Welcome to the 138th Edition of this long-running series. I now must pay tribute to George Carlin and Cyd Charisse who I have included in this entry. Thanks to everyone who has supported me through the years. Here are the 10, get out your netflix and blockbuster queues and read on.




Heat (1995): This is part 4 of most likely 5 of my Robert de Niro series. Michael Mann directed this historical crime drama. Not historical in terms of any kind of true story but historical where we finally see the first on-screen encounter between Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. The only other movie they were both in was THE GODFATHER PART 2 but they were in different eras. This was a crime drama which takes a look at a veteran cop named named Vincent Hanna played by Al Pacino and a master thief named Neil McCauley played by Robert De Niro. Each life was quite parallel to each other. Vincent was in a troubled marriage while trying to crack a case gone wrong and Neil must pick up the pieces of a robbery gone bad while starting a relationship. This movie had quite a cast with Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Natalie Portman and many others. It is too bad that Tom Sizemore is only known these days for his drug problems and many don't know him as a great character actor as he showed here. This was an exciting two and a half hours where as much violence as there was, we could still care about the two main characters.




Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989): I now pay tribute to the late George Carlin who plays Rufus. Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves play the title slackers whose band Wyld Stallions is in Jeopardy if Ted (Reeves) fails history and goes to military school. Enter Rufus from the future whose world lies in the balance if the Wyld Stallions break up. Rufus brings them a time machine which looks more like a phone booth where Bill and Ted are able to pick up Billy the Kid, Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon and many others. This was definetly in my top comedies of the 80s and a lot of fun with the two title characters with a history on education.




It's Always Fair Weather (1955): I now pay tribute to Cyd Charisse. Stanley Donen stars in this musical which stars Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse re-unite after SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, and Michael Kidd all play WW2 veterans who reunite after ten years but see that along with their changed lives, their friendship is fading. Cyd Charisse plays Kelly's love interest. Kelly is a boxing manager and Cyd plays a boxing fan and putting on the greatest musical number of all time in a boxing gym giving me hopes that my dreams of writing ROCKY THE MUSICAL are not impossible. There is also a great roller skate dance number from Gene Kelly. If you like musicals, I think you'll enjoy this underrated film. If you don't, you probably won't like it.




American Movie (1999): This is my documentary for the week which was suggested to me by Rod at Wishbone Gifts in Downtown Muncie. We take a look at Wisconsin boy Mark Borchardt who is determined to direct a horror film even with hardly any money. It shows how he must do a little convincing and even conning in order to get budgeting for his horror film. He must get some friends and unwilling family to be in the movie. This was a great look at the making of an independent film. It is good to know that since this movie Mark Borchardt, while not having the greatest career, is finding work in the film industry since his short film COVEN. I must say that I really envied him in show ways where no matter what you think of him, you can't knock his effort and determination.




Blonde Venus (1932): This is part 3 of what might be 5 of my Cary Grant series even though he was more of a supporting character in this piece focusing on a love triangle. Josef Von Sternberg directed this movie which stars Marlene Dietrich as a former nightclub singer named Helen whose husband, played by Herbert Marshall, is dying and needs an expensive cure in Germany. Helen must then return to the nightclub scene to raise the money where she becomes the title character and gets into some trouble where she meets a millionaire named Nick played by Cary Grant who she prostitutes herself to in order to make some money to raise her son. This was a pretty intense film and definetly worth watching.




Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002): If all you do is skim through these, I have no problem with that but if you can see this sentence please keep reading. It is movies like these that is the reason I do this blog and what I hope to be able to get exposed. You might have forgotten about Bill and Ted so go re-watch that if you want but this should not be passed up. Phillip Noyce directs this true story of a family of Aborigines whose three daughters are kidnapped by the Australian government who think they are doing the children some big favor by teaching them more modern ways but show them a very strict world. The daughters escape from the school and set out on a 1500-mile journey back home. The leader of the Australian government is played by Kenneth Branaugh but that doesn't need to be known. The musical score is very beautiful and written by none other than Peter Gabriel which is how I learned of this movie I must admit when I bought the soundtrack because of Peter. This movie had my attention all the way through and it really got to me. If you have Netflix or Blockbuster, this should go on your queue. I don't usually do that but I feel I must for this one. If it doesn't sound like your kind of movie then avoid it but if you want a great independent film, here you go.




Frank and Tony (1973): This is my Grindhouse pick for the week. This is one of the better movies in this boxed set and by far one of the better transfers to DVD. Tony Lo Bianco stars as a small-time thug who meets his idol Frankie, played by western veteran Lee Van Cleef, in prison. They slowly become friends and plan an escape from prison and go after who put them there. This is a buddy movie, mafia style and has some pretty good action.



Home Movies (1940): This is my short film for the week which I got off of the dvd of MY FAVORITE WIFE which is a Robert Benchley short on making as the title says. He is showing some footage to some friends showing how anyone can do it but things begin to go wrong. Robert Benchley has some pretty funny short films and this is one of them.



Eight Below (2006): Frank Marshall directed this Disney movie. I'll probably get some mixed opinions on this one but I can't impress everyone. Paul Walker stars as Jerry, an antarctic explorer who while taking someone on an exhibition experiences some very severe weather and must evacuate. He had some injuries so he did not know that his dogs were left behind and lobbies to go back to get them. What I thought was really good about this movie was the dogs who had to fend for themselves in the cold weather and how they teamed up to survive. These kinds of movies are always hard for me to watch but I got through it but I'm sure PETA was not very happy about this movie.



Ugetsu (1953): This is my Japanese movie for the week which takes place in 16th Century Japan in the time of war where two peasant brothers seek their fortune. One looks to seek money sellling his wares like dishes and the other really wants to be a samarai no matter what it takes. Each one takes off into a pretty dark world. This was definetly something that kept my attention the whole way through and something quite unpredictable making this a Japanese classic.



Well, that is it for this week. Stay tuned next week for the 139th Edition and read on to see the connections.




-Al Pacino (Heat) and Keanu Reeves (Bill and Ted) were in the 1997 film The Devil's Advocate.


-Robert de Niro (heat) and Kenneth Branaugh (Rabbit-Proof Fence) were in the 1994 film Mary Shelley's Frankenstein


-Val Kilmer (Heat) and Bruce Greenwood (8 Below) were in the 2007 film Deja Vu


-Jon Voight (Heat) and Paul Walker (8 Below) were in the 1999 film Varsity Blues

-Jon Voight (Heat) and Bruce Greenwood (8 Below) were in the 2007 film National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets


-Tom Sizemore (Heat) and Keanu Reeves (Bill and Ted) were in the 1991 film Point Break


-Tom Sizemore (Heat) and Bruce Greenwood (8 Below) were in the 1992 film Passenger 57


-Ashley Judd (Heat) and Bruce Greenwood (8 Below) were in the 1995 tv movie Naomi and Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge and the 1999 film Double Jeopardy


-Hank Azaria (Heat) and Kenneth Branaugh (Rabbit-Proof Fence) were in the 1998 film Celebrity


-Jeremy Piven (Heat) and George Carlin (Bill and Ted) were in the 2003 film Scary Movie 3


-Bud Cort (Heat uncreditted) and George Carlin (Bill and Ted) were in the 1999 film Dogma


-Keanu Reeves (Bill and Ted) and Kenneth Branaugh (Rabbit-Proof Fence) were in the 1993 film Much Ado About Nothing


-George Carlin (Bill and Ted) and Jason Biggs (8 Below) were in the 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and the 2004 film Jersey Girl

Welcome to the 137th Edition of my blog. I had some issues with the connection segment this week so I just forgoted it for now. It will be back up next week. I'll be going over to Buffalo Wild Wings later to see the wrestling ppv. My performances for OKLAHOMA are right around the corner so I look forward to that. Now on with the show.

Albino Alligator (1996): Kevin Spacey makes his directorial debut in this movie. Matt Dillon, Gary Sinise, and William Fichtner are needing to hide out after and armed robbery and go to a bar to ultimately take it hostage. Each criminal has a different degree of violence which puts a lot of tension in the three. Faye Dunaway has a role as one of the bar waitresses. This was nothing really innovative or original but it kept my attention pretty well.

The Sheik (1921): This is part 2 of my silent-film series. Silent legend Rudolph Valentino stars as the title role who abducts a more free-thinking girl named Diana to try to marry her. Diana is not happy with the situation and does whatever possible to escape and find her other love. This was definetly entertaining while having some racial stereotypes.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984): Steven Spielberg directed this prequel to RAIDERS OF THE ARK where Harrison Ford reprises his iconic role of Indiana Jones. Here, he is with an Asian kid named Short Stuff and unwillingly joined by a nightclub singer name Willie, played by Kate Capshaw. Here, Indy was in search of some stones leading him into India to find they were possessed by a mysterious cult leading up into quite a climax. While this was not as good as Raiders, it still provided great action and lots of fun with Harrison Ford. Look for Dan Aykroyd in a small role and even look for a bar title called Club Obi Wan.

Surf's Up (2007): I will admit that when I first saw the preview of this movie I thought "Not another penguin movie" but as I read into it more it sounded quite interesting. This was actually a surfing penguin mockumentary which focused on determined penguin Cody Maverick who is an up-and-coming surfer determined to win and defeat the bully penguin. Jeff Bridges plays a legendary surfer who is burned out from all the success and decides to mentor Cody. Shia LeBeouf actually provided a pretty good voice to Cody Maverick. I did find this to be better than HAPPY FEET.

My Favorite Wife (1940): This is part 2 of what will probably be 4 in my Cary Grant series. Garson Kanin directed this comedy which stars Cary as a recently married man where things become complicated when his wife presumed dead shows up. Irene Dunne plays his wife, Ellen who was assumed to be dead where a choice must be made but leads into some hilarious misunderstandings. Western legend Randolph Scott plays a friend of Ellen in a rare non-western role.

Stagecoach (1939): John Ford directed this ground-breaking western which made John Wayne a star after years of doing b-movies and serials. Wayne plays the outlaw The Ringo Kid who joins the stagecoach trip but must prepare for a possible indian attack from Geronimo. This is another western that might stereotype indians but those were the times and if you can get past that, you will definetly enjoy this. John Carradine stars as a gunslinger who is along for the ride. This is definetly a fun movie and the birth of John Wayne as a star.

The Fan and the Flower (2005): This is my short animation film for the week which centers around a fan who becomes infatuated with a flower and showing the love between the two. It was definetly a neat love story and worth 7 minutes. Paul Giamatti does the narration.

The Dirty Dozen (1967): Robert Aldrich directs this war film which stars Lee Marvin who is chosen to lead a group of convicts during World War II who go after some Nazis. Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, and Telly Savalas were just some of the few convicts that were taken in promise of freedom upon survival. This was a great war film with no real anti or pro war messages.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991): I pay tribute here to Stan Winston who recently died. Winston did a lot of work in the special effects department and here he did a lot of work for the animation of the Terminator. James Cameron directs this great sequal to what is probably my favorite Sci-Fi series of film. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reprises his role as the T-101 who became programmed to protect John Connor, played by Edward Furlong in his debut, from an even more powerful terminator played by SOPRANOS alum Robert Patrick. It was interesting how this terminator actually seemed to show some emotion while the T-101 never could though he learned some through John. Linda Hamilton reprises her role as Sarah Connor, John's loving mother who will do anything to protect him and does what she can to prepare John for his destiny. What was great about this movie was not only the action but the relationship between John and the Terminator who is now good. The narration of Sarah Connor was also very good, especially when she realizes how good the Terminator is to John. What I also love about these films is the music score by Brad Fiedel.

