Former President Barack Obama Wins Another Emmy, Beating Out Morgan Freeman For Outstanding Narrator
Morgan Freeman might have some fierce competition as former President Barack Obama beat him to the Emmy award for outstanding narrator.
The 44th U.S. president won the award for his voicework in Working: What We Do All Day. In addition to Freeman in Our Universe, Obama was up against Mahershala Ali in Chimp Empire, Angela Bassett in Good Night Oppy and Pedro Pascal in Patagonia: Life on the Edge of the World.
Working: What We Do All Day is a docu-series that follows the lives of 12 people working in the home care, tech and hospitality industries. It was inspired by Studs Terkel’s nonfiction book called Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do.
Last year, Obama won an Emmy for Outstanding Narrator for his voiceover in Our Great National Parks. The last former president to win an Emmy was Dwight D. Eisenhower,...
The 44th U.S. president won the award for his voicework in Working: What We Do All Day. In addition to Freeman in Our Universe, Obama was up against Mahershala Ali in Chimp Empire, Angela Bassett in Good Night Oppy and Pedro Pascal in Patagonia: Life on the Edge of the World.
Working: What We Do All Day is a docu-series that follows the lives of 12 people working in the home care, tech and hospitality industries. It was inspired by Studs Terkel’s nonfiction book called Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do.
Last year, Obama won an Emmy for Outstanding Narrator for his voiceover in Our Great National Parks. The last former president to win an Emmy was Dwight D. Eisenhower,...
- 1/9/2024
- by Rose Anne Cox-Peralta
- Uinterview
Former President Barack Obama opened Netflix’s livestream event for his new docuseries, “Working: What We Do All Day,” on Thursday with a more aggressive statement of support for the Writers Guild of America (WGA) than what he initially said in solidarity with the ongoing writers strike.
Before the panel, which aired on LinkedIn at 5 p.m. Et/2 p.m. Pt, got underway, moderator Ira Glass revealed Obama had prepared remarks he wanted to deliver about the WGA’s work stoppage, which is currently in its fourth week.
“Part of what this show ‘Working’ is about is how certain things are constant about the work experience. People trying to find work that’s satisfying, people trying to pay the bills,” Obama said. “Unfortunately one of the things that’s also been constant is the struggle for people to make sure their employers are treating them fairly and they’re getting...
Before the panel, which aired on LinkedIn at 5 p.m. Et/2 p.m. Pt, got underway, moderator Ira Glass revealed Obama had prepared remarks he wanted to deliver about the WGA’s work stoppage, which is currently in its fourth week.
“Part of what this show ‘Working’ is about is how certain things are constant about the work experience. People trying to find work that’s satisfying, people trying to pay the bills,” Obama said. “Unfortunately one of the things that’s also been constant is the struggle for people to make sure their employers are treating them fairly and they’re getting...
- 5/25/2023
- by Jennifer Maas
- Variety Film + TV
An array of the most acclaimed documentaries of the last 50 years bear the stamp of one singular talent: Joan Churchill, filmmaker and cinematographer.
Her first credit, in 1970, came as a camera operator on Gimme Shelter, the classic documentary about the Rolling Stones at Altamont directed by the Maysles Brothers and Charlotte Zwerin. She’s been shooting films ever since, including Jimi at Berkeley (1971); Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll (1987); Kurt & Courtney (1998); Biggie & Tupac (2002); Shut Up & Sing, the 2006 doc about the Dixie Chicks, and the Oscar-nominated Last Days in Vietnam (2014).
She also co-directed a number of award-winning films with her former husband Nick Broomfield, including Soldier Girls (1981); Lily Tomlin (1986); Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003), and 2011’s Sarah Palin: You Betcha!
In honor of her career in cinema, Churchill is being recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award at Doc NYC, the country’s largest all-documentary festival, which opens today.
Her first credit, in 1970, came as a camera operator on Gimme Shelter, the classic documentary about the Rolling Stones at Altamont directed by the Maysles Brothers and Charlotte Zwerin. She’s been shooting films ever since, including Jimi at Berkeley (1971); Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll (1987); Kurt & Courtney (1998); Biggie & Tupac (2002); Shut Up & Sing, the 2006 doc about the Dixie Chicks, and the Oscar-nominated Last Days in Vietnam (2014).
She also co-directed a number of award-winning films with her former husband Nick Broomfield, including Soldier Girls (1981); Lily Tomlin (1986); Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003), and 2011’s Sarah Palin: You Betcha!
In honor of her career in cinema, Churchill is being recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award at Doc NYC, the country’s largest all-documentary festival, which opens today.
- 11/11/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Orson Welles thankfully didn’t live to see a world in which conversation around his work has devolved into Tomatometer-related banter, but as an extensive search gets underway for one of the most prized, long-lost possessions of his oeuvre, hopefully we’ll emerge from this critical nadir. In the meantime, a timely documentary narrated by the Citizen Kane diretor has been restored and is arriving next month, on May 21, for the 40th anniversary of its U.S. premiere.
Wieland Schulz-Keil’s New Deal for Artists, digitally remastered from the 16mm negative, explores the history behind a section of Fdr’s New Deal Program that provided economic relief and jobs for artists following the Great Depression. The most ambitious government-supported arts program since the Italian Renaissance as it resulted in providing work for over 10,000 artists, the program was soon targeted by Republicans’ aggressive anti-communist agendas as the House Un-American Activities Committee came to fruition.
Wieland Schulz-Keil’s New Deal for Artists, digitally remastered from the 16mm negative, explores the history behind a section of Fdr’s New Deal Program that provided economic relief and jobs for artists following the Great Depression. The most ambitious government-supported arts program since the Italian Renaissance as it resulted in providing work for over 10,000 artists, the program was soon targeted by Republicans’ aggressive anti-communist agendas as the House Un-American Activities Committee came to fruition.
- 4/28/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
It’s hard to remember a moment in Hollywood when more production starts were announced or star commitments unveiled — witness Netflix’s slate of 70 films. The stars glow brightly in streamer heaven. And Donald Trump’s messy exit helped stoke the hubris.
The flurry of announcements may be a bit misleading, of course, since cutbacks and retrenchments still pervade the small print. Streamer hits like The Queen’s Gambit generate heat but, overall, subscriber churn has increased as subscribers sample a show, then cancel the service. This hasn’t kept the Netflix subscriber list from topping 200 million for the first time.
Still, the film business continues to flicker: Top Gun: Maverick has been awarded a hopeful July 2 release and the latest James Bond film, No Time to Die, may (or may not) re-appear in April, but Morbius, the Spider-Man spinoff, has been pushed back to October 8 along with most other tentpoles.
The flurry of announcements may be a bit misleading, of course, since cutbacks and retrenchments still pervade the small print. Streamer hits like The Queen’s Gambit generate heat but, overall, subscriber churn has increased as subscribers sample a show, then cancel the service. This hasn’t kept the Netflix subscriber list from topping 200 million for the first time.
Still, the film business continues to flicker: Top Gun: Maverick has been awarded a hopeful July 2 release and the latest James Bond film, No Time to Die, may (or may not) re-appear in April, but Morbius, the Spider-Man spinoff, has been pushed back to October 8 along with most other tentpoles.
- 1/21/2021
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
There are a lot of reasons to like “Mank.” 1. It’s great filmmaking. 2. It has an irresistible backstory: David Fincher wanted to pay tribute to his late father, Jack, by directing his screenplay; 3. It tackles a well-known topic (Hollywood in the 1930s-‘40s) from an unusual angle. 4. It’s not what people expected, always a good thing in a film.
It’s not about the making of the 1941 classic. “I hope this movie exists as more than just an addendum or footnote to ‘Citizen Kane,’ ” Fincher tells Variety. “I hope there is enough human behavior and an interesting enough look at humanity that it doesn’t require a master’s degree in film theory.”
Among other things, it is a character study of Herman J. Mankiewicz, including his risky decision to write “Citizen Kane.” It’s also about the times he lived in, and how events fed into his creativity.
It’s not about the making of the 1941 classic. “I hope this movie exists as more than just an addendum or footnote to ‘Citizen Kane,’ ” Fincher tells Variety. “I hope there is enough human behavior and an interesting enough look at humanity that it doesn’t require a master’s degree in film theory.”
Among other things, it is a character study of Herman J. Mankiewicz, including his risky decision to write “Citizen Kane.” It’s also about the times he lived in, and how events fed into his creativity.
