Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 217th Edition

Welcome to the 217th series of my series. This week I pay tribute to the late Mark Christian and Willie Mitchell. This was a very hard one to put together and I can see I put a lot of unknown things on there but I'm satisfied with these results. I won't be doing a dvd review this week as I did not get this installment put together quick enough. I'll try to do one next week.

Rock Hudson's Home Movies (1992): This is my tribute to the late Mark Christian who was a lover of Rock Hudson. This is a rather strange documentary put together and directed by Mark Rappaport which is mostly film clips of the so-called gay subtext. Eric Farr narrates this movie as though he is Rock Hudson and explaining his life and the subtext of many of his scenes. This is far from professional and likely the same thing with the accuracy and Eric Farr just was not that believable to me as Rock Hudson. I have seen a few Rock Hudson films and I have always liked him and I separate his sexuality and lifestyle from the films he was in. Maybe I should see the gay references but I guess I just don't have that kind of intelligence to do so. However, through it all, it was a good effort by Rappaport and intriguing legacy of Rock Hudson. I was only able to find this available as an instant watch in Netflix so it was worth a shot and it's only an hour long.

Scent of a Woman (1974): Notice the year so no this is not the Al Pacino film where he finally won Best Actor. That one is a remake of this Italian film from Dino Risi. This was not easy to obtain, in fact I got it from ebay which the DVD is actually an import from Italy but luckily compatible to my DVD player and it had english subtitles to make it watchable for me. Vittorio Gassman plays the role of blind, eccentric Captain Consolo. Alessandro Momo plays army cadet Giovanni which Consolo nicknames Ciccio. Ciccio then accompanies the Captain on a long trip to Naples where the Captain has some business to finish. Ciccio then must put up with Consolo's bad behavior and all the orders that he gives. It is unfortunate I had to find this on ebay where I could not just get it on Netflix because this is a very good movie and so is the 1992 version in my opinion. The two leads work very well together and is a pretty fun film which is pretty easy to understand even with subtitles.

Grips, Grunts, and Moans (1937): This is my short film for the week. My mom's boyfriend decided to record the whole 3 STOOGES marathon to DVR and as a wrestling fan took note of this interesting episode. The Stooges become managers to the World Champion Bustoff but then he gets drunk and also due to their clumsiness is not able to wrestle. When this happens, the stooges learn there is a lot of money riding on Bustoff and get Larry to stand-in for him against one of the best. He finds that he does not have the strength of his opponent so Moe and Curly must come up with comical ways to stay in the fight. I did not recognize any of the names of the people who played wrestlers. I do have some expertise in wrestling but have not heard of these people if they were real wrestlers but it was cool to see wrestling in the 30s though.

The Browning Version (1951): I found this British film on TCM. Michael Redgrave stars as professor Andrew Crocker-Harris. He has a heart ailment and is forced to retire from his school. On his last day he reflects on his early days and on becoming such a hated professor with his students and colleagues. He is also denied his pension and has a wife who is having an affair with the science teacher. It shows how years in the job can really effect someone. The movie had a hard time really getting out to public as downbeat as it was. This was not like the 1939 film GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS where Mr. Chips was to retire with a good career and reputation. Redgrave is great as the professor who is trying to come to peace with his difficult years and uncertain future.

Inspector Morse: Masonic Mysteries (1990): This is actually an episode of the British tv series INSPECTOR MORSE but I decided to use it here since it is feature length and directed by Danny Boyle. John Thaw plays the title character who has investigated and solved many complicated murder mysteries but has a different situation when he is framed for the murder of a female friend. He must dig very deep to find who is doing everything possible to frame him. There are a lot of references to Mozart's opera MAGIC FLUTE which he is a big fan of and that is the show they were in when the friend was killed. This one moves pretty well and an early work from the promising Danny Boyle whose movie SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE won Best Picture last year at the Oscars.

