Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 227th Edition

Welcome to the 227th Edition of my weekly series. This was a very difficult one to put together due to my unwritten rules but I finally have a finished product I hope you'll like. I chose one movie from the Random Myspace Profile Selection process. Next week will have at least one but possibly two.

Alien Raiders (2008): This is a selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I chose the myspace profile for this very film. This movies starts out at the grocery store where we see another night of closing and someone even stealing money but then things change when a group of masked men take the place hostage and even kill some of the customers. They are revealed to be a group of rogue scientists who tracked an alien infestation in the store and must find who is infected at any cost. This was pretty entertaining and a pretty decent sci-fi flick. I'm not big on this genre but I kind of liked this and some of the effects. The only person I even recognized was 24 alum Carlos Bernard. It also had a pretty good back story leading to the horrific situation.

A Tale of Two Cities (1935): I now bring you some Charles Dickens which is his story that takes place during the French Revolution. Ronald Colman stars as lawyer Sydney Carton. He is a troubled attorney who agrees to defend French aristocrat Charles Darnay, played by Donald Woods, for charges of being a spy. Elizabeth Allen plays Lucie Manette who is the fiance of Darnay and is the one who becomes enamored with Carton convincing him to defend Darnay. Sydney Carton is then captured by revolutionaries and learns redemption when trying to escape. Basil Rathbone stars as Marquis St. Evremonde. This is a pretty good movie production directed by Jack Conway. I make no claims to having any knowledge or expertise on this Dickens story and it is really hard to explain in detail but captures the French Revolution and the oppressed society with the poor. Colman was very good as Carton.

Bye Bye Brazil (1979): This is my Brazilian film for the week directed by Carlos Diegues. This is about a group called the Caravana Rolidei which is lead by the Gypsy Lord. There are lots of performers like a mute man showing his strength, an erotic dancer named Salome and the Gypsy King doing magic tricks. We then meet a young accordion player who asks to join the troupe. He immediately becomes smitten with Salome even though he has a pregnant wife who also joins the group. When bad financial times hit, the accordianist must choose between seeing his wife a prostitute or leaving the caravan. This was a pretty well-done foreign film with some cool performances and good characters.

Heavenly Creatures (1994): The Facebook friend I selected for this week is Elizabeth who runs the annual Horror Movie Madness contest and has given me the nickname "King of the Loophole" during these contests since I include a lot of films where it "does not have to be horror". She gave me a lot to choose from where she named many actors and directors. I settled upon director Peter Jackson since I have this movie in my Netflix Queue so I'm not sure how she'll feel about the selection but here it goes. Kate Winslet, in her film debut, and Melanie Lynskey star in this true story of a friendship in the 1950s that lead to murder. Winslet plays Juliet Hulme who is new to the school and is very outgoing. Lynskey plays Pauline Parker who is more of an introvert but likes Juliet's defiance of authority. They soon for a very close bond where they become very inseparable and even create their own fantasy land. The parents of the two become very concerned about their friendship and feel it is too intense. Jackson did a great job here and the two girls worked very well together and for Winslet was the start of a good career as well as Lynskey. This is a good look at a teen friendship from the era. Juliet Hulme is actually mystery author Anne Perry.

Scream (1996): It was good to revisit this Wes Craven film which I see as "misunderstood". People expected some all out horror movie and acted like it was surprising for them to laugh. Well, this is a parody to the genre of Horror. When I said that to someone, they replied "That SCARY MOVIE is the parody of SCREAM" and yes that is true but this was a less comedic spoof. Maybe instead of calling this a parody or a spoof, maybe we should call this an homage to the popular slasher genre. We start with Drew Barrymore in the beginning where she has a pretty iconic scene which gets us started in a small but very important role. We then turn to PARTY OF FIVE alum Neve Campbell who plays Sydney Prescott who is still haunted by the murder of her mother and one year later a psychopathic killer is out murdering students just like in a slasher film. FRIENDS alum Courteney Cox plays tabloid reporter Gale Weathers who is still investigating the murder of Sydney's mom not believing the person in prison is guilty. Courteney Cox's future husband David Arquette plays Deputy Dewey. I thought this movie had some pretty well written characters and the movie also co-stars Skeet Ulrich, Jamie Kennedy, Rose McGowan, Matthew Lillard and even HAPPY DAYS alum Henry Winkler. Also look for an uncredited cameo from Linda Blair. This is a pretty decent series of film and I hope part four impresses, I have a little concern but I'll wait until it comes around. I even liked the soundtrack and the use of the song RED RIGHT HAND by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. This was also pretty groundbreaking into the teen horror series of film that was launched right after this one.

