Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 717th Edition

Welcome to the 717th Edition of my series.  I continue rehearsals for THE INTERROGATION OF BIBLICAL CHARACTERS which is coming along well so I encourage anyone in or near the Alexandria area to find a day to support it.  Information is at the end of the page.  My team the 49ers are undefeated as of right so we'll see what this week holds.  Other than that, not much is happening so I'll just get on with my selections for the week.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002):  This is part four of my four-part Sam Rockwell series.  George Clooney directed this biopic which is based on the autobiography by Chuck Barris, played to perfection by Rockwell.  Barris is known as the host of THE GONG SHOW and before that produced shows THE DATING GAME and THE NEWLYWED GAME which were all very controversial at the time.  While these films focus on this part of his life, it mainly revolves around his claims that he was an assassin for the CIA in which those shows were like a front to him.  Clooney co-stars as the man who recruits Clooney for the CIA.  Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Cera, Jerry Weintraub, David Julian Hirsh, Robert John Burke, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Rutger Hauer, Richard Kind, James Urbaniak, and many others co-star or have cameos.  Cera, earlier in his career, plays Barris at a younger age in a beginning scene.  This remains one of my absolute favorite movies and some say that Barris made this up but I maintain it is all true.  This is available to watch on Hoopla Digital.

Rescue Dawn (2006):  This is part three of my three part Christian Bale trilogy.  This is my war movie for the week which was written and directed by Werner Herzog.  Bale stars as real-life Vietnam soldier Dieter Dengler whose plane is shot down in Laos and is taken to a prisoner camp where he is subject to torture by the Vietcong.  He meets five other prisoners where they band together and plot and escape.  Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies, Zach Grenier, Toby Huss, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a really intense film that seems to capture the tone for Vietnam.  I venture to say with Herzog at the helm that this was not an easy movie to do and that everyone worked extremely hard.  Last week, I featured VICE which Bale gains weight in order to play Cheney and for this one, he lost a lot of weight.

Creed II (2018):  This is part one of my two-part Sylvester Stallone series.  This is my boxing film for the week which was directed by Steven Caple Jr. and co-written by Sylvester Stallone who also co-stars as his iconic character Rocky Balboa.  Michael B. Jordan reprises his role as Adonis Creed, the son of the legendary Apollo Creed, and continues to have a great career in boxing with the help of Rocky.  The other story happening in this film is Rocky's former Russian opponent Ivan Drago, reprised by Dolph Lundgren, is training his son Viktor, played by real-life boxer Florian Munteanu, to be a boxer and soon go to the United States where they look to challenge Creed for his newly won championship.  Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Russell Hornsby, Wood Harris, Milo Ventimiglia, Brigitte Nielson, and many others co-star in this film.  The nostalgia for me was off the charts getting to see what in some ways is not only a sequel to CREED but is a sequel to ROCKY IV with the return of Lundgren.  I can to a full realization after this movie on how awesome Stallone really is and I really look forward to the upcoming Rambo movie.

Pleasure Faire (1972):  This is my short film for the week which was part of Les Blank films.  This is essentially footage of the Southern California Renaissance Fair which was shot by Les Blank.  This is one that has not gotten a lot of exposure judging by no user reviews on the imdb page.   This is only about 15 minutes long and is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

The Gay Divorcee (1934):  This is my song and dance movie for the week which was directed by Mark Sandrich and is a vehicle for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.  Before anyone gets excited about a movie in the '30s about a gay person, this uses the real definition of gay which is happy.  Ginger stars as American woman Mimi who goes to Britain seeking a divorce from her husband.  In the process, she meets American dancer Guy, played by Fred, who takes an immediate liking to Mimi.  Alice Brady, Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a very good vehicle for song and dance and has some pretty enjoyable numbers with a decent enough plot to stay intrigued.  This is the second of ten movies for Astaire and Rogers and is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.

