Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 945th Edition

Welcome to the 945th Edition of my series.  I'll just start by saying I hope everyone is doing what they can to get through these times.  I'm still here to give some recommendations.  We are close to the Super Bowl, so mostly what I want is the Chiefs to be prevented from a three-peat.  I will just shut up and get to my selections for the week.

Queen of Earth (2015):  Alex Ross Perry wrote and directed this psychological drama.  Elizabeth Moss and Katherine Waterston are longtime friends Catherine and Virginia, who retreat to a lake house only to find they have drifted apart.  Patrick Fugit co-stars as Rich who is a friend of Virginia and seems rather toxic.  Kentucky Audley, Keith Poulson, Kate Lyn Sheil, and many others co-star in this film.  This is really hard to explain as it leaves a lot open to the viewer to decide in my opinion.  Moss and Waterston put on good performances where role reversal seems to happen a lot.  Again, it is a psychological film so that is the best explanation I have.  This is available to watch on AMC +, the Roku Channel, Pluto TV, IFC Films Unlimited, and MUBI.

The Great Gatsby (2013):  This is part one of a possible five-part Joel Edgerton series.  Baz Luhrmann directed this film based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  Tobey Maguire stars as writer and Wall Street trader Nick Carraway and is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, the mysterious Jay Gatsby, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, during the Jazz Age.  Edgerton co-stars as Tom Buchanan who has a hatred of Gatsby.  Carey Mulligan, Amitabh Bachchan, Steve Bisley, Richard Carter, Jason Clarke, Adalaide Clemens, Vince Colosimo, Max Cullen, Elizabeth Debicki, Isla Fisher, and many others co-star in this Fitzgerald adaptation.  Luhrmann does this film the Baz Luhrmann way which partly is making music that does not fit the time period somehow work.  It is also a very colorful film to say the least and has a lot of authenticity to the time period.  This also gets very deep and intense as time goes on in this movie.  

A Perfect World (1993):  Clint Eastwood directed this film which was written by John Lee Hancock.  Kevin Costner stars as prison escapee Butch Haynes who in a botched crime, kidnaps a boy named Phillip, played by T.J. Lowther.  Phillip soon takes a liking to his kidnapper and Butch becomes a father figure to him while they are being pursued.  Eastwood co-stars as Texas Ranger Red Garnett and teams with criminologist Sally Gerber, played by Laura Dern, to track down Butch.  Keith Szarabajka, Leo Burmester, Paul Hewitt, Bradley Whitford, Ray McKinnon, Jennifer Griffin, Daryl Cox, Bruce McGill, and many others co-star in this film.  Costner puts on a very good performance in this film and is rather underrated.  This was strangely moving with the performances on Costner and Lowther in his debut.  

Stairway to Light (1945):  This is my short film for the week which is part of "John Nesbitt's Passing Parade" series.  John Nesbitt narrates this historical short which takes a look at 18th century French physician Dr. Phillipe Pinel, played by Wolfgang Zilzer.  Pinel became the head of an asylum during the French Revolution and was dismayed to see the treatment of the mentally ill.  He looked for more humane ways to treat and possibly cure them.  This was an interesting look at the mentally ill from the time period.

The Blockhouse (1973):  This is part four of my four-part Peter Sellers series.  Clive Rees directed this film which is based on the novel by Jean-Paul Clebert.  This takes place on D-Day where a group of forced laborers held by German forces take shelter in a German bunker only to be trapped for many years.  Peter Sellers, Charles Aznavour, Jeremy Kemp, Per Oscarsson, Nicholas Jones, and Leon Lissek star in this film.  This is a pretty dark film on trying to survive and not easy to watch.  It was good seeing Sellers in a more dramatic role which is what got my interest.  This is available to watch on Hoopla, Tubi, and Fawesome.

The Razor's Edge (1946):  Edmund Goulding directed this film which is based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham.  Tyrone Power stars as Larry Darrell who prefers a life of adventure to a big career.  This turns off his fiancée Isabel, played by Gene Tierney, and the engagement is off.  About a decade later, Isabel is married but a reunion with Larry, she still has feelings and tries to sabotage his own relationship with the troubled Sophie, played by Anne Baxter.  John Payne, Clifton Webb, Herbert Marshall, Lucile Watson, Frank Latimore, Elsa Lanchester, Fritz Kortner, and many others co-star in this film.  I am sorry to those who might have thought I was featuring a biopic on wrestling legend Scott Hall.  Instead, you get a rather complex and complicated love drama.  Power had been away with WWII, and this was his first movie upon his return to Hollywood.  This is a good story on love and betrayal through the years that holds up pretty well.

