THE SANDLOT (1993), THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (1993)

1993

The Sandlot

Not too long ago, I saw someone wearing a t-shirt that had a chubby kid with a baseball cap on that read, "You're Killing Me Smalls" on it. I asked where that was from and they looked at me as if I was mental and told me it was from the movie The Sandlot. I asked a couple of other people about this later and they also couldn't believe I hadn't seen it. I guess this 1993 baseball movie about kids playing a game at the local field and battling with the monstrer/dog behind the fence is a generational baseball movie equivalent of The Bad News Bears, (the original, of course) to me.

I've seen it now. It's cute. More importantly, I've got my street cred now, but haven't decided whether or not I'll get the t-shirt yet.
My wife says, "I haven't seen that either. Searching for Bobby Fisher, that's a 1993 movie everyone should see "

Comes in Large,

Medium or Smalls

Martin Scorsese's take on Edith Wharton's classic, The Age of Innocence starts with voice over narration that introduces us to the main family/families in this story. I wish I had had a golf pencil and a pad of paper to keep them all straight as it was quite the information dump. As soon as the movie started to focus on the main three characters, Newland, the lawyer (Daniel Day-Lewis), Countess Olenski (Michele Pfeffier) and May (Winona Rider) and Newland's fiance, I was able to get into it more. A definite departure for Scorsese.

My wife says, "It's okay."

The Age of Innocence

"

I could find no Age of Innocence

t-shirts, but here's a classic T

from another Scorsese film

Here are some movies I've seen that were released in 1993 not in the 1001 book. I admit that I've only seen a fraction of some and I've solicited my wife's opinion on many of these.

Another Stakeout
I like the original Stakeout, but I'll be darned if I can remember much about the sequel other than Emilio Estevez's mustache. Maybe team this one up with another lesser sequel, Another 48 Hours.
My wife says, "I didn't see this one and didn't even see this first one."
I hope my wife can be a tad more helpful on some of these other movies.

Another Stakeout

Another 48 Hours

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Interesting in retrospect that an animated Batman feature was a theatrical release in 1993. And a pretty good one. Let's watch this one in a double feature with Scooby Doo Meets Batman from 1972.
My wife says, "I never saw that one. Sounds interesting."

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Scooby-Doo Meets Batman

Ian liked it

Benny and Joon
Since this is one of my wife's favorites, I'll just rely on her comment. Since Depp has a Buster Keaton thing in this movie, let's team this one up with Keaton's classic Seven Chances.
My wife says,"I really liked it. Never underestimate someone's ability due to quirky behavior"

Benny and Joon

Seven Chances

Beverly Hillbillies
Having grown up with the original show during its original run and in re-runs-so I'm sort of a built in audience for this. The most natural casting choice to me is Dabney Coleman as Mr. Drysdale, the banker.
My wife says, (On the original show) "One of those shows silly and funny.Reminds me of haves and have nots. Misunderstandings are funny." And if you remember the Clampetts eating at the fancy eating (the pool table) table, misunderstandings are prevalent in original Beverly Hillbillies.

The Beverly Hillbillies (movie)

The Beverly Hillbillies (Original Flavor)

Bodies of Evidence
I remember this as being a Madonna film where she is actually appealing to me. I say that as someone who isn't a big fan.
My wife has a different take as she does like Madonna. My wife says, " (I like) her rebelness.(I like) Who's That Girl. (I like) Vision Quest, but she wasn't in that one but Crazy For You is on the sound track. So entertaining! Outrageous!"

Bodies of Evidence

Madonna from the Borderline video 1984

Boxing Helena
I confess I haven't seen this one. I did ask a friend what the most offensive movie they ever saw was and she was adamant that this film about an obsessive doctor that amputates a patients legs and keeps her prisoner topped her list. I you must watch this, round it out with one of The Faces of Death movies for a most offensive double feature!
My wife says,"Sounds creepy"

Boxing Helena

Coneheads

I loved the old skit on Saturday Night Live with Beldar Conehead's alien family, but it didn't really translate into a feature, which has been the fate of several Saturday Night Live skits.
My wife says "Not really a Conehead person. A generational thing."

Coneheads '93

The Coneheads '77

A Dangerous Woman
I remember this as a good film for Debra Winger as a complicated mentally disabled person.
My wife says, "I didn't see it, I still think of An Officer and a Gentleman when I think of Debra Winger."

In turn, I think of the third episode ever of The Simpsons when I think of An Officer and a Gentleman.