The Killer is Loose (1956):  This is my film noir for the week which was directed by Budd Boetticher.  Joseph Cotten stars as Detective Sam Wagner accidentally kills the wife of bank robber Leon Poole, played by Wendell Corey.  Poole is arrested and sent to prison but escapes prison seeking revenge on Wagner for what he did by targeting his own wife Lila, played by Rhonda Fleming.  Alan Hale Jr., Michael Pate, John Larch, John Beradino, Virginia Christine, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a rather overlooked film noir and is pretty intense and suspenseful all through the movie.  This is available to watch on Amazon Prime and a more gritty movie from this era.

Loving (2016):  Jeff Nichols wrote and directed this film that is based on a true story.  Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga star as interracial couple Richard and Mildred Loving who get married in D.C. in 1958 but when they go back to their state of Virginia, they get arrested because interracial marriage was against the law in that state.  Through the years, they fight for their rights to the point of going to the supreme court.  Michael Shannon, Terri Abney, Alano Miller, Chris Greene, Benjamin Booker, Sharon Lockwood, Marton Csokas, Nick Kroll, and many others co-star in this film.  This went onto become a pretty underrated film with two stars who remain that way.  This is rather relevant for today seeing as in our time, we fought for gay marriage but at this time some states outlawed interracial marriage and later generations will probably see something and think "gay marriage was illegal" while we have this to go on and a supreme court decision that might have had a small part in our marriage rights for the future other than just the interracial marriage they fought for.

Robinson Crusoe (1954):  Luis Bunuel directed this adaptation of the Daniel Dafoe novel.  Dan O'Herlihy stars as Crusoe who was a British aristocrat shipwrecked on a deserted island in the 1600s.  He does what he can to survive whiles having limited resources on the island.  Jaime Fernandez co-stars as Friday whose life Robinson saves and they slowly become friends.  Bunuel is known for his surreal style of directing which is very limited in this one.  O'Herlihy and Fernandez work really well together in this film and carry it very well.  This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.

Wake in Fright (1971):  This is my Australian film for the week.  Ted Kotcheff directed this film based on the novel by Kenneth Cook.  Gary Bond stars as schoolteacher John Grant who is on vacation and gets himself into a bad gambling debt which gets him marooned by the townspeople.  He slowly descends into madness through the townspeople.  Donald Pleasence, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay, Jack Thompson, and many others co-star in this film.  This is hard to really describe.  This is a pretty dark and disturbing film but also rather compelling.  This is one that is driven by the script and the actors.  This is rather graphic at times and is not for everyone.  This is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

It's Not You It's Me (2013):  I end the week with this horror-comedy short film which was directed by Matt Spicer.  Gillian Jacobs stars in this short a young woman in a relationship where she seems to get easily annoyed by her boyfriend, played by Fran Kranz, through the sounds he makes.  Rob Huebel, Ithamar Enriquez, and Travis Nicholson co-star in this short.  This is one where I should not say much before I spoil.  This is available to watch on Amazon Prime and is only about twelve minutes long.

Well, that is it for this week but I do have my segment of "The Bookworm Corner".  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Sylvester Stallone, John Cho, Shia Labeouf, Buster Keaton, and many others.

THE BOOKWORM CORNER

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena (2016):  This is the latest book I completed from my reading kick I've gotten on lately.  I found this book when I attended the Coffee and Classics series at my local library.  They let us choose a free book and this looked the most interesting to me.  This centers around married couple Marco and Anne who are hanging out at their next-door neighbors only to learn that a horrid crime has been committed.  No one is really who they seem as twists happen at about each chapter which really made me want to see what happens next.  This is another where I don't want to give too much away as it would lead to some serious spoilers.  This book does not waste any time and gets right to the point in the first chapter.  While suspenseful, it is also a pretty easy book to read, at least for someone who is not much of a reader like myself.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 716th Edition

Welcome to the 716th Edition of my series.  Good to see my football Sundays are back.  While I was unable to find a fantasy football league, I'm trying my luck with Fanduel to see how that goes.  Also, last night my mom and I were shown on an episode of RESTAURANT IMPOSSIBLE on the Food Network where my mom and I were shown a couple times along with a brief snippet my mom had with the manger.  This was the episode that happened at the Retro Cafe in my town of Muncie, Indiana.  I'm still in rehearsals for THE INTERROGATION OF BIBLICAL CHARACTERS so I hope those in and around the area are able to attend.  I will get on with my selections for the week.

