Review: "Middle of Nowhere" Signaled an Important Arrival

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 11 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Middle of Nowhere (2012)
Running time:  142 minutes (2 hours, 22 minutes)
MPAA – R for some language
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Ava DuVernay
PRODUCERS:  Howard Barish, Ava DuVernay, and Paul Garnes
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Bradford Young
EDITOR:  Spencer Averick
COMPOSER:  Kathryn Bostic
Black Reel Award winner

DRAMA

Starring:  Emayatzy Corinealdi, David Oyelowo, Omari Hardwick, Lorraine Toussaint, Edwina Findley, Nehemiah Sutton, Sharon Lawrence, Maya Gilbert, and Troy Curvey III

Middle of Nowhere is a 2012 drama from writer-director Ava DuVernay.  The film centers on a medical student who supports her husband while he is in prison, but who also finds herself facing unforeseen pressures that threaten their relationship.

Roberta “Ruby” M. Murray (Emayatzy Corinealdi) is a young medical student,  Her husband, Derek J. Murray (Omari Hardwick), was sentenced to several years in prison.  Ruby dropped out of medical school in order to focus on her husband while he is incarcerated.  He can be released on parole after about five years, and as that time approaches, Ruby focuses all her energy on working as a nurse and on monitoring Derek's legal situation.  After unexpected complications involving Derek arise, Ruby finds herself curious about Brian (David Oyelowo), a bus driver who is interested in her.

Middle of Nowhere is a calm and measured drama.  People rarely yell at one another; instead, they occasionally speak strongly and firmly.  It depicts people with family members in prison without the theatrics, melodrama, and Christian themes that one would get in, say, Madea Goes to Jail.  This is not a slight against Tyler Perry, as the aforementioned Madea film is one of my favorites.

I think writer-director Ava DuVernay tells her audience that there are no easy answers, absolutely none, and every decision and direction that seems straightforward is not really.  Neither a prayer nor a good cry will resolve complex difficulties.  I like that Middle of Nowhere suggests that some people are unhappy and/or ashamed of the lives they lead.  They think that there is another way they should be living – even when they are not sure exactly what that better way should be.  Where do you go when you don't know where to go?  What do you do when you don't know what to do?

I think that so many people expect so much from DuVernay as a filmmaker because her two feature films, Middle of Nowhere and 2014's Selma, are radically different from just about all other current films.  Her film narratives do not offer idealism, and she forces her characters to deal with existential realities and the truth, even if those are just about impossible to discern.

Middle of Nowhere is not perfect.  DuVernay is vague or at least distant about the history and complications between Ruby and her mother, Ruth (Lorraine Toussaint), to say nothing of what is going on with Ruby's sister, Rosie (Edwina Findley).  It is as if there is an entire side or chunk of this story left out of the film narrative.

Middle of Nowhere is important because it signals the arrival of a different filmmaking voice and of a new cinematic vision.  The truth is that mainstream American film and Hollywood need that more than most people, inside and out of film, realize.

7 of 10
B+

Saturday, April 16, 2016


NOTES:
2013 Black Reel Awards:  2 wins:  “Best Director” (Ava DuVernay) and “Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted” (Ava DuVernay); 7 nominations: “Best Film” (Ava DuVernay, Paul Garnes, and Howard Barish); “Best Actress” (Emayatzy Corinealdi), “Best Supporting Actor” (David Oyelowo); “Best Supporting Actress” (Lorraine Toussaint), “Best Breakthrough Performance” (Emayatzy Corinealdi), “Best Original Score” (Kathryn Bostic), and “Best Ensemble” (Aisha Coley-Casting Director)

2013 Image Awards:  2 nominations: “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Emayatzy Corinealdi) and “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (David Oyelowo)

The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.


-------------------------

Review: "The House I Live In" Remains a Timely Documentary

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 42 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

[A version of this review first appeared on Patreon.]

The House I Live In (2012)
Running time:  108 minutes (1 hour, 48 minutes)
Not rated by the MPAA
DIRECTOR:  Eugene Jarecki
WRITERS:  Eugene Jarecki with Christopher St. John (additional writing)
PRODUCERS:  Sam Cullman and Christopher St. John
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Sam Cullman (D.o.P.) and Derek Hallquist (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Paul Frost
COMPOSER:  Robert Miller

DOCUMENTARY – Race, Economics, Politics, Society

Starring:  Eugene Jarecki, Nannie Jeter, David Simon, Michelle Alexander, Charles Bowden, The Honorable Mark W. Bennett, Mike Carpenter, Charles Ogletree, Carl Hart, Shanequa Bennett, Kevin Ott, Anthony Johnson, Maurice Haltiwanger, and Richard Miller

The House I Live In is a 2012 documentary from director Eugene Jarecki.  The film chronicles the War on Drugs in the United States.  Danny Glover, John Legend, Brad Pitt, and Russell Simmons are among the film's executive producers.

Eugene Jarecki's examination of the War on Drugs spring from a deeply personal place.  He takes notice of how drugs have affected Nannie Jeter and her family.  Ms. Jeter was the housekeeper in the Jarecki home, and she was the caretaker of the Jarecki children, especially of Eugene.

From there, The House I Live In shines a harsh light on “War on Drugs” in the United States and both its immediate and long-term impact on American society, especially at the bottom rungs of society where the working class, poor, and destitute reside.  Jarecki's film tells the stories of dealers, of police officers and other law-enforcement officials, of prison inmates, and of other people affected by this decades-old crusade against the sale and use of illegal narcotics.  Through these stories, the film reveals the profound human rights implications of America's “War on Drugs.”

Some documentary films are packed with information via interviews, archival information, omniscient voice overs (usually provided by the director or by a celebrity, usually an actor).  Some films have to be packed with information, simply because their subject matter is complex or because the subject is an event or program that has been occurring over several decades.

The House I Live In tackles subject matter that is both complicated and that is long ongoing.  When President Richard Nixon began what we know as the “War on Drugs” in 1971, people probably thought of it as simply “the war of drugs,” no capital letters.  At some point, however, the war of drugs became the “War on Drugs,” with capital letters.  This “war” was all-encompassing, becoming the biggest fight against crime in the U.S.  According to Jarecki, the country has spent over one trillion dollars on the War on Drugs, with something like 45 million people have been convicted of drug-related crimes.

More than anything, families and communities have been affected, and by affected, I mean damaged, ruined, and even destroyed.  That is where The House I Live In turns darker and becomes a little more complicated and controversial.  I don't want to spoil the film for those who have not seen it (and please, do see it), but this documentary flat out states that the beginnings of the “War on Drugs” goes back farther than many people realize and that the early battlefronts usually involved various minority and outsider groups.  What people did not realize in the past was that eventually this war would ensnare those who never thought their little tribes would be the focus of a state-sanctioned, destructive crusade.

As with many such documentaries, Jarecki includes interviews with numerous people who study or are involved directly or indirectly in the War on Drugs.  I suggest that viewers pay special attention to Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and the author of the non-fiction book, The New Jim Crow.  She is one of most important voices in matters of civil rights and of American history concerning the lives and the oppression of slaves and their African-American descendants.

Once again, Eugene Jarecki has delved into the dark side of official America, the powers-that-be, as he did in his documentary film, Why We Fight.  The House I Live In is one of those documentaries that should be considered an educational film, a must-see for all middle and high school students across the country.  It wouldn't hurt for the general public to see this film; in fact, it might help the country.  The House I Live In is an engrossing, engaging documentary film that refuses to let you turn away, and most importantly, it is truly an “important film.”

9 of 10
A+

Tuesday, August 25, 2015


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Review: Denzel Washington Takes "Flight"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux - Support Leroy on Patreon.

Flight (2012)
Running time:  138 minutes (2 hours, 18 minutes)
MPAA – R for drug and alcohol abuse, language, sexuality/nudity and an intense action sequence
DIRECTOR:  Robert Zemeckis
WRITER:  John Gatins
PRODUCERS:  Laurie MacDonald, Walter F. Parkes, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey, and Robert Zemeckis
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Don Burgess (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Jeremiah O'Driscoll
COMPOSER:  Alan Silvestri
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA

Starring:  Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, Kelly Reilly, Tamara Tunie, John Goodman, Nadine Velazquez, Garcelle Beauvais, Justine Martin, Melissa Leo, and Brian Geraghty

The subject of this movie review is Flight, a 2012 drama from director Robert Zemeckis.
The film focuses on an airline pilot who saves almost all his passengers on his malfunctioning airliner, which eventually crashes, but an investigation into the accident reveals something troubling.

