Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 275th Edition

Welcome to the 275th Edition of my long-running series. Tonight I will be ring announcing for the debuting wrestling promotion Action Packed Wrestling so I hope this is the start to a great independent promotion. It is in Muncie, Indiana at at the Ross Community Center so if you are in the area come check it out. Doors open at 6 pm and the show starts 7 pm. Tickets are $12 at the door. This week I pay tribute to film composer John Barry and actor Kenneth Mars who recently left us.

Stir of Echoes (1999): This is the 15th link on the chain and this link goes to Kevin Dunn. This is my horror film for the week. Kevin Bacon stars as Tom who is living a good life with a wife and son, has a good job and has some good friends. However, during a discussion on hypnosis, his sister-in-law Lisa, played by Illeanna Douglas puts a hypnotic trance on him. He is then seeing some images of a young girl being brutally murdered and sets out to find the body. His son also has the abilities to talk to the dead which also plays a major part in the investigation. This was a pretty enjoyable horror film with Kevin Bacon good in the lead. Kathryn Erbe plays his wife who is getting a bit concerned about her husband and even son. This may seem like another THE SIXTH SENSE but it really is not in my opinion. Next week, the chain continues with one of the actors, actresses, or director.

The Glass Menagerie (1973): This is my tribute to the late John Barry who wrote the music score for this film. This adaptation to the Tennessee Williams play was brought to us by the Broadway Theatre Archive. Katherine Hepburn plays the domineering mother Amanda Wingfield. LAW AND ORDER alum Sam Waterston plays her son Tom who is overwhelmed and wants to get out of the house. Joanna Miles is her daughter Laura who is off in her own world and has some mental disabilities. To round out the cast, another LAW AND ORDER alum Michael Moriarty plays Jim who is invited over to dinner to possibly set him up with Laura who her mother is concerned about her becoming and old maid. The cast of four works very well together. There was an adaptation in 1950 but Williams has actually said he prefers this one. Good later performance for Katherine Hepburn and Waterston was great as Tom. This can be found on Instant Netflix.

The Last Installment (1945): This is my short film for the week which is an installment of the entertaining Crime Does Not Pay series. We focus on a prison inmate named Clyde who is just about to be released. He then reads a magazine article about a 20s gangster named Bull Moose Branigan and feels this is the kind of life he would like to lead with the money and the women. The warden then lets Clyde now how Branigan ends up. There were a lot of these propaganda shorts that talks about the price of crime and are mostly entertaining by today's standards.

Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins (2008): I know some will give me heat for this selection but I try to accommodate to all audiences in some way. Martin Lawrence stars in this film as the title character who is leading a successful life in L.A. as a talk show host. He then takes his fiancee and son to see his family in the deep south where he is in a much different world. James Earl Jones, Nicole Ari Parker, Michael Clarke Duncan, Mo'Nique, and many others co-star. The basics of the story are that the main character has not seen his family in some time and is dealing with long-time problems in impressing his family even with his success. There are some pretty funny moments in the movie and can be fun if you can get past some of the stereotypes and such. Nothing great but I thought it was pretty fun. I did like the moments with the dogs and a traditional race between Martin Lawrence and Cedric the Entertainer which was pretty funny.

The Producers (1968): This is my tribute to the late Kenneth Mars who plays the writer for SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER in this film. Mel Brooks makes a great directorial debut here in this wonderful theater comedy. Zero Mostel stars as struggling broadway producer Max Bialystock. Gene Wilder co-stars as accountant Leo Bloom who sees that a lot of money can be made on a flop if done right as long as it does not become successful. Max really likes that idea and they team up to come up with a really bad show and find SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER. The show is sure to fail as they take every precaution to make it fail including getting the worst director and actors they can find. However, the show experiences unexpected success which can then get them in trouble. This was later made into a musical but no adaptation will beat this classic though the Belfry theater in Noblesville did a pretty good job with this show. There is a very entertaining musical number called SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER.

Forrest Gump (1994): This was a rare showing from TCM on a 90s film but they were playing a lot of Oscar winning films. Robert Zemeckis directed this adaptation on a novel by Winston Groom. Tom Hanks, in one of his best, stars as the title character who has some mental disabilities as well as a low I.Q. but he would do whatever he could to make it in life. Sally Field plays his mother who would not let anyone treat her son any different than others. Gary Senise is also very complex as Lieutenant Dan. Mykelti Williamson plays Forrest's military friend Bubba who loves shrimp Robin Wright rounds out the main cast as Jenny, Forrest's love interest beginning in childhood but always eludes getting the girl. Forrest is a simple man who is just trying to do the right thing. He manages to accidentally become a part in many moments of 60s history. I know a lot of people did not care for this film but I really can't see why. It is such an inspirational film and it even teaches acceptance as well as being careful when judging. I really like this film but I just can't think of much to say except that it's a beautiful film and a wonderful performance by Tom Hanks. TCM's Robert Osbourne hosted this and said that John Travolta actually declined the starring role in this film and one of the few times in his career it would benefit him as he went on to star in another 1994 hit PULP FICTION. People from the 60s will love the historical references.

