Welcome to the 229th Edition. This week I pay tribute to the late Peter Graves, Merlin Olsen, and Robert Culp. I have one selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process. Next week will have none. On April 9th at 8:00 pm, my friends Eric and Sheila Schroeder are one of the couples featured on the show WIFE SWAP on CBS. Don't miss it as I'm sure it will be a pretty entertaining episode. Happy Easter, though none of these selections really reflect that
The Reader (2008): This is a movie that takes place during post WWII Germany and has a lot of the use of flashback. The movie centers on the characters Michael Berg and Hanna Schmitz. David Kross plays the young Michael Berg who forms a relationship with the much older Hanna Schitz, played very well by Kate Winslet. They have an unusual relationship where Hanna likes Michael to read from classic literature hence the title of the film. She soon abandons him leaving his confused and heartbroken. The next era we see is eight years later when Michael, still played by Kross, is in law school and observes a trial and sees that Hanna Schmitz in on trial for Nazi war crimes which leaves him full of mixed emotions and decisions. The next era we see Michael, now played by Ralph Fiennes, who has made a good life for himself and revisits his hometown where the two of the reconnect in an unusual way. I had some doubts as to the significance of the later era and even Ralph Fiennes but then really liked how each story connected itself and the way the generations looked to come to terms with the past.
Flying Down to Rio (1933): Gene Raymond and Delores Del Rio star in this musical extravaganza that takes place a lot in the clouds. Raymond plays Roger Bond, a pilot and the band leader for the Yankee Clippers, who gets his band fired from many gigs for flirting with the band members. He soon meets Brazilian beauty Belinha, played by Del Rio, who he takes an immediate liking to despite being engaged to Bond's friend. This is mostly for musical fans. This is the first of many pairings with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and to my knowledge the only one where they did not have top billing. There is also quite a choreography number that takes place in the air. This is full of song and dance but is most noted for the star-making performances of Astaire and Rogers who would become of the the best film duos of all time.
Up in the Air (2009): Jason Reitman directed and co-wrote this film that won him a few awards for his screenplay. ER alum George Clooney stars as Ryan Bingham whose life consists of traveling to places of business in order to fire people for companies. He loves traveling and his job of trying to ease the firing for the employee so they see it as a positive thing. Anna Kendrick co-stars as recent college graduate Natalie who joins the place of his employ and comes up with a cost-saving measure which is firing people through video conferencing instead of flying to the company which jeopardizes what Bingham loves. Ryan then takes Natalie with him hoping to show her that his job works best when talking in person. Natalie soon sees the effect of the job. Vera Farminga co-stars as fellow frequent-flyer Alex Goran who forms quite a friendship with Ryan who then believes he finally might want a relationship. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT alum Jason Bateman plays the boss of the company. Cameos include OZ alum J.K. Simmons, Zach Galifianakis, Sam Elliott, and Danny McBride. I was not sure what I was going to think of this but it really lived up to what I hoped with a great performance by George Clooney whose character I related to some but I could never do his line of work. Kendrick had a great performance as well as the underrated Vera Farminga. The movie had a rather unusual ending which some people did not like but after done analyzing it I came to think it was the right thing. If you want my actual thoughts, message me and I will explain but I won't spoil it here.
Hey, Hey Fever (1935): This is my animated short and this one includes the classic Warner Brothers character Bosco. In this one Bosco and his dog Bruno go to Mother Goose land during the depression and he feels it is his duty to find food for all the fairy tale characters like Old Mother Hubbard, the old lady in a shoe, and many others. It soon leads him to Old King Cole where the title song occurs. This was very entertaining and could even be thought of as racist in some ways has an imitation of blackface characters which was pretty acceptable in those days. This is a character that was around in the late 20s and 30s.
The Undefeated (1969): This is my tribute to Merlin Olsen who is most known for playing the title character in FATHER MURPHY and makes his debut here. This is my western for the week which takes place after the civil war. John Wayne plays Yankee Colonel John Henry Thomas who forms an alliance with ex-confederate soldier James Langdon, played by Rock Hudson. Langdon is leading his people to Mexico where their emperor has promised them land. They then find themselves in the middle of a Mexican revolution. Other people include Lee Meriwether, Jan-Michael Vincent, and western legend Harry Carey Jr. This is a pretty decent western with some good action scenes and one of my favorite John Wayne films. Hudson was pretty good as Langdon.
Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi (1983): This is a selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I chose Ross who childhood friend from the neighborhood. This is the conclusion of the legendary trilogy has will always have a place in pop culture. The Empire is making the second Death Star which is far more powerful than the first. Lando Calrission, played by Billy Dee Williams leads a rebel attack on the Death Star. Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford, leads another group that includes Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and their new friends the Ewoks in an attack to disable the shield to the Death Star in order for the air attack to work. Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill, makes his final confrontation to Darth Vader who hopes to turn Skywalker to the dark side but Luke believes there is still good in his father. There is not much more to say here in what will be passed down to many generations. I was glad to watch this on VHS which my dad got for me years ago for Christmas since I know that Hayden Christian's photo is not re-imaged in this one like on the DVD set. We also have so many iconic scenes like Han Solo in freeze-dried carbonate, the skimpy outfit of Pricess Leia when held captive by Jabba the Hutt, and many others.
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969): This is my tribute to the late Robert Culp who plays the title character Bob. Natalie Wood plays Bob's wife Carol. Elliot Gould and Dyan Cannon play the other couple Ted and Alice. They are all good friends. Bob and Carol have a very unusual relationship where after group therapy they find it more operative to say how they "feel" rather than "think" where their relationship is quite open. They are trying to teach their way of life to Ted and Alice where there is obvious sexual tension. This is very well acted and a very interesting comedy about sex and I guess acceptance and honesty. Paul Mazursky directed and co-wrote this film. There is not much more to really say on this except it kept me pretty entertained.
Wet Hot American Summer (2001): This is my camp comedy for the week. This is a camp set in 1981 where Jeneane Garofalo plays camp director Beth and struggles to keep the camp in order while she is falling in love with science professor Henry Newman, played by FRAZIER alum David Hyde Pierce. Amy Poehler and Bradley Cooper play high schoolers trying to get a group together for the talent show to perform a number in GODSPELL and struggle to find talent. There is quite a bit going on. One part I was not big on was Paul Rudd. I just did not really like him in this movie but maybe I'm not supposed to like him. I liked the part of Gene, played by OZ alum Christopher Meloni, who played a man who is still obsessed with war and played a much different part than the tv roles he usually plays. I also liked the parts with Molly Shannon who is dealing with her husband leaving and the kids being counselors to her about what she should do. There is quite a bit of hilarious hijinks that go on in this film which is a pretty well-written comedy.
Berkeley in the Sixties (1990): I found this one on the Link channel. This documentary takes a look at some militant students from the 60s who are protesting against the Vietnam War. There is some footage of some police busts and also the Black Panthers who teamed with these people. This has a lot of interviews with people who took part in these protests and has some pretty good footage which was pretty brutal at times. These were students from the Berkeley college which was once a quiet school but was changed by disgruntled students who felt we should not be in the war. I can't really relate much to this since I did not live in that time but I'm sure it was a pretty interesting time to live in and I'm sure many from this era will love this documentary.
Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you don't like. Next week so far includes Vince Vaughn, Lou Diamond Phillips, Faye Dunaway, and many others. I would also like suggestions to put in Netflix. I want one per person so think hard.
HONORABLE TV MENTION
The Shield (2002-2008): With my Roku player, it gave me the opportunity to finally see the last season of the show I missed. This is the first original fictional series on the FX network and a show that is by no means for everyone. The main part of the show consists of the Strike Team lead by Vic Mackey, played by Michael Chiklis. In his team are mainly Shane Vendrell, Ronnie Gardocki, and Curtis Lemansky aka Lem. Other people come and go but these are the four main guys that make up this team. This is a team that is not above breaking laws to solve their cases. Vic has a very difficult relationship with his ex-wife and struggles with his kids. Benito Martinez plays the head of the department turned politician David Aceveda who is determined to bring down Mackey but is also forced to team up with him at times as well. CCH Pounder was always very good as the dedicated detective Claudette Wyms who also did everything possible to bring him down. This show is based on an actually unit in L.A. called the Rampart division who has some known corruption. Chiklis did a good job of making the character of Vic Mackey humanistic even if he is clearly very corrupt. The big part of the series shows how tension mounts with the strike team and quite a thing to see how it began and the way the series ended. This shows takes a good look at a police unit. Some might say it stereotypes L.A. cops but unfortunately some of them are corrupt but I guess you'll have that anywhere you go. However, most of the cops on the show are not corrupt like Claudette, Dutch, Danni, Julian, etc. High-profile movie actors like Glenn Close and Forrest Whitaker have season stints on this show. I believe the FX series CHANGES came out shortly after Glenn Close was done with this series.