Vice (2018):  This is part three of my four-part Sam Rockwell series and part two of a possible Christian Bale four-part series.  Adam McKay wrote and directed this political film which stars Bale as our former vice president Dick Cheney and mostly revolves around his life and career in politics.  Rockwell co-stars as former president George W. Bush.  This portrays Cheney has quietly wielding his power in the political world.  Amy Adams co-stars as Dick's wife Lynne who has equal aspirations of her political husband.  Steve Carell, Allison Pill, Eddie Marsan, Justin Kirk, LisaGay Hamilton, Jesse Plemons, Bill Camp, Don McManus, Lily Rabe, Shea Whigham, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Tyler Perry, and many others co-star in this film.  When most people think Dick Cheney, I doubt they would even think of Christian Bale but Bale shows is usual dedication by gaining the necessary weight as well as other things to capture the look of Cheney.  McKay employed an interesting directing style that included the unorthodox narration and some rather dark comedy.

Epic (2013):  This is one of three animated selections for the week.  Chris Wedge directed this animated film from Blue Sky which is inspired the book THE LEAF MEN AND THE BRAVE GOOD BUGS by William Joyce.  Amanda Seyfried stars as M.K. who is visiting her father Bomba, voiced by Jason Sudeikis.  Bomba is a very eccentric scientist who has some rather illogical beliefs which drives M.K. nuts but when she is shrunk by the mortally wounded Queen Tara, voiced by Beyonce, and discovers that a world of tiny people and other creatures exist.  She is also asked to finish a task and does so with the help of Leafman warrior Ronin, voiced by Colin Farrell, and the less experienced Nod, voiced by Josh Hutcherson.  Blake Anderson, Aziz Ansari, John DiMaggio, Troy Evans, Helen Hong, Kelly Keaton, Emma Kenney, Kyle Kinane, Pitbull, Christoph Waltz, Thomas F. Wilson, Steven Tyler, and many others provider their voices to this animated movie.  Aerosmith's Steven Tyler was very amusing in his small role.  This is a pretty fun family movie focusing on saving a forest and a troubled father/daughter relationship.

Grave of the Fireflies (1988):  This is my Anime selection for the week which I watched as part of the Cinemuncie film series that have in my local library.  This is some earlier Stuido Ghibli which was directed by Isao Takahata and based on a novel by Akiyuki Nosaka.  This takes place in WWII Japan where the nuclear bomb has been dropped where siblings Seita and Satsuko are on their own struggling to survive.  This is ranked by many as one of the best in the Anime genre and they did it by having mostly a drama instead of the sci-fi/fantasy that we see a lot through Anime.  We watched the version with the Japanese language and English subtitles.  I had seen it but it had been awhile and it was really cool seeing this on a bigger screen.  Dennis, the guy who runs Cinemuncie, prepared us by putting boxes of Kleenexes on the tables.  This is a very compelling and sad story that shows the effects of war.

Pay Day (1922):  This is my silent film short for the week which was directed by and stars silent comedy legend Charlie Chaplin.  Charlie plays a bricklayer who is very good at his job and when he gets paid he tries to hide it from his wife to enjoy his money while doing comedic things to avoid his wife.  Edna Purviance, Mack Swain, and Syd Chaplin all co-star in this short film.  This is Chaplin's final short film before his very successful transition into feature film.  This is also one of the few where he was not the Tramp though is mostly dressed that way.  This has some pretty funny moments in the 21 minutes and is available on the Criterion Channel.

Death By Hanging (1968):  This is my second Japanese film for the week which was co-written and directed by Nagima Oshima.  This shows a Korean man being executed by hanging but the man ends up surviving the execution.  For the next two hours, the employees at the prison discuss what they should do with this man now that he survived.  This is a another very dark comedy and one that likely would not work in today's world.  This is a very obvious anti-death penalty satire and is really quite funny if you can get past the dark comedy this movie has.

