Welcome to the 866th edition of my series. All kinds of chaos going on in this world and hope I can take someone's mind off it just a little bit with these. No announcements this week but hopefully next week. I will get to my selections for the week.
Darkman (1990): This is part two of my Frances McDormand trilogy. Sam Raimi directed and co-wrote this sci-fi action film. Liam Neeson co-stars as scientist Peyton Westlake who has come across some new findings. He has everything going for him like a fiance in Julie, played by McDorman, but his lab is attacked by a group of gangsters lead by Robert Durant, played by Larry Drake, and he is left for dead. Peyton survives but is severely disfigured and becomes stronger while taking revenge for those that wronged him. Colin Friels, Jessie Lawrence Ferguson, Dan Wicks, Ted Raimi, Nicholas Worth, Aaron Lustig, Professor Toru Tanaka, John Landis, Neal McDonough, Bruce Campbell, and many others co-star in this film. Raimi had intended on doing something regarding the Shadow but could not obtained the rights so he wrote his own superhero type character. This is more of an anti-hero than anything though as vengeance really consumes Darkman. This was the start of Neeson starring in action films which would become definitive to his career in some ways. I have always bought into Neeson's violent tendencies in film where I would never want to piss him off and this is no different. This does a good job of conveying the price of vengeance. A good double feature in my opinion would be with this and THE CROW.
Smallfoot (2018): This is part three of my Zendaya trilogy. This is one of two animated selections this week which was co-directed by Karey Kirkpatrick and Jason Reisig. Channing Tatum stars as Migo who is a Yeti where as far as they are concerned, humans are a fantasy though they refer to them as Smallfoots. James Corden stars as Percy who is a human and as far as they are concerned Yetis are a fantasy. They encounter one another but have a hard time convincing the rest. Zendaya, Common, LeBron James, Danny DeVito, Gina Rodriguez, Yara Shahidi, Ely Henry, Jimmy Tatro, Patricia Heaton, Justin Rolland, Jack Quaid, Sarah Baker, and many others provide their voices in this animated musical. A lot of this goes into the fear of the unknown. It is also a pretty moving story of acceptance and understanding. It also has a rather underrated soundtrack that was written by Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick. This is a really fun animated movie that the family can enjoy that comes from Warner Brothers.
Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015): This is my documentary for the week which was directed by Kent Jones. This is centered around Francois Truffaut's book CINEMA ACCORDING TO HITCHCOCK and an interview that Truffaut did with Hitchcock which sparked a legendary discussion as well as a friendship between the two. Bob Balaban narrates this documentary and features interviews with filmmakers Wes Anderson, Peter Bogdanovich, David Fincher, Olivier Assayas, Arnaud Desplechin, Kiyoshi Kurasowa, Richard Linklater, Paul Schrader, and Martin Scorsese and the influence that Hitchcock had on them and cinema. This is a very good education on film making and book by Truffaut has been very respected through the years. This is available to watch on Tubi.
The Lottery (1969): This is my short film for the week which was directed by Larry Yust and based on a short story by Shirley Jackson. This centers around a small village and a very strange tradition that takes place annually. Olive Dunbar, William Benedict, William Fawcett, Ed Begley Jr., Nancy Hale, Irene Tedrow, and many others co-star in this short film. This is a pretty dark story and has a HUNGERS GAMES sort of feel to it. This is available to watch on Youtube and is only about 20 minutes long.
I Cover the Waterfront (1933): James Cruze directed this pre-code film based on the book by Max Miller. Ben Lyon stars as investigative reporter Joe Miller who is investigating a smuggling ring of illegal Chinese immigrants that he believe is lead by Eli Kirk, played by Ernest Torrence. Joe starts to fall for Eli's daughter Julie, played by Claudette Colbert, but her loyalty to her father might be a conflict of interest. Hobart Cavanaugh, Maurice Black, Purnell Platt, Harry Beresford, Wilfred Lucas, and many others co-star in this film. This is a decent B-movie for this time period and remains pretty relevant today. This could be a good feature go to along with ON THE WATERFRONT. This is available to watch on Prime.
