The Last Ten Movies We've Seen: Some Fairly Effed Up Films Here.....

Greetings to our blog readers in Croatia, Israel and India.......

"I Saw the Devil," a Korean revenge thriller shock horror is quite jolting at every level. It leads off the last ten films we've seen list here (Hot Stuff is used as the image for the film). We also saw Wes Anderson's brilliant 1998 film "Rushmore" with Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray for the first time since we saw it in a small movie theatre in Woodstock, Va., in early 1999. 

"World War Z" is pretty good for a big-budget summer zombies movie, "Miss Bala" is an unsettling drama about the drug war and its effect on Mexico (bottom image), and "All Fall Down," an early Warren Beatty drama with Eva Marie Saint.

Here is our last ten:

1. I Saw the Devil. South Korea. Jee-woom Kim. 2010.

2. Rushmore. Wes Anderson. 1998.

3. World War Z. Marc Foster. 2013. w/ Brad Pitt

4. The Professionals. Richard Brooks. 1965 w/ Lee Marvin

5. Miss Bala. Mexico. Gerardo Naranjo. 2011

6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Matt Reeves. 2014

7. All Fall Down. John Frankenheimer. 1962.

8. We Have a Pope. Italy. Nana Moretti. 2011.

9. Taxi Driver.  Martin Scorsese. 1976 w/ Robert DeNiro

10. The Andromeda Strain. Robert Wise. 1971

http://www.filmcomment.com

The Top Ten Saturday Night Live Cast Members (according to "Rolling Stone"): Norm Macdonald is a bit miffed.....

Greetings to our blog readers in Finland, Romania and the Bahamas.........

Tonight, we list the top cast members of "Saturday Night Live" as listed by Rob Sheffield of "Rolling Stone," that was written in conjunction with the sketch comedy show's 40th anniversary. The show actually first aired in October of 1975, but (perhaps for the sake of ratings) the event was celebrated by NBC on Sunday.

Norm Macdonald, a former cast member from 1993-98 who also hosted  the show's standard 'Weekend Update' segment, tweeted live during the event. It has also been reported that he was displeased to learn that Sheffield had ranked him as number #135 in a list of 141 cast members (Robert Downey, Jr., surprisingly finished last). Tim Meadows, who came in 48th, made the list known during a cameo of the 40th anniversary special.

For better or for worse, here in Sheffield's top ten:

1) John Belushi, 1975-79. (pict. top; he died in 1982)

2) Eddie Murphy 1980-84. (pict. center)

3) Tina Fey  2000-06 (pict. bottom)

4) Mike Myers (1989-95)

5) Dan Aykroyd (1975-79)

6) Bill Murray (1977-80)

7) Phil Hartman (1986-94, was murdered in 1998)

8) Amy Poehler (2001-08)

9) Gilda Radner (1975-80, she died in 1989 from cancer)

10) Chevy Chase (1975-77)

Here are some other cast members and how they ranked according to Sheffield:

Maya Rudolph (#19)

Fred Armisen (#23)

Dennis Miller (#34)

Jane Curtin (#37, we would rank her higher)

Joe Piscopo (#66, we would rank him much higher)

For the full list, check out Sheffield's article in the current issue of "Rolling Stone," it's one that has John Belushi as the Samurai warrior who was inspired by the late Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune ("Rashomon").

http://www.rollingstone.com

Last Ten Songs We Heard on Simon-FM in Greensboro, NC (on Jan. 9th from 3:00-4:00 p.m.)

Here are the last ten songs we heard on 98.7 Simon-FM in Greensboro, NC, on Jan. 9th from 3:00-4:00 p.m.

The images are of 1) Axl Rose, the lead singer of Guns N' Roses, 2) the late, great Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (for the U2 song "Pride"....) and 3) A poster of "Caddyshack" with Chevy Chase and Bill Murray (for "I'm Alright" by Kenny Loggins, the theme song from that film):

1. Fantastic Voyage. Lakeside. 1980.

2. Hertache Tonight. The Eagles. 1979.

3. Tubthumping. Chumbawamba. 1997.

4. Welcome to the Jungle. Guns N' Roses. 1987.

5. Let It Ride. BTO. 1974.

6. Heart and Soul. Huey Lewis and the News. 1983.

7. I Can't Dance. Genesis. 1991.

8. It Takes Two. Rob Base and DTEZ Rock. 1988.

9. Pride (in the Name of Love). U2. 1984.

10. I'm Alright. Kenny Loggins. 1980.

http://www.visitgreensboronc.com

http://www.visitwinstonsalem.com

http://www.987simon.com

http://www.hueylewisandthenews.com

Presidential Quotes (8 of 16): FDR

Today, we quote one of America's most beloved presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, A Democrat, who was elected to four terms of office. Roosevelt is one of four presidents who died while in office. His veep Harry Truman replaced him. Roosevelt has been portrayed on film by actors such as Jon Voight and Bill Murray.

