Sorry for the delay!

Hello readers,

Sorry for the great delay in any new movie recommendations. I'm just a few weeks short of finishing up my last semester of college. It's been a crazy semester and I literally haven't even had time to look at this site. I promise there will be a new post soon (once school is over) and that they will appear more frequently again afterward.

Check back soon!

Rachel

The Underrated Psychological Thriller

Today's movie recommendation is the film Bunny Lake is Missing which was directed and produced by Otto Preminger and released in 1965. Picture below.

The movie starts out with a young woman named Ann Lake who has just moved to London with her four year old daughter to live with her brother, Steven. Ann is first seen right after she drops her daughter, Bunny, off at nursery school (her daughter is not shown) but when Ann goes back a few hours later to pick up her daughter she is no where to be seen and no one from the school even remembers having seen her. Ann and Steven call the police and start a suspenseful hunt for the missing Bunny. The police soon discover that the school has no records of Bunny ever being admitted to the school and Bunny's belongings seem to have mysteriously disappeared from their new home. These strange occurrences cause the police to start questioning whether or not Bunny actually exists as well as Ann's sanity.

This movie, although filmed in black in white, does a great job at gripping your attention from start to finish. The images shown throughout the movie (especially in the doll hospital) are both eerie and beautiful. The entire cast of the film did an incredible job with all of their roles and the plot/ending is not as predictable as many other thrillers released back then and even now. If you love a good thriller and can stand watching a movie that's not in technicolor, do give this one a shot!

Fun facts:
- The movie is based off of a novel with the same title by Merriam Modell.
- Columbia Pictures wanted Preminger to cast Jane Fonda as Ann Lake, who was eager to play the role, but Preminger insisted upon using Carol Lynley.
- Just like Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, audiences were not allowed into the movie after it had started. There were even posters that stated, "No One Admitted While the Clock is Ticking!". The Zombies also recorded a two-minute radio ad set to the tune of "Just Out of Reach" that promoted the film's release and urged audiences to "Come on time!"
- This movie was dismissed by both critics and Preminger as insignificant upon its release in 1965. Luckily, it later has become known as a cult classic and has been given highly supportive reviews by critics such as Andrew Sarris.
- The Zombies have a few cameos via televisions and radios throughout the movie.
- The doll hospital shown in the movie was actually Barry Elder's Doll Museum in Hammersmith.
- The 'Frogmore End' house in the film was the former home of Daphne du Maurier's (famous novelist who also happens to be one of my favorite authors) father.

SPOILER ALERT (don't read this last one unless you've already seen the movie)!
- Preminger was unhappy with the ending of the novel so he changed the kidnapper/ to-be murderer for the movie.

This movie is not rated, but if I were to give it a rating I would say all viewers over 12 should be ok viewing this film.

Link to the trailer

Pleasantville in Reverse!

Today's movie recommendation is a movie called The Purple Rose of Cairo which was directed by Woody Allen and released in 1985. Picture below.

The movie takes place in New Jersey during the Great Depression. The main character, Cecelia, is in an unhappy marriage and copes with her bad times by repeatedly going to the movies where she watches movie stars live glamorous lives up on the big screen. A new movie called The Purple Rose of Cairo is Cecelia's new favorite movie and she sees it so many times that one of the characters decides to walk right off of the screen and meet her. The fictional character, an explorer named Tom Baxter, immediately falls head over heels in love with Cecelia and decides to run off with her and never return to the big screen. In the meanwhile, people are in an uproar due to this strange occurrence and the producer of the film as well as Gil Sheperd, the actor who plays/created Tom Baxter, are sent to New Jersey to try to get Tom to go back where he belongs. In the search for Tom Gil meets Cecelia and becomes so entranced with her admiration of him that soon Cecelia has to decide which man to run away with.

This movie carries wit and charm from the first scene to the very last. The characters have an extremely innocent and charming feel and the story is a new and interesting one. This is definitely not a movie to pass up.