- 1/15/2021
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
Our 75th guest! The legendary filmmaker John Sayles joins Josh and Joe to explore some of his favorite movies.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Ulzana’s Raid (1972)
Django (1966)
The Birth Of A Nation (1915)
City Of Hope (1991)
Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980)
The Challenge (1982)
Avalanche (1978)
Eight Men Out (1988)
Piranha (1978)
The Howling (1981)
The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
The Killers (1964)
The King And I (1956)
Time Without Pity (1957)
The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)
Ben-Hur (1957)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Two Women (1960)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Spartacus (1960)
Fixed Bayonets! (1951)
The Steel Helmet (1951)
Merrill’s Marauders (1962)
Targets (1968)
Touch Of Evil (1958)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Woodstock (1970)
Crime In The Streets (1956)
The Bad Seed (1956)
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
Fedora (1978)
Dune (1984)
The Cotton Club (1984)
Choose Me (1984)
Raising Arizona (1987)
El Norte (1983)
Yellow Sky (1948)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Irishman (2019)
A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (2019)
The Thing (1982)
Chinatown (1974)
Manhattan (1979)
Duck Amuck (1953)
Goodfellas (1990)
Humanoids Of The Deep (1980)
Cockfighter (1974)
Dynamite Women a.k.a. The Great Texas Dynamite Chase...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Ulzana’s Raid (1972)
Django (1966)
The Birth Of A Nation (1915)
City Of Hope (1991)
Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980)
The Challenge (1982)
Avalanche (1978)
Eight Men Out (1988)
Piranha (1978)
The Howling (1981)
The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
The Killers (1964)
The King And I (1956)
Time Without Pity (1957)
The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)
Ben-Hur (1957)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Two Women (1960)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Spartacus (1960)
Fixed Bayonets! (1951)
The Steel Helmet (1951)
Merrill’s Marauders (1962)
Targets (1968)
Touch Of Evil (1958)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Woodstock (1970)
Crime In The Streets (1956)
The Bad Seed (1956)
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
Fedora (1978)
Dune (1984)
The Cotton Club (1984)
Choose Me (1984)
Raising Arizona (1987)
El Norte (1983)
Yellow Sky (1948)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Irishman (2019)
A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (2019)
The Thing (1982)
Chinatown (1974)
Manhattan (1979)
Duck Amuck (1953)
Goodfellas (1990)
Humanoids Of The Deep (1980)
Cockfighter (1974)
Dynamite Women a.k.a. The Great Texas Dynamite Chase...
- 4/7/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
First up in the Encores Off-Center season is Working A Musical, based on the best-selling Studs Terkel book of the same name. Working A Musical evokes the unsung nobility of American workers-from the hardworking waitress to the worn out millworker. A living, breathing testament to the people who make this country run, the Off-Center production will incorporate stories from City Center's employees in celebration of the 75th Anniversary Season, acting as a time capsule for the landmark occasion.
- 6/26/2019
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
First up in the Encores Off-Center season is Working A Musical, based on the best-selling Studs Terkel book of the same name.Working A Musical evokes the unsung nobility of American workers-from the hardworking waitress to the worn out millworker. A living, breathing testament to the people who make this country run, the Off-Center production will incorporate stories from City Center's employees in celebration of the 75th Anniversary Season, acting as a time capsule for the landmark occasion.
- 6/20/2019
- by TV - Press Previews
- BroadwayWorld.com
In takes all of ten minutes to realize “Mike Wallace Is Here” is special. Directed by Avi Belkin, the film chronicles the half-century career of the journalist whose work has only become more invaluable since his death in 2012.
Telling the story exclusively through archival footage, Belkin was given free range inside CBS. The result is a prismatic portrait, a movie that sits at the intersection of long-form journalism and riveting documentary.
Wallace was raised in Brookline, Mass., to Russian Jewish immigrant parents. They were disciplinary and icy. He would later attribute his own jagged personality to his upbringing. The film, wisely, doesn’t get bogged down in exposition. Belkin and his editors opt for simplicity. The result is a clear-cut narrative unrelentingly focused on Wallace and his work. Everything else — family, romance, the virtues and vices that accompany daily life — go by the wayside.
Watch Video: Remembering Mike Wallace -...
Telling the story exclusively through archival footage, Belkin was given free range inside CBS. The result is a prismatic portrait, a movie that sits at the intersection of long-form journalism and riveting documentary.
Wallace was raised in Brookline, Mass., to Russian Jewish immigrant parents. They were disciplinary and icy. He would later attribute his own jagged personality to his upbringing. The film, wisely, doesn’t get bogged down in exposition. Belkin and his editors opt for simplicity. The result is a clear-cut narrative unrelentingly focused on Wallace and his work. Everything else — family, romance, the virtues and vices that accompany daily life — go by the wayside.
Watch Video: Remembering Mike Wallace -...
- 2/2/2019
- by Sam Fragoso
- The Wrap
Verna Bloom, who appeared in “Animal House” and worked with the likes of Martin Scorsese, died Jan. 9 in Bar Harbor, Maine, her rep confirmed to Variety. She was 80 years old.
The cause was complications of dementia, her family stated.
Although Bloom appeared extensively in theater and television, she is most noted for her film work. One of her memorable roles came in John Landis’ 1978 comedy “Animal House,” in which she appeared as the drunken, debauched wife of the beleaguered Dean Wormer. She also appeared in three films by Martin Scorsese — “Street Scenes 1970,” “The Last Temptation of Christ” (1988), and “After Hours” (1985) — and two by Clint Eastwood: “High Plains Drifter” (1973) and “Honkytonk Man” (1982).
Bloom was born in Lynn, Mass., in 1938. After graduating from Boston University, she moved to Denver and started a local theater. Moving to New York in the mid-1960s, she starred as Charlotte Corday in the Broadway revival of “Marat/Sade” and,...
The cause was complications of dementia, her family stated.
Although Bloom appeared extensively in theater and television, she is most noted for her film work. One of her memorable roles came in John Landis’ 1978 comedy “Animal House,” in which she appeared as the drunken, debauched wife of the beleaguered Dean Wormer. She also appeared in three films by Martin Scorsese — “Street Scenes 1970,” “The Last Temptation of Christ” (1988), and “After Hours” (1985) — and two by Clint Eastwood: “High Plains Drifter” (1973) and “Honkytonk Man” (1982).
Bloom was born in Lynn, Mass., in 1938. After graduating from Boston University, she moved to Denver and started a local theater. Moving to New York in the mid-1960s, she starred as Charlotte Corday in the Broadway revival of “Marat/Sade” and,...
- 1/10/2019
- by Rachel Yang
- Variety Film + TV
Update: A former bookkeeper who embezzled millions of dollars from a major literary agency has been sentenced to two years in federal prison.
Darin Webb was convicted of stealing from the New York-based firm of Donadio & Olson. The firm represents authors James Hynes, Chuck Palahniuk and Rick DeMarinis, as well as the estates of Robert Stone, Mario Puzo, Frank Conroy, Nelson Algren, Peter Matthiesen and Studs Terkel.
“This chain of events leaves me close to broke,” Palahniuk said in court papers. “Since the crime was uncovered, people have offered their children’s college funds. They’ve offered to mortgage their houses to keep me afloat. They’ve come forward with legal advice and stop-gap, hands-on help.”
Palahniuk lost more than $1.4 million in royalties and advances in Webb’s theft, estimated at more than $3.4 million from the agency. Donadio & Olson was forced to file for bankruptcy last month.
“Webb’s actions...
Darin Webb was convicted of stealing from the New York-based firm of Donadio & Olson. The firm represents authors James Hynes, Chuck Palahniuk and Rick DeMarinis, as well as the estates of Robert Stone, Mario Puzo, Frank Conroy, Nelson Algren, Peter Matthiesen and Studs Terkel.
“This chain of events leaves me close to broke,” Palahniuk said in court papers. “Since the crime was uncovered, people have offered their children’s college funds. They’ve offered to mortgage their houses to keep me afloat. They’ve come forward with legal advice and stop-gap, hands-on help.”
Palahniuk lost more than $1.4 million in royalties and advances in Webb’s theft, estimated at more than $3.4 million from the agency. Donadio & Olson was forced to file for bankruptcy last month.
“Webb’s actions...
- 12/23/2018
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
1968: Joan Crawford aired for the final time on The Secret Storm.
1980: Edge of Night's Clown Puppet killer was lurking.
1985: Capitol's Leanne collapsed.
1985: Santa Barbara's C.C. remained on life support."The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1968: On Dark Shadows, Mrs. Johnson (Clarice Blackburn) walked in while Joe (Joel Crothers) was trying to kill Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) so Joe ran off. Elizabeth (Joan Bennett) and Roger (Louis Edmonds) found Joe in the Collins mausoleum and brought him back to Collinwood where he addmitted that he tried to kill Barnabas, and said he would try again.
1980: Edge of Night's Clown Puppet killer was lurking.
1985: Capitol's Leanne collapsed.
1985: Santa Barbara's C.C. remained on life support."The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1968: On Dark Shadows, Mrs. Johnson (Clarice Blackburn) walked in while Joe (Joel Crothers) was trying to kill Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) so Joe ran off. Elizabeth (Joan Bennett) and Roger (Louis Edmonds) found Joe in the Collins mausoleum and brought him back to Collinwood where he addmitted that he tried to kill Barnabas, and said he would try again.
- 10/31/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
Hacksaw Ridge
Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD
Summit Entertainment
2016 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 139 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / 39.99
Starring – Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Vince Vaughn, Rachel Griffiths, Luke Pegler.
Cinematography – Simon Duggan
Film Editor – John Gilbert
Original Music – Rupert Gregson-Williams
Written by – Robert Schenkkan, Andrew Knight
Produced by – Paul Currie, Bruce Davey, William D. Johnson, Bill Mechanic,
Directed by – Mel Gibson
Combat movies fascinate this reviewer — if you look at the Savant review index you’ll see that I review practically every war picture of note that I can get my hands on. But brace yourself — I become huffy when I see themes of patriotism and faith used to deliver dicey messages.
Mel Gibson’s big, slick WW2 combat film Hacksaw Ridge tells the truly inspiring story of combat medic Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor and the only one to...
Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD
Summit Entertainment
2016 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 139 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / 39.99
Starring – Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Vince Vaughn, Rachel Griffiths, Luke Pegler.
