Binge-Worthy TV Series: Turkish Drama: Filinta Mustafa (2014-2016)

“Filinta Mustafa” is a Turkish mystery and historical period drama series, set in 19th century Istanbul, the Ottoman Empire. There are 66 episodes and they aired from 2014 to 2016. Netflix was instrumental in bringing this TV show to an American audience.

A Clear Line Drawn Between Good and Evil

This series draws a clear line between good and evil and makes it plain for you to see.

• The good guys are really good. Noble and kindhearted. Fiercely dedicated to the pursuit of justice.

• The bad guys and ladies (there is no discrimination or gender inequality) are extremely bad.

Imagine that this fictional series paints a “true picture” of Sultan Abdülhamid’s era (the Ottoman Empire). If so, then to be a law enforcement officer in 19th century Istanbul, you never get any rest! Not only do you have to deal with the local thugs and scumbags, but you have to wrestle with the foreign criminals from around the world that bring their crime to your city. The English, the French, the Russians, the Americans, the Germans, the Catholics! Oh my!

These people scheme and connive to do everything from murder and robbery to starting wars! Also, we have to throw in corruption among the government officials within the Ottoman Empire. Did I mention the part about young children being kidnapped by a secret organization and trained to become ruthless killers? It’s a good thing Filinta Mustafa has a loyal partner, Blade Ali, who works with him to help fight crime and corruption.

The Shakespearean Lens

The best way to describe this TV series is to compare it to a Shakespeare tragedy. A tragedy written by William Shakespeare can’t be tragic if there aren’t dead bodies lying all over the place! Well! There was one episode where there are so many dead bodies and the crimes which occurred in such a short period of time, the police detective said: “Oy! It’s raining corpses today in Istanbul!”

Yeah. It was that many dead people! More than in a Shakespeare tragedy. You just have to ask: Do evil people ever stop thinking and take a break? Do they ever stop being cruel and ruthless, and just smell the roses? 

Filinta Mustafa is Eye Candy for the Ladies

“Filinta” or “Filinta Mustafa”, is the “first Ottoman crime show of television history”. The main character, Mustafa has been styled as “the Turkish Sherlock”. If you are a loyal fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s master detective Sherlock Holmes, you will probably become a fan of his Turkish look-alike.

If I’m being honest, the ladies would love watching this show, whether or not it was interesting. Why? Because they won’t be able to take their eyes off the main character. Filinta Mustafa (played by Onur Tuna) is strikingly handsome. Pure eye candy! Brings a new meaning to “Turkish delight”. Your eyes get glued to him. You follow him everywhere. You see no reason for them to take the camera off of him. If he’s not in the scene, the ladies are thinking: “Hurry up! Get the camera back on Mustafa!”

Summary Review

This is a made for TV crime-solving series that is genuinely delightful entertainment. In each episode, you look forward to the bad guy getting his comeuppance!! There are many bad guys but the main one who is a constant thorn in Mustafa’s side is “Boris Zaharyas”. This guy put the letter “C” in the words criminal, conniving, callous, and cruel! He has got to be brought down! Serhat Tutumluer plays this part and he plays it to the “T”!!

Take your time watching this series. You will want to savor the moment and patiently wait for when Mustafa finally brings down the curtain on Boris!!

My summary review of this series? Never a dull moment.

Source:  RationalMind.club

Movie Review: The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

Fans of Jake Gyllenhaal and sci-fi movie lovers will enjoy this film. I remember listening to a review by one of the critics that made me laugh. Paraphrasing his words, basically, he said:

• “This is a typical storyline. Something devastating or catastrophic is going to happen on earth. And of course, the one who knows what it is, what to do, and tries to warn others is the very person that nobody listens to!!”

This is a lighthearted movie review of a 2004 sci-fi film. Even though it’s 15 years old (as of 2019), it’s still relevant today. Plus! Fans of Jake Gyllenhaal, who want to know what he looked like as a teenager, will love this movie!

What the Official Movie Critics Said

Several official critics had a lot to say about “The Day After Tomorrow”. I remember a review by one of the official critics that made me laugh. Paraphrasing his words, he said:

• “This is a typical storyline. Something devastating or catastrophic is going to happen on earth. Of course, there is one person who knows what it is, what to do, and tries to warn others is the very person that nobody listens to!!”

What This Unofficial Movie Reviewer Says

If you believe in climate change, you’ll understand the storyline. What’s going to happen is there is going to be a drastic change in the weather and there will be freezing cold temperatures. Cold enough that people will die. If you believe in cryogenics, people won’t die. They’ll be instantly frozen. They can be thawed out later.

The Day After Tomorrow – Official® Trailer

Watched this movie and don’t want to spoil it for those who may not have seen it. (Although you might guess The End through the “hints” woven in between the lines of this discussion.)

