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

Next Ten for Netflix: Foreign Films and Docs

Greetings to our blog readers in Turkey, Greece and the Czech Republic.....

Today, we look at the next ten foreign films and documentaries that we hope to watch via Netflix streaming. These days, we've gotten hooked on streaming, and perhaps the late Roger Ebert would have been proud of us!

The images are of 1) Boo Boo Bear, Yogi's sidekick, this image is used for the Turkish film "Winter Sleep" since bears hibernate zzzzzzzzzzzzzz during the winter, 2) the Hollywood sign is being used for the documentary "L.A. Plays Itself, and 3) lastly, Hot Stuff, the Harvey Comics icon, is used for the South Korean horror film "I Saw the Devil."

It may be a while before we get to watch "Winter Sleep" and "L.A. Plays Itself" as the two films combined would run for six hours!

The films are listed according to Internet Movie Database (IMDB) ratings, which are listed to the right.

Here is the next ten on Netflix:

1) Winter Sleep. Turkey. Nuri Bilge Ceylan. 2014. 8.4/10

2) LA. Plays Itself. documentary (USA). Thom Andersen. 2003. 8.0

3) I Saw the Devil. South Korea. Jee-woon Kim  2010. 7.8

4) A Summer's Tale. France. Eric Rohmer. 1996. 7.6

5) Force Majuere. Sweden. Ruben Olstlud. 2014. 7.4

6) A Coffee in Berlin Germany. Jan Ole Gerber. 2010. 7.4

7) Sister. Switzerland. Ursula Maier. 7.1

8) Stray Dogs. Taiwan. Tsai Ming Ling. 2013. 7.0

9) We Have a Pope. Italy. Nanni Moretti. 2011. 6.7

10) Anita (doc on Anita Hill; USA) Freida Lee Mock. 2014. 6.4

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (For our other Netflix list, for English-language films)

http://www.netflix.com

http://www.imdb.com

The Post-Election Day Hangover

Mor


I recall one year when I was in college when my old high school pals Jake and Brett (not their real names) came over and we watched the Super Bowl between the New York Giants and the Buffalo Bills. The Giants won the game, but I will never forget the Jack Daniels hangover that my buds suffered. I was smart enough not to join them!

And, since my Twitter account is frozen up today, which I suspect is a result of following over 1,800 people, media outlets and organizations (yes, Paris Hilton is one of them) the day after a major election.

While Paris Hilton may not have won yesterday, the dubious choice that Kentuckians made in electing far, far right mad man Rand Paul (we actually like Ron Paul, his dad, but like George W. Bush this guy is crazier than his dad!) who according to "The Nation" even opposes abortion when a woman's life is in danger, may be just as fatal for the American political spectrum.

Closer to home, one of my friends (yes, the irony here kills me too) Republican Morgan Griffith from my hometown of Salem, Va., upset Cong. Rick Boucher, who was first elected to office when I was 12 years old in 1982! And, I was perhaps the only kid from East Salem Elementary School who watched the election results that night.

Boucher lost in part from a heavy turn-out in conserative parts of the ninth district, according to "The Roanoke Times," which we presume would include the truck-stop town of Wytheville.

"The Roanoke Times" also stated that Cong. Tom Periello, a first-term representative, who is actually younger than me at 36, lost to Robert Hurt, a conservative state senator from the town of Chatham, Va.

Chatham is in southside Virginia where local churches actually state to be wary of our friend Hot Stuff on a regular basis.

(That is Satan for those of who live in saner parts of the country/world; I am of course alluding to the Harvey Comics character that Perriello is too young to remember and Griffith might well be reading to his young children).

In my current state of residence, North Carolina, Congressional Democrats fared fairly well even though the state house fell to the hands of Satan (the Republicans) for the first time since 1898!

Cong. Brad Miller (D-NC) held off a Tea Party whacko named Bill Randall who like Clarence Thomas is African-American.

In an effort to somehow proclaim that the GOP is now the party of diversity, Fred Barnes of the conservative "The Weekly Standard" (We should mention that neo-con don Bill Kristol of that same publication actually sent me a friendly email during the Obama-McCain race which still shocks me to this day!; of course- it had nothing to do with politics) mentioned that two African-Americans won Congressional races yesterday.

They included Tim Scott of South Carolina and Allen West of Florida.

Hopefully, they will represent their constituents well. If not, the Democratic Party might want to find two fat, old white guys to run against them!

Chapel Hill Comics Named Best Comic Book Store...