Harvey (1950):  Henry Koster directed this comedy which is based on the play by Mary Chase.  James Stewart stars as Elwood P. Dowd whose best friend is a very tall rabbit named Harvey that only he can see.  He lives with his sister Veta and niece Myrtle Mae, played by Josephine Hull and Victoria Horne, who are frustrated the way Elwood drives people away through his claims of having a rabbit friend named Harvey.  They try to get him committed but through misunderstanding, Veta gets committed instead.  Jesse White, Cecil Kellaway, Charles Drake, Peggy Dow, Nana Bryant, Wallace Ford, and many others co-star in this film.  This remains one of my favorite comedies and laugh a lot during this film.  I have been known to use the monologue near the end that is made by the cab driver.  This last time I watched it I started to realized that part of the message this conveys is to take a look in the mirror when questioning one's sanity.  Many thought of Elwood as insane for his claims of seeing a rabbit even though he was the friendliest and most laid back character in the film.  This is possibly one of the best comedies from that era and really deserves a watch.

I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978):  Robert Zemeckis directed this comedy which is based around the time the Beatles were set to debut on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW.  This is based around a group of friends who are obsessed with the band and are determined to see the show and meet the Beatles even if they don't have tickets.  Nancy Allen, Bobby Di Cicco, Marc McClure, Theresa Saldana, Eddie Deezen, Christian Juttner, Will Jordan, Read Morgan, Claude Earl Jones, James Houghton, and many others co-star in this comedy.  This is the directorial debut for Zemeckis and does a good job of capturing the tones of the Beatles fans who seem very over the top but that is the way they were at the time when the Beatles first came into town.  This is a very underrated movie that started a great career for Zemeckis.

Juno (2007):  Jason Reitman directed this comedy which was written by Diablo Cody.  Ellen Page stars as the high school title character and discovers she is pregnant with her best friend Paulie Bleeker, played by Michael Cera.  She decides to put this baby up for adoption with a married couple named Mark and Vanessa Loring, played by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner, who are unable to have kids and want one.  Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons, Olivia Thirlby, Eileen Pedde, Rainn Wilson, Candice King, and many others co-star in this film.  For fans of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, Candice King who was Candice Accola at the time, has a bit role as one of the lab students before she would become Caroline on that series and their two spin-off shows.  Page does a great job as a young girl trying to deal with a life changing situation.  This is most driven by the characters.  I know when it first came out, I felt it got judged on account of the awards it "didn't deserve".  I try not to focus on that aspect of a movie and watch it for the movie which I found to be a good comedy-drama.

The Furies (1950):  This is my western for the week which was directed by Anthony Mann and based on the novel by Niven Busch.  Barbara Stanwyck stars as heiress Vance Jeffords whose father T.C., played by Walter Huston, is a very successful and tyrannical ranch farmer.  Wendell Corey co-stars as saloon owner Rip Darrow who is an enemy of T.C. and tends to drive a wedge between Vance and T.C.  Judith Anderson, Gilbert Roland, Thomas Gomez, Beulah Bondi, Albert Dekker, John Bromfield, Wallace Ford, and many others co-star in this western.  This is Huston's last feature film.  This is a really hard movie to put into words.  This is not very upbeat and the people are rather unlikable through their greed and betrayal.  It is still a pretty compelling and fascinating western that I do not feel is a conventional western.

Day and Night (2010):  I end the week on this short from Pixar which was directed by Teddy Newton.  This portrays the daytime and nighttime as creature-like and show their daily rivalry but try to find a way to get along.  There is no actual dialogue but was not needed as the emotion was conveyed by the two characters without it.  This is part of the DVD and Blu-Ray of TOY STORY 3 and is a pretty good six minutes.

Well, that is it for this week but I did return with "The Bookworm Corner".  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Julia Roberts, Christian Bale, Sylvester Stallone, Fred Astaire, and many others.

