Monthly Archives: March 2004

100 Foreign Films

One day during the summer of 1996 I found myself in the dentist’s office waiting to get a tooth drilled. As I waited for the doctor, I paged through a magazine called Movieline. One of the articles piqued my interest. It was a list of the 100 greatest foreign films ever made. Carefully I ripped the pages from the magazine and stuffed them into my purse. My intention was to one day see every movie that made the list. Today I was going through old papers and I found the article. Sadly, I hadn’t made quite the dent in the list as I had hoped. Here are the movies and those in bold are the ones I’ve seen. Finding the article has re-ignited my interest in watching these movies. I just hope I can find them at Blockbuster.

1. L’Age d’Or/Un Chien Andalou (1930), aka The Age of Gold or The Golden Age, France, directed by Luis Bunuel
2. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), aka Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes, Peru/W. Germany, directed by Werner Herzog
3. The American Friend (1977), aka Der Amerikanische Freund, US/W. Ger./France, directed by Wim Wenders
4. A Nous la Liberte (1931), aka Freedom for Us, France, directed by Rene Clair
5. Ashes and Diamonds (1958), aka Popiol i Diament, Poland, directed by Andrzej Wajda
6. L’Avventura (1960), aka The Adventure, France/Italy, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
7. L’Atalante (1934), aka Le Chaland Qui Passe, France, directed by Jean Vigo
8. Belle de Jour (1967), aka Beauty of the Day, France/Italy, directed by Luis Bunuel
9. La Belle et la Bete (1946), aka Beauty and the Beast, France, directed by Jean Cocteau
10. The Bicycle Thief (1948), aka Ladri di Biciclette, Italy, directed by Vittorio De Sica
11. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), aka Die Bitteren Traenen der Petra von Kant, W. Germany, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
12. The Blue Angel (1930), aka Der Blaue Engel, Germany, directed by Josef von Sternberg
13. Le Boucher (1969), aka The Butcher, France/Italy, directed by Claude Chabrol
14. Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932), aka Boudu Sauve des Eaux, France, directed by Jean Renoir
15. Breathless (1960), aka A Bout de Souffle, France, directed by Jean-Luc Godard
16. The Burmese Harp (1956), aka Harp of Burma or Birumano Tategoto, Japan, directed by Kon Ichikawa
17. Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974), France, directed by Jacques Rivette
18. La Chienne (1931), aka The Bitch or Isn’t Life a Bitch?, France/US, directed by Jean Renoir
19. The Children of Paradise (1945), aka Les Enfants du Paradis, France, directed by Marcel Carne
20. The Conformist (1970), aka Il Conformista, Italy/France/W. Ger., directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
21. Contempt (1963), aka Le Mepris or Il Disprezzo, France/Italy, directed by Jean-Luc Godard
22. Cria! (1975), aka Cria Cuervos or Raise Ravens, Spain, directed by Carlos Saura
23. The Decalogue (1988), aka Dekalog, Poland, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski
24. Les Diabolique (1954), aka Diabolique, France, directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot
25. Diary of a Country Priest (1950), aka Le Journal d’un Cure de Campagne, France, directed by Robert Bresson
26. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), aka Le Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie, Italy/Spain/France, directed by Luis Bunuel
27. Dr. Mabuse, Parts 1 and 2 (1922), aka Doktor Mabuse der Spieler, directed by Fritz Lang
28. La Dolce Vita (1960), aka The Sweet Life, France/Italy, directed by Federico Fellini
29. The Double Life of Veronique (1991), aka La Double Vie de Veronique, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski
30. The Earrings of Madame de. . . (1953), aka Diamond Earrings or Madame de…, directed by Max Ophuls
31. Earth (1930), aka Soil or Zemlya, Ukraine/USSR, directed by Alexander Dovzhenko
32. L’Eclisse (1962), aka The Eclipse, France/Italy, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
33. 8 1/2 (1963), aka Eight and a Half, Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2, or Otto e Mezzo, France/Italy, directed by Federico Fellini
34. Europa ’51 (1952), aka Greatest Love, Italy, directed by Roberto Rossellini
35. The Eyes Without a Face (1960), aka Les Yeux Sans Visage or The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus or Occhi Senza Volto, France/Italy, directed by Georges Franju
36. Fanny and Alexander (1982), aka Fanny och Alexander, W. Ger./Sweden/France, directed by Ingmar Bergman
37. Floating Weeds (1959), aka Ukigusa or Drifting Weeds, directed by Yasujiro Ozu
38. Forbidden Games (1951), aka Les Jeux Interdits or The Secret Game, France, directed by Rene Clement
39. The Four Hundred (400) Blows (1959), aka Les Quatre Cents Coups, France, directed by Francois Truffaut
40. Gertrud (1965), Denmark, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
41. The Golden Coach (1952), aka Le Carrosse d’Or, France/Italy, directed by Jean Renoir
42. The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964), aka Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo or L’Evangile Selon Saint-Matthieu, France/Italy, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
43. Ikiru (1952), aka Doomed or To Live or Living, Japan, directed by Akira Kurosawa
44. Le Jour Se Leve (1939), aka Daybreak, France, directed by Marcel Carne
45. Jules and Jim (1962), aka Jules et Jim, France, directed by Francois Truffaut
46. The Kingdom (1994), aka Riget, Denmark, directed by Lars von Trier
47. Lamerica (1994), France/Italy, directed by Gianni Amelio
48. Landscape in the Mist (1988), aka Topio Stin Omichli or Paysage Dans Le Brouillard, Greece/France/Italy, directed by Theo Angelopoulos
49. Last Year at Marienbad (1961), aka L’Anee Derniere a Marienbad, France/Italy, directed by Alain Resnais
50. Lola (1961), aka Donna di Vita, France/Italy, directed by Jacques Demy
51. Lola Montes (1955), aka The Sins of Lola Montes, W. Ger./France, directed by Max Ophuls
52. M (1931), Germany, directed by Fritz Lang
53. Masculin Feminin (1966), aka Masculine Feminine, France/Sweden, directed by Jean-Luc Godard
54. Metropolis (1927), Germany, directed by Fritz Lang
55. Le Million (1931), France, directed by Rene Clair
56. Murmur of the Heart (1971), aka Le Souffle au Coeur or Dearest Love, Italy/W. Ger./France, directed by Louis Malle
57. Napoleon (1927), France, directed by Abel Gance
58. Night and Fog (1955), aka Nuit et Brouillard, France, directed by Alain Resnais
59. The Night of the Shooting Stars (1982), aka La Notte di San Lorenzo or The Night of San Lorenzo, Italy, directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
60. 1900 (1976), aka Novecento, France/W. Ger./Italy, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
61. Nosferatu (1922), aka Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens or Nosferatu, The Vampire, Germany, directed by F. W. Murnau
62. La Notte (1961), aka The Night or La Nuit, France/Italy, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
63. Pandora’s Box (1929), aka Lulu or Die Buechse der Pandora, Germany, directed by G. W. Pabst
64. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), aka La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc, France, Carl Theodor Dreyer
65. Persona (1966), aka Masks, Sweden, directed by Ingmar Bergman
66. Pierrot le Fou (1965), aka Crazy Pete, France/Italy, directed by Jean-Luc Godard
67. Playtime (1967), Italy/France, directed by Jacques Tati
68. Raise the Red Lantern (1991), Taiwan/China/Hong Kong (UK), directed by Zhang Yimou
69. Ran (1985), France/Japan, directed by Akira Kurosawa
70. Rashomon (1951), aka In the Woods, Japan, directed by Akira Kurosawa
71. The Red and the White (1967), aka Csillagosok, katonak, Hungary/USSR, directed by Miklos Jancso
72. The Red Desert (1964), aka Il Deserto Rosso, France/Italy, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
73. Repulsion (1965), UK, directed by Roman Polanski
74. Rocco and His Brothers (1960), aka Rocco e I Suoi Fratelli or Rocco et Ses Freres, France/Italy, directed by Luchino Visconti
75. La Roue (1923), France, directed by Abel Gance
76. The Rules of the Game (1939), aka La Regle du Jeu, France, directed by Jean Renoir
77. Sansho Dayu (1954), aka Sansho The Bailiff, Japan, directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
78. Senso (1954), aka The Wanton Contessa, Italy, directed by Luchino Visconti
79. The Seven Samurai (1954), aka Shichinin No Samurai or The Magnificent Seven, Japan, directed by Akira Kurosawa
80. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964), aka Tini Zabutykh Predkiv or Shadows of Our Ancestors, USSR/Ukraine, directed by Sergei Paradjanov
81. Shame (1968), aka Skammen, Sweden, directed by Ingmar Bergman
82. Shoah (1985), France, directed by Claude Lanzmann
83. Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), aka Sommarnattens Leende, Sweden, directed by Ingmar Bergman
84. Solaris (1972), aka Solyaris, USSR, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
85. The Spider’s Stratagem (Strategy) (1970), aka La Strategia del Ragno, Italy, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
86. Spirit of the Beehive (1973), aka El Espiritu de la Colmena, Spain, directed by Victor Erice
87. Strike (1924), aka Stachka, USSR, directed by Sergei Eisenstein
88. Throne of Blood (1957), aka Kumonosu-jo or The Castle of the Spider’s Web or Cobweb Castle, Japan, directed by Akira Kurosawa
89. Through a Glass Darkly (1961), aka Sasom I En Spegel, Sweden, directed by Ingmar Bergman
90. Tokyo Story (1953), aka Tokyo Monogatari, Japan, directed by Yasujiro Ozu
91. Tristana (1970), Spain/France/Italy, directed by Luis Bunuel
92. Two English Girls (1971), aka Les Deux Anglaises et le Continent or Anne and Muriel, France, directed by Francois Truffaut
93. Ugetsu (1953), aka Ugetsu Monogatari or Tales of a Pale Moon After the Rain, Japan, directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
94. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), aka Les Parapluies de Cherbourg or Die Regenschirme von Cherbourg, W. Ger./France, directed by Jacques Demy
95. Vampyr (1931), aka The Vampire or Vampyr, Ou L’Etrange Aventure de David Gray, France/Germany, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
96. Viridiana (1961), Mexico/Spain, directed by Luis Bunuel
97. Weekend (1967), France/Italy, directed by Jean-Luc Godard
98. Wings of Desire (1987), aka Der Himmel Uber Berlin, W. Ger./France, directed by Wim Wenders
99. The World of Apu (1959), aka Apur Sansar or Apu Sansat, India, directed by Satyajit Ray
100. Zero de Conduit (1933), aka Zero for Conduct, France, directed by Jean Vigo

