Welcome everyone to the 223rd edition of my long-running series. I really hope that the weather stays okay this week but that is all I have to say so get our your Netflix and Blockbuster queues and read on.
When We Were Kings (1996): This is my documentary for the week which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary. I had this on Netflix and a couple weeks ago my mom and her boyfriend were contemplating what to watch so when I heard them I asked if they wanted to see this one and they agreed. I suggested it knowing my mom has met Muhammed Ali when she was in the Navy and ended up sitting with him and his family on an airplane. This documentary takes a look at the story leading into Rumble in the Jungle which was a fight in Zaire, Africa between Ali and George Foreman, the owner of the Foreman Grill. It also takes a look at some of the early life of Ali, Foreman, and even fight promoter Don King. It also takes a look at the delays and has many interviews with both parties as well as concert footage from James Brown who performed out there in the events leading into the fight. This was a very good documentary that is worth a watch.
Hoosiers (1986): The Cacebook friend I chose for this week is Dave who used to be a wrestler named Dave Dynasty. This is my movie that takes place in my state of Indiana for the week. David Anspaugh, the greatest sports movie director, directed this basketball film which is based on a true story. Gene Hackman stars as Norman Dale who is hired as the coach of a high school basketball in a very small town in Indiana who all they really have is basketball. He turns a team which has limited players into a team that becomes a contender for the high school championship. Dennis Hopper co-stars as Shooter, the town drunk who was a one time the star-player for the high school. Norman hires him as an assistant coach if he agrees to stop drinking. Barbara Hershey co-stars as a teacher who has a hard time accepting Norman as the coach. Hopper was great in his role as well as the unknown cast where all the people on the team are unknown and never became big stars but can always have this one to look back on. This is based on the 1954 team in the small town Milan, Indiana who went on to win the championship and upset one of the top high school baskeball teams Muncie Central which is in my town. This movie was actually filmed in Indiana and is one of the best sports movies of all time.
Take the Money and Run (1969): This is an early Woody Allen film which he wrote and directed which I consider his most underrated film and my favorite of his films. This movie is shot in documentary style were Woody plays bumbling criminal Virgil Starkwell. It talks about his early childhood, his failed music career, and his unsucessful bank robbing career. It also takes a look at his love life where he feels he must commit a robbery to support his family. There are some pretty funny moments like his attempted escape with a gun made from soap, the escape with six other people when he was on a chain gang, and many others. In the prison scenes there were some actual prisoners paid a small fee to work on the film. This was the first widely-released film in the "mockumentary" genre which was before THIS IS SPINAL TAP was released.
America (2009): This is my tv movie for the week which I found on the Lifetime Movie Network. I usually gloss right through that channel but the description really interested me and I was interested in seeing Rosie O'Donnell in something like this movie. O'Donnell and Joyce Eliason wrote the teleplay which takes a look at the Foster Care system. O'Donnell plays a psychiatrist at a youth treatment center who encounters her latest challenge in a bi-racial boy of the title name. America has lead a very difficult life where he was taken from his parents and his foster father was very abusive. She must do everything possible to get through to him and provides a lot of patience to him. It takes a very good look at the very flawed foster care system.
The Big Bad Wolf (40s/50s): This is my animation short for the week which takes a look at Little Boy Blue and Little Bo Peep who come together with another person who I believe has a pumpkin head. They must then contend with a wolf who is targeting them and the sheep. It was pretty entertaining and even has a good musical number.
The Flesh and the Fiends (1960): This is my horror film for the week which stars Peter Cushing. Cushing plays surgeon and professor Dr. Robert Knox who requires cadavers for his research of the human body. He has a couple people named Burke and Hare to get him his cadavers which go about it in strange ways. A young Donald Pleasance plays the role of Hare. This was a rather unknown but good chiller. This movie is actually based on a true story.
The Hours (2002): This is a story where the novel MRS. HALLOWAY focuses on three generations of women who all deal with suicide in some way or another. Nicole Kidman plays writer Virginia Woolf who actually wrote MRS. HALLOWAY this takes place on her writing the novel. Julianne Moore plays Laura Brown who is pregnant with her second child and does not know if she can be a good mother to that child. Meryl Streep plays Clarissa who is trying to throw a party for her best friend Richard, played very well by Ed Harris, who is a famous author dying of aids. Each story deals with similar situations which make them all come together in the end. Other people in the movie include Jeff Daniels, Claire Danes, John C. Reilly, and many others.
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935): Paul Muni plays the title character who was a scientist. He ends up finding cures for anthrax and rabies. In his quest to find these cures, he does not get much support from his colleagues until he is able to prove his theories. This is a very compelling film with a good performance from Muni who I feel is one of the best actors of that era but is not nearly as known as people like Humphrey Bogart and Spencer Tracy.
Summertime (1955): This is part two of my Katherine Hepburn series and probably the last but who knows. Last week I used ALICE ADAMS where she was much different than her usual persona she shows a lot. This was another Hepburn film where I felt she was much different. Here, she plays a lonely American woman named Jane Hudson in France for vacation who is content in her single life until she meets a man she love but the only problem is that she is married. I would call this kind of a character study where we see Jane see all the sights and meet people in a very strange land. She also has an interesting friendship with a rebellious child. I liked the scene where she gives him a cigarette which was probably no big deal in those days like it is today. This movie helped tourism in the country at the time.
Gerry (2002): I now end with this Gus Van Zant film which was written by him and the two stars of the film Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. Damon and Affleck play friends who wander off in the desert possibly wanting to get away from everything. They end up getting very lost and they are without food and water where they must do what they can to survive. This journey puts a big test on their friendship where they must battle the elements. Gus Van Zant in known for his experimental films and this was an interesting idea which got a lot of mixed opinion I can see. There was not much dialogue, but a lot of imagery. It is kind of a hit of miss opportunity for people to see. I will not put this in my list of favorite films but I did feel the stars worked well together. I also thought it was a good effort by Van Zant, Damon, and Affleck which was worth a look but really needs to have attention when viewing.
Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you love and what you hate and stay tuned for next week.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments
Post a Comment