Okay, I’m not much of a Kevin Hart fan, but Get Hard comes out March, 27th and looks a little funny, if unlikely. With Will Ferrell costarring I’m sure it will be a box office hit and I’ve decided to take a risk. I’ll head there this weekend. I wanted everyone here at Movie Madness to get a quick look and make up their own minds. Check out the trailer:

22. Oliver! (1968)

Charles Dickens is one of the best known writers in the history of the world. His bleak depiction of the British Isles, and particularly London, combine with a transcendent ability to create brilliant characters to make his work uniquely suited to stage and film. A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield and, of course, Oliver Twist, among many others, have reached countless millions of fans.

Oliver! Is one of the best of these: with great music, a wonderful cast and the best Fagin (Ron Moody) and Artful Dodger (Jack Wild) I’ve ever seen. Fagin’s Reviewing the Situation makes Oliver! a must pick in the top 25!

Verdict: ☆☆☆ – –

Out of the gate, this movie catapults itself into a high paced, action packed, slapstick-fest where every joke comes out of nowhere and smacks you in the face before running off laughing, and then the next one hits you!

I expected The Croods to run along the lines of Shrek but while the green ogre and donkey have a more linear storyline and character development to work from, The Croods seem more a chaotic plot befitting a family of cave people living just as Pangaea starts to break up. There are tiny emotional parts here and there that begin to tug at your heartstrings, but why cry when a good hearty chortle will do? The drama is trimmed tightly in this one, allowing more time to enjoy the brighter side of life.

This movie clocks in at 98 minutes, but feels more like 45. It zips along the plot of one cave family just trying to survive, when suddenly the land they’re living on starts breaking up and they have to leave. Enter a sudden boy interest that keeps dad on his toes more than the crumbling earth and you’ve got some crazy adventures! Especially when that boy has a bigger brain.

This is a fun, cute, quirky movie that never takes itself seriously at all and keeps the laughter coming. Inventive and cool, it has quickly earned a place on my DVD shelf!

What great news! I love the Jesse Owens story and if Anthony Mackie ends up playing the 1936 Olympic champion, I’ll be there opening night. For those of you that may not know, Jesse Owens was the star at the Berlin Olympics winning four gold medals and giving Adolf Hitler a figurative massive headache. The German leader was not amused.

I’m super excited that Relativity Studios appears to be acquiring the project and even more so that the costar of Captain America: The Winter Soldier may be playing the track legend. Check out the full story at Deadline Hollywood who first released the story.

I’m a little reserved on this film, but Sean Penn is a hell of an actor and the trailer looks pretty good. The director of Taken, Pierre Morel, a film I truly enjoyed, is doing this one too! I’m just hoping The Gunman doesn’t spawn a bunch of terrible sequel wannabes. I’d love your feedback on this one if you have any at: #260-573-0015, for voice mail, or you can email them to us at: moviemadnesspodcast@gmail.com. You can also post them to Twitter, Facebook or the Ultimate Movie Geeks community on Google+

23. Kiss Me Kate (1953)

Based on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew and one of the cleverer of the musical comedies, Kiss Me Kate is two running stories at once. One, the actual play, with Howard Keel as the indomitable Petruchio and Kathryn Grayson as shrewish Katharine and the other: the story of Fred Graham (also Keel) and Lilli Vanessi (also Grayson), the stars of the play. They are divorced but obviously still in love. Their battles, in the film, are legendary as were those in the original Shakespeare masterpiece and great fun.

Keel, as always, brilliant to a fault, is the musical equivalent of Clark Gable: loved by women and respected by men. His presence on the screen is riveting and his voice and bearing majestic. Taking nothing away from Grayson, she of the flashing eyes and beautiful face, has a grace and power on both screen and stage that’s almost incomparable. The play is brilliant and the understory great fun. It also has an incredible dance number with Bob Fosse and Tommy Rall (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers), two of America’s greatest dancers. The only thing keeping it from a much higher place on my list is the gimmicky feel. (Pardon me if it seems I tend toward hyperbole, but I assure you I do not. These actors/dancers are that good!)

Here’s hoping that the second movie in the Divergent Series-Insurgent, is at least as good as the first! I enjoyed the Divergent and hoped to see more, but was disappointed with the first trailer. This one looks way better and should get a few of you off your couch at down in the 3rd row with me. Please though, no popcorn throwing, only Mr. Jeremy is allowed! Release Date: Mar. 20th, 2015.

24. South Pacific (1958)

      Brilliantly made with a superlative cast and great direction by Joshua Logan, South Pacific is also of the one of the largest in scope. Set during WWII and against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful areas in the world, South Pacific is a deadly serious, brilliant and chilling look at love and loss in paradise. The music is unsurpassed, the plot excellent if a bit predictable and the performances superb. Only it’s, perhaps, too large plot make it less approachable than many other, musicals. It also seems a bit dated in today’s world, but I heartily recommend it to anyone.

Orig

Check this out. I’ve never been more of a fan of Will Ferrell. He spent hours on Thursday the 12th of March playing nine positions for ten different teams. Not only was he playing for an HBO special he was also playing to raise money for cancer charities. Say what you will, it seems Ferrell is a pretty great guy! Check out the full story at CBS This Morning.

Hey everyone! I’m going to try something new here at Movie Madness. I’m going to start with top 25 lists of some of my favorite categories. These are my picks so don’t blame Doug, Mr. Jeremy, Steph or Jason.

I’m going to start with one I saw as a little boy. It was a stage musical at the famous Muny Theater in St. Louis, as I recall, with the original cast. It began a love for live theater that has never waned. Imagine my surprise when, in 1959, the film version arrived in our local theater. I begged my aunt to take me and my number 25 musical became forever etched in stone.

25. Li’l Abner (1959)

Yea, okay, I got it. Li’l Abner, one of the best musicals ever? I would argue yes. The film is so true to the stage musical that I, at eight years old, was singing along during the film. With great music, a great cast and great watchability, Li’l Abner is such a wild eyed and wonderful recreation of a classic comic that it blows nearly every other attempt away. And guess what, Jerry Lewis has an uncredited appearance in the film as Itchy McRabbit! How could that be bad. The only knock on the film is that it seems to be hidden away in some vault and played seldom on TV.