#Hollywood Victory: The Movies Stars and Stories of World War II

[denimbex1986]

'Check out the five major reasons due to which movie buffs and fans are eagerly waiting to watch ‘Oppenheimer’ movie that will be released on July 21, 2023.

Excitement for Christopher Nolan's films among movie buffs and fans is always there as the acclaimed director's films offer suspense, thrill, great cinematography and sci-fi concepts as a creative package. When Cinema lovers enter the theatres to watch Nolan's films, they expect to be shaken, wooed, awed or shocked or undergo all these emotions at the same time. Offering a cathartic experience and creating new benchmarks with what cinema can be about and what can be imagined/depicted, Nolan's movies truly live up to the expectations quite often, and at times, even surpass fans' wildest fantasies.

This time, with his upcoming film "Oppenheimer" set to release on July 21, 2023(Friday), Nolan has re-ignited a massive interest among cinema lovers. With high media coverage, a fantastic trailer for the film, thousands of social media posts and discussions by fans, "Oppenheimer" seems all set to become another blockbuster. To put it frankly, the excitement for "Oppenheimer" is truly going through the roof.

Here are five reasons why fans are so excited about "Oppenheimer".

1) Fascination for nuclear bomb and the movie's true story The words "nuclear bomb" are themselves enough to get any person's attention. What's more is that the movie depicts a true story. The movie is based on the Pulitzer Prize–winning biography "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer."

"Oppenheimer" explores the reasons behind the development of world's first nuclear weapon, the situation during world war II when the Manhattan Project got started, the ups and downs in the life of American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer who is known as the "father of the atomic bomb" for his crucial role in the Manhattan Project.

The trailer of the movie highlights how America was in a race against the Nazis "on which power faction would first develop the nuclear bomb." At one moment in the trailer, Matt Damon's character asks "Are we saying there's a chance that when we push that button, we destroy the world?. And in reply, Cillian Murphy who is playing the character of Oppenheimer answers "chances are near zero".

2) Oppenheimer's star-studded cast The star cast of "Oppenheimer" includes Robert Downey Jr., Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon who are one of the biggest actors in Hollywood. From an Indian perspective, having these megastars in the same movie is akin to a film with Indian superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Rajkummar Rao and Ayushmann Khurrana together in the cast.

3) Christopher Nolan factor Multiple Academy Award winner Christopher Nolan is at the helm as director and co-writer. Yes, he is the same director who has enthralled and awed cinema fans the world over with films like The Dark Knight, Memento, Dunkirk, Insomnia, Inception, The Prestige, Interstellar and Tenet. Nolan can be counted as another superstar factor for "Oppenheimer".

4) Oppenheimer vs Barbie clash Another star-studded movie "Barbie" is getting released on July 21, 2023(Friday), same date as "Oppenheimer". The ongoing debate over which of the two movies would do better at the box office, has resulted in a marketing fillip for Nolan's film. Some fans want to help "Oppenheimer" emerge victorious in this unofficial clash.

However, Barbie is a movie of different genre, a fantasy comedy based on Barbie fashion dolls by Mattel, an American toy manufacturing company. The movie's plot revolves around how Barbie and her boyfriend Ken explore the real world after being expelled from "Barbie Land" for being less-than-perfect dolls. "Barbie" also has a star-studded cast which includes Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in the lead roles.

5) Christopher Nolan's CGI claims and IMAX connection "Oppenheimer" has no CGI (Computer-generated imagery) used in the film, as per the claims made by the director Christopher Nolan. Moreover, the movie has been shot in IMAX which offers a world class viewing experience with the involvement of high-resolution cameras and film formats.

“The sharpness and the clarity and the depth of the image is unparalleled. The headline, for me, is by shooting on (IMAX film), you’re really letting the screen disappear. You’re getting a feeling of 3D without the glasses. You’ve got a huge screen and you’re filling the peripheral vision of the audience. You’re immersing them in the world of the film,” said Nolan according to AP.'

[soitsashowpodcast]

ep. 118: The Hollywood Canteen

Button up your uniform and step into your dancing shoes—the Hollywood Canteen is open for business! Rory is inspired by a '40s nightclub when planning a DAR event, and we're watching the star-studded movie that promoted it. We also look into the other movie we mixed it up with, how Hollywood A-listers supported the war effort during World War II, and whether Rory's idea was a hit. Spoiler: When the Andrews Sisters show up to sing, it's a piperoo!

