Tag Archives: entertainment

The Mooring – Everyone dies. I hope this doesn’t spoil it for you.

Posted on July 20, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Hi readers.  Watching Black Rock and finding it intriguing and thought provoking inspired me to watch a movie that seemed to rhyme with it.  A movie I’d normally have avoided.  The Mooring was right there where a person could watch it stream on Netflix.

The Mooring 2012 R 89 minutes  A group of teen girls gathered in the Idaho wilderness for a program to help them lose dependency on technology become victims of a murderous rampage. More Info Starring: Hallie Todd, Thomas Wilson Brown Director: Glenn Withrow

But all it managed was a lot of gratuitous violence, screaming hysterical females, lousy judgement, misplaced confidence, and grounds for paranoia for people who weren’t scared enough already.

Otherwise it was a pretty good movie.

Old Jules

Leave a comment

Posted in 2014, Adventure, America, Movies

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Unsettling entertainment – Killing rapesters who’d been protecting our freedoms

Posted on July 20, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Hi readers.  When a movie rattles the eye teeth enough to cause a person to think about it longer than a minute afterward, it’s probably rare.  If it causes thought for a duration longer than it took to watch it, even rarer.  Black Rock, streaming on Netflix, is one such movie and for unanticipated reasons.

Black Rock 2012 R 79 minutes, Three life-long-friend women’s vacation on a remote island turns into a nightmare.   Three guys 18 days home from Afghanistan and Dishonorable Discharges are chilling.  One of them is the younger brother of a childhood friend of the three.  More Info Starring: Katie Aselton, Lake Bell Director: Katie Aselton

So here’s a tiny island with three guys capable of being badasses when provoked, and three 30ish women, one of whom is horny enough to seduce-to-the-edge one of the badasses, then try to interrupt biology with the word, “No!”

Badass doesn’t think no means no, so she kills  him with a rock upside the head.

And thoroughly pisses off the other two previously only potential badasses who saw her saying too many yeses and not enough no when the whole thing could have been just a friendly interlude.

So the first potential badass is dead.  The girls have been beat around considerably before escaping to the woods.  Angry badasses 2 and 3 are stalking them with guns with the stated purpose of murdering them.  Shivering huddled together crying the seducer/coitus interrupter weeps, “Oh God!  This is all my fault!”

“No,” her friends assure her.  “It was just an accident.  You didn’t intend to kill him.  It wasn’t your fault.”

Well.  Um.  Lessee now.  Reality has an inconvenient way of trying to elbow into life sometimes.  Women have rightfully attacked the old “She was asking for it,” male predisposition when rape not involving racial issues was discussed.  It generally works in town and something called ‘date rape’ is frequently prosecuted.

But maybe there’s a larger issue here.  Maybe females owe it to themselves to recognize at some fundamental level there’s a such thing as angry, angry men who aren’t out looking for trouble, but who don’t need any female genitals rubbed up against them just to give a girl a thrill.

But hell, I liked these guys.  Jeeze, they were Dishonorably Discharged!  I’ve never known anyone who was Dishonorably Discharged I didn’t like fairly well.  Although my step-brother, Bobby Jack Nelson, did have some character flaws to recommend against him over the long haul.  I liked him anyway.

If any of you watch this movie I hope you’ll come back and comment on the post.  I’d like to hear whether you find the flick as thought provoking as I do.

Old Jules

Leave a comment

Posted in 2014, America, Movies

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Olathe Free Concert in the Park – Brody Buster opens for Paul Thorn

Posted on July 19, 2014 by | 4 comments
Brody Buster One Manning opening for Paul Thorn

Brody Buster One Manning opening for Paul Thorn

 

Paul Thorn Band

Paul Thorn Band

Hi readers.  When Jeanne’s oldest son, Kenneth, called around 6pm last night Hydrox and I were wondering whether to pester Shiva all evening.

Kenneth:  There’s a concert down at the Olathe Park tonight.  We were wondering whether you’d care to go.

Me:  Does the Pope crap in the woods?

