The Last Ten Films We've Seen: Lots of Whodunits....

Here are the last ten films we have seen; this idea came to us from "Film Comment" magazine, which has declared "Carol," directed by Todd Haynes and starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as the best film of 2015. Blanchett actually played Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There" (2007).

One of these films "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia," which starred Kristi McNichol was one of the few films that Mark Hamill played in besides being Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars."

1. The Last of Sheila (1971)

2. A Teacher (2013)

3. The Hateful Eight (2015)

4. Third Person (2013)

5. The Cheap Detective (1978)

6. The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (1981)

7. Mommo (Turkey. 2009)

8. The Yakuza (1974 w/Robert Mitchum)

9. Marfa Girl (2012)

10. Manson Family Vacation (2015)

http://www.filmcomment.com

http://www.imdb.com

Quote of the Day/Week-Toni Morrison

Today's quote of the day/week (well, yes we also quipped Harry Truman just a few minutes ago) comes from Toni Morrison, 81, a famous author who won the Pulitzer Prize for the `1987 novel "Beloved." Morrison was one of 13 people awarded Presidential Medals of Honor yesterday, along with Bob Dylan and Madeline Albright. Some winners were awarded posthumously.

Morrison was also among the photograph subjects in the exhibit "The Black List" taken by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, which was on display at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, until April 22nd. But, one can still see at least one painting with our other subject of the day (Harry Truman) as an exhibit of presidential portraits is on-going.


Here is Morrison's quote; this one deals with the craft of writing:

"I'm just trying to look at something without blinking."

http://www.washington.org

http://www.tonimorrisonsociety.org

From the Record Collection (5 of 8)_ U2 "The Unforgettable Fire"

Since we are discussing U2's album "The Unforgettable Fire" (1984) today, we send out special greetings to everyone in Dublin, Ireland, where the band originally formed in 1976 when lead singer Bono was just 16 years old. The band's first album "Boy" (1980) was released four years later.

This record is my personal favorite from U2, though fans of the band said on Twitter that the recently re-released "Achtung Baby" (1991) was the best album from the band. For many years, that distinction also belonged to U2's major commercial break-through record "The Joshua Tree" (1987).

But, for me, the fourth studio album from U2 will also be the most special one. It was released in October of 1984, which is a bit ironic because U2's second record (released in 1981) was called "October."

With a running time of 42:38, "The Unforgettable Fire" refers to an art exhibit about the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945.

There are two songs dedicated to African-American Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., including the landmark song "Pride (in the Name of Love" and "MLK."

The record was produced by Brian Eno, who is also known for producing many exceptional Talking Heads records, and Daniel Lanois, who worked with Peter Gabriel. In more recent years, Lanois has also worked with Willie Nelson, Neil Young and Bob Dylan.

"The Unforgettable Fire," which also includes my personal favorite U2 song "A Sort of Homecoming" a song about the contradiction between rock and roll and spiritual life, was partially recorded at Shane Castle in Ireland, and footage of the album's recording is included in the video for "Pride (in the Name of Love)."

The title track, which was the record's second single, features a stirring use of a guitar solo from The Edge.

In a recent documentary about U2's recording of "Achtung Baby," it was revealed that for that album's popular song "One" that The Edge came up with music for the song first and then Bono figured out some lyrics that would match it.

The band is widely considered to be the most prolific active band behind The Rolling Stones, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a band this year. But, unlike The Rolling Stones, U2 has maintained its lineup which also includes Adam Clayton (bass) and Larry Mullen Jr. (drums) since the band was founded.

DC Diary- The Map Art of Guillermo Kuitca

Argentinian artist Guillermo Kuitca, 49, took up much of our attention on the fourth day of our family excursion to Washington, DC, which was Thursday. His works, which include two striking paintings of airport baggage merry-go-rounds, are on display at the Smithsonian Hirshorn Museum of Art until Jan. 16.

