Television

An Interesting BFI Talk with Alex Cox

by John Charet

Before I do an annual Noirvember post this month (it is November), I want to write a post dedicated to Steve, a regular visitor to this site (click here to view his Youtube channel). He has been a regular visitor to my site since 2020 and it has been a long time since I wrote a blog entry dedicated to him and myself considering that I have been watching various Moviedrome videos on Youtube since 2010 🙂 UK viewers mostly remember that each film would be introduced by British cult director Alex Cox (Repo Man and Sid and Nancy among others) 🙂 Anyway, this hour-long BFI video took place in five months ago in June and it is very insightful talk that I would like to share with all of you dear readers below 🙂

Click here to watch the video

Some Of My Many Favorite Things (Entertainment Related or Lack Thereof)

by John Charet

-A Word Before Reading-

None of you dear readers have to be familiar with what I am talking about in order to reply to this blog entry 🙂 In fact, you could all talk to me about things (cinema, television etc.) that make you happy and we can all reply back and forth to each other in the comment section 🙂

-Introduction-

As all of my dear readers can gather by the title of this link, today, I will be linking you all to some of many things that give me joy, whether it be during the Christmas season or otherwise 🙂 So, without further ado, here is the first one below 🙂

-Jennifer Coolidge-

Yes, she played Stiffler’s Mom in the American Pie movies, but Jennifer Coolidge has always been reliable in every role she has ever played 🙂 She has won for Supporting Actress in Television three times (one Golden Globe and two Primetime Emmys) for her role as the wealthy Tanya McQuoid on the darkly comedic HBO anthology series The White Lotus.

Click here to watch her 2023 Golden Globe speech

Click here to watch her 2022 Primetime Emmy speech

Click here to watch her 2023 Primetime Emmy speech

Click here and here to watch some of her character’s best moments

Any of my dear readers familiar with all of those Discover Card commercials you all see on television? 🙂

Click here to watch a few of them

Speaking of that, actress/comedian Chloe Fineman spoofed Coolidge’s persona with (I believe) two hilarious SNL (Saturday Night Live) sketches

Click here to watch this 2022 one

Click here to watch this one from two months ago

-Pamela Anderson: The Cinephile-

As much as I love Pamela Anderson’s screen image, that does not compare to the awesomeness of who Pamela Anderson really is behind it. Recently, she has been earning raves for her dramatic lead performance in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl, which garnered her a recent Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. This brings us to a recent video of her getting the luxury of going into the Criterion Closet to pick some Blu-Ray/DVD’s for herself. It is here that Anderson is at her coolest. She comes off as a cinephile not only with her love of the films she talks about, but also the directors behind them. Late great Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami gets a shout-out in the video 🙂 How awesome is that among the others she mentions 🙂

Click here to watch her recent visit to the Criterion Closet

-Danny Devito’s Jersey MIke’s Commercials-

They just bring a smile to my face 🙂

Click here to watch them all

-The Clovers: One Mint Julep–

Yes, Todd Haynes 2015 masterpiece Carol is what got me addicted to The Clovers 1952 R&B song One Mint Julep :)The song is just so tuneful to me 🙂

Click here to listen to it

Click here to watch the scene that the aforementioned song plays in the film

Let me conclude this blog entry with two questions for my dear readers below:

What are some of your many favorite things (Entertainment Related or Lack Thereof?

What links interested you the most? If all, some or none of them did, that is perfectly fine too?

My Favorite Bernardo Bertolucci Films (2024 Edition)

by John Charet

I have not seen 2012’s Me and You yet because it is not available on Blu-Ray/DVD here in the United States nor can I watch it online.

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

  1. The Conformist (1970)
  2. Besieged (1998)
  3. Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (1981)
  4. The Dreamers (2003)
  5. The Spider’s Stratagem (1970)
    (Italian Television)
  6. Before the Revolution (1964)
  7. Last Tango in Paris (1972)
  8. La Luna (1979)
  9. 1900 (1976)
  10. Stealing Beauty (1996)
  11. The Last Emperor (1987)
  12. The Sheltering Sky (1990)
  13. Partner (1968)
  14. Little Buddha (1993)
  15. The Grim Reaper (1962)
  16. Ten Minutes Older: The Cello (2002)
    Segment: Histoire d’eaux
  17. Il canale (1966)
    (Documentary)
    (Short)
  18. Love and Anger (1969)
    Segment: Agonia

My Favorite Ingmar Bergman Films (2024 Edition)

by John Charet

Some of these I watched online. I saw just about all of Bergman’s films, but not every single one of them.

