Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 895th Edition

Welcome to the 895th Edition of my series.  I have been busy with rehearsals for the play RADIUM GIRLS at the Anderson Mainstage Theater.  It is coming along very well and I have information at the bottom of the installment.  I don't have much else to say so I will get on with my selections for the week.

Godless (2017):  I start the week with this western mini-series which was written and directed by Scott Frank.  Jack O'Connell stars as Roy Goode who leaves his murderous gang and ends up in the town of La Belle which is mostly run by women.  He resides in the house run by the tough and widowed Alice Fletcher, played by Michelle Dockery, and helps on the farm.  He also awaits the murderous gang leader Frank Griffin, played by Jeff Daniels, who is out for revenge and does not care who he hurts along the way.  Scoot McNairy, Merritt Wever, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Tantoo Cardinal, Adam David Thompson, Samantha Soule, Kayli Carter, Audrey Moore, Keith Jardine, Rio Alexander, Justin Welborn, Samuel Marty, Luke Robertson, Tess Frazer, Joe Pingue, Sam Waterston, and many others co-star in this mini-series.  This is a seven episode series that are usually about an hour long.  This is a really good story of a town mostly run by women and a final showdown at the end.  This is available to watch on Netflix.

How to Swim (1942):  This is my animated Disney short for the week which features Goofy, voiced by Pinto Colvig, in his series of How To series.  Goofy haplessly teaches us how to swim in a humorous way.  He teaches us things like diving, tubing, and many other things.  The narration by John McLeish is also very sharp and goes along well with the humor from Goofy.  These are a series of animated sporting shorts that feature our favorite dog.  This is available to watch on Disney Plus.

Dr. Jack (1922):  This is part three of my Harold Lloyd trilogy which was directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor.  Lloyd stars as Dr. Jack Johnson who is a neighborhood doctor and is called in to treat the Sick-Little-Well-Girl, played by Mildred Davis.  In the process, he has a hard time getting to his main place he is going and continues to get interrupted by more petty requests.  John T. Prince and Eric Mayne co-star in this silent comedy.  Lloyd is great as the well-meaning doctor and the comedy still holds up pretty well.  This is available to watch on HBO Max and the Criterion Channel.

Kansas City (1996):  This is part two of my Harry Belafonte trilogy who recently left us.  Robert Altman directed and co-wrote this film which was like a throwback to the old Film Noirs.  This takes place in '30s Kansas City which stars Jennifer Jason Leigh as Blondie O'Hara whose petty thief husband Johnny, played by Dermot Mulroney, is captured by local mobster Seldom Seen, played by Belafonte.  Blondie tries to turn the tables to kidnapping Carolyn Stilton, played by Miranda Richardson, who is the wife of a powerful politician.  Michael Murphy, Steve Buscemi, Brooke Smith, Jane Adams, and many others co-star in this film. This also centers around a jazz bar and has a really good jazz soundtrack.  

One Million Years B.C. (1966):  Don Chaffey directed this prehistoric film that shows that dinosaurs and humans did exist at the same time.  John Richardson stars as caveman Tumak who is banished from his tribe.  He meets Loana, played by Raquel Welch, who is part of a gentler tribe and they form a relationship.  Percy Herbert, Robert Brown, Martine Beswick, and many others co-star in this prehistoric film.  One highlight was the special effects from Ray Harryhausen who brought the dinosaurs and other creatures to life.  Let's face, I think most watch this on account of Raquel Welch and she does not disappoint.  It is still a pretty decent prehistoric fantasy that deserves a look.  

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021):  This has nothing to do with the popular game show.  This is my Japanese film for the week which was written and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi.  This is an anthology film that takes a look at three love triangle stories.  One of them looks at an unexpected love triangle, another looks at a failed seduction trap, and the last looks at a misunderstanding.  Hyruni, Aoba Kawai, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a good look at love among the Japanese culture.  It is hard to go into much detail without giving things away.  If it helps, Barack Obama named this as his favorite movie of 2022.  This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.