Most Memorable Movie Scene

For me, there was only one memorable scene in the movie; a scene worth remembering because I love libraries.

In this scene, there is a group of people in a room in a library. It’s getting really cold! They have to do something to stay warm and since they’re in a library, they start burning books, grabbing any book within their reach and throwing it in the fireplace. They get ready to grab this one book and the man holding on it to refuses to let it go!

He goes: “You’re not burning this book!” He spills out his various reasons why “The Book” must not be destroyed.

Some debate and try to reason with him. Others are about to physically struggle to take the book away from him. Someone yells out that they have found an alternative set of books. No doubt every American would love to burn them! This is not one book. It is a set and has volumes upon volumes upon volumes. The group consensus is: “Yeah! Let’s burn those!!”

To me, that scene was totally hilarious fiction. The scene was also realistic. You could almost visualize that scenario actually happening in real life. If you’re an American taxpayer, you know you’ve thought of burning the U.S. Tax Code.

My Unofficial Movie Rating?  3.5 out of 5 stars and I’m being generous.

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Links of Interest:

We need better laws to protect the rights of future frozen cryonicists: Cryogenics is facing legal trouble with body preservation — Quartz

Agriculture Department buries studies showing dangers of climate change – POLITICO

Content first published at RationalMind.club.

Watch the movie trailer

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Hollywood Screen Legends and Icons: Elizabeth Taylor (February 27, 1932 ~ March 23, 2011)

In America, the word “icon” is often applied to a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of society and culture and worthy of honor or great respect. Many celebrities or movie stars are often described as icons. If you were judging them based solely on their public persona, you would approve of them as “representative symbols”. If you were to include details about their private lives as reported, they might not be considered “iconic”.

Not On My List

Any list I make ignores the private lives of the celebrities. Have you ever made your own list of iconic female celebrities? Madonna, Beyoncé, and Lady Gaga might be on your list. Not on my list. I’m old school. Many of the glamorous movie stars from back in my day (“my day” meaning the 50s, 60s, and 70s) are no longer with us. A few years ago, at one of my blogs, I published my unofficial top ten list of female celebrities that in my humble opinion were “iconic”. My Top 10 List of Iconic Female Celebrities

If you review my list (referenced above) you will note that my favorite movie star, Elizabeth Taylor, is not on my list. That's because I think she is iconic; legendary, and deserves her own spotlight.  So I published a separate blog post.

Call her “Elizabeth” or “Liz”. For those who wish to treat her as if she is almost royalty, call her Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, DBE. (DBE = Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire). She is American, but she was born in England so the Brits love her too! Queen Elizabeth officially acknowledged her as a “Lady”.

Beauty / Elegance / Grace / Style / Commanding Presence - is communicated both verbally and nonverbally, she was amazing, Elizabeth Taylor. Beautiful eyes in picture 1. Pic. 3 where I first saw her as Velvet Brown in National Velvet 1944. Pic. 4 Liz as a young girl in London. pic.twitter.com/XdYf5vEDJM

— TV and Film Stars (@TVandFilmStars) January 13, 2019

My Favorite Elizabeth Taylor Films

Numerous documentaries have been aired on television or via the Internet about Ms. Taylor’s life and film career and I have watched too many of them to count. In discussing her significant films, one of the documentaries failed to mention ALL of my favorite Taylor movies. I have 3 favorite films and 2 out of the 3 movies on my faves list were not even mentioned. No matter. I’ll mention them now.

Below are the three motion pictures which starred Elizabeth Taylor that made a lasting impression on me, along with the memorable quotes. They are classic or vintage movies now, and they are worthy of being included in America’s cinematic history and legacy.

National Velvet 1944, her 1st starring role. Perfect in every way! Her faith and determination in a horse to win the race in a big way. She even cut off her hair. A Life's lesson film. pic.twitter.com/hivunUjv3g

— serendipitouspr (@serendipitouspr) April 23, 2020

♦
National Velvet (1944)
This was the story of a young girl who believed in her dream. She loved her horse named “Pi” and she believed that she and Pi could compete in a horse race for professionals. She was an unqualified jockey with no experience or training, and Pi had not been tested. It didn’t matter. She knew in her heart that they could and would win!


“ … by knowing the Pi can win and telling him so!”

“Oh mother! Were we the best that we could be?”

♦

Giant (1956)

This movie is a love story. A girl from the east married an oil millionaire from Texas. She had to make adjustments to her new lifestyle and married life had its difficulties. She loved her husband and he loved her back like vinegar on greens.