The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971): I end with part 3 of most likely 5 in my Robert De Niro series. This is definetly a very early one for de Niro where he plays a rival gang member posing as a priest and the other one planning a crime but are too idiotic to pull it off. LAW AND ORDER alum Jerry Orbach also stars as a crime boss. This has funny moments but is quite flawed and mostly of worth to see a young Robert de Niro who took this role because Al Pacino got Michael Corleone in you know what so de Niro had to wait a little longer to become a star.

Well, that is it for this week. Stay tuned next week for the 138th Edition where I pay tribute to the late George Carlin and Cyd Charrise.

Welcome to the 134th Edition of my blog. I see that AMERICA'S GOT TALENT returns in a couple of weeks so you you might see some footage of me being interviewed, just not as a performer because I didn't quite make it that far. Now for this week as you may guess I have 10 movies for you all to watch so hurry and get your netflix and blockbuster queues out then figure out what you like and what you hate.

The Motorcycle Diaries (2004): The Facebook friend I chose for this week was Alex who was in my Political Science class. Walter Salles directed this movie which is based on the journals of Ernesto "Che" Guevara and his road trip he took when he was young. For those of you who don't know who Guevara is, and truthfully I really don't know much about him, I guarantee you have seen his picture. He later became a revolutionary in Argentina fighting for civil rights and did so in a very controversial manner. This is based on a road trip that him and his friend took before Guevara found his calling. Gael Garcia Bernal played Guevara very well in this very moving film.


Miller's Crossing (1990): This is part two of my Coen Brothers series which takes a look into a feuding mob. Gabriel Byrne stars as Tom Reagan, who is an advisor to a Prohibition-Era crime boss who wants to bring the two feuding families together but gets divided in his loyalty making both sides question him. This is full of a lot of violence and black humor. It is really hard to actually explain this movie. It is just something that needs to be watched very closely. Look for Frances McDormand and Sam Raimi in uncredited roles.


Shall We Dance (1937): This has nothing to do with that Richard Gere movie which I actually did like. I decided to feature this movie when I saw my local theater do a cabaret on the music of George and Ira Gershwin. My facebook and myspace friends in this show were Edward (Ira), Stevie (George), Cody (Fred Astaire), and Corby. They wrote the music for this musical incuding the famous LET'S CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF. This is the 7th collaboration of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. When they get together, rumors begin that they are secretly married which causes many great mishaps, musical scores, and dance numbers. Not much needs to be said here, you all know the formula and there was also a good dance scene on roller skates which actually took 150 takes.

The Seventh Victim (1943): This is my chiller for the week produced by Val Lewton and directed by Mark Robson. Kim Hunter makes her film debut as a young girl who is in search of her sister whose seach leads to a satanic cult. There is also an interesting shower scene which shows shades of what Hitchcock would later direct in PSYCHO. If you want something creepy, you should check this one out. Hunter makes a great debut.


The Glass Bottom Boat (1966): We now go to something very creepy to something more funny. This is actually in tribute to the late Dick Martin who plays Zach and is most known from ROWAN AND MARTIN. Frank Tashlin directed this spy parody which stars Doris Day in a great, later performance who is first dressed as a mermaid and gets reeled in by a fishing rod and is later suspected of being a Russian spy. Rod Taylor plays her love interest who is the one who accidently reels her in and he hires her to be his biographer. This was a pretty entertaining spoof in a time where a spoof actually meant something as in today, we got two guys who just put together a bunch of movie clips.


Throw Mama From a Train (1987): We go from a spy parody to a parody of Hitchcock's STRANGER'S ON A TRAIN which was directed by co-star Danny Devito. Billy Crystal stars as writer and professor Larry who is very bitter towards his ex-wife. DeVito stars as Owen, one of his students who wants his overbearing mother, played by Anne Ramsey, dead and misunderstands Larry who he thought wanted to "swap murders". With good performances from the leads and a decent script, we in turn get a good comedy but don't forget the Hitchcock film though.


The War Zone (1999): We have no parody here in part two of my two-part Tim Roth series. Last week I featured PULP FICTION which he was a co-star of but in this one he went behind the camera as a director in his first and only film he has directed so far. Let me start by saying this is not for everyone. Here we have a dysfunctional family seen through the eyes of a 15 year old who learns of a very dark secret from his father and older sister. Tilda Swinton and Ray Winstone are good as the parents and look for a young Colin Farrell as a friend. This movie pulls no punches and is very disturbing and dark and was even difficult for the people on the set including the actors.


The Bounty Man (1972): This is my Grindhouse pick for the week which was decent. This was a western starring Clint Walker as a ruthless bounty hunter but when he finds a bounty along with his girlfriend, they must team up to fight a gang. Margot Kidder, most known for being Lois Lane in the SUPERMAN films, also co-stars. good film to show at midnight.


The Family Secret (1951): This is my unknown classic for the week when was found on TCM. John Derek stars as a man who kills someone in self-defense and his father, played by Lee J. Cobb, defends an innocent man accused of the murder even though he knows the truth of what happened. This was a pretty compelling film and a good performance from the underrated Cobb and seems to be quite hard to find.


Fearless (2006): Here is my martial arts film for the week and I forgot how much I love watching these so I decided I will be including Asian films more often, maybe not next week though. Jet Li stars in this martial arts epic as the real-life Huo Yuanjia who is a determined fighter who misunderstood the art of Wushu martial-arts. He then is lead into an ill-advised fight which leads to a lot of tragedy and embarrassment on his family name and friends. After wandering the country, he is rescued by a village group and makes friends with a blind woman where he learns of his wrongdoing and goes back for redemption where he must fight in an unfair tournament. Yuanjia was the founder of the Jin-Wu athletic school and fight league which is very popular through the world. The legend vs. fact of Yuanjia is very debated but he was a genuine fighter. Former WWE wrestler appears as his opponent Hercules O'Brian, a real-life fighter from the era. What I thought was interesting about this movie was how this was really the first movie where Jet Li plays someone who disgraces himself and must fight for his redemption and honor. I also really loved the musical score

Well, that is it this week for the movies. As I said, Asian films will be used more frequently, probably not next week though. They might be martial arts, action, or just plain drama. There is just something about those movies. For one I love a lot of Asian instrumental music and while I don't usually care much for their American films, it was those American films that exposed people like Jet Li to me and wanting to see their earlier work. Well, leave your comments, tell me what you like and what you hate and stay tuned for ten more next week.

HONORABLE MENTION

Peter Gabriel: Growing Up Live: I have this on DVD of his 2003 Growing Up Tour which we watched at Bill's house. I actually got to see this concert live and it was the best concert I have ever seen so in short, I'm really doing a tribute to Peter Gabriel. For those of you who only have heard SLEDGEHAMMER and can't stand that song, I suggest looking at his other work which is much better. I slowly became a big fan of his. It started with his clever videos and then I started hearing things over the radio and started liking it and the more I listened to him, the more I took to him. His concerts are amazing where he provides music with an equal amount of entertainment. So now I am telling you to go check him out. You can find his music probably on here, youtube or wherever you must go.

CONNECTION TIME

I don't have nearly as many connections as usual and remember, I look at actor to actor since you might find connections on Tim Roth who only directed THE WAR ZONE

-Gabriel Byrne (Miller's Crossing) and Rob Reiner (Throw Mama From a Train) were in the 1996 film Mad Dog Time

-Marcia Gay Harden (Miller's Crossing) and Rob Reiner (Throw Mama) were in the 1996 film The First Wives Club

-Jon Polito (Miller's Crossing) and Billy Crystal (Throw Mama From a Train) were in the 2000 flop The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle

-Jon Polito (Miller's Crossing) and Kim Greist (Throw Mama From a Train) were in the 1984 film C.H.U.D. and the 1996 film Homeward Bound 2

-Albert Finney (Miller's Crossing) and Dom Deluise (The Glass Bottom Boat) were in the 1975 film The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother

-Albert Finney (Miller's Crossing) and Danny Devito (Throw Mama From a Train) were in the 2003 film Big Fish

-Mike Starr (Miller's Crossing) and Kim Greist (Throw Mama From a Train) were in the 1988 film Punchline

-Al Mancini (Miller's Crossing) and Clint Walker (Bounty Man) were in the 1967 film The Dirty Dozen

-Al Mancini (Miller's Crossing) and Dom Deluise (The Glass Bottom Boat) were in the 1990 film Loose Cannons

-Steve Buscemi (Miller's Crossing) and Billy Crystal (Throw Mama From a Train) were in the 2001 film Monster's Inc

-Steve Buscemi (Miller's Crossing) and Oprah Winfrey (Throw Mama From a Train) were in the 2006 film Charlotte's Web

-Ginger Rogers (Shall We Dance) and Kim Hunter (The Seventh Victim) were in the 1943 film Tender Comrade

-Ginger Rogers (Shall We Dance) and Doris Day (The Glass Bottom Boat) were in the 1951 film Storm Warning

-Ginger Rogers (Shall We Dance) and John Derek (The Family Secret) were in the 1944 film I'll Be Seeing You

-Tom Conway (The Seventh Victim) and Rod Taylor (The Glass Bottom Boat) were in the 1961 film 101 Dalmations

Welcome to the 133rd Edition of my weekly blog series. I see that I focused on quite a bit of violence this week. So now it is time for the picks.



No Country for Old Men (2007): This is part 1 of 2 of my Coen Brothers series. I will admit, I really had to analyze much of this very carefully. This movie is very dark and even lacks the dark humor that the Coen Brothers use a lot so that it shows you the price of temptation. Javier Bardem plays a brutal thief named Anton whose weapon is quite extreme. Josh Brolin plays the hunter Llewellen who comes upon a bag of money which immediately gets him in pursuit by Anton. Tommy Lee Jones plays Sheriff Ed Bell who is in pursuit of Anton. The bag of money is what blurs the line between good and bad and Llewellen does what he can to keep the money even at the risk of his life. The three actors were great in their roles. Bardem became the first Spanish actor to win an Oscar which I am glad because it gave him some recognition to check out his other things like THE SEA INSIDE which I featured last week.



Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005): We now get something more entertaining and much less dark. This is the musical spoof of the 1936 film REEFER MADNESS and other marijuana propaganda films from that era which show the horrible effects of marijuana. Alan Cumming plays the person who brings the parents together to show the horrible things that have happened with Pot. Our main story centers around Mary Lane, played by VERONICA MARS alum Kristen Bell and Jimmy Harper, played by Christian Campbell. Both of which are goody-goody high school students who fall in with the wrong crowd. WINGS alum Steven Weber plays the typical mustached villain which was very common for a villain in these movies to have a mustache. PARTY OF FIVE star Neve Campbell and SNL alum Ana Gasteyer also co-star. This is a musical that I would like to be in someday.