I was most awe-struck by Kuitca's paintings of maps, one of which was for the entire state of North Dakota (the image is a standard map of the state). Like the baggage carousel, one would think such a subject might be way too mundane to make an elaborate painting out of, but Kuitca managed to pull it off by illustrating how arbitrary lines that divide states, counties and even international borders can be.

Kuitca did something similar with a grander map painting that made Fargo seem close to Chicago and Philadelphia seem close to Kansas City, which made one realize that our lives are indeed shaped by these lines and they can be rearranged without any logical sense of geography, especially in a world where we can now get emails from Karachi, Pakistan, as well as our friend who might live in the next town over from us in a place like Welch, W. Va.

According to Wikipedia, Kuitca has said that he believes our notions of place are always evolving.

As for North Dakota, which is quite far from Washington, DC, it is the 19th largest state in size, but it also has the third lowest population. North Dakota also has the highest density per capita of any state for churches, which makes it all the more amazing that Barack Obama almost captured the vote for the state against the McCain-Palin ticket (or should we say the Palin-McCain ticket).

There were 920 Muslims and 730 Jews in North Dakota according to the 2000 Census (as stated in Wikipedia) and assuredly those numbers might well have radically changed. Interestingly enough, there are many famous Jews from neighboring Minnesota, including Sen. Al Franken and Bob Dylan.

Perhaps, the famous person ever from North Dakota was the late band leader Lawrence Welk, born in the hamlet of Strasburg, N.Dak. His tv specials still air on PBS stations around the country.

SIDEBAR: A great tweet that we read tonight from The Kansan, who we presume is a progressive college student in Lawrence, Kan., was the following: "That doesn't make sense. Where does the bible say you're free to let your neighbor die so the super rich profit?"

Quote of the Week- Edvard Munch

Dagnamit! Well, that's what my friend Susan Paige from Bethesda, Maryland,(pse) said when she missed the Edvard Munch exhibit at the National Gallery in Washington, DC, that ended on Halloween. But, the good news is that she can now go to Rotterdam, Holland, to see an exhibit of the classic Norwegian artist's work!

Munch, best know for the pictured image ("The Scream") is perhaps the most famous Norwegian of all time although theatre people like my friend Sal Edmunds of Boones Mill, Va., (also a pse-fake name and fake residency for a real person living in a real place) would argue for Henrik Ibsen.

But, we never take sides here unless we're pummeling Sarah Palin!

The National Gallery, for its part, is now showcasing early Victorian British photographs until Jan. 28, so there's no need to kick a fire hydrant (which I actually did after narrowly missing a Norman Rockwell exhibit at The Corcoran Gallery, which is also in DC, some ten years ago).

Here is today's quip from Munch:

"But, can they (great works) get rid of the worm that lies gnawing at the roots of my heart? No, never."

One has to wonder if those sentiments were also felt by Australian artist Lloyd Graham and fellow painter Sarah Irani when they completed their 'masterpieces' which are hanging from the walls of The Museum of Bad Art (yes, it is an actual place) in the Brookline, Mass., area.

Irani's "Mama and Babe" looks like a picture of Cher with an orphaned child, while Graham's "Artist as a Young Man" appears to be a bad portrait of Bob Dylan.

Both paintings are a part of the museum's blue people series, which you can see on the net (if we showed those pictures here, they'd assuredly shoot us!).

I also love "Worried Guy," an anynomous painting of a man who looks like Medusa after a sex change, which was rescued from something like a trash can in Seattle.

Special Quote of the Week-Bob Dylan

I suppose since tomorrow is Thanksgiving we should be quoting Arlo Guthrie since he has that famous Turkey Day ballad "Alice's Restaurant," be we have opted to quip Bob Dylan as we are posting several special entries to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hame of Fame's opening in Cleveland.

There is also a lovely $750 painting of Dylan at the Back Street Buzz Coffee House in Reidsville, NC, which would make a perfect gift for your aunt in Ocala, Fla. (I actually have an aunt in another part of Florida, but alas I will not be seeing her for Thanksgiving and Ocala is easier to spell).

Ok...enough of our nonsense, here is the quote. It's a good one!:

"A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom."