Superior Home Entertainment Activities

 

INTRODUCTION

Superior home entertainment activities have become my favorite social distancing pastime during the COVID pandemic. In order for me to participate in this luxury of domestic and foreign films, series, and documentaries, I need the following:
1. entertainment equipment (a computer or smart TV)
2. streaming venue subscriptions
3. access to individual films and series

Details about equipment may be featured in a post at some future date. But this post focuses specifically on information about streaming venues. It highlights individual films, series, and actors, especially. Therefore, a group of our favorite entertainment selections happens to be the primary focus of this blog post.

ENTERTAINMENT EQUIPMENT

superior home entertainment
Samsung Neo QLED
In fact, I was reminded of this when I posted about home entertainment on my my Facebook page recently. I wrote, “What’s on my mind this morning? Did you know that my husband, Phillip Jacobs and I are huge film and TV drama series fans?” We even have a Facebook page devoted to this topic, Streaming Choices by Alison. Now we offer this blog post, too.

 

STREAMING VENUES

Our two primary venues are Netflix and Prime. Occasionally, we will watch something on Youtube or stumble upon another streaming venue.
superior home entertainment
The Netflix and Prime logos

OUR CURRENT FAVORITES LIST

As part of this new pastime, many of our choices are off the beaten path of mainstream entertainment. For this reason, they may not be foremost in your memory. Actually, some actors and selections may be unknown to regular movie goers. To me, this is what makes our topic fun, even unique. As a result, choices may expose readers to a whole new world of superior home entertainment options. Immediately below is a montage of non-clickable links.
superior home entertainment
This is a montage of unlinked images of our current selections of superior home entertainment choices. Clickable links are available from individual entries.

 

AND THE WINNERS ARE . . .

1. Best Romantic Film-Silver Linings Playbook
2. Best Cultural Series-UnOrthodox
3. Best Nouveau Noir Film-LA Confidential
4. Best Traditional Noir Film-Laura
5. Best Classic Comedy-My Man Godfrey
6. Best Classic Comedy-Sullivan’s Travels
7. Favorite Actor-Oscar Isaac
8. Favorite Actress-Rita Hayworth
9. Favorite Foreign Actor-Omar Sy
10. Best Foreign Mystery Romance Series-Black Money Love
11. Lifetime Achievement Award-James Gandolfini
There are clickable Youtube samples below. They include trailers and parts from each of our favorite selections.

 

FAVORITE CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE FILM

1. Best film Silver Linings Playbook with Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence

 

FAVORITE FOREIGN CULTURAL SERIES

2. UnOrthodox with Shira Haas, Best Foreign Actress
https://youtu.be/-zVhRId0BTw
 

FAVORITE NOIR FILMS

3. Best film (nouveau noir) LA Confidential, Russell Crowe, Tim Basinger

 
4. Best Film (traditional noir) Laura with Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews

 

FAVORITE CLASSIC COMEDIES

5. Best Classic Comedy My Man Godfrey with William Powell, Carole Lombard

 

6. Best Classic Comedy Sullivan’s Travels with Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake

 

FAVORITE ACTORS

7. Favorite Actor Oscar Isaac

 

8. Favorite Actress Rita Hayworth (1918-87)

 

9. Favorite Foreign Actor Omar Sy

 

FAVORITE FOREIGN SERIES

10. Favorite Dizi (Turkish Drama) BLACK MONEY LOVE aka Kara Para Aşk and Best Actors

Engin Akyürek and Tuba Büyüküstün

https://youtu.be/aMMTH90NZkc
 

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

11. Lifetime Acting Achievement Award James Gandolfini
Although best known by far for his award winning role in the Sopranos, Down the Shore, is a little known film that we found very appealing. The story itself will surprise you.

https://youtu.be/fKGErYE_2D8
 

CONCLUSION

So, there you have it. Some of our favorites. Their inclusion has no rhyme or reason. In fact, we just love them. To illustrate their diversity, we have included American selections and International selections. Besides that, there are contemporary choices and classic choices. As you can see, our choices are from a broad range of options.

If you have others favorites, please let me know in the comments area at the very bottom of this post. But remember this, please do not labor over your choices. In fact, you should be spontaneous. In other words, from the heart not the intellect. Mention just the ones you love.

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Bad-Boy Movie Heroes

INTRODUCTION

Bad-boy movie heroes have been a major attraction for celluloid audiences in the US and abroad for about 100 years. In fact, I was reminded of some of my historical favorites by my latest, Turkish actor Engin Akyurek. I have chosen four other bad-boys for this writing. In addition to my total list of these five are the reasons I have given them the name, bad-boy movie heroes. As a matter of fact, I suspect that this may be the ‘Hollywood’ formula that works as well today in 2020, as it did when it was invented. The bad-boys included here range from films made in 1944 to 2015.

bad-boy movie hero
Engin Akyurek from the Facebook Fan Club Group
THE BAD-BOY PERSONALITY FORMULA

A. They don’t follow the rules.

B. They are handsome, sexy, and magnetic.

C. Their behavior tends to range from rage to romance.

D. For the most part, the women they attract are ‘nice-girls’

E. These bad-boy movie heroes almost always get the ‘nice-girl’

F. In spite of their unorthodox procedures, they often become heroes.

 
 

THE BAD-BOYS
bad-boy movie heroes
Bad-boy movie heroes, images from Google. Left to right, Dana Andrews, William Holden, Paul Newman, Bradley Cooper, Engin Akyurek

Fashions may have changed. Hairstyles may have altered as well. But one thing remains the same. That is the bad-boy movie heroes formula. Each of the following trailers illustrates the constants that make each bad-boy a movie hero.

THE MOVIES AND THEIR BAD-BOY HEROES

1.The trailer for ‘Laura’ with Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney 1944
https://youtu.be/yjeRl5lhUlU
 
2.The trailer for ‘Picnic’ with William Holden and Kim Novak 1955

 
3.The trailer for ‘The Long, Hot Summer’ with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward 1958

 
4.The trailer for ‘Silver Lining Playbook’ with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence 2012

 
5.The trailer for Kara Para Ask aka BLACK MONEY Love 2014-2015 with Engin Akyuerk and Tuba Buyukustun

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