In the film, SouthJet Flight 227 is heading to Atlanta from Orlando, when something goes terribly wrong.  Veteran airline Captain William “Whip” Whitaker (Denzel Washington) manages to keep the crash from being a complete and total disaster.  Suddenly, Whip is a hero, but questions begin to arise when he avoids the spotlight.  Meanwhile, the investigation by the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) into the Flight 227 accident reveals something troubling.

Flight has an Oscar-winning director in Robert Zemeckis (for Forrest Gump).  However, Flight's Oscar-nominated screenplay by John Gatins is a blistering character study of a man whose talents (as a highly skilled airplane pilot) fully come to light at the same time as the most troubling aspect of his personality (his alcoholism) begin to come to light.  As a character study, the film script provides Denzel Washington with the opportunity to give one of his best performances of the last decade.

Zemeckis guides all the actors through this thoughtful and provocative character study, but Washington is the primary focus.   Whip Whitaker is a meaty role, and the film takes him on a harrowing personal journey.  Washington does not shy away from being intimate with the stage, camera, and audience as he pulls all the mess and addiction out of the tortured Whip for the audience to see.  It is good to see an African-American actor get the chance to be so vulnerable and revealing to movie audiences.  Washington deserved the Oscar nomination he received for his performance here.

Flight is an excellent return to live-action film for Zemeckis.  He is flawless in the way he captures Washington's grand performance and Whip Whitaker's journey towards redemption and maybe, salvation.  Flight should be a blueprint for high-quality film drama.

8 of 10
A

Saturday, April 25, 2015


NOTES:
2013 Academy Awards, USA:  2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Denzel Washington) and “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (John Gatins)

2013 Golden Globes, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Denzel Washington)

2013 Black Reel Awards:  1 win: “Best Actor” (Denzel Washington); 3 nominations: “Best Film” (Laurie MacDonald, Walter F. Parkes, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey, and Robert Zemeckis – Paramount Pictures), “Best Supporting Actress” (Tamara Tunie), and “Best Ensemble” (Victoria Burrows-Casting Director)

2013 Image Awards:  1 win: “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Denzel Washington); 3 nominations: “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Don Cheadle), “Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture-Theatrical or Television” (John Gatin)


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Review: First Trip to "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" Was Quite Lovely

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 16 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
Running time:  124 minutes (2 hours, 4 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual content and language
DIRECTOR:  John Madden
WRITER:  Ol Parker (based on the novel, These Foolish Things, by Deborah Moggach)
PRODUCERS:  Graham Broadbent and Peter Czernin
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Ben Davis (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Chris Gill
COMPOSER:  Thomas Newman
Golden Globes nominee

COMEDY/DRAMA with elements of romance

Starring:  Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Maggie Smith, Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie, Dev Patel, Tina Desai, Lillete Dubey, Paul Bhattacharjee, Neena Kulkarni, Rajendra Gupta, and Lucy Robinson

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a 2012 British comedy-drama from director John Madden.  The film is based on the 2004 novel, These Foolish Things, from English author Deborah Moggach.  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel focuses on a group of British retirees who travel to India to take up residence in a newly restored hotel that is not quite ready for prime time.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opens in present day Great Britain and introduces a group of British retirees and AARP types.  Recently widowed housewife, Evelyn Greenslade (Judi Dench), is forced to sell the home she shared with her late husband in order to cover the huge debts he left.  Jean and Douglas Ainslie (Penelope Wilton and Bill Nighy) are searching for a retirement they can afford; they lost most of their savings through investing in their daughter's Internet business.

Muriel Donnelly (Maggie Smith) is a retired housekeeper who is need of a hip replacement operation.  Her doctor informs her that she can have it done far more quickly and inexpensively in India than she can in the U.K., but Muriel hates Indians (as well as every other person of color).  Madge Hardcastle (Celia Imrie) is searching for another husband.  Aging lothario Norman Cousins (Ronald Pickup) still wants to have sex with young women, but now, he needs to find a new place to try and re-capture his youth.  These six people decide to spend their retirement at a hotel in India, based only on the pictures on the hotel's website.

Meanwhile, high-court judge, Graham Dashwood (Tom Wilkinson), spent the first eighteen years of his life in India; he suddenly decides to retire and return there.  When these Brits arrive at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, they find it dilapidated.  The hotel's energetic young manager, Sunil Indrajit “Sonny” Kapoor (Dev Patel), promises that he will make the hotel look like what the website promises.  Now, everyone has to deal with the unexpected, and some are better at that than others.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is simply frothy feel-good entertainment – nothing more, nothing less.  The characters are interesting, but not especially well-developed.  There are so many of them that screenwriter Ol Parker cannot really develop them in the amount of the film's running time that actually involves storytelling, which is less than its stated 100 minutes running time.

But, boy, did I enjoy this movie anyway.  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is sweet and charming, and its cast of veteran (some would say “senior citizen”) actors makes it a rare treat in a landscape of movies about children and 20-somethings saving the world.  Loving and wanting-to-be-loved are not exclusively the domain of lovelorn teens and the newly-turned middle-aged.  Yearning and striving for the good life:  well, old folks can want that, also.  That is why I am glad that this funny, heartwarming, and sometimes heartbreaking film is here to be enjoyed again and again.  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a good place for movie lovers to visit or even to stay.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, March 27, 2015


NOTES:
2013 Golden Globes, USA:  2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Judi Dench)

2013 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film” (John Madden, Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, and Ol Parker)

The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Taken 2" Does Not Suffer from Middle Film Blues

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

Taken 2 (2012)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  France; Language:  English
Running time: 92 minutes (1 hour, 32 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sensuality
DIRECTOR: Olivier Megaton
WRITERS: Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen (based on characters created by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen)
PRODUCER:  Luc Besson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Romain Lacourbas (director of photography)
EDITORS: Camille Delamarre and Vincent Tabaillon
COMPOSER: Nathaniel Méchaly

ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Shergedgia, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, D.B. Sweeney, and Luke Grimes

The subject of this movie review is Taken 2, a 2012 French thriller, directed by Olivier Megaton, produced by Luc Besson, and starring Liam Neeson. The film is a sequel to the 2008 film, Taken.  In Taken 2, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills finds himself facing off against the father of a man he killed while hunting for his kidnapped daughter in Paris (as seen in the first film).

Early in Taken 2, former CIA operative, Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), is still trying to find ways to get closer to his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace).  This time, it is by helping her pass her driving test, which she has already failed at least twice.  Meanwhile, Bryan's ex-wife and Kim's mother, Lenore (Famke Janssen), is having severe marital problems.  All three of them are about to have worse problems than they expect.

Over in Europe, specifically in Tropojë, Albania, funerals are being held for the Parisian-based, Albanian mobsters Bryan killed for kidnapping Kim in the first film.  Murad (Rade Shergedgia) is a mob boss and the father of Marko, one of the dead men.  Bryan killed Marko by electrocution, and Murad vows to capture Bryan, to bring him to the men's graves, and to kill him there.  They track Bryan to Istanbul, Turkey, where he is vacationing with Lenore and Kim.  Murad and company launch an attack and are able to abduct Bryan and Lenore.  Before Bryan can kick their attackers' asses, however, Kim will have to free his ass.

I had put off seeing Taken for about three years.  I saw it shortly before Taken 2 was released.  I put off seeing Taken 2 for three years, and decided to see it in time for the release of Taken 3.  When I finally saw Taken, I had to admit that it easily surpassed my expectations.  Taken was and remains a terrific thriller, a feisty little revenge flick that plays like a big-time, big studio thriller.

Now, that I have finally seen Taken 2, I have to admit that it surpassed my expectations.  It received such negative reviews that I avoided seeing it in a movie theater.  Taken 2 is not quite as good as Taken, but it isn't far off.  Like the original, Taken 2 strains credulity, and Liam Neeson's Bryan Mills does stuff that takes him into the fantasy realm of Jason Bourne films.  In this sequel, Bryan seems a little less human and more robotic than he was in the original movie.

Still, I like that Maggie Grace's Kim plays a bigger part.  Here, Grace approaches playing the action sidekick with the same terrified energy she used to play the first film's victim.  Yeah, Taken 2 is still a Liam Neeson vehicle, but it seems less so because of what Maggie Grace and even Famke Janssen (an underrated actress) bring to the film.  The always good  Rade Shergedgia (whose last name seems to have multiple spellings) manages to steal quite a bit of this film for himself.  So I am once again taken in by a Taken film.  Taken 2, like the first, is a tasty fast-food film.