THE BOOKWORM CORNER

The Twenty Dollar Bill by Elmore Hammes (2007):  I now go the local route where I decided to seek out an author that I know.  I have had the pleasure of working with Elmore in a couple plays at the Anderson Mainstage Theater and on the side he has done some independent novels.  This is something pretty different where the focal point of the story is a 20 dollar bill and each place the bill ends up at.  This is a series of various characters that have ended up with the bill in some way or another.  This has no linear story and once the bill leaves one person, we do not know what happens to them.  This is still a very clever book though which essentially has some diverse short stories on each chapter with the characters.  I got this from Amazon which has pretty low prices with the Kindle or the paperback.  I will try to support local writers like Elmore more in the future.

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 715th Edition

Welcome to the 715th Edition of my series.  I don't have a lot going on right now so I will just get on with my selections for the week.  I did return with "fun and useless facts" so just read on when done with this one.

3:10 to Yuma (2007):  This is part two of a possible four-part Christian Bale series.  I start the week out with this western remake which was directed by James Mangold and based on a short story by Elmore Leonard.  Christian Bale stars as small-time rancher Dan Evans who is desperate for money and becomes involved in the capture of outlaw Ben Wade, played by Russell Crowe.  Evans agrees to help escort Wade to a train in order to get him to trial.  The group agreeing to escort Wade must also fight off his gang as well as some Apaches that are on the attack.  Evans also has an inner struggle with himself in Wade's psychological battle of wills.  Logan Lerman, Ben Foster, Peter Fonda, Vinessa Shaw, Alan Tudyk, Luce Rains, Gretchen Mol, Lennie Lofton, Rio Alexander, Johnny Whitworth, Luke Wilson, and many others co-star in this film.  Wilson has a small part but one where it took me a minute to recognize him.  This was a remake to the 1957 movie which I have seen but it has been awhile.  It seems I was more compelled by this version and I don't know that remake is really the right word.  I see it as more of another adaptation to an already written short story from Elmore Leonard who I credit as the author that got me through high school with the required reading we had to do.  Both versions are still really good and maybe worth a double feature and I might revisit the first one soon.

The World's End (2013):  I follow up with this apocalyptic comedy which was directed and co-written by Edgar Wright.  Simon Pegg stars as Gary King who looks to get his four childhood friends, played by Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, and Eddie Marsan, back together in order to do a pub crawl that was unsuccessful when they tried 20 years.  The rest of them have their lives together and takes persuasion by King for them to decide to do it not knowing that the state of the world is in their hands now.  Rosamund Pike, Pierce Brosnan, David Bradley, Michael Smiley, Alice Lowe, Rafe Spall, Bill Nighy, and many others co-star in this comedy.  This has a lot of very funny moments and what better quintet can you get with the five guys this movie revolves around.  This is the third in the trilogy that is directed by Wright and stars Pegg and Frost which follows SHAUN OF THE DEAD AND HOT FUZZ, though they are a trilogy with the director and actors but not the same characters.

Missing Link (2019):  I saw this as part of the "Free Friday Movie" series and it looked interesting enough to me.  Chris Butler wrote and directed this animated movie that I suppose you could say is an homage to legendary creatures.  Hugh Jackman provides the voice to Sir Lionel Frost who is an explorer of myths and monsters and is usually out for his own gain.  He soon meets a sasquatch who he comes to know as Mr. Link, voiced by Zach Galifianakis.  Mr. Link asks Lionel to help him find his long-lost relatives in Shangri-La.  They are joined by adventurer Adelina Fortnight, voiced by Zoe Saldana, and the trio sets out to find the land and find some trouble along the way where they must band together to overcome.  David Walliams, Stephen Fry, Matt Lucas, Timothy Olyphant, Amrita Acharia, Ching Valdes-Aran, Emma Thompson, and may others provide they voices in this animated movie.  This was a pretty entertaining movie which teaches things like acceptance and working together.  This comes from Laika animated studios that have produced some good stop-animation movies including this one.