The Yakuza (1974): Now we return to some more violence and now we are in the dark world of the Yakuza. Sydney Pollack who just recently died this week, directed this movie. I definetly did not intend to do a tribute to him, this was already on my list when he died. Robert Mitchum stars as Private Investigator Harry Kilmer who is hired to find a friend's daughter and finds himself dealing with the Yakuza which is the Japanese mafia. Ken Takakura plays an old friend of Kilmer who has had connections to the Yakuza in the past and reluctantly helps Kilmer. This is definetly something that must be watched carefully but in the end you'll be glad. Great later performance from Mitchum and from Ken Takakura.



Pulp Fiction (1994): Quentin Tarantino directed this ground-breaking film which is not for all tastes. John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson star as two hitmen, Bruce Willis stars as a crooked boxer, Uma Thurman co-stars as the mob-boss' wife and Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer play two restaurant robbers whose lives are intertwined in different stories. This movie is full of sub-plots and it must be watched carefully to understand what has happened. This movies is quite out of sequence so you need to follow when certain events happened. John Travolta was great in what can be considered a comeback role for him in a time where he struggled. It also put Samuel L. Jackson into stardom after many small roles through his career. It was also the first time I took note of Uma Thurman. This movie has quite the all-star cast, some great dialogue, and some moments of violence which all make it worth seeing but if you don't like violence, you won't like this one.



John Q (2002): I saw this last week when I went to Rhonda and Kayla's house on their saturday movie night and my friend Ben rented this movie so this is what was watched. Nick Cassavettes directed this movie that takes quite a stab at the healthcare system in the United States, long before Michael Moore directed his movie SICKO. Denzel Washington stars as a very dedicated father whose son is in need of a heart transplant which he learns is not covered by his insurance. This drives him to take the hospital hostage in order to get this transplant and to help other patients who have a hard time getting care. There is some resemblance to DOG DAY AFTERNOON but I feel it has its own story and things we should take note of here. Robert Duvall, James Woods, Anne Heche, Kimberly Elise, and Ray Liotta co-star in this tale that raises many questions.



Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986): John McNaughton directed this documentary-like film which is loosely based on serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. Michael Rooker stars as the title character who teaches his roommate Otis how to serial kill. Tension arises when Otis' sister Becky comes into the picture. This was another one of my very dark movies of this week and like many others in here, it is not for all tastes. Rooker lends quite a performance to a serial killer who does not come off as crazy or strange in his personality but just in what he does making this movie more disturbing to watch. In real live, Henry was in prison but due to some doubt of his confessions, George W. Bush actually reduced his sentence from death to a life sentence which was very rare for Bush.



The Lost Patrol (1934): This is my war film for the week which was directed by John Ford. A group of British soldiers are lost in a desert during WW1 where unseen Arabs are in pursuit of them. Victor McLaglen stars as the leader and Boris Karloff has what seems to be a very overlooked performance in a time where he always played monsters, people don't realize this great film where he plays a religious fanatic. This was a pretty good war film for the time and one that is very much over-looked even with John Ford.



Mighty Mouse: Frankenstein's Cat (1940s): This is my short film for the week where Mighty Mouse makes his debut on this blog series. This was a very early short film where a cat which resembles Frankenstein's monster and wreaks havoc and only Mighty Mouse can save the day. This one has very limited dialogue but still entertains. This can be found on youtube.



Umberto D (1952): This is my only foreign language film for the week which last week contained four. Vittorio De Sica directed this tale of an old man who struggles to survive and only has his dog as his friend. He lives in an apartment with a tenant who keeps demanding rent that Umberto cannot pay. This movie is very moving but has some pretty sad moments as well and took a look into the retirement system which Umberto did not make enough money. This movie is definetly worth a watch which I found on Independent Films Channel.



Kill the Umpire (1950): Lloyd Bacon directed this baseball comedy which starred William Bendix as a former baseball player who had a hard time holding a job due to his addiction for baseball so he reluctantly decides to train to be an umpire which was something he felt was stooping low but gets himself to be an umpire and finds it is not easy and the fans are not forgiving. This is nothing great but had some funny moments and worth a recording to the DVR.



Well, that is it for this week. I know I can't please everyone so please leave your comments as to what you like and what you hate and stay tuned next week for 10 more movies.



HONORABLE MENTION



E.T. Storybook: I don't know how honorable this is but it was definetly quite interesting. My friend Bill comes across some strange things and here he was sent this storybook on E.T. which was narrated by Michael Jackson around the time E.T. was released. This was very bizarre listening to his voice and in our warped minds kept coming up with subtext around what he said with the controversy he has faced through the years.



Connection Time



-Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men) and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) were in the 2000 film Rules of Engagement


-Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men) and Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction) were in the 1982 tv movie The Executioner's Song


-Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men), Frank Whaley (Pulp Fiction), and Michael Rooker (Henry) were in the 1991 blockbuster JFK


-Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men), Steve Buscemi, and Robert Duvall were in the 1990 mini-series Lonesome Dove. Jones and Duvall were also in the 1978 film The Betsy.


-Tommy Lee Jones (No Country) and Anne Heche (John Q) were in the 1997 film Volcano


-Josh Brolin (No Country) and Eric Stoltz (Pulp Fiction) are in the upcoming 2008 film Milk


-Josh Brolin (No Country) and Bruce Willis (Pulp Fiction) were in the 2007 film Planet Terror which was part of the Grindhouse double feature


-Josh Brolin (No Country) and Denzel Washington (Pulp Fiction) were in the 2007 blockbuster American Gangster


-Josh Brolin (No Country) and Eddie Griffin (John Q) were in The Mod Squad




-Stephen Root (No Country) and Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction) were in the 1993 film Dave




-Stephen Root (No Country) and Phil Lamarr (Pulp Fiction) were in the 2005 tv movie Kim Possible: So the Drama




-Stephen Root (No Country) and Frank Whaley (Pulp Fiction) were in the 2008 film Drillbit Taylor




-Stephen Root (No Country) and Christopher Walken (Pulp Fiction) were in the 2002 film The Country Bears




-Kristen Bell (Reefer Madness) and Anne Heche (John Q) were in the 2004 film Gracie's Choice




-Neve Campbell (Reefer Madness) and Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction) are in the upcoming 2008 film The Death of Harry Tobin




-Alan Cumming (Reefer Madness) and Anne Heche (John Q) were in the 2007 film Suffering Man's Charity




-Alan Cumming (Reefer Madness) and Steve Buscemi (Pulp Fiction) were in the 2002 film Spy Kids 2




-Ana Gasteyer (Reefer Madness) and Kathy Griffin (Pulp Fiction) were in the 1997 film Counting Courtney

-Robert Mitchum (The Yakuza) and Michael Rooker (Henry) were in 1993 film Tombstone. Note that Mitchum was the narrator.

-Robert Mitchum (The Yakuza) and Wallace Ford (The Lost Patrol) were in the 1954 film She Couldn't Say No

-Robert Mitchum (The Yakuza) and Alan Hale (The Lost Patrol) were in the 1947 film Pursued

-John Travolta (Pulp Fiction) and James Woods (John Q) were in the 1999 film The General's Daughter and the 2005 film Be Cool

-John Travola (Pulp Fiction) and Robert Duvall (John Q) were in the 1996 film Phenomenon and the 1998 film A Civil Action

-John Travolta (Pulp Fiction) and Ray Liotta (John Q) were in the 2007 film Wild Hogs

-Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) and Denzel Washinton (John Q) were in the 1990 film Mo' Better Blues

-Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) and Anne Heche (John Q) were in the 1994 tv movie Against the Wall

-Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) and Ray Liotta (John Q) were in the 1990 film Goodfellas

-Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) and Michael Rooker (Henry) were in 1989 film Sea of Love and the 2008 film Jumper

-Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction) and Ray Liotta (John Q) were in the 2006 film Deceiver

-Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction), Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction) and Michael Rooker (Henry) were in the 1997 film Deceiver

-Amanda Plummer (Pulp Fiction) and James Woods (John Q) were in the 1997 Disney film Hercules

-Amanda Plummer (Pulp Fiction), Eric Stoltz, and Ethan Suplee (John Q) were in the 1997 tv movie Don't Look Back. Also note that Stoltz and Suplee were in the The Butterfly Effect

-Eric Stoltz (Pulp Fiction) and Anne Heche (John Q) were in the 2000 tv movie One Kill

-Eric Stoltz (Pulp Fiction) and Michael Rooker (Henry) were in the 1997 film Keys to Tulsa

-Bruce Willis (Pulp Fiction) and Denzel Washington (John Q) were in the 1998 film The Siege

-Bruce Willis (Pulp Fiction) and Shawn Hatosy (John Q) were in the 2006 film Alpha Dog

-Bruce Willis (Pulp Fiction) and Eddie Griffin (John Q) were in the 1991 film The Last Boyscout, and the 1998 film Armageddon

-Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction), Steve Buscemi (Pulp Fiction) and James Woods (John Q) were in 2001 film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

-Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction) and Michael Rooker (Henry) were in the 1997 film Rosewood and the 2002 film Undisputed

-Steve Buscemi (Pulp Fiction) and Ethan Suplee (John Q) were in the 2006 film Art School Confidential. Note that Buscemi had an uncreditted role.

-Steve Buscemi (Pulp Fiction) and Shawn Hatosy (John Q) were in the 2002 film Deadrockstar

-Steve Buscemi (Pulp Fiction) and Ray Liotta (John Q) are in the upcoming 2008 film Youth in Revolt

-Christopher Walken (Pulp Fiction) and Denzel Washington (John Q) were in the 2004 film Man on Fire

-Christopher Walken (Pulp Fiction) and Anne Heche (John Q) were in the 1995 film Wild Side (1995)

-Harvey Keitel (Pulp Fiction) and Ray Liotta (John Q) were in the 1997 film Copland

-Denzel Washington (John Q) and Michael Rooker (Henry) were in the 1999 film The Bone Collector

-Ethan Suplee (John Q) and Michael Rooker (Henry) were in the 1995 film Mallrats

-Robert Duvall (John Q) and Michael Rooker (Henry) were in the 1990 film Days of Thunder and the 2000 film The Sixth Day

Welcome to the 132nd Edition of my blog. This week I have focused on quite a bit of independent films and I have made a lot of use of the IFC channel. Now it is time to get your queues from Netflix and Blockbuster and add to it with some of these.


Tango and Cash (1989): Andrei Konchalovsky directed this buddy cop film which stars Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell as the title cops who are from different parts of L.A. and are quite different but when framed for murder by a drug kingpin, played by Jack Palance, they must come together in prison where they are tortured. This is an action film but a pretty good one as long as you can suspend your disbelief for a while. DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES star Teri Hatcher plays Tango's (Stallone) wild sister. Stallone is actually quite enjoyable in this movie.


The Sea Inside (2004): This is part 1 of 2 in my Javier Bardem series where we go to something a little more realistic, maybe because the story is true, story of a real-life Spaniard named Ramon Sampedro who was a quadriplegic who fought a 30-year battle in favor of euthanasia which garnered a lot of mixed opinions. This movie might be frowned upon by some but we must remember, it is a true story and this was what Sampedro wanted. He was not out for some big cause but he did not feel much value to his life in his state and wanted to die peacefully while inspiring others in the process. The scene where it shows his becoming paralyzed was quite painful to watch. This movie begs many ethical questions of what is right and what is not and up to you to decide.


