This is a collection of my favorite controversial videos and award-winning films, both American and foreign films. I do not own these movies, so if you have any copyright issues, let me know and I will be glad to delete it in this blog. If you like this blog, please feel free to share it with your friends and perhaps you can buy me a cup of coffee.
Paramount+'s Fellow Travelers series is a dramatic and romantic story that follows the relationship of two men, Hawkins Fuller and Timothy Laughlin, over several decades of political and social change in America. The series starts in the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during the McCarthy era, where a persecution of communists and LGBTQ+ people is unleashed. The plot extends back to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, covering significant events such as the protests against the Vietnam War in the '60s and disco-era hedonism in the '70s.
The series is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon and was created by Oscar-nominated Ron Nyswaner. Actors Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey play the leading characters, Hawkins Fuller and Timothy Laughlin, respectively. The series premiered on October 28, 2023 and has eight episodes.
The review has highlighted the chemistry between Bomer and Bailey, as well as the depth they bring to their characters and plot. It's a series that not only tells a love story, but also explores the challenges and evolution of American society over several critical decades.
"A complex, intimate, captivating and visually stunning portrait of anguish and desire, “Fellow Travelers” is an expansive tale set primarily at the height of the U.S. government’s war on communists, “subversives” and “sexual deviants” and ending amid the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s." — Variety
Mad Men was listed as one of the Top Ten TV series of all Time, I agree!
The
last couple of weeks I have binging on a couple of old award winning TV
series. The latest series I am currently watching is Mad Men. In case
you are not familiar or has not seen this TV series, here's a summary
from Wikipedia.
Mad Men received widespread critical acclaim for its writing,
acting, directing, visual style and historical authenticity; it won many
awards, including 16 Emmys and five Golden Globes. The show was also the first basic cable series to receive the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, winning the award each year of its first four seasons (2008–2011). It is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time and as part of the early 21st century Golden Age of Television.
Mad Men is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable networkAMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its fictional time frame runs from March 1960 to November 1970.
Mad Men begins at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, and continues at the new firm of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (later named Sterling Cooper & Partners) near the Time-Life Building at 1271 Sixth Avenue. According to the pilot episode, the phrase "Mad men" was a slang term coined in the 1950s by advertisers working on Madison Avenue
to refer to themselves, "Mad" being short for "Madison" (in reality,
the only documented use of the phrase from that time may have been in
the late-1950s writings of James Kelly, an advertising executive and
writer).
The series's main character is the charismatic advertising executive Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm), who is initially the talented creative director
at Sterling Cooper. He is erratic and mysterious but is widely regarded
throughout the advertising world as a genius; some of the most famous
advertisement campaigns in history are shown to be his creations. Later,
Don becomes a founding partner at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce but
begins a struggle as his highly calculated identity falls into a period
of decline. The plot of the show tracks the people in his personal and
professional lives. As the series progresses, it depicts the changing
moods and social mores of the United States throughout the 1960s and
early 1970s.
Personal Note: There were numerous memorable and iconic scenes in
the epic novela depicting true historical events and social mores of the
60 and 70's. Two of the scenes depicted in the last 15 minutes of the
Season 7 and the final episode that still lingers in my mind was the
Esalen Experience and the TV coca cola commercial. The Esalen scenes and
depiction reminds me of a closed and beloved relative.
Here is the list of 10 other TV series similar to Mad Men. I have seen all of them except Fargo, The Wire and Peaky Blinder.
Cate
Blanchett won the Golden Glove Award for Best Actress in the movie Tar.
I rented it last week (Amazon Prime Video). The first 15-20 minutes was
boring, but I continued watching since I already paid $5.99 to watch
it. As the movie progressed it become more interesting and provocative.
The ending was a surprised to me as it was filmed in the Philippines
with scenes of Manila and Tagalog conversations. I enjoyed the movie
very much and it was worth the $5.99 rental fee I paid. Here's the last
10 minutes of the film that was a surprise to me.
"Lydia finds work conducting in the Philippines.
Seeking a massage to ease her jet lag, she asks the hotel concierge for
a recommendation. She is sent to a high-end brothel, where she is
directed to select an escort from the "fishbowl," where numerous young
women are seated in a chamber orchestra-like arrangement. One woman (#5)
looks up into Lydia's eyes, her position the same as Olga's, and Lydia
rushes outside to vomit. With her new orchestra, Lydia conducts the
score for the video game series Monster Hunter in front of an audience of cosplayers".
Last Monday my home care aide (A Pinay) was 30 minutes late.
I was worried as she was always on time even 5 minutes early. She told
me she overslept. Later on she volunteered the reason why she overslept
was the fact that she played automatic mahjong in her friend's
house up to 2AM. Because it was late she did not go home and slept on
her friend's couch. Her Friend's house is only 5 minutes away from me.
Her own residence ( son's house) is 25 minutes away. I was curious about
automatic mahjong table so I did some search here's what I found.
The automatic mahjong table cost varies from the cheapest model of $300 to the most expensive model-$50,000.00. The one I like is described below and can be purchased from Amazon.
下单后您会收到一封确认邮件,请及时回复以便我们尽快发货,谢谢您的理解!You
will receive a confirm message from seller, please reply it so that we
can ship your order ASAP. Thank you for your understanding!
驰名品牌松乐,品质有保障。Tabletop Dimensions: 39′′ x 39′′ x 30.5" high from floor to
tabletop Weight: 220 lb Cable:110v, Length: 5 feet long The folding
table automatically shuffle tiles and push a button to roll the dice and
start playing in 3 seconds! Comes 2 sets of 144pcs 44mm (43mm x 32mm x
22mm) large size magnetic tiles plus 8 blank tiles. 超大手感牌
Never use
MAGNETIC CHIPS! They will cause table breakdowns!We will provide the
foldable table assembly instruction and Mahjong Table Convertible Modes
electronic document Never use MAGNETIC CHIPS! They will cause table
breakdowns!
Contemporary Pedestal Automatic Mahjong Table comes 2 sets
of magnetic tiles 144 tiles (1 Blue & 1 Green) The table can be used
not only with Chinese mahjong set, but also Philippine style, India
style...etc, but please double check the tiles picture and make sure
that is what you play, usually not for American mahjong style.
You can
easily switch the modes on the table according to your preference
: )
Example: Switch the code to "01" --- when playing 144 tiles (Traditional
Chinese Mahjong ) Switch the code to "01" --- when playing 144 tiles.
Tabletop dimensions: 38′′ x 38′′ 30.5" high from floor to tabletop
Weight: 220 lb Cable:110v, Length: 5 feet long High quality table motor
was designed by SOLOR Inc. and with the corporation of Panasonic team.
The tiles are pretty and it's nice to have the numbers on the Chinese
character tiles. Tiles were made of melanmine. 144 tiles Full Size
Mahjong Set unfold dimensions: 110 cm x 101 cm x 77 cm Package included 1
automatic mahjong table + 2 sets of magnetic tiles 144 tiles (1 Blue
& 1 Green)
Here's a video of how the automatic mahjong table works.