Tokio Jokio (1943):  This is my animated short for the week and is one of those wonderful WWII propaganda shorts from Warner Brothers.  This was based around a "captured" Japanese newsreel which show some of the things that the Japanese were apparently promoting.  Newsreels were one of the main things of this era that delivered news which happened before a movie at the movie theater.  This is an extremely racist cartoon by today's standards but at the time they were our enemy so it was likely more acceptable when it came out.  One thing to note is that voice actor icon Mel Blanc managed to voice quite a few characters in this short and shows his absolute versatility in his voice.  It blew my mind years ago when I learned he did both Bugs Bunny and Barney Rubble.  I was always aware of Bugs but not Barney.  This is available on Amazon Prime as part of "Patriotic Cartoon Classics" which really should be viewed for historical reference.

The Story of a Cheat (1936):  This is my French film for the week which was written and directed by Sacha Guitry.  He also stars in this film as himself and does the narration himself.  It was told in a very unique way which has some amusing narration about a scoundrel from his childhood into his current adulthood.  It is really hard to put this into words.  It is a pretty funny and unfolds in a pretty unique way.  This is mostly for the fans of the foreign and French cinema.  This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.

Serpico (1973):  Sidney Lumet directed this biopic which is based on the book by Peter Maas.  Al Pacino stars as real-life New York cop Frank Serpico who was an officer in the '60s and '70s that fought corruption within the force.  The main thing that happened in Serpico refused to share in bribe money from criminals and tries to go to the highest authorities in hopes that things would change.  John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire, Barbara Eda-Young, Cornelia Sharpe, Tony Roberts, M. Emmet Walsh, and many others co-star in this film.  Pacino was fresh off his star-making film of THE GODFATHER and got to be in a great follow up film.  This shows both the professional and personal toll his mission took on him and those around.  Pacino did what he could to perfect his performance by hanging out with the real Frank Serpico.  This is a really good biopic of an honest cop trying to make a more honest force.  I thought of a really good triple feature starting with THE PANIC IN THE NEEDLE PARK which was the transitional film that helped in the the role in the second feature of THE GODFATHER and then follow it with this one that kept him going.

Moon (2009):  This is part two of a possible four-part Sam Rockwell series.  Duncan Jones directed this sci-fi film which stars Rockwell as astronaut Sam Bell who has had to man a station in order to keep the clean air going in the world.  As his three-year stint comes to an end, he questions what is going on in his world and runs into some other things that he must think about.  He has been isolated for his stint and the only communication he really has is with the robot GERTY, voiced by Kevin Spacey.  Dominique McElligot, Kaya Scodelario, Benedict Wong, Matt Berry, Malcolm Stewart, and Robin Chalk all have roles in the film but mostly centers around the communication of Sam and GERTY.  This is hard to really put into words as it really requires a lot in the way of self-analysis.  Rockwell carries this movie very well.  Jones is the son of the legendary David Bowie.  This is really worth a look, it just requires a lot of attention.

The Scapegoat (1959):  Robert Hamer directed this British film which is based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier.  Alec Guinness stars in a dual role as John Barratt and is on vacation in France where he meets a lookalike in French nobleman Jacques De Gue.  De Gue has a struggling business and gets John drunk to switch places with John while taking a break from his struggling business.  John unwillingly takes on his new role as husband and father to Francoise, played by Irene Worth, and Marie-Noel, played by Annabel Bartlett, but soon starts to embrace it more as he tries to be a better man than De Gue.  Bette Davis co-stars as the domineering mother which was more of a cameo appearance even though she gets top billing.  Nicole Maurey, Pamela Brown, Geoffrey Keen, Noel Howlett, Peter Bull, and many others co-star in this British film.  Usually in this era, Guinness tended to do a lot of comedy but takes a more dramatical turn in this one.  He did a great job in his dual role and has a really good climax at the end.  This is available on the Criterion Channel.

