We're Back: With a List of the Worst Oscar-Nominated Films That Did NOT win Best Picture

Alas, we have not seen "Airport" (1970) nor "Doctor Dolittle" (1966), but we have seen our fair share of films that got Best Picture Oscar winners that were not worthy of those nominations. Of course, since this blog's editor Tilly Gokbudak is a Turkish-American, who gets 'top billing' will probably not be a surprise!

Here we go:

1) Midnight Express (1978, see image one_ it is of oil wrestlers in Edirne, Turkey, close to the Bulgarian border)

2) Hello Dolly! (1969)

3) Love Story (1970, see image two...we actually like the film as a guilty pleasure)

4) Chocolat (2000)

5) Ghost (1990, see image of Casper the Ghost)

6) The Towering Inferno (1974)

7) District 9 (2009)

8) Seabiscuit (2003)

9) The Reader (2008)

10) Miracle on 34th Street (1946)

Quote of the Day/Week- Evita Peron

If my dear sister Sibel Isley (not her real name) who lives in Provo, Utah (not her actual place of residence), actually reads this and she is contemplating getting me a very expensive gag gift for my 42nd birthday in March, she may think about getting me tickets for the broadway revival of the 1976 musical "Evita!" in which Ricky Martin will play Argentinian revolutionst Che Guevara (this is NOT a joke).

The show is scheduled to open in March, and Elena Roger, 37, who is actually Argentinian, will play the title role of Evita Peron (1919-1952).

All of this brings us to the subject of our quip today which is from the feminist icon Evita Peron, and ironically the actress who will play her on broadway has already outlived her as Evita died from cancer at age 33.

"Evita" was turned into a 1996 film with Madonna playing the title role. As a Turkish-American, I was amused to see that Oliver Stone worked with Alan Parker, who also directed the film version of "Evita." They had worked together on a film called "Midnight Express," which for obvious reasons (note to the cinematically clueless: the 1978 film does not show Turkey in the best light, and I have called the film blatant, racist trash) is not in my dvd collection.

So, here is the quote from Evita; this month we are featuring quotes from famous Latin Americans on both blogs:

"Answer violence with violence. If one of us falls today, five of them must fall tomorrow."

SIDEBAR ONE: The answer to our Road Quiz entry on Saturday is C) 1 hour, 40 minutes.

SIDEBAR TWO: As an American who is getting into European soccer, I must profess the UEFA Champions League Cup seems a bit confusing. Case in point, the Greek team Olympiacos upset English power Arsenal 3-1 in a game that was played in Greece today, but Arsenal is the team that goes on to the next round, and conversely Olympiacos does not. But, then again, the American college football bowl system even has us wondering what is going on!

Here is a partial list of scores from today's UEFA action; Chelsea, Marseille and Zenit also advance:

Porto (Portugal) 0 Zenit (Russia) 0, tie

Marseille (France) 3 Dortmund (Germany) 2

Olympiacos 3 Arsenal 1

Genk (Belgium) 1 Bayer Leverkhusen (Germany) 1, tie

SIDEBAR THREE: Various media reports that came out today said that Cory Smoot (Flattus Maximus), the guitarist for the head-banging heavy metal band GWAR known for their wild costumes, died of natural causes at age 34 from a coronary artery. Smoot's death occured in early November. The band, which is originally from Richmond, Va., said that profits from their next record "When Worlds Collide" that comes out next year will go to the Smoot Family Fund.

GWAR has also announced through their web site that the scheduled 2012 European tour will continue as scheduled; they first play Antwerp, Belgium, on Jan. 11th; the band will also play Oslo, Norway, which is a surprising hot spot for heavy metal on Jan. 29th.

Remembering Sidney Lumet (1924-2011)

Since Sidney Lumet, one of the best film directors of the 1970s, died over the weekend (he made many great films before and after that decade as well), I thought I would simply tell this one story about how I saw "Serpico" (1973) at an outdoor Turkish cinema in the resort Kushadasi in 1985, some 12 years after the film was released in America.

In Turkey, the film was actually "Serpiko," and it was dubbed in Turkish! Today, virtually all foreign films are shown in their language of origin with subtitles in Turkey. I had assumed that was now the practice in every country except India until I went to Azerbaijan in 2008 where I saw a Russian-dubbed version of the Will Smith action comedy "Hancock" that I could not understand.

Thankfully, I can speak Turkish so even as awkward as it was to see Al Pacino, who is very popular in Turkey perhaps because he is in a lot of violent/gangster films, I could undertand the film about the plight of a New York police officer Frank Serpico (b.1936) ok. Though several years later, I was happy to see the film again on video, and it is among the films I have wanted to rewatch again (this was even before Lumet's passing).

The cinema was quite packed that humid night in Kushadasi where mostly men were watching the film, and few of them seemed to have any dates. As is custom whenever someone in Tukey sees an American film with a lot of violence or grit, the spectators asked me 'Amerika hakikaten, oyle mi?/Is American really like that?"