7 of 10
B+

Sunday, January 11, 2015


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Review: "The Act of Killing" Delves into Mass Murder and Mass Murderers

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 44 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Act of Killing (2012)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Denmark/Norway/UK
Running time:  122 minutes (2 hours, 2 minutes)
DIRECTOR:  Joshua Oppenheimer with Christine Cynn and Anonymous
PRODUCERS:  Christine Cynn, Anne Kohncke,Signe Byrge Sorense, Joram ten Brink, Michael Uwemedimo, and Anonymous
CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Carlos Arango De Montis, Lars Skree, and Anonymous
EDITORS:  Niels Pagh Andersen, Erik Andersson, Charlotte Munch Bengtsen, Ariadna Fatjo-Vilas Mestre, Janus Billeskov Jansen, and Mariko Montpetit
Academy Award nominee

DOCUMENTARY – History

Starring:  Anwar Congo, Herman Koto, Ibrahim Sinik, Yapto Soerjosomarno, Adi Zulkadry, Soaduon Siregar, and Sakhyan Asmara

The Act of Killing is a 2012 documentary film from director Joshua Oppenheimer.  A co-production of Denmark, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the film concerns the Indonesian killings of 1965-66.  In The Act of Killing,  former Indonesian death-squad leaders reenact the mass-killings in which they participated by imitating their favorite Hollywood films.  Acclaimed filmmakers, Werner Herzog and Oscar-winner Errol Morris, are executive producers of this film.

The genesis of the story told by The Act of Killing began in Indonesia in October 1965.  There is an intra-military dispute that leads to a failed coup.  The army overthrows the government.  It then uses paramilitaries and gangsters to form death squads to lead an anti-communist purge of Indonesia.  Anyone opposed to the new government could be accused of being a communist, and that included union members, landless farmers, intellectuals, and ethnic Chinese (according the the film's foreword).

From 1965 to 1966, death squads killed people, numbering in the hundreds of thousands.  The Act of Killing's director, Joshua Oppenheimer, places the number of deaths between one to three million people.  An accurate count of the actual number of deaths may never be known.

Oppenheimer and Christine Cynn began researching the Indonesian killings of 1965-66 over a decade ago.  Eventually, interviews Oppenheimer conducted led him to Anwar Congo, who had been a “movie theater gangster,” selling black market movie theater tickets to popular Hollywood films showing in Indonesia.  Congo and his partner, Adi Zulkadry, were promoted from gangsters to leaders of one of the most powerful death squads in the North Sumatra region of Indonesia.

Invited by Oppenheimer, Congo and his friends, especially a man named Herman Koto, recount and reenact their experiences killing people for the cameras.  The idea is to turn their memories into a movie in which scenes of torture and murder mimic their favorite Hollywood films.  However, the more he recollects his murderous deeds, the more Anwar is haunted by nightmares and guilt.

The word “shocking” is overused, but The Act of Killing is shocking.  The matter-of-fact and nonchalant way in which the death squad killers recall their murderous work can be off-putting.  The film takes the concept of the banality of evil and makes it mind-numbing.  The Hollywood-style reenactments of interrogation, torture, and murder are a collision of the absurd and the god-awful that could lead the audience to eye-rolling... that is when they aren't being repulsed and infuriated.

The problem for The Act of Killing is that after an hour of watching, all these recollections of the acts of killing become tedious.  At just over two hours in length, The Act of Killing is about a half-hour too long.  Honestly, I can see why some people think of this as a great film.  I think it tells a hugely important story, and the result is harrowing and intense.  I think it is an exceptional film and an important document (as far as documentaries go), but is it truly great? ... not quite.

8 of 10
A

Friday, September 26, 2014

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NOTES:
2014 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Documentary, Features” (Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen)

2014 BAFTA Awards:  1 win: “Best Documentary” (Joshua Oppenheimer); 1 nomination: “Best Film not in the English Language” (Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen)

Review: European Actors Shine in Woody Allen's "To Rome with Love"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 34 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

To Rome with Love (2012)
Running time:  112 minutes (1 hour, 52 minutes)
MPAA – R for some sexual references
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Woody Allen
PRODUCERS:  Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, Faruk Alatan, and Giampaolo Letta
CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Darius Khondji
EDITOR:  Alisa Lepselter

ROMANCE/COMEDY with elements of fantasy

Starring:  Woody Allen, Judy Davis, Flavio Parenti, Alison Pill, Fabio Armiliato, Alessandro Tiberi, Alessandra Mastronardi, Penelope Cruz, Antonio Albanese, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, Ellen Page, Alec Baldwin, and Roberto Benigni

To Rome with Love is a 2012 romantic comedy written and directed by Woody Allen.  Like other Allen films, To Rome with Love has magical realist elements.  To Rome with Love follows a small group of visitors and residents of Rome and focuses on their romances and adventures and the predicaments into which they get themselves.

To Rome with Love tells four unrelated stories.  Hayley (Alison Pill), an American tourist, falls in love with Italian pro bono lawyer and Rome resident, Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti), and they become engaged.  Hayley’s parents, Jerry and Phyllis (Woody Allen and Judy Davis), arrive in Rome to meet Michelangelo and his parents.  Jerry, a retired opera director, discovers that Michelangelo’s father, Giancarlo (Fabio Armiliato), has a wonderful operatic voice, so Jerry decides to make Giancarlo an opera star in spite of everyone’s protests against that.

Newlyweds Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) and Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) arrive in Rome from their rustic hometown.  They are supposed to meet Antonio’s well-connected and posh uncles who have lined up a fantastic job interview for him.  However, Antonio and Milly get separated.  Antonio is accidentally forced into an encounter with a gorgeous prostitute named Anna (Penelope Cruz).  Milly meets her favorite actor, Luchino “Luca” Salta (Antonio Albanese), who immediately begins to plot to have sex with the young wife.

John Foy (Alec Baldwin) is visiting Rome and meets Jack (Jesse Eisenberg), a young architecture student.  Jack lives with his girlfriend, Sally (Greta Gerwig).  Sally’s friend, Monica (Ellen Page), a pretentious young actress, arrives in Rome to visit them.  John warns Jack about falling in love with Monica…  Finally, ordinary business man, Leopold Pisanello (Roberto Benigni), suddenly gains an extraordinary life.

To Rome with Love is a romantic, comic, and romantic comedy romp through Rome.  It is not by any means a great film, but this movie does have a kind a charm that I cannot explain.  The American actors are mostly stiff, but Allen does not give them particularly flexible characters.  There is, however, this one great moment when Alec Baldwin’s John gives Ellen Page’s Monica a fantastic death stare.  There is something potent, electric, and maybe even dangerous in this one stare that I wish the rest of the John-Jack-Sally-Monica storyline had.

On the opposite side, the European actors sparkle.  Allen gives them the best characters and also better subplots than he gives the Americans.  The Europeans get inside the shallow characters Allen gives them and make them less shallow and more attractive. One example of this is Antonio Albanese.  Bald at the top of his head and somewhat pudgy, Albanese makes Luca Salta an alluring, sexy man, which in turn makes the idea of Salta as a movie star convincing.

Penelope Cruz, who won a supporting actress Oscar for her performance in an earlier Woody Allen film (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), gives To Rome with Love’s best performance.  She deserved another supporting actor Oscar nomination (at least) for her work here.  When her Anna is onscreen, this film seems to sparkle with new energy because that is what Cruz does – enliven things.  She is an excellent actress and is also quite the spitfire.

I will recommend To Rome with Love to fans of both Woody Allen and Penelope Cruz.  It is not great, but it is worth seeing.

6 of 10
B

Tuesday, July 08, 2014


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Review: "Bettie Page Reveals All" is as Good as Her Looks

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 25 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Bettie Page Reveals All (2012)
Running time:  101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – R for sexual content and graphic nudity throughout
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR:  Mark Mori
WRITER:  Doug Miller
CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Grant Barbeito, Angel Barroeta, Doug Miller, and Jay Miracle
EDITORS:  Julie Chabot, Douglas Miller, and Jay Miracle

DOCUMENTARY – Biography and History

Starring:  Bettie Page, Hugh M. Hefner, Paula Klaw, Greg Theakston, Harry Lear, Art Arnsie, Olivia De Berardinis, Steve Brewster, and Richard Bann

Bettie Page Reveals All is a 2012 documentary film from director Mark Mori.  The film is the life story of the late Bettie Page (April 22, 1923 to December 11, 2008).  It also examines Page’s cultural influence.  Page was famous in the 1950s for her pin-up photos, and she is still often referred to as the “Queen of Pinups.”

Considered by fans and admirers as “the world’s greatest pinup model,” cult icon Bettie Page recounts the true story of her sometimes drama and strife-filled life.  It is a story that took place in front of the camera, as Page’s willingness to model for racy fetishistic photos earned her a huge following of admirers and of those who collected pin-up photography.  Page battled censorship, including a United States Senate investigation.  Along the way, Page helped launch the sexual revolution in the United States.

