Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 243rd Edition

Welcome to the 243rd Edition. This week I pay tribute to director Ronald Neame who recently left us. I finally broke down and gave into the Blu-Ray craze when my work gave me $150 of gift card money for Wal-Mart and while it was not my original intention, I finally decided that it needed to happen. While I am getting tired of all these things like HD, 3d, and all that, I'm sure it will be pretty cool. My dear friend Lisa and I discuss it all the time where I'm the type that just wants to see the movie. Now to my ten recommendations for this week. I admit, this one was hard to put together but I finally got my ten so get your Netflix and Blockbuster queues and check it out.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969): I start this week with my tribute to the late Ronald Neame who directed this film. Maggie Smith plays the title character who is a teacher in a catholic school in the 30s. She is very controversial in the school as she does not like to follow the curriculum. She is also having a secret affair with an art teacher and another teacher so she is suspected by many colleagues. She is fighting for her job and for the most part has the support of her students except one named Sandy who starts to learn about life on her own through the years. Pamela Franklin was very good in her part of Sandy and Smith as also very good as the title character. This movie is a very good character study but also a coming of age story with the students so they get a lot of focus as well. This is not the most upbeat story of all time but paints believable characters.

Peter's Friends (1992): This is the second of my two-part Emma Thompson series. Kenneth Branaugh directed and co-stars as sitcom writer Andrew in this film which was written by Rita Rudner, who plays Andrew's actress wife Carol, and her real-life husband Martin Bergman. This is another character study in my opinion where six college friends reunite after ten years. Stephen Fry plays the title character who invites his other friends to his home for New Year's eve which include Branaugh, Emma Thompson, HOUSE star Hugh Laurie, Alphonsia Emmanuel, and Imelda Staunton. In this weekend, lots of secrets come out and even some tension. Laurie was quite the opposite of his usual character Dr. House. Emmanuel was actually pretty good in a very non-stereotyped performance for black woman. The whole cast really worked well together and was a very well-written film.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (2009): I end with the last part of my four-part Heath Ledger series and unfortunately this is where his career ended as this is his last movie. Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam directed this very interesting fantasy film. Christopher Plummer plays the title character who has made a deal with the devil, played by Tom Waits who calls himself Mr. Nick, for immortality but must renegotiate and gamble his idea to save his daughter, played very well by the unknown Lily Cole. Verne Troyer and Richard Riddell are also a part of his traveling carnival who try to help him with his deal and make money. They soon meet a very mysterious man played by Heath Ledger who also joins their crew. There is now much to say except there are a lot of beautiful fantasy sequences and even a couple Monty Python-style musical numbers. Ledger actually died during the filming where in some fantasy sequences they brought in Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell to make cameo appearances so THE DARK KNIGHT was not Ledger's last movie.

Ashes and Diamonds (1958): This is my Polish film for the week. This movie takes place during WWII which centers around Maciek who is a resistance fighter in Poland who is ordered to kill a communist leader. Through his career he has killed many but starts to fall in love and starts to question what he is doing. This is one of those movies that show the price of war and what it can drive people to do which in this case was to form a resistance where people think they are doing right but even they can stoop pretty low sometimes to get what they believe is right. Martin Scorsese and Rene Clair are both fans of this film. This movie is pretty violent but is rewarding.

The Visitor (2007): This is a movie I really enjoyed on many levels. Richard Jenkins stars as Professor Walter Vale in Connecticut and is assigned to attend a conference in New York City. When in New York, he goes to his apartment only to find a couple residing there. We have Tarek, a Syrian musician and Zainab, a street vendor. They are illegal immigrants and Walter sympathizes with their situation and does what he can to help them. Walter then starts to really like these people and takes a lot of interest in the African drum that Tarek likes to play. Things change when Tarek is arrested for being an illegal immigrant so Walter gets him an attorney to try to help him. When this happens, Tarek's mom comes in for a visit unexpectedly and forms quite a bond with the professor. It was interesting to see the character development of the professor who was a very nice person once he meets all these people and Jenkins was very good in this part. Thomas McCarthy wrote and directed this film which lacks big names but the actors all fit their roles well.

Great Guns (1927): This is my animation short film for the week. This one features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit who was a very early Disney character who had about 26 silent shorts from 1927 to 1928. Oswald was a rather mischievous rabbit who in this one was caught in the middle of a war. He joins the battle and starts looking for his girlfriend. This was interesting war propaganda and is in some ways a prototype to what would later become Mickey Mouse. Oswald is also the first character to have sold some merchandise like a candy bar. This was some pretty good animation and was pretty entertaining. It is also good to watch for historical purposes of Disney and their later rise.

The Ox-Bow Incident (1943): This is my western for the week which I found on AMC. Henry Fonda stars in this western as a drifter who hear about the murder of a farmer and cattle theft. He then joins a mob who are then determined to find the killers and use their own form of justice. Fonda plays a character who opposes the immediate execution, especially since they have not been proven guilty. Anthony Quinn, Francis Ford, and many others co-star in this film which questions a lot about morality and people's idea of justice. It's a pretty short western which packs a lot in it.

Gorgo (1961): Here's my sci-fi film for the week where sailors capture a giant lizard who has the title name and feature it in a circus. They have no idea however that Gorgo is not the only one of his kind and that he has family of his own which is a mother who is much bigger than Gorgo and the capture of her baby is not something that sits well with her so she terrorizes the town in search for Gorgo. This was actually a pretty decent sci-fi film with good effects for the time.

Adoration (2008): I watched this movie instantly on Netflix. Adam Egoyan wrote and directed this independent film. Devon Bostick stars as Simon who has lost his parents and is in the care of his uncle Tom, played by FELICITY alum Scott Speedman. In his French class, he has an assignment of a translation exercise. His teacher encourages him to dramatize his family in a story of terrorism. The teacher however does not know that he will publicize this all over the internet. It is really hard to explain this story but it's one of those that needs to be followed very closely. I found Arsinee Khanjian to be rather intriguing as the French teacher who clearly has some kind of agenda.

The Secret of NIMH (1982): I end with this animation film directed by Don Bluth and based on Robert C. O'Brien's novel MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH. We start out here with Mrs. Brisby, voiced by Elizabeth Hoffman, who is a widowed field mouse who wants to move her family. However, he son Timothy appears to be dying so she sets out to find a cure. She then enlists the help of other rats who are grateful towards her late husband's service to help find the cure and to help move. This would likely be more for older children as it is a pretty dark film and even a bit violent which you might not guess just looking at the cover. Other voices include Derek Jacobi, Dom Deluise, CHARMED alum Shannen Doherty, STAR TREK alum Wil Wheaton, John Carradine, and many others. This is the film debut for both Doherty and Wheaton and the final film for Hoffman.

Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you hate. Next week I am attempting an all documentary blog which will still pretty much follow my rules and be some that range from old to new. I will also make the documentary as diverse as possible. I have my selections planned out for now so stay tuned for that one.