Here is his quote: "In politics nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way."

Quote of the Day- Jon Voight

Today, we continue our series of quoting actors who have played real-life American presidents with a quote from the liberal-turned-Tea Partier Jon Voight, 73, who ironically played the iconic Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the film "Pearl Harbor" (2001), which starred Ben Affleck.

More recently, Voight played President George Washington in the right-win political slapstick satire "An American Carol" (2008), a film that had a plot line revolving around the very progressive documentary filmmaker Michael Moore. The film failed at the box office and did not change the shifting political winds as Barack Obama defeated John McCain for the presidency. But, it was very popular with arch conservative talk show hosts, such as Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, who actually had a cameo in the film.

Voight is also an Oscar winner for Best Actor as he won the award for his compelling performance in the touching drama "Coming Home" (1978). In recent years, Voight has renounced the film and his co-star Jane Fonda, who also won an Oscar (Best Actress) for her role in "Coming Home."

Bill Murray will also play FDR in the highly-anticipated film "Hyde Park on Hudson."

The Franklin Roosevelt Museum is in Hyde Park, NY.

Here is Voight's quote:

"There's the young Jon Voight and the old Jon Voight."

http://www.michaelmoore.com

Things We Learned on Google Today- Chisinau is the Capital of Moldova

Well, since we couldn't find any good images of Chisinau, the capital of Moldova which has a population of 700,000 people, we thought we'd go with this image of Iana Varnacova, who is 19 or 20 years old. She happens to also be known as Miss Moldova 2008.

This is the eighth entry in our series of looks at countries that were republics in the Soviet Union. Turkmenistan, which is quite far from Moldova, was our last entry.

Moldova is a landlocked country between Romania and Ukraine. Romanian is Moldova's official language, and the main religion is Orthodox Christian. Stuffed cabbage rolls are a popular dish in Moldova.

SIDEBAR ONE: We loved this tweet from comic actor Rainn Wilson of tv's "The Office" yesterday: "Obama single-handedly kills 87 Al Qaida militants with Dragon-style kung fu. GOP questions why he didn't fight Tiger-style." Yeah, I imagine Michele Bachmann would say something like that!

SIDEBAR TWO: While we are profoundly kiskanc (Turkish word for jealousy) of Thomas Mars, lead singer of the French band Phoenix, we wish him and his new wife, filmmaker Sofia Coppola well. They were married yesterday in Italy. We weren't able to find out if Bill Murray, who starred in Sofia's most famous film "Lost in Translation" was among the guests.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Bill Murray

We thought we'd feature an image of a famous Irish-American for St. Patrick's Day. When my mom told me she was going to go to Dublin a few years ago, I thought she meant Dublin, Va., where Pulaski County High School is, as opposed to Dublin, Ireland!

One of Murray's most famous films "Ghostbusters" will be on Nick-TV tommorow night at 9 p.m., New York time.

We had initially hoped to see how far apart Lexington, Ky., where the University of Kentucky is, from Priceton, NJ, where Princeton University is, were. But, yesterday's blog entries were quite time-consuming! We assume if they weren't playing at a neutral site that the respective team bus drivers would know the way. That game is currently underway, and at last report (well, it was about 30 minutes ago) Kentucky was winning 11-4.

We also wish the University of Asheville (NC) Bulldogs well as they face the top seed Pitt Panthers today as well. If they win, perhaps that means that one day, I might just be able to go on a Starbucks coffee date with Uma Thurman.

Lastly, we want to make readers that many NPR stations are having fund-drives. We are especially concerned about the plight of excellent small market stations like WMRA in Harrisonburg, Va., and KUNC in Greeley, Col.

That Colorado town is also home to the 'other UNC,' the University of Northern California Bears who are in this year's NCAA field. They will play the two-seed San Diego State Aztecs in the opening round.

There Were Other Pranks Besides Mine

There was no white rafting trip to West Virginia this weekend as it was an April Fool's Day prank, but much to my surprise, no one seemed to really care! As it was, I got quite sick over the weekend, so even if I was heading to the 'Wild, Wonderful State' (that's how West Virginia advertises itself), I would not have gotten very far.

But, there were a number of pranks pulled on Thursday.

Here are some of the highlights:

"Coach K (pictured here) just announced Duke has plans to replace Cameron w/ multi-purpose retractable dome stadium," (from twitter.com/dukeblueplanet).

"Starbucks offers giant and micro-sized coffee cups."

"The Guardian (UK) announced it would be first newspaper published exclusively via Twitter."

"Bill Murray agrees to be in 'Caddyshack 3.'"

"WNYC reports that the Supreme Court is giving corporations rights to vote in municipal, statewide and nantional elections."

And, thinkgeek.com actually advertised many fake products, including canned unicorn meat?!