Other pop culture we ref: Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury, Judy Garland, Olivia de Havilland, Katharine Hepburn, Clark Gable, Mommie Dearest, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich

We Wholeheartedly Recommend: Forces of Nature (1999), Uncharted (2022)

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MORE ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN

"Book Reveals More Complicated Picture of Nostalgic WWII Hollywood Canteen Nightclub," News.KU.edu (2014)

"Harassment in Hollywood’s Golden Age: A Survivor’s Firsthand Story," HollywoodReporter.com (2017)

"70 years before #MeToo, Women Ruled Hollywood," NYPost.com (2018)

"How Judy Garland’s Influence Changed the Lyrics to 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,'" Biography.com (2018)

"Curtains for the Hollywood Canteen," NationalWW2Museum.org (2020)

"Bette Davis Campaigned in Joplin for War Bond Sales," JoplinGlobe.com (2021)

"‘30s Star Marsha Hunt Recalls Supporting American Troops, Combating Hollywood Blacklisting: ‘It Was Needed,’" FoxNews.com (2021)

"A California Oil Heiress Was Strangled in Her Apartment. Who Got Away With Murder?" SFGate.com (2021)

"Hollywood Victory explores the power of film during World War II," AJC.com (2021)

"Hollywood History: How World War II Forced the Academy to Rethink the 1942 Oscars," EW.com (2021)

"Entertainers Turning 100 In 2022," Looper.com (2022)

MORE ABOUT HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN THE MOVIE

TCM overview

"Captain America: The First Avenger and its Classic Film Inspirations," Nerdist.com (2021)

"14 Animal Actors You Might Not Know You've Seen in Multiple Movies," Buzzfeed.com (2021)

[papermoonloveslucy]

THE BANK OUTING BASEBALL GAME

September 16, 1949

“The Bank Outing Baseball Game” (aka “Baseball”) is episode #54 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on September 16, 1949.

This was the third episode of the second season of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND. There were 43 new episodes, with the season ending on June 25, 1950.  

The date this episode first aired, a Gallup Poll listed Bob Hope as America's most popular comedian. Milton Berle finished second while Jack Benny, Red Skelton and Fibber McGee and Molly rounded out the top five. Coincidentally, a few years before this episode aired, Hope had become partial owner of the Cleveland Indians baseball team. 

Synopsis ~ Liz is determined not to be left out of the baseball game at the Annual Bank Outing, so she persuades her neighbor Mr. Wood to teach her how to play the game.

“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George's boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benaderet was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Coope.  The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.

MAIN CAST

Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Richard Denning (George Cooper) was born Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father's garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his  roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.

Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury) was considered the front-runner to be cast as Ethel Mertz but when “I Love Lucy” was ready to start production she was already playing a similar role on TV’s “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” so Vivian Vance was cast instead. On “I Love Lucy” she was cast as Lucy Ricarodo’s spinster neighbor, Miss Lewis, in “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15) in early 1952. Later, she was a success in her own show, "Petticoat Junction” as Shady Rest Hotel proprietress Kate Bradley. She starred in the series until her death in 1968.

Gale Gordon (Rudolph aka Rudy Atterbury) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on "Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89.

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz, a member of the surprise investigating committee for the Society Matrons League in “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E25), as one of the member of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3), and also played a nurse when “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16). She died in 1996 at the age of 96.

Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.

GUEST CAST

Hans Conried (Mr. Benjamin Wood) first co-starred with Lucille Ball in The Big Street (1942). He then appeared on “I Love Lucy” as used furniture man Dan Jenkins in “Redecorating” (ILL S2;E8) and later that same season as Percy Livermore in “Lucy Hires an English Tutor” (ILL S2;E13) – both in 1952. The following year he began an association with Disney by voicing Captain Hook in Peter Pan. On “The Lucy Show” he played Professor Gitterman in “Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet” (TLS S1;E19) and in “Lucy Plays Cleopatra” (TLS S2;E1). He was probably best known as Uncle Tonoose on “Make Room for Daddy” starring Danny Thomas, which was filmed on the Desilu lot. He joined Thomas on a season 6 episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1973. He died in 1982 at age 64.

Although his first name is not mentioned here, it will be in future episodes. 

THE EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “Come with us to the quiet little town of Sheridan Falls and let’s look into the brown house at 321 Bundy Drive where the Coopers live. They’re entertaining George’s boss, Mr. Atterbury, and his wife. And the subject under discussion is the forthcoming annual bank outing.”

