, Rachel Ticotin, M.C. Gainey, Monica Potter, Landry Allbright, Colm Meaney, Dave Chappelle, and many others co-star in this action film.  This is more of a guilty pleasure and adrenaline rush more than anything for me.  If looking for anything realistic, this is really not the one to watch.  Just watch this for what it is, a movie of fun characters and over the top action.

Detour (1945):  I continue with this film noir which was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer.  Tom Neal stars as Al Roberts who works in New York as a nightclub pianist and looks to join his girl Sue, played by Claudia Drake in Los Angeles where she is trying to make it as an actress.  To get there, he decides to hitchhike where he meets two of the wrongest people he could ever meet in gambler Charles Haskell, played by Edmund MacDonald, and blackmailing femme fatale Vera, played by Ann Savage.  This is probably consider a B list film noir but is possibly the most known of them all.  It has gone onto have a bit of a cult following and still remains very compelling with a pretty memorable ending in my mind.  This is available on Amazon Prime and is only a little over an hour long.

The Brain that Wouldn't Die (1962):  Now I go to B movie film noir to B movie sci-fi which was directed by Joseph Green.  Herb Evers stars as Frankenstein-esque Doctor Bill Cortner who is experimenting with transport techniques and whose girlfriend's head, played by Virginia Leith, is decapitated in a car accident and manages to keep the head alive while looking for a body to put it upon.  This has a pretty interesting premise and another that can be enjoyed if not taken too seriously.  also learned that this was turned into a stage musical which also catches my interest and could be a cool October musical.  This is another that is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

Brutal Beauty:  Tales of the Rose City Rollers (2010):  I end the week with this documentary which is directed by Chip Mabry.  This centers around the world of roller derby documenting a roller derby team in Portland, Oregon.  It centers most around the players and their actual personalities to their alter-egos in derby.  I have come to enjoy going to see my own local roller derby team in Muncie called the Cornfed Derby Dames which I got to see last night.  I have thought about volunteering to be a referee but I'm to much into the theater to make a commitment.  It does kind of remind me of the world of independent wrestling though and this movie conveys it as well where everyday people take part in something unusual like this sport.  This was something that was popular in the '70s but has gained quite a resurgence through the last few years.  This could be a good double feature to go along with the 2009 film WHIP IT which is a fictional movie about roller derby.

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- 696th Edition

Welcome to the 696th Edition of my series.  I am still busy with A FEW GOOD MEN which is coming together very well and hope to see everyone at.  There is not a lot more to discuss so I'll just get on with my selections for the week.

Thurgood (2011):  I start the week out with this one man HBO special which was directed by Michael Stevens and George Stevens Jr.  Laurence Fishburne goes into a live audience as former supreme court justice Thurgood Marshall.  He talks about his life prior to becoming a justice where he was an attorney and worked for the NAACP.  He talks a lot of his role in the civil rights movement and those who influenced him.  There is not much more detail I can really go into.  Fishburne gives a great performance as Marshall and manages to keep the audience intrigued for nearly two hours.  In some senses this is a stand up special as he talks about serious situations, he also works in quite a bit of humor.

Captain Fantastic (2016):  This is part two of my two part Viggo Mortensen series.  Matt Ross wrote and directed this film which stars Mortensen as widowed father Ben Cash who has just lost his wife and raises his six children in the Pacific Northwest in a cabin in the mountains.  He also raises them in a very unorthodox way in educating him to his own viewpoints and mostly keeping them from the outside world.  He must take the children to their mother's funeral putting them in the outside world and at odds with his father-in-law Jack, played by Frank Langella, on how the children should get raised.  George Mackay, Samantha Isler, Annalise Basso, Nicholas Hamilton, Shree Crooks, Charlie Shotwell, Trin Miller, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Zahn, Elijah Stevenson, Teddy Van Ee, Erin Moriarty, Missy Pyle, Ann Down, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a good commentary towards modern society.  This could also make us rethink what might be right and what might be wrong in our society.  This is not always easy to watch but can be very rewarding.

Ghost World (2001):  This is part two of a possible four-part Steve Buscemi series.  Terry Zwigoff directed this film based on a graphic novel series by Daniel Clowes.  Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson star as best friends Enid and Rebecca who has just graduated high school and look to go through their long-term plans of getting an apartment together.  They cannot seem to relate to anyone and spend their time hanging around and bother people who are creeps in their mind.  They soon meet the socially awkward and older Seymour, played by Buscemi, and Enid becomes more and more interested in his life while her and Rebecca are starting to go down different paths.  Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas, Bob Balaban, Stacey Travis, Charles C. Stevenson Jr., Dave Sheridan, Tom McGowan, Debra Azar, David Cross, and many others co-star in this independent film.  This is a movie which is driven by its script and the actors that work well with the script.  It is a good look at an older/younger relationship but is so much more.  This makes me want to look into the graphic novel series.