The Little Princess (1939): Walter Lang directed this story of a brave girl finding her missing father and that brave girl was none other than Shirley Temple. Shirley Temple plays Sara whose father leaves her at a rigid boarding school while he goes to Africa during the Boer War. All Sara has now is her imagination and when she learns her father died she refuses to believe it and sets out to find him. This movie was remade in 1995 which was really quite different though I really liked that remake but this one did start it all. Maybe in time, Shirley will make a comeback to the big screen like Gloria Stuart in TITANIC.


Onibaba (1964): We now go to Japan into the 14th Century where a mother and daughter-in-law are left to fend for themselves so to make money, they kill Samarai to sell their armor and weapons. There is not a whole lot to say about this film, though it is quite dark and once again raises questions on ethical dilemma where the mother is the more extreme of the two. It is also quite creepy and not for all tastes.


The Invisible Boy (1957): This is part two of my Robby the Robot series who remains overlooked among the great actors, perhaps because he is a robot and is not taken very seriously. Here, we center around a dedicated scientist who really wants his son to be more into his work and when the super computer works with him, he can do everything and he becomes friends with Robby and they must stop the super computer from taking over the world. I can't really explain it that well. Something that is for our entertainment and not as good as Robby's debut in FORBIDDEN PLANET which was featured last week.


El Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dr. Frankenstein (1974): Here is another entertaining sci-fi film. For those of you who do not know who El Santo and the Blue Demon are, they are legendary masked wrestlers from Mexico and many of the Mexican wrestlers, mostly these two, made many of these movies where they took on someone. They were Mexico's answer to people like Superman and Batman except these guys were real people. Here, they learn that Dr. Frankenstein and his henchmen are kidnapping women to bring back his deceased wife and when a friend of theirs is kidnapped, they must find her before things get worse. There is also some good footage of Mexican wrestling and some other Mexican wrestlers when they have their match. Yes, they usually have matches in these movies as well including one they just had to do before going to save their friend. Take this for what is worth.


Moments in Music (1950): This is my short film for the week which was just a bunch of clips of people singing in movies like Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and many others. Pretty entertaining, probably something of a Hollywood advertisement.


Michael Clayton (2007): Tony Gilroy made his directorial debut. George Clooney stars as the title character who is an attorney known as "the fixer". He has a big gambling problem and is divorced with a son. He then comes across a case of a senior partner going off the deep end, played very well by character actor Tom Wilkinson. Tilda Swinton is also good as an attorney on the case. This was a very suspenseful film and something good for 2007.


Sid and Nancy (1986): Alex Cox directed this bleak biopic on Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his groupie girlfriend Nancy Spungen. Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb played these roles to perfection and were in fact these people. It mostly depicts the destructive relationship between the two and Sid's attempts at a solo career which was not to much success. Look for Courtney Love as one of their friends. This is clearly not a movie for everyone. Some may know what happened in the end but I won't give that away as it is not hard to find and for people who want to see the movie. It is very dark and depressing but very well performed, especially by Gary Oldman, one of my favorites.


Picture Bride (1994): I end with this foreign film of a Japanese girl in 1918 Japan is sent to Hawaii in an arranged marriage to a much older man. She must then endure the harsh working conditions and get along with her new husband who bought her from Japan. This is a very good movie on the human spirit and very moving. Legendary Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune has a great cameo as a silent film director coming through town. Kayo Hatta both wrote and directed this very moving film depicting what it was like in that time period and something we take for granted in this modern time period.


Well, that is it for this week. I had four foreign language films in this one which is quite rare. I have my connections segment back but there really weren't many that I could find like usual. Leave your comments, mention what you like and dislike and stay tuned next week.


-Sylvester Stallone (Tango and Cash) and George Clooney (Michael Clayton) were in the 2003 film Spy Kids 3-D

-Kurt Russell (Tango and Cash) and Cesar Romero (The Little Princess) were in the Disney movies The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes in 1969, Now You See Him, Now You Don't in 1972, and The Strongest Man in the World in 1975.

-Kurt Russell (Tango and Cash) and Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) were in the 2001 film Vanilla Sky

-Kurt Russell (Tango and Cash) and Gary Oldman (Sid and Nancy) were in the 2002 film Interstate 60

-Jack Palance (Tango and Cash) and Cesar Romero (The Little Princess) were in the 1968 film Madigan's Millions. Note that Jack Palance was an uncreditted voice dub.

-Jack Palance (Tango and Cash) and Michael O'Keefe (Michael Clayton) were in the 2001 tv movie Prancer Returns

-Teri Hatcher (Tango and Cash) and George Clooney (Michael Clayton) were in the 2001 film Spy Kids

-Michael Jeter (Tango and Cash) and George Clooney (Michael Clayton) were in the 2002 film Welcome to Collinwood

-Michael Jeter (Tango and Cash) and Chloe Webb (Sid and Nancy) were in the 1993 mini-series Tales Of the City

-Clint Howard (Tango and Cash) and Xander Berkeley (Sid and Nancy) were in the 1995 film Apollo 13 and the 1996 film Barb Wire

-James Hong (Tango and Cash) and Xander Berkeley (Sid and Nancy) were in the 1999 film Spawn 3: Ultimate Battle

-James Hong (Tango and Cash) and Cary-Hiroyaki Tagawa (Sid and Nancy) were in the 1991 film The Perfect Weapon, the 2000 film The Art of War, the 2001 film The Ghost which is not to be confused with Ghost, and the 2007 comedy Balls of Fury

-Brion James (Tango and Cash) and Sydney Pollack (Michael Clayton) were in the 1992 film The Player

-Shirley Temple (The Little Princess) and Judy Garland (Moments in Music archival footage) were never in anything together but Shirley Temple was one of the first people considered for the role of Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of Oz which ultimately went to Judy Garland.

-Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) and Gary Oldman (Sid and Nancy) were in the 2005 film Batman Begins.

-Chloe Webb (Sid and Nancy) and Cary-Hiroyaki Tagawa (Picture Bride) were in the 1988 comedy Twins

-Xander Berkeley (Sid and Nancy) and Cary-Hiroyaki Tagawa (Picture Bride) were in the tv movies L.A. Takedown in 1989, Netforce in 1999, and Not of this World in 1991

Welcome to the 130th Edition of my blog. As you can see I am now in the musical Oklahoma which is in mid-July at the Muncie Civic Theater. It is good to finally be able to do theater again. Now to my movie selections.

Alice in Wonderland (1951): This is part 6 of what will likely be sevin. I chose this movie in tribute to directing animator Ollie Johnston who recently died. I had not seen this Disney spin of the Lewis Carroll classic so I thought I would check it out. We all know the story here, a young girl named Alice is bored with life and enters into the strange world of Wonderland. In Wonderland she meets all kinds of interesting people like the Mad Hatter, Caterpillar, the Red Queen of Hearts and much, much more. This was very entertaining and had such fun songs like THE UNBIRTHDAY SONG and I will stand by the theory that it was all about drugs but that is just my own warped mind.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988): Terry Gilliam directed this spin on the Baron Munchausen legend. I for one know nothing about this person so all I have to go on is this movie which was quite entertaining. John Neville stars as the title character where he and a little girl, played by Sarah Polley, go on many interesting adventures like to the moon and find many other of his misfits. Robin Williams is funny as the Moon King and look for a young Uma Thurman as Venus. Other people in this tale include Eric Idle, Oliver Reed, Jonathan Pryce and even Sting. I can't really explain much here except that you will be quite entertained.

Blades of Glory (2007): Josh Gordan and Will Speck directed this figure skating comedy. I'm sorry if anyone reading this hated this movie, I was just laughing all the way through so I really enjoyed it. Will Ferrell and Jon Heder play rival skaters who are banned from singles competition but find a loophole where they can skate as partners. COACH alum Craig T. Nelson, who ironically enough plays a coach, is the coach that brings them together. SNL stars Will Arnett and Amy Poehler play a brother and sister skating team who is willing to win at all costs. If you want an hour and a half of entertainment, this could be what you are looking for.

Iron Man (2008): Jon Favreau directed this adaptation to the Marvel Superhero and did a great job. I made a rare movie theater appearance to see this movie. Robert Downey Jr. was awesome as Tony Stark who is a wealthy and somewhat idealistic industrialist who thought that his weapons were helping our war until he is captured by terrorists in the middle east and realizes his weapons were being used by the enemy. He is then forced to make weapons for them but instead builds his own suit to escape. After escaping he does what he can to perfect his suit to become the legendary Iron Man. Jeff Bridges plays Tony Stark's partner who becomes a double-dealer and the enemy of Tony. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Tony Stark's maid Pepper Potts. This movie was a little over two hours but every second was entertaining. Where there wasn't awesome action scenes, there were some great comedic scenes, most in part to Tony perfecting his suit. We all wanted to help him in any way we can and knew he was not going to give up. There were great performances by all and stay through the credits.

A Few Good Men (1992): Rob Reiner directed this adaptation to the Aaron Sorkin play. I watched this at Rhonda's house so I decided to finally get something a little more serious into this blog. Our favorite scientologist Tom Cruise stars as Lt. Kaffee who is a military lawyer who must defend two marines accused of murder who insist they were acting under orders. Demi Moore plays the investigator who must keep Kaffee in line. Jack Nicholson was the stand-out in this cast and has his very famous line about the truth. This was a very thought-provoking court drama which had my attention all the way through. I really did not care that Tom Cruise danced on a couch or that he has some strange beliefs, I just liked the movie so i separated the person from his work of art. Many other people can be seen like Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, J.T. Walsh, among many others.

Marihuana (1936): This is part two of my Marijuana series which depict the horrible things that pot can make you do. Here we have a girl who slowly becomes a dope pusher which leads to a friends death. I have noticed that in these types of films, the villain is always some middle-aged guy with a mustache. It strangely has some nudity which had to be quite controversial for the time unless the public realized that is what happens when you smoke pot. There is also a disclaimer on the horrors of this drug.

That Inferior Feeling (1940): Robert Benchley stars in this short film which depicts a man who just can't seem to do anything right. Benchley was a comedy writer, cartoonist and actor which was mostly in short films. This was an entertaining 9 minutes which was included in the dvd of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY.

The FBI Story (1959): This is part two which is probably the last in my James Stewart series. Melvin LeRoy directed this propaganda piece of the FBI but in many ways you might say that J. Edgar Hoover directed this movie since I think he had lots of involvement and even hand-picked James Stewart to play Agent Hardesty who is portrayed through many time periods and showing the effects it has on his family. We get to see the rise of the KKK, Nazi Spies, many gangsters including John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson. This was quite a fabrication but is still good to watch and if the FBI endorsed this, it must be good right?

Equinox (1970): This was actually shot in 1967 but was added to by Jack Woods. This was low-budget to the core and is a horror film where some friends go to the woods and encounter a strange book and a lot of strange happenings. We have some pretty cool looking monsters and special effects which should be respected that they put a lot of effort into them. This is kind of a pre-EVIL DEAD but EVIL DEAD was much better. If you want an entertaining horror film to watch, check out this low-budget classic.

