Chuck Norris vs. Cuneyt Arkin (5 of 6)_ An Eye for an Eye

We continue our series of comparisons between Turkish movie star Cuneyt Arkin and American kung fu actor Chuck Norris with a look at which actor won Best Actor Oscars during the years that they made films which were light on plot but heavy on kicks and punches.

Today, we go with the Norris vehicle "An Eye for an Eye" (1981), who actually won the Best Actor for that year; was it?

A) Peter O'Toole

B) Henry Fonda

C) Robert DeNiro

D) Burt Lancaster

E) Tom Conti


The answer to last week's question was A) Robert Duvall.

http://www.cuneytarkin.com.tr

http://www.chucknorris.com

Chuck Norris vs. Cuneyt Arkin (4 of 6)_ The Biggest Punch

Good morning to folks in Dubai, and good afternoon to those of you in Hong Kong.

We continue our series of trivia questions relating to the films of Turkish '70s superstar Cuneyt Arkin, 75, and American '80s action film icon Chuck Norris, with a look at "En Buyuk Yumruk/The Biggest Punch" (1983), which somehow has a 6.6 on the Internet Movie Databse.

The film was made one year after Arkin teamed with awful director extraordinaire Cetin Inanc on "Durnyayi Kurtaran Adami/The Man Who Saved the World," also known as "The Turkish Star Wars" since it ripped off "Star Wars."

So, which actor won Best Actor when Arkin made this film 29 years ago; is the answer?:

A) Robert Duvall

B) Robert DeNiro

C) F. Murray Abrham

D) Steve Martin

E) Michael Caine


The answer to the last segment in this series is C) Richard Dreyfuss, who won the Best Actor Oscar in 1977.

SIDEBAR: The answers to our "Dexter" quiz are as follows: 1) D 2) A 3) C 4) B

Chuck Norris vs. Cuneyt Arkin_ The Wonder Kick Years

It is 6:30 a.m. in Harare, Zimbabwe, 1:30 p.m. where one might be having sushi for lunch in Tokyo, Japan, and 9:30 a.m. in Karachi, Pakistan; we read an article in "Mental Floss" that said 9:30 a.m. on Mondays was the best time to post a blog entry. The problem is I don't think we get too blog-reader traffic from Pakistan, but perhaps today is that day.

We are looking at the collective careers of American action movie star Chuck Norris, who turned 72 on March 10th, and his Turkish counterpart Cuneyt Arkin, who is now 75. Both actors have right-wing views, well we are not 100-percent sure of Arkin, but since Norris said that the re-election of President Barack Obama would bring 1,000 years of darkness, it is safe to Norris is very conservative. But, he may actually be to the left of the Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.

In 1977, Norris had a break-out role as a truck-driver hell-bent on finding his missing brother in "Breaker! Breaker!," a film which has been screened on IFC (The Independent Film Channel) here in the states. There was a time when IFC would show arthouse films with indy screen goddess Parker Posey ("House of Yes," "Personal Velocity"), but it appears that Norris films get slightly better ratings.

On a sad note, Norris' co-star in "Breaker! Breaker," veteran actor George Murdock, who also played Testikov in a "Seinfeld" episode in 1994, died this year.

So, we are asking which actor actually won a Best Actor the year Norris made "Breaker! Breaker!," which incidentally has a 3.4 on the Internet Movie Database, in 1997.

Is the answer?:

A) Jack Nicholson

B) Dustin Hoffman

C) Richard Dreyfuss

D) Marlon Brando

E) Jon Voight

As to the answer in our last entry in this series, in 1982,  the year that Cuneyt Arkin was in  "The Turkish Star Wars" the Oscar went to B) Ben Kingsley for the title role in "Gandhi."

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

 http://www.chucknorris.com

http://www.ifc.com

http://www.imdb.com

http://www.parkerposey.org

http://www.cuneytarkin.com.tr

http://www.mentalfloss.com

Chuck Norris vs. Cuneyt Arkin- Turkish Star Wars

Known of "Cuneyt baba" (Father Cuneyt) or "Cuneyt abi' (Big Brother Cuneyt), Cuneyt Arkin is a legendary cinematic icon in Turkey; of course, one should point out that there are valid reasons why he has never won a Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

We are continuing our series, which has a matching entry featuring Arkin's counterpart Chuck Norris, at our other blog "The Daily Vampire" http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com in which we look at which actors actually won Best Actor Oscars during the years that these actors made some of their most famous films.