The Last Showgirl (2024):  Gia Coppola directed this film which is written by Kate Gersten.  Pamela Anderson stars as middle-aged showgirl Shelly who has spent most of her life in this world only to learn that her show is closing after a 30-year run.  She faces an existential crisis when being faced with the reality that her best days are behind her and must reflect on the ups and downs in her life.  Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka, WWE Hall of Famer Dave Bautista, Jamie Lee Curtis, Billie Lourd, Linda Montana, Jason Schwartzman, and many others co-star in this film.  Pamela Anderson finally gets a very meaningful role and makes the most of it.  I will not lie, when I was watching the Golden Globes and she was nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama, I was rooting for her as I have kind of grown up with her with BAYWATCH and all.  She may not have won but that was okay as this led me to check this out at the movie theater.  Jamie Lee Curtis was also really good as Shelly's best friend Annette and was a different sort of role for her as well in my opinion.  When watching this, it reminded me some of the movie THE WRESTLER in which the main character has trouble adjusting when the only thing they have known is coming to an end.  That could be a good double feature sometime.  I was glad to give the theater my money to support this film, and I feel others should as well.

Blackmail (1929):  This was introduced as part of the new monthly series the Public Domain Theatre by Dennis the Library Menace.  Alfred Hitchcock directed this British thriller which is based on the play of the same name by Charles Bennett.  Anny Ondry stars as Alice White who has killed a man in self-defense but has no way to prove it so she tries to cover it up.  Her own boyfriend Frank Webber, played by John Longden, is assigned the case and gets blackmailed by someone named Tracy, played by Donald Calthrop, who claims to have seen the killing.  Sara Allgood, Charles Paton, Cyril Ritchard, Hannah Jones, and many others co-star in this film.  This was originally shot as a silent film but with the rise of talkies, the studio wanted some scenes reshot with sound.  The first few minutes appear to be a silent film and then they finally start talking so this is Hitchcock's first talkie and the first British talkie.  This also has the first record of "dubbing".  Anny Ondry had a Czech accent that was hard to understand so Hitch had actress Joan Barry speak the lines as Ondry mouthed them.  This is a pretty decent suspense film that has entered the public domain this year having become the public domain age of 95 years old.  This is available to watch on Prime, Tubi, Plex, the Roku Channel, and on Youtube which was how it was presented at the event.

Love and Death (1975):  Woody Allen wrote and directed this satire of Russian literature.  Allen also stars as neurotic Russian soldier Boris who is forced into war but is afraid to go to war.  His distant cousin Sonya, played by Diane Keaton, advises Boris to help her in a plan to assassinate Napoleon which goes comedically wrong.  Edmond Ardisson, Feodor Atkine, Yves Barsacq, Lloyd Battista, Olga Georges-Picot, Harold Gould, Jessica Harper, Tony Jay, Tutte Lemkow, Anne Lonnberg, James Tolkan, and many others co-star in this film.  This has the usual sort of Woody Allen humor that centers around czar Russia.  This also has some good parody moments among Russian literature and foreign films.  This is hard to explain beyond what I have but it is available to watch on Pluto TV.

The Straight Story (1999):  This is my homage to David Lynch who recently left us.  Lynch directed this film which is based on a true story.  Richard Farnsworth stars as Alvin Straight who is a very stubborn 73-year-old man.  He learns that his brother estranged brother Lyle is in bad health and decides he needs to visit and make peace before they die.  The trip will be very long, and he no longer holds a license to drive.  He sets out to go from Laurens, Iowa to his brother's town of Mount Zion, Wisconsin on a riding lawnmower with a trailer compartment behind it.  Along the way, he meets some new people, and some help him to continue his trip.  Sissy Spacek, Dan Flannery, Everett McGill, Bill McCallum, Barbara E. Robertson, Barbara Kingsley, Wiley Harker, Kevin P. Farley, John Farley, Harry Dean Stanton, and many others co-star in this film.  Usually, Lynch is known for his rather weird and bizarre films and takes a different turn in this one with Disney produced film.  This is Farnsworth's last movie as he was terminally ill during filming but could not pass up this opportunity to portray a man he admired.  This is a very moving story and takes the road trip film to a whole new level.  This is available to watch on Disney Plus.

