10 Films in Our Netflix Streaming List: Lots of Imports...

Here are ten films from our Netlix Streaming list, hopefully they will not disappear without notice!

Netflix announced they are now available around the world, including countries such as Turkey, Brazil and India.

1. Girlhood (France 2014, bottom image)

2. The Lesson (Bulgaria 2013,center image)

3. Moonrise Kingdom (2012, pict. top)

4. Bluebird (2013)

5. In Bloom (Georgia 2013)

6. 6 Years (2015)

7. Heavenly Creatures (New Zealand 1994), featuring Kate Winslet who won a Golden Globe Award tonight for her supporting role in "Steve Jobs."

8. Beyond the Hills (Romania 2012)

9. Being Flynn (2012)

10. Mr. Nobody (2009)

http://www.netflix.com

Chaos in DC: Tweets from the Republican Congress Mess.....

Greetings to our blog readers in Azerbaijan, Ireland, and Switzerland........

Yes, it has been a full two weeks since we last entered a blog entry. In that time, Katie Holmes has reconciled with ex-husband Tom Cruise, and Tim Tebow has converted to Islam, well, of course, neither of those things have happened though the image with Tebow in a turban is quite striking.

As many of you know, Washington, D.C., our nation's capital has been turned upside down this week as House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, abruptly resigned from Congress. Then, today, Cong. Kevin McCarthy, his hand-picked successor 'bailed out' of being elected speaker. Thus, Cong. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc., pict. bottom), the 2012 veep candidate is being recruited though he has told the media he is not interested.

This makes one speculate that just anyone, including actor Kevin Spacey (pict. top) who plays a fictional South Carolina congressman could be in the running! Spacey plays the house member of the Netflix series "House of Cards."

Netflix also made news today as they announced they were increasing their subscription rates by one dollar, which Twitter also chimed in on.

Here are 11 tweets from a group as politically diverse as Rich Lowry, an editor at the conservative "National Review" and David Corn, a progressive reporter with "Mother Jones."

1) The Nation (a liberal magazine): "The GOP has actually been teetering on a chaotic cliff for a long time_as has American conservatism."

2) The Weekly Standard (a conservative magazine): "Just over a week ago, Kevin McCarthy first considered dropping out of the race."

3) Rich Lowry: "Source says it's btwn Ryan and his wife right now. If that's a go, next hurdle will be whether he thinks he can 218 votes or not."

4) David Corn: "You know what we need today? Sarah Palin news."

5) Ryan Grim (Huffington Post): Fun fact: Kevin Spacey shadowed Kevin McCarthy for his House of Cards role.

6) Brian Stelter (CNN): " 'To continue adding more TV shows and movies incl many Netflix original titles, we are modestly raising the price...' "

7) Dave Weigel (Washington Post): "I'm shocked, shocked that Ryan did not elucidate his plans while being chased by cameras."

8) Chad Pergram (Fox News): Paul Ryan is fundamentally about two things: Family and numbers. And, balancing that equation doesn't always work in politics.

9) Washington Post: Ben Carson suggests that gun rights could have kept Hitler from killing as many Jews.

10) Mother Jones: The chemical in cookware and cupcake wrappers might be causing cancer.

11) Washington Diplomat: Imprisoned Saudi blogger's* wife protest at Saudi embassy in Vienna. (That blogger is Raif Badawi).

Well, that's it for tonight, now it's time to go to The Diner on 18th Street NW in Washington, DC**
http://www.dinerdc.com/ where who knows, we might run into Cong. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and pester her about what's going on inside Capitol Hill?! (we actually live pretty far from DC)

Friday Night Tweets: Netflix and Domestic Politics

Greetings to our blog readers in Canada, England, and New Zealand.........though if you are a taxi driver in Konya, Turkey, who can't speak a word of English, thanks for dropping in here as well!

Most of tonight's tweets dealt with politics, though there were mentions of various sporting events and one in particular about Netflix, which you will read here.....


1) The Daily Edge: Comcast's conservative CEO will do whatever it takes to help the Kochs steal the next election.

2) The New York Times: "10 years later, infamous Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman remains invisible" (Actually, it is now 12 years; Clark, the Cubs mascot, pict. top)

3) Talking Points Memo: Chef Jose Andres pulled out of deal with Trump after 'rapist' comments, Trump is suing for $10 mil.

4) New Republic: Netflix finally found its hit first reboot success with "Wet Hot Summer" prequel.

5) Politico: Jon Stewart (pict. center) slipped unnoticed into the White House in the midst of the October 2011 budget fight.

6) The Hill: Dems put pressure on GOP's Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) ahead of Planned Parenthood vote.

7) The Paris Review: "I think that a garbage collector is as sensitive as any author," J.P. Donleavy (the Irish author of "The Ginger Man" is still alive at age 89)

8) Joel Brown (ABC 11, Raleigh, NC, tv news reporter): Fly ball injures child at tonight's Durham Bulls game.

9) Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN, pict. bottom): "Between 1968-2011 blacks nationwide were 4.2 times more likely to die at the hands of whites." 

