John Beck

Bon vivant par excellence
Organizer of good things. Skeptical romantic. Needs pasta.

Favorite TV shows of the week: March 21st to March 27th

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1) 24 – “Day 8: 4:00 AM to 5:00 AM” No Change
2) Parenthood – “Wassup” No Change
3) South Park – “The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs” +4
4) Modern Family – “Starry Night” Not Aired
5) Lost – “Ab Aeterno” +8
6) The Cleveland Show – “Once Upon A Tyne In New York” Not Aired
7) Breaking Bad – “No Mas” New
8) Family Guy – “Peter-assment” +2
9) 30 Rock – “Floyd” -2
10) The Office – “Happy Hour” -4
11) Community – “The Science of Illusion” -2
12) Parks and Recreation – “Summer Catalog” -4
13) Chuck – “Chuck Versus the Final Exam” -6
14) Caprica – “End of Line” -5
15) The Life and Times of Tim – “The Salty Jazz/Jews Love To Laugh” -1
16) Sons of Tucson – “The Break In” No Change
17) The Simpsons – “Stealing First Base” No Change

TCM Akira Kurosawa day, part 3!

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Today is Akira Kurosawa day on TCM! Part 3 of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Kurosawa films all day and night; TONIGHT:

8:00 PM Rashomon (1950)
In medieval Japan, four people offer conflicting accounts of a rape and murder. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-88 mins, TV-PG

9:30 PM Seven Samurai (1954)
Japanese villagers hire a team of traveling samurai to defend them against a bandit attack. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Kuninori Kodo. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-207 mins, TV-14

1:00 AM Yojimbo (1961)
A samurai-for-hire sets the warring factions of a Japanese town against each other. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Eijiro Tono, Seizaburo Kawazu. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-111 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

3:00 AM Sanjuro (1962)
 A wandering samurai recruits younger fighters to help him battle corruption. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Hakadai, Yuzo Kayama. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-96 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

Favorite TV shows of the week: March 14th to March 20th

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1) 24 – “Day 8: 3:00 AM to 4:00 AM” No Change
2) Parenthood – “The Deep End of the Pool” +1
3) House – “Black Hole” +1
4) The Office – “New Leads” -2
5) Chuck – “Chuck Versus the Tic Tac” No Change
6) 30 Rock – “Don Geiss, America and Hope” +1
7) South Park – “Sexual Healing” Not Aired
8) Parks and Recreation – “Park Safety” +2
9) Community – “Beginner Pottery” -1
10) Family Guy – “Go Stewie, Go!” Not Aired
11) Caprica – “Ghosts in the Machine” -1
12) The Life and Times of Tim – “Pharmaceutical Sales Rep Gone Wild/Amy’s Got A Gun” No Change
13) Lost – “Recon” No Change
14) Scrubs – “Our Thanks” No Change
15) Sons of Tucson – “Pilot” New
16) The Simpsons – “Postcards from the Wedge” Not Aired

100th Anniversary of Akira Kurosawa's Birth

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I just posted this to my Facebook and just had to put it here on the blog as well:

This started last Tuesday on TCM! 100th Anniversary of Akira Kurosawa’s Birthday. Showing about 5 films a night. Last week they showed Throne of Blood and The Hidden Fortress. Tonight (1:15) they’re showing Red Beard. Next week is 4 INCREDIBLE films, Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and Sanjuro. The last Tuesday of the month they’re showing Kagemusha and Ran. Be sure to DVR all the films I listed if you haven’t seen them yet. They are not only classic Japanese films but they’re some of the most important films in the history of cinema. I’ve included the link for the complete schedule (only on Tuesday nights). WOW!!!!!

http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=290029

I just mentioned my favorite of the films that they’re showing, there’s actually a few lesser known ones that I hadn’t seen but I’ve seen the majority of them. I’ve included links to the Wikipedia entries of each film. Rashomon and Seven Samurai are arguably his 2 greatest films so they can’t be missed. I’m really curious how good they look in HD. As far as I know, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Kagemusha and Ran are the only ones available on Blu-Ray. This is the next best thing. Do not miss this!

Favorite TV shows of the week: March 7th to March 13th

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1) 24 – “Day 8: 2:00 AM to 3:00 AM” No Change
2) The Office – “St. Patrick’s Day” No Change
3) Parenthood – “Man Versus Possum” No Change
4) House – “Private Lives” Not Aired
5) Chuck – “Chuck Versus the Beard” +3
6) Modern Family – “Truth Be Told” -1
7) 30 Rock – “Future Husband” Not Aired
8) Community – “Basic Genealogy” -2
9) Caprica – “The Imperfections of Memory” +3
10) Parks and Recreation – “The Possum” -1
11) The Life and Times of Tim – “The Girl Scout Incident/Rodney Has A Wife?” +1
12) Lost – “Dr. Linus” -1
13) Scrubs – “Our Driving Issues” Not Aired

Hiking Is For Lovers – from RHO-RAE

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Not too long ago I blogged about a postcard that I received. Yesterday I received the following postcard from the super talented Rachel and Rhodes!

Now, as you know I am a huge fan of Rachel’s work. A couple months ago she made me these awesome cuff links! This new postcard is great but the difference compared to the other one is that she had them professionally printed rather than an individually printed lino cut. This new postcard is great but there’s just something special about receiving that lino cut. With that said, It’s still an incredible and unique postcard that hope to get a bunch for myself to send out. You too can get them and other items at their shop; rrcraft.etsy.com

Favorite TV shows of the week: February 28th to March 6th

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1) 24 – “Day 8: 1:00 AM to 2:00 AM” No Change
2) The Office – “The Delivery” Not Aired
3) Parenthood – “Pilot” New
4) Modern Family – “Fears” Not Aired
5) Community – “Physical Education” Not Aired
6) Parks and Recreation – “Woman of the Year” Not Aired
7) Lost – “Sundown” +2
8) The Life and Times of Tim – “Legend of the Month/Marie’s Dead Husband” -1
9) Chuck – “Chuck Versus the Fake Name” Not Aired
10) Caprica – “Know Thy Enemy” -1