Posted on October 13, 2018 at 7:00 pm
Director Damien Chazelle cares deeply about music. His film “Whiplash” is about a drummer and “La La Land” is a musical. He worked with composer Justin Hurwitz, who won two Oscars for “La La Land” on all three. In this video, Hurwitz talks about working with Chazelle again on “First Man,” which involved a lot of firsts for him, including learning how to play the theremin.
Posted on October 11, 2018 at 8:00 am
Many thanks to William Topaz and inmyarea.com for inviting me to create a list of killer robots in the movies. Of course it has classics like “Terminator” and “Metropolis,” and some off-beat choices like the Fembots in “Austin Powers,” but I’m pretty sure I’m the only one to include “What a Way to Go!” with Paul Newman and Shirley MacLaine.
Posted on October 10, 2018 at 9:34 am
SPOILER ALERT: Anyone who has not seen “A Star is Born” or any of the previous versions and does not want to know the anding should read no further.
Many thanks to USA Today’s Bryan Alexander for writing about the troubling ending to “A Star is Born.” Like the previous versions of the story, it ends with a suicide, and as I explained in my review, while writer/director Bradley Cooper brought some nuance to the conclusion, it still concerns me that suicide should ever be portrayed as noble or a sacrifice for others. As I told him:
“I sat through this whole movie, thinking, ‘I hope they find a better way of dealing with this,’ ” she says. “I don’t want anyone to think (suicide) is ever a choice.”
Minow was pleased about a scene in which Maine’s brother (Sam Elliott) tells a distraught, guilt-ridden Ally that the singer’s death was not her fault.
“That took the responsibility off of her,” says Minow, who thought that still didn’t go far enough. “You want to be sensitive about portraying nobility or catharsis through suicide. Suicide is nothing but sad. Always sad. We can do better in 2018.”
Posted on October 5, 2018 at 1:09 pm
“La La Land” director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling have teamed up again for “First Man,” the story of Neil Amstrong and the 1969 Apollo 11 voyage to the moon. Get ready for space travel with these outstanding fact-based films — they are not only true stories; they are some of my very favorites:
Hidden Figures One group of braniacs figured out how to build the rocket, another figured out how to create the fuel necessary to make the almost half a million mile round trip. And a whole other group had to figure out how to hit the target, so that fully fueled rocket ship would not bypass the moon and go hurtling off into the universe. The remarkable story of the math people, including brilliant black women, is told in this warm-hearted and inspiring film.
The Dish Another story of the unsung heroes of the space race is this utterly charming film about the Australian crew who ran the satellite dish that allowed the footage of the moon landing to be shown around the world.
The Right Stuff Tom Wolfe’s ground-breaking book about the earliest days of the space program, including the selection of the first group of astronauts is the source for this film, written and directed by Philip Kaufman and starring Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Quaid, Pamela Reed, and Sam Shepard.
Apollo 13 Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, and Ed Harris star in the gripping story of a flight to the moon that went terribly wrong. “Failure is not an option,” said Flight Director Gene Kranz. Even though we know they came home safely, the film will keep you on the edge of your seat.
In the Shadow of the Moon This British documentary about the history of the Apollo program with archival footage and interviews with people who made it happen.
From the Earth to the Moon This brilliant miniseries from “Apollo 13” star and space geek Tom Hanks looks at the space program from many different angles, including the press, the government contractors, and the wives of the astronauts. The last episode is a poignant parallel story that includes the making of Georges Melies’ classic of the same name.
Posted on September 28, 2018 at 10:37 am
The Library of Congress has announced that it has digitized hundreds of hours of motion pictures that will be freely available on the newly launched National Screening Room website. Most of the content in the National Screening Room is in the public domain. Movies that the Library believes to be in the public domain are fully downloadable. Permissions were granted for the inclusion of copyrighted motion pictures, which are only available as streaming files.
This digital offering showcases the wealth and diversity of the Library’s vast moving image collections. The Library has the largest and most comprehensive archive of moving images in the world, totaling more than 1.6 million items. The first phase of the project will feature 281 titles and new content will be added to the National Screening Room every month. .
“The goal of this digital project is to present the public with a broad range of historical and cultural audio-visual materials that will enrich education, scholarship and lifelong learning,” said curator Mike Mashon, head of the Library’s Moving Image Section. “The National Screening Room is designed to open up the Library’s collections, making otherwise unavailable movies freely accessible to viewers nationwide and around the world.”
In celebration of the 120th anniversary of George Gershwin’s birth on Sept. 26, the National Screening Room features 17 home movies of George and Ira Gershwin filmed in 1928–1939. These provide rare glimpses of the Gershwin brothers, sometimes working but primarily socializing with family and famous friends.
“The Gershwin home movies, long held in Ira Gershwin’s Beverly Hills archive, contain amazing images of interest to historians and fans alike,” said Michael Owen, consulting archivist of the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Trusts. “I’m overjoyed that the Library of Congress has digitized this collection and is now making it available for viewing via its National Screening Room website.”
One highlight of the Gershwin collection includes five reels of a party for Liza Minnelli on her second or third birthday. Ira Gershwin, Liza’s godfather, hosted the party at his home in Beverly Hills in 1948. Partygoers also included Liza’s mother Judy Garland, Harold Arlen, Sid Luft and Arthur Freed. There is also behind-the-scenes footage of Fred Astaire’s performance in the 1937 “Slap That Bass.”
Other collection highlights include:
33 issues of the “All-American News” (1942-1945), a newsreel made specifically
for African-American audiences during the mid-20th century;
A 1953 training film for midwives;
A corset commercial;
President McKinley taking the oath of office;
103 titles from the Library’s Paper Prints Collection, including several shorts directed by D. W. Griffith for Biograph Company;
Historical and iconic figures such as Theodore Roosevelt, Frank Sinatra, Mary McLeod Bethune, Adam Clayton Powell and Art Carney;
Titles named to the National Film Registry because of their cultural, historical and aesthetic significance;
A selection of films about mental health released in the 1950s.
Mashon is also working with the Library’s team of educators to develop lesson plans for the classroom and other educational initiatives. Some primary source sets will examine the Harlem Renaissance, Industrial Revolution, Dust Bowl, Jim Crow and segregation, scientific data, Spanish-American War, World War I, Mexican-American communities, immigration, women’s history, children’s lives at the turn of the 20th century, symbols of the U.S. and many more.
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States – and extensive materials from around the world – both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.