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

  1. Persona (1966)
  2. Wild Strawberries (1957)
  3. Cries and Whispers (1972)
  4. Saraband (2003)
    (Swedish/Italian/German/Finnish/Danish/Austrian Television)
  5. Fanny and Alexander (1982)
    (Miniseries)
    (Swedish/French/West German Television)
  6. The Silence (1963)
  7. Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
  8. Winter Light (1963)
  9. Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)
  10. Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
  11. Summer with Monika (1953)
  12. Hour of the Wolf (1968)
  13. Summer Interlude (1951)
  14. Scenes from a Marriage (1973)
    (Miniseries)
    (Swedish Television)
  15. The Seventh Seal (1957)
  16. Shame (1968)
  17. The Magician (1958)
  18. The Virgin Spring (1960)
  19. After the Rehearsal (1984)
    (Swedish Television)
  20. Autumn Sonata (1978)
  21. Face to Face (1976)
  22. The Magic Flute (1975)
  23. From the Life of the Marionettes (1980)
    (Swedish/West German Television)
  24. The Rite (1969)
    (Swedish Television)
  25. The Passion of Anna (1969)
  26. Brink of Life (1958)
  27. Dreams (1955)
  28. A Lesson in Love (1954)
  29. Secrets of Women (1952)
  30. The Devil’s Eye (1960)
  31. A Dream Play (1963)
    (Swedish Television)
  32. To Joy (1950)
  33. In the Presence of a Clown (1997)
    (Swedish/Danish/Norwegian/Italian/German Television)
  34. Faro Document 1979 (1979)
    (Documentary)
    (Television)
  35. Faro Document (1970)
    (Documentary)
    (Television)
  36. The Making of Fanny and Alexander (1984)
    (Documentary)
  37. The Making of Autumn Sonata (1978)
    (Documentary)
  38. Madame de Sade (1992)
    (Swedish Television)
  39. Prison (1949)
  40. Port of Call (1948)
  41. It Rains on Our Love (1946)
  42. The Serpent’s Egg (1977)
  43. Karin’s Face (1986)
    (Documentary)
    (Short)
  44. Thirst (1949)
  45. The Image Makers (2000)
    (Swedish/Danish/Finnish Television)
  46. The Misanthrope (1974)
    (Danish Television)
  47. Music in Darkness (1948)
  48. A Ship Bound for India (1947)
  49. Crisis (1946)
  50. The Blessed Ones (1986)
    (Swedish Television)
  51. The Touch (1971)
  52. Mr. Sleeman Is Coming (1957)
    (Swedish Television)
  53. Ovader (1960)
    (Swedish Television)
  54. The Last Gasp (1995)
    (Swedish Television)
  55. Backanterna (1993)
    (Swedish Television)
  56. Hustruskolan (1983)
    (Swedish Television)
  57. Rabies (1958)
    (Swedish Television)
  58. Stimulantia (1967)
    Segment: Daniel
  59. All These Women (1964)
  60. The Venetian (1958)
    (Swedish Television)
  61. Harald & Harald (1996)
    (Short)
    (Television)
  62. On Set Home Movies (2008)
    (Documentary)
    (Short)
  63. Ingmar Bergman: Making Commercials (1951)
    (Commercials)
    (Short)
    (Swedish Television)
  64. This Can’t Happen Here (1950)

My Favorite Olivier Assayas Films (2024 Edition)

by John Charet

Some of these titles I watched online. For the record, there may be a title or two missing because I have not seen it yet. I also can’t find them online.

