Welcome to the 807th edition of my series. I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I started rehearsals for MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET: THE MUSICAL which is Marion in July. Yes, Christmas in July, just please understand we tried to do it last December but you know. I do get to play the store psychiatrist Sawyer so I'm pretty excited about getting to return to villainy. I might have other announcements soon but for now I will just get on with my selections.
Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation (2015): Christopher McQuarrie directed this entry of the franchise which is the fifth in the series. Tom Cruise reprises his role of Ethan Hunt who must take on a deadly syndicate called the Syndicate after the IMF is disbanded. Familiar faces like Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames join Hunt. He also must rely on disavowed agent Ilsa Faust, played by Rebecca Ferguson, whose loyalty is in question. Sean Harris, Alec Baldwin, Simon McBurney, Jingchu Chang, Tom Hollander, Jens Hulten, America Olivo, and many others co-star in this entry. This is a really good action franchise and this is no exception. Cruise is on his game as Ethan doing a lot of his own stunts and is a very fun film with some great action to go along.
Dirty Driving: Thundercars of Indiana (2008): This is one of my two documentaries for the week. I came across this when my Facebook friend Martin posted about watch this so I took interest since it takes place in a familiar town. I asked my dad about it after I found out and he adamant about me watching this documentary. Jon Alpert directed this HBO documentary which takes part in Anderson, Indiana which is where I was born and where my dad lived until I was about 18 or 19 years old. This centers around their local speedway Anderson Speedway which has been a very popular place in that town. This takes a look at some of their drivers that are very passionate about what they do and their determination to win the trophy there while also struggling due to the closing of General Motors. This is one thing that my dad and I never did together when I was a kid. This is available to watch on HBO Max.
Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst (2004): I follow up with another documentary which was directed by Robert Stone. This was based around the Symbionese Liberation Army revolutionary group and their kidnapping of Patty Hearst, the granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst. A lot of this centers around the SLA group itself before they got to kidnapping Hearst and how Hearst joined the group. This was a pretty insightful documentary showing interviews and footage.
The Lost Son (1974): This is my animated short for the week which was directed by Lotte Reiniger. This is an animated story that covers the Prodigal Son with the use of silhouette animation. This was pretty well presented and really worth a look. This was one of Reiniger's last works and directed one of the earliest feature films in THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED. This and a lot of her other works are available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
Movie Crazy (1932): Clyde Bruckman directed this comedy about the film industry though it has been said that Harold Lloyd did most of the directing. Silent film legend Harold Lloyd makes his way into talkies where he stars as Harold Hall who gets a mix-up from a letter calling him into Hollywood for a screen test. He is excited and makes his way to Hollywood. He plays his usual good-hearted but rather clumsy person. Constance Cummings stars as actress Mary Sears who takes a liking to Harold for his personality. Kenneth Thomson, Louise Closser Hale, Spencer Charters, Robert McWade, and many others co-star in this comedy. This is the first talkie for Lloyd and made a pretty good transition into talkies. This is a great homage to Hollywood and to a movie fan trying to make it in Hollywood. This is also available to watch on Criterion Channel.
One Body Too Many (1944): Frank McDonald directed this horror comedy. Jack Haley stars as insurance salesman Albert Tuttle who arrives at a mansion of the late family patriarch. The family must wait until he is properly entombed and the family is forced to stay at the home. Albert soon finds himself mixed up in the shenanigans that involve a murder, secret passages and the niece Carol, played by Jean Parker. Bela Lugosi, Lyle Talbot, Blanche Yurka, Douglas Fowley, Fay Helm, Bernard Nedell, Lucien Littlefield, Dorothy Granger, and many others co-star in this comedy. Haley is most known as Tin Man in the classic musical THE WIZARD OF OZ. This is a pretty fun haunted house comedy with the usual fare. This is available to watch on Amazon Prime.