Clouds over Europe (1939): I found this film on my Pub-D-Hub app on my Roku player which shows a lot of public domain work. This is a British pre-war spy story which stars Laurence Olivier. It is actually a comedic film which has some pretty entertaining moments. Worth a watch for Olivier's entry into the "Golden Year of Film" which by no means ranks with the other 1939 greats. However, Olivier is quite funny as a British pilot.

Torch Song Trilogy (1988): This is a film adaptation to Harvey Fierstein's play of the same title which is based a lot of Fierstein himself and he stars. Fierstein plays Arnold who is a pretty successful drag queen and also must deal with his sexuality. Arnold forms relationships with a couple of the guys which includes Matthew Broderick and Brian Kerwin. Kerwin plays a man who is with a woman and cannot decide which side to go. However, Arnold's biggest challenges are with his mother who cannot seem to accept him and his adopted teenage son who is gay at a young age. This is not for everyone but it was pretty well done and Fierstein remains pretty likable through the film. Anne Bancroft plays his mother who cannot accept that her son in gay. The Muncie Civic Studio Theater recently did two of the three acts of this play which was directed by my Facebook friend Robbie and features my Facebook friends Kevin, Lisa, and Sonja. Matthew Broderick who plays Alan here was in the play version as David, Arnold's adopted son.

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941): This is my afterlife comedy for the week. Robert Montgomery stars as Joe Pendleton who is a rising boxer who is getting his championship fight. He is then taken 50 years too soon due to a mistake in heaven. Claude Rains plays the title character who has a lot of authority in heaven. Mr. Jordan tries to make up for his mistake by putting him in the body of a wealthy man named Bruce Farnsworth who has just been murdered by his wife. Joe then tries to make Farnsworth's terrible reputation into a more clean-cut image while also wanting to get his own body back to be able to get his championship. However, in his never life, he begins to fall in love but must also deal with the wife. This film deals with an important topic but manages to make into such a great and enjoyable comedy.

A Prophet (2009): This is my foreign film for the week. Tahar Rahim stars as a young Arab named Malik is sent to a prison in France. In this prison, he hopes for a peaceful stay but it does not happen. It shows him as a young prisoner doing things for others but rising to the ranks of a kingpin in prison. This is another one which is hard to explain but it has a lot of very good characters and good performances in this prison film. This was quite an award-winning film which can be found on Instant Netflix. This is a must for Foreign film buffs.

Well, that is it for this week. Stay tuned for next week which so far includes Dylan McDermott, Diana Rigg, and many others. Keep on reading because I now have an honorable mention for the week.

HONORABLE TELEVISION MENTION

Nip/Tuck (2003-2010): I have made this clear to many friends how much I love this FX drama created by GLEE creator Ryan Murphy, but I lost track of the show in about the 5th season so then my very dear friend Netflix had these available instantly, I decided to start from the beginning and just get all six seasons watched. As the title may indicate, this show has to do with plastic surgery. The two main characters consist of plastic surgeons Christian Troy, played by CHARMED alum Julian McMahon, and Sean McNamara, played by Dylan Walsh. These two are Miami surgeons who have known each other since college and have built a very successful practive even forming a brotherly relationship. The two surgeons do have very different personalities. Christian is the doctor who is looking for all the glamor in life and seduces all the women he can. Sean is more idealistic and is more of a family man. Sean always finds himself questioning is values in his position as a plastic surgeon but there were plenty of times he could go off the deep end. I'll explain the family situations which started in the first season. Joely Richardson plays Sean's wife Julia who gave up her successful potential of a medical career to help raise their children Matt and Annie. John Hensley plays Matt who makes a lot of evolution through the show even having him join Scientology in the 4th season only to have all his money taken from him in the end. Kelly Carlson plays the adult film star Kimber who throughout the series has a lot of ups an downs with Christian. GLEE co-star Jessalyn Gilsig plays another of Christian's recurring love interests Gina. Roma Maffia plays Sean and Christian's loyal anesthesiologist Liz Cruz. Through the series, the surgeons must deal a lot with each other as well as other people like a Colombian drug lord, "The Carver", a black-market kidney ring, and many other things. Many veteran actors have had guest appearances and/or recurring roles like Vanessa Redgrave, Jill Clayburgh, Jacqueline Bisset, Kathleen Turner, Larry Hagman, and many others. Rosie O'Donnell has a good recurring role as Dawn Budge who was a Trailer-Park trash woman who wins the lottery. Bradley Cooper had a stint as an arrogant actor in the tv series HEARTS AND SCALPELS which Sean joined for a while. I guess I cannot list all the colorful characters of the series but there were a lot. I feel this show is what lead Cooper to such parts as in THE HANGOVER and THE A-TEAM. Each episode is titled by the name of one of their patients and always has an interesting surgical procedure requested of them. This show is not for everyone and I'm sure Murphy's GLEE has a bigger following since that show is geared to a more mainstream crowd but this also has its audience and was a pretty compelling series. If you don't have a good stomach, you'd better not watch it. Even I had to turn my head at times at the close-up surgical scenes. This show does not glorify plastic surgery and looks at the price of plastic surgery. I know watching that show that I don't want any plastic surgery. McMahon started in this show shortly after he left CHARMED which was another series I enjoyed and hated seeing him leave at first until I saw this one.