20-Word Fiction: Sunday Night Insomnia Sneaks Up Again.........

This short piece is in reference to "David Holzman's Diary," a 1967 cult pseudo-documentary by Jim McBride, available on Vimeo but not Netflix, starring the late Kit Carson (pictured here in a still from the film.).

"It's late Sunday night. Effing insomnia again.....a part of me wants to watch "David Holzman's Diary" or just scream!"

We dedicate this story to F. Scott Fitzgerald who once said writers should never use exclamation points.

http://www.vimeo.com

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 Last Ten Films I've Seen (as of Oct. 2nd): Some Depressing Dramas

Greetings to our blog readers in Libya, Dubai and India, where we assume the top image might cause us problems.

Amazingly enough, seven of the ten films on this list were seen via Netflix dvds or Netflix streaming, while one film "My Old Lady" was actually seen in a movie theater.

"Prime Cut" is a vintage early '70s action-drama with the late, great Lee Marvin, Gene Hackman, and Sissy Spacek in her film debut, some four years before she became Carrie White in "Carrie."

"For the Bible Tells Me So" illustrates the rift between conservative evangelical Christians who believe in literal interpretations of the Bible, in terms of viewing homosexuality as a sin, as well as gays and lesbians, and their liberal supporters, who strongly find this views reprehensible.

"My Old Lady" is a humorous English-language film set in France, in which Kevin Kline discovers that the home his father left him in Paris is occupied by Maggie Smith and her grown-up daughter played by Kristen Scott Thomas.

Here are the last ten films we've seen:

1. Prime Cut. 1972. Director: Michael Ritchie

2. Free Samples 2012. Dir: Jay Gammill w/Jesee Eisenberg

3. Fruitvale Station. 2013. Dir: Ryan Coogler. w/ Michael B. Jordan

4. For the Bible Tells Me So. (documentary). Dir: Daniel G. Karslake

5. Mandabi. Senegal. 1968. Dir: Ousmane Sembene.

6. Xala. Senegal. 1975. Dir: Ousmane Sembene.

7. My Old Lady. 2014. Dir: Israel Horovitz.

8. Take My Eyes. Spain. 2003. Dir: Iciar Bollain

9. Paradise: Hope. Austria. 2013. Dir: Ulrich Seidl

10. Block-C. Turkey. 1994. Dir: Zeki Demirkubuz

 http://www.netflix.com

The Last Ten Films I've Seen: Avoid the Bad Mafya Babasi Film

It has been a full two weeks since we last posted a blog entry. Of course, in the modern age, two weeks is like six and a half years, or is it like 14 minutes? We will let the Slovenian modern philosopher Slavoj Zizek, a fellow film connoisseur, answer that question. In the mean time, here are the last ten films I've seen (mafya babasi is the Turkish term for mafia father/boss):

1) The Serpent and the Rainbow 1988. Director: Wes Craven (Image #1: It's actually a snake-handling church in West Virginia).

2) Saturday Night, Sunday Morning. 1960. dir: Karel Reisz

3) Massacre Mafia Style. 1978. dir-Duke Mitchell (Image #2, which is of Al Capone; this is a terrible movie which aired during TCM Underground)

4) Begin Again. 2013. dir: John Carney. w/Keira Knightley

5) It's a Disaster. 2012. dir: Todd Berger. w/Julie Stiles (Image #3: A Mushroom Cloud)

6) Goodbye, First Love. France 2011. dir: Mia Hansen-Love

7) Airplane! 1980. dir: Jim Abrahams, et al.

8) Life Itself. doc. 2014. dir: Steve James (film about Roger Ebert's last days)
 
9) Bastards. France. 2013. dir: Claire Denis

10) Bill Cunnigham New York. doc. 2010. dir: Richard Press

We're Back: The Last 10 Films We've Seen

We are back from our ice-fishing trip to Colorado (ok, we are kidding a bit), but we were away for a long time. Hopefully those of you in Atlanta, Ottawa, London, Praque, Istanbul and Dubai were able to find other ways to inform/educate yourselves. And, with that in mind, here are the last ten films we've seen. Many of these were from Netflix streaming, which we are getting more hip towards.


The image of stand-up comedian Sarah Silverman is meant to be ironic, as she was one of the Jewish stand-up comedians who was NOT interviewed for the documentary film "When Jews Were Funny," which we heard about when the film was being screened at the River Run Film Festival in Winston-Salem, NC.

Here we go:

1) "When Jews Were Funny" doc. 2013. dir: Alan Zweg (top image)

2) "Like Crazy" 2011. dir: Drake Doremus

3) "Days of Being Wild" Hong Kong. 1990. dir: Wong Kar Wai.

