cont'd and stuff


First, here's another piece from the project that is preventing me from drawing Everything Pinups. But it won't be an Everything Fill-in, so it's like a secret extra jabberees-only Everything! Aren't we naughty!

This is the Open Market in Lllanidloes Wales. It is rarely used as a real functioning Open Market now that they have department stores and McDonald's over there just like the rest of us. But it's still there and it's still a neat thing to have in the center of town.
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eaGle eYe eeTeeD contacted me to point out that the Birdseye ad was drawn by Dik Browne, artist of Hi and Lois and Hagar the Horrible and creator of the Birdseye Bird and the Chiquita Banana. He's dead now, so we can't ask him about that "but good" typo.
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So far, nobody can prove the Karl Rove thing. I'm waiting until Friday, and then I will update in Mr. Bissette's comments section. So come on, people! Everybody says Rove did it! Can't somebody out there prove it?
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MORE MOVIES and a bit of explanation -

I have the bad habit of expressing my opinion about most movies (or songs, or TV shows, or books...) and my opinion is that they suck most of the time. Because they do! Over the years this has inspired Busy Timmy to dub me Hatey Smurf, caused multiple people to suggest that I write a syndicated column titled "It Sux! by Mark Martin" (Hi Dobbs! Hi Jim R! Hi Kathi!) and induced dangerously severe eye-rolling among my long-suffering friends and associates.

Recently one of these dear friends (Hi Molly!) suggested it would be easier if I just made a list of movies that DON'T suck. Which is really not an original thought, many have suggested the same thing. And I always protest that there are TONS of great movies worth watching, and I always say "I could easily name a hundred!"

So I am finally doing it. That is what this list is. It's just proof that there are indeed at least 100 movies that I have enjoyed very much. I can't argue about the greatness of Marx Brothers movies (because they suck) or the lameness of Citizen Kane (because it's great!). I just know what I like. I like TONS of cool stuff. I really do! Don't even get me started on music. There are a million jillion great songs out there under the radar.

48. CANNERY ROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another tip o' the hat to eeTeeD! Who sent me a copy of this out-of-print movie after I whined for one here on jabberous a couple of years ago! You people are the greatest! Now somebody send me that Karl Rove proof!

49. In Bruges
50. Evil Dead 2
51. The Lathe of Heaven (1980 version)
52. Coal Miner's Daughter
53. Election
54. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
55. Return to Oz
56. Rain Man
57. Looking For Mr Goodbar
58. Austin Powers (first one ONLY!)
59. The 6th Sense
60. Coneheads
61. Magnolia
62. Pinocchio (Disney)
63. Time Bandits
64. Slaughterhouse Five
65. CRASH
66. Million Dollar Baby
67. Knocked Up
68. Talladega Nights (so sue me!)
69. Dumb and Dumber (sue me again!)
70. In Her Shoes (bring it on!)
71. Casino
72. King of Comedy
73. Sleeper
74. Network
75. Spartacus
76. Millers Crossing
77. Disco Avenging Godfather (re-released as Disco godfather, but it will always be Disco AVENGING Godfather to me, you rat-soup muthafukka!)
78. Dog Day Afternoon
79. Serpico
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20 comments:

Janet said...

Whatever Happened To Baby Jane...one of my all time favorites, too!

Janet said...

Ooh!...I'll bet this one will bring on severe eye rolling...but I like it anyway!....The Prince of Tides

James Robert Smith said...

48. CANNERY ROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like this one, too. A weird little movie. Did you know that the female lead was supposed to have been Raquel Welch, but she had some kind of tantrum, so they got Debra Winger.

50. Evil Dead 2

The funniest Tex Avery cartoon that Tex Avery didn't direct.

52. Coal Miner's Daughter

Yep. A good 'n'.

55. Return to Oz

I have that movie on DVD. It's just weird, is all. Fairuza Balk's first movie.

64. Slaughterhouse Five

A very good, if forgotten film.

69. Dumb and Dumber (sue me again!)

I liked it.

71. Casino

Yeah. Okay.

74. Network

Worth seeing for Ned Beatty's Oscar-turning performance. (What? All of five minutes of the movie?)

I read an interview with Beatty year before last wherein the guy conducting the iv asked him why his career had tanked? And Beatty recounted that--somewhere, somehow...he doesn't know why or who did it--word got out that he was a Jew-hater (it's not true, of course). But it all but ended his career. That's why you never again saw him in big-budget movies. Just small films, schlock films, and TV shows.

I've always said that anyone who puts SIXTH SENSE on any "best of" films doesn't know squat about weird fiction. Yeah, Bruce Willis is fun to watch in the movie, but anyone who can't figure out that he's dead just a few minutes into the movie is...well, maybe not a moron, but naive, let's say.