A Dangerous Woman

The Simpsons/An Officer and a Gentleman

Falling Down
Oh, yeah. That white man fed up movie. I remember having new glasses at the time and a co-worker said, "You look like Michael Douglas in Falling Down." Still not sure how to take that.

My wife says,"I don't think that was anything. Romancing the Stone is a Miachel Douglas movie I really like."

Falling Down

Romancing the Stone

Fire in the Sky
Aliens have landed in the back woods. I have a friend into UFO's that really liked this one.
My wife says, "A favorite alien movie of mine is The Arrival."
"Fire in the Sky isn't quite as cerebral," I replied.

Fire in the Sky

The Arrival

The Firm
Agree with my wife's comment below. Would make a good double feature with The Paper Chase, because you got to get that law degree before you join the firm!
My wife says, "John Grisham movies then were a fad. Thought it translated well for a movie."

The Firm

The Paper Chase

Fatal Instinct
A much better spoof movie would be the underrated Top Secret! from 1984.
My wife says,"Didn't see it. I have seen both of the movies in the title it was based on."

Fatal Instinct

Top Secret!

The Fugitive
I'm a big fan of the original series (1963-1967). I like the movie as well. But just how did he survive that fall from the waterfall without a scratch?
My wife says"Good actors make the movie. Fascinating to watch."

The Fugitive '93

The Fugitive '67

Gettysburg
Epic TV film about the turning battle of The Civil War.

My wife says,"I didn't see it. Gone with the Wind and Cold Mountain would be my favorite movies about The Civil War."

Gettysburg

Cold Mountain

Grumpy Old Men
You really can't beat Lemmon and Matthau together. I really need to re-watch The Fortune Cookie.
My wife says, "They are funny together."

Grumpy Old Men

The Fortune Cookie

Hocus Pocus
Not a fan. Irritating and too broad. A lot of people love it.
My wife says, "Love it."
I say, "You want a good movie about witches? Try Dreyer's Day of Wrath...Different kind of movie, I know."

Hocus Pocus

Day of Wrath

Hot Shots Part Deux
Lloyd Bridges is as funny in this movie as he is in Airplane.
My wife says, "I haven't seen it. You say it's like Airplane? Not a big fan of Airplane."

Hot Shots Part Deux

Airplane!

In the Line of Fire
Suspenseful. Would make a good "Attempted Assassination" double feature with The Day of the Jackal.

My wife says, "Suspenseful, I like John Malkovich as the assassin.

In the Line of Fire

The Day of the Jackal

Indecent Proposal
My girlfriend at the time said, "I get to trade in Woody Harrelson for Robert Redford and get a million dollars? I'll take that deal!" As long as you are talking about swapping wives, might as well go all Bob & Carl & Ted & Alice.
My wife says, "Kind of Lame, gimmicky."

Indecent Proposal

Bob & Carl & Ted & Alice.

The Joy Luck Club
Complex stories...well told. Crazy Rich Asians aside, I'd team this one with The Wedding Banquet (Also 1993) as a double feature.
My wife says,"Very good adaptation."

The Joy Luck Club

The Wedding Banquet

Kalifornia
Brad Pitt and Juliet Lewis are good as a Charlie Starkweather type killer and girlfriend. Didn't Lewis play the same part in Natural Born Killers?
My wife says, "It's fine but forgettable."

Kalifornia

Natural Born Killers

Last Action Hero
I like the way this film mocked how silly the American action film can be, though it is a bit silly itself at times.
A good double feature for this one that spoofs the genre might be I'm Gonna Get You, Sucka!
My wife says, "Fun. I like when an actor like Arnold can make fun of himself."

The Last Action Hero

I'm Gonna Get You, Sucka!

Mad Dog and Glory
Chiefly notable for Bill Murray playing the Robert De Niro type part and Robert De Niro playing the Bill Murray type part. Want to see another unusual Murray part? Try Ed Wood.
My wife says,"Groundhog Day. That's a Murray movie I really like"

Mad Dog and Glory

Ed Wood

Made in America
Ted Danson and Whoopi Goldberg provide some laughs.Team this one with One Potato, Two Potato for an interracial romance double bill.
My wife says, "Actually pretty funny."

Made in America

One Potato, Two Potato

Manhattan Murder Mystery
Good final teaming of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. Play It Again Sam was the first.
My wife says, "Didn't see it."

Manhattan Murder Mystery

Play It Again, Sam

Matinee
Underrated and well done  film about a theater promoter taking advantage of the Cuban Missile Crisis to sell tickets to horror films. Team this one up with a real horror movie and one of my favorites from 1962, Carnival of Souls.
My wife says, :"I didn't see that one, either."