Wireless Conclusion

I never mentioned how my wireless router debacle ended. Last weekend I packed the router and card back in the box as best I could and I took it back to Circuit City. I was prepared for a screaming match.
“This router doesn’t work with my VPN” I said, trying to muster up as much forcefulness as possible.
“Oh, okay– I’ll put the amount back on your credit card then”
“But, I cut the box– that’s okay?”
“Yeah, sure, don’t worry about it.”
I was blown away at how nice Circuit City handled the return. In fact, I was so happy that I decided to buy the Linksys wireless router and card from them. That evening I hooked up the Linksys router. It wasn’t as easy as the Microsoft router to install but at least this one works with my VPN. All worked out well.

archives

Last night and this morning I played around with Donnaville’s index page. I added all the archives I could find– the earliest one dates back to January 1999! It amazes me that for never having much to say, I’ve been able to do this for 5 years! I also added the latest design changes to HPTour. Maybe I should add a tagline to Donnaville: Embracing mediocrity since 1999! 🙂

Friday night

Audra came over last night. For dinner, I made rubber tires, mashed potatoes and salad. Okay, it was supposed to be steak but I learned my lesson– don’t buy the cheapest steak in the meat section. We probably were eating horse arse for all I know. After dinner, we returned the DVDs we rented last Friday. Walking back to the donnavilla, Audra grabbed a bunch of stuff from her car. The one item looked like a yoga mat. Once up in Lisa’s loft, Audra unrolled the mat and showed us that it was the mat/joystick for a playstation game called Dance Dance Revolution. I thought it was rather silly but gave it a try nonetheless. Oh-my-goodness, I had the time of my life! It was a ton of fun and a great workout. This seals it, I really should join an aerobics class or buy an aerobics work-out tape/dvd.

