Welcome to the 927 edition of my series. I hope everyone has a good holiday on Thursday however celebrated. I am going to be in the 4th of July parade in Rushville to promote 12 ANGRY JURORS which starts at 11 am. On July 27th, I am going to be in the New Castle Renaissance Fair in New Castle from 10 am- 4 pm. I will be doing a couple 15 minute performances of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM as part of the Marvelously Terrible Shakespeare Company as Lysander. From August 16-18 in Rushville, I will be performing as Juror #3 for the Rushville Regional Theater group and I have a photo at the bottom for that information. I will shut up now and get to my selections for the week.
Hello Again (1987): I start the week with this comedy which was directed by Frank Perry. CHEERS alum Shelley Long stars as suburban housewife Lucy Chadman who ends up choking to death. Her sister Zelda, played by Judith Ivey, finds a book of spells and learns how she can bring back her sister. Lucy returns to the world after a year only to find her husband Jason, played by Corbin Bernson, with her friend Kim, played by Sela Ward. Gabriel Byrne, Austin Pendleton, Madeleine Potter, John Cunningham, Tony Sirico, Elkan Abramowitz, Kaiulani Lee, Illeana Douglas and many others co-star in this comedy. This was a pretty fun fantasy comedy with Long doing well in the lead role with Ivey in the standout role as her wacky sister. This could be a good date movie on a rainy day or even on Halloween with the theme and all.
Dog Days (2018): This is part two of my Jasmine Cephas Jones trilogy where she co-stars as singer Lola. Ken Marino directed this ensemble comedy that has a lot of dogs. This movie has multiple stories that involve dogs and the lives of their owners. Lots of dogs in the Los Angeles area finding ways to bring each other together. Nina Dobrev, Vanessa Hudgens, Adam Pally, Eva Longoria, Rob Corddry, Tone Bell, Jon Bass, Michael Cassidy, Finn Wolfhard, Ron Cephas Jones, Thomas Lennon, Tig Notaro, Lauren Lapkus, Jessica St. Clair, Ryan Hansen, Tony Cavalero, Jessica Lowe, Mo Gaffney, and many others co-star in this movie. This movie is as feel good as it gets and is very predictable so if looking for some suspenseful mystery, this is not the one. However, there are a lot of dogs and sometimes we just need some feel-good predictability. This is available to watch on the CW app.
Dear Evan Hanson (2021): Stephen Chbosky directed this movie adaptation of the popular Broadway musical written by Steven Levenson and the music is written by Justin Paul and Benj Pasek. Ben Platt stars as the socially awkward high school senior Evan Hansen whose psychiatrist advises him to write a letter to himself. This leads to a misunderstanding when he accidentally has one printed out in school where a fellow student gets it and commits suicide shortly after this happens. When this happens, Evan gains the popularity that he never had making it hard for him to be honest with the person's family. Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Adams, Danny Pino, Amandla Stenberg, Colton Ryan, Nik Dodani, DeMarius Copes, Liz Kate, Zoey Luna, Isaac Powell, Marvin Leon, Hadiya Eshe, Julia Chen Myers, Gerald Caesar, Avery Bederman, Swift Rice, and many others co-star in this musical. I have heard a lot about this and heard a little bit of the music but I have not seen it on stage so I only have this to go on. I found this to be a pretty moving film on someone trying to find himself I guess you could say. I feel a good double feature to go along with this movie would be WORLD'S GREATEST DAD which I feel has a similar situation. This is available to watch on Freevee.
Bowery Bugs (1949): This is my animated short for the week which was directed by Arthur Davis. This one features Bugs Bunny, voiced by Mel Blanc, who recounts the story of a man named Steve Brodie, voiced by Billy Bletcher, and how drove him to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge and survive. We then see flashbacks of the compulsive gambler Brodie who wants a good luck rabbit's foot off Bugs but gets far more than he bargained for. This has some pretty funny gags that are different than usual. Bletcher is also known to have voiced characters like Mickey Mouse's nemesis Pete and Popeye's rival Bluto. This is actually based on a real person of that name. This is available to watch on Max.