Kindergarten Cop (1990): Ivan Reitman directed this comedy. The Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in this comedy where two years after TWINS, he shows his comedic and soft side once again. Arnold plays cop John Kimble who must go undercover in an elementary school to find a criminal he has been in pursuit of for years. Pamela Reed stars as the police officer he is partnered with and she is supposed to be the substitute teacher who is undercover but develops food poisoning and having to send Kimble to be a Kindergarten teacher who finds himself in a much different world. Just the thought of Arnold being my teacher is great. He then forms a relationship with another teacher, played by Penelope Ann Miller, who there seems to be more to. This movie actually works quite well and better than it should. It may not be for small children though.

Well, that is it for this week. I will be back as always next week. Leave your comments on what you like and dislike. And now read on for the connection segment

-Sarah Polley (Baron Munchausen) and William Fichtner (Blades of Glory) were in the 1999 film Go

-Oliver Reed (Baron Munchausen) and Jack Nicholson (A Few Good Men) were in the 1975 rock opera The Who's Tommy

-Oliver Reed (Baron Munchausen) and James Stewart (The FBI Story) were in the 1978 version of The Big Sleep

-Uma Thurman (Baron Munchausen) and Will Ferrell (Blades of Glory) were in the 2005 musical remake of The Producers

-Uma Thurman (Baron Munchausen) and Luke Wilson (Blades of Glory) were in the 2006 film My Super Ex-Girlfriend

-Uma Thurman (Baron Munchausen) and Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) were in the 1988 film Johnny Be Good

-Uma Thurman (Baron Munchausen) and Kiefer Sutherland (A Few Good Men) were in the 1996 Duke of Groove

-Uma Thurman (Baron Munchausen) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1997 movie Batman and Robin


-Robin Williams (Baron Munchausen) and Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man) were in Hook


-Robin Williams (Baron Munchausen) and Penelope Ann Miller (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1990 film Awakenings


-Robin Williams (Baron Munchausen) and Pamela Reed (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1986 film The Best of Times and the 1990 film Cadillac Man


-Robin Williams (Baron Munchausen) and Linda Hunt (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1980 film Popeye


-Sting (Baron Munchausen) and Linda Hunt (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1984 film Dune

-Will Ferrell (Blades of Glory), Andy Richter (Blades of Glory), Jon Favreau (Iron Man, co-star and director), and Peter Billingsley were in Elf which Favreau directed and had a small role and Billingsley was uncredited as an elf

-Will Ferrell (Blades of Glory) and Cuba Gooding Jr. (A Few Good Men) were in the 2001 film Zoolander and in the 2002 film Boat Trip where Ferrell is uncredited


-Will Ferrell (Blades of Glory) and Linda Hunt (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 2006 hit film
Stranger than Fiction

-Jon Heder (Blades of Glory) and Jeff Bridges (Iron Man) were in the 2007 animated film Surf's Up

-Will Arnett (Blades of Glory) and Leslie Bibb (Iron Man) were in the 2006 film Wristcutters: A Love Story

-Will Arnett (Blades of Glory) and Kiefer Sutherland (A Few Good Men) are in the upcoming 2009 animated film Monsters vs. Aliens

-Craig T. Nelson (Blades of Glory) and Tom Cruise (A Few Good Men) were in the 1983 film All The Right Moves

-Craig T. Nelson (Blades of Glory), Demi Moore (A Few Good Men) and Xander Berkeley (A Few Good Men) were in the 1996 HBO movie If These Walls Could Talk


-Craig T. Nelson (Blades of Glory) and Pamela Reed (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1981 tv movie Inmates: A Love Story and the 1987 movie Rachel River

-William Fichtner (Blades of Glory) and Jeff Bridges (Iron Man) were in the 2005 film The Moguls which is also referred to as The Amatuers

-William Fichtner (Blades of Glory) and Terrence Howard (Iron Man) were in the 2004 film Crash

-William Fichtner (Blades of Glory) and Demi Moore (A Few Good Men) were in the 2000 filM Passion of Mind


-William Fichtner (Blades of Glory) and Richard Tyson (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 2001 film Black Hawk Down


-William Fichtner (Blades of Glory) and Angela Bassett (Kindergarten Cop, extra) were in the 1992 biopic Malcolm X. Note that Fichtner was an extra. They went on to be in three more movies. In 1995, they were in Strange Days. In 1997, they were in Contact and in 2005, they were in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Note that in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, they had uncredited voices.


-Luke Wilson (Blades of Glory), Jeff Bridges (Iron Man), and Angela Bassett (Kindergarten Cop extra) were in the 2003 film Masked and Anonymous

-Luke Wilson (Blades of Glory) and Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man) were in the 2001 hit The Royal Tenenbaums

-Luke Wilson (Blades of Glory) and Demi Moore (A Few Good Men) were in the 2003 sequal Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

-Luke Wilson (Blades of Glory) and Kevin Bacon (A Few Good Men) were in the 1997 film Telling Lies in America and the 2000 film My Dog Skip

-Luke Wilson (Blades of Glory) and Penelope Ann Miller (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 2007 flop Blonde Ambition

-Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) and Tom Cruise (A Few Good Men) are in the upcoming war comedy Tropic Thunder where Downey's role looks quite strange

-Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) and Kiefer Sutherland (A Few Good Men) were in the 1988 film 1969

-Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) and Xander Berkeley (A Few Good Men) were in the 1997 film One Night Stand

-Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) and Penelope Ann Miller (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1992 film Chaplin

-Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) and Cathy Moriarty (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1991 film Soapdish and the 1997 film Hugo Pool which was directed by Robert Downey Sr.

-Jeff Bridges (Iron Man) and Kiefer Sutherland (A Few Good Men) were in the 1993 remake The Vanishing

-Jeff Bridges (Iron Man) and Xander Berkeley (A Few Good Men) were in the 1989 film The Fabulous Baker Boys

-Jeff Bridges (Iron Man) and Cuba Gooding Jr. ( A Few Good Men) were in the 1994 film Blown Away. Note that Gooding was uncredited as a bomb squad member.

-Jeff Bridges (Iron Man) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Kindergarten Cop) were in a 1976 movie called Stay Hungry

-Terrence Howard (Iron Man) and Angela Bassett (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1992 tv movie The Jacksons: An American Dream

-Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man) and Tom Cruise (A Few Good Men) were believe it or not in the third Austin Power movie in 2002. Each playing themselves as characters in Austin Powers.

-Jon Favreau (Iron Man) and Jack Nicholson (A Few Good Men) were in the 1992 film Hoffa which also included JT Walsh from A Few Good Men. Note that Favreau is an extra in this film. There were also in teh 2003 film Something's Gotta Give.

-Jon Favreau (Iron Man), J.T. Walsh (A Few Good Men), and Xander Berkeley (A Few Good Men) were in the 1996 film Persons Unknown


-Jon Favreau (Iron Man) and Penelope Ann Miller (Kindergarten Cop) were in the tv movie Rocky Marciano


-Jack Nicholson (A Few Good Men) and Carroll Baker (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1987 film Ironweed


-Demi Moore (A Few Good Men) and Pamela Reed (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1982 comedy Young Doctors in Love. Note that Demi was uncredited


-Kevin Bacon (A Few Good Men) and Cathy Moriarty (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1998 film Digging to China


-Kevin Pollak (A Few Good Men) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1999 film End of Days and in the 2001 sequal Dr. Dolittle 2 along with Andy Richter of Blades of Glory. Not that the Governor of California was uncredited in Dr. Dolittle 2.


-Kevin Pollak (A Few Good Men) and Penelope Ann Miller were in the 1998 Disney movie Ruby Bridges and in the same year they were in the 1998 film Outside Ozona


-Christopher Guest (A Few Good Men) and Penelope Ann Miller (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1980 western The Long Riders


-Xander Berkeley (A Few Good Men), Penelope Ann Miller (Kindergarten Cop), and Cathy Moriarty (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1992 film A Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag


-Kiefer Sutherland (A Few Good Men) and Penelope Ann Miller (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1998 film Break Up


-Xander Berkeley (A Few Good Men) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1991 blockbuster Terminator 2: Judgement Day.


-Cuba Gooding Jr. (A Few Good Men) and Cathy Moriarty (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 2000 comedy Welcome to Hollywood


-Cuba Gooding Jr. (A Few Good Men) and Angela Bassett (Kindergarten Cop extra) were in the 1991 film Boyz n the Hood


-James Stewart (The FBI Story) and Carroll Baker (Kindergarten Cop) were in the 1962 western epic How the West Was Won and the 1964 western Cheyenne Autumn

Welcome to the 129th Edition of my series. It's been quite a week and it's just a matter of time before I return to the stage. I appreciate everyone who reads this blog so I will get on with the picks but don't forget your Netflix and Blockbuster Queues before you start.





Mask (1985): First, check the year, this is not that movie with Jim Carrey. Peter Bogdanovich directed this moving film. This is based on a true story of a teen named Rocky Dennis, played by Eric Stoltz, who had a rare disease which resulted in facial deformity. Cher plays his wild mother Rusty who despite her drinking problems does what she can to make Rocky feel he is no different and also has her biker friends who also help raise him. Sam Elliott plays an estranged boyfriend of Rusty's who returns and becomes a father figure to Rusty. What made this work the most was the chemistry between Cher and Eric Stoltz as the mother and son who must help each other. Laura Dern plays Rocky's blind love interest.





Ratatouille (2007): This is part 5 of my long-running Disney series which will run at least two more weeks. Brad Bird directs this Pixar film which revolves around a rat named Remy, whose beliefs differed from his familys'. He did not like eating from the trash and had a gift for cooking. He discovers that his cooking idol has died and meets his ghost who advises him to go save his restaurant which goes from 5 stars to 3 stars. Now, enter a garbage and cleaning boy named Linguini and with the help of Remy, makes a very good dish. Now, Remy has control of Linguini who make a pact with each other. This was a very fun Disney film showing that rats and humans can co-exist and may be Pixar's best.





The Transporter (2002): I watched this movie one night at my friend Rhonda and Jeff's home along with many other friends and my friend Doug brought over this movie and I had no idea what to expect. Corey Yuen and Louis Letirrer directed this movie written by Luc Besson. Jason Statham stars as the title character whose name is Frank and whose job it is to transport packages with no questions asked. Things start to get complicated when he finds a package moving and violates his rules only to see a beautiful, bound and gagged girl, played by Shu Qi. That is when all the action starts and he must save his life and chooses to help her which make for some great action scenes, especially the scene with spilled oil which he uses to his advantage. All you need to do is suspend your disbelief for a while and enjoy the movie.





Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004): Alfonzo Cuaron directs the third installment of the novels written by J.K. Rowling. I will apoligize in advance if anyone reading this feels that Harry Potter is satanic. If you do, just go to the next movie and express your dismay in my comments. Daniel Radcliffe reprises his role as the titled Wizard in his third year at Hogwarts and must now deal with a prison escapee named Sirius Black, played by the underrated Gary Oldman, and must prepare to fight him. Not much else really needs to be said here except that Gary Oldman is in this one. Also, look for Emma Thompson in a very amusing role.