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

  1. Irma Vep (2022)
    (Miniseries)
    (Cable/Television)
  2. Irma Vep (1996)
  3. Carlos (2010)
    (Miniseries)
    (French/German Television)
  4. Summer Hours (2008)
  5. Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
  6. Personal Shopper (2016)
  7. Clean (2004)
  8. Demonlover (2002)
  9. Sentimental Destinies (2000)
  10. Late August, Early September (1998)
  11. Non-Fiction (2018)
  12. Something in the Air (2012)
  13. Cold Water (1994)
  14. Boarding Gate (2007)
  15. Cinema, de notre temps (1996)
    Episode: HHH, portrait de Hou Hsiao-hsien
    (Documentary)
    (French Television)
  16. Paris, I Love You (2006)
    Segment: Quartier des Enfants Rouges
  17. Paris Awakens (1991)
  18. Disorder (1986)
  19. Winter’s Child (1989)
  20. Wasp Network (2019)
  21. Noise (2006)
    (Documentary)
  22. Winston tong en studio (1984)
    (Documentary)
    (Short)
  23. Rectangle – Deux chansons de Janco (1980)
    (Short)
  24. To Each His Own Cinema (2007)
    Segment: Recrudescence

My Favorite Gregg Araki Films (2024 Edition)

by John Charet

Some of these films I have seen on old vhs tapes and online. I can’t seem to find and watch The Long Weekend (O’ Despair) anywhere.

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

  1. Nowhere (1997)
  2. The Doom Generation (1995)
  3. Totally F***ed Up (1993)
  4. The Living End (1992)
  5. Now Apocalypse (2019)
    (Cable/Television)
    (No relation to Apocalypse Now)
  6. This Is How the World Ends (2000)
    (Cable/Television)
  7. Mysterious Skin (2004)
  8. Smiley Face (2007)
  9. Splendor (1999)
  10. Kaboom (2010)
  11. White Bird in a Blizzard (2014)
  12. American Crime – Season 2 (2016)
    Season Two: Episode Three
    (Television)
  13. 13 Reasons Why – Season 1 (2017)
    Episode: Tape 4, Side A
    Episode: Tape 4, Side B
    (Streaming/Television)
  14. Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022)
    Episode: Lionel
    (Streaming/Television)
  15. Greenleaf – Season 1 (2016)
    Episode: Men Like Trees Walking
    (Cable/Television)
  16. Red Oaks – Season 2 (2016)
    Episode: Lost and Found
    Episode: The Wedding
    (Streaming/Television)
  17. American Gigolo – Season 1 (2022)
    Episode: Nothing Is Real But the Girl
    (Cable/Television)
  18. Heathers – Season 1 (2018)
    Episode: Hot Probs
    Episode: Do I Look Like Mother Teresa?
    (Cable/Television)
  19. Riverdale – Season 2 (2018)
    Episode: Chapter Twenty-Four: The Wrestler
    (Television)
  20. 13 Reasons Why – Season 2 (2018)
    Episode: The First Polaroid
    Episode: Two Girls Kissing
    (Streaming/Television)
  21. Here Now (2015)
    (Short)
  22. Three Bewildered People in the Night (1987)

My Favorite Michelangelo Antonioni Films (2023 Edition)

by John Charet

Most of the Michelangelo Antonioni films listed here are ones I saw on a home video format (Blu-Ray and DVD in this case. Nevertheless, some of these I watched online.

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

  1. L’Eclisse (1962)
  2. Zabriskie Point (1970)
  3. L’Avventura (1960)
  4. The Passenger (1975)
  5. Red Desert (1964)
  6. Michelangelo Eye to Eye (2004)
    (Documentary)
    (Short Cinema)
  7. Identification of a Woman (1982)
  8. Beyond the Clouds (1995)
  9. The Mystery of Oberwald (1980)
  10. La Notte (1961)
  11. Blow-Up (1966)
  12. Le Amiche (1955)
  13. Story of a Love Affair (1950)
  14. Il Grido (1957)
  15. The Lady Without Camelias (1953)
  16. I Vinti (1953)
  17. Chung Kuo, Cina (1972)
    (Documentary)
    (Television)
  18. People of the Po Valley (1947)
    (Documentary)
    (Short Cinema)
  19. N.U. (1948)
    (Documentary)
    (Short Cinema)
  20. Love in the City (1953)
    Segment: Attempted Suicide
    (Short Cinema)
  21. Seven Reeds, One Suit (1949)
    (Documentary)
    (Short Cinema)
  22. Eros (2004)
    Segment: The Dangerous Thread of Things
    (Short Cinema)

My Favorite Theo Angelopoulos Films (2023 Edition)

by John Charet

With the exceptions of Reconstitution, Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow, The Dust of Time and Invisible World, I have seen every single Theo Angelopoulos film that I could find. In fact, I watched all of them online.