The episode opens with Liz and Iris discussing what to wear to the bank outing. George disapproves of Liz’s new play suit. 

LIZ: “George thinks it’s too daring. He says there’s too much play and not enough suit.”

It is typical for George to disapprove of Liz’s revealing wardrobe choices, although the conversation generally revolves around swimwear. Iris wonders if she should wear her new blue slacks.

RUDY: “Why do they call them slacks? I’ve never seen any in them.”

George and Rudolph imitate the girls by feminizing their own wardrobe predicament, another comedic tact the boys have done before. George and Rudolph reveal that they have been named team captains. Iris says she’ll get a bottle of Absorbine Junior. 

Absorbine Jr. is a fast absorbing, deep penetrating topical pain reliever. It provides relief from sore muscles and cramps as well as athlete’s foot. The Absorbine company was established in 1892 as a lineament for horses. A version for humans (Absorbine Jr.) was introduced in 1903 and is still sold today.

Rudolph and George tell their wives that they won’t be playing at all, because the teams are comprised of husbands and wives, and they have no confidence in them on the baseball diamond. The girls beg to be allowed to play, despite knowing nothing about the game.

RUDOLPH: “Forget it, DiMaggio.”

Joe DiMaggio (1914-99) was a professional baseball player who played his entire career for the New York Yankees. He was nicknamed “Joltin’ Joe” and “The Yankee Clipper” for his batting skill. The summer of 1949 was when DiMaggio shined the brightest. He batted .381 against the Red Sox that year, with six homers through 13 games.The Yanks would eventually win the World Series in 1949, the first of a record five straight. 

Joe DiMaggio was mentioned on “I Love Lucy” in “Lucy is Enceinte” (ILL S2;E10), Fred gives Lucy a signed baseball for his future ‘godson’. When he asks Lucy to read out the signature, she at first says “Spalding,” the ball’s brand name, but then finds it is signed by Joe DiMaggio. In “Ragtime Band” (ILL S6;E21), Little Ricky asks Fred, “Who’s Joe 'Maggio?”

George rhapsodizes about his college baseball career, telling a story they’ve all heard before.

GEORGE: “There’s a certain group of spectators who will never forget the afternoon of August 25, 1933.” 

This date was actually Lucille Ball’s 22nd birthday. 1933 was Ball’s first year in Hollywood, and the year her first four films were released. 

After George does a dramatic play-by-play of his big college game victory, Liz says:

LIZ: “Thank you, Ted Husing.” 

Edward ‘Ted’ Husing (1901-62) was among the first to lay the groundwork of sports reporting on television and radio. In 1946, Husing left CBS sports to pursue a career as a disk jockey and was succeeded by Red Barber. “The Ted Husing Bandstand” ran from 1946 to 1954.

The scene ends with the wives begging to play, and the boys uniformly shouting “no”!  That night in bed, Liz wakens in tears about being left out of the baseball game, feeling she is being left out.  

Next day, Liz tells Katie the Maid she’s decided to learn how to play baseball. Iris drops by with books about how to play baseball. Katie reads out the rules. The doorbell rings. It is the Cooper’s neighbor, Mr. Wood (Hans Conried), who is lonesome, despite having eleven children. He volunteers to teach the girls baseball. After all, he saw a World Series game once. He mentions Babe Ruth. 

George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (1895-1948) was a professional baseball player whose career spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "The Bambino" and "The Sultan of Swat", he began his career as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, but achieved his greatest fame playing with the New York Yankees.  

Ruth was mentioned on a 1963 episode of “The Lucy Show” when Lucy and Viv’s sons join Little League. [Desi Arnaz Jr. played billy Simmons in the show, and Ball posed for this publicity still with her son.] 

It is here that the episode starts to vaguely resemble “The Golf Game” (ILL S3;E30) in 1954. In it, Lucy and Ethel decide they want to play golf with their husbands, despite the boys saying they known nothing about the game. In fact, they don’t, so they fall for whatever ridiculous rules the boys make-up. Coincidentally, this sport-themed episode was filmed on Hans Conried’s 37th birthday. The Little League-themed “Lucy Show” mentioned above was first aired on Conried’s 45th birthday! 

Using the living room as their baseball diamond and sofa cushions as bases, Mr. Wood attempts to teach the girls the finer points of baseball.  

