Posted on February 12, 2012 at 8:00 am
Celebrate the birthday of our 16th President with some of the classic movies about his life. Ahead of us this are are the Steven Spielberg epic, based on Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Young Mr. Lincoln
Abe Lincoln in Illinois
Gore Vidal’s Lincoln
Sandburg’s Lincoln
Posted on February 11, 2012 at 9:22 pm
Was there ever anyone more gifted than Whitney Houston? She had the face and voice of an angel. She had beauty, talent, and success including an unprecedented seven number one songs in a row and with Dolly Parton’s song “I Will Always Love You” the biggest selling single by a female artist in history. She came from a loving and supportive family including her mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston. And she lost it all, spending her last years known less for her music than for erratic behavior, a volatile relationship with her husband, Bobby Brown, and substance abuse. And she has died at age 48.
I hope she has found peace at last and that her memory will be a blessing.
This is how I want to remember her.
Posted on February 11, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Kevin Kline, Diane Keaton, and Richard Jenkins star in the upcoming “Darling Companion,” about a lost dog, coming in April.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYYoaspzzlg
Posted on February 11, 2012 at 8:00 am
The Awl has a wonderful illustrated story by Victoria Johnson featuring maps of the imaginary worlds of children’s literature. The maps of The Phantom Tollbooth, The Princess Bride, Winnie the Pooh, The Wizard of Oz, The Hobbit, and more are as inviting as the stories that take place there. And when the publisher and author neglect to include a map, sometimes the fans will supply their own. Johnson points to some fan maps of the land in The Hunger Games.
I love this description of the map in The Princess Bride. (If you are a fan of the movie and have not read the book — full title The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
The map is a doozy—jammed full of details, landmarks, labels, and with no perspective whatsoever. I mean, the Sun is on this map. The trees are the same size as the ships.
As a map: The map is deliberately evoking the feel of a Medieval illuminated manuscript, as this is an exaggerated version of how many maps looked around the times of princesses and feudal castles. Though examples of these kingdom-level maps are abundant and accessible, I’d like to particularly draw your attention to collection of sixteenth-century maps of Jerusalem, made available by The Jewish National University Library. The gallery beautifully illustrates the diversity to be found in this type of region-specific map. While none of them include the Sun, like Goldman’s map, they often use multiple perspectives to show the mapped lands.
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 3:47 pm
It is an honor and a privilege to be invited to participate in one of my very favorite annual movie awards presentations, the Black Reel Awards, which pay tribute to the greatest achievements of the African-American community to the year in film. For 2011, we are proud to recognize the extraordinary work from Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and the entire ensemble in the big-budget blockbuster, “The Help” as well as superb but underseen performances like Adepero Oduye in “Pariah” and John Boyega in “Attack the Block.”
Theatrical
Outstanding Actor – John Boyega / Attack the Block
Outstanding Actress – Viola Davis / The Help
Outstanding Supporting Actor – Don Cheadle / The Guard
Outstanding Supporting Actress – Octavia Spencer / The Help
Outstanding Screenplay, Original or Adapted – Steve McQueen / Shame
Outstanding Director – Steve McQueen / Shame
Outstanding Breakthrough Performance – Adepero Oduye / Pariah
Outstanding Ensemble – The Help
Outstanding Original Song – “The Living Proof” / Mary J. Blige (The Help)
Outstanding Score – Thomas Newman / The Help
Outstanding Foreign Film – Attack the Block
Outstanding Feature Documentary – Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest / Michael Rapaport
Outstanding Film – The Help
Independent
Outstanding Independent Feature Film – My Last Day Without You / Stefan C. Schaefer
Outstanding Independent Short Film – Wake / Bree Newsome
Outstanding Independent Documentary – Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of the Spook Who Sat By the Door / Christine Acham and Clifford Ward
Television
Outstanding Television or Mini-Series Performance, Male – Idris Elba / Luther
Outstanding Television or Mini-Series Performance, Female – Taraji P. Henson / Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story
Outstanding Television Documentary – Planet Rock: The Story of Hip Hop and the Crack Generation / VH1 (Richard Low and Martin Torgoff)
Outstanding Television or Mini-Series Film – Thurgood / HBO (Michael Stevens)