Matinee

Carnival of Souls

Mrs. Doubtfire
I can't think of anyone but Robin Williams who could have pulled this cross-dressing nanny story so well off so well. Definitely make this one a double feature with Tootsie.
My wife says, "Gotta love this one. Robin and  Harvey Fierstein have a lot of funny interaction. Showcased his talent"

Mrs. Doubtfire

Tootsie

Much Ado About Nothing

I think Kenneth Branagh has done a lot to make Shakespeare accessible to a modern day audience.
Team up this one with Branagh's Hamlet, but only if you have four hours to spend with it.
My wife says, "We did see this on stage locally. Maybe I'll appreciate Shakespeare more someday."

Much Ado About Nothing

Hamlet

My Neighbor Totoro
The movie actually came out before 1993, but a new English language version was listed as coming out this year and you can never list Totoro enough. You also can't see Spirited Away enough. Let's team it up with that.
My wife says, "Every child should see this movie."

My Neighbor Totoro

Spirited Away

The Nightmare Before Christmas
Should be regular holiday viewing if you can decide which holiday to view it. Let's team it with the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
My wife says, Can't decide whether it's a Christmas movie or Halloween.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Christmas '66

The Pelican Brief
See Listing under The Firm. Maybe team this one up with John Grisham's more light-hearted Christmas with the Kranks.
My wife says, "There really were a lot of Grisham adaptations during the 90's."

The Pelican Brief

Christmas with the Kranks

A Perfect World
Kevin Costner is quite good in Clint Eastwood's film about a con who kidnaps a kid. Team this one up with Breezy for an offbeat Eastwood director double feature.
My wife says, "I still can't believe you've never seen The Bodyguard." "I'll get to it," I reply.

A Perfect World

Breezy

Point of No Return
It seems like I watched the opening scene to this movie where she tries to escape from a restaurant and is thwarted by a wall several times. If you want to see a "woman kicks ass" double feature, let's just team this one up with Mulan.
My wife says,"I like Gabriel Byrne in this."

Point of No Return

Mulan

Robin Hood Men in Tights
One of the funnier later Mel Brooks spoofs.
My wife says, "I still like the Robin Hood with Kevin Costner."
In deference to my wife, I'll team this one up with Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Robin Hood: Prince of Theives

Romeo is Bleeding
I just remember this as a totally off-the-wall film. And it has Gary Oldman and Lena Oldman! Let's make this one a Lena Olin double feature and watch this with The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
My wife says, "Didn't see it."

Romeo is Bleeding

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Searching For Bobby Fischer
An inspirational movie. Everyone should see it. Team it up with the documentary, Bobby Fischer Against the World.
My wife says, ."An inspirational movie. Everyone should see it."

Searching for Bobby Fischer

Bobby Fischer Against the World

Sleepless in Seattle
If you need a romantic film, you could do worse. I'll do the obvious and team this one up with An Affair to Remember.
My wife says, "Romantic. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks are a good team."

Sleepless in Seattle

An Affair to Remember

Sliver

My girlfriend at the time questioned the logistical improbabilities of one of the sex scenes and I can't say she was wrong. Team this one up with the James Caan/Sally Kellerman Slither from 1973 since the films share the same title.

My wife says, "Meh."

Sliver '93

Sliver '73

Super Mario Brothers Movie
Seems like a watched it. I know my son likes to reference it. I do like Bob Hoskins as Mario. Team this one up with the 2014 documentary, Atari: Game Over.
My wife says, "Didn't see it. I like playing Super Mario III"

Super Mario Brothers Movie

Atari: Game Over

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
I remember how the kids were obsessed with the Ninja Turtles. III was about the end of the line for them until their inevitable revival later on. Let's team this one up on a double bill with another famous movie turtle, Gamera, the Giant Monster.
My wife says, "Didn't see it. I like the original one."

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

Gamera, The Giant Monster

Tom and Jerry: the Movie
I think the only way I've seen this is from a review from one of my son's favorite Youtube shows, The Nostalgia Critic. I recommend the review, if not the movie. Let's at least watch this one with one of the original Hanna Barbera classic if we must watch it at all.
My wife says, "Tom and Jerry aren't supposed to talk."

Tom and Jerry: The Movie

Hanna Barbera's Tom and Jerry

True Romance
An early Tarantino, but not directed by Tarantino. Lets double bill this one with another of the weird collection of Gary Oldman performances, Track 29.
My wife says, "I don't remember much about this one."