The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967): Guys, remember next year on Valentine's Day, this is the perfect movie for you and your sweetheart to watch, well maybe not. This is Roger Corman's take on the infamous day in 1929 where Al Capone's gang, dressed as cops, guns down people in the gang of Bugs Moran. Here, we have the events which lead up to the moment. One issue was with Jason Robards as Capone. I just had a hard time believing he was Al Capone but it did give some good insight to some of the people in both gangs and also look closely for a very young Jack Nicholson. It was interesting how in some ways they make Al Capone into a sort of anti-hero.





One Survivor Remembers (1995): This is my documentary short of the week which features an interview with Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein who speaks of the times before, during and after the war and shows some very disturbing photos. All you get here are insights from a survivor. You won't get any beautiful musical score or anything, just a moving story from someone who survived some horrible times.





The Philadelphia Story (1940): George Cukor directed this raunchy, well at least for that time, comedy. We start with a family where Tracy, played by Katherine Hepburn, is about to marry the respectable George Kittridge, played by John Howard. Just a week before the wedding, Tracy's ex-husband Dexter, played by Cary Grant, and a couple tabloid reporters show up enciting a lot of chaos and making Tracy question if she is doing the right thing. James Stewart is the standout as Mike, who is one of the reporters. Not much else can be said but that this is one hilarious film with great performances from the leads.





The Old Dark House (1932): James Whale directs this black-comedy which reunites him with his FRANKENSTEIN star Boris Karloff where before the movie had a disclaimer assuring everyone that it is the same person from FRANKENSTEIN. Some travellers seek refuge and find a house which is run by some strange people. Gloria Stuart, who many know from TITANIC, also stars as one of the travellers. The patriarch of the family is played by a woman in a very funny scene. Charles Laughton, Raymond Massey, and Melvyn Douglas also star in this film which is hard to really explain except that the house is run by a creepy family and that Karloff is the manservant and entertaining.





Last Tango in Paris (1972): Bernardo Bertulucci directs this very controversial film which stars Marlon Brando as an American living in France and make no mistake, this is not AN AMERICAN IN PARIS which stars Gene Kelly. This was quite a year for Brando because earlier that year, he had one of his other great performances in THE GODFATHER and I am pretty sure that this was made after. Brando plays a very depressed man whose wife has committed suicide and meets an equally unstable girl much younger than him played by Maria Schneider. They form an anonymous relationship wither Brando does not want to know anything about her past or her name. This movie is still quite provocative and was rated X but went down to R, though my version was NC-17. Both people give very in-depth performances. An interesting fact here was that in the "butter scene", it was a last-minute improvisation by Brando without Schneider's knowledge. This movie is obviously not for everyone so use your judgement but it is very compelling and a work of art.





She Shoulda Said No (1949): This is the start of a three-part Marijuana series where each will show the horrible and devastating facts on pot and no REEFER MADNESS will not be one of them as it has already been featured. I have other insightful films ready to watch. Like the one mentioned, this had a big disclaimer on all the horrible things marijuana can do and how this movie saved a couple lives. Any movie that can save a life is good to me. Here we have a singer named Anne, played by Lila Leeds, who just wants to put her brother through college and she meets a pot dealer who guarantees more money and that she will be so happy. She then goes off into the dark world of selling the horrible drug only to get arrested and must see women just like her who smoked that horrible drug and are not themselves and Anne must deal with the consequences of her actions. Apparently, Lila Leeds was cast because of an arrest in 1948 for Marijuana possession along with Robert Mitchum and luckily he did not have to get punished like her. Lyle Talbot also stars as a police officer determined to stop the horrible menace known as pot. Many may remember him from many Ed Wood movies. Now just stay tuned for my next two movies that will scare many of my readers away from Marijuana.





Well, that is it for this week, I will be back as always so just hang there and leave your comments, tell me what you like, what you hate and so on. Also, keep on reading because I'm not done yet.





HONORABLE BOOK MENTION



Mando Lucha A Go Go: The Bizarre and Honorable World of Wild Mexican Wrestling by Dan Madigan: This obviously is a book on the world of Mexican wrestling which charts the history of the Lucha and of many wrestlers. Mexico is very big on wearing masks, though not all do and are known for their high-flying style which has inspired many people in Japan and America. This also looks at many of the legends in the world of Lucha like El Santo, Blue Demon, Mil Mascaras, and many others and even talks about some of their movies made between the 50s to 70s.





CONNECTION TIME





-Cher (Mask) and Maggie Smith (Harry Potter) were in the 1999 film Tea With Mussolini



-Cher (Mask) and Jack Nicholson (St. Valentine's Day Massacre, uncredited) were in the 1987 film The Witches of Eastwick



-Sam Elliot (Mask) and Brian Dennehy (Ratatouille) were in the 2000 tv movie Fail Safe

-Sam Elliot (Mask) and Gary Oldman (Harry Potter) were in the 2000 film The Contender

-Sam Elliot (Mask) and David Thewlis (Harry Potter) were in the Coen Brothers hit film The Big Lebowski

-Eric Stoltz (Mask) and Brian Dennehy (Ratatouille) were in the 1993 tv movie Foreign Affairs



-Eric Stoltz (Mask) and Gloria Stuart (The Old Dark House) were in the 1981 tv movie The Violation of Sarah McDonald

-Richard Dysart (Mask) and Brian Dennehy (Ratatouille) were in the 1989 tv movie Day One



-Richard Dysart (Mask) and Julie Christie (Harry Potter) were in the 1968 film Petulia



-Richard Dysart (Mask) and George Segal (St. Valentines Day Massacre) were in the 1974 film the Terminal Man



-Harry Carey Jr. (Mask) and Cary Grant (The Philadelphia Story) were in Howard Hawks' 1952 film Monkey Business and and they were in the 1957 film Kiss Them For Me. Note that Harry Carey Jr.

-Harry Carey Jr. (Mask) and James Stewart (The Philadelphia Story) were in many westerns together which include John Ford's Two Rode Together in 1961, John Ford's 1964 western Cheyenne Autumn where Carey is uncredited and Stewart plays Wyatt Earp which I had no idea he played that role until now, the 1965 western Shenandoah where Carey has a bit role, the 1966 western The Rare Breed, and in the 1968 western Bandolero. Note that the first two I mentioned were from John Ford and the rest were directed by Andrew V. McLaglen

-Harry Carey Jr. (Mask) and Raymond Massey (The Old Dark House) were in the 1961 film The Great Imposter

-Laura Dern (Mask) and Bruce Dern (St. Valentines Day Massacre) are real-life daughter and father but have never been in any movies together

-Ian Holm (Ratatouille) and Gary Oldman (Harry Potter) were in the 1997 film The Fifth Element. Also note that Luc Besson, who wrote the Transporter wrote and directed this film.

-Ian Holm (Ratatouille), David Thewlis (Harry Potter), Julie Christie (Harry Potter) were in the 2000 animated film The Miracle Maker. Holm and Christie were also in the 1982 film The Return of the Soldier.

-Iam Holm (Ratatouille) and Warwick Davis (Harry Potter) were in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits. Note that Davis is uncredited



-Ian Holm (Ratatouille) and Maggie Smith (Harry Potter) were in the 1969 musical Oh! What a Lovely War



-Ian Holm (Ratatouille), Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter), and Emma Thompson (Harry Potter) were in Kenneth Branaugh's 1989 Henry V, also Ian Holm and Robbie Coltrane were the Hughes Brothers 2001 film From Hell



-Ian Holm (Ratatouille) and George Segal (St. Valentine's Day Massacre) were in the 1990 tv movie The Endless Game



-Peter O'Toole (Ratatouille) and Warwick Davis (Harry Potter) were in the 1996 tv movie Gulliver's Travels



-Peter O'Toole (Ratatouille) and Julie Christie (Harry Potter) were in the 2004 blockbuster Troy

-Peter O'Toole (Ratatouille) and Katherine Hepburn (The Philadelphia Story) were in the 1968 classic The Lion in Winter

-Peter O'Toole (Ratatouille) and Gloria Stuart (The Old Dark House) were in the 1982 movie My Favorite Year



-Janeane Garofalo (Ratatouille) and Alan Rickman (Harry Potter) were in Kevin Smith's 1999 film Dogma and the 2001 film The Search for John Gissing



-Janeane Garofalo (Ratatouille) and George Segal (St. Valentines Day Massacre) were in the 1996 film The Cable Guy



-Qi Shu (The Transporter) and Julie Christie (Harry Potter) are in the upcoming New York, I Love You



-David Thewlis (Harry Potter) and Jason Robards (St. Valentines Day Massacre) were in the 1993 film The Trial

-David Thewlis (Harry Potter) and Marlon Brando (Last Tango in Paris) were in the 1996 remake of the Island of Dr. Moreau

-Michael Gambon (Harry Potter) and Marlon Brando (Last Tango in Paris) were in the 1989 film A Dry White Season



-Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter) and Jason Robards (St. Valentines Day Massacre) were in the 1993 film The Adventures of Huck Finn



-Jason Robards (St Valentine's Day Massacre) and Katherine Hepburn were in the 1968 Sidney Lumet film Long Day's Journey into Night



-Jack Nicholson (St. Valentines Day Massacre, bit role) and Boris Karloff (The Old Dark House) were in two Roger Corman films in 1963 which include The Terror and The Raven.

-Jack Nicholson (St. Valentines Day Massacre, bit role) and Marlon Brando (Last Tango in Paris) were in the 1976 western The Missouri Breaks which I stated last week because they were in this last week too.



-Cary Grant (The Philadelphia Story) and Melvyn Douglas (The Old Dark House) were in the 1948 classic Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House



-Cary Grant (The Philadelphia Story) and Charles Laughton (The Old Dark House) were in the 1932 film Devil and the Deep



-Cary Grant (The Philadelphia Story) and Raymond Massey (The Old Dark House) were brothers in Arsenic and Old Lace and Massey was a Boris Karloff (The Old Dark House) look-alike in this movie



-Katherine Hepburn (The Philadelphia Story) and Melvyn Douglas (The Old Dark House) were in the 1947 film The Sea of Grass



-James Stewart (The Philadelphia Story) and Melvyn Douglas (The Old Dark House) were in the 1936 film The Gorgeous Hussy



-James Stewart (The Philadelphia Story) and Raymond Massey (The Old Dark House) were in the 1962 western How the West Was Won



-Ruth Hussey (The Philadelphia Story) and Melvyn Douglas (The Old Dark House) were in the 1941 film Our Wife






-Ruth Hussey (The Philadelphia Story) and Raymond Rassey (The Old Dark House) were in the 1973 tv movie My Darling Daughters' Anniversary



-Ruth Hussey (The Philadelphia Story) and Gloria Stuart (The Old Dark House) were in the 1938 movie Time Out for Murder

-Boris Karloff (The Old Dark House) and Marlon Brando (The Old Dark House were never in any movie together, however they have both played the role of General Kurtz. Most people know of Brando playing the role in Apocalypse Now but some do not know that about 20 years before Brando played the role, Karloff was playing that role on stage which was Hearts of Darkness, the title of the novel Apocalypse Now is based upon.