D.O.A. (1950): I found this classic on TCM. Edmond O'Brien stars as accountant Frank Bigelow who learns he has been poisoned with no cure and about a day to a week to live. Frank then sets out to find the person who poisoned him and why where he runs into a lot of strange characters on the way. This was a very well done film-noir with a man going very deep to find his killer. It was also well shot where he is explaining to the police that he was dying and giving flashbacks of what happened. This one is absolutely worth a watch. I hope I can get this back on the radar.

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987): I was looking for an 80s film and came across this interesting documentary on the Link channel. This documentary follows a Japanese man named Kenzo Okuzaki, a survivor of WW2 who was very controversial with the rulers like Hirohito and committed many crimes. He has a very dark past and goes around speaking to other survivors involved to the truth on things that happened during the war. This was not easy to watch and Okuzaki was a very violent man as he showed in front of the camera but still a rather compelling documentary.

The Birds (1963): I bring you the "Master of Suspense" Alfred Hitchcock. Tippi Hedren stars as playgirl Melanie Daniels, a playgirl who comes to a small Northern California town in pursuit of a possible boyfriend, played by Rod Taylor. Pretty soon after she arrives, many bizarre bird attacks happen and they get worse as crows, seasgulls and many other birds team up to wreak havoc in the small town. Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, and Veronica Cartwright also co-star. This is the closest Hitchcock ever came to directing a conventional horror film showing what can happen if our feathered friends attack. It was pretty disturbing to watch on the big screen tv at the house even now. Hedren was actually cut by one of the birds as Hitch went through some extreme measures towards the birds and there was a history of Hedren and Hitchcock not getting along well but it was well worth it for this final product.

Hellboy (2004): This is my tribute to Willie Mitchell who actually co-wrote the song LET'S STAY TOGETHER sung by Al Green which was featured in the film. Let me admit something. This is the first time I saw this film and any other sequels or animated films. I finally got to it and decided it was time to try it and possibly put it here and I did. Guillermo Del Toro wrote and directed this movie based on the comic book. Ron Perlman stars as the title character who is a demon raised in infancy and is out to fight the forces of darkness. John Hurt co-stars as Professor Broom who raises Hellboy and teaches him to grow up. Doug Jones co-stars as an aquatic demon named Abe Sapien who David Hyde Pierce does the voice for but did not take a credit. Jones was still very good in his portrayal of the character and came up with a lot of his movement. Selma Blair plays a more conflicted woman who has the gift of fire which she has had a hard time controlling but begins to learn. Rupert Evans, Jeffrey Tambor, and many others co-star. This movie focuses a lot on Hellboy learning of who he is and showing him in a difficult life where he must stay in hiding as much as possible. There is still some great action and effects and a very enjoyable film. I'm sure I'll be checking out the others soon. Perlman played the part very well. Del Toro had to do a lot of convincing to get Perlman in that part as the studios wanted Vin Diesel. That shows, they need to listen to the director more. Mike Mignola was the creator of the comic book and it was brought to life very well.

In Bruges (2008): Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson star as two hitmen who are in Bruges, Belgium after a difficult job. They are good friends and have a lot of interesting discussions despite their way of life. Gleeson is the more philosophical and Farrell is friendly but a rather loose cannon whose mouth gets him in trouble. Farrell plays Ray and in Bruges he is set to do a job but really screws up. Ralph Fiennes co-stars as the ruthless crime boss who wants Gleeson to kill him. There is also an interesting sub-plot where Farrell meets a beautiful girl who deals drugs and gets to know the actors of a movie set including the midget star. It is really hard to describe this but has some dark humor and some pretty good dialogue. It was very entertaining, even Colin Farrell who just always gets in some kind of trouble.

Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and do not like. Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Evan Rachel Wood, Rene Russo, Bruce Willis, a documentary, and more from director Danny Boyle which makes him the most used director of 2010 so far. I am going to keep track of the actors and directors I use for the year of 2010. So far the most used actor is Tippi Hedren who was in last week's feature THE COUNTESS FROM HONG KONG which was Chaplin's last film. I'm sure that lead will change soon but for now Tippi Hedren in two weeks is the most used actress.