The Great Smokey Roadblock (1977):  I came across this comedy and was immediately intrigued when I saw the names Henry Fonda, Robert Englund, and Susan Sarandon.  John Leone wrote and directed this road comedy which stars Fonda as aging trucker John Howard who gets his truck repossessed by the finance company but decides that him and his truck named Elenor need one more last cross country trip which puts him on the run from the police.  Along the way, he picks up a hitchhiker named Beebo, played by Robert Englund years before he would become iconic as Freddy Krueger, and a group of prostitutes ran by his friend Penelope, played by Eileen Brennan, which also include a young Susan Sarandon as Ginny.  Austin Pendleton, Dub Taylor, John Byner, Melanie Mayron, Leigh French, Mews Small, Daina House, Gary Sandy, Valerie Curtin, and many others co-star in this road comedy.  Yes, Henry Fonda has been in movies much better than this one.  I don't really know his mindset when taking the role, maybe he just wanted to have a road movie which was a popular genre from this era.  There were times when I was just thinking "wtf" but I was laughing along the way.  There are some funny moments and is quite the guilty pleasure and just a reminder it stars Henry Fonda and Robert Englund so how can one resist this one.  This is available to watcon on Amazon Prime.

Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014):  I end the week which this Pixar show which is technically a tv special but as I always say, this is my blog and I make the rules.  Steve Purcell wrote and directed this special which came out around Christmas but has very limited Christmas references.  This is one that centers around Bonnie, voiced by Emily Hahn, where she takes some of her toys to a playdate with a friend who has a lot of dinosaurs but her friend spends most of his time playing video games leaving the toys to do as they please.  This one centers around the dinosaur toy Trixie, voiced by Kristen Schaal, who encounters more dinosaurs only to realize they don't know they are toys and are very aggressive leading Woody, reprised by Tom Hanks, Buzz Lightyear, reprised by Tim Allen, and friends to save the day.  Kevin McKidd, Wallace Shawn, Jonathan Kydd, Don Rickles, Timothy Dalton, Lori Allen, Joan Cusack, and many others lend their voice for this tv special.  This was pretty fun and would soon lead to TOY STORY 4.

Well, that is it for this week but I did bring back my "Fun and Useless Facts" segment.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Christian Bale, Colin Farrell, and many others.

FUN AND USELESS FACTS

I brought back this section of my blog seeing as I had quite a bit to work with and it hasn't been done for awhile in my recollection.  I have quite a bit of facts, I don't concentrate on actors in the same movie unless there is an actor from another movie.  I did not due a full pursuit of facts and I'm sure there is plenty more so if you see something, go ahead and leave it in the comments.

Russell Crowe (3:10 to Yuma) relentlessly pursues Hugh Jackman (Missing Link) in the 2012 musical LES MISERABLES.

Pierce Brosnan (The World's End) played Agent 007 James Bond from 1995-2002 and Timothy Dalton (Toy Story That Time Forgot) played 007 from 1987-1989.

Russell Crowe (3:10 to Yuma) and Kevin Spacey (Moon) were in the 1997 film L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.

Simon Pegg (The World's End) and Tom Hanks (Toy Story that Time Forgot) were in the 2001 mini-series BAND OF BROTHERS which Hanks mostly produced but did narration and did uncredited scenes.

Russell Crowe (3:10 to Yuma) and Paddy Considine (The World's End) were in the 2005 boxing movie CINDERELLA MAN.

Martin Freeman (The World's End), Bill Nighy (The World's End) and Emma Thompson (Missing Link) were in the 2003 film LOVE ACTUALLY.

Russell Crowe (3:10 to Yuma) and Rafe Spall (The World's End) were in the 2006 film A GOOD YEAR.

Eddie Marsan (The World's End) and Stephen Fry (Missing Link) were in the 2005 film V FOR VENDETTA and the 2011 film SHERLOCK HOLMES:  A GAME OF SHADOWS.

Christian Bale (3:10 to Yuma), Eddie Marsan (The World's End) and Sam Rockwell (Moon) are in the 2018 film VICE.  Bale and Marsan were in the the 2005 film THE NEW WORLD and the 2018 movie MOWGLI:  LEGEND OF THE JUNGLE.

Bill Nighy (The World's End) and Hugh Jackman (Missing Link) were in the 2006 animated movie FLUSHED AWAY.

Christian Bale (3:10 to Yuma) and Hugh Jackman (Missing Link) are rival magicians in the 2006 film THE PRESTIGE.

Sam Rockwell (Moon) and Tom Hanks (Toy Story that Time Forgot) were in the 1999 film THE GREEN MILE.