The Verdict (1946):  Don Siegel directed this British murder mystery in his directorial debut.  Sydney Greenstreet stars as Superintendent George Edward Grodman who learns that an innocent man that he arrested got executed for murder.  He gets replaced by John Buckley, played by George Coulouris, after being disgraced.  Peter Lorre co-stars as Grodman's friend Victor who helps him investigate what happened.  Joan Lorring, Rosaling Ivan, Paul Cavanaugh, Arthur Shields, Morton Lowry, Holmes Herbert, Clyde Cook, and many others co-star in this film.  This has nothing to do with the later film of the same title that stars Paul Newman.  This is a pretty nice Victorian who-dun-it with a good performance out of Greenstreet in more of a starring role.  Lorre is also great as always making this worth a look.

World's Greatest Dad (2009):  Bobcat Goldthwait wrote and directed this comedy drama.  Robin Williams stars as high school teacher Lance Clayton whose son Kyle, played by Daryl Sabara, dies in a humiliating accident.  His son was quite the jerk but Lance writes a suicide note making him very popular among the school after his death.  Morgan Murphy, Geoff Pierson, Henry Simmons, Zach Sanchez-Vitale, Alexie Gilmore, Evan Martin, Ellyn Jameson, Ray Buckley, Jermaine Williams, Lorraine Nicholson, Mitzi McCall, Bobcat Goldthwait, and many others co-star in this film.  I watched this when I was visiting my own dad as I thought this would be fitting.  He had not even heard of this movie and has gone onto become some very underrated work by Robin Williams.  Some might not like Goldthwait as a comedian but he did a great job with this movie in his writing and directing.  This has a really good soundtrack from Bruce Hornsby.  My dad also ended up really liking this movie.  This is available to watch on Hoopla Digital, Peacock, Crackle, Magnolia Selects, Plex, Pluto TV, Tubi, and the Roku Channel.

Gay Purr-ee (1962):  Abe Levitow directed this animated feature from Warner Brothers.  Judy Garland voices the role of country cat Mewsette but wants the Paris lifestyle.  She ends up there but falls into the clutches of Meowrice, voiced by Paul Frees.  Robert Goulet co-stars as the charming Jaune-Tom who has a lot of affection for Mewsette and sets out to find her with the help of his friend Robespierre, voiced by Red Buttons.  Hermione Gingold, Mel Blanc, Morey Amsterdam, Julie Bennett, and many others provide their voices in this animated movie.  The music in this movie was written by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg which was their last full length score.  This is also much later in Garland's career.  This is also Goulet's film debut.  This is a pretty fun animated movie with some enjoyable music numbers.  This is worth a look at least to see Garland in an animated movie which as far as I know is her only one.

Spun (2002):  I end the week with this drug movie which was direced by Jonas Akerlund.  Jason Schwartzman stars as Ross who goes on a three day drug odyssey which buying some drugs from Spider Mike, played by John Leguizamo.  Patrick Fugit, Brittany Murphy, Mickey Rourke, Mena Suvari, Elisa Bocanegra, China Chow, Nicholas Gonzalez, Debbie Harry, Josh Peck, Charlotte Ayanna, Eric Roberts, Larry Drake, Rob Halford, Peter Stormare, Peter Stormare, Alexis Arquette, Billy Corgan, Ron Jeremy, and many others co-star in this film.  I suppose one could call this a pre-BREAKING BAD with Rourke playing "the Cook".  Corgan has a cameo and contributes a lot to the soundtrack and music score.  There is a lot of comedy to this movie and also is meant to show the effects of Meth and hard to really describe beyond what I already did.  This does have quite a cast, even the lead singers of Judas Priest, Blondie, and Smashing Pumpkins.  There is also a lot of wrestling footage from Insane Clown Posse's Juggalo Championship Wrestling.  This is available to watch on Prime, Plex, Pluto tv, Freevee, Tubi, and the Roku Channel.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for two weeks for the next edition.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 894th Edition

Welcome to the 894th edition of my series.  I hope everyone is hanging in there in this crazy world.  I have one more performance for Orphan Train today and then I move onto Anderson in the play RADIUM GIRLS.  I will have more information on that in the coming weeks.  I will go ahead and get to this week's selections.

