Last Ten Films I've Seen (as of Oct. 16th): Watching a Three-Hour Doc on a Friday Night

"The Autobiography of Nicolea Ceausescu" is a three-hour documentary about a Romanian Cold War dictator who was eventually executed by gunfire by his own people after 22 years of dictatorial rule, and last Friday night was soooo boring (as Moon Unit Zappa would say) that I ended up watching it on Netflix! The film uses official footage and has no narration. One shocking thing I learned from the film was that American Richard Nixon actually traveled to Bucharest to meet Nicolea Ceaucescu.

Other films on the list include "Au Hasard Balthazar," a brilliant, but depressing film about the life of a donkey, which could have been filmed in Greece or Turkey as easily as France. "4:44: Last Day on Earth" is a dire film with Willem Defoe about what the end might be like. Lastly, "Alan Partridge," starring Steve Coogan as the title character who is also a radio dj, is quite hilarious; the green coffee cup above is in his honor. We tried to use a Manchester United coffee cup, but we believe those images are perhaps copyrighted.

Here is the list:

1) Au Hasard Balthazar. France. 1966. Director: Robert Bresson

2) For All Mankind. Documentary. 1989. Dir: Al Reinert

3) McCabe and Mrs. Miller. 1971. Dir: Robert Altman

4) Lebanon. (Israeli film). 2009. Dir:Samuel Maoz.

5) Chico and Rita. Animation. Spain. Dir: Tono Errando, et al

6) 4:44: Last Day on Earth. Dir: Abel Ferrara

7) Alan Partridge. 2013. Dir: Declan Lowney.

8) Marwencol. Documentary. Dir: Jeff Malmberg

9) Zanjeer. India. 1973. Dir: Prakash Mehra.

10) The Autobiography of Nicolea Ceausescu. Documentary. 2010. Romania

http://www.criterion.com/

http://www.netflix.com

http://www.tcm.com

http://www.filmlinc.org

Quote of the Day/Week- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Today's quote of the day is from F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1944), the famed Minnesota novelist who died age 44. Last year, a characterization of him was in the Woody Allen movie "Midnight in Paris." He was played by Tom Hiddleston.

In a tragic irony, his wife Zelda Sayre (known as Zelda Fitzgerald) also died young at age 48 in 1948. She was played in the same Allen film by Alison Pill.

Here are some other quick facts about F. Scott Fitzgerald:

_ Best-known for his novel "The Great Gatsby" (1925), which was made into a theatrical film in 1974 with Robert Redford playing the lead. I found a paperback copy of it at a nifty used bookstore in Wilmington, NC.

_Wrote the novel "Tender is the Night" (1934), which is the same title of a catchy Jackson Browne ballad, released in 1983.

_ A theatre named after him in St. Paul, Minn., was featured in Robert Altman's last film "A Prairie Home Companion"

Here is the quote:

"Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy."

The Rabbit Ears Quiz (11 of 12)_ M*A*S*H

Today, we continue our long-running Rabbit Ears Quiz series with a look at "M*A*S*H, which is arguably the most popular television show made from a film. The movie, directed by Robert Altman, is my personal favorite one from 1970. The tv sitcom aired in 1972, and according to the IMDB, Altman did not care for the show, though the series was a success with audiences and critics alike.

The tv version of "M*A*S*H" actually outlasted the Korean War, which it is set in by eight years! Only three actors were in both the film and tv version, the main one of them is Gary Burghoff (Radar O'Reilly), who was the first actor cast for the tv show.

Alan Alda was the only actor who appeared in all the episodes. Alda, 76, has seen a resurgence in his acting career thanks to his Oscar nomination for his supporting role in the Martin Scorsese film "The Aviator" (2004).

Harry Morgan and Mike Farrell joined the cast after the fourth season of the series. Morgan, the oldest member of the cast, died last year at age 96. Farrell,73, is known for being one of the leading anti-capital punishment activists in America (editorial note: I am also a capital punishment opponent).

So, today, we are asking how many episodes did this show which ran for 11 seasons air. Is the answer:

A) 266

B) 256

C) 251

D) 236

As always, we will send the winner an 8-track copy of "The Oak Ridge Boys' Greatest Hits" (that is a joke).

http://www.tv.com/mash

http://www.alanalda.com

http://www.mikefarrell.org

The Last Ten Films I've Seen-Chuck Norris and Orson Welles

Here are the last 10 films I've seen, as of tonight. One thing seems certain in life, one never knows when they will view what films for whatever reason! This list is inspired by a series that runs in "Film Comment" magazine, in which well-known people in the film industry, usually directors, list the last ten films they've seen. Quentin Tarantino's list from a few years ago was very interesting, but it's not around here 'at the office.' I do recall he had seen lots of Asian films. As of late, we have not?! Here is the list:

1. Bully (doc. 2011. Dir.-Lee Hirsch)

2. Raising Cain (1992. Dir.- Brain DePalma)

3. Force of One (1979. Dir.-Paul Aaron w/Chuck Norris)

4. Boats Out of Watermelon Rinds (Turkey. 2004. Dir-Ahmet Ulucay, the director died at a relative young age at 59 in 2009).