In “Lucy and the Winter Sports” (TLS S3;E3) in 1964, Mr. Mooney attempts to teach Mrs. Carmichael how to ski without ever leaving the living room. Needless to say, the results are equally disastrous. 

This is not the last time Mr. Wood (played by Hans Conried) will teach Liz an outdoor sport in her own living room. In June 1950 Conried returns to the series to play Mr. Wood, who teaches Liz to swim - without ever getting wet! 

Mr. Wood’s frantic lesson turns into a loosely familiar version of the famous “Who’s On First” comedy routine perfected by Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. 

LIZ: “Who’s on third?” MR. WOOD: “Abbott and Costello!”

Although the routine had been around in different forms since vaudeville, Abbott and Costello first put their baseball spin on the routine in 1938. In 1999, Time Magazine named the routine Best Comedy Sketch of the 20th Century.  In 1945, Lucille Ball played herself in their movie Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. 

Mr. Wood gives up on his coaching, but Liz reveals that she’s already signed them up for the game!  

A bank outing will also be the subject of “Lucy and Clint Walker” (TLS S2;E24) in 1966. Lucy and Clint win the balloon race, but baseball is not on the agenda. The day of the Bank Outing, Liz and Iris are enjoying hot dogs. Iris orders a second hot dog with pickle, mustard, chili sauce, ketchup, lettuce, butter, salt, pepper, and a dash of horseradish!  

RUDY: “Iris, at least give the hot dog a fighting chance.”

Iris’s voracious appetite is a character trait that was later ascribed to Ethel Mertz. Baseball and hot dogs are classic Americana. The two were combined when Lucy Ricardo pretends to be a hot dog vendor to get a message to Bob Hope at Yankee Stadium in the “I Love Lucy” season six opener.   

George has worn his old college baseball uniform. Mr. Wood is acting as umpire. George’s strategy is to keep Liz on the bench till the team gets in a tight spot. 

RUDY: “Iris is up first. Has anyone seen the old bat? Oh, there it is on the ground.”

Miraculously, Iris hits a ball out of the park!  Shocked, she doesn’t run the bases.

Later, the score is ten to nothing with the Cooper side down but when the score quickly ties and Liz is still on the bench. At batting practice, George accidentally hits himself in the head with a bat!  George passes out and Liz is up at bat!  Liz starts out facing the catcher!  With two strikes, Liz hits the ball! 

Later, George revives and Liz tells him that they won by one run - made by her! Rudy reveals that they won by default when Liz got hit by the ball, forcing the runner at third to walk home and win the game!  

MORE BALL AT BAT!

In addition to the episodes cited above, Lucille Ball also suited up in 1963′s “Lucy and Viv Play Softball” (TLS S2;E3).  

Lucy Carmichael’s son got to meet Jimmy Pearsall of the Los Angeles Angels in the very first episode of “The Lucy Show” to take place in California. 

In real life, Lucille Ball batted for Wildcat on the Broadway Show League in 1961. Julie Andrews of Camelot was catcher, and Joe E. Brown was umpire! 

The year before this episode of “My Favorite Husband” aired (1948), the great Babe Ruth signed a game-used baseball that was then also signed by Lucille Ball and Rod Carew. 

Batting practice for Kathleen (Lucille Ball) in The Dark Corner (1946). 

Putting her Best Foot Forward for a pitch in 1943. 

Like mother, like daughter! In 2011, the New York Yankees invited Lucie Arnaz to throw out the first pitch to mark Latin Heritage Month.  

[tcm]

80 Years Later: Careers Built in Hollywood’s Greatest Year By Jessica Pickens

The year 1939 is often heralded as the most prolific year in Hollywood, yielding the highest quality films released in a single year. Some of the most famous films of all time were first seen by audiences in 1939: THE WIZARD OF OZ, GONE WITH THE WIND, DARK VICTORY and MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. But outside of these films, 1939 was also important to a number of acting careers. For some actors, they received a role that offered the big break they were waiting on, catapulting them into stardom. Others who were already more established, received roles that helped revitalize their career:

Olivia de Havilland: Olivia de Havilland started in films in 1935, and while she had several starring roles, she was frustrated that none of them offered the quality that she was looking for. De Havilland often played second fiddle as a romantic partner to the leading man—particularly Errol Flynn. She appeared in five films released in 1939, but it was just one that was the catalyst for enhancing her career: the role of Melanie Wilkes in GONE WITH THE WIND. She fought for the role of Melanie, a stark contrast to the character of Scarlett O’Hara, and it ultimately transformed her career.

