Welcome to the 950th edition of my series. I hope everyone is making the most of these crazy times. I'm buy with LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at the Richmond Civic Theater where I play Mr. Mushnik. Performances are May 8-11 and May 15-18. Thursday-Saturday performances are at 7:30 pm and Sunday performances are at 2 pm. I have a poster at the bottom for the website to get ticket information. I will get to my selections for the week.
Eighth Grade (2018): Bo Burnham wrote and directed this coming-of-age comedy in his directorial debut. Elsie Fisher stars as Kayla Day who is an introverted teen trying to get through the middle school years before starting high school. She also copes by doing videos on Youtube where she gives life advice. Josh Hamilton co-stars as Kayla's single father Mark who does his best to raise a middle school teenage girl. Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan, Daniel Zolghadri, Fred Hechinger, Imani Lewis, Luke Prael, Catherine Oliviere, Missy Yager, Greg Crowe, Frank Deal, and many others co-star in this film. This is based on Burnham's own teen years, only changing his protagonist to a female. I am sure many of us can relate in some way to this part of our own lives. It is also a pretty moving film with a really good performance out of Fisher.
Linda Rondstadt: The Sound of My Voice (2019): This is my documentary for the week which was co-directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. This takes a look at the music career at musician Linda Ronstadt. This shows her very diverse career where she would try to do something different each time. Unfortunately, her career would be cut short with Parkinson's disease. She has also been a very important activist through the years. This includes interviews with Bonnie Raitt, Dolly Parton, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, Don Henley, David Geffen, Cameron Crowe, Aaron Neville, and many others. This is a very informative and inspirational documentary on a true legend of the music industry. I don't know much, but I know this is worth a watch. That may be all I need to know.
Virginia (2010): This is part three of my five-part Paul Walter Hauser series where he makes his film debut. Dustin Lance Black directed this independent film. Jennifer Connelly stars as the title character who has a mental illness and is carrying on an affair with Sheriff Richard Tipton, played by Ed Harris. Tipton is married to Roseanna, played by Harris's real-life wife Amy Madigan, and is part of the Mormon faith. Things get complicated with Virginia's teenage son Emmett, played by Harrison Sloan Gilbertson, forms a relationship with Tipton's daughter Jessie, played by Emma Roberts. Carrie Preston, Barry Shabaka Henley, Yeardley Smith, Toby Jones, Alex Frost, and many others co-star in this film. It might have been strange to Harris and Madigan being a real-life married couple and playing a married couple where one is having an affair. This is a pretty intense and interesting movie. Connelly puts on a very underrated performance as the title character. This is available to watch on Prime and Plex.
The Bread and Alley (1970): This is my short film for the week which comes from Iran. Abbas Kiarostami directed this Iranian short which features a young boy just trying to get home with his bread. Along the way, he deals with a frightening loose dog and must figure out how to handle the dog. Kiarostami makes his directorial debut in this film and would go onto have a pretty long career. This was very well directed and a good performance out of Reza Hashemi who plays the boy. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
Freaks (1932): Tod Browning directed this film which centers around a circus and a sideshow group aka freak show for a lack of a better phrase. Harry Earles stars as the little person Hans who is in love with the beautiful trapeze artist Cleopatra, played by Olga Baclanova, who agrees to marry him. When it is learned that she is using him for his inheritance, the sideshow freaks go to extreme measures for revenge. Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Roscoe Ates, Henry Victor, Rose Dione, Daisy Hilton, Violet Hilton, Daisy Earles, Schlitze, Frances O'Connor, Josephine Joseph, Peter Robinson, Olga Roderick, and many others co-star in this film. This came up in discussion with my LITTLE SHOP music director Mark so I decided it was time to revisit this one. These were real-life sideshow performers, and I have heard some say this was exploitation. I feel the exploitation was already happening, and that Browning wanted to show a human side to them.
