The Last Ten Flms We've Seen: A Film with a Talking Fish

"The Incredible Mister Lippet" is a rare Warner Brothers full-length animation film which resembles a movie. It stars the late Don Knotts, whom would later get stereo-typed for his long-running stint on "The Andy Griffith Show" as inept deputy Barney Fife, and it is about a man who turns into a fish and then helps America win sea battles with Nazi Germany!

The odd film actually has great animation for its time, and Billy Bob Thorton once told Terry Gross in a "Fresh Air" interview that 'Mister Lippet' was one of his favorite films as a child in Arkansas. The film also has Knotts playing a man with a Brooklyn accent!"

We are using a St. Louis Blues key-chain for one image as it resembles a New York Islanders key chain we once had.

Here are the last ten films we've seen; Internet Movie Database scores are on the right:

1. "The Incredible Mister Lippet" w/Don Knotts (top image) (1964. dir. Arthur Lubin) 6.4

2. "Alps" (Greece. 2011. dir. Giorgis Lonthios) 6.3

3. "Tomorrow" w/Robert Duvall (1972. dir. Joseph Anthony) 7.8

4. *"Morgan!: A Case for Treatment" " (UK. 1966. dir. Karel Reisz) 7.1

5. "The Valet" (center image) (France. 2006. dir. Francis Veber)

6. "Malena" (Italy. 2000. dir. Giuseppe Tornatore)

7. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014. dir. Wes Anderson)

8. "*American Hustle" (2013. dir. David O. Russell)

9.* "Punch-Drunk Love" w/Adam Sandler (bottom image) (2002. dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

10. "To Rome with Love" (2012. dir. Woody Allen)


http://www.imdb.com

The Rabbitt Ears Quiz (11 of 12)_ Hogan's Heroes

In hind sight, our blog series on "Dead or Alive" which ran on here a while back (and, yes, it was my idea) may not have been as brilliant as we thought it was. One of the things we feared was that one of the subjects might actually die between the time we posted the entry and revealed the answer.

So, while Topol of "Fiddler on the Roof" is still alive and well (to our knowledge), we regret to inform those of you may have been in a cave in Tajikistan for the last month that one of other subjects Richard Dawson (1932-2012), whom we reported as being alive, died at age 79 on June 2nd.

But, in Dawson's honor, we are posting an entry to the sitcom "Hogan's Heroes" where he starred Peter Newkirk. Dawson was an actor before becoming a game show host on the long-running "Family Feud," where he would frequently kiss female contestants.

"Hogan's Heroes," the only sitcom ever set in a Nazi POW camp, starred Bob Crane (1928-1978), who died from a still unresolved murder in 1978, as Col. Hogan. And, much has been made of Crane's dubious personal life, which was the subject of the film "Auto Focus" (2002), which starred Greg Kinnear as Crane.

In real life, Crane was married to actress Sigrid Valdis (1935-2007) who played the now politically incorrect character Hilda.

The show's successful run from 1965-71 can also be attributed to the lovable antagonists, such as Col. Klink (to the right of Hogan) who was played by the late Werner Klemperer, who was ironically known for his serious roles before being on the sitcom. And, the late John Banner played Sgt. Schultz (to the right of Hogan).

So, today, we are simply asking just how many episodes were there to "Hogan's Heroes." Is the answer:

A) 157

B) 168

C) 177

D) 181

Quote of the Day/Week- Albert Einstein

Today's quote of the day comes from Albert Einstein (1879-1955), the brilliant scientist who is considered the father of modern physics. Einstein also developed the theory of relativity. One has to wonder if he would agree with the assertion that the video game Angry Birds teaches children about physics.

We are quoting Einstein because this month we are quoting people associated with all 16 of the European teams competing in the Euro 2012 Cup in Poland and Ukraine. Though Einstein spent much of his adult life abroad, including here in the United States, where he died in Princeton, NJ, Einstein was German. Since he was Jewish, Einstein decided to leave Germany for good in 1933 when Adolf Hitler rose to power.

Einstein is also one of the famous figures who has been humorously merchandised by the American novelty company The Unemployed Philosophers Guild, though the Einstein plush toy, which retails for $17.95 is currently out of stock.

I happen to have an Einstein necktie which I found for five dollars from a street vendor in Washington, DC.

Here is his quote:

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."

http://www.einstein.biz

http://www.philosophersguild.com

The Rabbit Ears Quiz- Space 1999 (2 of 12)

It just dawned on me that two future Academy Award-winners for Best Supporting Actor came to prominence thanks to two science-fiction oriented tv show. The two actors I'm thinking of are Robin Williams ("Mork and Mindy" is one of the few sci-fi sitcoms one can think of) and Martin Landau, who starred in the British tv cult classic "Space 1999," who won an Oscar for playing Bela Lugosi in "Ed Wood."

I first came across "Space 1999," which ran for two seasons from 1975 until 1978, in a very unusual way. When I saw the show, it was actually called "Uzay 1999" and it aired on the TRT, Turkish Radio and Television. When I saw the show in the fall of 1977, there was only one channel of tv in Turkey and it only came on at certain hours of the day. Plus, virtually all of the tvs were in black and white. Of course, now one can watch hundreds of channels of tv in Turkey, which I would presume has posed challenged for the TRT, which was a state-run media monopoly at the time.

For its time, "Space 1999" was the most expensive television ever made. It drew inspiration from Stanley Kubrick's cinematic masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey"
(1968). In addition to Landau, the show featured his then-wife Barabara Bain.

So, for today's quiz, since it's a safe assumption that most science fiction fans are good at math (well, I'm certainly not!), we are going to ask what is mathematical difference between the number of episodes for "Space 1999" and "Star Trek," which was called "Uzay Yolu" in Turkey.

Is the answer:

A) 28
B) 29
C) 31
D) 33

SIDEBAR: While researching this piece, we learned that German television will air a 1968 episode of the original "Star Trek" series entitled "The Patterns of Force" for the very first time. The reason why the episode is being aired in Germany only now is fairly obvious: Captain Kirk and Mister Spock dress like Nazis to breech the third reich.

SIDEBAR TWO: Ironically, we found out today that this blog is apparently more popular in Greece as of late than Turkey (I happen to be a Turkish-American). Hmmmmm.....In all seriousness, we wish our followers in Greece good luck during this trying economic time. Of course, this doesn't mean that we recognize Kardak as being 'your island.'*

*- Kardak, which is called Imia in Greek, is an uninhabited goat island which actually caused a foreign relations fiasco between Turkey and Greece some years ago. It does in fact belong to Greece, and I hope this is ok with the goats!

Quote of the Week- Bertolt Brecht

Today, we continue our series our quotes from left-wing radicals with one of our favorite left-wing radicals the poet/playwright/screenwriter Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) who lived a very interesting life in many different countries.

I had the opportunity to see a Roanoke College (Salem, Va.) production of his play "The Good Person of Szechuan" (written in 1943) some five years ago.

The German writer also penned the works "The Threepenny Opera" (written in 1928) and "The Caucassian Chalk Circle" (written in 1948).

Brecht lived in America for eight years after fleeing Nazi Germany, by way of Scandanavia, but he relocated to Eat Germany in 1949 during the notorious HUAC period (brought on in part by then-actor Ronald Reagan) which would have probably lead to his being blacklisted.

Here is our short, but poignant quote from Brecht:

"Don't tell me peace has broken out."

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.

Quote of the Week- Gloria Steinem

This 'complements' a quote that we have posted from Hugh Hefner on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire:"

"A woman reading Playboy kind of feels a little like a Jew reading a Nazi manual."