A Random Top Ten List of English-Language Films I've Seen Multiple Times..........(except "The Godfather)

As one might expect, not too many four-hour epics like "Ben Hur," "Giant" and "Titanic" (the only one of these three films I've actually seen makes this list!).... :

1. "A Clockwork Orange" (1971)

2. "Five Easy Pieces" (pictured, 1970)

3. "The French Connection" (1971)

4. "Apocalypse Now" (1979)

5. "The Landlord" (1970, a film I had not seen until last year!)

6. "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946)

7. "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975)

8. "On the Waterfront" (1954)

9. "The Exorcist" (1973)

10. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962)

SIDEBAR: Earlier today, an article I wrote about the political turmoil in Turkey was published on a high volume blog based in Washington, DC:

http://www.dcmiccheck.org/2013/06/06/gezi-park/

Casualties of Modern Technology (12 of 12)-Paperback Novels

We conclude our long-running series on Casualties of Modern Technology with an ode to the paperback novel. Though it still exists as a media and entertainment form, the paperback novel is increasingly being voted off the island in favor of electronic reading gadgets, such as Kindle and The Nook.

It was a common practice for the cover of a paperback novel to be tied into a film if one was being made of the novel, as was the case with Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (pictured). My late grandmother in South Carolina actually gave me a copy of this novel with the the image of Jack Nicholson, but I have no idea what has happened to it.

There also have instances when a film became a book as was the case when Steven Spielberg penned his very own novel version of his 1977 film "Close Encounters of the third Kind."

In some incarnations, the paperback novel was known as an airport novel, which were usually fast-paced novels that a traveler could read while flying Air France from Chicago to Paris.

Earlier editions of the paperback novel were the dime novels, which originated at the outset of the 20th century; some of these works were actually sold for fifteen cents.

Remembering Dennis Hopper (1936-2010)

Today, we want to remember Dennis Hopper who died yesterday in Venice, Calif., with some tidbits from some of his most famous films. We will not include his most famous work which was "Easy Rider" (1969), a film which he also directed. But, I did learn that Hopper and his co-stars Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson actually smoked real marijuana in the film.

Here are some trivial notes for some of his other films, including "Apocalypse Now!" (1979), which is pictured above:


"Apocalypse Now!:"

-Steve McQueen was the first to turn down the part of Captain Willard which initially went to Harvey Keitel who was in turn fired from the set and replaced by Martin Sheen.

"Rumble Fish:"

-Matt Dillon, who played the title role, told the original story's author S.E. Hinton that "Rumble Fish" was his favorite novel. She reportedly responded by telling him that those who like the book were usually in a reformatory!

-Tom Cruise was offered Dillon's role, but he turned it down for "Risky Business."

-Director Francis Ford Coppolla said the movie is among the top five favorites that he's directed himself.

"Straight to Hell:"

-This film featured several musicians including Joe Strummer, Elvis Costello, Grace Jones and Courtney Love as well as film director Jim Jarmusch in addition to Hopper.

-At the end of the credits, a title comes up which says: "COMING SOON: BACK TO HELL," yet this quirky 1987 spaghetti western rip-off never had a sequel.

"True Romance:"

-The film uses the f-word some 225 times.

-Hopper said the only lines he improvised with Christopher Walken were 'egg plant' and 'cantaloupe.'

-Quentin Tarantino, who partially wrote the screenplay, never came on director Tony Scott's set during the filming.

Lastly, we leave you with this tweet from Slash from the rock band Guns N Roses concerning Hopper:

"You take the great ones for granted until they're gone. RIP Dennis Hopper."

Quote of the Week- Louise Fletcher

Since we quoted her "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" co-star Jack Nicholson, who also Oscared for his performance in the same film, we thought we'd quote Louise Fletcher who left quite a cinematic impression with her haunting portrayal of Nurse Ratchet.

Showtimers Theatre in my hometown of Roanoke, Va., which perform a stage version of "Nest" a few years ago will be performing another outstanding play "The Miracle Worker" from April 14-25 (showtimers.org)

Here is the quote from Fletcher:

"If I fell down and hurt myself, I never cried. There was no one to hear me."