Bettie Page Reveals All is an adoring documentary in which Bettie Page tells all.  She only appears on screen in archival photos and film footage.  Director Mark Mori conducted an audio interview of Page, and he used that as the film’s voice-over narration through which Page tells her story.

Bettie Mae Page was an American model whose career began in 1950 when she met Jerry Tibbs, a police officer with an interest in photography.  Tibbs took pictures of Page and also put together her first pin-up portfolio.  Tibbs suggested that Page style her hair with bangs in front, and those bangs soon became an integral part of her distinctive look.

Through “camera clubs,” Page entered the field of “glamour photography” and became a popular camera club model.  Her lack of inhibition in posing made both her name and image a hit in the erotic photography industry.  Images of Page soon appeared in men’s magazines such as Beauty Parade, Wink, and Titter, among others.

From 1952 through 1957, Page posed for photographer Irving Klaw and his sister, Paula Klaw.  The Klaws owned a mail-order business that sold photographs with pin-up and BDSM themes, and those photographs would also make Page the first famous bondage model.  Page continued to model and pose for other photographers, and attracted the attention of Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner.  Page was one of Playboy magazine’s earliest “Playmates of the Month” (“Miss January 1955”).

However, a Senate committee, an FBI interview, and an upsetting experience with a group of photographers seem to have led Page to retire from modeling and pin-up photography.  Her life out of the public eye was filled with bad relationships and divorce.  There were encounters with law enforcement officials that led to a stay in a mental institution.  Her conversion to evangelical Christianity also caused her some trouble.

Meanwhile, the Bettie Page that was an image in pin-up photographs retained a cult following.  In the late 1970s and early 1980s, various book companies published books that collected pictures of Bettie.  At the same time, cartoonists, painters, and other artists began to use Bettie Page as an inspiration for their work and some even started painting images of Bettie Page.

Perhaps, the person that really launched the Bettie Page revival in the 1980s was cartoonist and illustrator, the late Dave Stevens.  In 1982, Stevens introduced his comic book character, “The Rocketeer,” in a backup feature in issues #2 and #3 of the comic book series, Pacific Comics.  Stevens gave his star, Cliff Second a/k/a The Rocketeer, a love interest based on Bettie Page.  The Rocketeer, which would eventually be adapted into a film by Walt Disney Pictures, is how I first learned of Bettie Page.

Bettie Page Reveals All is like an open letter from Page to her fans, but the film is also like a love letter from director Mark Mori to both Page and to her fans and admirers.  Bettie stated that she wanted fans to remember her as the Bettie Page in the pin-up photographs taken of her in the 1950s, so we do not need to see her as a senior citizen in this film.  Pin-up Bettie was one of the most beautiful women ever to be photographed.  Her unique looks, curvy figure (measurements: 36-24-37), and innate sexiness and attractiveness practically shine in those photographs.  Even seeing the photos via a movie cannot diminish their power to attract both male and female admirers.

This is my recommendation for Bettie Page Reveals All.  See it because it is a unique story about someone who truly deserves to be described as an icon.  Most of all, see Bettie Page Reveals All so that you can see a matchless example of true physical beauty and perfection in American popular culture.

8 of 10
A

Sunday, May 18, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Zero Dark Thirty" is History as a Great Story

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 5 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Running time:  157 minutes (2 hours, 37 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence including brutal disturbing images, and for language
DIRECTOR:  Kathryn Bigelow
WRITER:  Mark Boal
PRODUCERS: Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, and Megan Ellison
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Greg Fraser (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  William Goldenberg and Dylan Tichenor
COMPOSER:  Alexandre Desplat
Academy Award winner

WAR/DRAMA/ACTION

Starring:  Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Reda Kateb, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Ehle, Harold Perrineau, Jeremy Strong, J.J. Kandle, Lauren Shaw, Jessica Collins, Fredric Lehne, Joel Edgerton, Nash Edgerton, Edgar Ramirez, Mike Colter, Yoav Levi, Mark Strong, and James Gandolfini

Zero Dark Thirty is a 2012 war film and suspense thriller from director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal, the creators of The Hurt Locker.  Zero Dark Thirty dramatizes the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden, leading up to his death at the hands of Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6.  In my estimation, it is one of the best films of 2012 and one of the few truly great films about war in the 21st century.

Zero Dark Thirty begins with a brief audio recount of the events of the September 11, 2001 attacks.  The film moves to the year 2003 and introduces Maya (Jessica Chastain), a young officer in the CIA (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency).  Since graduating high school, Maya has spent her entire career focused solely on gathering intelligence related to al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.  Assigned to Pakistan, Maya witnesses the torture (including water-boarding and humiliation) of detainee prisoners.

Eventually, Maya begins to focus on a mysterious figure known as Abu Ahmed, who is allegedly working as a personal courier for bin Laden.  Maya sifts through masses of data and information, using a variety of technology and her own hunches and insights, but the years pass without her finding Ahmed or bin Laden.  Back in the United States, the political climate changes; a new U.S. Presidential administration arrives, and Maya’s CIA superiors stop believing in her work.  Now, this one agent has to battle the system if she is going to remain on the trail of clues that will lead her to bin Laden.

Fascinating, intriguing, thrilling, and suspenseful:  I could go on, but I’ll simply say that Zero Dark Thirty is truly a gripping film narrative.  It grabbed a hold of my imagination and my heart, and I was practically endlessly captivated by this truly unique film.  It is a testament to the filmmaking and storytelling skills of director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal.

Boal has the ability to take a decade’s worth of intelligence activity:  the good, the bad, the boring, the important, and the inconsequential and to summarize that into one story.  He uses the most interesting and important information as subplots – all on the way to creating a riveting screen story.

Much has been made of the fact that Bigelow is a woman film director who makes action movies and other types of films that are usually aimed at men.  The truth is that she is a highly skilled director whose films are like no one else’s.  Her success is that she makes movies that absorb the viewer into the story by creating action scenes that not only matter to the drama, but are also sometimes the drama.  Not all of Bigelow’s movies are great; it is simply that for most of the time in all of her movies, she occupies the viewer’s imagination.  When watching a Bigelow flick, it is not often that I find myself thinking about what I will be doing after the movie.

In Maya, Jessica Chastain fashions a female character that is truly a heroine.  Zero Dark Thirty turns on the idea that one woman fights the system to lead the hunt for Osama bin Laden.  So Chastain has to not only create a female lead that can carry a CIA movie, but also create a female lead that the audience will believe is capable going into the dark places she goes and doing the contentious things she must do.  In a world of exceedingly dangerous times, of deceitful men, and of alpha males, Maya has to be a stubborn mule, fierce lioness, and the smartest guy in the room, all at the same time.  It seems as if she must also lose something of herself in certain situations and at certain times.  There are scenes in Zero Dark Thirty in which Maya seems like nothing more than a wraith, a human turned into a shadowy leftover by her cause.

I believe that Jennifer Lawrence, as Tiffany Maxwell in Silver Linings Playbook, won the best actress Oscar over Chastain as Maya because Tiffany, complicated though she is, is girl-next-door likeable.  Maya is a complicated personality and is morally comprised, and her dedication to her job hunting bin Laden is like an affliction.  What’s to like about that?  A lot actually, but it is easier to like wounded duckling Tiffany.

I am glad that Zero Dark Thirty had people questioning the filmmakers’ intentions.  That means that people thought the movie was worth the mental effort to engage it.  It is a great film, nearly perfect.  I think the raid on bin Laden’s compound, which takes up the film’s last half hour is a little clumsy in its staging.  Bigelow’s effort to “keep it real,” took something away from the drama and intensity of that raid.  Still, Zero Dark Thirty will stand the test of time.  It may occasionally be forgotten, but as soon as something causes people to remember Zero Dark Thirty, people will be ready to engage the issues it raises again.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2013 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Achievement in Sound Editing” (Paul N.J. Ottosson – tied with Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers for Skyfall); 4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, and Megan Ellison), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Jessica Chastain), “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Mark Boal) and “Best Achievement in Film Editing” (William Goldenberg and Dylan Tichenor)

2013 BAFTA Awards:  5 nominations: “Best Film” (Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison, and Mark Boal), “Best Leading Actress” (Jessica Chastain), “Best Original Screenplay” (Mark Boal), “Best Editing” (Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg), and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Kathryn Bigelow)

2013 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Jessica Chastain); 3 nominations: “Best Motion Picture – Drama,” Best Director - Motion Picture” (Kathryn Bigelow), and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Mark Boal)

Friday, January 31, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Daft Punk Wins "Album of the Year" at 56th Grammy Awards - Complete Winners List

by Leroy Douresseaux

"Random Access Memories" by Daft Punk is "Album of the Year."