True Romance

Track 29

Wayne's World 2
I remember almost nothing about Wayne's World 2. I remember almost everything about the first one. Team this one up with Airplane II, another relatively ignored sequel.
My wife says, "I remember almost nothing about Wayne's World 2. The first one is very quotable.

Wayne's World 2

Airplane II

What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Well told story of a dysfunctional family. Let's team this up with another movie with a dysfunctional yet very contemplative family, Woody Allen's Interiors.
My wife says, "Two big thumbs up!"

What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

Interiors

THE THREE STOOGES (2012), GREEN BOOK (2018)

The Three Stooges

Peter Farrelly (along with brother Bobby) has come up with some of the most outrageous and popular comedies of the last twenty or so years, including: There's Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin (a personal favorite of mine). I realized that I  had somehow missed the Farrelly Brothers recreation of The Three Stooges from 2012. . In it, Moe (Chris Diamontopoulos), Larry (Sean Hayes), and Curly (Will Sasso) re-created these iconic characters perfectly. The plot involves the boys attempts to save the orphanage where they were raised, but the plot really isn't that important in a Three Stooge comedy, is it? What's important are the gags and they come a mile a minute and usually involve punching, tweaking, pulling hair, throwing someone out a window or running someone over in a vehicle. Stupid? Yes. Funny? Yes.

I have to admit the only reason I decided to watch The Three Stooges was to pair it up with Peter Farrelly's Oscar nominated film, Green Book. That's right, the director of Shallow Hal has taken a dramatic turn and met with success! The only previous award listed for Farrelly is a Razzie for the infamous Movie 43.

Green Book

Green Book is based on the real life story of jazz pianist Don Shirley's (Mahershala Ali) travels on a musical tour through the South with his driver, bouncer Tony Lip (Viggo Mortgenssen). The pair seem to have little in common, but form a bond and the tour turns out to be a great learning experience for them both. The film has been criticized for playing loose with the facts or being a bit of a rehash of Driving Miss Daisy or not properly "woke." Eh...I think Farrelly's venture into more serious fare was a success...Certainly a box office success...and won Academy Awards for Screenplay, Supporting Actor and the big prize of Best Picture! Farrelly wasn't nominated for Best Director, but I'm thinking he's not losing much sleep over that.

Peter Farrelly celebrates his Best Picture Oscar

Should Green Book have won over BlackkKlansman, Roma or The Favourite for Best Picture? I'll have to think on that one, but I will say the owner of my local movie house The Crescent said several hundred people came to see the movie while it played there and almost everyone he talked to loved it. 

SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (1973, SPAIN), SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939)

The Spirit of the Beehive

 The Spirit of the Beehive is an unforgettable film, touching on many bases but refusing to congeal into any one genre or intention.-Adrian Martin, 1001: Movies You Must See Before You Die

This lack of congealing into one genre or intention may have frankly hindered me from getting into The Spirit of the Beehive as much as I perhaps could have. It is set during the Spanish Civil War. The father is obsessed about his beehives. The mother is obsessed with a long lost love. The two young sisters in this family piece become obsessed with the movie Frankenstein, which has just come for a special viewing to their small town. However, the reality of war is also about to come to their home and the girls will experience true horror up-close. The film has been lauded as one of the greatest movies ever made in Spain. 

I think I may need to give this one a second viewing.

Young Ana dreams of an encounter with the Frankenstein monster

in The Spirit of the Beehive

If Universal's Son of Frankenstein isn't the silliest picture ever made, it's a sequel to the silliest picture ever made, which is even sillier.-B. R. Crisler, The New York Times, January 30, 1939

Son of Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) confronts his...brother, maybe?
in Son of Frankenstein

I decided to pair my Spirit of the Beehive viewing with an actual old Frankenstein movie and I chose one I haven't seen for awhile, Son of Frankenstein. This is the third and final appearance of Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein monster. Basil Rathbone is on hand to play the Frankenstein offspring trying to shake off his father's past. Bela Lugosi has one of his best roles as Ygor, the gravedigger/hanging survivor.

The Times review quoted above sees the film as being pretty absurd in its premise. If Frankenstein wants to escape his past, why go to right into the bowels of Transylvannia where his father did his experiments that caused all this trouble in the first place? I guess the only answer is so the plot will move ahead and give the young Frankenstein the fever to get those old "Frankenstein playing God juices" flowing again.

The plot point that really bugged me was the villagers reaction to the young Frankenstein. They are ready to string him up when he returns. Their fears turn out to be justified, when the monster is brought back to life by the doctor and kills at least two people. The young Dr. Frankenstein does push his creation into a sulphur pit at the end of the film and this is apparently enough for the villagers to now give the doctor a hero's farewell as he leaves their little town with a couple of dead bodies left behind because of his actions. Where is the doctor's accountability? Shouldn't the villagers still want to put his head on a pike? I guess not.