The answer to our last entry is Dustin Hoffman who won in 1979 for "Kramer vs. Kramer," needless to say neither Norris or Arkin were nominated.

Today, we are asking which actor won Best Actor in 1982, the year Arkin made "Dunyayi Kurtaran Adami/The Man Who Saved the World," which is best-known as "The Turkish Star Wars" in the West since it ripped off the George Lucas film, and it also borrowed Queen's theme song from "Flash Gordon." Copyright laws are now more rigorous in Turkey.


So, is the answer?:

A) Michael Caine

B) Ben Kingsley

C) Paul Newman

D) Dustin Hoffman

E) Peter O'Toole

http://www.chucknorris.com

http://www.cuneytarkin.com.tr/

Cuneyt Arkin vs. Chuck Norris (1 of 4)_ The Best Actor of 1979 Was....

We had intended to start this series on Friday, but we fell asleep at the Richmond Public Library in Richmond, Va., (yes, this is a joke).

But, since Chuck Norris is always trending well thanks in part to his very radical far-right political comments. such as a recent one stating that if President Barack Obama is re-elected, we shall have 'a thousand years of darkness.'

We are also featuring this series with Cuneyt Arkin, the Turkish matinee idol who turned 75 on Friday, who could be called 'the Turkish Chuck Norris," given that he has been in many action films with right-wing themes.

For this series, we are going to ask who won an Oscar during a given year that Norris made a film. We start off with 1979 when Norris made "A Force of One," which was one of the early hits for the now-72-year-old 'actor.'

Earlier this year, we were able to attend a Chuck Norris birthday bash at the Shadowbox Microcinema in Roanoke, Va.

Which actor won a Best Actor Oscar in 1979; was it?:

A) Dustin Hoffman

B) Jon Voight

C) Peter Sellers

D) Jack Lemmon

E) Al Pacino

http://www.chucknorris.com

http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com

http://www.theshadowboxcinema.com

http://www.richmondpubliclibrary.org

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (for entry on Cuneyt Arkin)

The Last Tweets from Charlotte- Maryland Congresswoman Comes Home to Carolina

Though none of these tweets pertain to former New York governor Mario Cuomo (pictured top; his son Andrew is now in charge in Albany) or to dinosaur skeletons, we thought we would use them because several speakers at the Democratic National Convention, including Virginia U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine, will try to reach the barometer set by Cuomo when he gave a dynamic speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco.

And, the dino-skeleton is because Charlotte boasts a very popular natural science museum called The Discovery Place, located in the heart of downtown in the Queen City.

Here are tweets from about an hour ago (4:00 p.m./16:00 eastern time, or 20:00 GMT) with explanations:

1) @PoliticalTicker (CNN Political Ticker): "Obama expecting to get 'misty' during first lady's speech (tonight)."

2) @wamu885news (WAMU 88.5 News; the Washington DC-based NPR station): "We spoke to Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards this morning  about what she expects from #DNC2012." (Cong. Edwards was born in Yanceyville, NC, which borders Danville, Va., her fourth district includes many DC suburbs in Maryland).

3) @HuffingtonPost (Huffington Post): "Watch Chuck Norris' stern warning about the 1,000 years of darkness' that Obama will bring if re-elected."

4) @ABC11WTVD (WTVD is the ABC-affiliate in Raleigh, NC): "Gov. Bev Perdue seems fired up heading to the #DNC_ telling a fellow Dem: 'Let's kick some asses.'"

5) @UtahDemocrats (Utah Democratic Party): "@VoteScottHowell now speaking with Senator (Harry) Reid at the @LBSDems event." (Scott Howell is a conservative Utah Democrat of the Mormon faith who is challenging long-term incumbent Sen. Orrin Hatch).

6) @TheNation (The Nation, a liberal magazine): "Activists call for the immigration reform Obama promised when he ran for office."

