Battle of the Battles

For reasons that are a mystery to me, a lot of movies are either about war, or set in a war torn environment. And war is nothing short of terrible. No argument. But what were the best war movies at you can watch at LikeTelevision? Well here the list. The Battle of the Battles.

10) The Battle of San Pietro Written, directed and narrated by John Huston, which means, yes - this is a good film.

9) The Battle of Midway This battle was the turning point for dominance on the sea in World War II. Admiral Bull Halsey, interesting fellow.

8) The Battle of Britain Starring Winston Churchill and our brave friends the Brits.

7) Forbidden Games - This is the story of some orphaned children in WWII France. Very powerful movie. also known as Jeux Interdits, the French title.

6) Battleship Potemkin - Sergei Eisenstein's landmark film set during the Russian revolution.

5) Throne of Blood Imagine a film that combines Japanese master Akira Kurosawa and Shakespeare's Macbeth. The final fight scene in the end is required viewing. The soldiers decide to kill their leader in lieu of facing the battle w/ the fast approaching enemy. About a thousand arrows are fired from everywhere to finish the job. One of the greatest pieces of film ever.

4) Samurai II Duel At Ichijoji Temple Hiroshi Inagaki 's epic trilogy of Musashi Miyamoto, Japan's greatest Samurai warrior. In part 2, everyone wants to knock him off the top, so they challenge him, and lose. The best scene is in a rice paddy field, where he defeats about 100 people who are trying to get him. And because of the difficult footing in the rice paddys, the battle is totally believable.

3) La Grande Illusion Jean Renoir's amazing film about the futility of war.

2) The Battle of Algiers I think this film is fascinating, and hard to watch. It provides a frightening insight on today's war on terror and how war is seldom an answer for fighting hate and terror.

1) Seven Samurai Akira Kurosawa 's 3 1/2 story about a group of Samurai and Ronin (Samurai who have no master or Lord) that join up with some frightened villagers to defend their turf against bandits. Lots of exciting battles, and the final battle is something you just have to experience after watching the whole movie. Totally worth your time.

Charles Dickens' David Copperfield

Check out the newest addition to the movie library at LikeTelevision™, Charles Dickens' David Copperfield. The film features a very impressive cast of British acting legends, including Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Michael Redgrave, Richard Attenborough, and Edith Evans to name a few of the biggest names.

In the film, David Copperfield goes through many triumphs and tragedies on his life's journey in a series of flashbacks and reflections of what the heck happened during the course of his eventful life. Eventually, he gains a deeper understanding that love has more to do with compassion than passion and physical beauty. And that to attain true love, it takes a great deal of courage and strength.

More Classic Monk TV Shows

For all you folks who enjoy Tony Shaloub as Adrian Monk, the brilliant obsessive-compulsive sleuth from San Francisco, well Come on Down, as Bob Barker used to say. We got three cool episodes for you. The first suggestion is titled, Mr. Monk goes to a Rock Concert. Monk at a concert? huh? Yep, funny episode. The next offering is called Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist and it's a hygene nightmare for Adrian. Mr Monk hates dentists (typical anti-Dentite, like Jerry Sienfeld), but he has to investigate in the dentist's office where the crime took place. (sure, we have more dentist videos). The final episode is titled, Mr Monk and the Big Game. Monk is a women's basketball coach and he is hoping with all his might that he might win a trophy. Just one, please!

Ollie Johnston, Last of the Nine Men

Ollie Johnston, the last of Disney's nine men, died April 14, 2008 at the age of 95. (NYT Obit)

Back in the day, when FDR called the nine Supreme Court Justices his nine men, Walt Disney, as a joke called his top nine animators his Nine Men. The group included Marc Davis, Milt Kahl, Les Clark, Eric Larsen, Ward Kimball, Woolie Reitherman, Frank Thomas, John Lounsbery, and of course Ollie Johnston. Here's more on the Disney's Nine Men.