The rest of your list, as before, I either thought sucked monkey ass, or I've never seen.

Mike Dobbs said...

Go here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/12/rove-trashed-mccain-if-_n_86193.html

watch the video.

It won't prove anything you want proved other than Rove, who is now backing McCain, is a purely political animal who is simply seeking to extend the time of his influence on national affairs.

I don't get your insistence on this litmus test to show what kind of person Rove is...you're not going to change your mind about McCain/Palin on the results of this little inquiry, so what's the point?

Mark Martin said...

Geez, Mike, come on. Journalism! Irony! I am surprised the point is not obvious to you. It dovetails with Outfoxed, etc etc...

I can't watch streaming video at work. I'll check it out later. I bet you're right. I bet it does not prove anything. But if it does, I'll say so. I'm not out to twist anything around for a Higher Purpose.

SRBissette said...

Anyone with the 'proof' at hand is highly unlikely to be lurking, much less posting, at two cartoonist blogs. This is hardly a rational ultimatum you've laid out here, but again, good luck.

Carry on. It's easy enough to see and hear (via their own words placed against their own words and the public records) that McCain and Palin are up to their necks in bull ca-ca they themselves are spouting, and it's only going to escalate. Rove is toxic, his association with the campaign puts lie to years of McCain 'straight talk.' Period.

SRBissette said...

PS: Great movie list.

Mike Dobbs said...

No, the "point" is not obvious..."journalism," "irony?"

Again, if you received "proof" how would that change things for you? My guess is that it would change nothing...you wouldn't vote for Obama. You would vote for McCain regardless of any misgivings.

And why do you like like Palin? Her lack of experience? Her lies? Her flip-flopping?

Read my blog tonight, please.

Jed Alexander said...

Talladega Nights is one of the best movies you'll find it impossible to convince people to see, especially if they won't see Wil Ferrell movies on general principal. It's the perfect example of a kind of movie that's almost always disappointing working on every level.

Lathe of Heaven--that one I couldn't recommend to anybody. It's cheesey and it doesn't really hold up, though I'm sure it's still 100 times better than the remake I never saw, and it will always have a place in my heart for blowing my mind when I discovered it by chance on PBS as a kid and wondered what...the...hell...is..this..awesome...thing?

Good book too.

In Bruges was pretty good too. Not on my top 100, but good. And election was very good even if the director went on to do Sideways, a movie I thought was going to be a satire about the ludicrous hobby of wine tasting, when in fact it made sweet sweet sloppy love to wine tasting and all the grossness associated with wine tasting.

And King of Comedy was the best movie Scorsese ever made. By far. And DeNiro's single greatest performance. ever.

And you can hate the Marx Brothers all you want, but I can't say I'm a fan of manipulative schmaltz like Rain Man that totally misrepresents the illness of Autism with a performance by Dustin Hoffman that ammounts to little more than a one note human special effect.

And Looking for Mr Goodbar--Diane Keaton survives an oppressive Catholic childhood and rebels by becoming a big slut, and in the end finally gets her just desserts? Strangely compelling in its way.

But otherwise, not a bad list.

I need to go do my laundry.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Mark -- you did it! I'll bet Jeannie is proud of you. Though I think this is less of a "Top 100" than it is an "Only 100" list of movies you like. I can't help but notice that Throw Momma from the Train is missing, but I can understand if you're concerned about the uproar from that selection.

I won't judge (too harshly) your choices -- movies are like music and are unique to the audience. You've listed some really great ones -- and some I'll make an effort to see -- though I have to say that I thought Superbad was way better than Knocked Up (no offense to KU -- good movie). I never saw Iron Giant but it looked like the biggest load of crap ever created by Disney. I could be wrong.

A side note (and a bit of shameless boasting) on Animal House. My Dad was in the same frat house at Dartmouth with the main writer, Chris Miller. He can attest that the events that went on there were just that crazy. I know what you’re saying, Jed, but at the time AH was unique and now is seen by most as a classic.I love that movie.

Good job, Mark. It’s nice to know you don’t think every movie sucks. Oh, and don't mind the eye-rolling -- I'm just stretching my eye muscles.

Mark Martin said...

Mike: I watched the video. I see a man who is now working with a political candidate, trashing that same candidate in a previous campaign. I have always thought the shallowness of politicians and their sycophants is disgusting. What is it about this particular video that you want me to see? It looks like a million other old videos of Biden trashing Obama, McCain trashing Bush, etc etc. What does it have to do with Rove and the black child scandal?

I will explain all of this Friday, what my point is, if there is still no proof.

Molly: "Though I think this is less of a "Top 100" than it is an "Only 100" list of movies you like."