The Grammy Awards (or Grammys) are given out by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States.  The Grammy is an accolade that recognizes outstanding achievement in the music industry.  It is the music industry equivalent to the Academy Awards for film, the Emmy Awards for television, and the Tony Awards for stage.

They are helmeted, mute, and mysterious, and now, French electronic music pioneers, Daft Punk, are the toast of the music world following their big night at music’s biggest night, the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.  Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter are the guys behind the masks.  They perform as Daft Punk; last night at the Grammy Awards ceremony, however, everyone seemed to be referring to them as “the French robots.”

Daft Punk won four awards, including “Album of the Year” for the album, Random Access Memories, and “Record of the Year” for their worldwide hit song, “Get Lucky.”  The song features Pharrell Williams (who also won the Grammy for “Producer of the Year, Non-Classical”) and Nile Rodgers, a renowned songwriter and producer best known as the co-founder of Chic, one of the bestselling and most popular dance bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Daft Punk’s four Grammy Awards in one night is a first for a French music group.  Random Access Memories also received a Grammy for “Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.”  Since Daft Punk only appears in public behind helmets, Pharrell Williams, who accompanied them on stage, made the acceptance speeches for their awards.

Other big winners at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards included Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Justin Timberlake, Lorde, and Kacey Musgraves.

The eligibility period for the 56th Annual Grammy Awards is October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013.  The 56th annual Grammys awards ceremony was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California and aired on CBS on Sunday, January 26, 2014.  See a complete list of nominees at http://www.grammy.com/nominees

2014 / 56th annual Grammy Awards winners:

1. Album of the Year: "Random Access Memories," Daft Punk

2. Record of the Year: "Get Lucky," Daft Punk Featuring Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers

3. Song of the Year: "Royals," Joel Little & Ella Yelich O'Connor, songwriters (Lorde)

4. Best New Artist: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

5. Best Pop Solo Performance: "Royals," Lorde
6. Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Get Lucky," Daft Punk Featuring Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers
7. Best Pop Instrumental Album: "Steppin' Out," Herb Alpert
8. Best Pop Vocal Album: "Unorthodox Jukebox," Bruno Mars
9. Best Dance Recording: "Clarity," Zedd Featuring Foxes
10. Best Dance/Electronica Album: "Random Access Memories," Daft Punk
11. Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "To Be Loved," Michael Buble
12. Best Rock Performance: "Radioactive," Imagine Dragons
13. Best Metal Performance: "God Is Dead?" Black Sabbath
14. Best Rock Song: "Cut Me Some Slack," Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney, Krist Novoselic & Pat Smear, songwriters (Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Pat Smear)
15. Best Rock Album: "Celebration Day," Led Zeppelin
16. Best Alternative Music Album: "Modern Vampires Of The City," Vampire Weekend
17. Best R&B Performance: "Something," Snarky Puppy With Lalah Hathaway
18. Best Traditional R&B Performance: "Please Come Home," Gary Clark Jr.
19. Best R&B Song: "Pusher Love Girl," James Fauntleroy, Jerome Harmon, Timothy Mosley & Justin Timberlake, songwriters (Justin Timberlake)
20. Best Urban Contemporary Album: "Unapologetic," Rihanna
21. Best R&B Album: "Girl On Fire," Alicia Keys
22. Best Rap Performance: "Thrift Shop," Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz
23. Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: "Holy Grail," Jay Z feat. Justin Timberlake
24. Best Rap Song: "Thrift Shop," Ben Haggerty & Ryan Lewis, songwriters (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz)
25. Best Rap Album: "The Heist," Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
26. Best Country Solo Performance: "Wagon Wheel," Darius Rucker
27. Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "From This Valley," The Civil Wars
28. Best Country Song: "Merry Go 'Round," Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves & Josh Osborne, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)
29. Best Country Album: "Same Trailer Different Park," Kacey Musgraves
30. Best New Age Album: "Love's River," Laura Sullivan
31. Best Improvised Jazz Solo: "Orbits," Wayne Shorter, soloist
32. Best Jazz Vocal Album: "Liquid Spirit," Gregory Porter
33. Best Jazz Instrumental Album: "Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue," Terri Lyne Carrington
34. Best Large Jazz Ensemble: "Night In Calisia," Randy Brecker, Włodek Pawlik Trio & Kalisz Philharmonic
35. Best Latin Jazz Album: "Song For Maura," Paquito D'Rivera And Trio Corrente
36. Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance: "Break Every Chain [Live]," Tasha Cobbs
37. Best Gospel Song: "If He Did It Before... Same God [Live]," Tye Tribbett, songwriter (Tye Tribbett)
38. Best Contemporary Christian Music Song: "Overcomer," David Garcia, Ben Glover & Christopher Stevens, songwriters (Mandisa)
39. Best Gospel Album: "Greater Than [Live]," Tye Tribbett
40. Best Contemporary Christian Music Album: "Overcomer," Mandisa
41. Best Latin Pop Album: "Vida," Draco Rosa
42. Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album: "Treinta Días," La Santa Cecilia
43. Best Regional Mexican Music Album: "A Mi Manera," Mariachi Divas De Cindy Shea
44. Best Tropical Latin Album: "Pacific Mambo Orchestra," Pacific Mambo Orchestra
45. Best American Roots Song: "Love Has Come For You," Edie Brickell & Steve Martin, songwriters (Steve Martin & Edie Brickell)
46. Best Americana Album: "Old Yellow Moon," Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell
47. Best Bluegrass Album: "The Streets Of Baltimore," Del McCoury Band
48. Best Blues Album: "Get Up!" Ben Harper With Charlie Musselwhite
49. Best Folk Album: "My Favorite Picture Of You," Guy Clark
50. Best Regional Roots Music Album: "Dockside Sessions," Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience
51. Best Reggae Album: "Ziggy Marley In Concert," Ziggy Marley

52. Best World Music Album: (TIE) "Savor Flamenco," Gipsy Kings; AND "Live: Singing For Peace Around The World," Ladysmith Black Mambazo

53. Best Children's Album: "Throw A Penny In The Wishing Well," Jennifer Gasoi
54. Best Spoken-Word Album: "America Again: Re-becoming The Greatness We Never Weren't," Stephen Colbert
55. Best Comedy Album: "Calm Down Gurrl," Kathy Griffin
56. Best Musical Theater Album: "Kinky Boots"
57. Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media: "Sound City: Real To Reel," Butch Vig, compilation producer

58. Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media: "Skyfall," Thomas Newman, composer
59. Best Song Written For Visual Media: "Skyfall," Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth, songwriters (Adele)

60. Best Instrumental Composition: "Pensamientos For Solo Alto Saxophone And Chamber Orchestra," Clare Fischer, composer (The Clare Fischer Orchestra)
61. Best Instrumental Arrangement: "On Green Dolphin Street," Gordon Goodwin, arranger (Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band)
62. Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): "Swing Low," Gil Goldstein, arranger (Bobby McFerrin & Esperanza Spalding)
63. Best Recording Package: "Long Night Moon," Sarah Dodds & Shauna Dodds, art directors (Reckless Kelly)
64. Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package: "Wings Over America (Deluxe Edition)," Simon Earith & James Musgrave, art directors (Paul McCartney And Wings)
65. Best Album Notes: "Afro Blue Impressions (Remastered & Expanded)," Neil Tesser, album notes writer (John Coltrane)
66. Best Historical Album: (TIE) "Charlie Is My Darling - Ireland 1965," "The Complete Sussex And Columbia Albums"
67. Best Engineered Album: "Random Access Memories," Peter Franco, Mick Guzauski, Florian Lagatta & Daniel Lerner, engineers; Antoine "Chab" Chabert, Bob Ludwig, mastering engineers (Daft Punk)
68. Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Pharrell
69. Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical: "Summertime Sadness (Cedric Gervais Remix)," Cedric Gervais, remixer (Lana Del Rey)
70. Best Surround Sound Album: "Live Kisses," Al Schmitt, surround mix engineer; Tommy LiPuma, surround producer (Paul McCartney)
71. Best Engineered Album, Classical: "Winter Morning Walks," David Frost, Brian Losch & Tim Martyn, engineers; Tim Martyn, mastering engineer (Dawn Upshaw, Maria Schneider, Australian Chamber Orchestra & St. Paul Chamber Orchestra)
72. Producer of the Year, Classical: David Frost
73. Best Orchestral Performance: "Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4," Osmo Vänskä, conductor (MinnesotaOrchestra)
74. Best Opera Recording: "Adès: The Tempest," Thomas Adès, conductor; Simon Keenlyside, Isabel Leonard, Audrey Luna & Alan Oke; Jay David Saks, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
75. Best Choral Performance: "Pärt: Adam's Lament," Tõnu Kaljuste, conductor (Tui Hirv & Rainer Vilu; Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; Sinfonietta Riga & Tallinn Chamber Orchestra; Latvian Radio Choir & Vox Clamantis)
76. Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: "Roomful Of Teeth," Brad Wells & Roomful Of Teeth
77. Best Classical Instrumental Solo: "Corigliano: Conjurer - Concerto For Percussionist & String Orchestra," Evelyn Glennie; David Alan Miller, conductor (Albany Symphony)
78. Best Classical Vocal Solo: "Winter Morning Walks," Dawn Upshaw (Maria Schneider; Jay Anderson, Frank Kimbrough & Scott Robinson; Australian Chamber Orchestra & St. Paul Chamber Orchestra)
79. Best Classical Compendium: "Hindemith: Violinkonzert; Symphonic Metamorphosis; Konzertmusik," Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
80. Best Contemporary Classical Composition: "Schneider, Maria: Winter Morning Walks," Maria Schneider, composer (Dawn Upshaw, Jay Anderson, Frank Kimbrough, Scott Robinson & Australian Chamber Orchestra)
81. Best Music Video: "Suit & Tie," Justin Timberlake Featuring Jay Z - David Fincher, video director; Timory King, video producer
82. Best Music Film: "Live Kisses," Paul McCartney - Jonas Akerlund, video director; Violaine Etienne, Aron Levine & Scott Rodger, video producers

