Welcome to the 880th edition of my series. I hope everyone is hanging in there in these times. I will be releasing the last week of the Madness later this week. I hope everyone has a good Halloween however celebrated. I don't have a lot more to say so I'll just get to this week's selections.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022): Taika Waititi returns to direct this film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the latest in the Thor movies. Thor, reprised by Chris Hemsworth, goes up against one of his most powerful enemies in Gorr the God Butcher, played by Christian Bale. He gets help from Valkyrie, played by Tessa Thompson, Korg, voiced by Waititi, and from his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, reprised by Natalie Portman, who gains her own powers after learning she can possess Mjolner. Russell Crowe, Jamie Alexander, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Ben Falcone, Stephen Curry, Bobby Holland Hanton, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, Brett Goldstein, and many others co-star or have cameos including the Guardians in the beginning. This continues the comedy route that the Thor series have taken. I really enjoyed the humor and cheesiness and loved seeing Natalie Portman all powerful. I also just really liked Jane Foster's story in general in this movie. Bale had not intended on doing another superhero film after his stint at Batman but finally took the role of the villain after his own kids convinced him to do so.
Truth or Dare (2018): Jeff Wadlow directed this film on the dark side of the popular game. A group of friends go to Mexico where they agree to a game of truth or dare which becomes far more deadly than intended. Lucy Hale and Violett Beane star as best friends Olivia and Markie who learn a lot of secrets between each other when they are forced to actually do the truth or dare or have deadly consequences. Tyler Posey, Hayden Szeto, Sophia Ali, Nolan Gerard Funk, Landon Liboiron, Sam Lerner, Tom Choi, Aurora Perrineau, Gregg Daniel, Brady Smith, and many others co-star in this film. This is a pretty fun horror movie and a clever take towards the truth and dare game. This is good for the season and might make people think twice before partaking in this game.
Drag Me to Hell (2009): Sam Raimi directed and co-wrote this horror film along with his brother Ivan Raimi. Alison Lohman stars as Christine Brown who is a loan officer at a bank and refuses a loan extension to the elderly Mrs. Ganush, played by Lorna Raver. It turns out Mrs. Ganush has some experience as a witch and places a curse on Christine that could result in her being dragged to hell as the title implies. With the help of her skeptical boyfriend Clay, played by Justin Long, and psychic Rham Jas, played by Dileep Rao, she looks to overcome her fate and save her soul. David Paymer, Adriana Barraza, Chelcie Ross, Reggie Lee, Molly Cheek, Bojana Novakovic, Kevin Foster, Flor de Maria Chahua, Ted Raimi, Octavia Spencer, and many others co-star in this film. This is a pretty good story with the Raimi Brothers writing a very good and compelling script. Lohman is able to hold her own in this film as the female protagonist and I was with her the whole way through.
A Little Sleep (1957): This is an episode of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS which was directed by Paul Henreid. As always, Hitchcock always opens the show and even closes the show. Barbara Cook stars as bored rich girl Barbie Hallem. She is quite the party animal but will wish she had just gone home instead. Vic Morrow, Jack Mullaney, Robert Karnes, and many others co-star in this episode. This show always managed to push the envelope a bit for this era and this was no different. We get a little dark comedy with quite the twist in the end.
Frankenstein (1931): James Whale directed this classic which was directed by James Whale and based on the novel by Mary Shelley. Colin Clive stars as Dr. Henry Frankenstein who obsesses with life and death and decides to create life through lifeless body parts. With the help of the inept Fritz, played by Dwight Frye, he manages to create a creature, played by Boris Karloff, but gets the incorrect brain. Mae Clarke co-stars as his fiance Elizabeth and finds that Henry's work is having more priority than the relationship. John Boles, Edward Van Sloan, Frederick Kerr, and many others co-star in this classic horror film. Frye went onto become an underrated figure in the way of horror but did have a song written about him by Alice Cooper. This was the start of a pretty good franchise from Universal. This is a story about fearing the unknown and remains very compelling after all these years.
