Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 221st Edition

Welcome to the 221st Edition of my long running blog. So later today we will see the Colts and the Saints go at it. Some watch for the football and some watch for commercials. I am in Indiana but I still want a good game and hope The Who make some good music selections in their limited time on stage. This week I pay tribute to the late Pernell Roberts, Teddy Pendergrass, Karen Schmeer, and Kate McGarrigle.

Body Heat (1981): This turned into my two-part Mickey Rourke series that was not intentional. Both of these are very early and bit roles for him as last week I featured the controversial Heaven's Gate. Lawrence Kasdan wrote and directed this homage to the 40s and 50s film noirs. William Hurt plays attorney Ned Racine who meets Matty Walker, played by Kathleen Turner, who is a very unhappily married woman. They soon start to have quite an affair, then Ned joins her in a plan to murder her husband. I won't go any further on the plot from here but if you have seen enough in the Film Noir genre, you'll know that nothing goes as planned. Richard Crenna plays the hated husband. Ted Danson co-stars as the prosecutor. Mickey Rourke also has his first notable part as arsonist Teddy Lewis. This is very enjoyable if you like this genre but not really for everyone.

Dance, Girl, Dance (1940): This is my dance movie for the week. Maureen O'Hara is an aspiring ballerina in a dance troupe named Judy. I LOVE LUCY alum Lucille Ball plays the more eccentric Bubbles who is called into the world of Burlesque. Bubbles gets Judy the job but Judy is reduced to being "the stooge". They soon come at odds when they like the same man. This is an interesting film portraying this industry. If anything, it is worth seeing Ball play this type of role and did a good job. O'Hara gave a great speech towards the end of the film. This is more than some cheesy song and dance movie which made me actually like it more than I thought.

Born to Win (1971): Ivan Passar directed this film which focuses on the difficult life of a junkie. George Segal stars as J.J. who is a petty thief and heroin addict. Karen Black co-stars as his love interest and fellow junkie. A young Robert De Niro plays a detective who promises to let J.J. go if he helps bring in bigger criminals. This is nothing great but watchable. I honestly checked it out to see a young De Niro in a bit role who showed signs of big things to come.

Ride Lonesome (1959): This is my tribute to the late Pernell Roberts. This is my western for the week which stars Western legend Randolph Scott. Scott plays bounty hunter Ben Brigade who captures Billy John, played by James Best, intending to take him to Santa Cruz. Karen Steele plays a feisty female that joins Ben as well as outlaws Pernell Roberts and James Coburn. Brigade must contend with indian attacks, Billy John's brother played by Lee Van Cleef, and the outlaws who want Billy John for themselves. This was a pretty entertaining western and had quite a bit of action. Budd Boetticher directed this western which was part of a boxed set. I don't know what the others are since I just got this from Netflix. James Coburn makes his film debut here.

A Hard Days Night (1964): The Facebook friend I chose for this week is Joe who was co-worker of mine when I worked at Isanogel Summer Camp. This is a movie starring all four members of the Beatles. This is a "typical" day in the life of the Beatles. They have a concert later that day and they have many misadventures like Ringo becoming missing the day before a crucial concert. They must also deal with all the screaming fans. Through it all, much of the Beatles' biggest hits are played like the title song, CAN'T FIND ME LOVE, TELL ME WHY, and many others. Look for a young Phil Collins in the audience. This movie is a very funny movie and it is just something you gotta see since there is not much else I can tell you.

Choose Me (1984): This is my tribute to the late R& B singer Teddy Pendergrass whose music is used a lot in this film. I guess this is the closest I will come to paying tribute to Black History Month this week but I'll try to in the coming weeks but it will be limited just like December is with Christmas films. This is a character driven film with a nightclub owner, mysterious drifter, radio talk show host, aspiring writer, and I am not sure what PRETENDER alum Patrick Bauchau who plays the husband having an affair and having the tables turned on him. Keith Carradine in the drifter in town. Lesley Anne Warren in the nightclub owner. Genevieve Bujold is the radio talk show host who gives advice all the time but does not know what to do in real-life. Rae Dawn Chong is the aspiring writer. All their lives kind of intertwine for the good and bad and is a nice, dark love story.

Baby Be Good (1935): This is my animated short for the week and this one focuses on Betty Boop. In this one, Little Jimmy is being very naughty and not going to be so she tells him a fairy tale. We then see a fantasy situation where Betty Boop is the fairy and Jimmy is the mischievous boy doing a lot of bad deeds. This was a very good 8 minutes. I really know nothing about Little Jimmy if that is her son or what. If someone wants to chime in on the comments, go for it.

Varsity Blues (1999): This is my football movie for the week but this one is not as inspirational as many other football films. DAWSON'S CREEK alum James Van Der Beek stars as high schooler Jon Moxon. He is on the football team but seems to only be on the team because his father was on the team and high school football is very important in Texas. He does not play any but he is brought in as the quarterback when the other one goes down with an injury. He becomes very good but gets fed up with the seriousness of the game. Jon Voight plays the authoritarian coach who only really cares about winning and will do so at any cost. This selection will get mixed reactions I'm sure and this will not go down as one of my favorite movies but I do believe that it is sadly, rather accurate.