---------------------------------------

"The Matrix," "Dirty Harry" Among 2012 National Film Registry

[Just doing some catching up with the release of the 2013 National Film Registry.]

2012 National Film Registry Picks in A League of Their Own

NFL Film, “A Christmas Story,” “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” Among Registry Additions

The excitement of national football; the first black star of an American feature-length film; the visionary battle between man and machine; and an award-winning actress born yesterday are part of a kaleidoscope of cinematic moments captured on film and tapped for preservation. The Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today named 25 motion pictures that have been selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. These cinematic treasures represent important cultural, artistic and historic achievements in filmmaking.

"Established by Congress in 1989, the National Film Registry spotlights the importance of preserving America’s unparalleled film heritage," said Billington. "These films are not selected as the ‘best’ American films of all time, but rather as works of enduring importance to American culture. They reflect who we are as a people and as a nation."

Spanning the period 1897-1999, the films named to the registry include Hollywood classics, documentaries, early films, and independent and experimental motion pictures. This year’s selections bring the number of films in the registry to 600.

The films include such movie classics as "Born Yesterday," featuring Judy Holliday’s Academy Award-winning performance; and Truman Capote’s "Breakfast at Tiffany’s," starring Audrey Hepburn. Among the documentaries named to the registry are "The Times of Harvey Milk," a revealing portrait of San Francisco’s first openly gay elected official; "One Survivor Remembers," an Academy Award-winning documentary short about Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein; and Ellen Bruno’s documentary about the struggle of the Cambodian people to rebuild in the aftermath of Pol Pot’s killing fields.

The creative diversity of American filmmakers is evident in the selections of independent and experimental films, which include Nathaniel Dorsky’s "Hours for Jerome," Richard Linklater’s "Slacker" and the Kodachrome Color Motion Picture Test film of 1922. Among the cinema firsts are "They Call It Pro Football," which has been described as the "Citizen Kane" of sports movies; and the 1914 version of "Uncle Tom’s Cabin," which features the first black actor to star in a feature-length American film. The actor Sam Lucas made theatrical history when he also appeared in the lead role in the stage production of "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" in 1878.

Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, each year the Librarian of Congress names 25 films to the National Film Registry that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. The films must be at least 10 years old. The Librarian makes the annual selections to the registry after reviewing hundreds of titles nominated by the public and conferring with Library film curators and the distinguished members of the National Film Preservation Board (NFPB). The public is urged to make nominations for next year’s registry at the NFPB’s website (www.loc.gov/film/).

For each title named to the registry, the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation works to ensure that the film is preserved for future generations, either through the Library’s motion picture preservation program or through collaborative ventures with other archives, motion picture studios and independent filmmakers. The Packard Campus is a state-of-the-art facility where the nation’s library acquires, preserves and provides access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of films, television programs, radio broadcasts and sound recordings (www.loc.gov/avconservation/).

The Packard Campus is home to more than 6 million collection items. It provides staff support for the Library of Congress National Film Preservation Board, the National Recording Preservation Board and the National Registries for film and recorded sound.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. It seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its vast collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov.

2012 National Film Registry:

3:10 to Yuma (1957)
Considered to be one of the best westerns of the 1950s, "3:10 to Yuma" has gained in stature since its original release as audiences have recognized the progressive insight the film provides into the psychology of its two main characters that becomes vividly exposed during scenes of heightened tension. Frankie Laine sang the film’s popular theme song, also titled "3:10 to Yuma." Often compared favorably with "High Noon," this innovative western from director Delmer Daves starred Glenn Ford and Van Heflin in roles cast against type and was based on a short story by Elmore Leonard.

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Director Otto Preminger brought a new cinematic frankness to film with this gripping crime-and-trial movie shot on location in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where the incident on which it was based had occurred. Controversial in its day due to its blunt language and willingness to openly discuss adult themes, "Anatomy"—starring James Stewart, Ben Gazzara and Lee Remick—endures today for its first-rate drama and suspense, and its informed perspective on the legal system. The film includes an innovative jazz score by Duke Ellington and one of Saul Bass’s most memorable opening title sequences.

The Augustas (1930s-1950s)
Scott Nixon, a traveling salesman based in Augusta, Ga., was an avid member of the Amateur Cinema League who enjoyed recording his travels on film. In this 16-minute silent film, Nixon documents some 38 streets, storefronts and cities named Augusta in such far-flung locales as Montana and Maine. Arranged with no apparent rhyme or reason, the film strings together brief snapshots of these Augustas, many of which are indicated at pencil-point on a train timetable or roadmap. Nixon photographed his odyssey using both 8mm and 16mm cameras loaded with black-and-white and color film, amassing 26,000 feet of film that now resides at the University of South Carolina. While Nixon’s film does not illuminate the historical or present-day significance of these towns, it binds them together under the umbrella of Americana. Whether intentionally or coincidentally, this amateur auteur seems to juxtapose the name’s lofty origin—‘august,’ meaning great or venerable—with the unspectacular nature of everyday life in small-town America.

Born Yesterday (1950)
Judy Holliday’s sparkling lead performance as not-so-dumb "dumb blonde" Billie Dawn anchors this comedy classic based on Garson Kanin’s play and directed for the screen by George Cukor. Kanin’s satire on corruption in Washington, D.C., adapted for the screen by Albert Mannheimer, is full of charm and wit while subtly addressing issues of class, gender, social standing and American politics. Holliday’s work in the film (a role she had previously played on Broadway) was honored with the Academy Award for Best Actress and has endured as one of the era’s most finely realized comedy performances.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Truman Capote’s acclaimed novella—the bitter story of self-invented Manhattan call girl Holly Golightly—arrived on the big screen purged of its risqué dialogue and unhappy ending. George Axelrod’s screenplay excised explicit references to Holly’s livelihood and added an emotionally moving romance, resulting, in Capote’s view, in "a mawkish valentine to New York City." Capote believed that Marilyn Monroe would have been perfect for the film and judged Audrey Hepburn, who landed the lead, "just wrong for the part." Critics and audiences, however, have disagreed. The Los Angeles Times stated, "Miss Hepburn makes the complex Holly a vivid, intriguing figure." Feminist critics in recent times have valued Hepburn’s portrayals of the period as providing a welcome alternative female role model to the dominant sultry siren of the 1950s. Hepburn conveyed intelligent curiosity, exuberant impetuosity, delicacy combined with strength, and authenticity that often emerged behind a knowingly false facade. Critics also have lauded the movie’s director Blake Edwards for his creative visual gags and facility at navigating the film’s abrupt changes in tone. Composer Henry Mancini’s classic "Moon River," featuring lyrics by Johnny Mercer, also received critical acclaim. Mancini considered Hepburn’s wistful rendition of the song on guitar the best he had heard.

A Christmas Story (1983)
Humorist Jean Shepherd narrates this memoir of growing up in Hammond, Ind., during the 1940s when his greatest ambition was to receive a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. The film is based in part on Shepherd’s 1966 compilation of short stories titled "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash," which originated on his radio and television programs. Writer-director Bob Clark had long dreamed of making a movie based on Shepherd’s work and his reverence for the material shows through as detail after nostalgic detail rings true with period flavor. Dozens of small but expertly realized moments reflect an astute understanding of human nature. Peter Billingsley—with his cherubic cheeks, oversized glasses and giddy grin—portrays Shepherd as a boy. Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillon are his harried-yet-lovable parents.