Ygor (Bela Lugosi) plans something sinister with
the monster (Boris Karloff) in Son of Frankenstein

And speaking of young Frankensteins...Mel Brooks clearly used Son of Frankenstein for a lot of his plot for the 1974 comedy classic Young Frankenstein. The plot follows the basic premise of Son of Frankenstein but for comical purposes. The most striking similarity is the character of the one armed Inspector Krough (Inspector Kemp in Young Frankenstein), whose mannerisms and actions are almost identical in both films, but are somehow not suppose to be seen as humorous in the original!

 Lionel Atwill as Inspetor Krough
in Son of Frankenstein

Kenneth Mars as Inspector Kemp

in Young Frankenstein

JANE EYRE (1943), JANE EYRE (2011)

Jane Eyre 1847

Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (the novel) is written in dense, wordy detailed prose. The narrative is in first person and does seem to divide readers on whether or not they like the style. Personally, I think it is so expertly written that Bronte can get away with going into such excruciating detail. The audiobook version I listened to clocked in at a robust 22 hours!

But how do you make it into a film? The style of a movie is vastly different than a book, maybe more so in this case. For example, you can't, or don't need to describe a person's appearance over and over again in a movie because we can see what they look like!

You also have to decide how to structure the plot.

I break down the plot of the book into these sections:

1) Jane's childhood and her unhappy upbringing from Sarah Reed, her miserable Aunt.

2) Jane's time in Lowood school (mostly at age ten), often under the guidance of the tyrannical Mr. Brocklehurst.

3) Eighteen-year old Jane leaves the school to play governess at Thornfield Hall. The master of the house is Edward Rochester, whose complicated relationship with Jane slowly blossoms into love.

4) But before we get to the love part, Sarah's Aunt is on her death bed and Jane has to leave Thornfield and go tend to her for awhile.

5) After returning to Thornfield, Rochester proposes and the couple declare their love for each other and are about to get married, but...it is exposed that Rochester has a crazy wife who has been living in the attic the whole time!

6) Jane decides she can't stay and wanders on a journey that almost kills her. She winds up in the house of St. John and her sisters. It goes well for awhile, until St. John wants to marry her and take her to India with him on a missionary trip. Jane won't stay under those circumstances and leaves.

7) Jane returns to Thornfield and finds much of the estate damaged by fire. It turns out that Rochester's wife tried to set the house on fire before jumping to her death. There are no other casualties, though Rochester was blinded during the fire. Jane and Rochester reconcile and get married.

 Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine in

Jane Eyre 1943

So how does the 1944 version of Jane Eyre (screenplay by Aldous Huxley and John Houseman) run the plot?
Part 1 we have. Jane (Peggy Ann Garner) has to deal with her Aunt (Agnes Moorehead) before being sent off to Lowood.
Part 2 we have. Jane has to deal with the travails of the school, but does have one friend named Helen (a young Elizabeth Taylor) who tragically dies during Jane's stay at the school. Fast forward to Jane at eighteen (now played by Joan Fontaine) and she makes the decision to break away from the school and become a governess.
Part 3 we certainly have. Jane becomes entrenched as the governess of the little French girl at Thornhill. We meet Mrs. Fairfax and of course the complicated Edward Rochester (Orson Welles). This is the main part of the movie and this section ends with the crazy wife and Jane leaving. The difference is we have Part 3 followed by Part 5. We then got to part 4 as Jane only goes to her Aunt's deathbed after the wedding debacle.
After than we go to part 7 and the finale. Section 6 with St. John is eliminated  from the story all together.

Michael Fassbinder and Mia Wasikowska in

Jane Eyre 2011

The 2011 version (screenplay by Moira Buffini) actually starts out with Jane's wanderings at the beginning of Part 6! We then go through the movie in flashback starting with Part 1. The rest of the sequences in the movie are pretty faithful to the book, though at under two hours, we do get abbreviated versions.

This version features Michael Fassbinder as Rochester, Mia Wasikowska as Jane. Judi Dench plays Mrs. Fairfax, the head housekeeper at Thornhill.

Both of these versions are in fact under two hours. I haven't watched any other adaptations, but there is a 2005 mini-series (3 hours, 50 minutes), and a 1983 BBC adaptation (4 hours).

And there are plenty of other versions of Jane Eyre out there, including an opera and a Broadway musical!

Still from the lost Jane Eyre silent film from 1910