Next Ten for Netflix: Foreign Films and Docs

Greetings to our blog readers in Turkey, Greece and the Czech Republic.....

Today, we look at the next ten foreign films and documentaries that we hope to watch via Netflix streaming. These days, we've gotten hooked on streaming, and perhaps the late Roger Ebert would have been proud of us!

The images are of 1) Boo Boo Bear, Yogi's sidekick, this image is used for the Turkish film "Winter Sleep" since bears hibernate zzzzzzzzzzzzzz during the winter, 2) the Hollywood sign is being used for the documentary "L.A. Plays Itself, and 3) lastly, Hot Stuff, the Harvey Comics icon, is used for the South Korean horror film "I Saw the Devil."

It may be a while before we get to watch "Winter Sleep" and "L.A. Plays Itself" as the two films combined would run for six hours!

The films are listed according to Internet Movie Database (IMDB) ratings, which are listed to the right.

Here is the next ten on Netflix:

1) Winter Sleep. Turkey. Nuri Bilge Ceylan. 2014. 8.4/10

2) LA. Plays Itself. documentary (USA). Thom Andersen. 2003. 8.0

3) I Saw the Devil. South Korea. Jee-woon Kim  2010. 7.8

4) A Summer's Tale. France. Eric Rohmer. 1996. 7.6

5) Force Majuere. Sweden. Ruben Olstlud. 2014. 7.4

6) A Coffee in Berlin Germany. Jan Ole Gerber. 2010. 7.4

7) Sister. Switzerland. Ursula Maier. 7.1

8) Stray Dogs. Taiwan. Tsai Ming Ling. 2013. 7.0

9) We Have a Pope. Italy. Nanni Moretti. 2011. 6.7

10) Anita (doc on Anita Hill; USA) Freida Lee Mock. 2014. 6.4

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (For our other Netflix list, for English-language films)

http://www.netflix.com

http://www.imdb.com

Last Ten Films I Saw Before Last Week: Indy Films, Foreign Films and Guilty Pleasures

Greetings to our blog readers in Japan, Slovenia, and Scotland (good luck with your impending divorce, which I am politically opposed to).

The above images of a) Jehovah's Witnesses (for the film "The Visitor," which has nothing to do with them), a Scottish terrier (for "Dog Day Afternoon") and a 1977 caprice (for "Blue Caprice," a disturbing, but solid film about the DC snipers) all relate to a film on the list. "Blue Ruin," which was filmed around Lexington, Va., and "Paradise: Love" were viewed via Netflix streaming. Films from "Boy" (#6) to "Bucket of Blood") were taped off TCM; "The Visitor" aired as part of TCM Underground.

Here is the list:


1. Fill the Void. Israel. 2012. Dir: Roma Burshtein.

2. Bucket of Blood. 1966. Dir: Roger Corman

3. The Visitor. 1979. Dir: Guilio Paradisi. (Released through Alamo Drafthouse Films)

4. La Pointe. Courte. France. 1955. Dir: Agnes Varda

5. Dog Day Afternoon. 1975. Dir: Sidney Lumet w/Al Pacino

6. Boy. 1969. Japan. Dir: Nagisa Oshima

7. Blue Ruin. 2013. Dir: Jeremy Saulnier

8. Blue Caprice. 2013. Dir: Alexandre Moors.

9. Paraside: Love. Austria. 2012. Dir: Ulrich Siedl (part of a triology)

10. Life After Beth. 2014. Dir: Jeff Baena w/Aubrey Plaza

www.tcm.com/underground/

www.netflix.com

http://drafthousefilms.com/

www.ifcfilms.com/

Next Ten Films We Hope to Stream from Netflix: Finding the 179 Minutes for Blue is the Warmest Color

It may be a while before we can get to all ten of these films, especially the French film "Blue is the Warmest Color," which was a sensation at the last Cannes Film Festival and is apparently one of the films which is being most streamed this week on Netflix. One problem is that the film does run for two hours and 59 minutes! It depicts a lesbian relationship between two teenagers and the film received an NC-17 rating here in the United States.

Other films on the list include the documentaries about death row ("Into the Abyss") and the revolution in Egypt ("The Square," which was nominated for an Oscar; the film was also started by a Kickstarter campaign).

Here is the list:

1) Blue is the Warmest Color (France. 2013. dir. Abdellatif Kechiche; top image)

2) Barbara (Germany. 2012, dir. Christian Petzold).

3) Upstream Color (2013. dir. Shane Caruth)

4) Pretty in Pink (1986. dir. Howard Deutch, love the soundtrack!)