The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Title Fight (1897)
Independently produced motion picture recordings of famous boxing contests were a leading factor in establishing the commercial success of movies in the late 19th century. Championship boxing matches were the most widely popular sporting contests in America in that era, even though the sport was banned in many states in the 1890s. Soon after Nevada legalized boxing in 1897, the Corbett-Fitzsimmons title fight was held in that state in Carson City on St. Patrick’s Day of that year. The film recorded the introductions of famous personalities in attendance and all 14 of the fight’s three-minute rounds, plus the one-minute breaks between rounds. With a running time of approximately 100 minutes, "The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Title Fight" was the longest movie produced at that time. Films of championship matches before 1897 had been unsuccessful because they ended too quickly with knockouts, leaving movie audiences unwilling to pay high-ticket prices to see such short films. "Corbett-Fitzsimmons" was a tremendous commercial success for the producers and contestants James J. Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons (the victor), generating an estimated $750,000 in income during the several years that it remained in distribution. This film also is deserving of a footnote in the technical history of motion pictures. Producers of early boxing films protected their films from piracy by engineering film printers and projectors that could only accept film stock of a proprietary size. The film prints of the fight were manufactured in a unique 63mm format that could only be run on a special projector advertised as "The Veriscope."

Dirty Harry (1971)
Clint Eastwood’s role as rogue police officer Harry Callahan in director Don Siegel’s action-packed, controversial paean to vigilante justice marked a major turning point in Eastwood’s career. A top 10 box-office hit after its release, "Dirty Harry" struck a nerve in the era’s politically polarized atmosphere with those who believed that concern over suspects’ rights had gone too far. While a number of critics characterized the film as "fascistic," Eastwood countered that Harry, who disregards police procedure and disobeys his superiors, represents "a fantasy character" who "does all the things people would like to do in real life but can’t." "Dirty Harry," he stated later, was ahead of its time, putting the "rights of the victim" above those of the accused. The film’s kinesthetic direction and editing laid the aesthetic groundwork for many of the 1970s’ gritty, realistic police dramas.

Hours for Jerome: Parts 1 and 2 (1980-82)
Nathaniel Dorsky shot the footage for what would become his silent tone poem, "Hours for Jerome," between 1966 and 1970. He edited that footage over a two-year period. The film’s title evokes the liturgical "Book of Hours," a medieval series of devotional prayers recited at eight-hour intervals throughout the day. Dorsky’s personal devotional loosely records the daily events of the filmmaker and his partner as an arrangement of images, energies and illuminations. The camera intimately surveys the surroundings, from the pastoral to the cosmopolitan, as fragments of light revolve around the four seasons. "Part 1" presents spring through summer and "Part 2" looks at fall and winter—a full year in 45 minutes. Named filmmaker of the decade in 2010 by Film Comment magazine, Dorsky creates his works to be projected at silent speed, between 17 and 20 frames per second instead of the usual 24 frames per second for sound film. Projecting his films at sound film speed, he writes, "is to strip them of their ability to open the heart and speak properly to their audience. Not only is the specific use of time violated, but the flickering threshold of cinema’s illusion—a major player in these works—is obscured."

The Kidnappers Foil (1930s-1950s)
For three decades, Dallas native Melton Barker and his company traveled through the southern and central sections of the United States filming local children acting, singing and dancing in two-reel narrative films, all of which Barker titled "The Kidnappers Foil." Barker recognized that many people enjoyed seeing themselves, their children and their communities on film. Since home movies were an expensive hobby, he developed a business to provide them. Other itinerant filmmakers produced similar fare, but Barker appears to have been the most prolific. Enlisting local movie theaters and newspapers to sponsor and promote the productions, Barker auditioned children and offered "acting lessons" to the most promising for a fee of a few dollars. He then assembled 50 to 75 would-be Shirley Temples and Jackie Coopers, ages 3 to 12, to act out the melodramatic story: a young girl is kidnapped from her birthday party and eventually rescued by a search party of local kids. After the "rescue," the relieved townsfolk would celebrate with a party where the budding stars showcased their musical talents. A few weeks after filming, the town would screen the 15- to 20-minute picture to the delight of the local audience. Most prints of these films no longer exist, although some have been discovered in vintage movie houses or local historical societies. The Texas Archive of the Moving Image holds a collection of these itinerant films and hosts Internet resources for those who appeared in them as children.

Kodachrome Color Motion Picture Tests (1922)
This two-color (green-blue and red) film was produced as a demonstration reel at the Paragon Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey, under the direction of Kodak scientist John Capstaff. It features leading actresses, including Mae Murray, Hope Hampton, and Mary Eaton, posing and miming for the camera to showcase the capability of the complex Kodachrome process to capture their translucent movie star complexions and colorful, high-fashion clothing. Hampton wears costumes designed for "The Light in the Dark," the first commercial feature film to incorporate scenes filmed with the Kodachrome process. During the first three decades of motion picture history, the most practical methods for adding colors to 35mm prints filmed on black-and-white film stock had been through laborious processes by which separate colors were either painted on individual film frames by hand or added by overlaying mechanically produced stencils on prints and applying colors in sequence. While aesthetically pleasing, these color additive methods were complicated and costly. Soon after 1900, inventors in several countries began experimenting with ways to advance the chemistry of color movies and create film stocks capable of reproducing the true colors of nature. Leading the way in the U.S. were Technicolor in 1912 and Eastman Kodak, starting in 1914. The Kodachrome Color Motion Picture Tests of 1922 was the first publicly demonstrated color film to attract the general interest of the American film industry. Many feature films produced by major studios incorporated two-color sequences using Kodachrome and the rival Technicolor film stocks until three-strip Technicolor became the industry standard in the late 1930s.

A League of Their Own (1992)
Director Penny Marshall used the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-1954) as a backdrop for this heartfelt comedy-drama. "A League of Their Own," featuring an ensemble cast that includes Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell, not only illuminates this fascinating, under-reported aspect of American sports history, but also effectively examines women’s changing roles during wartime. Rich with period detail and equally complex performances—especially Davis as a team ringer and Hanks as the down-on-his-luck coach—Marshall and her company delivered an enjoyably nostalgic film about women’s choices and solidarity during World War II that was both funny and feminist.

The Matrix (1999)
A visionary and complex film, the science-fiction epic "The Matrix" employed state-of-the-art special effects, production design and computer-generated animation to tell a story—steeped in mythological, literary, and philosophical references—about a revolt against a conspiratorial regime. The film’s visual style, drawing on the work of Hong Kong action film directors and Japanese anime films, altered science fiction filmmaking practices with its innovative digital techniques designed to enhance action sequences. Directors Andy and Lana Wachowski and visual effects supervisor John Gaeta (who received an Academy Award for his efforts) expertly exploited a digitally enhanced simulation of variable-speed cinematography to gain ultimate control over time and movement within images. The film’s myriad special effects, however, do not undermine its fundamentally traditional, if paranoid, story of man against machine.

The Middleton Family at the New York World’s Fair (1939)
Produced by Westinghouse for the 1939 World’s Fair, this industrial film is a striking hour-long time capsule that documents that historic event within a moralistic narrative. Shot in Technicolor, the film follows a fictional Indiana family of five (mom, dad, son, daughter and grandma) as they venture from grandma’s quaint house in Long Island to the fair’s popular pavilions. The whole family enjoys the gleaming sights, especially the futuristic technologies located in the Westinghouse Pavilion (including something called "television"). While the entire family is affected by the visit, none are changed so much as daughter Babs (played by a young Marjorie Lord), who eventually sours on her foreign-born, anti-capitalistic boyfriend in favor of a hometown electrical engineer who works at the fair. Both charming and heavy-handed, "The Middleton Family" provides latter-day audiences with a vibrant documentary record of the fair’s technological achievements and the heartland values of the age.

One Survivor Remembers (1995)
In this Academy Award-winning documentary short film by Kary Antholis, Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein recounts her six-year ordeal as a victim of Nazi cruelty. At age 16, her comfortable life was shattered by the Nazi invasion of Poland. She and her family were sent to concentration and slave labor camps. She alone survived. Mixing footage shot in contemporary Europe at key locations of Klein’s story with interviews and personal photographs, "One Survivor Remembers" explores the effects that her experience had on the rest of her life. It is told with a simple yet powerful eloquence that "approaches poetry," the Chicago Tribune observed.

