The Last Ten Films I've Seen: "Ordinary People" is a Christmas Movie?.........no kidding.........

For those unfamiliar with our blog, when we do these lists, we usually go with something that is referred to in the film rather than an image from the film or whatever our list is about.

Hence, the reason for the image of a burrito for "Eating," a photo of Jackie Kennedy for "The House of Yes," in which Parker Posey plays a young woman who thinks she is the former first lady, and the Harvard sweatshirt is for "The Paper Chase," a film which takes place on that Ivy League school's campus. That film won a Best Supporting Oscar for John Houseman.

Seven years later, that same award would go to Timothy Hutton, then only 20 years old for "Ordinary People," the 1980 Best Picture Oscar winner which is perhaps the most depressing Oscar winner ever (ok, so there is also"One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Schindler's List")........

"Mental Floss" featured an online article about how "Ordinary People" is actually a 'Christmas movie' as it indeed takes place in December, but, yeah, it's probably better to watch "A Christmas Story" as a family unit......

Here are the last ten films I've seen; this idea came from the great cinema magazine "Film Comment" (please don't sue us for $2.6 million).........

1) Intimate Lighting (fmr Czechoslavakia. 1965. dir: Ivan Passer)

2) Eating (1990. dir: Henry Jaglom)

3) The House of Yes. (1997. dir: Mark Waters)

4) Starstruck (Australia. 1982. dir: Gillian Armstrong)

5) Amour (Austria. 2012. dir: Michael Haneke)

6) The Theory of Everything. (2014. dir: James Marsh)

7) Elysium. (2013. dir: Neill Blomkamp)

8) Ordinary People (1980. dir: Robert Redford)

9) An Unmarried Woman (1978. dir: Paul Mazursky w/Jill Clayburgh)

10) The Paper Chase (1973. dir: James Bridges)

http://www.filmcomment.com

http://www.mentalfloss.com

Bonus Road Trip (7 of 10)- Columbia, Mo., to The Indepence Bowl

Since we originally started the Road Trip series back in the spring of this year, we set out to try and cover every state, including Alaska and Hawaii (for the Aloha State, we used a short drive on the island of Maui). And, we think got all the states except for possibly Missouri.

So, we are including the Show Me State here just to be 100-percent certain. Since we are sort of based in North Carolina, this may seem like high treason as the University of North Carolina Tarheels will face the Missouri Tigers for the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La.

This is actually an early bowl as it will be played on Monday, Dec. 26, at 5:00 p.m./Chapel Hill, NC, time.

For this entry, we chose two Mexican restaurants as our points of destination. La Siesta on North 9th Street in Columbia, Missori, the city where the Tigers are based, is the Mexican restaurant for Mizzou. And, for Shreveport, we have chosen Superior Grill, which also has three other restaurants in Louisiana and one in Alabama. In Sheveport, the restaurant can be found on Lime Avenue.

If you are in Chapel Hill, NC, we saw that our friends at the Turkish restaurant Tallula's on Franklin Street about 15 hours and 30 minutes from the Superior Grill in Shreveport, La.

But, we are looking for the distance between Columbia and Shreveport; and the answer is:

A) 9 hours, 45 minutes

B) 10 hours

C) 10 hours, 15 minutes

D) 10 hours, 30 minutes

E) 10 hours, 45 minutes

SIDEBAR ONE: Lots of books with very long titles are out these days, including this one we saw mentioned in "Rolling Stone" and later at a book retailer in Washington, DC: "Free Ride: How Digital Media Parasites Are Destroying the Cultural Business, and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back" by Robert Levine, who is also a contributing editor to "Rolling Stone."

SIDEBAR TWO: We love headlines from the satirical news publication "The Onion," and this header from today's edition was as always quite funny and very dark: "(Detroit) Tigers Sign Jim Leyland Through His Death in 2012."

It should be pointed out that the legendary baseball manager Jim Leyland is alive and well; in fact, he turned 67 on Dec. 15th.

Quote of the Week- Frida Kahlo

Since we are featuring quotes from famous artists this month, we thought we'd share a quip from the late Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) whose life was the subject of the acclaimed film "Frida."

An exhbit of Kahlo's work was shown in Berlin, Germany, earlier this year. And, one of the most popular restaurants in Guatemala is Frida's, located in Antigua, Guatemala's second largest city behind the capital Guatemala City. It is talked about on the web site virtualtourist.com and according to one Internet comment the palce has very good quesadillas.

Closer to home, there will be an exhibit of photographs of Kahlo by photographer Nickolas Muray at the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art in Brownsville, Tex., from Jan. 15-March 19, 2011. And, there is a Mexican restaurant in Chicago called La Cocina de Frida on North Clark Street.

Here is today's quote from Kahlo, which as a lone wolf person myself, I can sympathize and identify with:

"I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best."

