Welcome to the 974th edition of my series. I hope everyone is surviving this crazy weather and these crazy times. I'm just staying in today and have that luxury of working at home for when I work in the morning. My team is no longer in the playoffs so I'll just shut up and get to my selections for the week.
American Fiction (2023): This is part two of my Jeffrey Wright trilogy. Cord Jefferson directed this film which is based on the novel ERASURE written by Percival Everett. Jeffrey Wright stars as professor and struggling novelist Monk who does not like that the establishment is profiting from novels emphasizing the black race but has a hard time writing a novel that does not emphasize it. The book producers get the idea to give him a pen name and write a book that he stands against propelling him into hypocrisy. Skyler Wright, John Ales, Patrick Fischler, Carmen Cusack, Adam Brody, John Ortiz, Joseph Marella, Stephen Burrell, Sterling K. Brown, Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Leslie Uggams, Keith David, and many others co-star in this film. I suppose this is a satire on race and the portrayal of it. There was a good blend of drama and comedy to keep our interest as well as Wright's performance.
Inglourious Basterds (2009): Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed this film which takes place in Nazi-occupied France during WWII. Melanie Laurent stars as Shoshanna who inherits a movie theater and is forced to put on a premier for a Nazi propaganda movie. Brad Pitt co-stars as Lt. Aldo Raine who leads an anti-Nazi group hellbent on killing all the Nazis possible. Christoph Waltz co-stars as the ruthless Nazi Colonel Hans Landa who slaughtered Shoshanna's family when she was younger. These are the main elements of the film that tie together. Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Daniel Bruhl, Til Schweiger, Gedeon Burkhard, Jacky Ido, B.J. Novak, Omar Doom, August Diehl, Denis Menochet, Sylvester Groth, Martin Wuttke, Mike Myers, Julie Dreyfuss, Rod Taylor, Lea Seydoux, Bo Svenson, and many others co-star in this film. This is a very shameless revision of history by Tarantino. This has a lot of laughs and a lot of violence. It also has a great homage to the German cinema in that era.
Party Monster (2003): This is part seven of my Culkin series which stars Macauley as the real-life Michael Alig. Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato directed this biopic which is based on the novel DISCO BLOODBATH by James St. James, played by Seth Green. Macauley Culkin stars as the flamboyant Michael Alig who made his mark on the New York party scene. This would all come crumbling around him through drugs and the killing of a drug dealer. Wilson Cruz, Diana Scarwid, Marilyn Manson, Dylan McDermott, Wilmer Walderrama, Janice Dardaris, Manny Perez, Justin Hagan, John Stamos, Chloe Sevigny, Natasha Lyonne, and many others co-star in this film. It is hard to really describe this much further. I say just watch it and let it all unfold. These are much different roles for both Culkin and Green. This would also be a sort of comeback for Culkin as this is his first movie in nine years. This is available to watch on Prime, Fawesome, Pluto TV, the CW, the Roku Channel, and TUBI.
Meet John Doughboy (1941): This is my animated short for the week which was directed by Robert Clampett. This features Porky Pig doing a Newsreel parody. There is also a caricature of Jack Benny and Rochester which I suppose does not age well. This was a part of the WWII wartime shorts from this era. It was a pretty amusing Newsreel parody.