We want to congratulate our friend Andrew Neal as his business Chapel Hill Comics, located at 316 W. Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, NC, just a few doors down from Talulla's, my favorite Turkish restaurant in les etats unis, was named as The Best Comic Book Store in the Raleigh-Durham area by the readers of "Independent Weekly."

It should be noted that (we believe) the store is more geared towards new comics than the likes of 1970s "Hot Stuff" comic books like the one pictured here, but our editors (well, that would be me) couldn't think of a better image to go with this entry!

The other winners in The Best Of issue included The Regular Bookshop (correction: it's The Regulator Bookshop; we caught it before you did!) located on 720 Ninth Street in Durham, NC, which was named Best Local Bookstore.

The DSW in Raleigh was named as the Best Place to Buy Kick-Ass Shoes (the survey did not specify which gender, but we presume that those of who don't wear high heels can go there too).

The Wolfpack college radio station 88.1 FM/WKNC was named Best College Station though runner-up WXYC (UNC's college radio station) has a good rep too.

For guys who are looking to meet gals, they may want to try the Spira Pilates Studio in Carrboro, which was named Best Pilates Studio, but one should be warned that (well from what I've gathered) Pilates is harder than trying to pick up a woman at The Steel Blue in Durham, which was named Best Lesbian Bar.

Five People You'll Meet in Hell (satire)

Before I start typing away here, I do want to mention that I am certainly NOT the first person to satire Mitch Albom's book "The Five People You Meet in Heaven." In fact, I found out while researching this piece that there is a satire book entitled (obviously!) "The Five People You Meet in Hell" by Rich Pablom.

I have read neither book, but I made a quick list of five people I would meet if well, things didn't 'quite work out:'

1) Jay Leno- Yes, like all Conan O'Brien fans I hate this guy's guts. My blogger friend Phil Nugent has a great link on his blog to another blog which proclaims that Leno is Satan himself. No disagreement here! The blog "Stuff White People Like" also has a feature on Conan. I think Leno is hip for those who always vote Republican, go to evangelical churches, or watch Lawrence Welk and reruns of "Are You Being Served?"
Even my 70-year-old mom prefers David Letterman.

2)Pat Robertson- He should be numero uno actually. A letter-to-the-editor in "The Roanoke Times" (Roanoke, Va.) actually praised this evil tv evangelist for his comments about how Haiti's earthquake disaster was caused by a pact with Hot Stuff. A letter I have written to a newspaper in Greensboro, NC, condemning Robertson has alas yet to be published?!

3) Recep Tayyip Erdogan- This man is the prime minister of my late father's country Turkey. People of Greek and Armenian heritage seem to arbitrarily hate anyone who is Turkish, which is of course NOT the reason I hate this man. In fact, they are the few people who have ever made me defend him! But, Turkey's first openly Muslim fundamentalist PM has been a nightmare from day one. A Turkish friend of mine called him "The Turkish Bush." His wife wears a head scarf and he can't speak English?! His diplomatic skills are horrible though like his American counterpart Erdogan does connect with rural people. Erdogan also made a bonehead remark on "The Charlie Rose Show" critisizing Israel while defending Ankara's working relationship with Iran. All of this makes me want to reach for the raki* bottle!

*-A Turkish alcoholic drink similar to the Greek drink Ouzo. It is potent to put someone on their %$&!

4) Dick Cheney- I think even if I were a Republican I would believe this man was an agent of Satan himself!

5) Sarah Palin- She is Dick Cheney minus the brain and .............well, this is a family blog! (see Cheney's first name)

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............

Happy Birthday Mom from Hot Stuff

Happy 70th birthday mom from the Harvey Comics' character Hot Stuff, who I understand is really big in France!


SIDEBAR: For some great kitschy Christmas music, check out the home page of the NPR show "Sound Opinions," based in Chicago. They have a compilation of songs by Andy Cirzan. One includes a song with the video game character Baby Pac-Man, of all things?!

The show airs in North Carolina on WUNC-FM (91.5 fm) from Chapel Hill, NC, on Saturday afternoons at 2:00 p.m.

UPDATE: My friends at Acme Comics in Greensboro, NC, would probably want me to tell you that they have Hot Stuff, Wolverine, Wonder Woman and other comic books available at their store for the holidays....do I get a discount for mentioning this?-LOL!
http://www.soundopinions.org

Songs of Our Youth- (11 of 12) "Devil Inside" by INXS

I wonder how much the first issue of "Hot Stuff" is worth now.......

I have several "Hot Stuff" comic books, but I'm afraid they won't go for much on E-bay.

I saw INXS with Ziggy Marley as an opening at the Roanoke Civic Center in Roanoke,Va., when I as a senior in high school. It was a great show!