Last Ten Films We've Seen (earlier in June): James Franco Directs

Greetings to our blog readers in Australia, Canada (Happy Canada Day), and Norway......

Today, we look at ten films we've recently watched. Many of them, like "The Lifeguard,""Cold in July" and "Before I Disappear"were independent films shown at the Sundance Film Festival. James Franco did in fact direct "As I Lay Dying," a film based on a William Faulkner novel, and it was almost an artistic success.

Perhaps, the most unique film on the list is "Blume in Love," a Hollywood studio with a highly controversial plot twist that would assure the film would not be made, at least by a studio, today.

The Turkish film "Destiny," which is on this list, was not released in the United State.

We got this idea from "Film Comment" magazine http://www.filmcomment.com

The images above are in reference to 1) "The Lifeguard" (though the film has nothing to do with "Baywatch"), 2) David Copperfield, the magician, is something we thought of for "Before I Disappear," but the film is not about a magician, and 3) perhaps, most confusing, we went with an image of a Maine lobster for "Cold in July" because Maine is one of the few places we can think of where it is actually cold in July (the film takes place in Texas).

Here is the list:

1. Hateship/Loveship. director: Liza Johnson. 2013. w/ Kristen Wiig

2. As I Lay Dying. dir: James Franco. 2013

3. The Lifeguard. Liza W. Garcia. 2013 w/ Kristen Bell

4. HairBrained. Billy Kent. 2013 2/Parker Posey

5. Blume in Love. Paul Mazursky. 1975. w/ George Segal

6. Destiny ("Kader"). Turkey. Zeki Demirkubuz. 2006.

7. Before I Disappear. Shawn Christensen. 2014

8. Cold in July. Jim Mickle. 2014 w/ Michael C. Hall

9. Force Majuere. Sweden. Ruben Ostlund. 2014

10. Sister. Switzerland. Ursula Meier. 2012.

Last Ten Films We've Seen: The Other Interview

Greetings to our beloved blog readers in Slovakia, Cyprus and Kenya..........as well as those of you in Lewisburg, West Virginia, where we gather there is about 15 inches of snow!

We are posting this list just one day before the Oscars are revealed. In the United States, the Oscars are broadcast on ABC stations, such as WTVD-11 in Raleigh, NC, and KTVX-4 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

We originally got this idea from "Film Comment." There is a Dutch connection here as one of the films "Waiter" (pict. top) is from the Netherlands, and another one "Interview," which is not the headline-making film with Seth Rogen and James Franco, but rather a small indy film starring and directed by Steve Buscemi (pict. bottom) that is a remake of a Dutch film made by the late Theo van Gogh who was murdered by a fanatical man of North African heritage in Amsterdam.

We are also using the Japanese flag (pict. center) ironically as the three hour epic docudrama "United Red Army" is actually about a terrorist group made up of far-left college students in Japan during the early 1970s; amazingly enough, they are most known for a terrorist incident in Israel!

Here is our list:


1) Interview. 2007. dir:Steve Buscemi.

2) Kill Your Darlings. 2013. dir:John Krokidas

3) The Impossible. 2012. dir: J.A. Bayana

4) The Past. Iran/France. Aghar Farhadi

5) United Red Army. Japan. 2007. dir: Koji Wakamatsu.

6) Two Days, One Night. France. Belgium/France. 2014 dirs: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

7) Waiter. Netherlands. 2006 dir:Alex van Warmerdam.

8) The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith. Australia. 1978.  dir: Fred Schepsi

9) Lacombe, Lucien. France. 1977. dir: Louis Malle

10) The Arrangement. 1969. dir: Elia Kazan w/Faye Dunaway and Kirk Douglas

http://www.filmcomment.com

http://www.abc11.com

http://www.good4utah.com

Six Degrees of Separation: The Guys from Freaks and Geeks

It only lasted for 18 episodes as compared to "Beverly Hills 90210," the longest running tv show about high school in broadcasting history which ran from 1990-2000 (?!) and lasted 292 episodes.

But, it seems like "Freaks and Geeks," a dramedy about high school outcasts, has now surpassed the show about popular kids, in terms of pop culture popularity. The show, which came on the air in 1999, is frequently aired on IFC.

Amazingly enough, three of the show's male leads, James Franco (pictured top), Seth Rogen and Jason Segel have become A-list actors. None of them have actually been in a movie with Kevin Bacon that distinction does belong to the show's female star Linda Cardellini  was in the film "Super" (2010), a superhero parody with Bacon.

Franco is two degrees removed from Bacon as he starred in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (2011) which also featured Sanjo Bennett who was in the Atom Egoyan-directed film "Where the Truth Lies" (2005) with Bacon.