Fun facts:
- Woody Allen has stated several times that this movie is his most favorite out of all of the ones he has made.
- It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
- The carnival scenes were shot at Bertrand Island Amusement Park in New Jersey which had just shut down before filming.
- Michael Keaton was originally cast as Gil/Tom but Woody decided it wasn't right and brought in Jeff Daniels instead.
- Woody Allen was informed that if he modified the ending of the movie that it would've been a huge hit, but he refused stating that the ending is the reason he made the movie.
- Viggo Mortensen played a small role in this film which he was very proud of. Unfortunately for him they ended up cutting out all of the parts with him in it.
- The Purple Rose of Cairo opened in North America on March 1, 1985 in 3 theaters, where it grossed an exceptional $114,095 ($38,031 per screen) in its opening weekend.

This movie is rated PG. All ages should be fine watching this film.

Link to the trailer

Who Says Animation is Just For Kids?

Today's long overdue movie recommendation is an animated movie for adults called Mary and Max, which was released in 2009 and stars the voice talents of Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Eric Bana. Picture below.

The movie is about a young girl in Australia named Mary who suffers from neglect from her parents and decides to send a random person in New York City a letter in hopes of making a friend. Her letter is sent to a middle aged Jewish man named Max who is suffering from Asperger's Syndrome and thus also is dealing with isolation and confusion about the world. These two sad characters soon become friends and continue to write each other over the next 22 years even as their lives progress with positive and negative changes. Their friendship motivates both characters to work through the difficulties in their lives.

The animation in this movie is beautiful. It looks very similar to some of Tim Burton's animation films. But what's more amazing than the animation is each of the character's stories. Both Mary and Max deal with real life problems that the average human being can relate to, but there is still a warm charm present throughout the film.

Fun facts:
- The director of the film, Adam Elliot, says that the character of Max was actually inspired by a pen pal of his in New York that he'd been writing to for over twenty years.
- This movie was the first Australian movie of 2009 to gross over a million dollars.
- It was awarded the Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature at the 2009 Ottawa International Animation Festival.
- It was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 82nd Academy Awards, but ended up not being nominated.
- Harvie Krumpet (who is the main character of another claymation movie created by Adam Elliot)is in the background when Max is exiting the typewriter store.
- The tombstone over Ruby's grave says, "R.I.P. Adam Elliot", who is the writer/director of the film.
- The postage stamps in the film used by Mary shows an image of Dame Edna Everage who is a character played by comedian Barry Humphries (the narrator of the film).

This movie has not been rated but because of the adult themes and content I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone under the age of 15.

Link to the trailer

La Cité des Enfants Perdus...

...also known as Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet's The City of Lost Children (1995), is today's movie recommendation. Picture below. This movie has a special place in my heart because it is made not only by one of my favorite directors (Jeunet), but it appeals to my occasional desire for a truly beautiful, but bizarre film.

The movie takes place in a sort of retro futuristic world where a saddened mad scientist named Krank has children kidnapped and brought to his lab so that he may attempt to steal their dreams. Krank, who lives with his miniture wife, cloned sons, and a talking brain in a tank, does not have the ability to dream and is desperate to do so. One of the children who gets kidnapped by Krank's cyclones is the "little brother" of the strong man at the circus, named One. One is devastated at the loss of his little friend and spends the rest of the film teaming up with some orphan street kids to find him. Miette, a little orphan girl who seems to be the leader of the street kids, quickly bonds with One and follows him throughout the story becoming his "little sister". There are other villains for One and Miette to get past in this film, such as the Siamese twins who think they are in charge of the orphans and use tiny fleas to sabotage people's minds.

For it's time, this movie has spectacular visual effects that will even still appeal to modern viewers. The story and the characters (as I'm sure you can tell from the description) are very strange, which may make this movie not for everyone. You really have to go into this movie without any expectations other than you know it will be strange. If you are into this sort of movie, I would recommend checking out some of Jeunet's other works, such as Delicatessen (which I may write about in the future) or his more widely known Amelie. Also, Jeunet just came out with a brand new film called Micmacs, which is now playing in select theaters and is absolutely awesome!

Fun facts:
- Dominique Pinon, who plays the clones and the diver in this film, has starred in every single one of Jeunet's movies.
- This movie was conceived 14 years before it was actually made (long before Jeunet's previous movie, Delicatessen, was written).
- Caro & Jeunet wrote the role of Krank for Daniel Emilfork.
- La Cité des Enfants Perdus
was the opening film for the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.
- Ron Perlman, who plays One, was the only American actor in the film and didn't know any French at all (he just memorized his lines).
- During filming, Perlman was bitten by the dog with the pulley and Judith Vittet (who plays Miette) was bitten by the mouse with the magnet.
- The Siamese twins (who are supposed to be conjoined at the leg) in the film aren't actually Siamese twins in real life. They were given a prosthetic third leg which they couldn't actually walk with so that's why you never see them walking during full body shots.
- A computer game was designed after this movie, of which Marc Caro oversaw the production and art design.
- At its time, this movie had the largest number of digital special effects for the longest length of time ever made by an entire French crew.
- To achieve the highly saturated colors in the film, the actors were made to have white faces and then the color palette was modified until their faces appeared skin toned.


