Welcome to the 960th Edition of my series. My play ARSENIC AND OLD LACE was postponed into October 23-26 which will be in Rushville, I will give more details as they come.
Clerks II (2006): I start out with this raunchy comedy sequel which was written and directed by Kevin Smith. Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson reprise their roles of Dante and Randal from the 1994 film CLERKS. The convenience store has burned down, and they take jobs at the local fast-food joint Mooby's. Dante is fixing to be moving out with his fiancé Emma, played by Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, and Randal does not believe it is the right thing for him. Rosario Dawson co-stars as Becky who is the manager of Mooby's. Jason Mewes and Smith reprise their roles of the stoner duo Jay and Silent Bob. Jake Richardson, Ethan Suplee, Ben Affleck, Trevor Fehrman, Scott Mosier, Kevin Weisman, Jason Lee, Earthquake, Wanda Sykes, Zak Knutson, Harley Quinn Smith, Kevin Michael Richardson, and many others co-star in this comedy sequel. This is not for the easily offended by any means. As always, there is some great dialogue and discussions on pop culture. I believe Dante and Randal are a very underrated comedy duo in how different they are from each other but play off each other so well. While this movie is very vulgar and raunchy, it does have a really good hard and manages to make a good message through it all of what is important in life. I would recommend starting with the original to get to know Dante and Randal. This is available to watch on Pluto TV.
Hard Eight (1996): Paul Thomas Anderson directed and wrote this crime film. John C. Reilly stars as John who loses all his money while gambling. While sitting outside a cafe, a man named Sydney, played by Philip Baker Hall, tries to help him and buys him a coffee. Sydney offers to mentor John in gambling and turns him into a pretty good gambler. Things get complicated when John falls in love with the cocktail waitress and sometimes hooker Clementine, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Samuel L. Jackson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Melora Walters co-star in this film. Anderson makes his directorial debut with this film and would go onto direct the very successful BOOGIE NIGHTS the next year. This was a really good way to get started. This is available to watch on Pluto TV.
My Old Ass (2024): Megan Park wrote and directed this coming-of-age comedy. Maisy Stella stars as the 18-year-old Elliott who decides to do mushrooms with her friends. In the process, she meets her 39-year-old self, played by Aubrey Plaza, and must rethink the things in her life. Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, Maria Dizzia, Alain Goulem, Seth Isaac Johnson, Carter Trozzolo, and many others co-star in this comedy. I really had no knowledge of this film going into and was pleasantly surprised. This was very a very touching and beautiful film while still being very funny. Stella and Plaza are break as the younger and older selves. This is available to watch on Prime.
Lonesome Luke, Messenger (1917): This is my silent short film for the week which was written by Hal Roach. Harold Lloyd stars as his Lonesome Luke character. Along with his usual co-star Snub Pollard, they are bicycle messengers and sent to deliver several packages to a girl's seminary to much comedic moments. This was a character Lloyd played that was similar to Chaplin's character. This was 59 of 67 films as this character before he would go onto do his own character that is more known today. This is a good watch for silent comedy buffs. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
The Mystery of Picasso (1956): Henri-Georges Clouzot directed this documentary. This films the famed artist Pablo Picasso doing his paintings. This was a lot more interesting than I expected and could very well be the definition of "experimental film". The camera shows his paintings being done in a quick way without showing Picasso doing it. It also shows the paintings being done to music and they are able to create interesting stories as the music goes on and as the paintings progress. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
Charlie is my Darling (1966): This is my music documentary for the week which was directed by Peter Whitehead. This takes place during a brief tour in Ireland in 1965 for the Rolling Stones. This is a very early time in their career and was the first professionally filmed concert of their career. It also shows them in their lives through the travel of the tour. I also felt this was before Keith Richards became a persona. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015): Kyle Patrick Alvarez directed this film which is based on the novel by Dr. Philip Zimbardo, played by Billy Crudup. Zimbardo was a psychology professor at Stanford where he came up with a bizarre experiment where he took college students to participate in a two-week prison simulation. Some of the students were prisoners and some were guards. The guards ended up getting very carried away by the authority and the experiment got very out of hand. Ezra Miller, Tye Sheridan, Olivia Thirlby, Michael Angarano, Moises Arias, Nicholas Braun, Gaius Charles, Keir Gilchrist, Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Mann, Logan Miller, Johnny Simmons, James Wolk, Nelsan Ellis, Matt Bennett, Jesse Carere, Brett Davern, and many others co-star in this film. This was not a high point at Stanford University. This is not easy to watch but it is an important event that should be remembered and not repeated. This is available to watch on AMC +, Sundance Now, Plex, Pluto TV, the CW, and TUBI.
The Flame of New Orleans (1941): Rene Clair directed romantic comedy. Marlene Dietrich stars as Countess Claire Ledoux who becomes engaged to a successful banker in Charles Giraud, played by Roland Young, which was her goal. Bruce Cabot co-stars as the charismatic sea captain Robert LaTour who makes quite the first impression on Claire and starts to rethink who she wants to be with. Mischa Auer, Theresa Harris, Clarence Muse, Melville Cooper, and many others co-star in this comedy. This is a pretty fun romantic adventure with Cabot standing on in the film. This was meant to parody Dietrich and it worked very well. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
The Sandpiper (1965): Vincente Minnelli directed this more intense love story. Elizabeth Taylor stars as the free-spirited single mother Laura Reynolds who doesn't really like the educational system of society and tries to instill her own values to her 9-year-old son Danny, played by Morgan Mason. When Danny runs into problems with the law and is ordered to go to a Christian School. As time goes on, Laura makes a connection with the married headmaster Dr. Edward Hewitt, played by Richard Burton. Eva Marie Saint, Charles Bronson, Robert Webber, James Edwards, Torin Thatcher, Tom Drake, and many others co-star in this film. Taylor and Burton work well together as always and this was the third of eleven times for them to work together. This gets pretty deep at times with the viewpoints and just the affair that is going on in the film. I also kind of like Laura's environment and her caring for the bird. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse (2022): I end the week with this animated short film which was directed by Peter Baynton and Charlie Mackesy and based on Mackesy's book of the same name. This centers around a boy, voiced by Jude Coward Nicoll, who ends up forming a very unusual friendship with a mole, voiced by Tom Hallander, a fox, voiced by Idris Elba, and a horse, voiced by Gabriel Byrne. They travel together hoping to help the boy find his home and learn a lot about kindness, friendship, courage, and hope. This was very simple but effective animation to go along with a timeless story. This is available to watch on Apple +.
Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for the next couple of weeks which so far includes Jason Statham, Billy Crystal, Helen Mirren, Bela Lugosi, Joan Crawford, and many others. I recently started a Youtube channel for myself called "The Karaoke Enigma" where I will be posting karaoke videos of myself. It is a work in progress and the link to subscribe is https://www.youtube.com/@thekaraokeenigma if interested.
0 comments
Post a Comment