4) "Blue is the Warmest Color" France. 2013. dir: Adellatif Kechine (center image)

5) "Into the Abyss" doc. 2011. dir: Werner Herzog (bottom image: the film is about an execution in Texas, the American state with the highest number of executions)

6) "Barbara" Germany.  2012. dir: Christian Petzold

7) "West of Memphis" doc. 2012. dir: Amy Berg

8) "No" Chile. 2012. dir: Pablo Larain

9) "Soylent Green" 1973. dir: Richard Fleischer (it's a science-fiction film with Charlton Heston)

10) "Climates" Turkey. 2006. dir: Nuri Bilge Ceylan



http://www.whenjewswerefunny.com


http://www.sarahsilvermanonline.com


http://www.tcadp.org


http://www.wernerherzog.com

http://www.filmcomment.com

The Next Ten Films We Hope 2 Watch: We Just Love Goldie Hawn and Charlton Heston Flicks

1) "The Story of Louis Pasteur" (1936. dir-William Dieterle) 7.4 (IMDB rating)

2) "Enter Laughing" (1967. dir-Carl Reiner) (see top image) 6.5

3) *"Breathless" (France. 1960. dir-Jean-Luc Godard) 8.0

4)* "L'Enfant" (Belgium. 2005. dir-Jean-Pierr and Luc Dardenne) 7.4

5) "No" (Chile. 2012. dir-Pablo Larrain.) 7.5

6)* "Climates" (center image)  (Turkey. 2006. dir-Nuri Bilge Ceylan) 7.3

7) "West of Memphis" (doc. dir-Amy Berg) 7.9

8) "Butterflies Are Free" (bottom image) w/Goldie Hawn (1972. dir-Milton Katselus) 7.2

9) * "Soylent Green" w/Charlton Heston (1973. dir-Richard Fleischer) 7.1

10) * "My Dinner with Andre" (1981. dir-Louis Malle) 7.7

*-Films we've previously watched

http://www.imdb.com

Now Showing: Films at Independent Cinemas in the USA (East Coast Edition)

Since putting this together took way more time than we expected, we are going to post new films opening at independent cinemas in America and/or perhaps elsewhere just once a month on Friday as opposed to once a week on Friday as we had planned.

But, here are movies which are showing at independent arthouse cinemas from New York to Athens, Ga., they include the Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, Va., the West End Cinema in Washington, DC, and a/perture Cinema in Winston-Salem, NC.

These are not necessarily the only films showing at each venue as only the Lyric and the Vinegar Hill Theatre in Charlottesville, Va., are one-screen venues.

The images above are of Sarah Polley, the director of the documentary "Stories We Tell," which is showing at the West End (it will show at the Lyric starting on June 28th), Greta Gerwig, the star of "Frances Ha," showing at the Cine in Athens, Ga., and Sofia Coppola, the director of "Bling Ring," which is showing at the Vinegar Hill.

On our sister blog "Politics, Culture, and Other Wastes of Time"  http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com we will list films showing west of the Mississippi River.

Going from north to south, we start with Film Forum in New York, which is showing the acclaimed Danish film "A Hijacking," about Europeans who have their boat hijacked by Somali pirates. The film shows in New York at 1:15; 3:15; 6:00; 8:00 and 10:10 p.m. (times may vary).

In the nation's capital, "Stories We Tell," which is a documentary about how Polley, a Canadian film star, found out her father was not actually her biological father. The film has a very high 7.8 rating on the IMDB. It will show at the West End during the following times on Saturday: 11:20 (a.m.); 1:40; 4:00; 6:40 and 9:00 p.m.

At the Vinegar Hill in Charlottesville, one can see "The Bling Ring," which we believe is the "Lost in Translation" director's fifth film at 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. In Virginia's other major college town, "Mud" is showing at the Lyric in Blacksburg at 7:00 and 9:30; with a Sunday matinee at 3:00 p.m.

On Saturday, a/perture in Winston-Salem is showing "Much Ado About Nothing," directed by joss Whedon ("Cabin in the Woods") at 1:15; 3:45; 6:15 and 8:45.

Lastly, way down in Athens, Ga., Cine is showing "Frances Ha"at 5:15 and 7:15, with an additional 9:15 screening times starting on June 24.

http://www.visulitecinemas.com

http://www.filmforum.com

http://www.athenscine.com

http://www.thelyric.com

http://www.aperturecinema.com

http://www.westendcinema.com

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

Quote of the Day/Week- Stephen Hawking

Yes, we were gone for a while, but we assure it was not to a former republic of the Soviet Union, though we did travel to Azerbaijan in 2008.

Today, we turn our attention to American astronomer Stephen Hawking to conclude our month of quotes from famous scientists. Hawking, who turned 70 on Jan. 8, was the subject of the acclaimed Errol Morris documentary "A Brief History of Time" (1991).

Here is the quote from Hawking:

"It is not clear that intelligence has any long-term survival."

And, for those of you in Nassau, The Bahamas, hope you are enjoying your Cuban cigars which are illegal here in America.

Quote of the Day/Week- Alberto Fujimori

Today, we are continuing our quotes from famous Latin Americans with the former criminally corrupt president of Peru; Alberto Fujimori (b. 1938) is of Japanese descent and feld to Japan though he was extradicted back to Peru to face criminal human rights violations.]

