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

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

Quotes from Famous Authors (5 of 5): Dorothy Parker

Greetings to our blog readers in Denmark, Montenegro and Yemen.......well, perhaps it's a boring Sunday afternoon in Aden!

Here is our quote from Dorothy Parker:

"This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force."

Now to get back to watching Sarah Silverman host "Saturday Night Live."

Quotes from Famous Authors (4 of 5): F. Scott Fitzgerald

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

Quotes from Famous Authors (3 of 5): Mark Twain

"The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning-bug."

If one is in the Hartford, Connecticut, area, we highly recommend visiting the Mark Twain House where Ghost Walk tours are being offered on Friday nights this month in honor of Halloween.

http://www.marktwainhouse.org

Quotes from Famous Authors (2 of 5): Margaret Atwood

"Being edited is like falling face down into a threshing machine," Margaret Atwood.

SIDEBAR: We learned from The Urban Dictionary last week that when a person takes a selfie of their shoes, it is called a ''shoefie.' We imagine it is popular with suburban narcissist women in places like Bethesda, Maryland, who want the whole world to see how they fit into their new Jimmy Choo high heels!

http://us.jimmychoo.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-jchus-Site/en_US/Default-Start?geoip=geoip

Quote of the Day: Famous Authors (1 of 5)

Alas, we did not get around to quoting authors of banned books during Banned Books Week last week. We know that Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C., and other book stores, such as Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, NC, and the Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, Colo., probably took part as well.

There is also little doubt in our mind that many libraries and book shops banned D.H. Lawrence's erotic literary masterpiece "Young Lady's Chatterly," which has the distinction of being made into a cheesy sexplotation film that aired on late night cable in the 1980s and a highly respected French art film made just a few years ago.

Here is a quote from D.H. Lawrence:

"Never trust the artist. Trust the tale."

http://www.politics-prose.com/

http://www.malaprops.com/

http://boulderbookstore.indiebound.com/

SIDEBAR: This week, we are also referencing new slang word we have learned from the web site for The Urban Dictionary; they will not teach you these words in an ESL class at Guilford Tech Community College in Greensboro, NC (nudge, nudge, wink, wink):

'Walks on both sides of the street,' this is how someone in a rural hamlet like Welch, WV, will refer to a person who is bisexual; conversely, we presume it's risky to be a bisexual in West Virginia!

http://www.gtcc.edu/

http://www.urbandictionary.com/

http://visitwv.com/