Peter Pan (1953): This is my second animation feature and is some classic Disney. Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske directed this animated Disney adaptation of the J.M. Barrie classic. I think we all know the story here of the boy who refused to grow up which is Peter Pan, voiced by Bobby Driscoll. In search of his shadow, Peter ends up at the Darling house where he would take the teenage Wendy, voiced by Kathryn Beaumont, and her brothers John, voiced by Paul Collins, and Michael, voiced by co-director Luske, to his world of Never Land where no one has to grow up. When there, we meet the Lost Boys but also a group of pirates lead by Peter's arch-enemy Captain Hook, voiced by Hans Conried. Bill Thompson, Heather Angel, Candy Dandido, Tom Conway, Roland Dupree, Don Barclay, and many others lend their voices to this animated classic. By today's standards, this is politically incorrect to the core in its portrayal of Indians and gives the disclaimer before we watch. This does have some great animation and is a lot of fun if understanding times were a little different in this era. This is available to watch on Disney Plus.
King Richard (2021): Reinaldo Marcus Green directed this sports biopic. Will Smith stars as Compton resident Richard Williams whose daughters Venus, played by Saniyya Sidney, and Serena, played by Demi Singleton, would become big tennis stars. This shows Richard trying to shape them into who they would become. While he wanted his daughters to become stars, he was also determined to do it in his way. Aunjanue Ellis, Jon Bernthal, Tony Goldwyn, Makayla Lashae Bartholomew, Daniele Lawson, Layla Crawford, Erika Ringor, Craig Tate, Josiah Cross, Kevin Dunn, Brad Greenquist, Christopher Wallinger, Chase Del Rey, Judith Chapman, Dylan McDermott, and many others co-star in this biopic. This focuses more on Venus's rise as she was old enough to enter professional tennis. Smith does well as the overbearing father that meant well. I also realized how versatile of an actor Bernthal is as one of the coaches and would not recognize that it is the same guy that played the Punisher. Unfortunately, Will has been a bit overshadowed by his behavior at the Oscars and some might have cancelled him. I thought that what he did was wrong but not unforgivable. I also read that he split his salary with the other actors. This is available to watch on HBO Max.
The Conqueror (1956): I have always been curious about this movie and my friend Buff managed to score me a copy. I follow up with another biopic which was directed by Dick Powell. John Wayne stars as Temujin who most of us know as Genghis Khan. Yes, John Wayne played the Mongolian leader and and portrayed the role as John Wayne. In this movie, Temujin was at war against the Tartar armies and tried to win the love of their princess Bortai, played by Susan Hayward. Pedro Armendariz, Agnes Moorehead, Thomas Gomez, John Hoyt, William Conrad, Ted de Corsia, Leslie Bradley, Lee Van Cleef, Peter Mamakos, and many others co-star in this biopic. Yes, Wayne was very miscast as Genghis Khan and became an enjoyably bad movie. This also has some sad historical significance and was shot in an active nuclear test site in Utah. Much of the cast through the years would contract cancer and many died including Wayne himself. Howard Hughes also produced this film and was his final film project.
The Rain People (1969): This is part two of my ten part James Caan series. Francis Ford Coppola wrote and directed this early film in the career of Coppola. Shirley Knight stars as housewife Natalie who leaves home after learning she is pregnant. Along the way, she meets a hitch-hiker named Killer, played by Caan, who became brain-damaged when playing football so becomes very slow-minded and Natalie questions how much she wants that responsibility as he has nowhere to go. Robert Duvall, Tom Eldredge, Andrew Duncan, Alan Manson, and many others co-star in this film. A few years later Caan and Duvall would have their breakthrough roles in Coppola's THE GODFATHER. Caan and Knight worked very well in this character driven film that would become good early work for Coppola and really deserves a look.
Submarino (2010): I end the week with this Danish film which was directed by Thomas Vinterberg and based on the novel by Jonas T. Bengtsson. Jakob Cedergren and Peter Plaugborg star as brothers who are both haunted by a childhood tragedy and are on their own destructive paths in life. They reunite at their mother's funeral. It is hard to really describe this further without giving a lot away. This is another movie that is driven by the script and its characters. This is a rather sad but compelling film that is worth a look.
Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Frances McDormand, Ellen Burstyn, John Candy, Charles Chaplin, and many others.
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