Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 268th Edition

Welcome to the 268th Edition of my series and the first one of 2011. I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year. I officially won my 12 team fantasy football league so you do not have to hear about my fantasy football updates again until next year.

Easier With Practice (2009): This is the 8th link of The Chain and this link continues with Brian Geraphty who has his last link. Last week, I used the movie THE HURT LOCKER which he had a supporting part and this week I use this independent film where he is the star. He stars as Davy Mitchell who has an unpublished novel and goes on a road trip with his brother Sean, played by Kel O'Neill, to promote his book. On this trip, when Davy is on the hotel, he gets a random call from a mysterious woman named Nicole who he then forms a phone relationship with and even has phone sex. This makes him happier than ever and decides that he wants to meet her which she does not make very easy. It is a pretty decent independent film with a good performance from Geraphty in what is a bit of a character study. Next week, the chain will continue with one of the actors, actresses, or director.

Magnolia (1999): This is part four of my four-part Philip Seymour Hoffman series. Paul Thomas Anderson directed this three hour film which features several characters in the San Fernando Valley who search for the happiness, meaning, and forgiveness. Jason Robards is a dying man reflecting on his life. William H. Macy was the child quiz winner when he was a child but has not been able to move on and live up to his image as an adult. John C. Reilly is great as an idealistic cop who forms a relationship with a drug addict. Jeremy Blackman is a current child quiz expert whose father is the one who seems to want it the most. I also really enjoyed Tom Cruise and an infomercial host. There are so many subplots in this film that it is really hard to explain but if you have three hours, this is a good one to check out. It just requires full attention. With all these subplots, it comes to a very unusual climax. Also highlighting the film is the beautiful soundtrack from Aimee Mann including a very well-directed scene with the song WISE UP.

A Day at the Zoo (1939): This is my short film for the week from Merry Melodies and a Tex Avery short. This is just as the title says with some pretty funny situations like smoking animals. The strangest part was a character named Egghead always teasing a lion even though the narrator tells him not to feed them. There were also some monkeys, panthers, an elephant, and many others. I also liked the monkeys throwing food to the humans to catch in there mouth. I found this on my public domain app I have on the Roku player.

A Christmas Carol (1938): I decided to use one more holiday film with the combination of me watching it with my mom on AMC during Christmas and as I feel we must always be in the Christmas Spirit. Not in terms of giving presents all the time but to be giving and help others in need. This is the third adaptation in a row I have done of this Dickens classic. Reginald Owen stars and the cranky miser Ebenenzer Scrooge in this version. This version was a little different than others. Tiny Tim seemed a bit older and more active despite being a cripple. Also, Cratchit actually gets fired on Christmas Eve. Otherwise, everything else remains the same. Leo G. Carroll co-stars as the ghost of Marley and was very good. Owen was also very good in his role of Scrooge. Lionel Barrymore was originally supposed to play Scrooge, as he played the part for years on the radio play, but could not due to his health. Barrymore then suggested his friend Reginald Owen to play the part which turned out to be a great decision. Don't worry, no more CHRISTMAS CAROLS for a little while now. I know no one wants to see any Christmas films for a while but if you live Christmas 24/7, this one is for you.

Angel Unchained (1970): I found this one on Impact On-Demand in the free movie section on Comcast On-Demand. Don Stroud stars as the title character who is a former member of a biker gang who joins a hippie community wanting to change his ways. However, things become complicated when rednecks in the community attack the group. Angle then gets together his former biker gang to help combat this group of close-minded and violent people. Things also get complicated when the hippies do not care for the bikers way of life and vice versa with the bikers. CAGNEY AND LACEY and JUDGING AMY alum Tyne Daly co-stars as Angel's love interest. Not a bad b-movie biker film as long as you do not expect the greatest plot.

Sleep, My Love (1948): This is my film-noir for the week which I found on my dad and stepmom's Blu-Ray player on their instant Netflix list. Douglas Sirk directed this film noir which stars Claudette Colbert as Alison Courtland. Her troubles start when she is on a train and not sure of how she ended up on the train. She is then in a world of mystery and intrigue as she must look to find how she ended up on the train but is still driven to the brink of insanity in her search for answers. Robert Cummings, Don Ameche, and PERRY MASON alum Raymond Burr all co-star. I'm not going to give away too much but it is available on Instant Netflix so if you want a good film-noir, this one may be it.

Coraline (2009): I watched this on On-Demand when I was at my dad's house and was looking for something in animation so I decided it was time to check this one out. Henry Selick directed this film and is most known for A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Dakota Fanning provides the voice for the title character who feels her parents are rather boring and don't always pay attention to her. She then finds a portal and finds herself in an alternate universe where people have buttons for eyes and feels her parents in this world are very caring and fun. This deals with the message of "be careful what you wish for" and "too good to be true" as she soon learns that this alternate world has some very dark secrets. This film uses the Stop-Motion animation and is the longest one to date. This film has some great animation with fun characters. In some ways it is a darker spin on ALICE IN WONDERLAND.

Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms (2006): Here is my third animated selection for the week which is quite rare. This is one of the animated films of the comic-book character where Hellboy, Liz Sherman, and Abe Sapien travel to Japan when a professor becomes possessed by a Japanese scroll. When HB finds a sword he is transported into a strange world of Japanese folklore with ghosts and monsters. FRAZIER alum Peri Gilpin voices their ally Kate Corrigan who works to bring back Hellboy. It is not as good as the live-action film released but still pretty fun. Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, and Doug Jones reprise their parts of Hellboy, Liz, and Abe. Abe Sapien seems to have more fighting ability in this one than he does the live-action version. I liked the live-action look that Jones pretty much created. In the very first HB film, David Hyde Pierce dubs the voice of Abe Sapien but Jones proves to be just as good in this film.

Alice's Restaurant (1969): I also found this from my dad's Instant Netflix queue on his Blu-Ray player and one of his favorites. Arthur Penn directed this film where Arlo Guthrie stars as himself. This film is based on his song of the film title. Arlo narrates the film, and the song plays during the film a lot. It also has a lot of comedic misadventures like when Arlo dumps trash in a ravine and when he must go through a physical when possibly drafted into the military. This is a pretty true story that takes place with his long song. There is a trial scene where the real blind judge who was the judge, plays himself here. This is a great hippie film which can be found on Instant Netflix.

Once Bitten (1985): I end with this vampire comedy which I found on Encore On-Demand. Make no mistake, I watched this on account of seeing early Jim Carrey. Lauren Hutton stars a 400 year old vampire who must drink the blood of a virgin in order to keep her beauty. Cleavon Little stars as a vampire named Sebastian and Little is most known from BLAZING SADDLES. This has its funny moments but is quite flawed and was not the star-making role from Mr. Carrey. It can be enjoyable for fans of the vampire genre but not the best even for comedy standards. It does contain laughs and shades of future LIVING COLOUR alum Jim Carrey with a great comedic career.

Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Mickey Rourke, Alan Parker, Sandra Bullock, and many others.