Happy Valentine's (2 of 4): Love in the Arts........

These are scenes from two Shakespeare plays ("Romeo and Juliet" and "Othello") as well as a Turkish and an Italian film, a drawing of a French version of "Bonnie and Clyde" and a Japanese anime still.

Last Ten Films We've Seen: Trying to Catch up on Netflix....

What do Captain America, indie film queen Parker Posey (pict. center) and a silly Dudley Moore/Kirk Cameron movie from 1987 have in common? They all relate in one form or another to the last ten films we've seen.

"Like Father, Like Son," is also the English-language title of a Japanese art film which is more like Dustin Hoffman's "Kramer vs. Kramer" in nature as it deals with a family who learns that their son was switched at birth with another boy. Adding to the tensions is the fact that the families are in two vastly different economic classes.

We got this idea from "Film Comment" magazine.

Here are the last ten:

1. Like Father, Like Son. 2014. Japan. director: Hirokazu Koreeda

2. Goodbye to Language. 2014. France. dir: Jean-Luc Godard

3. The Babdook. 2014. Australia (in English). dir: Jennifer Kent

4. Wild Tales. 2014. Argentina. dir: Damian Szifron

5. Lovers and Other Strangers. 1970. dir: Cy Howard w/Diane Keaton

6. Price Check. 2012. dir: Michael Walker w/Parker Posey

7. Inside Out. 2011. dir: Artie Mandelberg w/Posey

8. Nothing Lasts Forever. 1984. dir: Tom Schiller w/Bill Murray

9. Avengers: Age of Ultron. 2015. dir: Joss Whedon

10. Far from the Madding Crowd. 2015. dir: Thomas Vinterberg w/Carey Mulligan

Last Ten Films I've Seen: Lots and Lots of Imports

Greetings as always to blog readers around the world, including those of you in Australia, Canada, and Germany.

This is our first entry since the catastrophic, seismic, Armageddon nightmare, mid-term elections, which saw the Republican gain more houses in the U.S. Congress and completely take over the U.S. Senate, but fortunately Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va) did prevail over Ed Gillespie.

Even though we differ with his politics and his policies, we want to congratulate Cong. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) who has represented Virginia's sixth district since 1993, and now, thanks to perfect gerrymandering, he probably will be representing the Sixth district until the year 2045 (correction: he turns 103 in 2055), when he will be circa 103 years old. Thus, we are using the image of Goodlatte (center) for the film "Dear White People" which is on this list. We are also looking for photos of Goodlatte in a bathing suit, but alas there are none to be found on Google.

Of the ten films we last watched, eight are from foreign countries, including Kazakhstan, Romania, Israel, the Netherlands, Japan, Turkey, Iran and Norway.

Finally, so none of you are confused, the bottom image is of the Oklahoma Sooners bandwagon used when the team plays home football game; "August: Osage County," a film based on a play takes place in Oklahoma. It stars Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.

Here is the list:

1. "Tuesday after Christmas." Romania. 2010. dir: Radu Muntean.

2. "Uszipin." Israel. 2004. dir: Giddi Dar

3. "Headhunters" Norway. dir: Mortem Tyldum

4. "Ichi the Killer" Japan. 2001. dir: Takashi Miike.

5. "Waiting Room" Turkey. 2004. dir: Zeki Demirkubuz.

6. "Dear White People" 2014. dir: Justin Simien.

7. "Schizo." Kazakhstan. 2004. dir: Gushat Omarova

8. "August: Osage County" 2014. dir: John Wells

9. "Leila" Iran. 1997. dir: Dariush Mehrjui

10. "Abel" (or "Voyeur"). Netherlands. 1986. dir: Alex van Warmerdam

Last 10 Films I've Seen (as of Sunday, July 13th): Lots of Indies

It's been a while since we posted a "Last Ten Films I've Seen" entry, but this week, we have overindulged in Netflix streaming in part because we really got behind on film-watching because of the World Cup. Yes, I do use the pronoun 'we' on occasions when referring to myself, but we assure you that I don't have a multiple-personality disorder!

Here are the films:

1) Elles. Poland/France. 2011. dir: Malgoska Szmovska. w/ Juliette Binoche.

