The Last 10 Films I've Seen_ Project Nim Stands Out

Here are the last ten films I've seen; I will write a brief commentary on some of the films after they have been listed:

1. "The Tillman Story (doc. 2010. Dir-Amir Bar-Lev)

2. *Project Nim (doc. 2011. Dir- James Marsh)

3. *The Guard (Ireland. 2011. Dir-John Michael McDonagh)

4. Man Push Cart (2005. Dir- Ramin Bahrani)

5. The Stoning of Soraya M. (2008. With Farsi subtitles. Dir-Cyrus Nowrasteh)

6. Days and Nights (Egypt. 1955. Dir-Henry Barakat)

7. Benny's Video (Austria. 1992. Dir- Michael Haneke)

8. * Another Earth (2011. Dir- Mike Cahill)

9. #% Summer Love/O Da Beni Seviyor (Turkey. 2001. Dir- Baris Pirhasan)

10. Bhutto (doc. 2010. Dir-Duane Baughman)

*-Films I saw at a cinema

#-Previously viewed film

%- Not released in the United States

Many of the films I saw dealt with the Middle East or Central Asia in one form or another.

One of the exceptions is film number two "Project Nim," yet another amazing documentary from the director of "Man on Wire." Like his last film, this one also deals with radical risks and the obstacles they pose for those who undertake them. In this case, those risk-takers are a group of people, as opposed to one man in particular, as the film examines the reasons why many people tried to humanize a chimp named Nim and the results which ensued.

The fifth film "The Stoning of Soraya M." is an American movie by a right-wing director who had helmed the highly controversial "Path to 9-11" tv docudrama. This time he surprisngly takes on human rights and female oppression, two subjects that have been usually involved liberal filmmakers. Though no one would argue that the stoning executions of women in Iran for alleged infidelities are ever justified irregardless if the woman engaged in such affairs or not, the film felt very much like a '70s Turkish melodrama with a forced script and considerable over-acting. Nonetheless, since the film has a 7.9 rating on the IMDB, it apparently has its fans.

"Benny's Video" is yet another wonderful and disturbing film by Michael Haneke, which was the director's second film. Like both versions of "Funny Games," this film explores how fake violence on tv and in film can influence young people towards dasterdly deeds.

"Summer Love" has its production flaws, as is common in Turkish cinema, but it is a moving coming of age story with brilliant cinematography and tremendous acting by its young cast. And, unlike most films from my late father's country, this one actually has a happy ending!

Things We Learned from Twitter- Arianna's Take on Rupert Murdoch

With only 14 characters to spare, it may seem hard to take a good shot at a political nemesis, but that is what the liberal Arianna Huffington, founder of "The Huffington Post" did on Twitter earlier tonight.

In her tweet, Huffington said the following: Now trending on Twitter: names of Harry Potter villains and NOTW villains.

NOTW stands for "News of the World;" it is the now-infamous Rupert Murdoch newspaper in England which completely closed down due to a major phone-hacking scandal. The breech of public trust is being felt here in the United States as well as Les Hinton, who was the managing editor of "The Wall Street Journal" until this morning abruptly resigned. Hinton had previously overseen the NOTW.

SIDEBAR: It seems to be a problem with all Mediterranean countries (I prefer the Turkish term Ak Deniz, which means White Sea, which is much easier to spell than Mediterranean), irregardless if the country is westernized and an EU member, like Italy or Greece, or a Muslim country like Turkey, my late father's homeland, Tunisia or Egypt, or even Israel.

All of these countries seem to be male-dominated countries which greatly emphasize machismoism. One might be inclined to think France, the country of sophisticated intellectualism and a high regard for the arts, might be a noteable exception.

But, in an interview with the NPR show "The World" today, Elaine Sciolino, a Paris correspondent for "The New York Times," said that is not the case at all.

Sciolino, who was just written a book called "La Seduction," said that sexual harrassment is a major problem in France. And, she faults the country's tradition of chivalry, which could well date back to the days of Rene Descartes (a French philosopher who lived in the early 17th century) as part of the problem. Sciolino said men think prefusely flirting is always ok, and women are not sure how to stand up and say 'noi means noi,' well that wasn't exactly the way she put it!

Quote of the Week- Georgia O'Keefe

Today, we continue our Quotes of the Week series for December with quips from famous artists. On our other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time," we have a quote from the late Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, whose work was exhibited in Berlin, Germany, earlier this year.

For this entry, we quote the late American painter Georgia O'Keefe (1887-1986) whose work can be regularly at the Georgia O'Keefe Museum in Santa Fe, N. Mex. Currently, there is also an exhbit of her work at the Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, Ohio.

Here is a quote from O'Keefe which makes me think of a Maureen Dowd book that makes fun of men which I almost got for a female friend today, before realizing it might be indict me (as well as other members of my tribe!):

"I feel there is something unexplored about a woman that only a woman can explore."

Quote of the Week-Hugh Hefner

Today's quote is from "Playboy" magazine's founder Hugh Hefner. To complement Heff, we have a quote from one of his arch rivals, feminist Gloria Steinem.

Here is today's quote from Heffner:

"The major civiling force in the world is not religion, it is sex."