Cinematography – Simon Duggan
Film Editor – John Gilbert
Original Music – Rupert Gregson-Williams
Written by – Robert Schenkkan, Andrew Knight
Produced by – Paul Currie, Bruce Davey, William D. Johnson, Bill Mechanic,
Directed by – Mel Gibson
Combat movies fascinate this reviewer — if you look at the Savant review index you’ll see that I review practically every war picture of note that I can get my hands on. But brace yourself — I become huffy when I see themes of patriotism and faith used to deliver dicey messages.
Mel Gibson’s big, slick WW2 combat film Hacksaw Ridge tells the truly inspiring story of combat medic Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor and the only one to...
- 2/11/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This post originally appeared on Entertainment Weekly.
Whether he’s reading to kids at the White House, hitting up local bookstores on Black Friday, or giving recommendations to his daughters, President Barack Obama may as well be known as the Commander in Books.
Potus is an avid reader and recently spoke to the New York Times about the significant, informative and inspirational role literature has played in his presidency, crediting books for allowing him to “slow down and get perspective.” With his presidency coming to an end this Friday, EW looked back at Obama’s lit picks over the years...
Whether he’s reading to kids at the White House, hitting up local bookstores on Black Friday, or giving recommendations to his daughters, President Barack Obama may as well be known as the Commander in Books.
Potus is an avid reader and recently spoke to the New York Times about the significant, informative and inspirational role literature has played in his presidency, crediting books for allowing him to “slow down and get perspective.” With his presidency coming to an end this Friday, EW looked back at Obama’s lit picks over the years...
- 1/19/2017
- by Mark Marino
- PEOPLE.com
“Chicago is not the most corrupt American city, it’s the most theatrically corrupt.” Studs Terkel.
With due respect (and a lot of it) for the late, great Studs Terkel, I think the Chicago city council has been supplanted by the Congress of the United States for political theater and corruption. As an old Chicago boy and fan of political theater, I was fascinated this week as the Democrats in the House of Representatives staged a sit-in in the well of the House, led by the venerable civil rights leader (and graphic novel author) John Lewis, to protest the refusal of the Republican leadership to even permit a vote on two very small and very specific gun control issues.
House Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed the sit-in as a “publicity stunt.” Well, duh. That’s what a sit-in is, a publicity stunt to draw attention to a specific problem. Ryan himself...
With due respect (and a lot of it) for the late, great Studs Terkel, I think the Chicago city council has been supplanted by the Congress of the United States for political theater and corruption. As an old Chicago boy and fan of political theater, I was fascinated this week as the Democrats in the House of Representatives staged a sit-in in the well of the House, led by the venerable civil rights leader (and graphic novel author) John Lewis, to protest the refusal of the Republican leadership to even permit a vote on two very small and very specific gun control issues.
House Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed the sit-in as a “publicity stunt.” Well, duh. That’s what a sit-in is, a publicity stunt to draw attention to a specific problem. Ryan himself...
- 6/26/2016
- by John Ostrander
- Comicmix.com
I’ve got a fantastic animated version of a 1985 interview in which Studs Terkel is talking to Carl Sagan about extraterrestrials and our inability to communicate with them. If this kind of stuff interests you, this is definitely something that you have to watch because it’s so damn fascinating. This is the information that came along with the video that was created by Blank on Blank:
The incomprehensible vastness of the universe, the wonder of our own place in it all… Carl Sagan was able to explain the science of space in a way everyone could understand.Among his long list of roles and accomplishments, the Cornell professor and Nasa advisor is possibly best known for the 13-part television series, Cosmos, which reached millions of people worldwide and sealed his place as celebrity scientist. Maybe he was teased a bit for his tendency to say “billions”, a lot. But...
The incomprehensible vastness of the universe, the wonder of our own place in it all… Carl Sagan was able to explain the science of space in a way everyone could understand.Among his long list of roles and accomplishments, the Cornell professor and Nasa advisor is possibly best known for the 13-part television series, Cosmos, which reached millions of people worldwide and sealed his place as celebrity scientist. Maybe he was teased a bit for his tendency to say “billions”, a lot. But...
- 4/10/2016
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
ComicMix comments upon pop culture and entertainment and, in this silly season of primaries, politics qualifies as entertainment. Sometimes perverse entertainment, I grant you. I’m from Chicago and I was raised during the reign of King Daley the First so I know from political entertainment. As Studs Terkel said many long years ago, “Chicago is not the most corrupt American city. It’s the most theatrically corrupt.” So that’s my standard.
I was raised Republican but, on reaching voting age, I became a Democrat because that was the only way to vote in a mayoral election that counted in that city – the Democratic mayoral primary. The last Republican mayor of Chicago was “Big Bill’ Thompson was booted out of office in 1931. There is no Republican Party to speak of in Chicago.
So I know from political entertainment, although currently it’s hard to decide to laugh, cry, or go screaming into the night.
I was raised Republican but, on reaching voting age, I became a Democrat because that was the only way to vote in a mayoral election that counted in that city – the Democratic mayoral primary. The last Republican mayor of Chicago was “Big Bill’ Thompson was booted out of office in 1931. There is no Republican Party to speak of in Chicago.
So I know from political entertainment, although currently it’s hard to decide to laugh, cry, or go screaming into the night.
- 2/14/2016
- by John Ostrander
- Comicmix.com
Ken Burns and Co. made a big splash with this historical docu miniseries that in 1990 gripped the imagination of the whole country. Eleven hours of history are a breeze when presented in what was then a new form: authentic photos and paintings accompanied by actorly recitals of letters and documents from the era. It all comes to life. The people enduring the War Between the States seem just like us, as if it all happened yesterday. The Civil War DVD PBS Video 1990 / Color + B&W / 1:33 flat / 11 hours, 20 min. / 25th Anniversary Edition / Street Date October 13, 2015 / 99.99 Starring Shelby Foote, Ed Bearss, Barbara Fields, James Symington, Stephen B. Oates, William Safire, Daisy Turner and the voices of Sam Waterston, Julie Harris, Jason Robards, Morgan Freeman, Paul Roebling, Garrison Keillor, David McCullough (narrator), Arthur Miller, Charles McDowell, Horton Foote, George Plimpton, Philip Bosco, Jody Powell, Studs Terkel, Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.,...
- 12/1/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
'The Beginning or the End' 1947 with Robert Walker and Tom Drake. Hiroshima bombing 70th anniversary: Six movies dealing with the A-bomb terror Seventy years ago, on Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima. Ultimately, anywhere between 70,000 and 140,000 people died – in addition to dogs, cats, horses, chickens, and most other living beings in that part of the world. Three days later, America dropped a second atomic bomb, this time over Nagasaki. Human deaths in this other city totaled anywhere between 40,000-80,000. For obvious reasons, the evisceration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been a quasi-taboo in American films. After all, in the last 75 years Hollywood's World War II movies, from John Farrow's Wake Island (1942) and Mervyn LeRoy's Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) to Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor (2001), almost invariably have presented a clear-cut vision...
- 8/7/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
In NBC's Mr. Robinson, fate deals struggling Chicago musician Craig Robinson (Craig Robinson) a lucky hand one evening when old flame Victoria (Meagan Good) walks in during his set. Barely missing a beat, he reworks the song he’s performing — a totally innocent ditty titled “Chocolate Muffins,” with lyrics like “I will mix your batter / With my big wooden spoon” — into a can-i-please-come-talk-to-you serenade. He eventually apologizes for leaving this fine woman high and dry at the prom many years ago, then he discovers she’s teaching at their alma mater, Studs Terkel
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- 8/4/2015
- by Keith Uhlich
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In the mid-Sixties, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson spent about a year with the world's most notorious biker gang to write the book Hell's Angels, which came out in 1967. He spoke with radio broadcaster Studs Terkel that year for an interview that PBS has now animated whimsically for its Blank on Blank series.
"The Angels claim that they don't look for trouble," Thompson said in the interview. "They just try to live peaceful lives and be left alone, but on the other hand they go out and put themselves into...
"The Angels claim that they don't look for trouble," Thompson said in the interview. "They just try to live peaceful lives and be left alone, but on the other hand they go out and put themselves into...
- 7/28/2015
- Rollingstone.com
The student has become the teacher.
Former Greek coed Spencer Grammer is going to the head of the class as a series regular in Mr. Robinson, NBC’s upcoming Craig Robinson-fronted high-school comedy, TVLine has learned.
Additionally, Lenora Crichlow — currently co-starring in the Peacock’s just-cancelled sitcom A to Z — is also joining the series as a regular.
In Mr. Robinson, The Office vet portrays a struggling musician who leads a double life. At night, he and his brother Ben (not yet cast) jam in a rock band called “Nasty Delicious,” and their career has been going nowhere fast for a decade.
Former Greek coed Spencer Grammer is going to the head of the class as a series regular in Mr. Robinson, NBC’s upcoming Craig Robinson-fronted high-school comedy, TVLine has learned.
Additionally, Lenora Crichlow — currently co-starring in the Peacock’s just-cancelled sitcom A to Z — is also joining the series as a regular.
In Mr. Robinson, The Office vet portrays a struggling musician who leads a double life. At night, he and his brother Ben (not yet cast) jam in a rock band called “Nasty Delicious,” and their career has been going nowhere fast for a decade.
- 11/23/2014
- TVLine.com
Sitting in a stack of pulpy old crime novels and lascivious short stories of hookers, gangsters and freaks may be a diamond in the rough. The book is about a heroin addict named “Frankie Machine”, it won the National Book Award in 1950, and Otto Preminger’s film adaptation starred Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak.