50 Beers Around the World- Dos Equis (Mexico- #38 of 50)

Greetings from the Church Avenue parking lot here in downtown Roanoke, Va. (Ok, not really where I am at, but I gave up on having this blog being a sincere source of news and info a long time ago!).

Today's entry in our 50 Beers Around the World series is the Mexican beer Dos Equis, which in 2007 launched "The Most Interesting Man in the World" ad campaign with a James Bond type cultured adventurer with no name. And, like the original 'man with no name' (Clint Eastwood) in the spaghetti western "A Fistful of Dollars," the actor who plays this man with a distinct Latino accent is actually an Americano named Jonathan Goldsmith!

In the ads, Goldsmith, who is 72, catches marlins, wins arm-wrestling contests and swoons women who are as young and gorgeous as Jessica Biel. Some of the catchy lines in the ads include: "He speaks French in Russian" and "Sharks have a week dedicated to him."

The commercials are also voiced by another actor Will Lyman, who is also known as the voice of the PBS series "Frontline." Lyman's distinct voice was also featured in one of my favorite films in recent years "Little Children," with Kate Winslet.

As for Dos Equis itself, the beer was originally brewed by German-Mexican Wilhelm Hasse in 1897. It is brewed in Monterrey, and owned by Heineken.

Dos Equis can presumably be found at El Maguey Mexican Restaurant in Fort Mill, SC, (near Charlotte, NC), and they are featuring a $49.95 dinner for two special on New Year's Eve with live entertainment from The Little Zippers. Since my mom is originally from Rock Hill, SC, and in all honesty, it is a fairly boring suburban area, I will surmize this will probably the most happening thing to do in the area on that night. (I guess I can now kiss that opening for a reporter to cover the York County Board of Supervisors at "The Fort Mill Times" goodbye!*)

*- This is a joke as I left the reporting business several years ago, but if the paper does have an actual opening, go for it! As for the area being boring, well, we can say there is both a Denny's and a Starbucks in Rock Hill, SC!

50 Beers Around the World- Brahma (Brazil)

For today's entry devoted to 50 Beers From Around the World we go to Brazil where they serve Brahma Beer, which started in 1888. The brew is found in Moscow, London, Toronto, New York, Milan and (we should hope) in Rio de Janeiro.

SIDEBAR: For those living in the Chapel Hill area or visiting Tarheel Town, you may want to go to the next-door town of Carrboro, NC, where you will find Carrburritos. The Mexican eatery where I have yet to dine myself (though I have driven past it) is said to be a cool happening place which offers substantially better burritos than ones you would find at any given Taco Bell.

SIDEBAR TWO: The Oddfellas Cantina in Floyd, Va.,- one of the nicest little towns in southwest Virginia is hosting Irish Night next week as they do on every first Friday of the month. Reservations are highly recommended as is the establishment's Mexican dishes.

SIDEBAR THREE: My good friend Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC, always has some interesting posts on his blog www.theknightshift.blogspot.com
Recently, he has talked about why "Interview with a Vampire" author Anne Rice is leaving the church though she is not giving up her faith (cites quarrelsome nature of religion among her reasons), how 'Darth Vader' robbed a bank in Long Island at gunpoint and how some comic book fans at ComicCon in San Diego organized a counter protest to the Rev. Fred Phelps (perhaps America's most notorious homophobe) holding up signs which read: "God Hates Jedis."

Happy Fourth of July from Speedy Gonzales!

Everyone from El Paso, Tex., to Belfast, Maine, seems to be having a great Fourth of July so far, and one such person is Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir who tweeted the following about an hour ago:

"I saw the entire NYC fireworks from my patio. Stunning and so inspiring."

Sitcom star Rainn Wilson of "The Office" expressed similar sentiments on his latest tweet:

"Happy Birthday America. Have another chilli cheese dog with curly fries and a 64oz Mountain Dew on me!"

For those of you venturing near the hamlet of Floyd, Va. (about 20 miles from the college-town of Blacksburg, Va., where Virginia Tech is), we highly recommend El Charro Mexican Grill located at 320 South Locust Street (phone 540-745-5303). An internet poster who is originally from Houston, Tex., said it was the best Mexican food he or she had tasted in the Roanoke-Blacksburg area. We couldn't agree more!

Happy Father's Day from Fred MacMurray

Since today is Father's Day, we are taking a break from The World Cup to present you with a quote from the late, great Fred MacMurray (1908-1991) who starred in "My Three Sons," which ran from 1960-1972 and in reruns until probably 1984 (and, then again on TV Land).

"The two films I did with Billy Wilder, Double Indemnity and The Apartment, were the only two parts I did that required any acting."

I guess if it's not too late, those of you living in Athens, Ga., can take dad out for a burrito at The Taco Stand on E. Broad Street, but if you tell them I sent you, they'll have no idea what you're talking about (especially since I don't actually live there!).