Tag: movies
A Bell for Adano
An evening pause: This lovely and poignant scene from the 1945 film, A Bell for Adano, showcases the superb acting of Gene Tierney and John Hodiak. He is an American commander of Italian descent put in charge of an Italian village now under U.S. rule near the end of World War II. She is a local Italian girl longing to find her sweetheart who went off to fight for Italy and is now missing.
The movie was based on a short but profound book by John Hersey. And what I remember most from that book is this speech by the Hodiak character in trying to explain to the Italians the right way for government officials to act:
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The story of Hayabusa inspires three major movie releases
The story of Hayabusa, the Japanese space probe that was the first to successfully return material from an asteroid despite serious technical failures, has now inspired three major movies.
The story of Hayabusa, the Japanese space probe that was the first to successfully return material from an asteroid despite serious technical failures, has now inspired three major movies.
The Muppets – Movin’ right along
Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears
John Adams – the vote
An evening pause: To close out my Declaration of Independence celebration that I began two days ago, here is the vote and public release of the Declaration, as portrayed in the 2008 John Adams mini-series.
To all government leaders, you ignore these words at your peril:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. [emphasis mine]
July 2, 1776 – The vote for independency
An evening pause: From the movie 1776 (1972). The actual vote and signing of the Declaration of Independence took place 235 years ago today, on July 2nd, not July 4th. We celebrate the Fourth of July because that was the date put on the Declaration itself when it was made public.
Joe Hisaishi Live – Summer ( from Kikujiro )
Battleground (1949)
An evening pause: On Memorial Day, one short scene from the William Wellman film, Battleground (1949), to remind us why sometimes it is necessary to fight a war.
The finale from 42nd Street
An evening pause: The finale from the movie 42nd Street (1933). Stay with it, as it gets better and better.
Three Little Kittens
For the birds
Snow
Islamic killer motivated by US antiwar film
This is horrible: It appears that the man who killed two American soldiers in Frankfort was partly motivated by watching clips taken from one of Hollywood’s numerous anti-Iraq war films.
This is horrible: It appears that the man who killed two American soldiers in Frankfort was partly motivated by watching clips taken from one of Hollywood’s numerous anti-Iraq war films.
SNL A very British movie
An evening pause: For anyone who likes to watch modern British movies, whether on public television or in the theater.
Diner scene from Five Easy Pieces
An evening pause: All Jack Nicholson wants is some toast. Five Easy Pieces (1970). This scene is probably more famous than the film itself.
The climax to The Roaring Twenties
An evening pause: The Roaring Twenties (1939). Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney were often cast as gangsters. However, their film personas’ were very different. Bogart’s characters generally showed a trace of weakness in his soul, while Cagney’s characters were rock solid no matter how much things fell apart. The finale of this classic Hollywood film, in which each man dies, illustrates this difference quite starkly.
A Christmas Carol (1951)
An evening pause: Scrooge awakes on Christmas Day. From probably the best movie version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1951), starring Alastair Sim in an astonishing performance.
Facing the facts
An evening pause: The reaction of the ship captain in the opening section of this clip from the movie A Night to Remember (1958) exemplifies better than anything I have ever seen the clarity and courage of an open mind, willing to face new facts instantly and to react correctly, even if by doing so you risk failure and disgrace.
If only our leaders today had as much courage.
Waltzing Matilda scene from On the Beach
An evening pause: What do you do when you know that you only have a few more weeks to live? From On the Beach (1959), one of the greatest end-of-the-world films ever made.
The attack on Pearl Harbor, as seen at the time
An evening pause: This newsreel, made shortly after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, gives an honest sense of the rage felt by Americans following the attack. Or to quote the words placed in the mouth of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto from the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!:
“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant, and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
Though it is not clear that Yamamoto ever actually said this line, it encapsulates the consequences of Pearl Harbor quite concisely.
Animator vs Animation
Shooting scene from To Kill a Mockingbird
An evening pause: As it is Wednesday and I am at the gun range, competing in bullseye pistol competitions, let’s look at some Hollywood shooting action.
Superman – The Mad Scientist
An evening pause: The first Max Fleischer Superman cartoon, The Mad Scientist (1941), from a time when Americans believed that all things were possible, and that our nation stood for the best of those possibilities. When evil men try to destroy skyscrapers and kill innocent people, you don’t stand idly by, you fight them, and stop them.
Leslie Nielsen Dead at 84
Leslie Nielsen Dead at 84. R.I.P.
Leslie Nielsen Dead at 84. R.I.P.
Speech from Scent of a Woman
Oklahoma-Many a new day
An evening pause: “Many a New Day” from Oklahoma (1955). It is the dance choreography here that is surprising and original.
1776: He plays the violin
An evening pause: What was happening while Thomas Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence, according to Broadway and Hollywood.
The Great Dictator
An evening pause: Charlie Chaplin, making glorious fun of Hitler and all egomanical dictators, in The Great Dictator (1940).
Baikonur allows its first feature film
The Baikonur space port: a movie set.
The Baikonur space port: a movie set.