Learning to Drive (2014): Isabel Coixet directed this film which is really more of a character study than anything. Patricia Clarkson stars as book critic Wendy whose husband left her and looks to make changes in her life. She has not learned to drive as she relied on her husband for that so meets Sikh instructor Darwan, played by Ben Kingsley, who is also having problems of his own. Grace Gummer, Samantha Bee, Jake Weber, Sarita Choudhury, Avi Nash, Matt Salinger, and many others co-star in this film. This obviously goes much deeper than just teaching someone how to drive. It was a good story on these people who try to help one another in the problems in their lives. This is hard to describe beyond what I have already. This is available to on Hoopla Digital and Crackle.
Cinderella (1965): This is my musical for the week which was a tv special. Charles S. Dubin directed this movie based on the musical from Rodgers and Hammerstein. Lesley Ann Warren stars as Cinderella whose story just about everyone knows. She lives with her wicked stepmother, played by Jo Van Vleet, and two wicked stepsisters, played by Pat Carroll and Barbara Ruick. She is mistreated by them and they are going to a ball leaving her behind. The Fairy Godmother, played by Celeste Holm, helps Cinderella out to give her a look to go to the ball where she meets the prince, played by Stuart Damon, and I think you all know the rest. Ginger Rogers, Walter Pidgeon, and many others co-star in this tv movie. This is more of a theatrical movie with Warren being introduced into the tv and film world in a very strong way. This is available to watch on Amazon Prime.
A Night to Remember (1958): Roy Ward Baker directed this film based on the book by Walter Lord. The title certainly says it all for people on the Titanic back in 1912 as it was apparently an unsinkable ship so i guess that made people neglect to think about emergency procedures should something happen. As most of us know, something did happen where it hit an iceberg. This is more of a docudrama of the events of the Titanic that lead to the iceberg and how things were handled afterward. Kenneth More, Ronald Allen, Robert Ayres, Honor Blackman, Anthony Bushell, John Cairney, Jill Dixon, Jane Downs, James Dyrenforth, Michael Goodliffe, Kenneth Griffith, Harriette Johns, Frank Lawton, Richard Leech, Richard Leech, David McCallum, Alec McCowen, Tucker McGuire, John Marivale, and many others co-star in this film. Other adaptations of the doomed ship usually have some fictional backstories including the known 1997 version from James Cameron. This gets more to the point of how unprepared everyone was when something happened and how those who survived would likely never be the same. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel and on Hoopla.
Rebuilding the House of Stone (2021): I end the week with this WFYI special which features my long-time friend James Banta. Merlin Bell directed and co-wrote this special which is based on a story by playwright Rosie Arnold. This was filmed at Conner Prairie which is a museum in Fishers, Indiana which is fairly close to where I live. Banta and John Mortell star as brothers Valentine and Henry Stone who fought on opposite sides of the Civil War. They return to their home in Indiana with their family and work to reconcile their differences with one another. Ryan Beckman, Kevin Carter, and Michelle Evans co-star in this tv special. This is based on a true story about the Stone brothers and the actors work well together. This is available to watch on https://www.wfyi.org/programs/rebuilding-house-stone/television/rebuilding-the-house-of-stone?fbclid=IwAR2TP3lXk5pG99NbuYSQYHro4iO3cX34vyqtyYtJyO1IkvvdXNoUruk7AYA
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Well, that is it for this week but I did bring back my segment "The Shorter End of the Stick". Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Mike Myers, John Wayne, Basil Rathbone, John Goodman, and many others..
THE SHORTER END OF THE STICK
I decided to bring this segment back for the second time. This is a series of short films and decided to use selections that include some of my Facebook friends. I thought since I already featured Jim, why stop there?
