Pearl Harbor Day

Pearl Harbor Day

Posted on December 7, 2011 at 2:34 pm

Skip the Ben Affleck movie and watch these to commemorate the anniversary of the day the Japanese bombed the US Naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

As news of the attack reached the world, everyone waited to hear what the President would say. Franklin Roosevelt’s stirring response is still remembered:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VqQAf74fsE

Attack on Pearl Harbor: A Day of Infamy Japanese pilots and American sailors, eyewitnesses and participants comment on the events of the attack accompanied by newsreel footage, and analysis by military historians.

The History Channel’s Pearl Harbor The History channel provides background to understand what led to the attack and information about the military tactics. The documentary includes coverage of the Harvard-educated Japanese Admiral who planned the attack and interviews with both Japanese and American survivors.

 

Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack This National Geographic documentary follows Robert Ballard, the man who discovered the remains of the Titanic, as he explores the first casualty of the attack, a Japanese midget submarine that was sunk by an American destroyer an hour before the Japanese airplanes made their appearance.

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War

Why Fox is Wrong About the Muppets

Posted on December 7, 2011 at 8:00 am

Fox news caused a stir when Eric Bolling accused the new Muppet movie of promoting a left-wing agenda because the villain in the movie, played by Chris Cooper, is in the oil business.

Nonsense. There’s no agenda here.  This charge shows a stunning ignorance (or intentional disregard) of the basic facts of film-making — and of capitalism.  The budget for this movie was around $50 million, which could only be undertaken as a matter of pure business.  The movie was made by Disney, one of the biggest corporations in the world.  They made the film for the most capitalistic of reasons: to sell tickets, DVDs, MP3s, and Muppet toys, lunchboxes, toothbrushes, and anything else they can associate with Kermit, Miss Piggy, and their friends.  They don’t want to offend anyone.

But it’s true that a lot of movie bad guys are corporate.  As I wrote earlier, corporations are convenient bad guys for movies because they are big, faceless, institutional, and offend no cultural sensibilities.  I explained on the Ebert show that is not because of any political agenda, however.  Most movies are made by corporations.  Corporations want to make money, and if that means making a corporation the bad guy, that is what they will put in movies.  It’s been going on since the silent movie days through films like “The Apartment” and “Resident Evil.”  That same capitalistic zeal just might just be why Fox, a part of News Corp., decided to try to make Muppets the villains, too; taking on the universally beloved Jim Henson creations attracts attention.  But it’s worth noting that another portion of News Corp., is in the movie business.  Bolling might want to check out the portrayal of the corporate world in films like “Shame,” “I (Heart) Huckabees,” “Fast Food Nation,” and “Rise of Planet of the Apes.”

Be sure to check out the Twitterverse response on this issue, with the hashtag #GOPMuppethearings.  I like this one from dvnix:

“Mr. Grover, can you tell me WHICH one of these things is not like the other and why? Please remember you’re under oath.” #GOPMuppetHearings

 

 

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Understanding Media and Pop Culture

Pete Docter’s New Pixar Project

Posted on December 6, 2011 at 3:57 pm

Pete Docter is the guy behind some of Pixar’s best films.  He wrote and directed “Up” and “Monsters, Inc.” and provided the story for “Wall•E.”  Any time there’s an announcement about a new Docter project it is exciting but this one sounds especially good.  Collider reports that in an interview with Pixar founder and now Disney animation head John Lasseter last night with Charlie Rose, Docter’s new project will take us inside the mind of a young girl.  It sounds a little like the adorable “Cranium Command” show at Epcot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMFJKjGBgOs

It’s great news that Pixar is working on another story about a girl (their first, “Brave,” is due out next year), but we won’t see it for a while, probably not until 2014.  Before that, we have the prequel to “Monsters, Inc.,” “Monsters University” and then an untitled movie about dinosaurs to look forward to.

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Trailers, Previews, and Clips
Live Chat with ANTM All-Stars

Live Chat with ANTM All-Stars

Posted on December 6, 2011 at 1:21 pm

The season finale of America’s Next Top Model All Stars is tomorrow night.  Who will she be?  The contestants have faced complicated catwalks and ambitious fashion photo shoots.  They’ve been asked to carefully craft their public personas, all under 24-hour-a-day surveillance of the cameras.  This round, not only will the winner receive fame and fortune, but she will also be featured in a national marketing campaign shoot for Express!

After the much anticipated finale, Express will run a live chat on their Facebook page on Thursday, December 8, from 8:00PM-9:00PM (EST). All fans of the Express Facebook page are encouraged to join in on the hour long live chat. Fans will have the opportunity to post questions both before and during the live chat for the winner to answer in real time.  All Express and ANTM fans will also have a chance to win a trip to NYC to shop with an ANTM at an Express store! Thursday, December 8, is the last day to enter.

 

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Contests and Giveaways Internet, Gaming, Podcasts, and Apps Television
The Real Story (and the movie versions) of ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’

The Real Story (and the movie versions) of ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’

Posted on December 5, 2011 at 2:28 pm

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the story of the hunt for a mole at the highest levels of British intelligence, began as a 1974 novel written by spy-turned novelist David John Moore Cornwell, who writes under the pen name John le Carré.  The dense, opaque story became the first of a trilogy about the ironically named George Smiley that is ranked with the very best of fiction in any genre.  It became an equally lauded British miniseries starring Alec Guiness.  I’ve watched it at least four times and get more out of it with every viewing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILYP9YnCZUs

Le Carré was inspired by the biggest spy scandal in British history involving double agents known as the Cambridge Five.  The revelation that five distinguished, upper-class Cambridge graduates, one a prominent art historian and adviser to the Queen Mother were giving UK and American secrets to the Soviet Union shattered deeply embedded cultural assumptions in the UK.  The story has inspired non-fiction books as well including The Great Betrayal and Deceiving the Deceivers. It also inspired dramatic re-enactments like the BBC’s Philby, Burgess, and Maclean, Cambridge Spies, and the intriguing An Englishman Abroad, written by Alan Bennett about actress Coral Browne’s encounter with Cambridge Five traitor Guy Burgess, who defected to the USSR after he was uncovered.  She was appearing in a British production of “Hamlet” and he asked her to help him order a suit from his London tailor.Browne plays herself and Alan Bates plays Burgess.

Next week a theatrical version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is being released, starring Colin Firth and Gary Oldman.  Watch for the review next Thursday evening.

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