Category Archive 'Film'
16 Oct 2021

Market Street, San Francisco 1906, Just Days Before the Earthquake and Fire

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A fascinating thing to see. So many automobiles in 1906! High-spirited, active people, not one of whom is still alive today. In fact, of the many people we see, one realizes that some of them, possibly quite a few of them will very soon be killed.

01 May 2021

May 1st — Victims of Communism Day

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Human remains at Kolyma.

Ten films on the subject of Communism’s demicide.

The most comprehensive statistical source for democide statistics, Death By Government, puts the toll at 106 million. Necrometrics estimates that Stalin and Mao alone killed 60 million. Wikipedia, defining democide more narrowly, puts the toll between 21 million and 70 million. The Museum of iCommunism estimates 100 million murdered. The Black Book of iCommunism estimates 80 to 100 million.

But these are just statistics. As psychologists have pointed out, it’s impossible for the human mind to grasp the magnitude of that level of horror through sheer numbers. Just as Schindler’s List was instrumental in getting the public to come to finally terms with the Holocaust, it is perhaps through film that death toll of communism can best be understood.

Every May 1st for the last several years, Ilya Somin has written an editorial for the Washington Post declaring the “May Day” so beloved by the Left to be renamed “Victims of Communism Day.” I concur, and so, while socialists blissfully celebrate their worker’s paradise this May Day, indifferent to the human cost of their political philosophy, I propose that well-meaning people consider watching a film on the subject, both out of respect for those lost and to be intellectually armed against the ignorance of those still in denial. Here are some recommendations.

RTWT

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25 Jul 2020

“Born for the Saber” / “Zrodzeni do Szabli” (2019)

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Born for the Saber / Zrodzeni do Szabli from Stow. Polska Sztuka Krzyżowa on Vimeo.

Former Polish Nobility Association [ZSP] Chairman Marcin Wiszowaty forwarded this video trailer today. Great stuff.

IMDB:

Set in Poland during the first half of XVII century, the epic documentary-drama “Born for the saber” tells the story of young knight Blazej Wronowski. Jan Jerlicz, a veteran of the Muscovite wars who returns to his fatherland upon Maciej Wronowski’s – his brother’s in arms request to begin training his son, Blazej. “Born for the saber” is a feature story about honor, courage and war, seen through the eyes of a young noble and knight growing up in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Documentary part of the movie is a cinematic journey through history and art of the mystique of high-end crafting of the polish saber, which to date is considered to be one of the best melee weapons on the globe. Word class experts demonstrate the art of saber fighting and forging this extraordinary weapon.

I doubt that an English-subtitled version is available yet. Yet.

01 May 2020

Victims of Communism Day

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Human remains at Kolyma.

Ten films on the subject of Communism’s demicide.

The most comprehensive statistical source for democide statistics, Death By Government, puts the toll at 106 million. Necrometrics estimates that Stalin and Mao alone killed 60 million. Wikipedia, defining democide more narrowly, puts the toll between 21 million and 70 million. The Museum of iCommunism estimates 100 million murdered. The Black Book of iCommunism estimates 80 to 100 million.

But these are just statistics. As psychologists have pointed out, it’s impossible for the human mind to grasp the magnitude of that level of horror through sheer numbers. Just as Schindler’s List was instrumental in getting the public to come to finally terms with the Holocaust, it is perhaps through film that death toll of communism can best be understood.

Every May 1st for the last several years, Ilya Somin has written an editorial for the Washington Post declaring the “May Day” so beloved by the Left to be renamed “Victims of Communism Day.” I concur, and so, while socialists blissfully celebrate their worker’s paradise this May Day, indifferent to the human cost of their political philosophy, I propose that well-meaning people consider watching a film on the subject, both out of respect for those lost and to be intellectually armed against the ignorance of those still in denial. Here are some recommendations.

RTWT

23 Jan 2019

Peter Bogdanovich Interviews the Great John Ford

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03 Jan 2019

Paris, 1890

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They had a moving sidewalk! Who knew?

23 Jun 2016

Bahubali (2015)

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One of those Facebook friends I don’t really know yesterday posted a video of some amazing battle scenes from a South Indian epic film called Bahubali (released last year in two parts), made in Telugu and Tamil. (When’s the last time you saw a Tamil-language film?) Bahubali became the highest grossing Indian film of all-time, understandably since the fight scenes are pretty spectacular.

I discovered quickly that the DVD of Part 1 with English subtitles can be ordered from Amazon. (Part 2: The Conclusion does not seem to be out yet.)

Bahubali: the Beginning

Bahubali: the Conclusion

21 Apr 2016

The Kill: Greatest Lines Before and After

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Hat tip to Vanderleun.

23 Oct 2015

Good News! Big Lebowski Sequel Begins Filming in January

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LebowskiRug

There is a small category of movies which fail to make much of a mark during their theatrical release; but which, when they make it onto television, and are available to be watched repeatedly, begin to commend themselves to audiences in a different and special way and which then proceed to metamorphize into beloved classics.

Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) is that kind of film. Nobody thought much of it at all until television networks adopted it as particularly Christmas-themed, and began making a big deal of broadcasting it around the holiday. Before long, watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” turned into a regular seasonal American ritual.