Greer Garson: Greer Garson starred in her first film in 1939 — GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS. The film follows a stuffy school teacher, Mr. Chipping played by Robert Donat, who is disliked by most of his pupils. But when Mr. Chipping meets and marries Katherine, played by Garson, she softens him and teaches him to show more kindness to his students. Garson was reluctant to take the role, because the screen time is brief. However, her role as Mr. Chipping’s wife is important, as it transforms the main character. The film also launched her into stardom and she receive¬d an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress to boot. Garson very quickly became one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s top stars.

William Holden: After two uncredited performances, William Holden’s first credited film role came in 1939 and it was a starring role. Holden starred alongside Barbara Stanwyck in GOLDEN BOY. In the film, Holden plays a violinist who wants to become a boxer to help earn his family more money. The issue is that boxing brings the risk of hand injuries, which would prevent him from becoming a fine concert violinist. The film made Holden a stand-out new star of that year.

Hedy Lamarr: Hedy Lamarr acted in German films but received international attention when she traveled to the United States and starred in ALGIERS (1938). When Lamarr signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, she became one of the studio’s top stars and glamour girls. Her first film under MGM was LADY OF THE TROPICS (1939). Lamarr plays a woman of mixed race –half French, half Asian—who desperately wants to leave French Saigon, or Indochina. She falls in love with and marries rich playboy Robert Taylor, who promises to take her to America, but societal prejudices threatens to ruin their happiness.

David Niven: As early as 1932, English actor David Niven played uncredited, supporting or other background roles in films. But in 1939, BACHELOR MOTHER offered him his first true leading man role. Niven stars alongside Ginger Rogers who plays a department store worker who ends up with a baby by mistake. Everyone –including Niven—believes Rogers is the mother and encourages her to take responsibility for the baby. After the success of this film, Niven returned to England to serve in the British Army. After World War II, Niven remained a leading man and top star in Hollywood and the UK.

Basil Rathbone: Basil Rathbone was a star as early as 1930, with roles in top films like ANNA KARENINA (1935), A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1935) and THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938). Rathbone was often a villain and also well-known for his sword fighting prowess. But 1939 offered Rathbone the role of a well-known literary character: Sherlock Holmes. Along with his villainous roles, Rathbone’s Holmes is a character that shapes his legacy. In 1939, Rathbone starred as the fictional private detective in THE HOUNDS OF BASKERVILLE with Nigel Bruce as his Dr. Watson. Together, Rathbone and Bruce reprised their Holmes and Watson roles in 14 films from 1939 to 1946.

Ginger Rogers: Long paired with dance partner Fred Astaire, in 1939 Rogers co-starred with Astaire for the last time until 1949. The two starred in their only biographical picture together, THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE, about a dancing pair that took the world by storm with new dance trends. While Rogers had starred in non-musicals prior to her partnership with Astaire, her role in BACHELOR MOTHER helped her transition to new characters. Starting in 1939, she began a 10 year stretch where she performed in comedies and dramas — none of which required ballroom dancing.

Ann Sothern: Ann Sothern started as a film extra in the late-1920s and slowly worked her way to credited roles and leading ladies in B pictures. After plugging along in thankless roles, the course of Sothern’s career changed in 1939. She left RKO, signed a contract with MGM and landed the plum role of Maisie Ravier in MAISIE. In MAISIE, Sothern plays a brassy vaudeville performer who finds herself stranded in Wyoming. She meets a cowboy, played by Robert Young, who begrudgingly lets her stay at his ranch. Sothern finds herself in over her head when Young’s boss and wife arrive and she gets mixed up in the wife’s extracurricular affair. This film spawned 9 other Maisie films where Sothern played the fast talking, unrefined dame with a heart of gold.

James Stewart: It’s hard to imagine a time when James Stewart wasn’t one of Hollywood’s top stars. But in 1939, he was still up-and-coming. Though he starred in other roles prior to 1939 (such as VIVACIOUS LADY and SHOPWORN ANGEL, both in 1938), Stewart’s role in MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON solidified him as a star. In the film, Stewart plays patriotic but inexperienced Jefferson Smith who is appointed a U.S. Senator. While the corrupt politicians hope Smith will be a “Yes” man, he fights for what he believes is right.