To Do List
Clean Bedroom
Clean Bathroom
Clean Office area
Pay Bills

Back in the Saddle Again

Donnaville is crawling back– my humble little Web site was down and out for the last week. My hosting provider upgraded their server (or something) which somehow angered Movable Type and corrupted my Berkeley database. Thankfully Kathy from BlogMoxie swooped in and got me back to blogging. My archives and old comments are no longer in Movable Type but at least I have them in html. Let me give all of you a tip– do not use my hosting provider, 2MHost. They are complete jerks who were unwilling to help and went out of their way to jerk me around. For a laugh I should post all the emails I sent them with their responses– let me tell you, I have never been so discouraged. Kathy, on the other hand, was wonderful! She was kind and obliging and very, very helpful. Thanks, Kathy! If I had any friends, I would recommend they use you to set up their Web sites. This is also a good time to say: BACK UP YOUR FILES! I really wish I had done it.

And now the blog entry to end all blog entries… I continued to write (type, may be more exact) even after I was unable to log into Movable Type– I just used Notepad. So here it is– everything I would have blogged about had my site not gone belly up:

1. Last night I dreamt I went to my Senior Prom. My date was Rob, an old classmate of mine who now works with my mother. She recently told me that he just had gastric bypass surgery. In the dream, he arrived at my house looking quite dapper and almost slim in a tuxedo. A team of surgons were right behind him. I invited him into the living room where he took a seat on the couch.
“I am afraid my skin is getting too big and I asked my doctors to make a house call, I hope you don’t mind, especially because this will cost me $40.00 rather than the usual $14.00.”
“Go right ahead” I told him.
The head surgon took out a pizza cutter and sliced a hole into his chest. He scooped out some fat and started to cut away extra skin. As he was about to sew Rob back up, the doctor pulled a great big pickle from Rob’s chest. The surgon shook his head and scolded Rob, “You aren’t supposed to eat solid food!”

2. I am saddened to hear that Dave Blood from The Dead Milkmen committed suicide. If I ever want to find a person’s age without outright asking them, all I need to do is start singing Punk Rock Girl and if the person in question can sing along– CONTEMPORARY! One Saturday I took a walk to Zipperhead/ I met a girl there/ And she almost knocked me dead…

3. Living on my own is wonderful. I am truly enjoying myself. I am a little agravated because Lisa decided she needs cable to exist; whereas I am enjoying not having a TV (or at least one that has reception). The cable man comes today. Will I be able to read or knit, or do crossword puzzles when I know there are 900 channels beckoning me to watch? I think the real reason I didn’t fight is that La Femme Nikita is back on Oxygen and I must get my fix.

4. I am knitting a Mike Nesmith hat for a (seemingly) nice singer/songwriter in England (he contacted me). The hat is coming along well except last night I dropped a stitch and didn’t realize it until 4 rows and now I don’t want to rip out and lose all that work. I am consoling myself that it will be hidden by the brim. Lisa became angry when she saw me knitting the hat because I still haven’t finished her poncho. She said I was making excuses when I told her that this hat is more challenging because it is K1 P1 rather than the poncho which is K all.

5. The cable guy arrived, looked around the house and immediately announced that the only room that was set up for cable is my office.
“That is not possible”, I said, “The cable is to go up in Lisa’s loft.”
Apparently the only way he could do that is run the cable outside along the siding. The homeowner’s association would not look upon this solution too kindly so Mr. Cable Guy left leaving us without cable. Hooray?

6. The Mike Nesmith hat is finished. It turned out okay. If I was to make it again, I would make it shorter. I knitted to 11 inches and I think 9 or 10 inches would have been better. I hope the singer/songwriter in England likes it. Maybe I will try to make another one that more resembles a beanie than a hat.

