The Top Ten Films of 2014 (rough draft): Of course, we went with "Boyhood"

It is a bit premature perhaps to be doing this as I have yet to see many of the top films of 2014 as many of them will of course as always be released on or after Christmas Day, but since everyone else is posting their top 10 films of 2014 list, I may as well go for it.

This was an exceptional year for film in every capacity.

For those of you new to this blog, I always go with an image referring to something about the film rather than an image of the film itself.

We are also using the word 'Rough Draft' in the title as a joke, everyone feels the urge to change these lists when they have seen more films from the year of release (here in the United States).

Here is the list:

1) Boyhood (dir. Richard Linklater, image #1 is of the 1969 children's show "H.R. Pufnstuf)

2) Gone Girl (dir. David Fincher, the middle image is the universal symbol for women)

3) Birdman (dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, the bottom image is of the early anime cartoon "Battle of the Planets")

4) The Grand Hotel Budapest (dir: Wes Anderson)

5) Life Itself (documentary. dir: Steve James. Will air on CNN in January)

6) The Unknown Known (doc. dir: Errol Morris)

7) Blue Ruin (dir: Jeremy Sauhier)

8) Begin Again (dir: John Carney)

9) Interstellar (dir: Christopher Nolan)

10) "A Most Wanted Man" (dir: Anton Corbijn)

Worst Movie of the Year: "Wrong" (appropriately titled, dir: Quentin Dupieux)

Most Underrated: "The Skeleton Twins"

Most Overrated: "Snowpiercer"

Most Disappointing: "Only Lovers Left Alive"

A Most Impressive Debut: "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night"

Most Interesting Mediocre Movie: "Life After Beth"

http://www.filmcomment.com

The Return of Friday Night Tweets: Drug Bust in Hurricane, West Virginia

 

There is a full moon out tonight, and sure enough lots of crazy effing stuff is going on. The tweet from "The Toronto Sun" is an eye-catcher as is one from "The Charleston Gazette" in Charleston, W.Va. We also have tweets from Baltimore and Chapel Hill  (NC) as well.

 

 

Let's get started:

 

 

1) The Baltimore Sun @baltimoresun (image top): A1: Edward Snowden charges with spying, Somber Police Academy graduation. Man gets his name off sex offender list. School divides community.

 

2) Charleston Gazette @wvgazette: "Three arrested in Hurricane meth bust. Hurricane, WVa_ Three people were arrested Friday.....

 

3) Wall Street Journal @wsj (image center): "Average American slept 8 hours, 44 minutes per night in 2012"

 

4) Chapel Hill Magazine @chapelhillmag: "So proud of @DiamondHeels. What a season! It was so fun to witness their talent, resilience and heart."

 

5) The Daily Tar Hell @dailytarheel: UNC falls to UCLA 4-1 to end season.

 

6) The Toronto Sun @TheTorontoSun (image below; the late 1960s children's show "H.R. Pufnstuf" has been closely associated with weed): "Fired pot-smoking City of Ottawa worker fails to convince court his reefer madness is disability."

 

7) Samantha Peszek (a UCLA gymnast): "Proud of the @UCLABaseball team right now....Absolutely killin it!"

http://www.goheels.com

http://www.uclabruins.com

http://www.wvgazette.com

http://www.baltimorecity.gov

The Rabbitt Ears Quiz (3 of 12) How Much for That H.R. Pufnstuf Lunch Box

Witchiepoo, the villain from the Sid and Marty Kroftt cult tv classic "H.R. Pufnstuf," is the image you should be seeing if everything is going according to plan.

The children's tv show made its debut on Sept. 6, 1969, and it lasted until NBC decided to abruptly can the production after 17 episodes in August of 1972. Today, one can presumably watch the show for free on hulu.com; well, hopefully, we haven't misguided anyone.

There are many unqiue things about this show which could easily make this entry as long as a chapter in Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace."

For starters, the show had the proverbial fairy tale/"Wizard of Oz" plot of good versus evil, and the adventures revolved around a shipwrecked youngster named Jimmy, played by the late Jack Wild (1952-2006). While on the isle, Jack ran into Mayor H.R. Pufnstuf. Tragically enough, both Wild and Lennie Winrid (1935-2006) who was the voice of H.R. Pufnstuf (along with Scrappy Doo and Bigmouth on "The Smurfs") died in the same year.

The show also featured unique supporting characters, including Freddy the Flute, Dr. Blinky (the owl) and Judy the Frog.

Now, for the dirt....yes, the show has been accused of making many drug references to marijuana, and the matter was profiled in a 2003 issue of "Cannibis Culture." Both Sid and Marty Krofft, who created the show, are still alive. Marty has denied any efforts to link his children's show to a Cheech and Chong movie. But, of the many instances that the journal cited were: 1) the fact that H.F. Pufnstuf is a green figure with red hair. 2) the term 'black bart' which is code for marijuana is mentioned in one episode, and 3) Witchipoo's laughing gas. Oh, there are also magic mushrooms (we believe) in one episode.

"H.R. Pufnstuf" is also unique because it was both the defendant in a lawsuit against it (not for pot) and a plantiff in a suit the producers brought forth.

Paul Simon succesfully sued the producers on the grounds that the theme song, which contains lyrics that some find suggestive towards marijuana, was too much like his popular song "59th Street Bridge (Feeling Groovy)."

Conversely, the producers in turn successfully sued McD's because Mayor McCheese looked a bit too much like H.R. Pufnstuf.

But, our question today pertains to the worth of the show's limited edition lunch boxes, which are worth an astonishing amount of money, epsecially if it comes with the thermos!

On e-bay, we noticed that the following dollar amount was going out for the box, is the answer?:

A) $225

B) $275

C) $325

D) $375

SIDEBAR: In case, you were wondering, the answer to last week's Bonus Road Trip between Cincinnati and Boulder, Colo., is B) 19 hours.