5. Damsels in Distress (2011. Dir-Whit Stillman)

6. The Third Generation (Germany. 1979. Dir.- R.W. Fassbinder)

7. Me and Orson Welles (2008. Dir.-Richard Linklater)

8. They Live (1988. Dir-John Carpenter)

9. Brewster McCloud (1971. Dir-Robert Altman)

10. Tower Heist (2011. Dir-Bret Rattner).

http://www.filmlinc.com

Happy Valentine's Day from Popeye

Greetings from the Pyongyang Public Library here in Pyongyang, North Korea, (not really where I am at), where I wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day even though I personally despise this day with a passion.

Today, we thought we'd send Happy Valentine's Day greetings from Popeye who won over his love Olive Oyl the old-fashioned way by beating up his rival Bluto after taking in several cans of spinach. Obviously, doing such things in the real world can lead one to spend a night at the Mecklenberg County jail in Charlotte, NC.

There are at least two statues of Popeye in the United States: one is in Crystal City, Texas, and the other is in Chester, Illinois.

We actually have a vinyl copy of the above-pictured record which was originally released in the 1960s, though we got our particular copy as kids in the 1970s.

The cast of the record includes Jack Mercer as Popeye, Mae Questel as Olive Oyl and Jackson Beck as Bluto.

The original Popeye comic strips were released in 1919. The first cartoons came out in 1933. And, a film version directed by the late, great Robert Altman came out in 1980 with Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall in the title roles. Alas, the film did not get good reviews.

But, reportedly, a merry-do-round from the set of that film is a tourist destination in Malta, where the movie was filmed!

SIDEBAR: Tonight, in honor of Valentine's Day, Turner Classic Movies is showing the vintage Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musical "Top Hat" at 8:00 p.m., New York time.

Sidebar Two: The answer to our Rabbit Ears Quiz is D) 66, that is the age of Burt Ward who played Robin in the original "Batman" tv show in the 1960s.

My 10 Favorite Films from 1970

In our on-going series of ten best films from the years 1950, 1960, 1970, etc.- we focus on 1970 which happens to be the year I was born. For the longest time, I thought "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" was a 1970 film but it was actually released in 1969.

Not all of these films were released in the United States until at least 1971, but we thought we would focus only on the films which first came out in their country of origin in 1970.

"The Conformist" (poster pictured here) tops the list. The Bernardo Bertolucci film is also a favorite film of my friend Bilge Ebiri, a film critic in New York.

My number two film "Claire's Knee" happens to be a favorite of my friend Moviezzz who is an ardent admirer of Eric Rohmer, the French New Wave master who passed away several months ago.

"MASH" which is actually being remade (?!) is my favorite American film of the year. Robert Altman's film is considered to be one of the best contemporary domestic political comedies ever made. I also admire the film "Five Easy Pieces" which many argue should have won Jack Nicholson his first Oscar (George C. Scott actually won for "Patton" that year. Nicholson would Oscar five years later for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest).

Here is the list:

1. "The Conformist" (Italy. d-Bernardo Bertolucci)
2. "Claire's Knee" (France. d-Erich Rohmer)
3. "The Red Circle" (France. d-Jean-Pierre Melville)
4. "MASH" (d-Robert Altman)
5. "Five Easy Pieces" (d-Bob Rafaelson)
6. "The Honeymoon Killers" (d- Leoanrd Kastle)
7. "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" (d- Sam Peckinpah)
8. "Zabriskie Point" (d- Michaelangelo Antonioni)
9. "The Wild Child" (France. d-Francois Truffaut)
10. "Umut/Hope" (Turkey. d-Yilmaz Guney)

Honarable Mention: "El Topo," "The Butcher" (France), "Little Big Man," "Beneath the Planet of the Apes," "Beneath the Valley of the Dolls," "Husbands," "Performance" and "Even the Dwarfs Get Small" (Germany).

Special Quote of the Day-Robert Altman

Since he was a World War II veteran and today is Veteran's Day, we are posting a quip from filmmaker Robert Altman, who was the subject of a recent character assasination by a film critic Richard Shickel, who many of us in the film fans community greatly deplore.

Altman (1925-2006), shown here wearing a Savannah Sea Gnats baseball cap (minor league team in the South Atlantic League) was a maverick filmmaker and he often made films with a left-of-center statement, including "MASH" and "Nashville." He also took on the filmmaking world in one of his last masterpieces "The Player" (1992).

To show irony, we are quoting another WW II vet film director Frank Capra, who was a conservative, on our other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

I make no secret of the fact that I am a huge Altman admirer, though I did write a critical review of his last film "A Prarie Home Companion."

Here is the quote:

"What's a cult? It just means not enough people to make a minority."

Special Quote of the Day- Lou Reed

Since it has been 40 years since the Berlin Wall came down, I thought I would quip a legendary musician who was part of the Berlin music scene in the '70s. We have quoted Lou Reed, former lead singer of the Velvet Underground, before and even though he is not German he seems like the perfect person to quote.

I especially like this commentary given how a film critic, who I refuse to name, esentially wrote a character assasination of filmmaking legend Robert Altman a few weeks back:

"I don't know anyone who actually cares what a critic says."