The Big Heat (1953): This is my film-noir for the week which stars Glenn Ford as Sergeant Dave Bannion who loves his wife and son and is a very touch cop. Things change for him when his wife is murdered and is determined to not only find the killers but to put an end to a gang lead by Vince Stone, played by Lee Marvin. Gloria Grahame plays the abused mistress of Stone who reluctantly helps Dave bring him down. Glenn Ford was great and very believable as the vengeful officer who does not listen well to authority. It is a very intense and violent film noir for that era. Jocelyn Brando, older sister of Marlon, plays Ford's doomed wife.

Bold King Cole (1936): This is my animation short for the week starring Felix the Cat in this surreal eight minute animation piece. We first see him sitting in the tree playing his guitar but then a big thunderstorm hits. When seeking shelter he finds the very boastful King Cole. The ghosts of the kings before him come out of their frame when they tire of hearing King Cole's boasting and pretty much subject him to torture. Still a pretty funny eight mintues.

Brute Force (1947): This is part two of my Burt Lancaster series that might have a part three next week but I don't know though. I really like these classic prison propaganda films where Lancaster plays prisoner Joe Collins. He really hates the rule of chief guard Captain Munsey and is determined to muscle him and lead an escape. Hume Cronyn plays Captain Munsey who really abuses his power and even frames the prisoners which provokes Collins into banding together the prisoners for a daring escape. This is another pretty intense film especially during the climatic jail break which may very well be the most violent 40s film I have seen to date. There is also an interesting moral message at the end hence my term propaganda.

Crazy Heart (2009): I went to the movie theater with my friend Lisa last Thursday and checked out this award-winning film. Scott Cooper wrote and directed this movie based on the novel by Thomas Cobb. Jeff Bridges won many awards for playing has-been country singer Bad Blake who is confined to playing little venues like bowling alleys. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays small-town newspaper journalist Jean Craddock who wants to do an interview with Blake and then forms an unusual relationship. He really likes where he is and Jean's four-year old son who he might be trying to make up for his relationship with his own son. He then finds himself in a gig for Tommy Sweet, played by Colin Farrell, who he is scheduled to open for. Bad Blake helped Tommy get started and seems jealous of his popularity but still agrees to do it. Things start looking up but his destructive lifestyle with things like drinking threaten to ruin everything. I heard someone call this movie "This year's the Wrestler" which I guess there are some similarities but both films are such a realistic look into their respective professions. This is one of those "character studies" where we see the journey of a man looking for salvation but finds it to be very difficult. I feel that Bridges deserved every Best Actor award he got and shows one of many great performances in his career. Bridges and Farrell did their own singing and were pretty good. T-Bone Burnett won a lot of awards for his song THE WEARY KIND.

DVD REVIEW: A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001)

DVD INSERT

-Production notes: This is about a page worth of things describing the film and what went on during production. This is a pretty good read, not sure who wrote it.