How to Make a Mike Nesmith Wool Hat

1. Get some dark green yarn.
2. Cast on stitches to equal the size of the head who will be sporting this masterpiece. Make sure the number of stitches is divisible by 2.
I doubled my yarn to make it a little bulkier and I casted on 68 stitches.
3. K1 P1 rib for 9 or 10 inches, depending on head size. SPUTNIK!
4. Last row K2tog
5. Thread the yarn through the last row of stitches tightly and knot.
6. Seam together.
7. Make a pompom and secure to the top of the hat.
8. Grab a guitar and sing Love is only Sleeping.

7. Lisa and I have spent the last few weeks shopping for a kitchen table. The other day I found one I liked on Sears.com. Buying furniture online seemed like a huge risk so I continued my hunt at stores I could physically enter. The few things I found didn’t compare to the Sears retro 50’s formica dinette so last night I ordered it. In 10 days it should arrive and I will know if I made a mistake or not. Quality is hard to tell in a picture.

8. My hosting provider is driving me crazy. They don’t seem to understand that even if the index page loads, there may still be issues with the site. I have asked them to upgrade my databases and all they say is– your index page loads fine. I am beginning to question their ability to speak English.

9. It snowed. The weather seemed to be warming up. I could feel my spirits starting to rise. Excitement began to flow through my veins– Spring is almost here! But then I wake up, walk to the kitchen and through the window I see SNOW! SNOW! SNOW! Snow is great in November, It is fine in December, January, and February. But March?!? NO! I want warmth. I want sunshine. I want to walk outside and feel the sun on my SPF-protected face. Please? Pretty please with cherries on top?

10. My frustrations running high because Donnaville was down, this made me feel so much better!

HULK ANGRY

I am so angry! The weekend brought me unending joy. The router I bought was wonderful and I actually found myself stroking it and whispering sweet nothings to its ports. “Donna wuvs her little wirless router!” “Baby makes Bill Gates proud!” This was before I tried to log in to my VPN. I set up the persistent port forwarding. Everything should have worked. IT DIDN’T. I called my department’s tech guru. He worked with me but couldn’t figure it out. Then I called my company’s tech guru. He too tried to get it to work but couldn’t. Exasperated I called Microsoft support and I talked to Vikram Patel from Bombay, India– for 2 hours. He couldn’t get it to work. In fact, he completely sabotaged everything and now I can’t even get on the Internet with the one computer. Now I know what you are thinking– “Donna, take it back to Circuit City!” I would do that BUT I CUT THE BOX TO GET THE UPC FOR THE REBATE!!!! I can’t imagine they will take it back or exchange it for a Linksys which is what I should have gotten in the very beginning. I am still going to try although I am almost 100% sure it will be a uselss endeavor.

look ma, no wires!

I bought a wireless router! Planned on getting D-Link but bought Microsoft instead. It was so easy to install! I am tickled! The signal is strong in every room and even outside. I should probably test how far I can go. Heck– I may become the local ISP! Although, the people here don’t seem that technically-minded; I can’t imagine there will be any Wi-Fi leeches.

Nights are long

I did absolutely nothing this evening. Certainly I should have unpacked the few remaining boxes and organized my bookshelves and drawers. Instead I played game after game of online crossword puzzles. I tried to control my ravenous hunger– in lieu of making myself a meal, I scavenged on pickles and marshmallows and plums. My stomach feels peaceful regardless of the mishmash that is swimming in it.
This weekend I hope to see Starsky and Hutch. Quite a few years ago, I went to a 3-day Star Trek convention with my dear friend Audra. At the convention, I bought a Starsky and Hutch fan fiction ‘zine. Much to my surprise, the stories all centered on Starsky and Hutch as LOVAHS! Guess I should have realized that by the artful pen and ink drawing of the two on the cover. Silly me, I thought they were just wrestling.

Home again jiggity jig

I am back from Chicago. While I was there, I ate like a pig. A week ago, when I was in Dallas, I also ate like a pig. Now my pants are tight and I have to watch my food intake. Of course, all I want is a great big hot fudge sundae.