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976): John Carpenter wrote and directed this low-budget action film which was quite early in his career. Austin Stoker stars as L.A. copy Ethan Bishop who is assigned to man a mostly defunct precinct. The precinct is attacked by a ruthless gang and must rely on two inmates in transit and a station secretary to use their wits against the gang that outnumbers them to the extreme. Darwin Joston costars as death row inmate Napoleon Wilson who helps to fight of the gang. Laurie Zimmer, Martin West, Tony Burton, Charles Cyphers, Nancy Kyes, and many others co-star in this action film. This has always been a favorite of mine. The low-budget and the simple but effective music score written by Carpenter make this work along with the relatively unknown cast. I believe Napoleon Wilson is one of the biggest heroes in cinematic history. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel, Peacock, Prime, Tubi, Crackle, Freevee and other streaming platforms.
Lilith (1964): This is part two of my Jean Seberg trilogy. Robert Rossen directed this film which is based on the novel by J.R. Salamanca. Warren Beatty stars as Vincent Bruce who is a returning war veteran and finds work in a mental institution as an occupational therapist. Seberg co-stars as the title character who is a patient in the facility and Vincent becomes very drawn to her. Things begin to intensify and become dangerous as time goes on. Peter Fonda, Kim Hunter, Anne Meacham, Jessica Walter, Gene Hackman, James Patterson, Robert Reilly, and many others co-star in this film. This is some underrated work from Beatty and works very well with Seberg. It is hard to really describe this movie any further than what I did but it kept my interest all the way through. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
The Fall Guy (2024): David Leitch directed this movie adaptation of the '80s TV series of the same name. Ryan Gosling stars as Hollywood stuntman Colt Seavers who has everything going for him but a stunt gone wrong nearly ends him. He reluctantly returns after a year or so when asked back and learning that his ex-girlfriend Jody, played by Emily Blunt, is directing the movie. Soon, he is charged with finding a missing movie star and gets caught up in a conspiracy in the process. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, Winston Duke, Ben Knight, Matuse, Adam Dunn, Zara Michales, and many others co-star in this action film. There are some cameos that I will keep as a surprise This was a lot of fun and I remember seeing some of the series and enjoying it. This pays a good homage to the unsung heroes in stuntmen.
Dinner at Eight (1933): George Cukor directed this film which is based on the play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. Lionel Barrymore and Billie Burke star as affluent couple Oliver and Millicent Jordan who throw a dinner for a handful of wealthy acquaintances. This shows much of the other invitees preparing for the evening and dealing with their own revelations. Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Edmund Lowe, Madge Evans, Jean Hersholt, Karen Morley, Louise Closser Hale, Phillips Holmes, May Robson, Grant Mitchell, Phoebe Foster, Elizabeth Patterson, Hilda Vaughn, and many others co-star in this film. This had quite the all-star cast, especially at the time when it was made. This is more of a character driven movie with both comedy and drama and a bit hard to futher explain. I was able to watch this at my local library which is part of a film series they are doing so I got to see it on a rather big screen which was nice. This is available to watch on Tubi and is a must for classic movie buffs.
Journey to Italy (1954): Roberto Rossellini directed directed and co-wrote this Italian film. Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders co-star as British married couple Katherine and Alex Joyce who do not have the happiest marriage of all time. They try to find direction and insight while they vacation in Naples having inherited a villa from Alex's uncle. Anna Proclemer, Paul Muller, Natalia Ray, and many others co-star in this film. This is a good look at a couple trying to reconnect with one another. This also has some beautiful Italian scenery with a really good conclusion. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002): This is part one of a possible Kenneth Branagh trilogy. Phillip Noyce directed this film that is based on the book by Doris Pilkington. This takes place in 1931 Western Australia where a law is made for half-white and half Aboriginal children are to essentially become more westernized. Three of these children in Molly, Daisy, and Gracie, played by Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, and Laura Monaghan, who are two sisters and a cousin and are taken from their home and taken to a school a thousand miles away to pretty much learn to be servants. Branagh plays A.O. Neville who is the official in charge training. The three children escape from the school and set out get back to their home. David Gulpilil, Ningali Lawford, Deborah Mailman, Jason Clarke, Garry McDonald, Roy Billing, and many other co-star in this film. This is a very moving film that is based on a true story. The author of the book is the daughter of Molly who is featured in this film. Also, anyone who knows me well enough knows I am a huge Peter Gabriel fan and he wrote the music score for this film. I wish he had done more in the way of film as this was a great score. This is a really well-done flim on a very significant and maybe overlooked part of history that deserves a watch.
Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for my next edition in two weeks which includes Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Joan Crawford, Jena Malone, and many others.
No comments:
Post a Comment