The right-wing leader is credited with creating fujimorism, an anti-terrorist free-market policy. Fujimori is also the subject of the excellent documentary film "The Fall of Fujimori," which has the following tagline: "He risked everything to win Peru's war on terror, but in doing so he became an international fugitive, wanted for corruption, kidnapping, and murder."

His daughter Keiko Fujimori (b. 1975) will be quoted in our sister blog; she ran for president with her father in a Peruvian jail this year. In 2009, the elder Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in jail for human rights violations.

One of the prime challenges that he faced while in office was fighting the Shinning Path terrorist/separatist movement in the mountains of Peru. In 1992, when Fujimori was president, Abimael Guzman (b. 1934) the professor of philosophy who founded the Shinning Path movement was sentenced to life in prison.

Here is the quote from Alberto Fujimori: "Poverty doesn't imply neccesarrily violence."

Quote of the Week- Werner Herzog

Today, we quip the legendary German film director Werner Herzog, who has directed such features as "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" (1972) and "Fitzcarraldo" (1982) with his late collaborator and frenemy Klaus Kinksi. Documentary film director Les Blank, whom I am a huge fan of, captured the tension between the two in his film "Burden of Dreams." Herzog's own latest film "Cave of Forgotten Dreams," which happens to be a documentary," is now presumably available on dvd in the USA.

This quote comes from Herzog's earlier doc "Grizzly Man" (2005) which was in the top ten of contemporary docs to see 'before you die' in a recent Current TV show hosted by documentarian and social commentator Morgan Spurlock of "Supersize Me" fame.

Here is the quote:

"I believe the common denominator of the Universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder."

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!

The Last Ten Films I've Seen

Here they are, first to last:

#-Movies I saw in a cinema
*-Movies I saw in a microcinema
^-Moives I have previously seen

1.# "The Trip" (UK. 2010. Dir- Michael Winterbottom. W/Steve Coogan)

2. "Dogtooth" (Greece. 2009. Dir- Giorgis Lanthinos)

3. # "Tabloid" (doc. 2010. Dir- Erroll Morris)

4. "Halloween 2" (2009. Dir- Rob Zombie)

5. "A Little Trip to Heaven" (US/Iceland. 2005. Dir- Baltasar Kormakur. W/Julie Stiles)

6. *^ "Trollhunter" (Norway. 2010. Dir- Andre Ovredal)

7. "The Age of Ignorance" (Canada-in French. 2007. Dir- Denys Arcand)

8. "My Winnipeg" (Canada-in English. 2007. Dir- Guy Maddin)

9. "The Seventh Continent" (Austria. 1989. Dir- Michael Haneke)

10. "Marwencol" (doc. 2010. Dir- Jeff Malmberg)

Brief Notes:

"The Trip" is sort of like a cross between "Easy Rider" and "My Dinner with Andre." It's a witty and funny film.

"Dogtooth" is a film with every taboo subject one can think of, but it is well-made. Amazingly enough, it got a foreign-language Oscar nomination. It is definitely not like the Greek melodramas of yesteryears.

Another person who was actually watching "Tabloid" at the Apeture Cinema in Winston-Salem, NC, scorned at me for laughing, but the film is quite amusing, especially given that it is a documentary.

Yes, "Hallloween II" doesn't really belong on this list, but Rob Zombie makes interesting films. Alas, the cliches of the Michael Myers serial killer series entrap the film's plot considerably.

I saw "Trollhunter" at the Shadowbox Cinema in Roanoke, Va. It is definitely a fun film.

"My Winnipeg" is as anyone who has seen a Guy Maddin film will know is quite surreal.

"The Seventh Continent" is perhaps the most depressing film I've seen since "The Bridge," a documentary about people commiting suicide by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

"Marwencol" is simply awesom.

Program Reminder- Food Inc. on PBS (Wed. @ 9 pm)

The controversial, Oscar-nominated full-length documentary "Food Inc" directed by Robert Keener will air as part of the award-wining "POV" series on most national PBS stations Wednesday night at 9 p.m.

The film has been criticized for its subjectivity regarding industrial farming, and it features shocking footage from places like a Smithfield pork-processing plant in North Carolina and a chicken farm in Tennessee where the chickens are so overfeed with anti-biotics that they can't even stand up.

In a statement on the web site for "POV," Keener said he simply wanted to make a documentary about how food gets to the dinner table. He added that the stonewalling from the food industry caused his film to move in a different direction than it was originally intended:

"I became intrigued by why the industry would not speak to me about something as seemingly innocuous as food," Keener said.

There has been speculation that Keener and the film's producers are vegetarians, but according to the Internet Movie Database that is not the case.

In North Carolina, the film will air on UNC-TV at 9 p.m. It will be followed by a discussion from local farmers at 10:35 p.m.

The 2009 film was shown in theatres last year, including the Galaxy Cinema in Cary, NC, outside Raleigh and the Carousel Luxury Cinemas in Greensboro.