Those are the ones that I find. If you know of something that I have missed, please leave your comments and just think of whatever connection you want, I don't really care. One of my reasons for doing this is to get future ideas, plus just to keep this interesting.

Welcome to the 128th edition of my long-running series. I hope you are all enjoying yourselves. Next week, I will be auditioning for a couple shows in attempt to make my big comeback to the stage. Now, enough about me, get out your queues whether that be Netflix or Blockbuster and start adding to them and if they are on the bottom of your list, move them on up, only if you want to though since we are a free society.




El Cid (1961): With the recent death of Charlton Heston, I thought I should feature something of his and I picked out this epic. Anthony Mann directed this epic starring our former NRA president as the title character whose real name was Rodrigo Diaz but to his followers he became El Cid which means The Lord and leads his Spanish army against the Moors while still seeking peace. Sophia Loren plays his love interest Jimena who first wanted him killed but then saw his nobility. I'm not going to sit here and go through every little thing that Rodrigo goes through, he goes through a lot, but that he was known as the "peaceful warrior" and was a real person.




What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993): Now for something quite different than my first selection. Lasse Hallstrom directed this adaptation from a novel by Peter Hedges. Johnny Depp, in a more "normal" role, plays the title character. He lives in a small town and works at the local grocery store and is part of a rather dysfunctional family who had an overweight mom, played by Darlene Cates, an autistic younger brother, played very well by Leonardo DiCaprio, and a couple sisters who did not seem to appreciate Gilbert though that is my own observation, something he never brings up. I say that because he was pretty much left responsible for his brother and anything that happened was squarely on his shoulders but they never seemed to offer to relieve him of the burden. Maybe I'm too observant. Juliette Lewis plays the love interest of Gilbert. Other people in this movie include John C. Reilly, Mary Steenburgen, and Crispin Glover. This was a good slice of life film with an interesting ending.




The Wild One (1953): Now we go to a biker film which seemed to be a bit of a propaganda piece but oh well, still very enjoyable. Laszlo Benedek directed this iconic film starring Marlon Brando as the leader of a biker gang who goes around terrorizing a small town and fight another rival gang in the process. Marlon is Johnny and he starts to see more error of his ways when he meets a girl played by Mary Murphy. Also look for Lee Marvin as one of the bikers. Check out the original of the biker films.




Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996): Jim Mallon directed this movie adaptation to the hit tv series which I watched some as a kid, mostly with my dad even though the tv series was usually just as long if not longer than this movie. This was a show about a mad scientist wanting to take over the world and is making a simple man named Mike Nelson watch some of the worst movies possible. This time Mike and his robot buddies watch THIS ISLAND EARTH and they go on with some great one liners making this a very entertaining film to watch.




La Vie en Rose (2007): Olivier Dahan directed this French award-winning film charting the early life, rise and premature death of real-life singer Edith Piaf. She is poor all her life until night club owner Louis Leplee discovers her singing on the street and gives her a job. Gerard Depardieu plays Leplee who was on screen far too sparingly in my opinion. There is just something about Gerard Depardieu that he is just always likable to me and just that look as an actor including that big, rounded nose and good screen personality. Marion Cotillard plays Edith and was great in that role winning an academy award playing the role in her prime and in her older age when she was dying.



Thru the Mirror (1936): This is part 4 of at least 6 of my long-running Disney series and my short filim for the week starring cartoon icon Mickey Mouse. When Mickey goes to sleep he has the book ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS and soon finds himself on the other side of the mirror where everything is alive and is experiencing chaos just like Alice. There are also some good animation dance numbers like one with some playing cards. These are the pioneers of animation which gave way to the awesome computer animation of today but we should not overlook the art of paper animation.



The Year of the Yao (2004): This is a documentary I found on the Independent Film Channel which charts the rise of Houston Rockets center Yao Ming. We start in his early days of Chinese basketball, to the day he was drafted by the Rockets, his early struggles and then the day he became a force to be reckoned with. This was actually a very insightful documentary and features a lot of his translator Colin Pine who was always there for Yao even in his struggles. It was interesting to see how he dealt with these pressures like no one else ever had.





The Violent Professionals (1973): This is my Grindhouse selection for the week which focuses on a vigilante cop who goes to avenge his boss' murder at all cost and that means going undercover and going after the mafia single-handedly. This one is pretty entertaining, not really original but good enough. The VHS transfer was awful which might make it harder to watch.



Sorry, Wrong Number (1948): Anatole Litvak directed this radio play by Lucille Fletcher. Barbara Stanwyck stars as a bedridden heiress who overhears a misrouted phone conversation over a murder plot where she does whatever she can to prevent the murder and finds that it is not as random as she thinks. Burt Lancaster also stars as her husband who has not returned home. This must be watched very carefully but this is quite suspenseful and well performed. It was interesting to see the rise of a telephone and that being the object of hearing a murder plot. It's just too bad that I can't work a switchboard. I know I would have done a great job.



The River (1984): We end this week on the farm in Tennesee. Mark Rydell directed this story by Robert Dillon which stars Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek as husband and wife with a son and daughter. Mel Gibson plays Tom Garvey who is having a lot of trouble on his farm with storms and the bank trying to shut him down for business purposes and he refuses to back down. His character reminded me a lot of Harrison Ford in THE MOSQUITO COAST with his stubborn attitude and his unwillingness to give in which sometimes makes it hard to sympathise but we know they have all the right reasons. Sissy Spacek is good as the wife who is having difficulty with the struggles on the farm.



Well, that is the end of my recommendations but I am trying to add even more variety to these so keep on reading. Each week, I want to add some type of honorable mention which might be books, plays, and whatever else besides film so this week I take a look into the world of musicals. I don't want any of you to worry though, I won't be like MTV and VH1 where they have taken all the music out of the channels for the most part. The movies will always be the main part of this.



HONORABLE THEATER MENTION


Assassins: I just went to go see this Steven Sondheim musical last night on opening night. For those of you who don't know who Steven Sondheim is, he is the man who wrote the musical SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET. That musical may be quite strange but now we go into the world of the assassins and would-be assassins of the Presidents of the United States. My myspace friends Tom Cherry and Erika Peterson co-star in this musical. Tom was hilarious and disturbing as Samuel Byck, the man who unsucessfully tried to assassinate Richard Nixon and is the same person Sean Penn plays in THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON. Erika was good and funny as Manson girl Squeaky Froame who attempted to kill Gerald Ford.



Now, before I go into this, let me give you a little history lesson. We all know who John Wilkes Booth killed. He was an actor in the theater during the Civil War and unhappy with the state of the south and Abraham Lincoln. He then formed a plan with three other people to kill different people in the government but only Booth succeeded by killing Lincoln in the Ford Theater. A lesser-known presidential assassin named Czolgosz who was the son of immigrants and had a hard time finding work leading to depression and much more when he shot President William McKinley while he was making a speech and McKinley would go on for another hour to finish his speech before dying. Charles Guiteau was a religious and ambitious person and wanted a diplomatic position in the White House but was rejected and with so many unsuccessful business ventures, he would go onto kill President James Garfield while he was boarding a train. Lee Harvey Oswald would go onto become a huge subject of debate on whether or not he killed Kennedy and if he did whether or not he acted alone. Those are the assassins who succeeded but Sondheim did not discriminate in this musical so now we go to the ones who were not successful. First, we'll look at the two Charles Manson women Squeaky Froame and Sara Jane Moore who made separate assassination attempts on President Gerald Ford. Squeaky Froame pointed a pistol at Ford but there were no bullets in the firing chamber and apparently went to trial so that Charles Manson could testify his cause in court. Seventeen days later Sara Jane Moore made her own attempt on Ford and got a shot fired off. She was originally undercover for the FBI and then was dropped when she confessed to her radical group. Her assassination attempt was apparently to show her loyalty to the radical group. Next, we have Samuel Byck as mentioned above formed an attempt to kill Richard Nixon but never even got to the vicinity of Nixon. Byck had failed in the business world and blamed Nixon. He then wrote a series of angry letters and then made a tape of his plans to kill Nixon and sent tapes to many people including Leonard Bernstein. When getting to the airport, he killed a security guard. When he got on the plane, he actually wounded the pilot and killed the co-pilot before getting hit by a sniper and eventually died. Giuseppe Zangara, a much less-known person and situation actually fired some shots at Franklin Roosevelt's limosine. In the process, he killed the mayor and wounded four others. He would eventually get the electric chair. That is something I didn't even know about. Now, for my last one is John Hinckley. Most people's actions were for a cause or being disgruntled about the government. Hinckley tried to kill Ronald Reagon for Jodie Foster due to a scene in TAXI DRIVER which starred Jodie as a 12 and a half year old hooker. He ended up hitting reagon in the chest, shot a plain clothes officer and the worst part was him hitting Reagon's chief press aide James Brady in the head resulting in a lot of struggles and with a lot of look at gun control. He was found not guilty by reasons of insanity and is in a mental institution. You can all find more detailed histories on these people, I just wanted to get them exposed a bit to show who is featured.



This is actually a very interesting musical where it takes place mostly in a bar where they each kind of give their side of what happened and such. I don't know how else to explain it. They all interact in the bar. Booth has a very powerful ballad on why he killed Lincoln and everyone else explains their own warped mind for how they were wronged. This is not for all tastes but it is definetly something very interesting to see. It is hard to really explain so if you find it in your area, go check it out if you feel it is somthing you will really like.



CONNECTION TIME



-Charlton Heston (El Cid) and Gerard Depardieu (La Vie En Rose) were in the Kenneth Branaugh's 1996 version of Hamlet




-Charlton Heston (El Cid) and Mel Gibson (The River) were in a tv movie called A Night on Mount Edna


-Sophia Loren (El Cid) and Marlon Brando (The Wild One) were in Charlie Chaplin's last film A Countess from Hong Kong in 1967


-Sophia Loren (El Cid) and Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) are scheduled to be in a Rob Marshall film called Nine in 2009 and one of many writers credited was Federico Fellini. Something else a bit interesting is that they are the only two actresses to have won Academy Awards while mainly speaking in a foreign language


-Sophia Loren (El Cid) and Gerard Depardieu (La Vie En Rose) were in a 2002 film called Between Strangers


-Sophia Loren (El Cid) and Burt Lancaster (Sorry, Wrong Number) were in The Cassandra Crossing


-Johnny Depp (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and Marlon Brando (The Wild One) were in Don Juan DeMarco in 1995 and in 1997 they were in a movie which I have never heard of until now called The Brave


-Johnny Depp (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) are scheduled to be in the 2009 film Public Enemies where Depp is to portray bank robber John Dillinger, something I am interested to see.


