Welcome to the 885th Edition of my series. I hope everyone had a good holidays however celebrated. I feel like last year was a pretty decent year and hope to make this year one as well. I don't have much more to say so I'll just get on with my selections.
Revenge of the Nerds (1984): This is part one of a possible John Goodman trilogy. I start the year out with this classic comedy that was directed by Jeff Kanew. Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards star as friends Lewis and Gilbert who are starting college and are nerds. The jocks of Alpha Beta lead by Stan Gable, played by Ted McGinley, make life hell for the nerds. With the help of fellow nerds Booger, played by Curtis Armstrong, Poindexter, played by Timonthy Busfield, and some others, they turn the tables on the jocks with high-tech warfare. Larry B. Scott, Julia Montgomery, Michelle Meyrink, Matt Salinger, Donald Gibb, James Cromwell, David Wohl, John Goodman, Bernie Casey, Alice Hirson, and many others co-star in this comedy. Cromwell co-stars as Lewis's father and came up with that iconic laugh that was imitated. This is some great '80s fun that many I am sure can relate to in this comedy of nerd revolt.
The Traitor (2019): Marco Bellocchio directed this mafia film that is based on a true story. Pierfrancesco Favino stars as Tommaso Buscetta who was known as the "boss of two worlds" and resided in Brazil with his families to flee the constant wars. Things happen that make forces him to return to Italy and decides to do the the unthinkable which was to inform on the mafia to anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, played by Fausto Russo Alesi. Maria Fernanda Candido, Fabrizio Ferracane, Luigi Lo Cascio, Bruno Cariello, Vincenzo Pirrotta, Pier Giorgio Bellocchino, Gabriele Cicirello, and many others co-star in this Italian film. This is a pretty compelling look at the mafia in the '80s and very informative. This could be a good double feature to go along with GOODFELLAS.
The Last Five Years (2014): Richard LaGravenese directed this musical based on the musical play by Jason Robert Brown. Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick star as Jamie Wellerstein and Cathy Hiatt who have a love affair and this musical shows the struggle and deconstruction of the relationship. Jamie is an author who is experiencing a lot of success and Cathy is a struggling actress. This is a two-person musical when done on stage. With Cathy, her songs start from the end of the marriage while Jamie's start from the beginning of the relationship. I want to do a two person show sometime so I have eyed this show and have auditioned for it once. I have been using THE NEXT TEN MINUTES as my audition song if I try out for a musical. Jordan and Kendrick work well together in this movie version. This is available to watch on Cinemax.
The Village Smithy (1936): This is my animated short for the week which was directed by Tex Avery and features the stuttering Porky Pig. Porky is the assistant to a blacksmith and makes some screw-ups that lead to some funny moments. This is loosely based on a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and gets narrated with the poem. This is available to watch on HBO Max as part of Looney Tunes.
Our Town (1977): George Schaefer directed this adaptation of the classic play by Thornton Wilder. This takes place in the fictional town of Grover's Corner between the years of 1901 and 1913 through the everyday life of its citizens. Hal Holbrook stars as the Stage Manager who serves as the narrator of the play. Ned Beatty, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robby Benson, Ronny Cox, Glynnis O'Connor, Sada Thompson, Charlotte Rae, William Lanteau, and many others co-star in this film. This was shot more like a play and followed the script a lot more than the 1940 movie which was necessary for the film in my opinion. Having done this play last year, it was good to relive and watch it the way we are supposed to and use our imaginations. Holbrook is perfect as the Stage Manager and Benson would go onto be most know as the Beast in Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. It was good to see a younger Benson in this role. I was able to find this on Youtube.
