Welcome to the 865th edition of my series. I hope everyone is hanging in there with everything going on. I still bring this thing out each week. I'm hoping to have an announcement next week but for now I'll just get on with these selections.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017): This is part one of a four part Frances McDormand series. Martin McDonagh directed this darkly comic film. McDormand stars as Mildred whose daughter was murdered but the culprit was never found. She decides to purchase the three billboards and puts a very controversial message targeting the local chief of police William Willoughby, played by Woody Harrelson. Sam Rockwell stars as the immature Officer Dixon who is Mildred's bigger problem. Caleb Landry Jones, Kerry Condon, Alejandro Barrios, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Abbie Cornish, Lucas Hedges, Zeljko Ivanek, Amanda Warren, Malaya Rivera Drew, Sandy Martin, Peter Dinklage, Christopher Berry, Gregory Nassif St. John, Jerry Winsett, Kathryn Newton, John Hawkes, Samara Weaving, Clarke Peters, Brendan Sexton III and many others co-star in this film. McDormand plays her role as only Frances McDormand can and shines well along with her rival Rockwell. This is strangely funny at times despite very serious subject matter. This is also a great look at a small town. This is available to watch on fxnetworks.com and abc.com.
The Breakfast Club (1985): I had the pleasure of viewing this movie out outside of the Fickle Peach bar in Muncie as part of the "After Hours Art Reels" series. John Hughes wrote and directed this '80s detention classic. This takes place during a Saturday detention where five people with very little in common are serving their detention but get to know each other a bit and find they have more in common than they thought. Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, and Anthony Michael Hall star as the Fab Five though that's not really what they are called. Nelson leads the way for the detention to be more than quiet time. Paul Gleason, John Kapelos, Ron Dean, and many others co-star in this iconic '80s film. This also has an iconic soundtrack with the most notable hit DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME by the Simple Minds. This is a Brat Pack classic to say the least. This is available to watch on Hulu.
The Secret World of Arrietty (2010): This is my anime selection for the week which is from Studio Ghibli. Hiromasa Yonebayashi directed this film that is based on the novel THE BORROWERS by Mary Norton. This centers around the Clock family who are four inches tall and live anonymously in someone else's house while borrow simple things to get by in life. Their daughter Arrietty gets discovered by a sickly boy named Shawn which puts her parents to concern even though he has no ill intentions. Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, Moises Arias, Carol Burnett, David Henrie, and many others provide their voice in this film with multiple versions. As always, Studio Ghibli comes through very well and is very beautiful on many levels including the animation and story. This is a good story about friendship and living life. This is available to watch on HBO Max.
The Selling Wizard (1954): This is my short film for the week which was presented by Anheiser-Busch. This was meant to be a short film on selling and most notably selling freezer units. There is some interesting use of sexism in this video. The end product turned out to be all over the place and not very entertaining unless watching along with the MST3K guys. This is available to watch on TUBI with MST3K shorts and the MST3K episode THE DEAD TALK BACK.
Something to Sing About (1937): Victor Schertzinger directed this song and dance musical. James Cagney stars as New York band leader Terry Rooney who is offered a contract in film and sets out for Hollywood leaving his fiance Rita, played by Evelyn Daw, behind. He struggles to adjust to the world of Hollywood and after he gets into a physical fight on the set he leaves out of frustration to marry Rita but when returning he finds himself a star. William Frawley, Mona Barrie, Gene Lockhart, Philip Ahn, Dwight Frye, and many others co-star in this musical. Cagney was most known for his gangster roles in this era and gets to show his musical talents years before his classic musical of YANKEE DOODLE DANDY. It is also semi-biographical to Cagney's own career. There is also a very interesting scene in this movie of a literal cat fight which I cannot describe in words. This is available to watch on Prime.
Eight on the Lam (1967): I follow up with this Bob Hope vehicle which was directed by George Marshall. Hope stars as bank teller and widowed father of seven kids Henry Dimsdale who is set up for embezzlement at the bank he works at and takes his family on the run while trying to prove his innocence. Phyllis Diller co-stars as Golda who is the baby-sitter for his kids and tries to protect them from her dim-witter cop boyfriend Jasper, played by Jonathan Winters. Shirley Eaton, Jill St. John, Kevin Brodie, and many others co-star in this comedy. This was not award winning by any means but harmless fun with Bob. You also get to see a couple of Bond girls in this comedy with Eaton as Henry's loyal girlfriend and St. John as a gold digger. This is also available to watch on Prime.
Dune (2021): This was presented as part of my local library's Droids and Dragons group that mostly focuses on books but went ahead and presented this adaptation. Denis Villeneuve directed this film based on the novel by Frank Herbert. This is also part two of my Zendaya trilogy. This centers around a noble family that becomes embroiled in a war over the galaxy's most valuable asset. Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgard, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Chang Chen, WWE Hall of Famer and former WWE Champion Dave Bautista, David Dastmalchian, Charlotte Rampling, and many others co-star in this sci-fi film. It is a bit hard for me to really describe this in words. This has had a couple other adaptations before this one and many I need to go back to the original. This is also part one and will conclude sometime next year from what I understand. This does have quite the cast and was a pretty compelling watch. This is available to watch on HBO Max.