5) Malena (Italy. 2000. dir. Giuseppe Tornatore)

6) Into the Abyss (doc. 2011. dir. Werner Herzog, middle image)

7) The Square (doc. 2013. dir. Jehane Noujaim)

8) Punch-Drunk Love (2002. dir. Paul Thomas Anderson; one of the best film roles of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman)

9) Alps (Greece. 2011. dir. Giorgos Lanthimos)

10) No One Knows About Persian Cats (Iran. 2009. dir. Bahman Ghobadi, bottom image)

http://www.netflix.com

https://www.kickstarter.com/

http://www.vadp.org/ (Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, based in Charlottesville)

http://tcadp.org/ (Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty)

http://apscaswell.org/ (Caswell County Animal Shelter in Yanceyville, NC, due south of Danville, Va)

http://baltimoreanimalshelter.org/ (Baltimore Animal Shelter)

http://www.wernerherzog.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!

Next Ten Films in My Netflix Que

Here are the next ten films in my Netflix que. I have been a customer with the company since 2005, but like many subscribers, I felt frustrated by their recent, sudden shift in pricing strategy. I downgraded from three dvds at a time to two, so it may well take a longer amount of time to see these films, but here is where they are in que:

1. "Dogtooth" (Greece. 2009. Dir-Giorgis Lanthimos)

2. "Bhutto" (doc. 2010. Duane Baughman)

3. "Days and Nights" (Egypt. 1955. Dir- Henry Barakat)

4. "Benny's Video" (Austria. 1992. Dir- Michael Haneke)

5. "Man Push Cart" (2005. Dir- Ramin Bahrani)

6. "The Stoning of Soraya M." (2008. Dir- Cyrus Nowrasteh)

7. "Electra, My Love" (Hungary. 1974. Dir- Miklos Jancso)

8. "Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven" (Germany. 1975. Dir- R.W. Fassbinder)

9. "Husbands" (1970. Dir- John Cassavetes)

10. "Pumping Iron" (doc. 1977. Dir- George Butler)

Ten Films to Look for on DVD

I have combed through the last two issues of "Film Comment" and there is some great stuff that is coming out. Alas, Netflix made a highly unpopular decision yesterday to arbitrarily raise prices considerably. 72 percent of those surveyed said they disagreed with the company's move in an AOL survey. An exceptional article by Jonathan A. Knee in the current issue of "The Atlantic" illustrated how the company has grown massively, thanks largely to online streaming. According to Knee, the company now has 23 million subsribers, up from nine million in 2008, and Netflix is projected to make $3 billion this year.

Among the films I've chosen here are teh ultra-violent cult film "Hobo with a Shotgun" and the very depressing film "Another Year." I went with the image of anti-depressants for Mike Leigh films because I had technical problems with an image of a very big tree in Bursa, Turkey, that I was intending to use for the film (the poster for "Another Year" featured a big tree).

We also recommend the disturbing, but brilliant documentary "Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story" that I saw on the Sundance Channel a few years ago; a tank features prominently in the film.

And, since Morgan Spurloc's new film "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" is a documentary that examines product-placements in films, we just had to post an image of a Mars bar.

1. "Marwencol" (2010. doc. dir- Jeff Malmberg)

2. "Another Year" (2010. dir- Mike Leigh)

3. "Somewhere" (2010. dir- Sofia Coppola)

4. "Hobo with a Shotgun" (2010. dir-Jason Eisener)

5. "Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story" (2002. doc. dir-Garrett Scott).

6. "How I Ended the Summer" (2010. Russia. dir-Alexie Popogrebsky)- Sarah Mankoff highly recommended this film in the May/June issue of "Film Comment."

7. "David Holzman's Diary" (1967. dir- Jim McBride)_ This is a brilliant experimental art film, which is perhaps in my top 100.

8. "Police Adjective" (2009. Romania. dir-Corneilu Porumbaiu). Romania has been making some surprsingly exceptional films, including this one, lately.

9. "Damnation Alley" (1977. dir-Jack Smight).

10. "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" (2011. doc. dir-Morgan Spurlock).

The Next 10 Films in Our Netflix Que- Lots of Foreign Films

The dominance of Netflix among the dvd sales market has been subject of NPR pieces on "Market Place" and written articles in "Wired" magazine, which we really need to read some time (subscribing to eight or nine other magazines has its disadvantages!). Though with its own streaming services, amazon.com is projected to be gradually catching up with the online giant soon.

Since it has been a depressing week lately for a variety of reasons, including the tsunami in Japan as well as the political unrest Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and Libya, I hope some of these films are a bit uplifting. But, then again, I'm in no mood for "Mary Poppins" which is amazingly enough one of the most favorite films of filmmaker David Fincher ("Zodiac," "The Social Network")!


Here are the next ten films I am scheduled to be recieving from Netflix. In case you were wondering, "Lightning in a Bottle" is a 'rocumentary' about blues musicians like B.B. King.

1. "The Class" (France, 2008).

2. "Yi Yi" (Taiwan, 2000).

3. "The Son's Room" (Italy, 2001).

4. "Not on the Lips" (France, 2003).

5. "Undertow" (2004)

6. "The Mist" (2007)

7. "15" (France, 2003).

8. "Lightning in a Bottle" (doc., 2004).

9. "Rivers and Tides" (doc., 2003)

10. "The Yacoubian Building" (Egypt, 2006).