What If (2013):  This is part four of my four-part Zoe Kazan series.  Michael Dowse directed this romantic comedy which is based on a play called TOOTHPASTE AND CIGARS by T.J. Dawe.  Daniel Radcliffe stars as Wallace who has had a string a bad relationships and puts his love on hold.  He forms an instant bond with Chantry, played by Kazan, but she is taken and but they have a hard time just staying friends.  Adam Driver co-stars as Wallace's long-time roommate Allan who is well-meaning but might not have the best advice.  Megan Park, Mackenzie Davis, Rafe Spall, Lucius Hoyos, Jemima Rooper, Tommie-Amber Pirie, Meghan Heffern, Jonathan Cherry, Rebecca Northan, Jordan Hayes, Oona Chaplin, Adam Fergus, and many others co-star in this film.  Radcliffe and Kazan are great together in this story of questioning love and who is right.  There are also a lot of really funny moments in the film including Driver's performance.  A date night I think anyone can enjoy.

Licorice Pizza (2021):  This is part three of my Bradley Cooper trilogy where he plays producer Jon Peters.  Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed this slice of life that takes place in '70s San Fernando Valley.  Cooper Huffman and Alana Haim star as the 15 year old Gary Valentine and the 25 year old Alana Kane as they meet.  This takes a look at the ups and downs of their relationship as they try to make it in the world of acting.  Sean Penn, Tom Waits, James Kelley, Sasha Spielberg, Este Haim, Danielle Haim, John Michael Higgins, Yumi Mizui, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Emma Dumont, Emma Dumont, Skyler Gisondo, Christine Ebersole, Maya Rudolph, Erica Sullivan, Iyana Halley, George DiCaprio, Emily Althaus, Brian Kehew, John C. Reilly, Benny Safdie, Joseph Cross, and many others co-star in this film.  This is more of a character driven film and hard to really provide a good explanation.  It is a bit of a combination of slice of life and slice of Hollywood.  This is available to watch on Prime.  This might be a good double feature to go along with ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD.

Flash Gordon (1980):  This is part three of my Topol trilogy.  Mike Hodges directed this updated sci-fi film based on a comic strip character created by Alex Raymond.  Sam J. Jones stars as the football player Flash Gordon who along with travel agent Dale Arden, played by Melody Anderson and scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov, played to Topol, land on the planet Mongo which is being ruled by the evil Ming the Merciless, played by Max Von Sydow.  Along with the help of Prince Baron, played by Timothy Dalton, they set out to stop Ming from destroying Earth.  Ornella Muti, Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde, Mariangela Melato, Richard O'Brien, John Hallam, Philip Stone, William Hootkins, and many others co-star in this film.  This is quite the cult classic but unfortunately, this never became any sort of franchise.  We can sort of credit this for STAR WARS as George Lucas was trying to get the rights but could not get them.  It has some pretty cool special effects for the time but I think the most memorable part is the theme song by Queen.  Flash, ah ah, savior of the universe.

Over the Fence (1917):  This is my short film for the week and part two of my Harold Lloyd trilogy.  Lloyd plays Ginger who is taking his girlfriend, played by Bebe Daniels, to the baseball game.  Snub Pollard co-stars as Snitch who steals the tickets and takes the girl prompting Ginger to find a way to enter the game.  This is the first short where Lloyd plays his iconic underdog character that always has the horn-rimmed glasses.  He would go onto do a lot better but this was a great start and is an entertaining five minutes.  This is 

In Cold Blood (1967):  This is part three of my Robert Blake trilogy which was directed by Richard Brooks and based on the novel by Truman Capote.  Scott Wilson and Robert Blake star as Dick and Perry who are ex-cons doing a home robbery which results in a brutal murder.  John Forsythe co-stars as Detective Alvin Dewey who leads the search for the murder suspects.  Paul Stewart, Gerald O'Loughlin, Jeff Corey, John Gallaudet, James Flavin, Charles McGraw, Will Geer, John McLiam, and many others co-star in this docudrama.  This is based on a true story and I suppose is a pioneer in the true crime genre that has become very popular through the years.  Capote went to the small town to interview the murderers as well as other townspeople to write his book.  This is a really good adaptation that has a very authentic feel.  This could have a follow-up with the 2005 biopic CAPOTE and maybe even the 2006 film INFAMOUS.