Standard Operating Procedure (2008): This is my tribute to editor Karen Scheer who was very respected in her line of work and recently left us. She is the co-editor of this documentary from Errol Morris which does not hold back. This documentary takes a look at the Abu Ghraib prison where in 2004, American soldiers were suspected of abuse and torture of the prisoners. The movie shows many of the graphic photographs and interviews the people involved in the scandal. The photos were very sick and the interviews were very interesting where some were showing their disdain and people involved telling their side of the story. Those photos show of a time where the U.S. was wrong in the way they handled themselves. This movie is not for everyone but Morris did a great job of directing this documentary keeping it from getting the Michael Moore treatment.

DVD REVIEW: THE SQUID AND THE WHALE (2005)

PREVIEWS

There were lots of previews to watch before the film and most of them being independent R-rated films from about the same year.

-The Tenents (2005): This is one of many of these previews I had not heard of. We start with it being from author Bernard Malamud and then starring Dylan McDermott and Snoop Dogg. What a combination there and in looking into it I see it got pretty mixed reviews from critics and fans.

-London (2005): Another one I had not heard of and this time seeing the trio of Chris Evans, Jessica Biel and Jason Statham. Statham looked a lot classier than what I have seen him in the past. Looks like a movie with a lot of drug dealing. Looks kind of interesting with once again lots of mixed opinions.

-Capote (2005): This is the only preview on here that I have seen and recall liking it quite a bit. Philip Seymour Hoffman was good as the flamboyant Truman Capote but I liked the HBO film INFAMOUS better though where I felt Toby Jones played the part a little more flamboyantly which was how it was meant to be played. Both films are pretty good though and maybe one day I'll do a comparison blog.

-It's All Gone Pete Tong (2004): This seems to be a mockumentary of DJ Frankie Wilde. The previews look very good and it won an Audience Award so this is something I would like to check out.

-Junebug (2005): This is one of those movies where an outsider must meet the in-laws. This one does not different from the usual formula with Amy Adams looking pretty enjoyable.

-Pretty Persuasion (2005): I was sucked in by this preview pretty quick when I saw Evan Rachel Wood who may very well be one of my favorite actresses. This seems to be a comedy where she accuses her english teacher of sexual harassment causing a big uproar.

-Saint Ralph (2004): This was an unlikely true story of a 9th grader who ran the Boston Marathon in 1954 even though everyone doubted his abilities. This one of many I had not really heard of or remembered hearing but was something that interested me.

-The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005): This was based on a true story on an exorcism and then mentioned how a priest made a controversial decision. This is a horror film that got some mixed reviews and I just haven't gotten to it. I'm sure I'll give it a shot one of these days.

-Thumbsucker (2005): It seems like I might have heard of this but knew nothing about it and it is about a grown boy still sucking his thumb and trying to relieve of the habit. The preview looked pretty good and look like my type of film that focuses on a script and good characters.

-Where the Truth Lies (2005): I took note mostly of Kevin Bacon being in this movie and he looked like he was pretty good. The movie seems to have gotten mixed reactions but did look pretty interesting, though previews usually do.

Those are my ten previews for the week. Some I have gone a little in-depth, some just not at all. I liked the array of these and that most I had not heard of and they may get checked out in the future.

FEATURE FILM

The Squid and the Whale (2005): This is actually my tribute to the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle who formed a duo with her sister Anna and their song HEART LIKE A WHEEL is featured here. This is a very good portrait on a married couple getting a divorce. Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney star as Bernard and Joan. They are a married couple who have been together for a long time but decide they should get a divorce. What the movie focuses more on however are they two kids. Jesse Eisenberg plays their teenage son Walt who shows a lot of resentment towards his mother for the divorce. Owen Kline is their younger son Frank who deals with the divorce in a very strange way. William Baldwin and Anna Paquin co-star in this film. Noah Baumback wrote and directed this beautiful portrait on how divorce can effect many people. I thought it was kind of funny though when Walt claims to have wrote HEY YOU by Pink Floyd and how long it took for someone to realize it.

AUDIO COMMENTARY

This was commentary from Noah Baumbach which he starts by saying this is not a traditional commentary where he speaks through the movie. This is about an hour long which focuses on certain scenes and working with the actors. He spoke on his experiences of working with the four actors that played the family members and the others in the film. It was very insightful which I liked that he did his commentary in this form.

BEHIND THE SCENES FEATURETTE

This was a ten minute short film just talking about what went on behind the scenes and spoke quite a bit on the child actors. I always like a good, short featurette, that speaks on the important parts of the film.

INTERVIEW WITH NOAH BAUMBACH AND PHILLIP LOPATE

This was an interview at the New York Film Festival where Baumbach and writer Phillip Lopate discuss the themes of the film. Lopate talked how how the characters are so good just about anyone can relate. It is a pretty entertaining discussion but I did grow somewhat bored with it after the first 20 minutes or so. However, some good points were made towards a film I really liked.

L.A. TIMES REVIEW BY KENNETH TURAN AND FAMILY MATTERS BY DAVID DENBY

These were a couple reviews written which is in the DVD booklet which is a very good read and analysis of someone who perfectly portrays a married couple.

OVERALL

I really liked the special features along with the film. I feel some DVDs overdo the special features but I'm sure many disagree. I feel like with all these, it really brings together a great independent film.

Well, that is it for this week. Put down what you like and what you hate. I will also take one suggestion per person and put the movie into Netflix if I have either not used it or used it for some time. Stay tuned for next week which includes Pierce Brosnan, Gary Cooper, Robert Englund (no, not any NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET films), director Robert Wise, and many others.