The book and the film, “The Man With the Golden Arm”, may ring a bell, but its author, Nelson Algren, is still buried in that stack of old books.
In the new documentary Algren, which got its premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival on October 14, Nelson Algren is in the company of Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway and Hunter S. Thompson. But his name has been forgotten, least of all in Chicago where he called home.
Since Algren’s heyday in the late ‘40s and ‘50s, his work’s legacy has seen the same pitiful fate...
The book and the film, “The Man With the Golden Arm”, may ring a bell, but its author, Nelson Algren, is still buried in that stack of old books.
In the new documentary Algren, which got its premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival on October 14, Nelson Algren is in the company of Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway and Hunter S. Thompson. But his name has been forgotten, least of all in Chicago where he called home.
Since Algren’s heyday in the late ‘40s and ‘50s, his work’s legacy has seen the same pitiful fate...
- 10/21/2014
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
In today's roundup of news and views, Grady Hendrix writes up a terrific appreciation of Kinji Fukasaku; Film Comment's pulled up from its archives remembrances of Luis Buñuel by Michel Piccoli, Jeanne Moreau, Catherine Deneuve, Bulle Ogier and Franco Nero; Chris Marker is remembered on his birthday; in 1962, Studs Terkel interviewed Jacques Tati; Thom Andersen writes about Francesco Vezzoli; Nina Menkes reports on this year's Jerusalem Film Festival; Matt Zoller Seitz remembers James Shigeta; and more. » - David Hudson...
- 7/29/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
In today's roundup of news and views, Grady Hendrix writes up a terrific appreciation of Kinji Fukasaku; Film Comment's pulled up from its archives remembrances of Luis Buñuel by Michel Piccoli, Jeanne Moreau, Catherine Deneuve, Bulle Ogier and Franco Nero; Chris Marker is remembered on his birthday; in 1962, Studs Terkel interviewed Jacques Tati; Thom Andersen writes about Francesco Vezzoli; Nina Menkes reports on this year's Jerusalem Film Festival; Matt Zoller Seitz remembers James Shigeta; and more. » - David Hudson...
- 7/29/2014
- Keyframe
Identity is a funny thing. Defining ourselves is our first step in defining the world around us, especially in the way that we define others. Or “the other.” So, what happens when one spends his formative years as “the other” in an otherwise fairly homogeneous culture?
At once, American Arab — the latest provocative documentary by Usama Alshaibi — is both profoundly personal and culturally inquisitive. It is the first grand statement in a discussion that has been begging to take place since September 11, 2001: What is the role of the Arab in modern American society?
For his previous two feature-length films, Alshaibi has been toying with notions of his identity, whether directly in the documentary Nice Bombs in which he returned to his hometown of Baghdad, Iraq following the ouster of Saddam Hussein, or through proxy in his fiction film Profane, about a female sex worker struggling with her religious background.
At once, American Arab — the latest provocative documentary by Usama Alshaibi — is both profoundly personal and culturally inquisitive. It is the first grand statement in a discussion that has been begging to take place since September 11, 2001: What is the role of the Arab in modern American society?
For his previous two feature-length films, Alshaibi has been toying with notions of his identity, whether directly in the documentary Nice Bombs in which he returned to his hometown of Baghdad, Iraq following the ouster of Saddam Hussein, or through proxy in his fiction film Profane, about a female sex worker struggling with her religious background.
- 7/16/2014
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
This Friday April 25th The Filadelfia celebrates its third annual edition with an impressive line up of the best of Latino film from Mexico to Chile to Colombia, The Us and even a film made with the youth of Philly. Opening night film will be the super 1943 classic ‘Maria Candelaria’ starring Dolores Del Rio. For those near the city of brotherly amor we’ve done ya homework and listed their films below!
Opening Night: Maria Candelaria (Mexico)
Starring Dolores del Rio and Pedro Armendáriz, Maria Candelaria was the first Mexican film to be screened at the Cannes International Film Festival, and the first Latin American film awarded the Gran Prix. Gabriel Figueroa, the film’s cinematographer, was nominated for an Academy Award for The Night of the Iguana, and is often referred to as “the Fourth Muralist” of Mexico.
A young journalist presses an old artist (Alberto Galán ) to show a portrait of a naked indigenous woman that he has in his study. The body of the movie is a flashback to Xochimilco, Mexico, in 1909. The film is set right before the Mexican Revolution, and Xochimilco is an area with beautiful landscapes inhabited mostly by indigenous people.
The woman in the painting is María Candelaria (Dolores del Rio), a young Indian woman who is constantly rejected by her own people for being the daughter of a prostitute. She and her lover, Lorenzo Rafael (Pedro Armendariz), face constant struggles throughout the film. They are honest and hardworking, yet nothing ever goes right for them. Don Damian (Miguel Inclán), a jealous Mestizo store owner who wants María for himself, prevents them from getting married. He kills a piglet that María and Lorenzo plan to sell for profit and he refuses to buy vegetables from them. When María falls ill with malaria, Don Damian refuses to give the couple the quinine medicine necessary to fight the disease. Lorenzo breaks into his shop to steal the medicine, and he also takes a wedding dress for María. Lorenzo goes to prison for stealing, and María agrees to model for the painter to pay for his release. The artist begins painting a portrait of María, but when he asks her to pose nude she refuses.
The artist finishes the painting with the nude body of another woman. When the people of Xochimilco see the painting, they assume it is María Candelaria and stone her to death.Finally, Lorenzo escapes from prison )to carry María's lifeless body through Xochimilco's canal of the dead.
Bad Hair/Pelo Malo (Venezuela)
The third film from the filmmaker and plastic artist Mariana Rondón, Pelo Malo stars Junior, a 9 year-old with "bad hair". He wants to have it straightened for his yearbook picture, like a fashionable pop singer. This puts him at odds with his mother Marta. The more Junior tries to look sharp and make his mother love him, the more she rejects him, until he is cornered, face to face with a painful decision.
To Kill A Man/Matar A Un Hombre (Chile)
Read the Review
Read the Interview with Dir. Alejandro Fernandez Almendras
A thriller about a hardworking family man Jorge who is just barely making ends meet. When he gets mugged by Kalule, a neighborhood delinquent, Jorge's son decides to confront Kalule, only to get himself shot in the process. Sentenced to a scant 2 years in prison for the offense, Kalule, released and now intent on revenge, goes on the warpath, terrorizing Jorge's family. With his wife, son and daughter at the mercy of a thug, Jorge has no choice but to take justice into his own hands, and live with the emotional and psychological consequences.
Lines of class and masculinity ignite friction in this rugged thriller, adeptly shot with a discerning eye. Director Alejandro Fernández Almendras elevates raw grit to a new level with a tone that is both elemental and prophetic. Rife with unnerving tension, To Kill a Man is ultimately a surprising exploration of the heavy burden of what it takes to do what the title suggests.
Anina (Colombia)
Read the Review
Anina Yatay Salas is a ten-year-old girl. All her names form palindromes, making her the butt of her classmates’ jokes, and especially of Yisel’s, who Anina sees as an “elephant.” One day, fed up with all the taunting, Anina starts a fight with Yisel during recess. The incident ends with the principal penalizing the girls and calling their parents.Anina receives her punishment inside a sealed black envelope, which she is told not to open until she meets with the principal again a week later.She is also forbidden to tell anyone about the envelope. Her classmates pressure her to find out what the punishment will be, while they imagine cruel physical torture.
Anina, in her anxiousness to find out what horrible punishment awaits her in the mysterious black envelope, will get mixed up in a series of troubles, involving secret loves, confessed hatreds, close friendships, dreadful enemies, some loving teachers, and also some evil teachers.Without her realizing it, Anina’s efforts to understand the content of the envelope turn into an attempt to understand the world and her place in it.
The Devil’S Music (USA)
When the new sound of jazz first spread across America in the early twentieth-century, it left delight – and controversy – in its wake.As jazz's popularity grew, so did campaigns to censor "the devil's music." This documentary classic has been hailed by the New York Times as a documentary that "addressing the complex interaction of race and class… engages viewers in a conversation as vigorous as the art it chronicles,” featuring timeless performances by artists such as Louis Armstrong and vocalist Rachelle Ferrelle, plus interviews with giants of social and musical criticism such as Albert Murray, Marian MacPartland, Studs Terkel, and Michael Eric Dyson. The Devil's Music is Written, Produced and Directed by Maria Agui Carter and Calvin A. Lindsay Jr., and Narrated by Dion Graham.
I, Undocumented/Yo, Indocumentada (Venezuela)
Yo Indocumentada (I, Undocumented) , exposes the struggles of transgender people in Venezuela. The film, Andrea Baranenko’s first feature-length production, tells the story of three Venezuelan women fighting for their right to have an identity.
Tamara Adrián, 58, is a lawyer; Desirée Pérez, 46, is a hairdresser; and Victoria González, 27, has been a visual arts student since 2009. These women share more than their nationality: they all carry identifications with masculine names that do not correspond to their actual identities. They are transgender women, who long ago assumed their gender and now defend it in a homophobic and transphobic society.
The House That Jack Built (USA )
Jack Maldonado is an ambitious Latino man who fueled by misguided nostalgia, buys a small apartment building in the Bronx and moves his family into the apartments to live rent-free. His parents, Carlos and Martha, sister Nadia, brother Richie and his wife Rosa, Grandmother/Abuela and cousins Hector and Manny, all under one roof. Tension builds quickly as Jack imposes his views on everyone around him, including his fiancée, Lily. All the while, he hides the fact that his corner store is a front for selling marijuana but soon has to deal with new unwanted competitive forces. It's only a matter of time before Jack's family and 'business' lives collide in tragic fashion.