Walk Cheerfully (1930): This is my Japanese silent film for the week which was directed by Yasujiro Ozu. Minoru Takada stars as small-time gangster Kenji who is in love with Yasue, played by Hiroko Kawasaki. She does not like his lifestyle so Kenji looks to go straight for the woman he loves. However, this is not an easy task. Satoko Date, Takeshi Sakamoto, and many others co-star in this silent film. The United States had their first "talkie" in 1927 but Japan evidently did not have that technology and would have their first in 1931. This is a very moving story that that combines gangsters and love. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
Goldfinger (1964): Guy Hamilton directed this James Bond film which is based on the novel by Ian Fleming. Sean Connery stars as James Bond aka 007 who goes against the gold-obsessed Auric Goldfinger, played by Gert Frobe. Goldfinger is working to contaminate with the Fort Knox gold reserve with the help of sexy pilot Pussy Galore, played by Honor Blackman. Shirley Eaton, Tania Mallet, Harold Sakata, Bernard Lee, Martin Benson, Cec Linder, Austin Wills, Lois Maxwell, Bill Nagy, Michael Mellinger, Nadja Regin, Richard Vernon, Burt Kwouk, Desmond Llewelyn, and many others co-star in this Bond film. This is possibly the most iconic Bond film of all time with the lines, the characters, and the scenes in general. There have been a lot of false rumors that Shirley Eaton died due to the gold paint on her. She is actually the remaining cast member who is still alive today.
I Was a Stranger (2024): Brandt Andersen wrote and directed this film which takes place in the Middle East essentially. This starts with Syrian Dr. Amira Homsi, played by Yasmine Al Massri, who must free Aleppo with her young daughter. This touch choice sets off a ripple effect that pulls in four other strangers. Yahya Mahayni, Omar Sy, Ziad Bakri, Constantine Markoulakis, Jason Beghe, Massa Daoud, Carlos Chahine, Ayman Samman, Thanos Tokakis, Jay Abdo, Saleh Bakri, Angeliki Papoulia, and many others co-star in this film. I was looking for something to see in the theaters, and this sounded the most interesting to me. This was quite the passion project for Andersen who makes his directorial debut for a feature film. As the credits first started rolling, the director gave a statement on his views of the project. These multiple stories of hardship are meant to convey that wherever we are from and whatever we are doing, we're really not much different. All I can say is if you find this in your local movie theater or one nearby, this deserves our support.
Death is a Caress (1949): This is my Norwegian Noir for the week which was directed by Edith Carlmar and based on the novel by Arne Moen. Claus Wiese stars as working man Erik Hauge who seems to have a pretty good life ahead of him. He has a fiancé in Merit, played by Eva Bergh, who seems to be a pretty good person. While working, he meets an older and wealthier woman in Sonja, played by Bjorn Riiser-Larsen, who turns out to be a Femme Fatale seducing him into a darker world. This is the first Norwegian film to be directed by a woman, and it is Carlmar's directorial debut. This holds its own with other American Film Noir. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
Candleshoe (1977): Norman Tokar directed this live-action Disney movie which is based on the book CHRISTMAS AT CANDLESHOE by Michael Innes. A youth Jodie Foster stars as street urchin Casey who is recruited by con man Bundage, played by Leo McKern. He wants Casey to infiltrate the elderly Lady St. Edmund, played by Helen Hayes, as her long-lost granddaughter and a treasure that is at the house. Unbeknownst to Bundage, Lady St. Edmund is really flat broke with her butler Priory and the three orphans helping to keep the home afloat. Veronica Qulligan, Sarah Tamakuni, John Alderson, Mildred Shay, Michael Balfour, Sydney Bromley, and many others co-star in this movie. This is a pretty fun family movie and also good to see Jodie Foster when she was a kid. This is available to watch on Disney Plus.
The Hours (2002): Stephen Daldry directed this film which is based on the novel by David Hare. Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, and Julianne Moore star as women in three different periods. Kidman stars as famed author Virginia Woolf whose novel MRS. DALLOWAY affects all three generations in some way with each having to deal with suicide in some form. Stephen Dillane, Miranda Richardson, Lyndsey Marshal, Linda Bassett, Christian Coulson, Michael Culkin, John C. Reilly, Jack Rovello, Toni Collette, Margo Martindale, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, and many others co-star in this film. This is a very deep film and can be hard to watch at times. It is also a very beautifully filmed movie with great performances by the leads. Kidman went through an absolute transformation to look as much like Virginia Woolf as possible. This is available to watch on Paramount Plus and Pluto TV.
Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for the next couple weeks which so far includes Anna Paquin, Roman Polanski, Jeffrey Wright, Shelley Winters, and many others.
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