Lana Turner: In 1939, Lana Turner starred in THESE GLAMOUR GIRLS, which was her first starring film role and her first film where the storyline focused primarily on her character. In the film, Turner plays a “taxi dancer” who is asked to a spring college dance by a rich, drunk college boy played by Lew Ayres. Turner takes him seriously and arrives at the college along with all of the dates—including Ayres’s other date. Turner’s character isn’t exactly welcomed with open arms by Ayres or the other snooty society college boys and girls. After this film, Turner received top billing and was swathed in glamour for the next 15 years until she left Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1956.

John Wayne: John Wayne had been appearing in films since 1926. While he made a name for himself as a silver screen cowboy, those films were low-budget Westerns that didn’t run much longer than an hour. But in 1939, Wayne was cast in a role that made him the star he is known as today: Ringo Kid in STAGECOACH. Directed by John Ford, the film follows a group of people riding on a stagecoach dealing with their own issues. Wayne’s character of Ringo Kid is an outlaw who has escaped from prison to get revenge for the deaths of his father and brother.

Lupe Velez: Lupe Velez found success in Hollywood in silent films and early talkies. But by the late-1930s, her career was waning. Velez returned home to Mexico to star in LA ZANDUNGA (1938) and was planning on signing a film contract in Mexico when she received an offer from RKO to star in THE GIRL FROM MEXICO. In the film, Velez plays Carmelita Fuentes, a Mexican singer who Donald Woods brings back to the United States to perform for an advertising client’s radio show. Woods and Velez’s characters fall in love and the two decide to marry. What was supposed to be a standalone B-movie spawned a successful film series, revitalizing Velez’s career. She played the “Mexican Spitfire” in eight comedies from 1939 to 1943. The film series also exhibited an early representation of interracial marriage.

[wazafam]

Since its inception, Hollywood's relationship with Black stories has been dysfunctional. From the overt racism of D. W. Griffith's Birth Of A Nation (1915) to the systemic racism faced by actors like Hattie McDaniel, the Golden Age of Hollywood was, generally, a terrible time for Black people and Black stories.

RELATED: 10 Historically Accurate Movies To Watch If You're A History Nut

In recent decades, Hollywood has begun to tell more Black stories, especially after the success of movies like The Color Purple and miniseries like Roots. Nonetheless, Hollywood still has a ways to go, as it often leans on stories of slavery when telling Black stories. In recent years, Hollywood has shown signs of growth, understanding that Black people are not defined by slavery. Luckily, there are endless stories in Black history that can be told on the screen.

10 The Benin Wall

Long before The Great Wall Of China, the Benin Wall existed. Built in 1010 AD, the wall was built by the Benin Kingdom, a West African kingdom known for some of history's greatest art, culture and bronze work. The wall totaled 10,000 miles and is thought to have been built to protect the Benin Kingdom from Ijebu warriors from the west. A moat was also constructed around the outer wall and the wall was just 3,000 miles short of the Great Wall Of China.

In 1897, the British destroyed the wall, killed many Beninians and stole the kingdom's art and bronze work. The Benin Wall was "the world's largest earthworks carried out prior to the mechanical era." A retelling of the history of this magnificent feat and its ultimate demise would be well worth watching.

9 Shirley Chisholm

Before Michelle Obama, Maxine Waters and Stacey Abrams, there was Shirley Chisholm. The first Black woman to be elected to the United States Congress, Chisholm represented New York's 12th Congressional district for seven terms between 1969 and 1983. She was also the first Black candidate to run for U.S. presidency backed by a major party.

RELATED: 5 Ways Gladiator Was Historically Accurate (& 5Ways It Wasn't)

Chisholm's work paved the way for countless Black politicians in the U.S., including Barack Obama, who would win his presidential campaign. FX's Mrs. America explored Chisholm's effect on American politics during the 70s, but this topic could definitely be explored in more depth.

8 Black WWI & WWII Soldiers

History has done a formidable job of erasing the contributions of African, Black American and Latino soldiers that participated in World War I and World War II. These soldiers, such as the Tuskegee Airmen, faced massive racism as they fought for their countries, or for their colonizers. In many instances, they were abused by the very same country that they risked their lives for.