Dying is Easy (2021): This includes my FB friend Doug Jones who has made quite a career for himself in the world of Sci-Fi including being a regular on STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. I met him on the set of MY NAME IS JERRY which was a movie shot in my town of Muncie as an extra. Aaron and Sean Schoenke co-directed this superhero short film which features Batman, played by Kevin Porter. Batman learns the Joker, played by Aaron Schoenke, is dying and is demanding to speak to him from Arkham Asylum leading to quite the verbal confrontation. This features lots of familiar villain cameos including Riddler, played by Jones, Harley Quinn, played by Amy Johnston, Mr. Freeze, played by Mike Estes, Condiment King, played by Orion Acaba, Poison Ivy, played by Vera Bambi, and Killer Crock, played by Lionel Washington III. Michael Madsen, Chris Daughtry, Tatiana Neva, Jamie Costa, Guy A. Grundy, Amanda Lynne Shafer, Chalet Lizette Brannan, Jennifer Wenger, and many others co-star in this superhero short. This is about twenty minutes long and captures that Batman feel very well. Maybe we can get Doug on a more expanded role as Riddler sometime. This is available to watch on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0x_YjkgFjc .
Submerge: Echo 51 (2017): This includes my FB friend Paisley Blackburn who I met on the set of a short film I did in Richmond. Demetrius Witherspoon wrote and directed this sci-fi short. The Multiverse has been plagued by the Alien Empire called the Krag. The planet Echo remains in ruin and an alien woman named Lyte, played by Shonna Bedford, believes she is a lone survivor but learns that is not true. Blackburn co-stars as General Luma and I must say that green looks really good on her. Chris Abel, Matthew Allen, Derek Kunzman, Bishop Stevens, and many others co-star in this sci-fi short. This has a lot of good sci-fi elements and some really good special effects. This is available for rental on Amazon Prime and was worth the .99 purchase.
The Year of the Ox (2012): My FB friend here is Kelsey Zukowski who unfortunately I have not gotten to meet in person but hope to someday. She is a longtime supporter of this blog since the days of Myspace and specializes and is passionate about her horror. Rob Sepulveda directed and co-wrote this horror short about a criminal gang in Chicago's Chinatown that get more than they bargain for which kidnapping a young girl named Lucy, played by Zukowski. This is available to watch on Kelsey's website http://kelseyzukowski.com/ which has a lot more of her works.
The Spirit of Isabel (2010): The FB friend here is Robert Joseph Butler who has directed and produced many short films and after a lot of hard work finally got to do a feature film in BLOOD IMMORTAL which I see is available to watch on imdb tv. Butler directed and co-wrote this short film about survival in an economically depressed Detroit. Aphrodite Nikolovski stars as Isabel who must try to survive as a prostitute while never losing hope to make a better life for herself. Valentina Arnold, Robert Maples, and many others co-star in this short film. This is a rather dark short film with a very good performance from Nikolovski that makes us really get behind her. This is available on RJB's website https://www.nuwavefilms.com/films/ among other works.
The Long Way Home (2019): The FB friend for this one is Kerry Johnson who I have known for a long time through the wrestling world as the Notorious Thug Ace Mob and have worked with him many times in my time as a ring announcer. He decided to write and produce this short movie which star his actual daughters Yolanda and Angelina who star as sisters. Amber and Ryne Hastings took to the directing of these sisters in which one of them is dealing with a very serious situation. They must discuss how they will tell their mother about it. This is only about seven minutes long but gets right to the point in this movie really about innocence lost. I hope Kerry is able to do another movie and maybe get me in it this time. This is available to watch on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lujlD78Ydo .
The Oregon Trail (2010): I have a couple FB friends in this one in Alli Miller and Jeff Laub that are both actors in this selection. I met Alli at the former Artist's Studio theater at one point and had seen her in some Ball State productions as well as her local movie ELLIE AND MARIANNE that was presented at the Muncie Civic Theater. I will never forget trying out for RENT at the Artist's Studio with her as the choreographer and creating quite the dance with Lady Gaga's POKER FACE which I did not do so well. I met Jeff when he was casting for his movie GROVE LAKE and a friend had given him my name so I met up with him at Starbucks and I just didn't have the availability to be in their production. Nick Reczynski directed and co-wrote this short film which was shot as a trailer based on the popular computer game from out childhood though it probably could have been expanded. This is a pretty fun two minutes and is really worth a look on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHps2SecuDk .
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