Welcome to the 236th edition of my long running series. I had a pretty good weekend with my birthday being last saturday and on my birthday going to the wedding for my friends David and Amanda. It was a fun time and no matter how much I may joke about marriage calling it "the prison known as marriage", I wish them both the best. Now lets get on with the selections for this week.
Night of the Creeps (1986): This actually came as a suggestion from The Critic Wannabe. Fred Dekker wrote and directed this horror-comedy where in 1959 an alien experiment crashes to earth and infected a fraternity member where they then freeze the body. In the modern-day, two pledge students accidentally unfreeze the body where it transforms the hosts into killer zombies. This is kind of a tribute to the genre where they have such references to Roger Corman by naming the university Corman University. Characters also had the last names of many horror writers like George Romero, John Landis, Sam Raimi, and many others. This is a fun 80s film which delivers both laughs and scares.
Revolutionary Road (2008): TITANIC alums Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Kathy Bates all reunite for this look at 50s suburban life which was directed by Sam Mendes. DiCaprio and Winslet play married couple Frank and April Wheeler. People believe they have the perfect life with two children, the father going to work and the mother staying home. That is however far from the truth as Frank hates his job and April has foregone her dreams of becoming an actress. April then gets a great idea to move to Paris and she will become the breadwinner so that Frank can pursue his dreams. However, when circumstances change, their marriage is put to a big test. Kathy Bates plays their neighbor who help them get the house. This is not any upbeat look at suburban life, I guess it might be rather boring if it is, but a look as to what can happen when the American Dream fails. There are some pretty disturbing scenes towards the end so be careful but I thought the leads were very good and I enjoyed this film quite a bit.
Hostel (2005): I now bring more violence to the blog in this Eli Roth film. This follows two American friends who are visiting Europe and then learn of a hostel which has some very hot women who like American men. This becomes a very bad choice as that is not quite what they encountered. They run into a very sadistic group that likes to torture people. Like the first two films, this is by no means for everyone and at times really not for me but this is a pretty decent addition to the horror genre. I did find there were some rather clever torture scenes.
The Old Pioneer (1934): This is my short film for the week which is an animated short from the Happy Harmonies group. We see an old man reflecting on some times in the California Gold Rush and an encounter with some indians or injuns as they are referred to now. Looking at this now there is a lot of racism and stereotyping but a little bit of pro-friendship messages in the end. I am always fascinated when watching these kinds of cartoons in a time when we really were not so politically correct and in a time where we really were anti-indian. This is probably obtainable through youtube.
Three Fugitives (1989): This is one of those absurd comedies that really worked in the 80s. We start with Nick Nolte, who plays Lucas who is finally being released from prison for his 14 armed robberies. He then goes to the bank to get his life together but it is being robbed by a more incompetent bank robber in Ned Perry, played by Martin Short. Ned then decides to take Lucas of all people hostage which make people suspicious of Lucas. Lucas reluctantly agrees to help Ned in this jam when he sees that his intentions were to help his daughter making those three people the title. James Earl Jones, Alan Ruck, and Bruce McGill co-star in this comedy. This movie is rather uneven but delivers some good laughs.
Amarcord (1973): I now bring you Fellini for this week. This is Fellini's look at life in a small Italian town in the '30s which is recalled from his own childhood. We see the familiar style of the director and a look at a few colorful characters where we can feel we are right with them. There is no real star of the film or even plot, just a nice bit of imagery and characterization. If you like foreign films and a fan of Federico Fellini, this is one to check out. Sorry for a shorter description but it is really hard to describe on here.
Big Brown Eyes (1936): I now bring you some older Cary Grant. He stars as Detective Danny Barr who is investigating the murder of a baby. Joan Bennett plays Eve Fallon who works at a beauty salon but is then recruited to be a reporter to help the police force. These two meet and the spar a lot but have an obvious love connection. There is some comedy but obviously a lot of drama as Danny resigns from the police force after a witness is let go because of a crooked lawyer and then looks for his own justice. Grant is very good in his early role which really carried this film. This is nothing great but worth it for Cary Grant.
Galapagos (1999): This is my documentary for the week which I found on the Doc channel. Kenneth Branaugh narrates this documentary which takes place on the Galapagos islands which features a young marine biologist investigating plants and animals on the island. This was created for the Imax theater and is a fairly short documentary but fascinating to watch but was probably better on the Imax screen. Still educational if you want to learn or want your children to learn.
Brother Orchid (1940): This is my gangster film for the week which stars Edward G. Robinson as John Sarto who decides he wants to leave the rackets behind and seek a life of "class". He soon finds this is not easy as the new boss, played by Humphrey Bogart, tries to have him killed and woulds him. Sarto then seeks refuge in a monastery where he becomes a monk while trying to hide out. He first cannot believe how nice these people are and the simple lives that are lead but slowly becomes enamored into this monastery. However, he still must deal with his past in order to protect his new life and friends. This was a very good comedy-drama with Robinson in a pretty good performance as a less ruthless person.
The Better 'Ole (1926): This is my silent film for the week which stars Chaplin but not the Chaplin you might be thinking. This Chaplin is his older brother Sydney who was pretty successful at the time and before a comedic actor before Charlie. This silent comedy is a war comedy taking place during WWI where Sydney plays Old Bill and has a hard time getting accepted by his unit because of his clumsiness and bumbling. This had some pretty funny moments including the scene where he and his friend put on a horse outfit. This is the second film which featured sound and music which was a year before THE JAZZ SINGER.
Well, that is it for this week. Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Lena Horne, Myrna Loy, Harold Lloyd, Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie, Kevin Bacon, Penelope Cruz, and many others.
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All the best for your 237th edition