2) In Another Country (image #1). South Korea. 2012. dir: Sang-Soo Hong w/Isabella Huppert

3) This is Martin Bonner. USA. 2013. dir: Chad Hartigan

4) The Imposter (image #2, Rich Little impersonating George Burns) USA. 2012. dir: Bart Layton

5) Nuit #1. Canada (in French). 2011. dir: Anne Emond.

6) Wrong Cops. Canada/USA. 2013. dir: Quentin Dupieux

7) A Girl who Walks Home Alone at Night. USA (in Farsi). 2014. dir: Ana Lily Amirpour

8) Cold Fish (bottom image of Istanbul fish market): Japan. 2010. dir: Shion Sono

9) Deliver Us from Evil. USA. 2014. dir: Scott Derrickson.

10) Carrie. USA. 1976. dir: Brian De Palma. w/Sissy Spacek and John Travolta

The Last Ten Film I've Seen- Some Controversial Films

Here are the last ten films I've seen as of 5:00 p.m., Hartford, Connecticut time (not where I reside) on Wednesday.

They are:

1. "Hidden" (2009. Norway. dir-Pal Oie)_ This is a bad Norwegian horror film.

2. "Irreversible" (2002. France. dir- Gaspar Noe). Along "Antichrist," this is perhaps the most controversial made within the last ten years. Except for the opening sequence, this is a relatively well-made film though.

3. "13 Assasins." (2010. Japan. dir- Takashi Miike). This is my favorite film from Miike who directed "Audition," which I should have mentioned along with "Irreverseible" and "Antichrist."

4. "Puppetmaster II" (1991. dir-Dave Allen). The sequel is actually better than the original! But, these aren't exactly exceptional films, by any means.

5. "Puppetmaster" (1989.dir-David Schmoeller). We featued an image of Klaus Kinski in this entry because the evil puppet Blade in this series is based on him!

6. "No One Killed Jessica." (2001. India. dir-Raj Kumar Gupta)_ This is like a Bollywood version of "All the President's Men."

7. "Angel's Fall" (2005. Turkey. dir- Semih Kaplanoglu) An earlier film from the director of "Bal/Honey," that is fairly similar in tone to his more recent film which has been a film festival hit.

8. "C.R.A.Z.Y" (2005. Canada. dir-Jean Mar Vallee). This is an exceptional French-language Canadian film with a very expensive soundtrack with songs by Pink Floyd, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, and Hot Chocolate.

9. "Midnight in Paris" (2011. dir- Woody Allen). Yes, I thought it was good.

10. Rubber (2010. France. dir-Quentin Dupieux). This is actually an English-language film shot in California about a killer tire. We're still not sure what to make of it!

Happy Mother's Day in Advance from Godzilla

Perhaps, Mothra would be more appropriate here since according to Wikipedia the giant moth is a woman, but we prefer Godzilla over one of his arch rivals, which also includes Hedorah ("The Smog Monster," not sure of its gender).

Godzilla starred in 28 Japanese science fiction/fantasy/horror/thriller films starring with the original "Godzilla," directed by Ishiro Honda (1911-1993), but the monster's creation is actually credited to Tomoyuki Tomaka (1910-1997). Politically, Godzilla, who has weighed up to 60,000 tons, represents the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Many men and perhaps a few women my age probably recall the "Godzilla" cartoons which aired from 1978-81 in both the United States and his native Japan. While researching this piece, I found out that the cartoon Godzilla was originally voiced by Ted Cassidy (1932-1979), known for being Lurch on the orginal "The Addams Family" tv series, but the actor died from natural causes at the age of 46.

And, the cartoon, also featured the adoring Godzooky, who is Godzilla's nephew; he is also a bit of a wimp.

SIDEBAR: I want to give kudos to my good friend Chris Knight from North Carolina who somehow posted a blog entry about Osama bin Laden's killing at 11:52 p.m., local time. This was a full eight minutes before I heard the news from the BBC via WUNC-FM (91.5-Chapel Hill).

And, I was also reminded today of Keith Knight's comic strip "The Knight Life" (no relation to Chris Knight, in fact Keith is African-American, Chris is white) which has a series called "Life's Little Victories." Since the post office in the city where I live is very congested and has an awful parking lot, I get my stamps at Walgreen's. The cashier behind the counter informed me that I had just purchased the last book of stamps on them! Ironically, Keith Knight had a comic strip about postage stamps on Sunday, May 1st, which I just found out a few minutes ago.

50 Beers From Around the Globe- OB Beer (South Korea)

One may not expect a brew to have a rice flavor, but OB Beer from South Korea (OB stands for Oriental Brewery) is indeed made from rice as opposed to barley!

OB Beer, which started in 1952, has a Facebook page which promotes itself as "The True Korean Beer."

A guy from New York was asking how to find the brew on the Internet. One recommendation was a Korean grocer in the city. Another person said he should try Pioneer Supermarket on 74th Street. We have no idea if he found the beer or not, but it is apparently available in some markets in America.

While koamart.com does NOT offer OB Beer (at least it was not listed on their web site), they do have an Orange Bon Bon soda for 89 cents which looks like an Orange Crush.

Interestingly enough, there is a Korean grocery store in Salem, NH, called The Uhen Heh Grocery Store. We were not able to tell from their site if they offered OB Beer, but anyone here who is from New Hampshire can let us know!

SIDEBAR: My friend Jason Garnett is continuing an impressive list of screenings at The Shadowbox Cinema in downtown Roanoke, Va., this month. On Wednesday, the venue shows the vintage 1966 French New Wave classic "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg." The 1931 Charlie Chaplin film "City Lights" will be screened on Friday. "Caddyshack," which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, will be shown on Saturday. And, lastly, on Monday, Aug. 30 the Japanese shock horror film "Audition" will fill the screen. In case you weren't aware of this, it is not 'exactly Mary Poppins.'

More info is available at the web site theshadowboxcinema.com

Shadowbox Cinema in Roanoke, Va., Posts June Schedule

My friend Jason Garnett's new film venue in downtown Roanoke, Va., called The Shadowbox: Community Microcinema has announced its schedule for the month of June, which will include a screening of "This is Spinal Tap" and Jean-Luc Godard's New Wave classic "A Woman is a Woman."

Here is the complete lineup:

June 8- "Lady Snowblood" (1973)-This Japanese film directed Toshiya Fujita was reportedly Quentin Tarantino's inspiration for the 'Kill Bill' movies.

June 12-Brian Bear's Musically Animated Variety Show

June 13- "The Car" (1977). This is a drive-in movie starring James Brolin. The car used in the film cost $84,000 to build according to the IMDB.

June 15- "Until the Light Takes Us" (2008)- A documentary film about Norwegian black metal, which includes Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg (yeah, I have no idea who he is either, but I love his name!).

June 18- "Drive Well, Sleep Carefully"- A documentary about the band Death Cab for Cutie.

June 19- "This is Spinal Tap" (pictured) The classic 1984 mocumentary film about the heavy metal band Spinal Tap has developed a loyal following. The band 'reportedly' lost some 32 drummers due to drug overdoses.

June 21- "We Are Skateboarders"

June 22- "Wild Zero" (2000)- Cult Japanese film with zombie subplot!

June 25-27- Gay Lesbian Film Festival

June 29- "A Woman is a Woman" (1961)- Godard's musical! film revolves around a striptease artist who tries to have a baby with her boyfriend. The vintage Godard flick is obviously not set in Topeka, Kan.!

For more info, log on to www.theshadowboxcinema.com

My Ten Favorite Films from 1950

I must profess this series of entries looking at the Ten Best Films from 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000 came to mind after I read a great retrospective piece in the current issue of "Film Comment" about the 50th anniversary of Jan-Luc Godard's landmark French thriller "Breathless" (which was dubiously remade in the 1980s with Richard Gere in the lead).

My ten favorite films from 1960, a very, very good year for film are going to be listed on my other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

Here, I will list my ten favorite films from 1950. I must profess that I really want to revisit "Rashomon" by Akira Kurosawa. It was my favorite Japanese film of all time until I saw "The Pornographers" (1966, d. Shohei Imamura) which is actually my favorite film of all-time (well, at least as of right now).

Here is the list. "Rashomon" is pictured:

1. Rashomon (Japan. d-Akira Kurosawa)
2. Los Olvidados (Mexico. d-Luis Bunuel)
3. Sunset Blvd. (d-Billy Wilder)
4. Night and the City (d-Jules Dassin)
5. Winchester '73 (d-Anthony Mann)
6. Asphalt Jungle (d-John Huston)
7. In a Lonely Place (d-Nick Ray)
8. Panic in the Streets (d-Elia Kazan)
9. Rio Grande (d-John Ford)
10. Broken Arrow (d-Delmer Daves)