Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 233rd Edition

Welcome to the 233rd Edition of my long running series. This week, I pay tribute to John Forsythe, Dede Allen, and Malcolm McLaren who all have recently left us. I actually have three foreign language selections this week. As you all see I now have a bigger part in GUYS AND DOLLS. I went from playing a part with one line to having a really good supporting part which made putting this together very difficult. I am a little later than usual for various reasons but I'm here now so let's get on with the ten selections for the week.

...And Justice For All (1979): This is my tribute to the late John Forsythe who plays a judge being accused of rape. Norman Jewison directed this intense courtroom drama which centers on a defense attorney named Arthur Kirkland, played by Al Pacino. He is a very idealistic attorney who believes in ethics but has a lot on his plate. He has a client which should not be in prison, a partner, played by ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT alum Jeffrey Tambor, who is bahaving strangely, an affair with a judge, played by Christina Lahti, in the disciplinary committee, and his judge friend who has suicidal thoughts. Things get much worse for him, when the judge he despises is accused of rape and is forced to defend him or he will be disbarred. Lee Strasburg plays Arthur's grandfather who is in a nursing home and paid his way through law school. This was a great movie which looks at ethics on each side and how it can effect someone who is forced to do something they don't want to do so in this case it was Arthur having to defend the judge he despises more than anyone.

Knockout (1941): I found this rather unknown boxing film on TCM. Arthur Kennedy plays a boxing champ who is very confident about himself but decides to leave the sport for his girlfriend. When leaving his sleazy manager, played by Anthony Quinn, makes it very hard for him to find a job forcing him to walk back into the racket of boxing. This is a b movie made by Warner Brothers and was worth a watch to me. This is early work for Arthur Kennedy, Cornel Wilde, and Anthony Quinn.

Wonder Boys (2000): This is a tribute to the late Dede Allen who was the editor of this movie and known as one of the best in her field. Curtis Hanson directed this film which stars Michael Douglas plays English professor Grady Tripp who is dealing with his wife leaving him and writer's block with an editor breathing down his neck. Robert Downey Jr. plays his flamboyant editor. He also learns that his married mistress, played by Frances McDormand, is pregnant with his child along with a college girl, played by DAWSON'S CREEK alum Katie Holmes, he is having an affair with. In the process he meets a very intelligent but disturbed student named James Leer, played very well by Tobey Maguire, who gets him into some possible trouble when attending a party at the head of the chair's home. It is very hard to explain this any more than what I can but the performances were very good and Douglas and Maguire work very well together. This is more of a character study of the events in the life of a writer with writer's block.

Ran (1985): This is one of many great films in the career of Japanese director Akira Kurasowa who gives his own telling of Shakespeare's KING LEAR. The elderly Lord Ichimonji decides to pass the power down to his three sons while hoping to remain an honored guest in his last days. His hopes of his three sons go up in smoke when the two corrupt ones turn on him and even turn on each other some where they hope to strip the lord of everything. This is a very violent film as it shows the price of greed and betrayal and in many ways in the end ask "what is the point?" This is an epic that should be viewed on a big screen.

The Cutting Edge (1992): This is my tribute to Malcolm McLaren who wrote and performed the song LAURETTA on the soundtrack. Paul Michael Glaser directed this story which I guess you can say is a bit similar to the 2007 comedy BLADES OF GLORY. Here we meet Doug Dorsey, played by D.B. Sweeney, who is a hockey player in the 1988 Winter Olympics and gets an injury that puts him out and likely ruins any dreams of playing professional hockey. We also meet Kate Moseley, played by Moira Kelly, who is a very talented but also spoiled figure skater who also has her gold medal hopes shattered on a lift gone bad. It is many years later and Kate remains very hard to work with and has gone through many male partners. Doug still has delusions about getting to the NHL but then gets an offer from Kate coach, played by Roy Dotrice, to try out to be her new partner for the next Olympics. He reluctantly accepts but is the closest to skating he'll ever come to so he does. They don't get along very well at first but he does not give up on her and I think you all know the rest. LOST co-star Terry O'Quinn plays Kate's father who is determined to see his daughter win the gold. This is a love story but I still found it to be very enjoyable and has good messages about not giving up.

The Bicycle Thief (1948): This is my Italian movie for the week which was directed by Vittorio De Sica. This movie takes a look at a poor Italian family where the father gets a good job that requires a bike and then it is stolen. The father and his son search far and wide for this bike. This is a very simple story which really shows how times were very touch in those days and the desperation for this bike which he must have and what desperate men may resort to. This may be a simple story but De Sica adds a lot of beauty to the simplicity in a movie that is very moving.

United We Stand (2002): This is my short film for the week which was made in Norway and my third foreign language selection this week. This short features nine elderly men who have their annual trek through the woods and hear screams for help. They find it is a woman who is mired in a bog so they go to rescue her but she does not seem very appreciative and moves on with her life while the other nine have an unexpected fate. I found this on IFC and while it was not great, it was a good few minutes of these close friends.

Midnight (1939): This is one that will probably always remain buried in that "Golden Year of Cinema" which produced such things as THE WIZARD OF OZ, GONE WITH THE WIND, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. This is a romantic comedy which stars Claudette Colbert as Eve, who is a chorus girl in France who meets a taxi driver named Tibor, played by Don Ameche, who really takes a liking to Eve but sees she is not easy to get. Eve then meets Helene, played by the legendary Mary Astor, who is married but having an affair. Her husband Georges, played by John Barrymore, enlists Eve to get his wife away from Picot. In all this, Tibor is pursuing Eve but sees she is using a different name leading to some pretty funny results. A young Billy Wilder co-wrote this script which was received by good performances including one from John Barrymore who was near the end of his career and died about three years later. Unrelated to this movie, I saw another 1939 film with John's brother Lionel called ON BORROWED TIME which was very good but it did not fit into this week's but both of these decent 1939 Barrymore films went on to get buried in 1939.

Naturally Obsessed: The Making of a Scientist (2009): I found this documentary on PBS so I needed a movie from this time period so I decided to check this out. This takes a look at three grad students who are pursuing careers in science and a very nice professor who is looking for tenure. The professor really just leaves the projects to his students and lets them fail to learn. This was about 60 minutes and was good to see. If you find this on PBS, go ahead and support this look at grad students.

Pinocchio (1940): I end this one with this Disney classic and possibly Disney's best. Just about everyone knows this story of a good man named Gepetto who makes a puppet of the title name who then wishes upon a star that he is real. The Blue Fairy answers this wish by making the puppet real but tells Pinocchio that he can become a real boy by being good. It does not become easy as Pinocchio experiences a lot of peer pressure causing lots of temptation. When Pinocchio becomes real, Gepetto sends him to school and then falls victim to some villains who want to exploit him. He was labeled as "bad" for this but how was he to know things like this in day one of his life and why did Gepetto not just stay with him in his walk to school? I guess I could analyze things like this all day so I'll just stop there. There were some rather disturbing moments in this film but still very enjoyable and even a pretty good message. I'm sure parents used the "you're nose will grow" card when their children were lying when this came out. I used to watch this all the time when I was a kid at my dad's house and it was great to revisit this absolute classic with the song "WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR" sung by the great Jiminy Cricket who was Pinnochio's "conscious". It may not be for real little kids with the moments of violence. There was an issue of Playboy where they cited 43 moments of violence and unfavorable behavior but still good for the family.

Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you hate. Next week includes Jane Fonda, Terrance Howard, and many others.