-Also Available on Dreamworks DVD
--Almost Famous (2000): This is a great piece of work from Cameron Crowe which is semi-autobiographical to his career as a reporter with Rolling Stone. This is a rock film where Patrick Fugit stars as a reporting following a fictional rock band. Kate Hudson co-stars as one of the bands "band-aids" but not a groupie. This was Kate Hudson's first notable performances and one that has just not been matched as she does a lot of romantic comedy now.
--American Beauty (1999): Kevin Spacey stars in this dark portrait of suburban life as a husband and father who is not happy in his marriage. Mena Suvari co-stars and has that iconic images with the rose petals falling all over her.
--The Contender (2000): This is the only one of the six films listed here I have not seen. I have heard good things on this political thriller which is now in my Netflix Queue. One of my favorite actors Gary Oldman stars in it so I should check it out.
--Gladiator (2000): This likely ranks into my top 20 favorite films. This takes place during in Rome where Russell Crowe stars as a fictional general, turned slave, turned gladiator. He is determined to avenge the murder of his wife and son. Long before Joaquin Phoenix became such a successful rapper, he was an actor and played the corrupt emperor Commodus who takes over after his father Marcus Aurelius dies.
--Saving Private Ryan (1998): This was a pretty groundbreaking war film through Spielberg which takes place during a mission lead by Tom Hanks to get a soldier of the title out after his brothers have all been killed. The beginning sequence was a very violent sequence which I'll never forget a friend saying how "hilarious" it was and I thought say that to someone who lived that. It was a scene so violent but very realistic where a lot of WWII vets thanked Spielberg for not holding anything back. Tom Sizemore co-starred in this film and shows here what he is capable of and it saddens me to see what he has become. Tom, if you read this, please take this rehab seriously and come back to us. I want to see you in a good movie, not on CELEBRITY REHAB.
--What Lies Beneath (2000): I saw this one time and recall liking this ghost story starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford but just don't remember enough to describe here.

FEATURE PRESENTATION

-A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001): This is a project that had been in plans for many years. This is based on a short story called SUPERTOYS ALL SUMMER LONG by Brian Aldiss. Stanley Kubrick really liked this story and purchased the rights from Aldiss. He then went to Steven Spielberg and wanted him to direct it believing he was more suited for that type of film. Before this was put in production Kubrick died so Spielberg decided to do it and try to keep Kubrick's vision while putting his own thing into it. This takes place in a world where more and more robots have been built but there have been built for certain jobs. William Hurt plays an inventor named Professor Hobby who wants to build a robot who can love. He succeeds in creating David, played very well by Haley Joel Osment, who is then adopted by a family. Frances O'Connor co-stars as Monica who along with her husband Henry, played by Sam Robards, adopts David as a replacement son after their human son is in cryo-stasis for a disease there is no cure for. David has an unending love towards his mother but things change in the house when their son is cured and comes home. Monica then abandons David in a forest. David remembers seeing PINOCCHIO and believes if he can become a real boy that his mother will take him back so he sets off on a journey to find the Blue Fairy. He sets off on this journey and meets many strange characters including Gigalo Joe, played by Jude Law, who helps David on his journey. Also with David is the robotic teddy bear named Teddy who like like David's mentor. Jack Angel did a great job of voicing Teddy. There are a few other voice cameos from other celebs. This is not something that really ranks in my favorites and I was a little uneasy at times but this one my second viewing and I liked it better than the first viewing where I really just did not like it. I thought it was a little longer than it needed to be but that might just be me. It was still a very well-done film, just not for everyone. They did do a good job on the robots and the set.

CREATING A.I.

- This is a featurette talking mostly about Kubrick's original vision.

ACTING A.I.

-A Portrait of David: This is a featurette about the character of David. Osment speaks a lot on here about things he had to learn like scuba diving. He also speaks of how he did the movie and the character never blinked which was very hard for him. This was pretty good insight on this character and what went into it.

-A Portrait of Gigalo Joe: This is a portrait on the flamboyant robot character Jude Law played and how he learned a lot of dance styles to get prepared for the part.

DESIGNING A.I.

-A.I.: From Drawing to Sets: Chris Baker who is the conceptual artist, talks about his work with Kubrick on the set designs and talks about his illustrations.