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

  1. Landscape in the Mist (1988)
  2. Eternity and a Day (1998)
  3. The Traveling Players (1975)
  4. Voyage to Cythera (1984)
  5. The Beekeeper (1986)
  6. Alexander the Great (1980)
  7. Days of ’36 (1972)
  8. The Hunters (1977)
  9. Ulysses’ Gaze (1995)
  10. The Suspended Step of the Stork (1991)
  11. Capitali culturail d’Europa – Season 1 (1983)
    Episode: Athens, Return to the Acropolis
    (Documentary)
    (Italian Television)
  12. To Each His Own Cinema (2007)
    Segment: Trois minutes (Three Minutes)
    (Short Cinema)
  13. Lumiere and Company (1995)
    Segment: Up to 52 Seconds
    (Short Cinema)
  14. Broadcast (1968)
    (Short Cinema)

My Favorite Robert Altman Films (2023 Edition)

by John Charet

All of the films and television stuff listed on here, I saw on either a home video format (VHS, Blu-Ray, DVD etc.) or through other means like from someplace online.

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

  1. Nashville (1975)
  2. Short Cuts (1993)
  3. Tanner ’88 (1988)
    (Miniseries)
    (Cable/Television)
  4. A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
  5. Robert Altman’s Jazz ’34 (1996)
    (Documentary)
    (Television)
  6. Kansas City (1996)
  7. 3 Women (1977)
  8. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
  9. The Long Goodbye (1973)
  10. California Split (1974)
  11. Secret Honor (1984)
  12. The Player (1992)
  13. Streamers (1983)
  14. The Company (2003)
  15. Gosford Park (2001)
  16. Vincent & Theo (1990)
  17. Come Back to the Five & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)
  18. Cookie’s Fortune (1999)
  19. Popeye (1980)
  20. A Wedding (1978)
  21. Thieves Like Us (1974)
  22. Images (1972)
  23. Brewster McCloud (1970)
  24. M*A*S*H (1970)
  25. Rattlesnake in a Cooler (1982)
    (Television)
  26. The Laundromat (1985)
    (Cable/Television)
  27. That Cold Day in the Park (1969)
  28. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1988)
    (Television)
  29. Tanner on Tanner (2004)
    (Miniseries)
    (Cable/Television)
  30. Gun – Season 1 (1997)
    Episode: All the President’s Women
    (Television)
  31. Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976)
  32. Fool for Love (1985)
  33. HealtH (1980)
  34. The Gingerbread Man (1998)
  35. Aria (1987)
    Segment: Les Boreades
  36. A Perfect Couple (1979)
  37. Basements (1987)
    (Television)
  38. O.C. and Stiggs (1985)
  39. Ready to Wear (1994)
  40. Quintet (1979)
  41. Dr. T & the Women (2000)
  42. Killer App (1998)
    (Television)
  43. Beyond Therapy (1987)
  44. Bus Stop – Season 1 (1961)
    Episode: Accessory by Consent
    Episode: A Lion Walks Among Us
    (Television)
  45. Combat! – Season 1 (1962/1963)
    Episode: Forgotten Front (1962)
    Episode: Rear Echelon Commandos (1962)
    Episode: Any Second Now (1962)
    Episode: Escape to Nowhere (1962)
    Episode: Cat and Mouse (1962)
    Episode: I Swear by Apollo (1962)
    Episode: The Prisoner (1962)
    Episode: The Volunteer (1963)
    Episode: Off Limits (1963)
    Episode: Survival (1963)
    (Television)
  46. The Gallant Men – Season 1 (1962)
    Episode: Pilot
    (Television)
  47. Whirlybirds – Season 3 (1959)
    Episode: Experiment X-74
    Episode: The Challenge
    Episode: The Big Lie
    Episode: The Perfect Crime
    Episode: The Unknown Soldier
    Episode: Two of a Kind