Aqui Y Alla Crossing Borders (USA)
The “Aquí y Allá’ transnational public art project explored the impact of immigration in the lives of Mexican immigrant youth in Philadelphia in connection with youth in Chihuahua, Mexico. The documentary highlights the testimonials of the youth on both sides of the border working towards the creation of a collaborative mural in South Philadelphia.
Cesar’S Last Fast (USA)
Read the Review
In 1988, Cesar Chavez embarked on what would be his last act of protest in his remarkable life. Driven in part to pay penance for feeling he had not done enough, Chavez began his “Fast for Life,” a 36-day water-only hunger strike, to draw attention to the horrific effects of unfettered pesticide use on farm workers, their families, and their communities.
Using never-before-seen footage of Chavez during his fast and testimony from those closest to him, directors Richard Ray Perez and Lorena Parlee weave together the larger story of Chavez’s life, vision, and legacy. A deeply religious man, Chavez’s moral clarity in organizing and standing with farm workers at risk of his own life humbled his family, friends, and the world. Cesar’s Last Fast is a moving and definitive portrait of the leader of a people who became an American icon of struggle and freedom.
La Camioneta (Guantemala)
Every day dozens of decommissioned school buses leave the United States on a southward migration that carries them to Guatemala, where they are repaired, repainted, and resurrected as the brightly-colored camionetas that bring the vast majority of Guatemalans to work each day. La Camioneta follows one such bus on its transformative journey: a journey between North and South, between life and death, and through an unfolding collection of moments, people, and places that serve to quietly remind us of the interconnected worlds in which we live.
Forbidden Lovers Meant To Be (USA)
Working with talented high school students from North Philadelphia at Taller Puertorriqueño’s Youth Artist Program, filmmakers Joanna Siegel, Melissa Beatriz Skolnick, and Kate Zambon sought to capture the personal and artistic journeys of the youth through film. While facilitating collaborative film workshops with the students, themes of race/ethnicity, cultures, language, and identity emerged. Throughout this process of engaging in story development and visual representation, the students created a video of their own, while the filmmakers documented the process using metafilm techniques. The students' short film, Forbidden Lovers Meant to Be, highlights the talent and creativity of these youth. Forbidden Lovers Meant to Be was created by the spring 2012 Youth Artist Program participants: Amy Lee Flores, Ricardo Lopez, Michael Mendez, Zayris Rivera, Tashyra Suarez, Nestor Tamayo, Yoeni Torres, Karina Ureña Vargas, and Kara Williams. (Amy Lee Flores, Ricardo Lopez, Michael Mendez)
Tire Die (Argentina)
The first film of the first Latin American documentary film school (The Escuela Documental de Santa Fe), this documentary focuses on the children in the neighborhood known as Tire Dié in the city of Santa Fe, Argentina, who wait daily for the passing train to ask for money from the passengers, shouting “Tire dié!” (Toss me a dime!).
Dubbed as the father of the New Latin American Cinema, Fernando Birriwas one of the first filmmakers to document poverty and underdevelopment. Tire Dié was part of the exhibition, Latin American Visions, produced by International House, 1989-1991.
The Illiterates/Las Analfabetas (Chile)
Ximena, played by the incomparable Paulina García (Gloria) is an illiterate woman in her fifties, who has learned to live on her own to keep her illiteracy a secret. Jackeline, is a young unemployed elementary school teacher, who tries to convince Ximena to take reading classes. Persuading her proves to be an almost impossible task, till one day, Jackeline finds something Ximena has been keeping as her only treasure since she was a child: a letter Ximena’s father left when he abandoned her many years before. Thus, the two women embark on a learning journey where they discover that there are many ways of being illiterate, and that not knowing how to read is just one of them.
For the schedule please visit: http://flaff.org/
Written by Juan Caceres . LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...
Opening Night: Maria Candelaria (Mexico)
Starring Dolores del Rio and Pedro Armendáriz, Maria Candelaria was the first Mexican film to be screened at the Cannes International Film Festival, and the first Latin American film awarded the Gran Prix. Gabriel Figueroa, the film’s cinematographer, was nominated for an Academy Award for The Night of the Iguana, and is often referred to as “the Fourth Muralist” of Mexico.
A young journalist presses an old artist (Alberto Galán ) to show a portrait of a naked indigenous woman that he has in his study. The body of the movie is a flashback to Xochimilco, Mexico, in 1909. The film is set right before the Mexican Revolution, and Xochimilco is an area with beautiful landscapes inhabited mostly by indigenous people.
The woman in the painting is María Candelaria (Dolores del Rio), a young Indian woman who is constantly rejected by her own people for being the daughter of a prostitute. She and her lover, Lorenzo Rafael (Pedro Armendariz), face constant struggles throughout the film. They are honest and hardworking, yet nothing ever goes right for them. Don Damian (Miguel Inclán), a jealous Mestizo store owner who wants María for himself, prevents them from getting married. He kills a piglet that María and Lorenzo plan to sell for profit and he refuses to buy vegetables from them. When María falls ill with malaria, Don Damian refuses to give the couple the quinine medicine necessary to fight the disease. Lorenzo breaks into his shop to steal the medicine, and he also takes a wedding dress for María. Lorenzo goes to prison for stealing, and María agrees to model for the painter to pay for his release. The artist begins painting a portrait of María, but when he asks her to pose nude she refuses.
The artist finishes the painting with the nude body of another woman. When the people of Xochimilco see the painting, they assume it is María Candelaria and stone her to death.Finally, Lorenzo escapes from prison )to carry María's lifeless body through Xochimilco's canal of the dead.
Bad Hair/Pelo Malo (Venezuela)
The third film from the filmmaker and plastic artist Mariana Rondón, Pelo Malo stars Junior, a 9 year-old with "bad hair". He wants to have it straightened for his yearbook picture, like a fashionable pop singer. This puts him at odds with his mother Marta. The more Junior tries to look sharp and make his mother love him, the more she rejects him, until he is cornered, face to face with a painful decision.
To Kill A Man/Matar A Un Hombre (Chile)
Read the Review
Read the Interview with Dir. Alejandro Fernandez Almendras
A thriller about a hardworking family man Jorge who is just barely making ends meet. When he gets mugged by Kalule, a neighborhood delinquent, Jorge's son decides to confront Kalule, only to get himself shot in the process. Sentenced to a scant 2 years in prison for the offense, Kalule, released and now intent on revenge, goes on the warpath, terrorizing Jorge's family. With his wife, son and daughter at the mercy of a thug, Jorge has no choice but to take justice into his own hands, and live with the emotional and psychological consequences.
Lines of class and masculinity ignite friction in this rugged thriller, adeptly shot with a discerning eye. Director Alejandro Fernández Almendras elevates raw grit to a new level with a tone that is both elemental and prophetic. Rife with unnerving tension, To Kill a Man is ultimately a surprising exploration of the heavy burden of what it takes to do what the title suggests.
Anina (Colombia)
Read the Review
Anina Yatay Salas is a ten-year-old girl. All her names form palindromes, making her the butt of her classmates’ jokes, and especially of Yisel’s, who Anina sees as an “elephant.” One day, fed up with all the taunting, Anina starts a fight with Yisel during recess. The incident ends with the principal penalizing the girls and calling their parents.Anina receives her punishment inside a sealed black envelope, which she is told not to open until she meets with the principal again a week later.She is also forbidden to tell anyone about the envelope. Her classmates pressure her to find out what the punishment will be, while they imagine cruel physical torture.
Anina, in her anxiousness to find out what horrible punishment awaits her in the mysterious black envelope, will get mixed up in a series of troubles, involving secret loves, confessed hatreds, close friendships, dreadful enemies, some loving teachers, and also some evil teachers.Without her realizing it, Anina’s efforts to understand the content of the envelope turn into an attempt to understand the world and her place in it.
The Devil’S Music (USA)
When the new sound of jazz first spread across America in the early twentieth-century, it left delight – and controversy – in its wake.As jazz's popularity grew, so did campaigns to censor "the devil's music." This documentary classic has been hailed by the New York Times as a documentary that "addressing the complex interaction of race and class… engages viewers in a conversation as vigorous as the art it chronicles,” featuring timeless performances by artists such as Louis Armstrong and vocalist Rachelle Ferrelle, plus interviews with giants of social and musical criticism such as Albert Murray, Marian MacPartland, Studs Terkel, and Michael Eric Dyson. The Devil's Music is Written, Produced and Directed by Maria Agui Carter and Calvin A. Lindsay Jr., and Narrated by Dion Graham.
I, Undocumented/Yo, Indocumentada (Venezuela)
Yo Indocumentada (I, Undocumented) , exposes the struggles of transgender people in Venezuela. The film, Andrea Baranenko’s first feature-length production, tells the story of three Venezuelan women fighting for their right to have an identity.
Tamara Adrián, 58, is a lawyer; Desirée Pérez, 46, is a hairdresser; and Victoria González, 27, has been a visual arts student since 2009. These women share more than their nationality: they all carry identifications with masculine names that do not correspond to their actual identities. They are transgender women, who long ago assumed their gender and now defend it in a homophobic and transphobic society.