All the Disney greats we remember - Snow White, Bambi and on and on. Thank the nine men. If you want to see a terrific example of Ollie Johnston's animation work, watch Susie the Little Blue Coupe. Narrated by Sterling Holloway, the voice of Winnie the Pooh.

TV Classics about the Tax Man

Time to serve up some TV comedy classics about the tax man. First place goes to Granny, who is ready to shoot the revenue man since he might also wanna mess with her still by the cement pond that makes her Spring Tonic. The episode is called Jed Pays His Taxes. Now imagine the I.R.S. has a worst nightmare, what would that person be like. Well look no further - I think Grace Allen would win this prize. Check out 2 hilarious episodes where Gracie's spacey intellect get the best of The Tax Man and the Property Tax Assessor.

You might also want to check out the Frank Random preview of My Man Godfrey, where Eugene Pallette laments that his family spends 50% of his income while the federal government want 60% for taxes. One final tax video concerns Al Capone, who went to jail for tax evasion.

Ooops, we forgot to mention this yesterday - but April 14th is the day the Titanic sunk after it hit an iceberg. Make sure you check out the One Step Beyond episode about the Titanic called the Night of April 14th. We offer that episode with 2 other episodes as a DVD iso download to subscribers or a la carte. But no worries TV fans, the Flash and Real streams are free to watch.

Olympic Tradition - Politicians and Terrorists

We continue our mini blog series on Olympic Furor over the years. This last part looks at how the Olympics has been used by politicians and terrorists to attempt to make a point, but in the end it usually is a pretty futile and silly gesture. A bunch of countries (Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland) boycotted the games way back in 1956 because of Soviet aggression in Hungary. Cambodia, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt boycotted the same games because of the Suez Crisis. In 1972 & 1976, a bunch of African nations boycotted the games because South Africa, Rhodesia and New Zealand were not banned from the games. And there's other instances as well. So by the time the USA boycotted the games in 1980 (we were livid over the USSR invading Afghanistan... kind of ironic huh?) it was old hat. And yes, Russia responded along with a large group of Eastern bloc countries by boycotting the 1984 games in Los Angeles. Remembering all this as a kid, it really stunk. The Olympics were much less fun with only one of the big boys. I mean what's the point? That's like an ACC tournament with only Duke or UNC showing up, but not both. This year looks to be no different as a bunch of countries are considering boycotting the games because of Chinese human rights violations. Come on folks - you got 4 years between the games to talk all you want and work it out.

But politicians are the only ones who have chosen to disrupt the games, terrorists have too. Back in 1972, the Munich games were really creepy as a bunch of terrorists killed Israeli atheleles and then blew themselves up at the airport.

Olympics, All Greek To Me

We continue our Olympics theme this week in the blog. In case you missed the last post, check it out. If time is tight, at least watch the 1 minute clip of Jesse Owens winning the 100m in the 1936 Berlin games. Hitler is quite upset. Sweet!

Today, we are suggesting some lighter fare - as the videos take you way back to ancient Greece, the place where the Olympic Games started in the ninth century, BC. First up, Popeye in Greek Mirthology. Popeye is trying to get his nephews, Pipeye, Peepeye, Pupeye and Poopeye to put away their ice cream and eat some spinich. So Popeye tells a story about ancient Greece. Popeye plays Hercules, and Bluto comes in to challenge Hercules, because Bluto thinks he's the strongest by far. Oddly enough, Popeye is into garlic for most of the cartoon, before he gets slammed by a Bluto punch that throws him into a spinach patch. And in a surprise ending, the nephews bolt the table, leave their spinach on the plate and get some ice cream from the ice cream man, played by Bluto. So Bluto wins this round, well kind of.

Another fun cartoon with that ancient Greek flavor is It's a Greek life. This classic toon features a Centaur who is a cobbler, and he needs to fix up Mercury's sandals. Oooops, I need to stay Greek - that would be Hermes' sandals.