And so it happened.  Kenneth, Andrew, Hailey [Kenneth’s daughter] and I drifted down and got a parking spot about a quarter-to-half mile from the park.  And with a rest stop or two and a bit of heavy breathing, I spang walked down there for a bit of toe tapping and grinning.

Brody Buster – Guy’s a bull-goose harmonica player.  Does a middling fine Creedence Clearwater Revival song or three as a stand-alone.

Paul Thorn Band – Reminds me in some ways of Leon Redbone.  Reminds me in some other ways of early Jesse Winchester.

Heck of an enjoyable evening.  Now that global warming went on coffee break it was comfy enough so all us people in shorts were wondering whether it was worth a walk back to the car for a jacket.

hailey july 2014

Hailey ended up wrapped in that blanket sticking the plastic light sticks out waving them around in the dark.  Me, I figured it was going to be better struggling back to the car in cool night rather than crawling back on all fours in regular old honest late-July heat.

Turned out both bands were sufficiently good to distract everyone from global warming or a hair cool for the choice of clothing.  Got them waving their arms around and clapping instead of talking about the polar bears dying off and Antarctica either melting or not melting.

An evening well spent.  Physical therapy performs wonders.  I never thought I’d be able to do something of that sort again.

Old Jules

 

4 Comments

Posted in 2014, America, Music

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Audie Murphy, Cuba and a meaner baby face than Baby Face Nelson

Posted on July 18, 2014 by | 6 comments

Hi readers.  Most of you are too young to remember who Audie Murphy was.  Who he was was a killer the likes of which most wars don’t have the violent potential to produce.  Baby Face Murphy lodged himself on a burning tank with a machine gun and proceeded to mow down close-up and personal more Germans than is possible.  Armed and dangerous Germans.

Well, hell.  That got him the Congressional Medal of Honor because nobody wanted to have him come home carrying any grudges against anyone back here.  Made him a movie star and he stayed one until his death sometime in the 70s.  Free basing cocaine I think it was, and caught fire.  But that might have been someone else.  Maybe Ricky Nelson.

The Gun Runners 1958NR82 minutes A down-on-his luck charter boat captain is ensnared in the deadly machinations of a wily American who is smuggling illegal arms to Cuban rebels. More Info  Starring: Audie Murphy, Eddie Albert Director: Don Siegel

Anyway, most of you probably don’t remember that Cuba used to be a place where a Carib dictator named Batista did what Carib dictators do.  Did it enough worse than Papa Doc Duvallier to cause the US public to cheer the revolutionary splinters operating in the jungles.  Including one carrying the name Fidel Castro

Anyway, streaming on Netflix is the full version of Audie Murphy and wossname, the guy who played Marcus Welby, and a lot of Goldiloxes all getting into a lot of trouble between Key West and Havana.

Poor Baby Face Murphy.  Life was easier for him when he was just shooting a machine gun from atop a burning tank.  Wasn’t as dangerous as free-basing cocaine, either.  Or whatever it was got him dead.

Old Jules

 

6 Comments

Posted in 2014, America

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Spoof on WWII – A Man Called Sarge – Heluva funny movie

Posted on July 17, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Hi Readers.

This one’s worth the laughs.

You watched this on 7/17/14

A Man Called Sarge

1990PG-131hr 28m

You rated this movie: 4

This parody of WW II movies finds the overly zealous Sgt. Duke Roscoe leading his band of oddballs on a mission to blow up a vital German fuel dump.
Meanwhile, if you agree with me that we’ve been taking a lot of our presidents, particularly Franklin Delano Roosevelt, too seriously, you might enjoy this for a change.
Streaming on Netflix:  FDR: American Badass 2012R93 minutes, After contracting polio from a werewolf bite, FDR and a team of historic figures seek victory in World War II by defeating an army of Nazi werewolves. More Info

Starring: Barry Bostwick, Lin Shaye Director: Garrett Brawith

 

Leave a comment

Posted in 2014, America, Movies

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Palestine and Israel – Their Movies

Posted on July 9, 2014 by | 2 comments
Hi readers.  Here are some fairly watchable movies streaming on Netflix portraying how the people in the troubled land of Israel and the areas it occupies outside its established borders, and the people on both sides, would have you view them:
 