The House That Jack Built (USA )
Jack Maldonado is an ambitious Latino man who fueled by misguided nostalgia, buys a small apartment building in the Bronx and moves his family into the apartments to live rent-free. His parents, Carlos and Martha, sister Nadia, brother Richie and his wife Rosa, Grandmother/Abuela and cousins Hector and Manny, all under one roof. Tension builds quickly as Jack imposes his views on everyone around him, including his fiancée, Lily. All the while, he hides the fact that his corner store is a front for selling marijuana but soon has to deal with new unwanted competitive forces. It's only a matter of time before Jack's family and 'business' lives collide in tragic fashion.
Aqui Y Alla Crossing Borders (USA)
The “Aquí y Allá’ transnational public art project explored the impact of immigration in the lives of Mexican immigrant youth in Philadelphia in connection with youth in Chihuahua, Mexico. The documentary highlights the testimonials of the youth on both sides of the border working towards the creation of a collaborative mural in South Philadelphia.
Cesar’S Last Fast (USA)
Read the Review
In 1988, Cesar Chavez embarked on what would be his last act of protest in his remarkable life. Driven in part to pay penance for feeling he had not done enough, Chavez began his “Fast for Life,” a 36-day water-only hunger strike, to draw attention to the horrific effects of unfettered pesticide use on farm workers, their families, and their communities.
Using never-before-seen footage of Chavez during his fast and testimony from those closest to him, directors Richard Ray Perez and Lorena Parlee weave together the larger story of Chavez’s life, vision, and legacy. A deeply religious man, Chavez’s moral clarity in organizing and standing with farm workers at risk of his own life humbled his family, friends, and the world. Cesar’s Last Fast is a moving and definitive portrait of the leader of a people who became an American icon of struggle and freedom.
La Camioneta (Guantemala)
Every day dozens of decommissioned school buses leave the United States on a southward migration that carries them to Guatemala, where they are repaired, repainted, and resurrected as the brightly-colored camionetas that bring the vast majority of Guatemalans to work each day. La Camioneta follows one such bus on its transformative journey: a journey between North and South, between life and death, and through an unfolding collection of moments, people, and places that serve to quietly remind us of the interconnected worlds in which we live.
Forbidden Lovers Meant To Be (USA)
Working with talented high school students from North Philadelphia at Taller Puertorriqueño’s Youth Artist Program, filmmakers Joanna Siegel, Melissa Beatriz Skolnick, and Kate Zambon sought to capture the personal and artistic journeys of the youth through film. While facilitating collaborative film workshops with the students, themes of race/ethnicity, cultures, language, and identity emerged. Throughout this process of engaging in story development and visual representation, the students created a video of their own, while the filmmakers documented the process using metafilm techniques. The students' short film, Forbidden Lovers Meant to Be, highlights the talent and creativity of these youth. Forbidden Lovers Meant to Be was created by the spring 2012 Youth Artist Program participants: Amy Lee Flores, Ricardo Lopez, Michael Mendez, Zayris Rivera, Tashyra Suarez, Nestor Tamayo, Yoeni Torres, Karina Ureña Vargas, and Kara Williams. (Amy Lee Flores, Ricardo Lopez, Michael Mendez)
Tire Die (Argentina)
The first film of the first Latin American documentary film school (The Escuela Documental de Santa Fe), this documentary focuses on the children in the neighborhood known as Tire Dié in the city of Santa Fe, Argentina, who wait daily for the passing train to ask for money from the passengers, shouting “Tire dié!” (Toss me a dime!).
Dubbed as the father of the New Latin American Cinema, Fernando Birriwas one of the first filmmakers to document poverty and underdevelopment. Tire Dié was part of the exhibition, Latin American Visions, produced by International House, 1989-1991.
The Illiterates/Las Analfabetas (Chile)
Ximena, played by the incomparable Paulina García (Gloria) is an illiterate woman in her fifties, who has learned to live on her own to keep her illiteracy a secret. Jackeline, is a young unemployed elementary school teacher, who tries to convince Ximena to take reading classes. Persuading her proves to be an almost impossible task, till one day, Jackeline finds something Ximena has been keeping as her only treasure since she was a child: a letter Ximena’s father left when he abandoned her many years before. Thus, the two women embark on a learning journey where they discover that there are many ways of being illiterate, and that not knowing how to read is just one of them.
For the schedule please visit: http://flaff.org/
Written by Juan Caceres . LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...
- 4/23/2014
- by Juan Caceres
- Sydney's Buzz
These days, we're all jaded and amused when it comes to scandals in baseball, but 25 years ago this week (on September 2, 1988) came a movie that reminded us of a time when we were actually shocked over events that tarnished the reputation of the national pastime. With a cast led by rising stars John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, and D.B. Sweeney, "Eight Men Out" recounted the story of the 1919 Black Sox scandal, in which gamblers paid several players on the Chicago White Sox to throw the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
Writer/director John Sayles, adapting Eliot Asinof's book of the same title, portrayed the Black Sox players as exploited workers out to punish their skinflint owner and claim bonuses that had been denied them. And while they did so in a way that was illegal and unsportsmanlike, they were meted out an awfully harsh punishment (being banned from the...
Writer/director John Sayles, adapting Eliot Asinof's book of the same title, portrayed the Black Sox players as exploited workers out to punish their skinflint owner and claim bonuses that had been denied them. And while they did so in a way that was illegal and unsportsmanlike, they were meted out an awfully harsh punishment (being banned from the...
- 9/2/2013
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Chicago — Before he became a famous TV star on "Friends," actor and director David Schwimmer helped start a theater company in Chicago with a group of his Northwestern University classmates.
Twenty-five years later, Lookingglass Theatre Company has gone from producing small storefront productions to a Tony Award-winning player in the city's arts community. And Schwimmer has returned to direct the company's summer offering, a crime comedy called "Big Lake, Big City" written by Keith Huff of TV's "Mad Men" and Broadway's "A Steady Rain."
Chicago is where Schwimmer comes to be creative.
"For me, it is my artistic home because of the company ... more so than anywhere," Schwimmer said, wearing a baseball cap and eating sushi during his dinner break while working on "Big Lake, Big City," which runs through Aug. 25.
Schwimmer was one of eight theater students at Northwestern who started Lookingglass in 1988. They were all working odd jobs,...
Twenty-five years later, Lookingglass Theatre Company has gone from producing small storefront productions to a Tony Award-winning player in the city's arts community. And Schwimmer has returned to direct the company's summer offering, a crime comedy called "Big Lake, Big City" written by Keith Huff of TV's "Mad Men" and Broadway's "A Steady Rain."
Chicago is where Schwimmer comes to be creative.
"For me, it is my artistic home because of the company ... more so than anywhere," Schwimmer said, wearing a baseball cap and eating sushi during his dinner break while working on "Big Lake, Big City," which runs through Aug. 25.
Schwimmer was one of eight theater students at Northwestern who started Lookingglass in 1988. They were all working odd jobs,...
- 7/9/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
New York — Brad Pitt's "World War Z" imagines a world overrun by a zombie pandemic, leading to an unlikely new global power structure. Two of the few countries that have kept the zombies at bay are Israel, which shelters Israelis and Palestinians behind a wall, and North Korea, which has removed the teeth of its citizens to prevent zombie biting.
It's a curious portrait of geopolitics that's left some moviegoers scratching their heads. Is a wall of unity for both Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem an ironic commentary on the West Bank barrier being constructed by Israel alongside Palestine? Or a suggestion that a wall – which resembles the Western Wall – can be a positive force in the Middle East?
There's little time for rumination on such questions in "World War Z" before the next swarm of zombies attacks. Any whiff of foreign policy contemplation is snuffed out by the stampeding undead,...
It's a curious portrait of geopolitics that's left some moviegoers scratching their heads. Is a wall of unity for both Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem an ironic commentary on the West Bank barrier being constructed by Israel alongside Palestine? Or a suggestion that a wall – which resembles the Western Wall – can be a positive force in the Middle East?
There's little time for rumination on such questions in "World War Z" before the next swarm of zombies attacks. Any whiff of foreign policy contemplation is snuffed out by the stampeding undead,...
- 6/26/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
The negative hype surrounding Brad Pitt's zombie epic World War Z is getting worse all the time, with news of rewrites, reshoots and a budget that has ballooned above $400m
Anyone who has read Max Brooks's grippingly detailed science fiction novel – or even better, listened to the superb audiobook – will probably have a pretty good idea what kind of movie Brad Pitt originally envisaged when he bought the screen rights to World War Z in 2007. Delivered as a series of oral histories straight from the lips of survivors of the zombie apocalypse, the book presents a steady, nagging creep of horrifying reportage from across the world. It's like a set of zombie-infested episodes from Radio Four's From Our Own Correspondent, or Studs Terkel's vivid and entrancing An Oral History of World War Two rewritten by George A Romero.
One can imagine Steven Soderbergh directing a border-straddling ensemble...
Anyone who has read Max Brooks's grippingly detailed science fiction novel – or even better, listened to the superb audiobook – will probably have a pretty good idea what kind of movie Brad Pitt originally envisaged when he bought the screen rights to World War Z in 2007. Delivered as a series of oral histories straight from the lips of survivors of the zombie apocalypse, the book presents a steady, nagging creep of horrifying reportage from across the world. It's like a set of zombie-infested episodes from Radio Four's From Our Own Correspondent, or Studs Terkel's vivid and entrancing An Oral History of World War Two rewritten by George A Romero.
One can imagine Steven Soderbergh directing a border-straddling ensemble...