The Shawshank Redemption” (1994) was a failure in its theatrical release that did not even recapture its production costs, but Ted Turner (then owning Castle Rock, the film’s production company) later essentially sold the movie to himself (as the TNT network) and began broadcasting it in 1997 over and over again. The film slowly and gradually grew in audience acceptance as a sort of 20th century Les Miserables, and now routinely tops the IMBD list of most-beloved films of all time.

Shawshank Redemption phenomenon

The Big Lebowski” (1998) followed the same pattern, of confusing and boring viewers in the theater, but coming into its own with the aid of repetitive viewings on television.

The Big Lebowski phenomenon

NBC:

Exciting news for Big Lebowski fans around the world as a sequel to the cult classic has just been announced.

Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, directors of the first Lebowski movie, confirmed with NBC News they will both be returning to direct the sequel.

“We’re thrilled to be coming back to film a second part to this classic movie,” Ethan Coen said. “For years we’ve been staying away from doing this project but when we received this new script and the cast fell into place, it was a no-brainer. We just had to do it.”

Gage Luce, who helped write the new script, spoke with CNN to shed light on the plot behind the highly anticipated sequel.

“Now 18 years later, Maude Lewbowski (played by Julianne Moore) informs The Dude (Jeff Bridges) that they conceived a son together and that he has been kidnapped. The Dude teams up with his estranged brother, played by actor Bill Murray, and fellow bowling partner Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) to track down the child’s whereabouts. Just like the first movie, there’s guaranteed to be plenty of beers, bowling, and laughs.” …

Accompanying the trio on their journey to find the missing teen is Jesus Quintana, played by John Turturro, who stole the show in the original movie. …

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RETRACTION 10/24:

Bummer! The story is not true. It turns out that it was originated by the spoof news site National Report which has a very annoying habit of purveying completely plausible sounding, but entirely false, news stories. National Report often fools people, and this time a number of sources believed the story and picked it up, including me.

Snopes

Thanks to Liberty News for bringing this mistake to my attention in the comments.

11 Jun 2015

Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015)

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ChristopherLee4

Christopher Lee died at 8:30 A.M. last Sunday morning in the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London at the age of 93. His family delayed the public announcement of his death until today to allow time for relatives to be notified.

Christopher Lee worked as a character actor in the course of his long career, typically in second-rate horror films, though he was obviously a first-rate human being. He stood 6’5″ (1.9558 m.) in height, spoke six languages, was a world champion fencer, and made a point of performing all his own stunts personally.

Lee was also a political conservative who volunteered to fight for Finland against Soviet Russia during the Winter War, and who then went on to serve as a British commando through the entirety of the Second World War.

He advised Peter Jackson on how properly to sound record a killing during the making of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Dissatisfied with a scene, Christopher asked director Peter Jackson: “Peter, have you ever heard the sound a man makes when he’s stabbed in the back? Well, I have, and I know what to do.”

Christopher Lee became the oldest person to record lead vocals on a heavy metal track when, at the age of 88, he wrote and performed on a progressive symphonic concept album about the life of Charlemagne, from whom he traced his own descent via his mother, an Italian countess.

Christopher Lee remained married to the same woman (a Danish model) for 54 years, and in his later years frequently campaigned for the Tories in national elections.

ChristopherLee3
The younger Christopher Lee as we knew him best.

25 Jan 2015

Everybody Likes a Good Swordfight

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From Clara Darko:

Full list of films:

00:01 – Kill Bill

00:06 – Hero

00:08 – Seven Samurai

00:09 – The Princess bride

00:11 – Hero

00:13 – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

00:14 – Gladiator

00:16 – Conan the Barbarian

00:17 – Troy

00:19 – Batman Begins

00:21 – Dragonslayer

00:23 – Kill Bill Vol. 2

00:26 – The Empire Strikes Back

00:29 – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

00:33 – Zatoichi

00:35 – Hellboy 2

00:37 – The Mask of Zorro

00:40 – The Phantom Menace

00:45 – Peter Pan

00:47 – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

00:49 – Revenge of the Sith

00:52 – The Duelists

00:54 – LadyHawke

00:55 – The Count of Montecristo

00:56 – Kingdom of Heaven

00:58 – Blade

01:03 – The 13th warrior

01:05 – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

01:06 – The Fellowship of the Ring

01:07 – Highlander

01:12 – Cutthroat Island

01:13 – Dangerous Liaisons

01:14 – The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

01:20 – The Attack of the Clones

01:26 – Stardust

01:28 – House of Flying Daggers

01:30 – Matrix Reloaded

01:32 – The Flame and the Arrow

01:35 – Willow

01:36 – Cyrano de Bergerac

01:48 – Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves

01:49 – Monty Python and the Holy Grail

01:50 – Hamlet (1996)

01:52 – Rob Roy

02:02 – Young Sherlock Holmes

02:08 – The Crow

02:12 – Casanova

02:20 – Star Wars: A New Hope

02:29 – The Four Musketeers (1974)

02:31 – Dragonheart

02:33 – The Return of the Jedi

02:38 – Hook

02:40 – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

02:44 – Army of Darkness

02:55 – Azumi

02:57 – 300

03:01 – Excalibur

03:03 – Blind Fury

03:05 – The Curse of the Golden Flower

03:38 – Equilibrium

Hat tip to io9.

18 Jan 2015

The Tarantino Mixtape

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Hat tip to Ratak Monodosico.

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