-Dressing A.I.: Bob Ringwood who is the costume designer and spoke about the different things he did with costume design and wanted it to look somewhat modern but not real flashy. This was some pretty good insight on the costume selection.

LIGHTING A.I.:

-This is a piece from cinematographer Janusz Kaminski talking about his work towards the set and camera shots and such.

SPECIAL EFFECTS

-Michael Lantieri who was the Special Effects Supervisor talks about working with Spielberg and giving him different options on each scene. They did a very good job with special effects in this film to look fairly real and not computerized like many films of today.

ROBOTS OF A.I.

-Stan Winston who is the animatronics designer talks about the robots he created and how each one looks different and how some of them were puppets and some were human. Winston was very involved in this process and a very important part of the film. Also Jack Angel talks some about his work as the voice of Teddy which is one of my favorite parts of the film.

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS AND ANIMATION: ILM

-An Overview: Dennis Muren, who is the Visual Effects Superviser, talks about his conversations with Stanley Kubrick on what they wanted for this film. He also shows some of his drawings

-The Robots: This is another featurette which takes a look at the many various robots of the film.

-The Miniatures: This talks some about the beginning set pieces but talks more on the things in Act three for the new world we see under water.

-The New York City Sequence: Shot progression: This talks about the cg effects on the futuristic New York.

-Animating A.I.: This shows what went into animating the characters of Teddy, Dr. Know, the alien beings, and Blue Fairy

THE SOUND AND MUSIC OF A.I.

-Sound Design: Gary Rydstrom who is the sound designer talks about his work on the film and how he chose the people to the voices like Robin Williams for Dr. Know.

-The Music: This is a piece with the legendary composer John Williams who works a lot with Spielberg. He talks about his collaborations on the music score and what to do.

CLOSING

-This is the closing credits to what we have seen and Spielberg talking about how the film may not be a false perception in the future and how in society we as humans need to know how to use our genius so that we do not go too far.

A.I. ARCHIVES

-Trailers
--Theatrical Trailer 1: This trailer introduces the attributes like his age, high, weight, hair but that he is not real and then gave the title.
--Theatrical Trailer 2: This trailer starts with the warning before activating the robot child which Monica had to decide if she wanted to do it. It then shows scenes for David's journey as a real boy.
---I thought the first one was more clever but both were done pretty well for a modern-day trailer.

-Storyboards: This shows some original drawings for "Joe's Goodbye", "David's Leap", and "David and the Blue Fairy". Drawings were not the most clear to me but they were for them. In the "David and the Blue Fairy" one, it looked like they had more plans for Teddy but not real sure.

-Chris Baker's Portfolio: This shows some of Baker's drawings.

-Productions Design Portfolio: These were designs more for the set and these drawings were very good and probably could have made an animated piece or graphic novel from these.

-ILM Concept Art: These are more drawings of character changes and set pieces.

-Portrait Gallery by David James: These are actual still photos from the film.

-Steven Spielberg Behind the Scenes Photographs by David James: These are still photos of Spielberg working with everyone.

CAST

-These are just profiles of the actors but pretty good mini-biographies.

FILMMAKERS

-These are mini-biographies on the people behind the scenes like Spielberg and many others.

PRODUCTION NOTES

-These are more notes as there is a lot in the insert. This talks a lot about Kubrick's vision and him not believing that he is the director for the film so asked Spielberg to do it instead.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

-This is something where lots of short featurettes are used. I believe that these cover what an audio commentary would have done. I liked that it had interviews with just about every department showing that when doing a project like a movie, show, play, that every part of the show must click, not just the actors, directors, and writers.

Well, that is it for this week. I seem to have a theme for violence in this one. Tell me what you love and what you hate. I also want a suggestion for a future selection. It must be available in Netflix and I will take one per person so really think hard about what you want me to view in the future and you might see it here someday. Stay tuned next week which includes the late Corey Haim, Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston, and many others.