Such a Pretty Little Beach (1949): This is my French film for the week, which was directed by Yves Allegret, and was written by Jacques Sigurd. Gerard Philipe stars as a mysterious drifter who checks into a hotel in a seaside town and gives his name as Pierre. This sparks curiosity and suspicion among the small town as to why he is there. Madeleine Robinson, Jean Servais, Jane Marken, Paul Ville, Gabriel Gobin, and many others co-star in this French film. This is a very slow burn movie as it we just have to let this movie unfold. This has a really good small-town tension within it and a good performance as the mysterious Pierre. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2024): This is my animated movie for the week which brings us 2D animation. Peter Browngardt directed this Looney Tunes movie. This features Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, both voiced by Eric Bauza, as we see them grow up as brothers on a farm by their father figure Farmer Jim, voiced by Fred Tatasciore, who take them in as his own kids. They are now on their own and find they are the only hope in an alien invasion with the help of Petunia Pig, voiced by Candi Milo, who also becomes Porky's love interest. Peter Macnicol, Carlos Alazraqui, Kimberly Brooks, Laraine Newman, Wayne Knight, and many others co-star in this animated film. This is the first feature-length film from Looney Tunes to have a theatrical release. It is also all animation and no live action people. This also only features Porky, Daffy, and Petunia, and no other iconic characters from the Looneyverse. This was a great movie to see in the theaters and is great one to take the family. If it gets enough support, maybe this is the start of things to come and maybe we can get features out of Bugs Bunny, the Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian, the list in endless.
Santo vs. the Riders of Terror (1970): This is my Mexican movie for the week which was directed by Rene Cardona. Mexican wrestling legend El Santo stars as his masked self. Lepers have escaped from a colony where they are ostracized. Things get complicated for the town so they must bring in the hero El Santo to get things fixed. This was a series of B movies in Mexico that mostly starred El Santo and sometimes the Blue Demon, though not in this one. Usually, he deals in actual monsters while this is more of a western. This is going to be mostly for wrestling fans I would assume. This is available on Kanopy.
Oklahoma! (1955): This is my musical for the week which was directed by Fred Zinneman and based on the musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. This obviously takes place in Oklahoma which focuses mainly on a couple love stories. Gordon MacRae stars as Curly, and is vying for the affections of Laurie, played by Shirley Jones in her film debut, but must deal with the violent ranch hand Jud Fry, played by Rod Steiger. Gene Nelson co-stars as Will who wants Ado Annie, played by Gloria Grahame, but must deal with the Persian peddler Ali Hakim, played by Eddie Albert. Charlotte Greenwood, James Whitmore, Barbara Lawrence, Jay C. Flippen, and many others co-star in this musical. I was in this a few years ago at Muncie Civic Theater. This was a good version of the classic musical. There are some really good music numbers as well as the performances. This is available to watch on Prime, Peacock, TUBI, Pluto TV, and Fawesome.
The Phantom of the Open (2021): I end the week with this feel-good biopic which was directed by Craig Roberts and based on the book THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN: MAURICE FLITCROFT, THE WORLD'S WORST GOLFER. Mark Rylance stars as the unrelenting optimist Maurice Flitcroft who just decides one day that he wants to play the 1976 British Open and gains entry even though he had never played the game. He ends up getting the worst score of all time but gained a following with his attitude and work ethic. Sally Hawkins, Rhys Ifans, Ian Porter, Tommy Fallon, Jake Davies, Christian Lees, Jonah Lees, Mark Lewis Jones, Johann Miles, Nigel Betts, Afsaneh Dehrouyeh, Neil Edmond, Amy Alexander, and many others co-star in this film. Rylance puts on a great performance as Flitcroft and was so likable. As I'm watching, I found that Flitcroft is like the Ed Wood of golf so take that for what it is worth.
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 so far includes Florence Pugh, Burt Reynolds, Steve Buscemi, Gregory Peck, Mickey Rourke, and many others.