"Father of African cinema", Ousmane Sembene, released Camp De Thiaroye in 1988. Co-directed by Thierno Faty Sow, Camp De Thiaroye depicts the real-life events of the Thiaroye massacre when the French army massacred African soldiers for demanding their pay. Despite the discrimination they faced, Black soldiers displayed bravery, resilience and strength in both wars and it's a topic that could be explored in several Hollywood movies.

7 Black Explorers

In 1,000 A.D., 500 years before Christopher Columbus, Ile-Ife, a city located in South-West Nigeria, was paved. Ruled by a woman, the decorations used originated from Ancient America. Columbus himself, in a journal entry, wrote about the Native Americans telling about "black-skinned people [who] had come from the south-east in boats, trading in gold-tipped spears."

Furthermore, ancient skeletons of Black people that predate Columbus have been discovered in Central, North and South America. Other explorers, such as Vasco Nunez de Balboa, also recorded finding Black people in America when they reached the continent. This subject is untouched in Hollywood, thus far, and is ripe for a historical drama.

6 George Robert Carruthers

George Carruthers invented a camera that took the first images of space. A brilliant physicist, the National Society of Black Physicists notes that "his work has been instrumental in the fields of astrophysics. Dr. Carruthers is considered the inventor of the ultraviolet camera/spectrograph. He also invented the camera that took the first images of space. His work has been instrumental in the fields of astrophysics."

RELATED: Hidden Figures: 15 Quotes To Remember

Carruthers also made contributions to the U.S. Navy and space program. He also partook in the development of the first moon-based space observatory, carried unto the moon by the Apollo 16 astronauts. His ultraviolet camera/spectrograph enabled scientists to observe Earth's upper atmosphere from the moon. With all the movies about space made in recent years, Carruthers' story would be a fascinating one to see played out on the big screen.

5 Sylvia Elizabeth Mathis

At a time when 40 out of 85,000 FBI agents were women, Sylvia Elizabeth Mathis became the first Black woman to become an FBI special agent. Two other Black women had attempted the four-month-long arduous training course but had been unsuccessful.

Mathis began training in 1976, after earning a bachelor's degree in Political Science at New York University and a Juris Doctor at the University of North Carolina School of Law, a year earlier. The FBI credits Mathis, who "helped pave the way for future African-American women leaders … who dedicated themselves to protecting the nation, even as they blazed a sometimes challenging trail in the FBI. Many would love to see her rise in the ranks portrayed in a biopic.

4 Queen Candace Of Ethiopia

Ruling over what is, today, Ethiopia, Sudan and parts of Egypt, Queen Candace of Ethiopia was one the world's fiercest queens and warriors, known worldwide for her military tactics and war leadership. So formidable was she that in 332 B.C., Alexander The Great refused to invade Ethiopia, fearing defeat and not wanting to tarnish his reputation at the hands of a woman.

RELATED: Cleopatra: 10 Historically Accurate Films About Famous Women In History

Queen Candace also fought against the Arab incursion in North Africa, securing victory for the Africans, many of whom still lived in North Africa at the time. While many depictions have been made of Cleopatra on screen, albeit mostly inaccurate, Queen Candace's story has never been told and deserves a movie.

3 Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth was the first known Black American suffragist. Born in New York at the turn of the 19th century, Truth was an illiterate reformer and wandering preacher. Supporting herself through menial jobs, Truth campaigned for women's rights and suffrage.

She was known for being a good orator and is best remembered for her speech, "Ain't I A Woman?" one of the most defining speeches of feminism to date. She would eventually meet with President Abraham Lincoln, soon becoming "the world's best-known human rights crusaders." She is well-deserving of a biopic and there are many current Hollywood stars that could do her work justice.

2 Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. Johnson was a controversial LGBTQ+ figure. A gay drag queen, Johnson was an activist, calling for the full rights of gay men in the U.S. He was one of the leading figures of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising and during his last years, Johnson also became an AIDS activist. As a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front and the co-founder of Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R), Johnson gained a reputation for being a happy, welcoming figure in New York.

Nevertheless, a life of anti-gay abuse wreaked havoc on Johnson's mental health. He began to develop signs of schizophrenia and was forced to perform survival sex on the streets. Ever since his mysterious death in 1992, the police ruled his case a suicide. His friends, however, have claimed that Johnson was not suicidal. The police have been accused of refusing to investigate the death of a gay Black man because of their prejudices. Johnson's life deserves the attention of a filmmaker who would look into the controversial events surrounding his death, while celebrating the accomplishments of his life.