This movie is rated R for disturbing and grotesque images of violence and menace.I agree that this is not a movie for children, considering the dark plot and subject matter. I would say that viewers over 15 would probably be fine. This movie is entirely in French with English subtitles, so if you're not a fan of reading while watching, you have been warned.

Link to the trailer

Back to the Future Meets Monty Python

This post is in response to my first request for a fantasy/sci-fi/historical flick. This one's for you, Kristen!

Today's movie recommendation is Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits (1981). Picture below.

The movie takes place in England in 1981 in the home of a young boy named Kevin. Kevin's parents are obsessed with technology and spend little time paying any attention to Kevin or his great interest in history. Kevin is sent to bed one night where he witnesses a knight bursting through his dresser and into a great forest where his bedroom wall used to be. His room turns back to normal, but Kevin is very anxious to see if anything will happen the next night. After going to bed remarkably early the next night with his Polaroid camera tucked into bed with him, Kevin awaits something remarkable to happen but soon falls asleep. Kevin awakens to find a group of grungy dwarfs entering his room clearly from another time period. The dwarfs threaten Kevin to show them a way out of his room, but then finally manage to push his bedroom wall way out into space as a way out. As they're in the process of leaving, a great God-like head appears in Kevin's room which demands that the dwarfs return his map to him. Uncertain of what to do, but afraid of the head, Kevin follows the dwarfs into other time periods where they meet famous historical figures and rob them blind. Evil (essentially a Devil-like character) in the meanwhile watches Kevin and his new formed friends and plots to trick them into giving him the map, and therefore the power of the universe.

You can definitely tell when watching this movie that it was made in the early 80's, which gives it some charm. This is definitely a movie that both parents and kids will appreciate. Anyone who is a Monty Python fan should get a kick out of seeing John Cleese and some of the other guys in random roles throughout the film. Although the history aspects aren't very accurate, they do provide good entertainment.

Fun facts:
- This movie came to be because Gilliam couldn't get his movie Brazil picked up. He wrote the story for Time Bandits in one weekend, which he then showed to Mike Palin who helped him form the characters and dialogue.
- Gilliam received a lot of fan mail from smaller people around the world thanking him for actually treating them like normal people in his film and for allowing the dwarfs in his film to have real heroic roles instead of roles where they are just made fun of.
- The dwarf on horseback in the final battle actually broke his arm in the making of the scene and had to shoot the rest of the film with his cast arm hidden behind the cowboys.
- In the rough draft of the movie script, Gilliam and Palin wrote the Greek battle scene with the victorious warrior taking off his helmet to reveal himself as Sean Connery, or someone similar looking but not nearly as famous. They had no idea that they would actually be able to get Connery to play the role. Their manager, Denis O'Brien, happened to be playing golf with Connery and found out that Connery's most recent films were not doing so well and that he actually was interested in the role.
- Sean Connery wasn't an easy actor to work with. In the desert scene, Connery insisted, "I’m not going to let you shoot me getting on the horse. I’ll look like shit. So I’ll just stand in the stirrups and I’ll lower myself down. You gotta get me on in post. Good bye, kid.".
- Connery was originally supposed to be the leader of the archers in the final battle scene (and the one who gets crushed under the pillar) but Gilliam only had access to Connery for a set number of days that were already used up.
- This movie was produced by Handmade Films, which was heavily supported by George Harrison.

This movie is rated PG. I think any child over 6 would be fine watching this movie. The scary parts aren't very scary, but they might be for kids under 5 and any kid under 6 may have a harder time keeping up with the plot.


Link to the trailer

All Work and No Play...

...makes one hell of a good movie.

Today's recommendation is Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980). Picture below.