Omar 2013NR 98 minutes With his girlfriend, Nadia, living on the other side of an Israeli-built boundary wall, young Palestinian Omar regularly scales it to visit her. More Info  Starring: Adam Bakri, Samer Bisharat  Director: Hany Abu-Assad

 Tehilim  2007 NR 95 minutes .  When Eli Frankel gets into a minor car accident with his sons, he sends the older one to get help. But when the boy returns, his father is gone. More Info Starring:Michael Moshonov, Limor Goldstein Director:Raphaël Nadjari

Curfew 1994 NR 71 minutes .  This pointed drama portrays a day in the life of a Palestinian family — a day that quickly changes when the Israeli military imposes a local curfew. More Info Starring:Salim Dau, Na’ila Zayaad
Director:Rashid Masharawi

 A Bottle in the Gaza Sea 2011NR 99 minutes Newly arrived in Israel, a French teen struggling to understand the violence around her develops an unlikely connection with a young Palestinian man. More Info Starring: Agathe Bonitzer, Mahmud Shalaby Director: Thierry Binisti

Haifa 1996NR 72 minutes This social drama set in a Palestinian refugee camp portrays a broad cast of characters struggling to get by in uncertain times. More Info Starring: Mohammed Bakri, Ahmad Abu Sal’oum Director: Rashid Masharawi
 
Room 5142012NR91 minutesHeder 514 An investigator in the Israeli military is ordered to interrogate a senior officer who has been accused of abusing an Arab family. Cast: Asia Naifeld, Guy Kapulnik, Rafi Kalmar Genre: Dramas, Foreign Movies, Crime Dramas, Foreign Dramas This movie is: Provocative 
 
 Inch’Allah2012R101 minutes Political tensions take on personal overtones when a Canadian doctor living in Israel befriends a patient at a refugee camp in Palestine.

Cast: Evelyne Brochu, Sabrina Ouazani, Sivan Levy Genre: Dramas, Independent Movies, Social Issue  dramas,  independent Dramas This movie is: Gritty, Dark
 
Yossi 2012NR84 minutes While driving through a remote part of Israel, a closeted gay doctor crosses paths with a group of soldiers who inspire him to live life in the open. Cast: Ohad Knoller, Oz Zehavi, Lior Ashkenazi Genre: Dramas, Foreign Movies, Romantic Movies, Gay & Lesbian Movies This movie is: Understated, Romantic
 
 Off White Lies 2011NR89 minutesOrhim le-rega Thirteen-year-old Libi is sent to Israel to join her father, Shaul, a wiz at white lies. But it doesn’t take long for her to chafe at his lifestyle. Cast: Gur Bentvich, Elya Inbar, Tzahi Grad Genre: Dramas, Foreign Movies, Independent Movies, Foreign Dramas This movie is: Understated, Quirky
 
 Lost Embrace 2004NR96 minutesEl Abrazo Partido / Le Fils d’Elias A young Argentinean man yearns to understand why his father left shortly after his birth to fight a war in Israel — and why he never returned. Cast: Daniel Hendler, Adriana Aizemberg, Jorge D’Elia Genre: Dramas, Foreign Movies, Foreign Dramas, Latin American Movies This movie is: Understated
 
The Time That Remains 2011NR 109 minutes From Israel’s creation in 1948 through the early 21st century, a Palestinian family experiences triumphs and tragedies over the course of generations. More Info Starring: Ali Suliman, Elia Suleiman Director: Elia Suleiman
 
5 Broken Cameras 2011NR 94 minutes This Oscar-nominated documentary centers on Emad Burnat, a Palestinian farmer trying to make a living amid Israeli occupation. More Info Starring: Emad Burnat Directors: Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi
 
Probably a person shouldn’t form opinions based on movies.  At least not the ‘plots’ and characters of movies of a fictional nature.  But the background settings, the societies where the plots move, probably a person could allow opinions to sneak in as a consequence of those.
 
The background settings and society are more-or-less taken for granted by the movie makers usually.  They expect their audiences to already have intimate knowledge of them, to recognize immediately if they’re flawed or don’t depict something akin to reality.
 