King of the Gypsies (1978): Frank Pierson directed this film based on the book by Peter Maas. Eric Roberts makes his film debut as Dave who is the grandson of the aging gypsy King Zharko, played by Sterling Hayden. Zharko passes his leadership to the unwilling Dave much to the dismay of Dave's father Groffo, played by Judd Hirsch. While Dave just wants a normal life, he just can't escape his family. Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields, Shelley Winters, Annette O'Toole, Annie Potts, Michael V. Gazzo, and many others co-star in this film. This is a pretty intense film and quite a debut for Roberts. It also has quite the cast which is what intrigued me the most when I came upon this movie. This is based on a true story of some sort but did not find any information.
Fighting With My Family (2019): Stephen Merchant wrote and directed this wrestling biopic. Florence Pugh and Jack Lowden star as siblings Saraya and Zak Knight who grown up with a wrestling family business in Britain where Saraya would become known as Paige in the WWE. They get their WWE tryout and learn the demends of becoming a WWE superstar. Nick Frost and Lena Headey co-star as their parents Ricky and Julia who were both wrestlers. Vince Vaughn, Dwayne Johnson, Olivia Bernstone, Leah Harvey, Thea Trinidad, Paul Wight, Stephen Farrelly, and many others co-star in this film. This is a really funny and moving story on a wrestling family. The story of their European wrestling promotion is just as interesting. Saraya has had quite a journey since this movie has been made about her.
His Kind of Woman (1951): John Farrow directed this Film Noir. Robert Mitchum stars as struggling gambler Dan Milner who accepts a mysterious job that involves going to Mexico and getting deported gangster Nick Ferraro, played by Raymond Burr. While there he meets Lenore, played by Jane Russell, and takes interest in her but she is taken by actor Mark Cardigan, played by Vincent Price. Tim Holt, Charles McGraw, Marjorie Reynolds, Leslye Banning, and many others co-star in this film noir. This is a pretty intriguing film where Price was the standout as the gun-toting actor. Mitchum was also good in his own right and would form a close friendship in real life with Russell. With Howard Hughes involved as a producer, the making of story appears to be just as interesting as the film.
The League of Gentlemen (1960): Basil Dearden directed this crime comedy which is based on the novel by John Boland. Jack Hawkins stars as Lieutenant Colonel Hyde who goes into retirement involuntarily. He ends up recruiting other ex-servicemen that are dissatisfied about their situations and plan a bank robbery with military precision. Nigel Patrick, Roger Livesey, Richard Attenborough, Bryan Forbes, Kieron Moore, Terence Alexander, Norman Bird, Robert Coote, Melissa Stribling, Nanette Newman, Patrick Wymark, and many others co-star in this crime film. This was quite funny at times but has some obvious social commentary to go along with it. This is a rather underrated British film that deserves a look.
Road House (1989): Rowdy Herrington directed this '80s action classic and his first name describes this movie to the core. Patrick Swayze stars as the tough bouncer Dalton who is brought into a Missouri bar the Double Deuce to clean up that sleazy bar. What he does not know is that the corrupt owner Brad Wesley, played by Ben Gazzara, does not want the bar changed and makes lives miserable for the town. Dalton has an affair with the local Dr. Elizabeth "Doc" Clay, played by Kelly Lynch, which really sparks Brad's anger and sends his goons after him. Sam Elliott, Marshall R. Teague, Julie Michaels, Red West, Sunshine Parker, Jeff Healey, Kevin Tighe, John Doe, Kathleen Wilhoite, Travis McKenna, Roger Hewlett, Gary Hudson, WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk, Michael Rider, and many others co-star in this film. Rock musician Healey makes his film debut as the bar singer Cody. While this is not Oscar material, there is just no reason to dislike this '80s classic. We need more folks like Dalton and Elliott's character Wade Garrett. They also have wrestling legend Terry fun along with Swayze and Elliott, where can you go wrong.
Well, that is it for this week I will be releasing the wast week of the Madness later in the week. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next weekend which is the 17 year anniversary of this movie blog.
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