- 5/3/2013
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
“Hey people, Ralphie needs money to draw. Let’s give him some so he can make a fool of himself again.” — Ralph Bakshi’s Miss America, in the Kickstarter campaign video for his new animated project
Making films has never been easy for Ralph Bakshi. The maverick cartoonist and filmmaker, who became famous — and infamous — after 1972′s smash X-rated ‘toon, Fritz the Cat, never liked to color within the lines, so to speak. He was the anti-Disney back then, filling his stories with provocative themes, raunchy humor, and curvacious broads that would make Russ Meyer blush. His bold 1975 blaxploitation satire...
Making films has never been easy for Ralph Bakshi. The maverick cartoonist and filmmaker, who became famous — and infamous — after 1972′s smash X-rated ‘toon, Fritz the Cat, never liked to color within the lines, so to speak. He was the anti-Disney back then, filling his stories with provocative themes, raunchy humor, and curvacious broads that would make Russ Meyer blush. His bold 1975 blaxploitation satire...
- 2/28/2013
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
The first Chicago bar I drank in was the Old Town Ale House. That bar was destroyed by fire in the 1960s, the customers hosed off, and the Ale House moved directly across the street to its present location, where it has been named Chicago's Best Dive Bar by the Chicago Tribune.
I was taken to the Ale House by Tom Devries, my fellow college editor from the Roosevelt Torch. It was early on a snowy Sunday afternoon. I remember us walking down to Barbara's Bookstore to get our copies of the legendary New York Herald-Tribune Sunday edition. Pogo. Judith Crist. Tom Wolfe. Jimmy Breslin. I remember peanut shells on the floor and a projector grinding through 16mm prints of Charlie Chaplin shorts. I remember my first taste of dark Löwenbräu beer. The Ale House was cool even then.
I returned to the North Avenue drinking scene on New Year's Eve...
I was taken to the Ale House by Tom Devries, my fellow college editor from the Roosevelt Torch. It was early on a snowy Sunday afternoon. I remember us walking down to Barbara's Bookstore to get our copies of the legendary New York Herald-Tribune Sunday edition. Pogo. Judith Crist. Tom Wolfe. Jimmy Breslin. I remember peanut shells on the floor and a projector grinding through 16mm prints of Charlie Chaplin shorts. I remember my first taste of dark Löwenbräu beer. The Ale House was cool even then.
I returned to the North Avenue drinking scene on New Year's Eve...
- 2/18/2013
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: May 21, 2013
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Verna Bloom and Robert Forster tries to figure things out in Medium Cool.
The 1969 film drama Medium Cool is the first narrative film directed by the famed documentarian/cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who shot One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Days of Heaven, among other greats.
In, with the U.S. in social upheaval, Wexler decided to make a film about what the hell was going on and plunge audiences straight into the moment. With its mix of scripted fiction and seat-of-the-pants documentary technique, the film’s story looks at the working world and romantic life of television cameraman John Cassellis (Robert Forster, Jackie Brown). Set in Chicago, Cassellis finds himself becoming personally involved in the violence that erupts around the 1968 Democratic National Convention, just as he’s forced to deal with a whole lot of romantic and lifestyle issues.
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Verna Bloom and Robert Forster tries to figure things out in Medium Cool.
The 1969 film drama Medium Cool is the first narrative film directed by the famed documentarian/cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who shot One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Days of Heaven, among other greats.
In, with the U.S. in social upheaval, Wexler decided to make a film about what the hell was going on and plunge audiences straight into the moment. With its mix of scripted fiction and seat-of-the-pants documentary technique, the film’s story looks at the working world and romantic life of television cameraman John Cassellis (Robert Forster, Jackie Brown). Set in Chicago, Cassellis finds himself becoming personally involved in the violence that erupts around the 1968 Democratic National Convention, just as he’s forced to deal with a whole lot of romantic and lifestyle issues.
- 2/15/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Working (at 59E59 Street Theatres through December 30)Warning: Since Working opened in the late seventies, you may have noticed a few small changes to the American economy. You'll notice changes to Working, too: After years of trims and revisions (beginning in the immediate wake of the show's ’78 flop on Broadway), the docu-musical based on Chicago chronicler Studs Terkel's interviews with ordinary Americans on the job emerges here in streamlined and updated form, thanks to the efforts of original director and co-composer Stephen Schwartz and current director Gordon Greenberg (Jacques Brel …) . Past and present mingle, sometimes harmoniously, sometimes dissonantly: Tales of cubicle life burble beneath the anthems of ironworkers, bleary-eyed brother-truckers complain to subcontinental call centers, the aria of the mason has to compete with stories of fund-raising, food service, prostitution, publicity. ("Neat to be a Newsboy," I regret to inform you, has been laid off, a victim...
- 12/13/2012
- by Scott Brown
- Vulture
Working, from the book by Studs Terkel, is adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, with additional contributions by Gordon Greenberg. Songs are by Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Rodgers amp Susan Birkenhead, Stephen Schwartz, and James Taylor. Directed by Gordon Greenberg and choreographed by Josh Rhodes, Prospect Theatre Company's Working began performances on Saturday, December 1 for a limited engagement through Sunday, December 30. Opening Night is tonight, December 12 at 715 Pm.Check out just-released highlights below...
- 12/12/2012
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
59E59 Theaters presents the Prospect Theater Company production of Working, from the book by Studs Terkel, adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, with additional contributions by Gordon Greenberg. Songs are by Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Rodgers amp Susan Birkenhead, Stephen Schwartz, and James Taylor. Directed by Gordon Greenberg, Working begins performances today, December 1 for a limited engagement through Sunday, December 30.
- 12/1/2012
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
By Allen Gardner
Prometheus (20th Century Fox) Ridley Scott’s quasi-prequel to his 1979 classic “Alien” has an intergalactic exploratory team (Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba) arriving on a uncharted planet, where they discover what appears to be a dormant alien spacecraft and what might be the first discovery of intelligent life outside of Earth. Of course, everything goes straight to hell before you can scream “Don’t touch that egg!” Sumptuous visuals and strong performances from the cast (not to mention a nearly-perfect first half) can’t compensate for gaping plot and logic holes that nearly sink the proceedings in the film’s protracted second half. It feels as though some very crucial footage wound up on the cutting room floor. Perhaps, as with “Alien” and “Aliens” we’ll see a “Director’s Cut” of “Prometheus” arriving on DVD within the next year. In the meantime,...
Prometheus (20th Century Fox) Ridley Scott’s quasi-prequel to his 1979 classic “Alien” has an intergalactic exploratory team (Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba) arriving on a uncharted planet, where they discover what appears to be a dormant alien spacecraft and what might be the first discovery of intelligent life outside of Earth. Of course, everything goes straight to hell before you can scream “Don’t touch that egg!” Sumptuous visuals and strong performances from the cast (not to mention a nearly-perfect first half) can’t compensate for gaping plot and logic holes that nearly sink the proceedings in the film’s protracted second half. It feels as though some very crucial footage wound up on the cutting room floor. Perhaps, as with “Alien” and “Aliens” we’ll see a “Director’s Cut” of “Prometheus” arriving on DVD within the next year. In the meantime,...
- 10/8/2012
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Sure, Sunday always seems to be overcrowded with high-end TV, with "Boardwalk Empire," "Hell on Wheels," "Copper" and "Treme," not to mention "Homeland" and "Dexter," both returning on Sept. 30, but what to watch the rest of the time? Every Monday, we bring you five noteworthy highlights from the other six days of the week. "American Masters": "The Day Carl Sandburg Died" Monday, September 24, at 10pm on PBS On the 45th anniversary of Carl Sandburg's death, PBS' "American Masters" program looks back at the life and legacy of the three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and author. This episode features interviews with Sandburg’s daughter Helga Sandburg Crile, Pete Seeger, the late Studs Terkel and an array of poets and scholars who share their thoughts on Sandburg and his work, and who defend his since-faded reputation as a writer. Among other things, Sandburg was...
- 9/24/2012
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
The world’s most famous film critic is getting his own documentary. Rising in fame since he started writing about cinema in the ’60s, there are few, if any, colleagues that have more clout, respect and knowledge than Roger Ebert. The Chicago-based critic will now be receiving the much-deserved documentary treatment, based on his 2011 memoir Life Itself. Check out his announcement on Twitter below:
Whoa! My memoir has been optioned for a doc by Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”) and Steven Zaillian, with Martin Scorsese as exec producer.
— Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) September 7, 2012
That’s right, Steve James, the documentary master behind The Interrupters and Hoop Dreams, will be teaming with Schindler’s List and Moneyball scripter Steven Zaillian to begin early work on a feature surrounding Ebert’s life. While Martin Scorsese isn’t directing, it’s great to see he’s attached as executive producer, with his wealth of film...
Whoa! My memoir has been optioned for a doc by Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”) and Steven Zaillian, with Martin Scorsese as exec producer.
— Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) September 7, 2012
That’s right, Steve James, the documentary master behind The Interrupters and Hoop Dreams, will be teaming with Schindler’s List and Moneyball scripter Steven Zaillian to begin early work on a feature surrounding Ebert’s life. While Martin Scorsese isn’t directing, it’s great to see he’s attached as executive producer, with his wealth of film...