In that sense I’d call these movies thoroughly worthy of the time spent viewing them, as a bonus you might say.  A bonus thrown in behind the plotting, the characters, the suspense, the button pushing.
 
Old Jules
 
 

2 Comments

Posted in 2014, Movies

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

After Porn Ends

Posted on July 6, 2014 by | 2 comments

after p;orn ends

Hi readers.  A recently released study reveals the NSA, FBI, CIA, Homeland Security and local law enforcement agencies in the US account for the viewing of one million porn movies every day.  The White House, Congress amd Congressional Oversight Committees, and various concerned federal agency employees account for another million viewings.

All of which defines the importance of the movie, AFTER PORN ENDS, now streaming on Netflix.  A movie bulging with US national security concerns, political concerns, legal concerns and psychological health concerns.

After Porn Ends , 2010NR 93 minutes, This documentary explores the careers of some of porn’s top stars and examines their adjustment to “normal” society after leaving adult entertainment. More Info, Starring: Mary Carey, Asia Carrera
Director: Bryce Wagoner
 
What ever became, you’ve probably asked yourself, of Asia Carrera, Tiffany Million, Mary Carey, Crissy Moran, Seka, Amber Lynn, Shelley Lubbing, Erica Lauren, Raylene, Nina Hartley, Houston, Tera Patrick, Jenna Jamison, Roxy, and Laura Palmer?  What about John Leslie and those guys?
Thanks to the NSA, the FBI and Homeland Security, After Porn Ends tells it all.  Official interviews with all the stars of yesteryear.
 
And mostly they’re doing okay.  They made a lot of money in that business back when government employees and law enforcement officials couldn’t watch it free.  But all agree it’s a profession, an industry that’s suffered and gone down in quality along with diminished opportunities for the current run of porn stars.
 
John Leslie summed it up best.  “It was good while it lasted.  I had approximately 3000 beautiful women in my life, only worked a few days a year and made a lot of money.  I can’t complain.”
 
Mostly none of them had any deep regrets about choosing porn over other possible professions they might have been qualified for.  “I couldn’t have been better at anything else, couldn’t have made as much money.  I’d have to weigh that against the downside, such as having a lot of sex, doing a LOT of drugs, partying a lot, and having more fun than people experience in other jobs.  Mostly I think I’d do it again.”
 
Old Jules 

2 Comments

Posted in Adventure, Movies

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Asian dark slapstick – Charlie Chaplin wrestles Adolph Hitler for laughs

Posted on July 3, 2014 by | 2 comments
Hi readers.  Hilariaous movie — not sure which Asians made it. 
 
But incredibly, one of the early bit characters appears to be the identical great-grandsonish twin of the guy who plaiyed Steve McQueen’s assistant in the engine room of the Sand Pebble.  The guy who got captured by the angry revolting Chinese and was strung up being tortured when Steve McQueen shot him with a 1903 Springfield from the deck of the Sand Pebble.
 
Anyway, you’ll recognize him in the early scenes dealing with the monster fish until that final one when the fish gets him.  Same look of agony as his final moment in Sand Pebbles.
 
Streaming on Netflix:  Journey to the West 2013PG-13 109 minutes, Chen Xuanzang, who fights evil with love and nursery rhymes, clashes with Duan, a showy female warrior who’s in it for the thrill of the hunt. More Info Starring: Qi Shu, Zhang Wen Director: Stephen Chow
 
Heck of a fun movie.  If blood and guts bothers you, just remember it’s only a movie, after all.  Chinese these days aren’t making their lampshades out of human skin, so even if the Asians who made this movie are Chinese, the blood and guts isn’t necessarily real.
 
Old Jules
 
 

2 Comments

Posted in 2014, Adventure, America

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Strangers in Good Company – Octagenarian chick flick

Posted on June 30, 2014 by | 4 comments

http://youtu.be/hxrDtnB4VnU

Hi readers.  One hell of a fine movie streaming on Netflix.