The Shining starts off with the main character, Jack Torrence, in an interview for a caretaker job at a luxurious Colorado mountain-top hotel named the Overlook. The Overlook is closing down for the winter (there's just too much snow to maintain to bother keeping it open in those months) so they need someone who will stay up here for the entire winter knowing that they will be unable to leave the hotel or be a part of civilization during that time. Jack is offered the job after he is made well aware of the isolation involved as well as being informed that the previous caretaker, Dilbert Grady, had developed cabin fever from the isolation and had killed his wife, two daughters, and then himself. Jack is surprised to hear this information, but is still very eager to get the job. Back at home, Jack's wife, Wendy and their young son, Danny, await a call from Jack to see if he got the job. Danny, who is a very odd little boy, has a bad feeling about the hotel. We are also introduced to Tony in this scene, who is the imaginary boy who supposedly lives in Danny's mouth. Tony shows Danny foreshadowing images of a hotel elevator spilling out gallons of blood, which terrifies Danny and causes him to pass out. A doctor arrives to check up on Danny, and Wendy mentions to the doctor how Jack had once broken Danny's arm in a drunken rage, but that after that incident he had dropped alcohol completely. Jack eventually comes to take Wendy and Danny back up to the Overlook where they go on an elaborate tour of the premises. While Wendy and Jack continue on a tour, the hotel chef takes care of Danny. The chef had talked to Danny telepathically and explained that they both have a power that most people don't called "shining" and then warns Danny to avoid going to room 237. All of the hotel staff pack up and leave the Torrence family alone for the winter. Everything goes splendidly until Jack starts to become entranced with the hotel which feeds his rage against his family.

This movie is a very classic horror film. If you don't enjoy movies with a lot of suspense this movie is probably not for you. There isn't much gore so blood shy people should probably be alright. It's more of a psychological thriller than anything else. Kubrick did leave out specific things from the book, but some of those alterations (such as changing the possessed hedge animals to the giant maze) actually make this movie timeless, instead of cheesy. Being a Stephen King fan who has actually read this book, I must admit that Kubrick really butchered the story, but it still is a great movie on its own. I appreciate King's novel and Kubrick's film, but as totally separate works.

Fun facts:
- Danny Lloyd (the kid who plays Danny) thought the movie was actually a drama for years after filming. Kubrick actually made a highly edited version to show him so he wouldn't be disturbed from the actual content.
- Kubrick was said to have been excruciatingly mean to Shelley Duvall during filming, which apparently put her even more into her character.
- The original trailer for The Shining showed the bloody elevator, which was not originally approved because it was thought to be too scary for a trailer. Kubrick finally got it approved by claiming that it was just rusty water coming out of the elevator.
- Stephen King (the author of the novel) hated this adaptation and decided to make his own film adaptation of the novel which was released in 1997.
- Kubrick's daughter, Vivian, made a documentary of behind the making of The Shining, which can be found in the bonus features in the DVD, HD-DVD, and Bluray versions or at this link. She was 17 when she made it.
- Danny Lloyd made up the finger wiggle thing for Tony when he first auditioned for the role and Kubrick liked it so much that he decided to let him use it during the movie.
- Kubrick's first choice for the role of Jack was Jack Nicholson, but he also considered using Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, and Robin Williams (Stephen King hated all of these choices).
- Although they do not mention it in the movie, Jack can be found sitting next to a large scrapbook on his writing desk which Jack used in the book to write a book about the hotel.
- The scene with Jack and Wendy on the stairs with the baseball bat was shot 127 times, which made a world record.
- Stephen King actually had a drinking problem when he wrote this novel. He was also living in Boulder, Colorado at the time which is where the Torrence's house was at the beginning of the movie.
- All of the strange people you see in the hotel (such as the man in a dog costume giving a blow job) are all explained for in the book, but not the movie.
- In the novel Jack actually uses a roque (similar, but larger than a croquet mallet) mallet instead of an axe.
- Jack's line, "Heeeere's Johnny!", is taken from the famous introduction for The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson, as spoken by Ed McMahon. The line was improvised by Nicholson. Carson later used the Nicholson clip to open his 1980 Anniversary Show on NBC.

If you want to see a short video on mistakes and numerology found in The Shining, check out this video.

This movie is rated R for intense sequences of violence and terror, language and nudity. This is not a movie for kids. Teenagers over 15 would probably be alright.

Link to the trailer