Phantom Lady (1944):  Robert Siodmark directed this film noir.  Ella Raines stars as Carol Richman who looks to prove her employer Scott, played by Alan Curtis, is innocent in the murder of his selfish wife.  The trouble is that Scott loses hope as no one can prove his alibi but Carol does not give up.  Franchot Tone, Aurora Miranda, Thomsa Gomez, Fay Helm, Elisha Cook Jr., and many others co-star in this film noir.  This is an underrated entry into the Film Noir genre.  Raines is not really as remembered as others in this era but puts on a great performance.  Great murder mystery that deserves a look.

Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair (2022):  This is my documentary for the week which was directed by Ben Houser and is obviously about the legendary wrestler Ric Flair.  This covers a lot of ground from his beginnings and up until now from lots of ups and lots of downs.  This has interviews with Mike Tyson, Shawn Michaels, Post Malone, Lex Lugar, Eric Bischoff, Bruce Prichard, Hulk Hogan, Triple H, Charlotte Flair, and many others.  This was a very insightful documentary on the one and only where we get to take quite the journey with the larger than life Nature Boy.  Also don't forget to check out his podcast TO BE THE MAN that he co-hosts with his son-in-law Conrad Thompson.  This is available to watch on Peacock.

Bright Road (1953):  This is part one of a Harry Belafonte trilogy and recently left us.  Gerald Mayer directed this movie which is based on a story called SEE HOW THEY RUN by Mary Elizabeth Vroman in the Ladies Home Journal.  Dorothy Dandridge stars as the new 4th grade teacher Jane Richards and takes interest in the troubled C.T. Young, played by Philip Hepburn.  C.T. is someone that does not seem to have any interest in school leading Jane to try to understand him more.  Belafonte makes his debut in this film as the principal of the school.  Barbara Randolph, Robert Horton, Maidie Norman, and many others co-star in this low-budget film.  This has a good early message about troubled youth and is a moving story.  Belafonte and Dandridge would go onto star in their much bigger film CARMEN JONES but this was a good start.

Father Goose (1964):  This is part three of my Cary Grant trilogy.  Ralph Nelson directed this romantic comedy that takes place during WWII.  Grant stars as Walter Eckland who is persuaded to spy on planes passing over his island.  He gets more than he bargained for when schoolteacher Catherine Frenau arrives on the island on the run from the Japanese along with a handful of female students.  Walter reluctantly agrees to help while slowly forming a relationship with Catherine.  Trevor Howard, Jack Good, Pip Sparkes, Verina Greenlaw, and many others co-star in this WWII era film.  This is a much later film for Grant and has said this is his favorite saying the role was like his real personality.  While there are some rather dark scenes being that it takes place during WWII, it was also very fun to watch with Grant on the top of his game.  This is available to watch on Pluto TV.  

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017):  I end the week with this psychological horror film which was directed and co-wrote by Yorgos Lanthimos.  Colin Farrell stars as surgeon Steven Murphy who takes in the 16 year old Martin, played by Barry Keoghan.  Things seem fine at first but Martin's behavior becomes more sinister leading Steven to have to make a touch choice.  Nicole Kidman, Bill Camp, Raffey Cassidy, Barry G. Bernson, Denise Dal Vera, Sunny Suljic, Alicia Silverstone, and many others co-star in this psychological film.  This is as weird as it gets.  It is hard to really explain beyond what I already have without giving it away.  Nonetheless, it should be a very interesting watch if into this type of thing and it is from A24 productions so where can you go wrong there?  This is available to watch on Showtime and Hoopla Digital.  

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Jeff Daniels, Harold Lloyd, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Raquel Welch, and many others.