Welcome everyone to the 200th Edition of my blog. I can't believe I have made it this far. After watching so many movies I felt it was time to give back a little bit and recommend 10 very diverse movies each week. I can't really write a detailed review so I decided on this idea and I have never really seen anyone do this format so I thought I would. Most things I start, I really don't finish but this has kept going and going. I appreciate all my supporters but need to find other outlets for this since myspace just is not the popular thing it used to be. I am paying tribute to the late Simon Dee this week. I will be including five selections from the Random Myspace Profile selection process this week which is a record here and next week I will have at least two with the possibility of three. The 208th Edition will be my four year anniversary but 200 is a great number. I did not use any special format for this, I just put out another 10 movies so read on and tell me what you think.
Carefree (1938): This is a selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I chose the tribute page to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. This is the 8th of 10 collaborations between the two and this one focuses less on song and dance making it more of a screwball comedy than a musical though it still has its song and dance moments. Fred plays psychoanalyst Dr. Tony Flagg. Ginger stars as Amanda whose fiance Steven, played by Ralph Bellamy, feels he his having relationship problems and wants Dr. Flagg to help her. The situation becomes more complicated when they begin to like each other leading to some funny situations, especially the hypnosis scene. This might be my favorite collaboration I have seen so far from the two.
The Italian Job (1969): This is my tribute to Simon Dee who has a small part as the shirtmaker in this movie. He was a radio disk jockey and a BBC host for a show called DEE TIME. Elizabeth Hurley cites he is the inspiration for the Austin Powers character that many of us have come to know and now to the movie. Michael Caine stars as Charlie Croker who is just getting out of prison and is not quite ready to go straight. He takes a job which will either make or break him and his crew. Noel Coward, in his last role, plays the brains of the operation from prison. This was before Caine hit the mainstream where he was popular among Britain and fun to watch here. There are some good action scenes with a great car chase coming to a strange finale. This movie was loosely remade in 2003 with Mark Wahlberg as Croker but a much different story. That version was every bit as good as this one if not better but this got it started.
Barfly (1987): This is another selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I chose Jasmin St. Claire who used to run the wrestling promotion 3PW. She was also involved with Extreme Championship Wrestling and now to the movie. This is based on the writer Charles Bukowski which is based on his autobiographical story. Mickey Rourke plays Henry, the one based on Bukowski, who never really cared about being "someone" and was content going to the bar and getting into fights with the bartender. Faye Dunaway stars as his love interest Wanda who is not much better off than he is leading to some pretty volatile situations. Frank Stallone co-stars as the tough-guy bartender Eddie who is not a big fan of Henry which is is best performance. Rourke was also very good and in my opinion his best movie of the 80s until you-know-what from 2008. I don't think too many people even need to guess that one.
Oyster Farmer (2004): This is a selection from the Random Myspace Selection process and for this one I chose the page for MOONLIGHT alum Alex O'Loughlin. Anna Reaves wrote and directed this movie which stars O'Loughlin as drifter Jack Flange who sends himself a package of money and ends up in a small town in order to retrieve it but sees that it is missing. He then gets a job at an oyster farm making many friends and falling in love with a mail carrier named Trish. It is an interesting look at small-town life but it did get pretty slow for me thinking it might miss the mark but about the last 20 minutes get very good and worth seeing O'Loughlin.
Bleach: Memories of Nobody (2006): This is my anime film for the week which is based on the tv series. I don't include much in Anime but when it presents itself to me, I usually jump at the chance to put it in here. In the town of Karakura, many unidentified spirits come into the town in masses leaving Ichigo and Rukia to see what is going on. They meet a mysterious girl named Senna who wipes out a lot of the spirits but refuses to speak of who she is. This is something where you don't really need to watch the series of BLEACH to get into this one where we get to know the characters pretty quick and have some good action.
Head (1968): This is a selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I chose The DVD Marquee. This is the first and only movie put out my the Monkees after their sitcom canceled. The Monkees, which consist of Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Davy Jones, and Mike Nesmith, are sent in to a surrealistic dream-like world which consists of the Vietnam War, film-making, and the media's treatment of the band. There really is not a real plot except to make a political statement and a statement towards the media playing some of the best music showing they are more than "fluff". There are many cameos which include Annette Funicello, Timothy Carey, Jack Nicholson, Sonny Liston, Dennis Hopper, and many others.
Tropic Thunder (2008): This is the last of the Random Myspace Profile selection process for this week and for this week I chose my Myspace friend Marcus A. Fine who is known as the #1 wrestling fan in Indiana. He mentioned in his movies anything from Jack Black so I chose this one. Ben Stiller directed this comedy where he stars as actor Tugg Speedman whose career is on the decline. Jack Black plays Jeff Portnoy who is an actor known for his crude and low-brow humor. Robert Downey Jr. plays Kirk Lazarus, an actor willing to do just about anything to get a part. Together, they are in a serious war film which turns much more real than what they expected. Downey was great as Lazarus who decides to turn his skin black so he can get the part of the African-American where he stays in character throughout the movie doing quite the imatation of a black man. I really did not find his portrayal as racist which I'm sure some did as I feel it was done pretty tastefully and I'm sure the Wayans got much less heat for playing white girls. The other two also hold their own in their efforts to stay alive in Southeast Asia. Tom Cruise was rather amusing as the movie studio big shot who really only cared about money. He looked much different than usual and was a good supporting role for him. Others include Matthew McConaughey, Nick Nolte, Brandon T. Jackson, and many others. I really enjoyed this violent comedy and found it to be very clever. The beginning consists of some good "previews" from the fictional actors with some more cameos.
Latin Lovers (1953): Lana Turner stars in this romantic comedy as Nora Taylor, a very rich woman who fears men love her more for her money but her fiance Paul, played by John Lund has a lot of money of his own. She goes with him on a trip to Brazil for a polo trip and in the process meeting Roberto Santos, a very charming man who Nora becomes smitten with and takes a liking to him making things complicated between John and Roberto who both really like Nora. I found this on TCM and worth it for the scenery, Lana Turner and even Ricardo Montalban who I seem to use a lot on here lately.
Well, that is it for this week. I hope you all join me and stay tuned for next week that so far includes director William Friedkin, Helena Bonham Carter, Gerard Butler and James Steward. I did not expect to have two foreign films but it was the way the cards fell. I see I focused quite a bit on comedy, even dark comedy where each one of these had quite a bit of comedy to them. Tell me what you like and what you hate.
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