Well, that is it for this week, but I did bring back my segment "Fun and "Useless Facts" so read on that one.  Tell me what you like and dislike and in two weeks I will return in February in an edition that centers around Black History Month which so far includes Sidney Poitier, Jeffrey Wright, Cynthia Erivo, Terrence Howard, Will Smith, and many others.

FUN AND USELESS FACTS

I brought back this segment for the week where I focus on the inter-connections of the ten selections.  I also limit it to 25 facts, so I am sure there plenty I have missed and feel free to comment.

Patrick Fugit (Queen of Earth) and Jason Schwartzman (The Last Showgirl) were in the 2002 comedy SPUN.

Patrick Fugit (Queen of Earth) and Tobey Maguire (The Great Gatsby) were in the 2022 film BABYLON.

Patrick Fugit (Queen of Earth) and Jason Clarke (The Great Gatsby) were in the 2018 FIRST MAN.

Elizabeth Moss (Queen of Earth) and Jason Schwartzman (The Last Showgirl) were in the 2021 comedy THE FRENCH DISPATCH.

Elizabeth Moss (Queen of Earth) and Kiernan Shipka (The Last Showgirl) were in the AMC series MAD MEN.

Elizabeth Moss (Queen of Earth) and Bradley Whitford (A Perfect World) were in the tv series THE HANDMAID'S TALE.

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Great Gatsby) was directed by Clint Eastwood (A Perfect World) in the 2011 biopic J. EDGAR.

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Great Gatsby) plays Romeo in the 1996 film ROMEO + JULIET.  My Facebook friend Jim played Romeo in a 2013 version of the Shakespeare play where I played Paris and was killed by Romeo.

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Great Gatsby) was directed by Woody Allen (Love and Death) in the 1998 film CELEBRITY.

Tobey Maguire (The Great Gatsby) and Harry Dean Stanton (The Straight Story) were in the 1998 film FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS.

Tobey Maguire (The Great Gatsby) and Woody Allen (Love and Death) were in the 1997 comedy DECONSTRUCTING HARRY.

Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby) and Dave Bautista (The Last Showgirl) were in the 2017 film GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 and in the 2023 film GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3.

Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby) and Laura Dern (A Perfect World) were in the 2018 film THE TALE.

Isla Fisher (The Great Gatsby) and Sissy Spacek (The Straight Story) were in the 2007 comedy HOT ROD.

Laura Dern (A Perfect World) was directed by David Lynch (The Straight Story director) in the 1986 film BLUE VELVET.

Laura Dern (A Perfect World) and Harry Dean Stanton (The Straight Story) were in the 1990 film WILD AT HEART which was directed by DAVID LYNCH.

Laura Dern (A Perfect World) and Billie Lourd (The Last Showgirl) were in the 2017 movie STAR WARS EPISODE VIII- THE LAST JEDI.

Kevin Costner (A Perfect World) and Sissy Spacek (The Straight Story) were husband and wife in the 1991 film JFK.

Clint Eastwood (A Perfect World) and Everett McGill (The Straight Story) were in the 1986 war movie HEARTBREAK RIDGE.

Clint Eastwood (A Perfect World) and Harry Dean Stanton (The Straight Story) were in the 1970 war film KELLY'S HEROES.

Bradley Whitford (A Perfect World) and Jason Schwartzman (The Last Showgirl) were in the 2013 film SAVING MR. BANKS.

Bradley Whitford (A Perfect World) plays Van Helsing in the 2023 podcast series MINA AND LUCY'S GUIDE TO SLAY DRACULA.  My Facebook friend Matthew played Van Helsing in a 2018 version of DRACULA at the Richmond Civic Theater where I got to play a bucket list role of Renfield.

Ray McKinnon (A Perfect World) and Sissy Spacek (The Straight Story) were in the 1995 movie THE GRASS HARP.

Peter Sellers (The Blockhouses) and Woody Allen (Love and Death) were in the 1967 Bond parody CASINO ROYALE.

Diane Keaton (Love and Death) and Harry Dean Stanton (The Straight Story) were in the 1974 film THE GODFATHER PART II where Stanton plays one of the FBI guys.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 944th Edition

Welcome to the 944th Edition of my series and the first of the year.  I will just start by saying that my thoughts go out to anyone effected by the wildfires.  I don't have anything really going on currently so I will just get on with my selections for the week.