Lady of Burlesque (1943): William Wellman directed this film which is based on the novel G-STRING MURDERS which was written by known Burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee. Barbara Stanwyck stars as Dixie Daisy who is part of a Burlesque group and a couple of murders happen to fellow Burlesque Dancers making Dixie a suspect. She sets out to find the killer of the group. Michael O'Shea, J. Edward Bromberg, Iris Adrian, Gloria Dickson, Stephanie Bachelor, Charles Dingle, Marion Martin, Pete Gordon, Frank Fenton, Pinky Lee, Frank Conroy, and many others co-star in this Burlesque murder mystery. This is a pretty decent mystery with Stanwyck putting on a good performance. This also has a few Burlesque acts between backstage scenes. This is available to watch on Prime.
Car Wash (1976): Michael Schultz directed this comedy which was written by Joel Schumacher. This centers around a close-knit group of car wash employees through their hopes, dreams, tribulations, and some eccentric customers including Richard Pryor as a preacher. George Carlin has a rather amusing role as a taxi driver. Franklin Ajaye, Sully Boyar, Richard Brestoff, Irwin Corey, Otis Day, Ivan Dixon, Bill Duke, Michael Fennell, Antonio Fargas, Lorraine Gary, Leonard Jackson, Jake Kehoe, Henry Kingi, and many others co-star in this comedy. This is likely most known for the song by Rose Royce that is the title song. This is a guilty pleasure more than anything. The dvd cover usually has Pryor and Carlin though their roles were more cameo roles. It was also a pretty fun cast among the car wash employees and worth a look.
Brute Force (1947): Jules Dassin directed this prison film. Burt Lancaster stars as Joe Collins who is a prisoner who looks to revolt against the power-mad guard Captain Munsey, played by Hume Cronyn. This also gives a backstory to other prisoners that Joe is trying to get to help him. Charles Bickford, Yvonne De Carlo, Ann Blyth, Ella Raines, Anita Colby, Sam Levene, Jeff Corey, John Hoyt, Jack Overman, Roman Bohnen, Sir Lancelot, Vince Barnett, Jay C. Flippen, Richard Gaines, Frank Puglia, James Bell, and many others co-star in this prison movie. This is actually my favorite of the prison movies from this era. Lancaster and Cronyn go against each other very well. It has a very violent climax for a movie from this era. This is available to watch on HBO Max and the Criterion Channel.
Captain Marvel (2019): This is part one of my Jude Law trilogy Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck directed this origin story superhero film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Brie Larson takes the helm as Carol Danvers who we better know as Captain Marvel. When escaping to Earth when under attack by the Skrulls, she starts to to see her mentor Yon-Rogg, played by Law, is not the person she thought he was. She meets Nick Fury, reprised by Samuel L. Jackson, and teams up with him to unravel the truth. This was also a bit of an origin story for Nick Fury as well and shows how he became the man we have come to know in the MCU. Ben Mendelsohn, Djimou Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Clark Gregg, Rune Temte, Algenis Perez Soto, McKenna Grace, Akira Akbar, Matthew Maher, Chuku Modu, Vik Sahay, Colin Ford, and many others co-star in this superhero film. Unfortunately, Stan Lee died during the editing of this movie. I thought this was a pretty good origin story to prepare us for this character for when AVENGERS: ENDGAME comes out.
Well, that is it for this week but continue on for my new segment "Tube Time" where I feature a television series, "Holiday Corner" where I talk about a couple of new selections I really liked, and the return of Movie Time in the Town of Pottersville. Now that I am doing every two weeks, I will try to have additional segments like these. Stay tuned for my next one in two weeks.