7) @DavidShuster (David Shuster, a tv-journalist with the liberal Current-TV who ironically worked for the conservative network Fox News): "Biggest demonstration today in Charlotte: 3 people urging sinners to 'repent or burn in hell.' Police amused."

http://www.wamu.org

http://www.chucknorris.com

http://www.wfae.org (Charlotte's NPR station)

http://www.wunc.org (Raleigh-Chapel Hill's NPR station)

http://www.utahdemocrats.org

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.nc-politics.com

http://www.discoveryplace.org

Top 10 Countries to Run Away To If Romney Wins

Yes, if former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney ascends to the Oval Office, those of us who are politically center-left, Democrats, progressives and even perhaps even Libertarians may want to seek shelter or political asylum in a foreign country as one will quickly realize his 'I'll find a job for you' will work only for members of his billionaires boys club.

So, here are ten suggestions to get away from it all for at least four years should Armageddon strike as it did when George W. Bush was elected in 2000:


1) Slovenia (pictured above): Amazingly enough this former Yugoslav republic is flourishing and the country recently made headlines for actually naming a bridge after Chuck Norris!

2) Argentina: Like most of of Latin America, Argentina had a turbulent period in the 1970s, but happy days are apparently here again.

3) Costa Rica: This will give a chance to finally see a blue frog!

4) Iceland: 24 hours of daylight during the spring and summer months will allow one to play golf at 3:00 a.m. Iceland Air recently began flights to Denver!

5) Norway: Kayaking in the fjords should give a person the opportunity to forget about partisan gridlock on the Beltway.

6) South Africa: Could give you a chance to see lions and cheetahs.

7) Cyprus (pictured below): The Turks and Greeks will probably argue over this island nation for centuries to come, but there are lots of great beaches and if problems resurface there is always the American embassy in Nicosia (the castle pictured is actually in Kyrenia; to let you on the in-joke, Tilly Gokbudak, the 'executive editor of this blog' is a Turkish-American).

8) Chile: See Argentina

9) Estonia: Tajikistan, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia.....yes, most of the former Soviet Republics have not really benefited from the collapse of the USSR, but Estonia is managing quite well.

10) Canada: Winner of the coin flip over France.


http://www.slovenia.info 

http://www.tourism-costarica.com

http://www.visiticeland.com

http://progressive-blogs.com

Happy Birthday, Cuneyt Arkin

Today, we celebrate the 74th birthday of '70s Turkish action movie icon Cuneyt Arkin who turned 74 on September 7th. Arkin was born on this date in 1934 in Eskisehir, Turkey.

While he has over 300 films to his credit, we only have time to mention four here.

The first one is "Hayatim Sana Feda/My Life is For You, Feda" (1970),a romantic comedy, melodrama which was likely influenced by 1950s Hollywood melodramas, which were often directed by Douglas Sirk and starred Rock Hudson.

In this film, a Romeo who has burned his bridges has a chance to reclaim his Juliet, a female Turkish lounge singer played by Turkan Soray, the queen of Turkish cinema who often starred with Arkin, after she goes blind.

In 1973, Arkin starred in the first of what would be several films based on the popular "Kara Murat" comics, including "Kara Murat Versus the Black Knight" (pictured here). The basic plot is that Kara Murat, an ancient warrior in the days of the huns, goes after the bad guys and kicks some major ass in the process.

Turkey and Greece went to far over Cyprus in July of 1974, which lead to the production of many action films with nationalist themes. This would include "Once Vatan/My Country First" (1974) in which Arkin plays a Turkish agent who goes to Cyprus and goes kung fu on the Greek villians. Such films were, to my knowledge, also made in Greece around this era, with the roles reversed. And, yes to answer your question, "Once Vatan" is basically a Turkish Chuck Norris movie.

Lastly, Arkin will always be best known for "Dunayi Kurtaran Adami/The Man Who Saved the World" (1982), which is also known as "The Turkish Star Wars." The film borrows music and actual sequences from the George Lucas classic, but the similarities end there. The plot is a very strange one to summarize, but the film has aliens in muppet-fleece who decide that central Turkey is for unexplained reasons the best place to invade. But, they are no match for Arkin's gymnastics tumbling and kickboxing abilies.

Quote of the Week- George W. Bush

Yes. I know since I am a fairly partisan Democrat who would proudly be considered a socialist in Provo, Utah, this might come as a suprise. But, everyone from NPR to perhaps the Turkish newspaper "Zaman" is talking about George W. Bush's new memoir "Decision Points," which sold 220,000 copies today_ its first day of release.