-Johnny Depp (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and Verne Troyer (The Year of the Yao, archival footage) were in Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and are set to co-star in Gilliams 2009 film The Imagination of Doctor Parnassus


-Leonardo DiCaprio (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and Gerard Depardieu (La Vie en Rose) most notably co-starred in the 1998 version of The Man in the Iron Mask and they were also in A Hundred and One Nights where DiCaprio had an uncredited appearance


-Leonardo DiCaprio (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and Jack Nicholson (The Year of the Yao, archival footage) were in the 2006 blockbuster The Departed


-Juliette Lewis (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and Jack Nicholson (The Year of the Yao, archival footage) were in the 1996 film The Evening Star


-Juliette Lewis (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and Adam Sandler (The Year of the Yao, archival footage) were in the 1994 comedy Mixed Nuts



-Mary Steenburgen (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and Jack Nicholson (The Year of the Yao, archival footage) were in last week's edition of SBTMW for the 1978 western comedy Goin' South. They were also in Milos Forman's 1981 film Ragtime where Nicholson appears unbilled.




-Mary Steenburgen (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and Sissy Spacek (The River) were in The Long Walk Home, The Grass Harp, and Four Christmases. Note that in The Long Walk Home that Mary Steenburgen was the narrator




-John C. Reilly (What's Eating Gilbert Grape), Jack Nicholson, Adam Sandler, and Kevin Nealon (The Year of the Yao, archival footage) were all in the 2003 film Anger Management but Reilly was uncredited


-John C. Reilly (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and Jack Nicholson (The Year of the Yao) were in the 1992 biopic Hoffa


-Marlon Brando (The Wild One) and Jack Nicholson (The Year of the Yao) were in Arthur Penn's 1976 western The Missouri Breaks


-Lee Marvin (The Wild One) and Barbara Stanwyck (Sorry, Wrong Number) were in the 1962 film Walk on the Wild Side




-Lee Marvin (The Wild One) and Sissy Spacek (The River) were in the 1972 film Prime Cut


-Gerard Depardieu (La Vie en Rose) and Burt Lancaster (Sorry, Wrong Number) were in Bertolucci's Novecento

Welcome to the 127th Edition of my series. Last thursday, I tried out for my second reality tv series, this one being BIG BROTHER. All I did was give a two-minute speech on why I should be on there and I was done. I have no idea if I'll get called back or not. I hope everyone is having a good week. Get out your netflix and blockbuster queues and read on.



Old School (2003): I start out with this frat comedy. Todd Phillips directed this all-out comedy which stars Luke Wilson, SNL alum Will Ferrell, and Vince Vaughn. All three want to re-live their youth and find a loop-hole to start their own fraternity even though they are no longer in college and recruit many college and non-college people, even a 94-year-old. Not a whole lot needs to be explained here. You can see many appearances including ENTOURAGE co-star Jeremy Piven, LOST co-star Terry O'Quinn, 24 alum Elisha Cuthbert, KING OF QUEENS alum Leah Remini, NEWSRADIO alum Andy Dick, and plenty of others. We can even see the original host of THE DAILY SHOW Craig Kilborn. You can also hear some great songs and the highlight in my opinion is Will Ferrell's rendition of Kansas' DUST IN THE WIND.

'Crocodile' Dundee (1986): Peter Faiman directed this Aussie comedy which stars Paul Hogan, who also co-wrote, as the iconic Mick "Crocodile" Dundee a eccentric crocodile hunter who seems to finally meet his match in American Reporter Sue Charlton who goes there to get a story on the famed Aussie. She then invites him back to New York City where Dundee finds himself in a whole different world. This was a great, simple comedy with a great performance from Paul Hogan, who makes this film.

Soldier of Fortune (1955): Edward Dmytryk directed this movie based on a novel by Ernest Gann. Clark Gable stars as mercenary Hank Lee who is hired by a woman named Jane Hoyt, played by Susan Hayward, to rescue her husband being held captive in Hong Kong. This story is quite similar to PROOF OF LIFE which was made many years later. This movie has some great shots of China and some great action and romantic scenes with a strong Gable.

Lifted (2006): This is part 3 of my Disney series where I found a Pixar short. This is a very comedic short where a teenage alien does everything possible to abduct a young boy who is sleeping but runs into a lot of issues. There was no dialogue here, just a bunch of hilarious screw-ups.

Seven Years Bad Luck (1921): This is part 5 of my silent film series which was written, directed, and starred in by French silent film comedian Max Linder who unfortunately does not live on like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd a little bit. Linder always played a character called Max and in this movie he is very superstitious after breaking a mirror and fearing the so called seven years of bad luck. Look closely for a mirror scene which was made most famous in later years by Groucho and Harpo Marx in DUCK SOUP. Max Linder lead a short life and was a veteran in the French army and experienced depression leading into his suicide but he made his mark on the film industry which film historians need to take a closer look at. Charlie Chaplin has cited him as his "professor" so when thinking of the big three, take this man into consideration.

Regarding Henry (1991): Mike Nichols directed this movie written by J.J. Abrams and stars Harrison Ford. Unfortunately, all three have done much better but as a sucker for feel-good movies and to make a two part Harrison Ford series, I decided to include it. Harrison Ford stars as an unscrupulous attorney who is shot in a hold-up where he survives but he must start right over again in learning. As time goes by, he sees what he did as an attorney and did not like it which showed a whole lot more that he did not like in his life. Annette Bening stars as his wife. This is quite formulaic and predictable but I found it touching.

Seven Thieves (1960): Henry Hathaway directed this heist comedy which stars Edward G. Robinson as a very intelligent criminal who recruits 6 other people to pull off a casino heist. Joan Collins, Rod Steiger, and Eli Wallach also star. There is not much to say but that great acting and comedic moments keep this together. I also noticed that this was released the same year as the Rat Pack's OCEAN'S 11 so I don't know what came first but I thought this one was better.

The Maltese Falcon (1941): John Huston directs this movie which helped launch the Film Noir genre. Humphrey Bogart stars as Sam Spade who is hired by the mysterious Brigid, played by Mary Astor, into watching her sister and as everyone knows, there is far more to it when he becomes caught up in the hunt for the statue of the title. Sydney Greenstreet stars as Kaspar, the head of the crime syndicate with Peter Lorre as one of his henchmen. Not much more can be said on this classic which still holds up and is still complicated to follow no matter how many times you have seen it so watch closely.

Goin' South (1978): Jack Nicholson stars and directs this western comedy. He plays horse thief Henry Moon who is about to be executed and is saved by widow Julia Tate, played by Mary Steenburgen in her film debut, who marries him and puts him to a lot of work. Nicholson reunites with two of his co-stars from ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST which were Christopher Lloyd and Danny Devito. John Belushi has a very amusing role who also made his debut and would later that year star in NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE. This lives on as an underrated sleeper.

Secrets and Lies (1996): I now end on this British film wrote and directed by Mike Leigh. Brenda Blethyn stars as the mother of a very dysfunctional family named Cynthia whose daughter won't speak much to her and has issues with her brother, played by Timothy Spall. Marianne Jean-Baptiste plays a successful black woman who sets out to find her birth parents and learns that her mother is Cynthia, who is white. Cynthia denies her at first but when learning it is the truth and starts to really connect which leads into a lot of secrets with the whole family. This is a great realistic portrait on family dysfunction and a well-written film all around.

Honorable Mention: The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling: I bought this on DVD since I have always had interest in this promotion of the 80s. This was a very successful promotion in Texas which was ran by Fritz Von Erich and his sons David, Kerry, and Kevin plus his less-successful sons Mike and Chris were the backbone of this promotion in their feud with the Fabulous Freebirds which comprised on Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts, and Jimmy Garvin With the great success came a lot of tragedy, mostly with the Von Erichs. Kevin is the only brother alive today and comments a lot on this DVD. David died in Japan for rather mysterious reasons. The other three were known to have taken their own lives. Their other wrestler Gino Hernandez died of a drug overdose and many of their main wrestlers have died since included Rick Rude, Terry Gordy, and Chris Adams. A lot of this I already knew but it was interesting seeing the perspective of many people involved with WCCW, especially Kevin who I have a lot of respect for.

Well, that is it for this week. I see I focused a lot on comedy this week. I always enjoy writing these each week and putting them together. Thank you all for your support, tell your friends and leave your comments. What do you love and what do you hate?

Now for the connections.

-Jack Nicholson (Goin' South), Annette Bening (Regarding Henry), and Rod Steiger (Seven Thieves) were all in Mars Attacks.

-Clark Gable (Soldier of Fortune) and Ward Bond (The Maltese Falcon) were in Chained, It Happened One Night, and Gone With The Wind.

-Juliette Lewis (Old School) and Mary Steenbergen (Goin' South) and in a movie which will be featured next week.

-Terry O'Quinn (Old School) and J.J. Abrams (Regarding Henry writer), Terry O'Quinn has been in both Lost and Alias, both written by J.J. Abrams.

Those are the only connections I can see at the moment, feel free to come up with your own if you find them. I thought this would be a fun addition to my blog.

Welcome to the 126th Edition of my long-running series where each week I bring you ten movies that I try to make as diverse as possible and I have been doing so for over two years now; hard to believe I know but I love doing it. Things have been looking pretty up for me lately. I believe I will be able to make my return to the stage by the summer. Now, what you want to know most is what movies did I suggest for this week so open up your queues for Netflix and Blockbuster and read on.


Royal Wedding (1951): I start you out with a later Fred Astaire film. Stanley Donen directed this musical written by Alan Jay Lerner. This one seems a little unappreciated and I did not even know of it until I saw the Talking Heads' STOP MAKING SENSE where David Byrne kind of reenacts a scene from this movie. Fred Astaire and Jane Powell star as a brother and sister dance team whose act ends in New York and are booked in London at the same time as the Royal Wedding. They soon each meet someone and fall in love which puts their act as a little less importance. I think we can all guess where it goes from here and that there are some great dance numbers including one where Fred is dancing on the walls and ceiling, long before Lionel Richie was dancing on the ceiling. One interesting note is that Judy Garland was first cast in this film but was fired from her MGM contract.


Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003): I decided to try another Batman animated film and this is what I found. Batman and Robin encounter a female vigilante dressed as Batman but more ruthless and must figure out what side she is on. Make no mistake, this was not Barbara Gordon who goes as Batgirl because she was off to college. We have David Ogden Stiers voicing the Penguin who is the villain at focus with a couple others. We also get to hear the voice of Kelly Ripa. This was a pretty decent outing of Batman.


Modern Times (1936): This is part 4 of my silent film series. Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed and starred in his last silent film, well for the most part a silent film, with exceptions. Much of what Chaplin wrote was his own warped sense of humor of times that he hated and this one about the industrial revolution was not much different. Charlie reprises his role of the Tramp who we first see working in a factory on an assembly line who tries to keep up with the new machinery but struggles to no end. This scene with the conveyor belt might have been an inspiration to the I LOVE LUCY episode where Lucy and Ethel get a job in the chocolate factory and struggle to keep up with the machine. After going through a lot of hell in the factory with a lot of pretty innovative imagery, he gets fired and we see out favorite tramp out trying to make it in society. On the other side of the film, we see Paulette Goddard, a daughter of an unemployed father who we can infer struggles in the modern times, stealing in order to make ends meet and has a chance encounter with the Tramp who both fall in love after he takes a fall for her and ends up in jail. The Tramp then finally finds peace living a good life in prison until he is set back out in the world but he does reunite with his love. This was kind of the start of when Chaplin was being accused of being a communist which eventually lead to his deportation. There is a lo