John Francis Daley, who was played Sam, the youngest main character on the show, was in "View from the Top" (2008) with Mark Ruffalo who was in the steamy film "In the Cut" (2008) where Meg Ryan bared all; that films also featured Bacon.

Joe Flaherty (pictured bottom), who is now surprisingly 72 years old, was a star on the Canadian skit show "SCTV" in the 1980s, played Sam's father on "Freaks and Geeks." He was in Nothing Personal (1980) with Maury Chaykin who was also in "Where the Truth Lies."

Lastly, Rogen was in "You, Me and Dupree" (2006) with Matt Dillon who was in "Loverboy" (2005) with Bacon.


SIDEBAR: We were shocked and saddened to hear that Joe Bankhead (1941-2007), a Salt Lake City, artist, writer and chess enthusiast died only a few months after we met him at the Coffee Garden by the Tower Theater on 9th Street. Tragically, Bankhead died while he was blogging as his trailer , unbeknownst to him, was leaking carbon monoxide. Bankhead was the subject of a blog entry here way back on May 30, 2007.

http://politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com/2007/05/salt-lake-city-discoveryjoe-bankhead.html

http://www.ifc.com

http://www.oracleofbacon.org

http://www.bacontoday.com

http://www.ilovebacon.com

60 Words or Less- The Freaks and Geeks Fiasco

We have been trying to figure out ways to make blogging 'more productive' and less time-consuming, so we have come up with our '60 Words or Less' series.

Today, I am going to mention my Netflix nightmare which I am dubbing 'The Freaks and Geeks Fiasco.' A few weeks ago, I got a dvd with the first three episodes of the cult tv show "Freaks and Geeks" which only last for less than a season on NBC. The 1999 show, which depicts life at a suburban Detroit high school in the early 1980s, featured several actors who have been succesful 'in life after high school,' including James Franco, Seth Rogen and Martin Starr.

Well, the first dvd didn't work. So, I ordered a second dvd. It didn't work either. Hence, I ordered a third dvd which I put in my dvd player last night, and AAAUUUGHHH, it didn't work either!

I have been able to see dics 2, 3 and 4, and hopefully one day, I will somehow see the first three episodes of the series.

Hmmm... that was well over 60 words. I guess like Leo Tolstoy brevity is not one of my strengths.

SIDEBAR: I was hoping to name all the 43 men who have been president of the United States in a "Mental Floss" magazine. Of course, this is a bit confusing because Barack Obama is the 44th president of the USA. This is because Grover Cleveland, one of the four presidents whose name I forgot, had two non-consecutive terms way back when. And, I did indeed forget three other presidents: James K. Polk, Franklin Pierce and Calvin Coolidge. But, somehow I don't think acing the quiz would have landed me a date with Anne Hathaway!

Oscars for the Actors (Projections)

Our very first use of images with blog entries (you should those early entries!) featured Natalie Portman in her trademark vegan sandals.

While she may have questionable films on her resume, with performances in "Closer" and "V for Vendetta," Portman has proven herself to be a remarkable actress. And, her performance in "The Black Swan" is a crowning achievement for the 29-year-old though she could lose to Annette Benning who has come oh so close before (including losing out to Hilary Swank in 1999 in spite of Benning's great performance in "American Beauty.).

Should here are our projections for the four acting categories:


BEST ACTOR:

Will win: Colin Firth "The King's Speech." I think Firth is a good actor, but this is an over-praised film. Nevertheless, both the film and Firth have all the momentum right now and the Oscar seems most likely to go to the English actor.

Should win: Jesse Eisenberg. He was simply astonishing as the multi-layered Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, who did indeed prove to be everyone's frenemy rather than their 'friend.'

Silver Medal: Well they don't award second place at the Academy Awards, but James Franco was also quite good in "127 Hours," a film about a young man literally trapped between a rock and a hard place which Franco had to carry all by himself.

BEST ACTRESS:

Will/should: Portman.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Will/should win: Geoffrey Rush. As much as I think the film is getting way too much hype, the Australian actor was simply brilliant in this film.

Who I would vote for: Christian Bale ("The Fighter"). Another remarkable performance which carries the film, and unlike "The King's Speech," Bale's film is actually the better one. And, I am really getting tired of hearing about "The King's Speech."

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Will/should win: Melissa Leo, who also in "The Fighter." She is by no means a lock as her own co-star Amy Adams, also nominated in this category, could potentially upset her. But Leo's own personal narrative of being an overlooked actress for years seems to make her the slight favorite.

For other Oscar projections of mine go to our other blog "The Daily Vampire:"

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com