- 9/7/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Wednesday, July 18, is the 20th anniversary of our marriage. How can I begin to tell you about Chaz? She fills my horizon, she is the great fact of my life, she has my love, she saved me from the fate of living out my life alone, which is where I seemed to be heading. If my cancer had come, and it would have, and Chaz had not been there with me, I can imagine a descent into lonely decrepitude. I was very sick. I might have vegetated in hopelessness. This woman never lost her love, and when it was necessary she forced me to want to live. She was always there believing I could do it, and her love was like a wind forcing me back from the grave. Does that sound too dramatic? You were not there. She was there every day, visiting me in the hospital whether I knew it or not,...
- 7/18/2012
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
I want to tell you about a woman named Betty Brandenburg. You've not heard of her, but her passing must not go unremarked. I've written many times about the Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She made it run. She dealt with the most impossible man in Colorado. She was a young widow who raised two children on her own. I met her the first year I went to Boulder, in 1969, and saw her the last time a few years ago at one of the annual Wednesday night dinners our little group held at the Red Lion Inn.
Are you wondering why I'm telling you this? Is this only something personal with me? Why am I involving you? Maybe it's because of a piece I wrote not long ago, about when we die the most important thing we leave behind is our memory, and when those who remember us die,...
Are you wondering why I'm telling you this? Is this only something personal with me? Why am I involving you? Maybe it's because of a piece I wrote not long ago, about when we die the most important thing we leave behind is our memory, and when those who remember us die,...
- 5/9/2012
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Andrew Davis Returns To Stony Island
By Alex Simon
Director Andrew Davis made his name with hard-hitting action blockbusters like The Fugitive, Under Siege and The Guardian, but like most filmmakers, his first effort was a small film with a modest budget and a lot of heart. Davis’ directing debut Stony Island was shot in 1977, helmed by the then 30 year-old who had made a name for himself as a cinematographer, and conceived as a love letter to the South Chicago neighborhood where he grew up. Based loosely on the story of Davis’ younger brother Richie (starring as a fictionalized version of himself), who grew up as one of the few white kids in a largely African-American neighborhood, Stony Island follows a group of young musicians who try to form an R&B group in their racially-mixed neighborhood. Featuring the film debuts of now-notable names such as Dennis Franz, Susanna Hoffs,...
By Alex Simon
Director Andrew Davis made his name with hard-hitting action blockbusters like The Fugitive, Under Siege and The Guardian, but like most filmmakers, his first effort was a small film with a modest budget and a lot of heart. Davis’ directing debut Stony Island was shot in 1977, helmed by the then 30 year-old who had made a name for himself as a cinematographer, and conceived as a love letter to the South Chicago neighborhood where he grew up. Based loosely on the story of Davis’ younger brother Richie (starring as a fictionalized version of himself), who grew up as one of the few white kids in a largely African-American neighborhood, Stony Island follows a group of young musicians who try to form an R&B group in their racially-mixed neighborhood. Featuring the film debuts of now-notable names such as Dennis Franz, Susanna Hoffs,...
- 4/24/2012
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
I’ve always been a war film buff, maybe because I grew up with them at a time when they were a regular part of the cinema landscape. That’s why I read, with particular interest, my Sound on Sight colleague Edgar Chaput’s recent pieces on The Flowers of War (“The Flowers of War Is an Uneven but Interesting Chinese Ww II Film” – posted 2/20/12) and The Front Line (The Front Line Rises to the Occasion to Overcome Its Familiarity” – 2/16/12) with such interest. An even more fun read was the back-and-forth between Edgar and Sos’s Michael Ryan over the latter (“The Sound on Sight Debate on Korea’s The Front Line” – 2/12/12), with Michael unimpressed because the movie had “…nothing new to add to the war genre,” and Edgar coming back with “…‘new’ is not always what a film must strive for. So long as it does well what it set out to do…...
- 2/28/2012
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
My new voice belongs to Edward Herrmann. He has allowed me to use it for 448 pages. The actor has recorded the audiobook version of my memoir, Life Itself, and my author's copies arrived a few days ago.
Listening to it, I discovered for the first time a benefit from losing my own speaking voice: If I could still speak, I suppose I would probably have recorded it myself, and I wouldn't have been able to do that anywhere as near as well as Herrmann does.
My editor, Mitch Hoffman, suggested a few readers he was confident would do a good job. Herrmann's name leaped up from his email.
I've always admired his acting, and there is a little newspaperman in his lineage: He played William Randolph Hearst in Bogdanovich's "The Cat's Meow." If my voice is performed by the actor who played Hearst, doesn't that make me only two degrees of separation from Orson Welles?...
Listening to it, I discovered for the first time a benefit from losing my own speaking voice: If I could still speak, I suppose I would probably have recorded it myself, and I wouldn't have been able to do that anywhere as near as well as Herrmann does.
My editor, Mitch Hoffman, suggested a few readers he was confident would do a good job. Herrmann's name leaped up from his email.
I've always admired his acting, and there is a little newspaperman in his lineage: He played William Randolph Hearst in Bogdanovich's "The Cat's Meow." If my voice is performed by the actor who played Hearst, doesn't that make me only two degrees of separation from Orson Welles?...
- 8/28/2011
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Beloved film critic Roger Ebert's new 448-page book Life Itself: A Memoir will be released in hardcover on September 13th 2011, and is now available for preorder [1]. The book tells the story of Ebert's life, and his rise and journeys as the most popular film critic in cinema history. Ebert has posted the introduction chapter, titled "Memory", on his Chicago Sun Times blog [2]. Hit the jump to read the book description. Official Book Description: Roger Ebert is the best-known film critic of our time. He has been reviewing films for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, and was the first film critic ever to win a Pulitzer Prize. He has appeared on television for four decades, including twenty-three years as cohost of Siskel & Ebert at the Movies. In 2006, complications from thyroid cancer treatment resulted in the loss of his ability to eat, drink, or speak. But with the loss of his voice,...
- 8/23/2011
- by Peter Sciretta
- Slash Film
Chicago – Throughout his extensive work as a film columnist, author and journalist, Robert K. Elder has been drawn to exploring both the universality and striking diversity of the human experience. In his books, Elder is intent on capturing specific moments within the lives of his subjects, while discovering their universal truths through their juxtaposition.
Elder’s latest book, “The Film That Changed My Life,” is no exception. The book compiles one-on-one interviews with thirty directors about the pivotal moviegoing experience that altered their sense of cinema (and sense of self). Filmmakers and film buffs alike will undoubtedly find the book to be a compulsive page turner. John Woo discusses his idolization of James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause,” while Frank Oz gushes about his love of Welles in “Touch of Evil” and Atom Egoyan recalls the moment he first stumbled upon Ingmar Bergman’s “Persona.”
On June 11, Elder will...
Elder’s latest book, “The Film That Changed My Life,” is no exception. The book compiles one-on-one interviews with thirty directors about the pivotal moviegoing experience that altered their sense of cinema (and sense of self). Filmmakers and film buffs alike will undoubtedly find the book to be a compulsive page turner. John Woo discusses his idolization of James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause,” while Frank Oz gushes about his love of Welles in “Touch of Evil” and Atom Egoyan recalls the moment he first stumbled upon Ingmar Bergman’s “Persona.”
On June 11, Elder will...
- 6/7/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another,
neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 2:4
War is a nation’s ultimate commitment of blood and treasure. As such, the stories a people tells about its wars – and don’t tell – and the ways it remembers its wars – or chooses to forget them – tells us much about the kind of people they consider themselves to be at different times in their history, as well as the kind of people they really were…and are.
For most of the 20th century, the war film was a Hollywood staple. From one era to the next, war movies documented the nation’s conflicts, reflected the national consciousness on particular combats as well as on thinking going far beyond any one, particular war. They’ve been propagandistic and revisionist,...
and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another,
neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 2:4
War is a nation’s ultimate commitment of blood and treasure. As such, the stories a people tells about its wars – and don’t tell – and the ways it remembers its wars – or chooses to forget them – tells us much about the kind of people they consider themselves to be at different times in their history, as well as the kind of people they really were…and are.
For most of the 20th century, the war film was a Hollywood staple. From one era to the next, war movies documented the nation’s conflicts, reflected the national consciousness on particular combats as well as on thinking going far beyond any one, particular war. They’ve been propagandistic and revisionist,...
- 5/22/2011
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Spoiler alert: This interview contains information about the film that reveals some plot details
For the past two years, Dana Adam Shapiro has been immersing himself in other people's breakups. As part of his research for what began as an oral history of divorce and what has blossomed into a book, due out from Scribner in 2012, the former journalist and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker (Murderball) asked dozens of men and women across the country to open up to him about the most intimate details of their splits. Along the way, he co-wrote and directed a movie inspired by many of the themes that emerged from those candid discussions.
The film, Monogamy, which opened across the country earlier this month, stars Chris Messina and Rashida Jones as Theo and Nat, a soon-to-be-married Brooklyn couple who are forced to confront some major problems in their relationship when Theo, a photographer whom clients hire...
For the past two years, Dana Adam Shapiro has been immersing himself in other people's breakups. As part of his research for what began as an oral history of divorce and what has blossomed into a book, due out from Scribner in 2012, the former journalist and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker (Murderball) asked dozens of men and women across the country to open up to him about the most intimate details of their splits. Along the way, he co-wrote and directed a movie inspired by many of the themes that emerged from those candid discussions.
The film, Monogamy, which opened across the country earlier this month, stars Chris Messina and Rashida Jones as Theo and Nat, a soon-to-be-married Brooklyn couple who are forced to confront some major problems in their relationship when Theo, a photographer whom clients hire...
- 3/31/2011
- by Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
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