Dolemite is my Name (2019):  I start the week with this biopic which was directed by Craig Brewer.  Eddie Murphy stars as comedian Rudy Ray Moore who struggled to find himself in the entertainment world.  Things finally came together when he created his alter-ego Dolemite and managed to become an icon in the Blaxploitation world.  This mostly focuses on the making of the movie DOLEMITE and the struggles getting it made.  Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Snoop Dogg, Ron Cephas Jones, Barry Shabaka Henley, Tip "T.I" Harris, Luenell, Tasha Smith, Wesley Snipes, Chris Rock, Aleksandar Filimonovic, Ivo Nandi, Michael Peter Bolus, and many others co-star in this biopic.  Murphy was a lot of fun in his role.  I would recommend getting to know the Blaxploitation genre before watching this movie.  Moore reminded me in some ways of Ed Wood, a group of misfits trying to achieve something big and in this situation a movie.  A good double feature could be this one and ED WOOD.  This is available to watch on Netflix.

A Royal Affair (2012):  Now I go into royalty in this Danish film.  Nikolaj Arcel directed this royalty biopic and based on the novel by Bodil Steensen.  Alicia Vikander stars as the young Princess Caroline who marries the crazed King Christian VII, played by Mikkel Boe Folsgaard.  Mads Mikkelsen co-stars as Dr. Johann Struensee who becomes a companion to Christian but in time has a secret affair with Caroline which causes a lot of trouble.  Trine Dyrholm, David Dencik, Thomas W. Gabrielsson, Cyron Melville, Harriett Walker, Laura Bro, Soren Malling, Jacob Lohmann, Rosalind Mynster, Nikol Kouklova, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a really good story on royalty.  Folsgaard played Christian to perfection with the crazed mannerisms.  I honestly expected Mikkelsen to be the more villainous one with his roles I have seen but was good as the idealistic doctor.  This is available to watch on Tubi, Plex, the Roku Channel, and Magnolia Selects.

Music of the Heart (1999):  Wes Craven directed this movie which is based on true events.  Meryl Streep stars as Roberta who becomes a single mother struggling to make it but gets help from her mother Assunta, played by Cloris Leachman.  She also manages to get a job at an urban school teaching underprivileged children the violin.  Things are going well but the board starts making some cuts including Roberta's violin program.  With the help of others in her school and the community, she fights back to be able to teach children the violin.  Michael Angarano, Aidan Quinn, Angela Bassett, Josh Pais, Jade Scott Yorker, Rosalyn Coleman, Gloria Estefan, Jane Leeves, Kieran Culkin, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Adam LeFevre, and many others co-star in this film.  Craven is most known for horror films and mostly notably the slasher films.  This is a slasher film in a sense in which they are trying to slash the budget.  I recall this coming out around the time VH1 was promoting "Save the Music" which seemed to be led by Gloria Estefan which promotes the importance of music programs in school.  This is a feel-good movie, and nothing less should be expected.  

Mighty Like a Moose (1926):  This is my silent comedy short for the week which was directed by Leo McCarey.  Silent film comedian Charley Chase stars as Mr. Moose who along with his wife Mrs. Moose, played by Vivien Oakland, undergo plastic surgery in hopes they will look better.  This leads to a comedy of errors when they don't recognize one another.  Chase spent his career doing mostly short films.  He did not have the success of "The Big Three" but was respected among his peers.  He is worth checking out for classic comedy buffs.  It is also an early look at plastic surgery.  This is available to watch pm the Criterion Channel.

Time After Time (1979):  Nicholas Meyer directed this sci-fi adventure.  Malcolm McDowell stars as author H.G. Wells who must pursue Jack the Ripper, played by David Warner, to the 20th century after the famed serial killer used Wells's time machine in a future time.  While there, Wells gets help from a banker named Amy Robbins, played by Mary Steenbergen, to pursue him.  Charles Cioffi, Patti D'Arbanville, James Garrett, Leo Lewis, Byron Webster, Karin Collison, Laurie Main, Joseph Maher, Corey Feldman, M.C. Gainey, and many others co-star in this film.  This was the feature film debut for both Feldman and Gainey.  This is a very entertaining time travel film that might have gone overlooked.  This would also serve as the inspiration for the Cyndi Lauper song of the same name, more the title.  McDowell and Warner were also good as friends turned enemies.  Go travel through time and check this one out.

The Golden Blade (1953):  Nathan Juran directed this swashbuckling film which is based on Arabic fairy tales including 1001 NIGHTS and the myth of King Arthur and THE SWORD IN THE STONE.  Rock Hudson stars as the swordsman Harum who comes to Baghdad to avenge the murder of his father.  In the process, he meets Krairuzan, played by Piper Laurie, who is a princess disguised as a commoner working against a plot by a band of evil schemers trying to do away with her father, the Caliph, played by Edgar Barrier.  Gene Evans, George Macready, Kathleen Hughes, Steven Geray, Alice Kelley, Richard Carlson, and many others co-star in this swashbuckling film.  This is by no means Hudson's best work but fun to see him as a swashbuckler while being a bit miscast with his race.  