    (Television)
  48. Whirlybirds – Season 2 (1958/1959)
    Episode: Infra-Red (1958)
    Episode: Blind Date (1958)
    Episode: Copters and Robbers (1958)
    Episode: Story of Sister Bridgit (1958)
    Episode: Glamour Girl (1958)
    Episode: Act of Fate (1958)
    Episode: Rest in Peace (1959)
    (Television)
  49. Bronco – Season 3 (1960)
    Episode: The Mustangers
    (Television)
  50. Kraft Suspense Theatre – Season 1 (1963/1964)
    Episode: The Long, Lost Life of Edward Smalley (1963)
    Episode: The Hunt (1963)
    Episode: Once Upon a Savage Night (1964)
    (Television)
  51. M Squad – Season 1 (1958)
    Episode: Lover’s Lane Killing
    (Television)
  52. Lawman – Season 3 (1961)
    Episode: The Robbery
    (Television)
  53. Hawaiian Eye – Season 1 (1959)
    Episode: Three Tickets to Lani
    (Television)
  54. Bonanza – Season 2 (1960/1961)
    Episode: Silent Thunder (1960)
    Episode: Bank Run (1961)
    Episode: The Duke (1961)
    Episode: The Rival (1961)
    Episode: The Secret (1961)
    Episode: The Dream Riders (1961)
    Episode: Sam Hill (1961)
    (Television)
  55. Route 66 – Season 2 (1961)
    Episode: Some of the People, Some of the Time
    (Television)
  56. Bonanza – Season 3 (1961)
    Episode: The Many Faces of Gideon Flinch
    (Television)
  57. Peter Gunn – Season 3 (1961)
    Episode: The Murder Bond
    (Television)
  58. Maverick – Season 4 (1960)
    Episode: Bolt from the Blue
    (Television)
  59. Alfred Hitchcock Presents – Season 3 (1957/1958)
    Episode: The Young One (1957)
    Episode: Together (1958)
    (Television)
  60. Nightmare in Chicago (1964)
    (Television)
  61. Sugarfoot – Season 3 (1959/1960)
    Episode: Apollo with a Gun (1959)
    Episode: The Highbinder (1960)
    (Television)
  62. The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna – Season 4 (1960)
    Episode: It’s Magic
    (Television)
  63. Pot au feu (1967)
    (Short)
  64. Countdown (1967)
  65. The James Dean Story (1957)
    (co-directed with George W. George)
    (Documentary)
  66. The Dirty Look (1954)
    (Short)
  67. The Delinquents (1957)
  68. Modern Football (1951)
    (Short)
  69. The Perfect Crime (1955)
    (Short)
  70. The Sound of Bells (1952)
    (Short)
  71. The Magic Bond (1952)
    (Short)

Please note that their are 24 (or maybe more) Altman works (television or otherwise) that have yet to be discovered.

My Favorite Chantal Akerman Films (2023 Edition)

by John Charet

All films listed here I watched either on a home video format or online 🙂 P.S. there are still plenty more Chantal Akerman films I need to check out.

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

  1. Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
  2. Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the 60’s in Brussels (1994)
    (Television)
  3. Toute une nuit (1982)
  4. No Home Movie (2015)
    (Documentary)
  5. Golden Eighties (1986)
  6. Les Rendez-vous d’Anna (1978)
  7. News from Home (1977)
    (Documentary)
  8. Night and Day (1991)
  9. D’Est (1993)
    (Documentary)
  10. Down There (2006)
    (Documentary)
  11. Sud (1999)
    (Documentary)
  12. Je Tu Il Elle (1974)
  13. Hotel Monterey (1973)
  14. Almayer’s Folly (2011)
  15. De l’autre cote (2002)
    (Documentary)
  16. Tomorrow We Move (2004)
  17. La Captive (2000)
  18. A Couch in New York (1996)
  19. Saute ma Ville (1968/1971)
    (Short)