Clown (1969):  This is my foreign short film for the week which was directed by Alfredo Marquerie.  This centers around a young boy who loses his dog named Clown.  He looks about everywhere and comes to a really interesting ending.  It seems like a boy and his dog story but is also a story about humanity.  This is from Spain and it is available through Youtube.

Safety Last (1923):  This is my silent comedy for the week which was directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor and stars the more underrated comedy legend Harold Lloyd.  Harold stars as small-town boy who leaves for the big city and promises his girlfriend Mildred, played by Mildred Davis, that he will bring her out there once he "makes good".  He gets a job as a store clerk and struggles in his job but soon arranges a publicity stunt in which a friend climbs the wall of the building he works at but ends up having to do it himself which is one of the more famous scenes in silent comedy.  I was hoping to see a special showing that my local library put on last week but had my own rehearsal so I decided to check it out on my own.  Lloyd did some dangerous stunt work for this movie in the climax and is likely his most iconic scene in his career.

Clash By Night (1945):  Fritz Lang directed this romantic crime drama which is based on the play by Clifford Odets.  Barbara Stanwyck stars as Mae Doyle who is returning home after a life in New York.  She is courted by the simple and naive Jerry D'Amato and agrees to marry him but after a while in what is more of a loveless marriage, she has an affair with Jerry's friend Earl, played by Robert Ryan.  A young Marilyn Monroe also co-stars in this film in one of her first bigger roles.  J. Carrol Naish and Keith Andes also co-star in this film.  This is a pretty intense movie and I'm sure it was very daring for its time.  It is a rather underrated film from this era and deserves a look.

Cars (2006):  I decided to bring some Pixar to the picture which was directed by John Lasseter and Joe Ranft.  This takes place in a world where humans and others animals do not exist and everyone is an automobile of some sort.  This centers around hot-shot rookie race car Lightning McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson, who has a very important race to get to but things get delayed when he ends up in the small town of Radiator Springs where he accidentally causes damage to their roads.  He is sentenced by judge Doc Hudson, voiced by Paul Newman, with the convincing of Sally, voiced by Bonnie Hunt, to repair the roads.  Larry the Cable Guy, Cheech Marin, Tony Shalhoub, Paul Dooley, George Carlin, Katherine Helmond, John Ratzenberger, Jeremy Piven, Richard Kind, Michael Keaton, and many others co-star in this film.  This is Newman's final feature film.  This has a really good message of learning there is far more to life than just winning and of friendship and family.  It also has a good look of small town loyalty even though it is a world full of cars.  This is a very enjoyable family film that just about anyone can enjoy and characters for anyone to relate to.

Death Race 2000 (1975):  I follow up with another movie with a movie that has racing but a far more darker version.  Paul Bartel directed this Roger Corman produced Dystopian Future film.  This centers around a cross-country race that happens annually and where points happen upon the deaths of pedestrians.  David Carradine stars as racer Frankenstein who seems to be the most known driver and a young Sylvester Stallone co-stars as his rival Machine Gun Joe Viterbo before he would go onto create and bring to life the character of Rocky Balboa that next year.  Simone Griffeth, Mary Woronov, Roberta Collins, Martin Kove, Louisa Moritz, Don Steele, Joyce Jameson, and many others co-star in this sci-fi film.  Years later Jason Statham would star in a remake of this movie.  This is one of my guilty pleasures that I love to revisit from time to time.  This can be very enjoyable and entertaining if not taken too seriously.  It is also fun to see a villainous and young Stallone.

The Dark Corner (1946):  Henry Hathaway directed this film noir.  A pre-Lucy Lucille Ball stars as secretary Kathleen Stewart who works for private investigator Bradford Galt, played by Mark Stevens.  As they start to form a relationship, she finds that Galt has a rather dark past that comes to haunt him when a murder occurs and is framed for it.  Clifton Webb, William Bendix, Kurt Kreuger, Cathy Downs, Reed Hadley, Constance Collier, and many others co-star in this film.  It was good seeing Ball in a more serious role as she is most known for her comedy in the popular tv series I LOVE LUCY.  It is also a very good crime story that requires full attention.  This is one that has stayed off the radar and really deserves a look.

Quest (2017):  I end the week with this documentary which is directed by Jonathan Olshefski.  This is filmed in the North Philadelphia area where married couple Christopher and Christine'a Rainey live in an impoverished area where they raise a daughter and maintain a recording studio mostly for rappers.  There is another portion where a father has just had his child but he must look to get through his cancer which does not get featured as much.  It is a good look at the everyday life of people struggling in a dangerous and impoverished area.  There is not a lot to really say about this one but it is available on the Hoopla Digital website.

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