Elizabeth Taylor in Giant (1956) ♡ pic.twitter.com/BWiGL5EWyM

— 𝒜𝓏𝓊𝓁. (@tenlovesongs_) April 27, 2020

“Well, we Texans like a little bit of vinegar in our greens. It gives them flavor.” {NOTE: This is what Jordan Benedict (played by Rock Hudson) said to his wife, Leslie Benedict (Elizabeth Taylor’s character). It’s the line etched in my memory.}

♦

Cleopatra (1963)

The title is the name of the famous Egyptian queen who loved two powerful men, the Roman emperor Julius Caesar and a Roman politician and general, Mark Antony. These romantic liaisons were for love and for lust. She desired power. The rest of her story is history.

12 June 1963. Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor in the title role, premiered in New York City. pic.twitter.com/UolQGHAxRZ

— Professor Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) June 12, 2016

“How DARE you and the rest of your barbarians set fire to my library? Play conqueror all you want, Mighty Caesar! Rape, murder, pillage thousands, even millions of human beings! But neither you nor any other barbarian has the right to destroy one human thought!”

♦ In Memory Of: Elizabeth Taylor (1932 -2011)

Is Elizabeth Taylor on your list of favorite actresses and do you have a favorite Liz Taylor film?

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(Original Source: RationalMind.club)

♦ How to watch and stream Elizabeth Taylor movies

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TV Series: Binge Watch Star Trek and Beyond!

Binge-watching is bad for your brain. Well, there are some out there who say that binge-watching is unhealthy. That might be true and I suppose if you’re a youngster you might do some extra research to be sure that you’re not damaging your brain. (How binge-watching is hazardous to your health.)

But I am already beyond the half a century mark (50+). Video streaming is a new form of entertainment, that wasn’t around when I was growing up. So I am going to take advantage of video streaming sites like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Viki, etc. In particular, I plan to enjoy all of those old TV shows that I remember watching on television when I was younger and also TV series that I never got a chance to watch when they were being aired.

Binge-watching is necessary because there are so many seasons/episodes. If I view one a week or one episode a day, it might take 100 years! LOL. Sometimes I also enjoy binge-watching movies in certain genres, like sci-fi. 

Star Trek and Beyond!

(NOTE:  Do not confuse the subheading above with the 2016 movie "Star Trek Beyond").  I simply meant to say I started with the original 1960s series and then went beyond to all of the spinoffs.)

The TV series that I decided to binge-watch is “Star Trek” and all of the other “Star Trek spinoffs”. Why? Because Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock made quite an impression on me as a child. The program had a talented and diverse cast. People from various backgrounds and ethnicities were represented “equally” and back in the 60s in America that was considered ground-breaking. I never watched the Star Trek spinoffs like “The Next Generation”, “Deep Space Nine”, etc. when they were on TV. But we have a Netflix subscription and it has all of the Star Trek episodes, except for “Star Trek: Discovery”. Here is a recap of what I have binge-watched thus far. No spoilers just a few “hints”.

Star Trek: The Original Series (1966 – 1969)

In 1966, I was 11 years old. Rewatching this series was a wonderful trip down memory lane. Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Lieutenant Uhura, and all of the others I remembered so vividly. I honestly can’t say that I have a favorite episode. But I can say that I was disappointed with the last episode. That TV series should not have ended like that.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 – 1994)

This series was an excellent follow-up to the original series. My two favorite characters were Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Data. The Starfleet crew was even more diverse. They had a Klingon on board who was in charge of security. If you watched the original series you will recall that the Klingons were The Enemy. This series introduced Another Enemy far worse the Klingons. The Borg. If they don’t scare you, it’s because you’ve already been “assimilated”. (Hint.) Like the original series, I don’t have a favorite episode in this series either.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993 – 1999)

The crew/cast is “even more diverse”. In addition to humans, there are Klingons, Ferengis, Cardassians, Bajorans, and a species who were even scarier than The Borg. They were called The Dominion. My two favorite characters were Commander Benjamin Sisko and Odo, the Changeling. Incorporating the character Vic Fontaine, played by James Darren in the holodeck was a very creative piece of scriptwriting. My favorite episode in this series is “Badda-Bing Badda-Bang”. Commander Sisko is very talented. (Hint.)

Star Trek: Voyager (1995 – 2001)

A starship lost in space trying to get back home. My favorite characters are not the stars of this show. They are a part of the supporting cast. I love Mr. Neelix and Seven of Nine. In my opinion, this series is not as interesting and engaging as the other series. But it is imperative that I watch it to The End. I have to know how they get home. What a hook!

Original Source

Today in 1966: #StarTrek (TOS) debuted in the U.S. The original starship Enterprise studio model used in the TV show is in our collection: https://t.co/Y6LNJ1sDxC #StarTrekDay #AirSpacePhoto pic.twitter.com/Lki0fhfkMz

— National Air and Space Museum (@airandspace) September 8, 2020

#StarTrekDay

been boldly going for 55 years 💛
— happy #StarTrekDay ! 💫 pic.twitter.com/eg2OkLpx8s

— star trek gifs (@tosgifs) September 8, 2021