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DEMOCRACY/NETFLIX/PRIME

President Joe Biden made two talks in Europe:

The value of democracy and how we got here fades with the passage of time.  Who remembers that 4,415 allied troops, including 2,501 Americans were killed on D-Day 80 years ago.  Worse, in the ensuing Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded.  German deaths?  between 4,000 and 9,000.  
For the sake of tomorrow, let me provide a comparison:

       Democracy                                                       Dictatorship
       Heroes                                                         Suckers and Losers
       Trustworthy                                                      Liar  Liar  Liar
       Solid Citizen                                                  Convicted Felon
       Green Energy                                                      Fossil Fuels
       Supports Science                                         Disbelieves Science
       Concerned About Global Warming       Global  Warming is a Hoax
       Family Man                                     Misogynist and Cheats on His Wives
       For Abortion Rights                                    Anti-Abortion Rights
       For Civil Rights                                            Anti-Civil Rights
       For Obamacare                                     Attempts to End Obamacare
       For Unity and Order                           Promotes Turmoil and Disorder
                                                                                          and
                                                                    Failed in His Attempted Coup

I can go on and on, but you can make the right choice on 5 November 2024.  And, by the way, this is not the first time democracy has been on trial.

This was true American history just before World War II:  George Washington hung alongside swastikas, underlining the organizers' belief that Nazism was entirely consistent with American ideals. NAZI TOWN, USA tells the largely unknown story of the German American Bund, an organization of Nazi sympathizers on American soil. There also were joint rallies with the Ku Klux Klan and dozens os summer camps for children around Nazi idealogy and imagery. With Donald Trump as president, we just could head in this direction again. View a 53-minute video of a PBS documentary.

But this is Friday, so to better enjoy your weekend, some entertainment options.  Rotten Tomatoes rarely has a rating for South Korea programs so soon, but a 2024 production which began showing in March with 16 episodes, each 78 minutes long, Queen of Tears, got 100/94 scores from Rotten Tomatoes.  The final episode received the highest rated Korean series ever, surpassing Crash Landing on You, a 2019 series that that got 100/97 from Rotten Tomatoes.  At dinner, the discussion was that this is the latest popular offering from Netflix.

As of June 2024, here are the 100 best Netflix series to watch right now.  The numbers represent Rotten Tomatoes reviewers score.

  • #1      100  The Dragon Prince (2018).  I don't watch animated flicks.
  • #2     100  Mo (2022), 8 half an hour episodes of an American comedy-drama starring Mo Amer as a Palestinian refugee living in Houston Texas.  No popular actors.  Won a Peabody award in 2022  There will be a season 2.
  • #3      100  Arcane: League of Legends (2021). Animated.
  • #4      100  Blood of Zeus (2020). Animated.
  • #5      100  Red Roses (2022), teens must survive a summer of terror after downloading a mysterious app called Red Rose. No known actors.
  • #6      100  Cyberpunk (2022):  Edgerunners (2022). Animated.
  • #7      100  Carol & the End of the World (2023). Animated.
  • #8      100  Pokemon Concierge (2023). Animated.
  • #9      100  Katla (2021), catastrophic eruption on sub-glacial volcano Katla turns a nearby community's world upside down. No known actors.
  • #10    99  Derry Girls (2018) comedy following a group of friends as they navigate the Northern Ireland troubles.
  • A lot of animated films, but the remaining list only has a few more.  Gazing upon the list, I have at least begun to watch some of them:  #100 89 The Silent Sea,  #33 95 Squid Game, #24 Unorthodox (completed...good), #23 96 The Queen's Gambit (also good), #14 98 Lupin, #11 98  Better Call Saul (excellent).
If you don't like to devote so much time to productions with too many episodes, here are the 100 best movies on Netflix by Tomatometer.
  • #1      100  His House (2020), terror of refugee experience.  
  • #2        99  Miss Juneteenth (2020), about the Miss Juneteenth pageant
  • #3        99  The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020), about a 39-year old New York playwright
  • #4        99  Under the Shadow (2016), during Iran-Iraq War.
  • #5        98  Godzilla Minus One (2023), yes, Godzilla
  • Never heard of any of the above.  I did view the next.
  • #6        97  Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020), Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman
  • #7        97  Dolomite is My Name (2019(, Eddie Murphey
  • #8        97  Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), in New Zealand, okay.
  • #9        97  Mudbound (2017), Carey Mulligan
  • #10      97  Paddington, young bear
  • #16      96  Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), loved it
  • #29      94  Moneyball (2011), about baseball with Brad Pitt
  • #70      90  Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway
  • #89      89  Amadeus (1984), Mozart
  • #100    84  Hacksaw Ridge (2016), good.
  • #1      Leave No Trace (2018)
  • #2      Toy Story 2 (1999)
  • #3      Man on Wire (2008)
  • #4      Honeyland (2019)
  • #7      The Philadelphia Story (1940), Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, James Stewart)
  • #8      76 Days (2020), about hospital life in Wuhan in early days of the Covid-19 pandemic
  • #15    Seven Samurai (1954), one of my all-time favorites.
  • #19    Singin' in the Rain (1952), Gene Kelly, etc.
  • #28    The Terminator (1984), with Arnie S.
  • #33    The Last Picture Show (1971), only rated 98, and I found this to be really boring.
  • #34    M (1931), with Peter Lorre
  • #37    12 Angry Men (1957), Henry Fonda about a trial
  • #39    Pinocchio (1940)
  • #46    Tampopo (1985), Japanese film about a ramen shop
  • #48    The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Bogey
  • #52    Cool Hand Luke (1967), Paul Newman
  • #54    Anatomy of a Murder (1959), James Stewart
  • #61    The Kid (1921), Charlie Chaplin
  • #63    Tokyo Story (1953), an even more boring movie, from Japan
  • #74    Stagecoach (1939), John Wayne
  • #98    Top Hat (1935), Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers
  • #105  Stop Making Sense (1984), the final film with a 100 rating.

I also subscribe, like most of you, to Prime Video, because we buy things from Amazon.com.  So here are the Best series now available:

  • #1      100  Fleabag (2016), watched a few, only okay.
  • #2      100  The Legend of Vox Machina (2022)
  • #3      100  The Kids in the Hall (2022)
  • #4      100  Lularich
  • #5      100  Deadloch (2023)
  • #6      100  Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls (2022)
  • #10      99  Invincible (2021)
  • #20      96  One Mississippi (2015)
  • #25      95  Mozart in the Jungle (2014), I've watched a few episodes..good.
  • #97      40  The Terminal List (2022)
  • I'm watching at least a dozen on this list, but in low priority, so few get finished.
  • #1      100  12 Angry Men (1957), ideal as a parallel view with Donald Trump's trials.
  • #2      100  Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
  • #3        99  Blow the Man Down
  • You can click on this to view the rest.
Those above lists are useful, but one of more utility is what are leaving Netflix this month.
  • June 16:  The Mule
  • June 24:  Dirty Grandpa
  • June 28:  Meg 2:  The Trench
  • June 30:  All five Nightmare on Elm Streets, Footloose with Kevin Bacon, Kill Bill 1 and 2,  Godzilla, Out of Africa and Animal House
Finally, again, Tubi, a free source of entertainment.  Easy to get to and one link is this.  If you have a special streaming source like Roku, there is already an icon on which to click.

America's Got Talent had two noteworthy performances this week.  First 5-year old drummer Chrisyius Whithead.

Maybe the potential champion this year is the group Sky Elements and their drone act.

- 

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