Of course, many people here have asked me if Turkey is like "Midnight Express."
(1978, d. Alan Parker), I respond to the later by saying: "I've never been to a Turkish prison." And, I tell people who see American films like "Serpico" that New York is a lot different than Roanoke, Va.- my hometown.

I learned from the IMDB, that "Serpico" was shot in 104 different locations in New York. And, the film was shot in reverse order with Pacino starting off with a beard and long hair, and then ending up clean shaven.

The director and tandem would team up again in "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975), and then Lumet directed "Network" (1977) with actors like Robert Duvall and William Holden. Some have suggested that "Network" predicted the rise of televanglism and the Tea Party movement.

Hmmmm.....if we get a chance, we'll ask Noam Chomsky what he thinks!

But, in all seriousness, virtually film buff except the somewhat notorious David Thomson (who I recall disdaining Lumet for some reason or another), will assuredly miss Lumet, but we have many films to remember him and his exceptional work.

High School of the Week- Woodrow Wilson High School (Washington DC)

We have focused on Ragsdale High School in Jamestown, NC (near Greensboro), Bluefield High School in Bluefield, WVa, and Clarke County High School in Athens, Ga., but we have not yet focused on any high schools in the nation's capital.

So, today we conclude our series (at least until sometime next year, perhaps) with a blog entry dedicated to students at Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, DC, so high school kids in Capital City don't feel like we are snubbing them.

WWHS (there is a school of the same name in Beckley, West WVa) is located in Tenlytown, and among the school's famous alumni are Warren Buffet and former DC mayor Adrian Fenty. Buffet graduated in 1947, and was voted as being very likely to become a stock broker.

The school mascot is the Wilson Tiger (obviously, this is NOT the school helmet) and the school colors are green and white.

Pete Cahall is the principal of the school, which has students from 85 different countries. The Tigers also have their own squash and crew teams!

SIDEBAR: In a story that we could call 'Midnight Express in Reverse,' the NPR talk show "The Story," hosted by Dick Gordon, reported back on Nov. 15 that a Canadian of Iraqi descent Yassin Alsalman, aka The Narcisyst, a filmmaker/rap singer who once made a video of what it would be like to racially profiled by airport security had that very same experience while at the Toronto Airport. And, after an unholy five hours of integration with no basis, Alsalman was denied entry into The United States.

He was attempting to travel to Washington, DC, for a film screening at a film festival there. A few shows later, one listener who is hopefully a Tea Bagger said Alsalman got exactly what he deserved which is what Turkish people once said about Billy Hayes (the man whose story was told in "Midnight Express"). So much for a global community.

SIDEBAR TWO: Drew Carey, the comedian who hosts "The Price is Right," and Scott Simon of NPR were both making fun of President Barack Obama's pickup basketball game injury today which resulted in 12 stiches on his lip through Twitter. Carey tweeted that 'he didn't know that Obama was playing basketball with Dick Cheney,' while Simon said the man the president was playing with could end up becoming ambassador to North Korea.

SIDEBAR THREE: In the "Did She Really Say That?" Dept., Sarah Palin told far right-wing nutcase Glenn Beck this week that: "We need to stick with our North Korean allies."

Random Top Five Offensive Films List

This list compliments my Top Five Most Depressing Films List on my other blog, "The Daily Vampire."

I must admit I am putting "Red Dawn" on the list because I don't care for the film's far-right political view especially since now appears that a Russian invasion of America will never happen. But, amazingly enough, the film is being remade!

I don't care for "Midnight Express" because the film is offensive to those of us of Turkish heritage for MANY reasons (if you see the film, it will be obvious).

"Triumph of the Will" is a Nazi propaganda film.

"The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover" is an art film which features cannibalism.

And, our most offensive film "Cannibal Holocaust" was an Italian shock horror film which actually features a real brutal murder of a Gallapagos turtle on camera. The sex scenes in the film are reportedly real, and it is believed to be an inspiration for "The Blair Witch Project."

I should add that I've never seen "Pink Flamingos." "Birth of a Nation" was considered as was the over-the-top Japanese horror film "Audition." And, I actually like the highly controversial documentary "Zoo" about a Seattle man who had sex with a horse because the film is both highly original and it does examine what lead the man to his weird sexuality as opposed to exploiting what he did. Nevertheless, many people have argued me with me for my opinion of that film!

But, hopefully I am not the only person who was taken back by these five films:

1. "Cannibal Holocaust"
2. "Midnight Express"
3. "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover."
4. "Triumph of the Will"
5. "Red Dawn"

PS_ We left out "I Spit On Your Grave!" Definitely an oversight....oh well!

PPS_ My friend Joe Scott in Greensboro, NC, is screening the highly offensive Santa slasher film "Silent Night, Deadly Night" tonight......that's definitely a film I could NEVER show in class.