Flying Down to Rio (1933): Gene Raymond and Delores Del Rio star in this musical extravaganza that takes place a lot in the clouds. Raymond plays Roger Bond, a pilot and the band leader for the Yankee Clippers, who gets his band fired from many gigs for flirting with the band members. He soon meets Brazilian beauty Belinha, played by Del Rio, who he takes an immediate liking to despite being engaged to Bond's friend. This is mostly for musical fans. This is the first of many pairings with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and to my knowledge the only one where they did not have top billing. There is also quite a choreography number that takes place in the air. This is full of song and dance but is most noted for the star-making performances of Astaire and Rogers who would become of the the best film duos of all time.
Up in the Air (2009): Jason Reitman directed and co-wrote this film that won him a few awards for his screenplay. ER alum George Clooney stars as Ryan Bingham whose life consists of traveling to places of business in order to fire people for companies. He loves traveling and his job of trying to ease the firing for the employee so they see it as a positive thing. Anna Kendrick co-stars as recent college graduate Natalie who joins the place of his employ and comes up with a cost-saving measure which is firing people through video conferencing instead of flying to the company which jeopardizes what Bingham loves. Ryan then takes Natalie with him hoping to show her that his job works best when talking in person. Natalie soon sees the effect of the job. Vera Farminga co-stars as fellow frequent-flyer Alex Goran who forms quite a friendship with Ryan who then believes he finally might want a relationship. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT alum Jason Bateman plays the boss of the company. Cameos include OZ alum J.K. Simmons, Zach Galifianakis, Sam Elliott, and Danny McBride. I was not sure what I was going to think of this but it really lived up to what I hoped with a great performance by George Clooney whose character I related to some but I could never do his line of work. Kendrick had a great performance as well as the underrated Vera Farminga. The movie had a rather unusual ending which some people did not like but after done analyzing it I came to think it was the right thing. If you want my actual thoughts, message me and I will explain but I won't spoil it here.
Hey, Hey Fever (1935): This is my animated short and this one includes the classic Warner Brothers character Bosco. In this one Bosco and his dog Bruno go to Mother Goose land during the depression and he feels it is his duty to find food for all the fairy tale characters like Old Mother Hubbard, the old lady in a shoe, and many others. It soon leads him to Old King Cole where the title song occurs. This was very entertaining and could even be thought of as racist in some ways has an imitation of blackface characters which was pretty acceptable in those days. This is a character that was around in the late 20s and 30s.
The Undefeated (1969): This is my tribute to Merlin Olsen who is most known for playing the title character in FATHER MURPHY and makes his debut here. This is my western for the week which takes place after the civil war. John Wayne plays Yankee Colonel John Henry Thomas who forms an alliance with ex-confederate soldier James Langdon, played by Rock Hudson. Langdon is leading his people to Mexico where their emperor has promised them land. They then find themselves in the middle of a Mexican revolution. Other people include Lee Meriwether, Jan-Michael Vincent, and western legend Harry Carey Jr. This is a pretty decent western with some good action scenes and one of my favorite John Wayne films. Hudson was pretty good as Langdon.
Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi (1983): This is a selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I chose Ross who childhood friend from the neighborhood. This is the conclusion of the legendary trilogy has will always have a place in pop culture. The Empire is making the second Death Star which is far more powerful than the first. Lando Calrission, played by Billy Dee Williams leads a rebel attack on the Death Star. Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford, leads another group that includes Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and their new friends the Ewoks in an attack to disable the shield to the Death Star in order for the air attack to work. Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill, makes his final confrontation to Darth Vader who hopes to turn Skywalker to the dark side but Luke believes there is still good in his father. There is not much more to say here in what will be passed down to many generations. I was glad to watch this on VHS which my dad got for me years ago for Christmas since I know that Hayden Christian's photo is not re-imaged in this one like on the DVD set. We also have so many iconic scenes like Han Solo in freeze-dried carbonate, the skimpy outfit of Pricess Leia when held captive by Jabba the Hutt, and many others.
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969): This is my tribute to the late Robert Culp who plays the title character Bob. Natalie Wood plays Bob's wife Carol. Elliot Gould and Dyan Cannon play the other couple Ted and Alice. They are all good friends. Bob and Carol have a very unusual relationship where after group therapy they find it more operative to say how they "feel" rather than "think" where their relationship is quite open. They are trying to teach their way of life to Ted and Alice where there is obvious sexual tension. This is very well acted and a very interesting comedy about sex and I guess acceptance and honesty. Paul Mazursky directed and co-wrote this film. There is not much more to really say on this except it kept me pretty entertained.
Wet Hot American Summer (2001): This is my camp comedy for the week. This is a camp set in 1981 where Jeneane Garofalo plays camp director Beth and struggles to keep the camp in order while she is falling in love with science professor Henry Newman, played by FRAZIER alum David Hyde Pierce. Amy Poehler and Bradley Cooper play high schoolers trying to get a group together for the talent show to perform a number in GODSPELL and struggle to find talent. There is quite a bit going on. One part I was not big on was Paul Rudd. I just did not really like him in this movie but maybe I'm not supposed to like him. I liked the part of Gene, played by OZ alum Christopher Meloni, who played a man who is still obsessed with war and played a much different part than the tv roles he usually plays. I also liked the parts with Molly Shannon who is dealing with her husband leaving and the kids being counselors to her about what she should do. There is quite a bit of hilarious hijinks that go on in this film which is a pretty well-written comedy.
Berkeley in the Sixties (1990): I found this one on the Link channel. This documentary takes a look at some militant students from the 60s who are protesting against the Vietnam War. There is some footage of some police busts and also the Black Panthers who teamed with these people. This has a lot of interviews with people who took part in these protests and has some pretty good footage which was pretty brutal at times. These were students from the Berkeley college which was once a quiet school but was changed by disgruntled students who felt we should not be in the war. I can't really relate much to this since I did not live in that time but I'm sure it was a pretty interesting time to live in and I'm sure many from this era will love this documentary.
Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you don't like. Next week so far includes Vince Vaughn, Lou Diamond Phillips, Faye Dunaway, and many others. I would also like suggestions to put in Netflix. I want one per person so think hard.
HONORABLE TV MENTION
The Shield (2002-2008): With my Roku player, it gave me the opportunity to finally see the last season of the show I missed. This is the first original fictional series on the FX network and a show that is by no means for everyone. The main part of the show consists of the Strike Team lead by Vic Mackey, played by Michael Chiklis. In his team are mainly Shane Vendrell, Ronnie Gardocki, and Curtis Lemansky aka Lem. Other people come and go but these are the four main guys that make up this team. This is a team that is not above breaking laws to solve their cases. Vic has a very difficult relationship with his ex-wife and struggles with his kids. Benito Martinez plays the head of the department turned politician David Aceveda who is determined to bring down Mackey but is also forced to team up with him at times as well. CCH Pounder was always very good as the dedicated detective Claudette Wyms who also did everything possible to bring him down. This show is based on an actually unit in L.A. called the Rampart division who has some known corruption. Chiklis did a good job of making the character of Vic Mackey humanistic even if he is clearly very corrupt. The big part of the series shows how tension mounts with the strike team and quite a thing to see how it began and the way the series ended. This shows takes a good look at a police unit. Some might say it stereotypes L.A. cops but unfortunately some of them are corrupt but I guess you'll have that anywhere you go. However, most of the cops on the show are not corrupt like Claudette, Dutch, Danni, Julian, etc. High-profile movie actors like Glenn Close and Forrest Whitaker have season stints on this show. I believe the FX series CHANGES came out shortly after Glenn Close was done with this series.
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