Nosferatu (2024):  Robert Eggers directed this remake of the classic 1922 horror film and based on Bram Stoker's DRACULA.  Nicholas Hoult stars as Thomas Hutter who is assigned to visit the terrifying Count Orlok, played by Bill Skarsgard.  Lily Rose-Depp stars as Thomas's wife Ellen who Orlok has an infatuation with.  Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, and many others co-star in this film.  It is hard to really explain this movie any further that what I did.  The original film of the same name in 1922 is essentially based on DRACULA.  The people making that film did not have the rights to the novel, so they wrote their own story from the book and changed the names of the characters.  It would actually give us the basic story that we know today.  This pays homage very well to the original, but Eggers manages to make this his own making some twists.  Dafoe co-stars in this as the Van Helsing equivalent of Professor von Frantz and he also plays actor Max Schreck in the 2000 film SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE which is loosely based on the making of the original.  This movie is very creepy and also rather hypnotic.  I will also dare say the world beautiful to describe this film in some ways.  I do believe this is best seen at the movie theaters.

There's a Girl in My Soup (1970):  This is part three of my four-part Peter Sellers series.  Ray Boulting directed this romantic comedy which is based on a play by Terence Frisby.  Sellers stars as the egotistical and womanizing TV host Robert Danvers who likes to seduce younger women and not staying with them for long.  He meets his match in Marion, played by Goldie Hawn, who makes herself available but refuses any romantic illusions.  They are slowly drawn to one another and Robert slowly cares for Marion after the breakup with her boyfriend.  Tony Britton, Francoise Pascal, Nicky Henson, Tom Marshall, John Comer, Diana Dors, Nicola Pagett, Judy Campbell, Gabriella Drake, Constantine Gregory, and many others co-star in this comedy.  Sellers and a young Hawn were a pretty interesting combination.  It is also an underrated performance for Goldie Hawn as she shines really well against Sellers.  This is available to watch on TUBI.

Funny Face (1957):  Stanley Donen directed this musical comedy which was mostly written by the Gershwins.  Fred Astaire stars as fashion magazine photographer Dick Avery.  They do an impromptu fashion shoot at a bookstore much against the wishes of clerk Jo Stockton, played by Audrey Hepburn.  Dick takes a liking to Jo and slowly talks her into becoming a model much to the dismay of Editor-in-Chief Maggie Prescott, played by Kay Thompson, who feels Jo has a "funny face".  Michel Auclair, Robert Flemyng, Virginia Gibson, Sue England, Ruta Lee, Alex Gerry, and many others co-star in this film.  Hepburn does a great job of transitioning from a simple book clerk into a fashion model, and I suppose there are similarities to her later film MY FAIR LADY.  She also has said this was her favorite movie.  She is able to hold her own with Astaire in the dance scenes and does a decent job singing.  Give this a go, you'll love Audrey's funny face.

Our Friend (2019):  Gabriela Cowperthwaite directed this film which is based on an article called THE FRIEND by Matthew Teague, played by Casey Affleck, in this film.  Dakota Johnson stars as Matthew's wife Nicole who gets heartbreaking news of having Ovarian cancer.  Nicole tries to keep the brave face for their daughters and Matt struggles to keep things together.  Their friend Dane, played by Jason Segal, decides to put his life on hold and move in with the family to help them out in these trying times which benefits them and their two daughters in many ways.  Isabella Kai, Violet McGraw, John McConnell, Denee Benton, Jake Owen, Jason Bayle, Ahna O'Reilly, Jacinte Blackenship, Azita Ghanizada, Chandler Head, Sampley Barinaga, Marielle Scott, and many others co-star in this film based on a true story.  This is a very sad but beautiful film in my opinion.  I admit I managed to shed tears quite a bit throughout this film.  It also does a good job showing a loving family along with the natural dysfunction that is to come with the territory.  It jumps around time periods a lot but makes it easy to follow.  This was a very pleasant surprise for me and is available to watch on Plex and the Roku Channel.

Well, that is it for this week.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for the next couple of weeks for my return which so far includes Elizabeth Moss, Carey Mulligan, Laura Dern, Peter Sellers, Gene Tierney, and many others.