TUBE TIME
Agent Carter (2015-2016): I am doing a slow-moving binge of the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the timeline and just recently finished this series that is in the early part of the binge. Hayley Atwell reprises her role as the tough as nails Agent Peggy Carter who is trying to move forward after losing Captain America. She is working for an agency and is treated more like a secretary in the beginning. In the first season Howard Stark, reprised by Dominic Cooper, is accused of treason and turns to Peggy to help clear him. Agent Carter and Howard's trusted butler Edwin Jarvis, played by James D'Arcy set out to clear the name of Howard Stark. Enver Gjokaj, Chad Michael Murray, Wynn Everett, Reggie Austin, Bridget Regan, Lesley Boone, Shea Whigham, Lyndsy Fonseca, Currie Graham, Lotte Verbeek, Kurtwood Smith, Matt Braunger, Ken Marino, Rey Valentin, Alexander Carroll, and many others co-star in this series. This series lasted for two seasons and has a total of 18 episodes. This was a well written espionage series and Atwell is great as Carter being just as tough as those heroes that have powers. It also has good attention to detail during the WWII era. I was not aware until the time I started writing this that Edwin Jarvis inspired Tony Stark's AI program J.A.R.V.I.S. Unfortunately, this show was cancelled by ABC where I understand they cancelled it wanting Atwell to star in something more mainstream in hopes of getting better ratings which I don't think anything ever really happened except getting axed after season two when there were still things left unaddressed in the series. The series is now available on Disney Plus and for those that want to do a timely binge of the MCU, this is a great website in https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a825774/marvel-cinematic-universe-in-chronological-order/ which keeps updated as soon as something new comes out on the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
HOLIDAY CORNER
A Christmas Story Christmas (2022): There was no way I could not write anything on this new holiday movie. We all know the 1983 classic A CHRISTMAS STORY which gets played for 24 hours on TNT and TBS on Christmas Eve at some point all through Christmas Day. Many years after seeing Ralphie get his Red Ryder BB Gun, Peter Billingsley reprises his role as Ralphie Parker and is now married to Sandy, played by Erinn Hayes, and has two kids in Mark, played by River Drosche, and Julie, played by Julianna Layne. Ralph is now living in Chicago and struggles to get his book published. He also learns of his father's death and returns to his home in Indiana on Cleveland Street. While there, he tries and struggles to make a good Christmas for his kids just like his own father did. Billingsley does narration in the same tone as adult Ralphie in the 1983 movie and has not lost his imagination. Returning actors besides Billingsley are Scott Schwartz as Flick, R.D. Robb as Schwartz, Zach Ward as Scut Farkus, Ian Patrella as Randy Parker, and Yano Anaya as Grover Dill. Julie Hagerty, Ian Porter, Sam Parks, Davis Murphy, Zack Ward, Benjamin Noble, Derek Morse, Henry Miller, and many others co-star in this holiday movie. I can't tell you how much I really enjoyed this new holiday movie and what a really good follow-up that Billingsley got to be in. There were also a lot of laughs when I was watching. This does a great job paying tribute to the original while being its own movie. This is available to watch on HBO Max.
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022): This was more of a tv special which was directed by James Gunn. The Guardians are looking to get Peter Quill, reprised by Chris Pratt, the perfect gift by going to Earth in hopes of getting him the perfect gift. WWE Hall of Famer Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, Luke Klein, and many others co-star in this holiday special. This was pretty short and just gets to the point. There are no enemies to fight and is a lot of fun. With this still being somewhat fresh, I won't get into too many details. This is available to watch on Disney Plus and is perfect for the holidays if still in the holiday spirit.
MOVIE TIME IN THE TOWN OF POTTERSVILLE
Witching and Bitching (2013): Alex de la Iglesia directed this Spanish horror comedy. Hugo Silva stars as Jose who leads a robbery of a gold exchange pawn shop and even brings his song along letting him participate so he likely won't be getting father of the year anytime soon. They are now on the run and take refuge in a village that turns out to be a coven of cannibalistic witches. Mario Casas, Pepon Nieto, Carolina Bang, Terele Pavez, Jaime Ordonez, Santiago Segura, Macarena Gomez, Javier Botet, Enrique Villen, Carlos Areces, Maria Barranco, Carmen Maura, Alexandra Jimenez, and many others co-star in this horror comedy. This is full of laughs and violence. I truly believe the heist scene ranks up high in the most clever heist scenes of all time. This is a rather underrated comedy and is available to watch on AMC+ and IFC Films Unlimited.
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