Yes. Exactly. Isn't that what I said? It is merely 100 movies I like. It is not supposed to be "The Top 100". It is not supposed to be MY top 100. DON'T MAKE ME STOMP THE YARD!!!

Jed: Jed, Jed Jed...

Mike Dobbs said...

"Again, if you received 'proof' how would that change things for you? My guess is that it would change nothing...you wouldn't vote for Obama. You would vote for McCain regardless of any misgivings.

"And why do you like like Palin? Her lack of experience? Her lies? Her flip-flopping? "

You didn't answer any of my questions.

I can't wait until Friday when you crush me like a grape.

Mark Martin said...

Again, if I receive proof, I will believe that this oft-reported "fact" is indeed a fact, and not just some urban legend that gets thrown around as fact by people who are accusing others of playing fast and loose with the facts. I am not looking for reasons to vote for Obama. I said this was about journalism.

I like Palin because she got rid of the jet.

You didn't answer my question either. What was I supposed to learn from that dopey video of that dopey Karl Rove?

I'll go ahead and spill the beans before Friday if I have time. I'm trying to be fair and see if within a week somebody out there can find any proof of this "fact" about Karl Rove and the black child thing, but I don't think it's coming, so I'll go ahead and pontificate early if I can. I can always mea culpa if that proof shows up later.

Jed Alexander said...

Mr Dobbs,

I wish you wouldn't say, "flip flopping". This was so overused during the Bush/Kerry campaign that I think Fox news had it trademarked. What does it even mean?

If you're going to use a tired term that no longer means anything, my favorite is "fascist".

I'm less concerned about which side Palin butters her pancakes on than I am her fundamentalism, and scary conservatism. She thinks that God wants us to be in Iraq. I'm more worried about what she's not lying about than what she might be. And her current popularity is alarming.

And I couldn't care less about the Rove thing. He'll do whatever he can get away with to put his candidate in office. Regardless of whether this particular story is real or imaginary, I'm sure he's committed worse offenses.

Mike Dobbs said...

Mark...please go here, http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/did_sarah_palin_sell_the_alaska_governors.html

and read the links.

My point with the video is that Rove is truly political animal who will say or do anything to remain in a position of influence. Frankly, I beleive your mind is already made up and you will offer any excuse possible to dismiss the political reality: Rove ran the campaign in SC, they said that shit about McCain and his adopted daughter and it worked.

And now McCain wants to win so badly he is listening to Rove, the guy who helped scuttle his presidential aspirations in 2000.

What in the name of that all this is holy do you want? Why is this point so important to you? If you're going to discuss politics, why not deal with real issues? The frickin' stock market is imploding, the banking industry is rupturing, the war is continuing with more troops heading to Afghanistan, unemployment hasn't been abated...

Mark Martin said...

Why am I obsessing over this Rovian detail?

I'm not. Let's drop it til Friday.

Palin did not sell plane on ebay? Plane sold for less than paid for it? Big deal. Try to sell your car for what you paid for it.

"The frickin' stock market is imploding, the banking industry is rupturing, the war is continuing with more troops heading to Afghanistan, unemployment hasn't been abated..."

Well, duh. Thanks for the news flash. Although I'd argue your alarmism over the unemployment crisis.

Mike Dobbs said...

Just as I thought: when I showed you Palin didn't sell the plane on eBay – something that you cited as a reason for your support – you dismissed it.

Why don't you come to Futureworks in Springfield and check out the number of jobs available, what kind of jobs they are and the numbe rof people looking for work and how long they've been looking before you call me an alarmist?

Mark Martin said...

Jeez, wouldja calm down and read what I said? I said "She got rid of the jet". Who cares if she sold it on ebay?

And the unemployment rate - look, even if it was a crisis, that would not automatically mean a thinking sane man should freak out and vote for Obama. Or McCain.

I'm worried about you, Mikey. I think that old Bissette has polluted your mind!!!

Mike Dobbs said...

I'd ask for you to actually explain your politics, but I know that would do no good.

"Palin did not sell plane on ebay? Plane sold for less than paid for it? Big deal. Try to sell your car for what you paid for it."

So you admitted that Palin/McCain mis-represented themselves about the jet sale issue? That's what you meant when you wrote the paragraph noted above?

Mark Martin said...

I'd ask you the same, but I know that I too would be totally baffled and frustrated.

Of course I admit that politicians misrepresented themselves. Padded their resume. Oh the scandal!

What else is new? Have you discovered a politician somewhere who does not spin and sell?

I think this is the first post to reach 20 comments. You have helped set a New World's Record! We'll share a celebratory cigar when we view/debate OUTFOXED! Well, we'll each have our OWN cigar. I don't mean share the SAME cigar! EYEW!!!