Welcome to the 820th edition of my series. I'm excited that the real season of the NFL starts on Thursday. Last year, I kind of took a year but I'm ready for this year. I have by Fantasy team together and here we go. I have a photo of my show at the end so come on out for for CLUE in Marion. I will now get on with my selections for
Manglehorn (2014): David Gordon Green directed this film that was written by Paul Brad Logan. Al Pacino stars as A.J. Manglehorn who has not moved on from the death of his wife and has mostly shut himself off from the world with his best friend mostly being his cat. He takes to bank teller Dawn, played by Holly Hunter, who might be able to bring him out of his shell. Harmony Korine, Chris Messina, Marisa Varela, and many others co-star in this film. Korine is known more as a director, most notably GUMMO, and does really good in this movie. This is a character study to the core and I seem to have a lot of those in this edition. Pacino and Hunter carry this movie very well and is one that really deserves a look.
A Night at the Movies (1937): This is my comedy short for the week which is a Robert Benchley short. This shows Benchley and his wife going to the movie theater and it being not so great of time. The things happening also lead to some pretty good comedic moments like having a hard time seeing being blocked by the person in front of him.
The Mouse that Roared (1959): This is part one of a possible Peter Sellers trilogy. Jack Arnold directed this comedy which is based on the book by Leonard Wibberley. This centers around a struggling small country that schemes to start a war with the United States with the intention of a surrender that they would get a lot of money from the United States. Things don't go quite as planned leading to some really funny moments. Sellers plays three different roles in Grand Duchess Gloriana XII, Prime Minister Count Rupert of Mountjoy, and Tully Bascombe. Keep in mind this was years before he would do this in DOCTOR STRANGELOVE. Jean Seberg, William Hartnell, David Kossoff, Leo McKern, Austin Willis, Timothy Bateson, and many others co-star in this comedy. Sellers is great in this comedy bringing something totally different to each character. This is a great comedy that could make a really good feature of the other mentioned Peter Sellers comedy.
Passion Fish (1992): This is part four of my five-part David Strathairn series. John Sayles wrote and directed this character study. Mary McDonnell stars as former soap opera star May-Alice Culhane who is now a paraplegic and struggles both mentally and emotionally. Alfre Woodard co-stars as Chantelle who is assigned as May-Alice's nurse and has struggles of her own as they are able to help each other through their respective struggles. Angela Bassett, Lenore Banks, Michael Mantell, Maggie Renzi, Marianne Muellerleile, Amanda Carlin, David Strathairn, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Leo Burmester, Mary Portser, Nora Dunn, Tom Wright, Sheila Kelley, Nancy Mette, Michael Laskin, and many others co-star in this character driven film. This is a very well shot film being in Louisiana community and was a well-done script with well-written character and good performances. This is available to watch on Amazon Prime.
Johnny Corncob (1973): This is my Hungarian film for the week and might be the first time I have ever visited that country. Marcell Jankovics directed this animated film based on a poem by Sandor Petofi. This shows a young man named Jancsi, voiced by Gyorgy Cserhalmi, going through life through the years in some epic adventures involving love, war, magic, and death while longing to be reunited with the woman he loves. This is the first feature animated movie from Hungary. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel under its Hungarian title JANOS VITEZ and is a pretty compelling animated film that has go onto be quite unknown but maybe this will help it get some exposure.
The Cut (2014): Fatih Akin directed and co-wrote this film that takes place around the early 1900s. Tahar Rahim starsa as Nazaret who survived genocidal murders during the Ottoman Empire but has lost everything including his family and even his voice. He learns that his twin daughters might be alive so he sets out to find them however he can going to multiple countries in his search. Simon Abkarian, Makram Khoury, Hindi Zahra, Kevork Malikyan, Bartu Kucukcaglayan, Trine Dyrholm, Arsinee Khanjian, Akin Gazi, Arevik Martirosyan, Lara Heller, and many others co-star in this film. This is a pretty sad but moving film with Rahim carrying the movie throughout. This is available to watch on Hoopla Digital.
Money From Home (1953): Now I bring some more comedy. George Marshall directed this film that stars the Martin and Lewis comedy duo. Dean Martin stars as Herman who has a lot of gambling debts and they are not showing much compassion. He tricks his animal loving cousin Virgil, played by Jerry Lewis, into helping him to fix a horse race. Marjie Millar, Pat Crowley, Richard Haydn, Robert Strauss, Gerald Mohr, Sheldon Leonard, Romo Vincent, and many others co-star in this comedy. This is pretty fun mobster comedy with a comedy team that works well being as different as they are. If you like this duo, this should be pretty good.
Moonlight (2016): Barry Jenkins directed this film which is based on an unpublished play by Tarell Alvin McCraney. This movie takes place over three chapters which centers around the character of Chiron in three different time periods, played by Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes. Through the years we see him struggle with his sexuality, his identity and having a drug addicted mother. Mahershala Ali co-stars as Juan who along with his wife Teresa, played by Janelle Monae, are parental figures to Chiron which is own mother Paula, played by Naomie Harris, could not be one. Shariff Earp, Duan Sanderson, Alex Hibbert, Jaden Piner, Edson Jean, Jharrel Jerome, Andre Holland, and many others co-star in this film. Ali is the standout in this movie in my opinion. This is a good look at a young black man in the bad part of Miami trying to get by in life.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977): This is my second animation selection for the week which is far more known than my other selection. John Lounsbery and Wolfgang Reitherman directed this animated movie based on the characters by A.A. Milne. As the title implies, this has some multiple selections that feature our friends at the 100 Acre Wood that includes Winnie the Pooh and all his eccentric friends. Sebastian Cabot, Barbara Luddy, Howard Morris, John Fiedler, Ralph Wright, Hal Smith, Clint Howard, Sterling Holloway, Paul Winchell, Bruce Reitherman, Jon Walmsley, and many others provide their voices to these characters. This also has some music numbers written by Richard and Robert Sherman. This is a lot of fun for the family to hang out with our beloved friends. This is available to watch on Amazon Prime.
The Rabbit Hunters (2020): I end the week with this short film which was written and directed by Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, and Guy Maddin. Isabella Rossellini stars in this short as the legendary Federico Fellini which is essentially a dream sequence. This is very Felliniesque for a lack of a better word so those not very familiar with Fellini might want to look into his work first to appreciate this homage. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Liam Neeson, Seth Rogen, and many others.
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