Strangers in Good Company 1990PG 100 minutes, Eight elderly women are left stranded in the wilderness with only their wits, their memories and eventually some roasted frogs’ legs to sustain them. More Info, Starring: Alice Diabo, Constance Garneau, Director: Cynthia Scott
 
A nun, a lesbian, a grandmother or three, artist, birdwatcher, farm girl.  They talk about life, death, love, fear, war and death again as they struggle to catch fish, frogs, find sustenance in the wilderness long enough to survive.
 
*****, Five Stars is how I rate this movie, how tickled I am to have overcome my male prejudices against chick flicks and watched it.
 
Jack

4 Comments

Posted in 2014, Adventure

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Just when you thought you had it bad

Posted on June 23, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Hi readers.  Maybe it’s worth watching some foreign films just to remind ourselves that things could be a lot worse.   All these are for streaming on Netflix.  I’ve given them all four, or five stars:

Tall as the Baobab Tree, 2012 NR 81 minutes, When an accident threatens his struggling family’s survival, a father decides to sell his 11-year-old daughter into an arranged marriage. Starring:Dior Kâ, Oumoul Kâ  Director:Jeremy Teicher

Mandabi 1968 NR 91 minutes A down-and-out man receives much-needed financial aid but hits bureaucratic roadblocks as he tries to convert the money order to cash. Starring:Makhouredia Gueye, Ynousse N’Diaye Director:Ousmane Sembène

 The Grocer’s Son  2007 NR 95 minutes After his father suffers a stroke, a young man reluctantly returns home to his small mountain village to help out with the family business.  Starring:Nicolas Cazale, Clotilde Hesme  Director:Eric Guirado

Lost in Thailand  2012 NR 105 minutes  This Chinese comedy caper tracks the competition between two managers for control over their company, which has developed a miraculous new product. Starring:Zheng Xu, Baoqiang Wang

Aftershock  2010 NR 135 minutes   In the decades after her mother chooses to save her brother and leave her to die following an earthquake, a girl struggles to rebuild her life. Starring:Fan Xu, Jingchu Zhang Director:Xiaogang Feng

Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets 2000 NR 98 minutes A group of urchins living on the hard streets of Casablanca create a familial bond of friendship in order to survive amid violence and poverty. Starring:Mounim Kbab, Mustapha Hansali Director:Nabil Ayouch 

A Thousand Months  2003 NR 120 minutes 1981 Morocco, young Mehdi comes to terms with his own culture during Ramadan, secure in the knowledge that his beloved father is away in France. Starring:Fouad Labied, Nezha Rahile Director:Faouzi Bensaïdi

 Journey of Hope 1990 PG 110 minutes Beckoned by tales of economic prosperity, a Turkish family leaves their meager existence and sets off on a grueling journey to Switzerland. Starring:Necmettin Çobanoglu, Nur Sürer
Director:Xavier Koller

Times and Winds 2006 NR 111 minutes Reha Erdem writes and directs this award-winning film set in rural Turkey, where three friends entering adolescence share the struggles of growing up. Starring:Taner Birsel, Nihan Asli Elmas Director:Reha Erdem

The Deserted Station 2002 NR 88 minutes Inspired by a photographic jaunt, this lyrical film asks what happens next when a couple is stranded in a small village after their car breaks down. Starring:Leila Hatami, Nezam Manouchehri Director:Alireza Raisian

Tsotsi 2005 R 94 minutes After shooting a woman and driving off in her car, a ruthless thug is surprised to discover a crying infant in the back seat. Starring:Presley Chweneyagae, Terry Pheto Director:Gavin Hood

Munyurangabo 2007 NR 93 minutes A Tutsi orphaned by Rwanda’s genocide sets off to mete out rough justice with his Hutu friend but their tribal differences soon come to a head. Starring:Jeff Rutagengwa, Eric Ndorunkundiye Director:Lee Isaac Chung

Sounds of Sand 2006 NR 92 minutes With a drought killing their livestock and a war looming, the residents of an African village decide to migrate in search of an easier existence. Starring:Marion Hansel, Isaka Sawadogo

American Flyer 2010 NR 86 minutes After failed attempts to cross the border at Tijuana, a young man constructs a flying machine out of a wheelbarrow to try to fly into California. Starring:Douglas Spain, Julian Scott Urena
Director:Mark Christensen

 

 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in 2014

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,