Bush makes no apologies for being a human rights violator as he said he firmly stands by his decision to use waterboarding on terrorist suspects at Gitmo (slang for the U.S. naval base in Cuba) even though the decision was even criticized by conservatives like Andrew Sullivan of "The Atlantic."

The memoir apparently illustrates other aspects of Bush's 'black and white' Chuch Norris movie view of the world which makes me wonder if the former president will stop by Cinema Overdrive in Raleigh, NC, which is screening Norris' 1984 film
"Missing in Action 2: The Beginning" at 8:00 p.m. tonight. (We heard about it thanks to a blurp in 'Independent Weekly' from their film critic Zack Smith).

Of course, Katrina vandan Heuvel of the liberal journal "The Nation" has publically stated that Dick Cheney was the real American president from 2001-2008, which we presume may not make her a welcome guest at the Bush Childhood Home in Midland, Tex.

But, irregardless of where you or I (or Chuck Norris and Katrina vandan Heuvel) stand politically, one has to admit that the Bush Childhood Home (which is actually open to the public) has a great event on Nov. 18. On that day, the museum/home is sponsoring the Laura Bush Literacy Program with readings fom 4:00-5:00 p.m.

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day to everyone!

According to new textbooks being distributed to high school students in Plano, Tex., the nuclear bombs we dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, towards the end of World War Two did harm or injure any civilians.

In all seriousness, we wish all war veterans past and present a pleasant Memorial Day.

And, if you happen to be one of those folks who leans to the right and doesn't care for my political humor, don't worry---you can always rent out Chuck Norris films (as well all the Godzilla films ever made!) on Netflix! Ironically, I was thinking about adding "Delta Force" which I saw in the late '80s on cable because it is the last screen appearance of Lee Marvin who happened to serve in World War Two.

Editorial Commentary........Good Republicans/Bad Republicans

Since we think she's a bit more attractive than Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (of course, a Republican!), we thought we'd go with this patriotic image of Raquel Welch from her 1970 film "Myra Breckinridge" which Leonard Maltin claims to be 'god-awful.'

Cuccinelli is a fringe, right-winger who somehow got elected and now in addition to threatening to sue the federal government over recent health care proposals, he actually moved to cover up a breast on Virginia's state flag!

Cucinelli, who represents my home state of Virginia and is a favorite of the Roanoke Tea Party (or as we call them the Yosemite Sam crowd), draped the breast of the goddess Virtus. Of course, along with Gov. Bob McDonnell, who is also to the right of Chuck Norris, Cucinelli was in favor of Virginia's now infamous 'April is Confederacy Heritage Month" proclamation. And, we thought former Virginia governor George Allen had flown the proverbial cuckoo's nest!

But, there are some Republicans who express views I actually agree with. On his Twitter page, Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) who represents the Provo, Utah, area said: "Let's start recognizing true heroes--military, teachers, scientists, students who triumph in something other than sports."

Of course, if Cong. Chaffetz were to recognize the University of Utah gymnast Daria Bijak, who I have a bit of a crush on, I would not protest. But, the fact that she is a native of Germany may pose a bit of a problem.

My Christmas Gift Wish List 4 Next Year (Satire)

1. Zhu Zhu Hamsters (pictured)
2. Che Guevara t-shirt
3. Glock 19 gun
4. Mister Potato Head
5. "The Wire" box set*
6. Chuck Norris' "The Delta Force" on dvd (pictured)
7. $50 Starbucks gift certificate (pictured)
8. The Octagon Hot Dog Converter**
9. First issue of "Hot Stuff" ***
10. Subscription to "Mother Jones" (pictured)



*-Indirectly suggested by comic strip artist Keith Knight ("The Knight Life")
**-Actual product! We looked for an image on the net, but couldn't find one
***- Not sure, how much it is worth, but it's (significantly) more than 10 cents!

Chuck Norris' far-right column is carried in the Greensboro, NC, alt weekly "Yes Weekly" which also features liberal columnists like Alexander Cockburn.

There are actually 53 Starbucks in Istanbul, Turkey!

It took a lot of time to post this entry as well as the companion entry on my sister blog "The Daily Vampire." Hope you enjoy it. Numbers five, seven and nine would be great actually! Perhaps my rich uncle in Bethasda, Maryland, can get one of them for me............