Parable (1964)
In the 1930s, a number of Protestant groups, concerned about the perceived meretricious effects of Hollywood films, began producing non-theatrical motion pictures to spread the gospel of Jesus. "Parable" followed a filmmaking tradition that has not very often been recognized in general accounts of American film history. One of the most acclaimed and controversial films in this tradition, "Parable" debuted at the New York World’s Fair in May 1964 as the main attraction of the Protestant and Orthodox Center. Without aid of dialogue or subtitles, the film relies on music and an allegorical story that represents the "Circus as the World," in the words of Rolf Forsberg, who wrote and co-directed the film with Tom Rook for the Protestant Council of New York. "Parable" depicts Jesus as an enigmatic, chalk-white, skull-capped circus clown who takes on the sufferings of oppressed workers, including women and minorities. The film generated controversy even before its initial screening. The fair’s president Robert Moses sought to have it withdrawn. Other fair organizers resigned with one exclaiming, "No one is going to make a clown out of my Jesus." A disgruntled minister threatened to riddle the screen with shotgun holes if the film was shown. Undaunted, viewers voted overwhelmingly to keep the film running, and it became one of the fair’s most popular attractions. Newsweek proclaimed it "very probably the best film at the fair" and Time described it as "an art film that got religion." The Fellini- and Bergman-inspired film received the 1966 Religious Film Award of the National Catholic Theatre Conference, along with honors at the 1966 Cannes, Venice and Edinburgh film festivals. It subsequently became a popular choice for screenings in both liberal and conservative churches.

Samsara: Death and Rebirth in Cambodia (1990)
International relief worker Ellen Bruno’s master’s thesis at Stanford University, "Samsara," documents the struggle of the Cambodian people to rebuild a shattered society in the aftermath of Pol Pot’s killing fields. "Samsara" is a Sanskrit term that literally means "circle" or "wheel," and is commonly translated as "cycle of existence." Bruno fleshes out this concept by using ancient Buddhist teachings and folklore to provide a context for Cambodia’s struggle. Described as poetic, heartbreaking and evocative, the film brings a humanistic perspective to the political chaos of Southeast Asia with a deliberate, reflective and sometimes dreamlike pace as it intertwines the mundane realities of daily life with the spiritual beliefs of the Khmer people. One reviewer reflected, "The meditative pacing, the rhythm of bells and chimes, the luxuriant green landscape, the otherworldly response to horrific recent history—I was transported not just to a faraway place but to an altered consciousness."

Slacker (1991)
Along with "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" (1989), "Slacker" is widely regarded as a touchstone in the blossoming of American independent cinema during the 1990s. A free-floating narrative, the film follows a colorful and engaging assortment of characters in Austin, Texas, throughout the course of a single day as they ruminate on UFOs, Scooby Doo, Leon Czolgosz and many other things. Shot on 16mm film with a budget of $23,000, director Richard Linklater dispensed with a structured plot in favor of interconnected vignettes. This resulted in a film of considerable quirky charm that has influenced a whole generation of independent filmmakers. "Slacker" was eventually picked up by a major distributor and earned more than $1 million at the box office.

Sons of the Desert (1933)
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, along with comedian Charley Chase, star in this riotous comedy of fraternity and marital mishaps. Directed by veteran comedy director William A. Seiter for Hal Roach Studios, "Sons of the Desert" successfully incorporated into a feature-length film many of the comedic techniques that had made Laurel & Hardy such masters of short-subject humor. The film was ranked among the top 10 box-office hits after its release. Film scholars and fans consider it to be the duo’s finest feature film.

The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973)
When "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" was restored for DVD release in 2004, the New York Times called it "a story of black insurrection too strong for 1973." Based on a controversial best-selling 1969 novel by Sam Greenlee and with a subtly effective score by jazz legend Herbie Hancock, the film presents the story of a black man hired to integrate the CIA who uses his counter-revolutionary training to spark a black nationalist revolution in America’s urban streets. Financed mostly by individual African-American investors, some commentators lambasted the film for its sanctioning of violence and distributor United Artists pulled the movie from theaters after a successful three-week run. Others appreciated its significance. Washington Post journalist Adrienne Manns, a former spokesperson in the black student movement, argued that the film "lends humanity to persons who are usually portrayed as vicious, savage, sub-humans – the street gangs, the young people who have in many cities terrorized the communities they live in." New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby commented, "The rage it projects is real." Ivan Dixon, the film’s director known for his roles in "Hogan’s Heroes" and as the lead in "Nothing But a Man" (1964), believed that the film did not offer "a real solution" to racial injustice, but projected instead "a fantasy that everybody felt, every black male particularly."

They Call It Pro Football (1966)
Before "They Call It Pro Football" premiered, football films were little more than highlight reels set to the oom-pah of a marching band. In 1964, National Football League commissioner Pete Rozelle agreed to the formation of NFL Films. With a background in public relations, he recognized that the success of the league depended on its image on television, which required creating a mystique. "They Call It Pro Football," the first feature of NFL Films, looked at the game "in dramaturgical terms," capturing the struggle, not merely the outcome, of games played on the field. Written and produced by Steve Sabol, directed by John Hentz and featuring the commanding cadence of narrator John Facenda and the music of Sam Spence, the film presented football on an epic scale and in a way rarely seen by the spectator. Telephoto lenses brought close-ups of players’ faces into viewers’ living rooms. Slow motion revealed surprising intricacy and grace. Sweeping ground-to-sky shots imparted a "heroic angle." Coaches and players wearing microphones let the audience in on strategy and emotion. "They Call It Pro Football" established a mold for subsequent productions by NFL Films and has well earned its characterization as the "Citizen Kane" of sports movies.

The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
Told largely with revealing news clips and archival footage interspersed with personal reminiscences, "The Times of Harvey Milk," directed by Rob Epstein, vividly recounts the life of San Francisco’s first openly gay elected city official. The film, which received an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, traces Harvey Milk’s ascent from Bay Area businessman to political prominence as city supervisor and his 1978 assassination, which also claimed the life of San Francisco mayor George Moscone. While illuminating the effect that Milk had on those who knew him, the film also documents the nascent gay rights movement of the 1970s. The film, with its moving and incisive portrait of a city, a culture and a struggle—as well as Harvey Milk’s indomitable spirit—resonates profoundly as a historical document of a grassroots movement gaining political power through democratic means.

Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
During a short-lived period following the success of such youth-oriented films as "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Graduate" and especially "Easy Rider" in the late 1960s, Hollywood executives financed—with minimal oversight—a spate of low-budget, innovative films by young "New Hollywood" filmmakers. With influences ranging from playwright Samuel Beckett to European filmmakers Robert Bresson, Jacques Rivette and Michelangelo Antonioni, one such film was the minimalist classic "Two-Lane Blacktop." The film follows two obsessed but laconic young operators of a souped-up 1955 Chevy (singer-songwriter James Taylor and Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson) as they engage in a cross-country race with a 1970 Pontiac GTO, whose loquacious, middle-aged driver (Warren Oates) continually reinvents his past and intended future. The drivers’ fixation on speed, mastery and competition is disrupted when a 17-year-old drifter (Laurie Bird) joins their masculine world and later leaves them in disarray. Director Monte Hellman and screenwriter Rudolph Wurlitzer allow audiences time to absorb the film’s spare landscapes, car-culture rituals and existential encounters, and to reflect on the myth of freedom that life on the road traditionally has embodied.

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1914)
Harriet Beecher Stowe published her great anti-slavery novel in 1852. Adapted for the stage in 1853, it was continuously performed in the U.S. well into the 20th century. "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" was frequently adapted to movies after 1900, but always with white actors in the lead roles until this version, said to be the first feature-length American film that starred a black actor. Sam Lucas—actor, musician, singer and songwriter—had become famous in the 19th century for his performances in vaudeville and minstrel shows produced by Charles Frohman. In 1878, Frohman achieved a breakthrough in American theatrical history when he staged a production of "Uncle Tom’s Cabin," featuring Lucas in the lead role. Thirty-six years later, Lucas was lured out of retirement by the World Producing Corp. to recreate his historic role on film and, in the process, set an important milestone in American movie history.

The Wishing Ring; An Idyll of Old England (1914)
Director Maurice Tourneur, called by film historian Kevin Brownlow "one of the men who introduced visual beauty to the American screen," arrived in America in 1914. Previously, he worked as an artist (assisting sculptor Auguste Rodin and painter Pierre Puvis de Chavannes), actor and innovative director in French theater and cinema. Tourneur’s third American film, "The Wishing Ring," was once believed lost until Brownlow located a 16mm print of the film in northern England. The print subsequently was copied to 35mm by the Library of Congress as part of an effort funded by the National Endowment for the Arts to preserve America’s film heritage. At the time of its initial release, the film was admired for its light and pleasing cross-class romantic story, its fresh performances and the authenticity of its "Old England" settings—although it was shot in New Jersey. Historians of silent cinema have lionized the film since its rediscovery. William K. Everson praised its "incredible sophistication of camerawork, lighting, and editing." Richard Koszarski deemed it "an extraordinary film – probably the high point of American cinema up to that time."

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