Cinderella Liberty (1973): This is the first of a ten part series for James Caan who recently left us. Mark Rydell directed this romantic drama. Caan stars as navy sailor John Baggs Jr. who is given "Cinderella Liberty" where he can be out until midnight. Things chaneg when his records cannot be found and it gets extended. Through this he meets and falls in love with hooker Maggie, played by Marsha Mason, and things become more complicated when he learns she has an 11 year old son, played by Kirk Calloway. Eli Wallach, Burt Young, Bruno Kirby, Allyn Ann McLerie, Dabney Coleman, Fred Sadoff, Sally Kirkland, David Proval, and many others co-star in this film. As a Navy veteran himself, this has always been a favorite of my dad's. I know I referred to this as a romantic drama but it is a lot more. Caan is very good as the caring sailor who tries to be a father figure to Maggie's son and must rethink what he wants in life.
Lost in a Harem (1944): Now I bring the iconic duo of Abbott and Costello in this later comedy of theirs which was directed by Charles Reisner. Abbott and Costello star as bumbling magicians Peter and Harvey who are on tour in the Middle Eastern kingdom of Baraheeba. While there, they look to help Prince Ramo played by John Conte, regain his thrown from his devious uncle Nimativ, played by Douglass Dumbrile. Marilyn Maxwell, Murray Leonard, Milton Parsons, Ralph Sanford, Jimmy Dorsey, and many others co-star in this comedy. Dumbrile was very good as the villain in this movie while the duo came through as well in their gags. This is worth a look for classic comedy buffs.
Happy Birthday (2002): I end the week with this independent LBGT film which was written and directed by Yen Tan. This is a character driven film of five different people who share the same birthday. Benjamin Patrick, John K. Frazier, Davashish Saxena, Michelle E. Michael, and Ethel Lung star as these conflicted gay characters, each of which have a serious situation. This is a pretty good commentary of the LBGT community and was released in a time where it was not accepted as much as it is today. This is one that has been under the radar but deserves a look.
Well, that is it for this week but I brought back my segments "Movie Time in the Town of Pottersville" and "The Kaotic Movie Theater". Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Frances McDormand, Channing Tatum, Alfred Hitchcock, Will Smith, and many others.
MOVIE TIME IN THE TOWN OF POTTERSVILLE
Child's Play (2019): I went and hung with my bestie Stephanie at her dad's house during her birthday. We decided to give this remake a watch. Lars Klevberg directed this film where Chucky is presented as a new toy manufacture as a Buddi doll. Gabriel Bateman stars as early teen Andy whose mother Karen, played by Aubrey Plaza, buys him a Buddi doll which becomes Chucky, voiced by Mark Hamill, which turns out to have a very sinister nature. Tim Matheson, Ben Daon, Trent Redekop, Beatrice Kitsos, Ty Consiglio, Amro Majzoub, Bryan Tyree Henry, Carlease Burke, and many others co-star in this horror remake. I know know words like remake and reboot are very dirty words to some. I still thought this was a pretty fun and clever presentation with Chucky is a line of toys whereas in the originals the doll was possessed by the soul of a serial killer. I like how Hamill made Chucky more child like but very violent. I feel this has its place among the franchise, just don't forget the originals.
THE KAOTIC MOVIE THEATER
America: The Motion Picture (2021): Last night I went and hung out with my friends Carrisa and Arto at their house. Carrisa took the remote and went to Netflix and started this movie. They had told me about this so I decided to really watch this one. This is an animated movie that bring a lot of historical characters together to fight for what we now call America. Matt Thompson directed this animated film that brings new meaning to rewriting history. George Washington, voiced by Channing Tatum, and Abraham Lincoln, voiced by Will Forte, are best friends and after Lincoln is killed by a werewolf Benedict Arnold, voiced by Andy Samberg, George gets together his own team that includes Samuel Adams, voiced by Jason Mantzoukas, Thomas Edison, voiced by Olivia Munn, Paul Revere, voiced by Bobby Moynihan, Geronimo, voiced by Raoul Max Trujillo, and Blacksmith, voiced by Killer Mike. Yes, Thomas Edison is a woman and very dedicated to science. Everyone is portrayed beyond what we have imagined. Together, they go after the evil King James, voiced by Simon Pegg, and Benedict Arnold. Judy Greer, Clyde Alazraqui, Dave Callahan, Kevin Gillese, Iyad Hajjaj, Neal Holman, J. Larose, Megan Leahy, Amber Nash, Matt Thompson, Lucky Yates, and many others co-star in this animated parody of history and the American Revolution. This is very violent, it is politically incorrect, and not very historically accurate besides certain references and historical puns. It has a lot of historical puns that Arto would point out every so often. We mostly just laughed, sometimes the letters of w, t, and f would come to mind. I think I got the most excited was when they did a parody on the '90s tv series RENEGADE that I used to watch in my middle school years. This is adult animation so please don't show this to your kids for a historical education and be offended that it is a historical parody. It might take multiple viewings to pick up on historical references. This is available to watch on Netflix.
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