Luke Wilson (3:10 to Yuma) and Sam Rockwell (Moon) were in the 2000 movie CHARLIE'S ANGELS.

Bill Nighy (The World's End) and Timothy Olyphant (Missing Link) were in the 2011 animated movie RANGO.

Christian Bale (3:10 to Yuma) and Zoe Saldana (Missing Link) were in the 2013 film OUT OF THE FURNACE.

Zoe Saldana (Missing Link) and Benedict Wong (Moon) were in the 2018 film AVENGERS:  INFINITY WAR and the 2019 film AVENGERS:  ENDGAME.

Logan Lerman (3:10 to Yuma) and Joan Cusack (Toy Story that Time Forgot) were in the 2012 film THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER.

Nick Frost (The World's End), Bill Nighy (The World's End), and Emma Thompson (Missing Link) were in the 2009 film PIRATE RADIO.

Dallas Roberts (3:10 to Yuma) and Kevin Spacey (Moon) were in the 2009 film SHRINK.

Al Pacino (Serpico) and Susan Sarandon (The Great Smokey Roadblock) were in the HBO movie YOU DON'T KNOW JACK.

Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma) and Hugh Jackman (Missing Link) were in the 2006 superhero movie X-MEN:  THE LAST STAND.

Al Pacino (Serpico) and Kevin Spacey (Moon) were in the 1992 film GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS.

Peter Fonda (3:10 to Yuma) and Henry Fonda (The Great Smokey Roadblock) are real-life son and father.

Emma Thompson (Missing Link) and Al Pacino (Serpico) were in the 2003 HBO mini-series ANGELS IN AMERICA.

Gretchen Mol (3:10 to Yuma) and Al Pacino (Serpico) were in the 1997 film DONNIE BRASCO.

Rosamund Pike (The World's End) and Emma Thompson (Missing Link) were in the 2009 film AN EDUCATION.

Lennie Lofton (3:10 to Yuma) and Hugh Jackman (Missing Link) were in the 2017 superhero film LOGAN.

Emma Thompson (Missing Link) was reluctant to allow Tom Hanks (Toy Story That Time Forgot) to make her children's book into a movie in the 2013 film SAVING MR. BANKS.

Luke Wilson (3:10 to Yuma) and Timothy Olyphant (Missing Link) were in the 1997 film SCREAM 2.

Timothy Olyphant (Missing Link) and Al Pacino (Serpico) are in the 2019 film ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD.

Lennie Lofton (3:10 to Yuma) and Kevin Spacey (Moon) were in the 1995 film SE7EN.

Martin Freeman (The World's End) and Stephen Fry (Missing Link) were in the 2013 film THE HOBBIT:  THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG and the 2014 film THE HOBBIT:  THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES.

Vinessa Shaw (3:10 to Yuma), Eddie Marsan (The World's End) and Susan Sarandon (The Great Smokey Roadblock) have been in the Showtime series RAY DONOVAN.

Bill Nighy (The World's End) and Robert Englund (The Great Smokey Roadblock) were in the 1989 horror movie THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.  I'm now actually curious to see this version which I venture to say is not that popular musical we know today.

Alan Tudyk (3:10 to Yuma) and Bill Nighy (The World's End) were in the 2009 animated movie ASTRO BOY.

HARRY POTTER FRANCHISE
David Bradley (The World's End) plays Argus Filch
Bill Nighy (The World's End) plays Minister Rufus Scrimgeour
Emma Thompson (Missing Link) plays Sybil Trelawney

Alan Tudyk (3:10 to Yuma) and Eddie Marsan (The World's End) were in the 2018 superhero film DEADPOOL 2.

Martin Freeman (The World's End), Bill Nighy (The World's End), Stephen Fry (Missing Link) and Sam Rockwell (Moon) were in the 2005 sci-fi comedy THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY.

Alan Tudyk (3:10 to Yuma), Simon Pegg (The World's End), and Nick Frost (The World's End) were in the 2012 animated movie ICE AGE:  CONTINENTAL DRIFT.

Simon Pegg (The World's End) and Zoe Saldana (Missing Link) are in the reboot STAR TREK films