1 Sylvia Robinson

Before Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Straight Outta Compton, Sylvia Robinson produced the world's first-ever rap commercial single, Rapper's Delight by The Sugarhill Gang. "The Mother Of Hip-Hop," Syliva Robinson began her career as a record producer after she created All Platinum Records with her husband in the late 60s. Her life work would play out perfectly on the big screen in a music-filled drama.

Robinson also wrote music for musicians before she launched her solo career. Her 1973 song, Pillow Talk, reached Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1979, Robinson decided to produce a rap song and single-handedly changed world music with that decision. After creating the Sugarhill Gang, Robinson signed Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five. Robinson was such a prolific producer that her record label earned 26 golds.

NEXT: Disney's Mulan: 5 Things In The Movie That Were Historically Accurate (& 5 Things That Were Not)

10 Historical Black Stories Hollywood Can Tell That Aren't About Slavery from https://ift.tt/3sRTSfK

[mexcine]

The Night We Dropped a Clanger (1959) review: I was disappointed by this British comedy, a vehicle for comic actor Brian Rix (who plays two roles).  Although it picks up in the second half, there are relatively few laughs throughout, and far too many comedic "clangers."  (see what I did there? Hoist by their own petard!)

During World War II, a V-1 "buzz bomb" crashes in an English farmyard.  This is apparently the first the British have seen of this Nazi weapon, and Blenkinsop--an RAF officer who has successfully carried out numerous secret missions--is ordered to penetrate the buzz bomb factory in France to obtain the flying bomb's plans.  To distract the Nazis, a double of Blenkinsop will be sent to Cairo on a bogus assignment.  Albert Atwood, a bumbling RAF lavatory cleaner, is virtually Blenkinsop's twin, but has to undergo rapid and intensive training to imitate the upper-class officer. 

On the night of their department, Atwood and Blenkinsop inadvertently change places: Blenkinsop flies off to Cairo, and Atwood is dropped off in France.  Atwood penetrates the V-1 factory, hides in a flying bomb, and is shot off towards England.  He survives the landing and is heralded as a hero...as Blenkinsop.  Meanwhile, the real Blenkinsop is believed to be Atwood, and his protestations result in his confinement.  

Atwood is decorated and settles into life as Blenkinsop, inheriting the officer's girlfriend Lulu, his butler, and his mansion.  However, after the victory parade at war's end, Atwood visits a restaurant and discovers the real Blenkinsop employed there as a men's room attendant.  Atwood restores Blenkinsop to his true identity and takes up the post of restroom attendant.

The Night We Dropped a Clanger takes forever to get going, with fully half the running time spent setting up the basic premise.  Far too much time is wasted on unfunny slapstick (Atwood spends what feels like 10 minutes stumbling around an RAF base with his foot caught in a bucket) and lame "character" comedy--Air Marshal Buckpasser (Cecil Parker) is forgetful and confused, his aides are also incompetent, Blenkinsop is a prig (although he is perhaps the most likeable character in the film), Atwood is like a British Gomer Pyle (only less good-natured, and only agrees to impersonate Blenkinsop when he learns he'll be earning a huge salary).  The nightclub scenes are pure padding: Liz Fraser sings a song and shows off her cleavage, Julie Mendez does an exotic dance.  

Once Atwood and Blenkinsop take off for France and Cairo the film does pick up a bit.  The Cairo scenes are not funny: as noted above, Blenkinsop is not depicted as an unsympathetic character and he's psychologically damaged by his confinement.  Atwood in France provides a bit more humour: he hides inside a metal trash barrel with no bottom and strolls around the V-1 factory unnoticed, then ducks inside a buzz bomb and is fired off towards England.  Once home and unharmed, Atwood assumes Blenkinsop's identity without remorse, enjoying the fame and material rewards.  

Atwood's personality is a major problem: he's not sympathetic or likeable.  He's not intelligent or amusing, and--more seriously--doesn't seem to be particularly patriotic.  He pretends to be Blenkinsop without a second thought when he hears the real Blenkinsop is locked up in Cairo, apparently mentally disturbed.  Brian Rix does a good job in the dual role, but Atwood is written in a very shallow manner; he has little or no personality, and Rix tries to make up for it by "acting funny," but the laughs don't come. 

Cecil Parker is fitfully amusing, but no one else is given much to do, with Leslie Phillips, Irene Handl, and Hattie Jacques all mostly wasted in brief appearances.  

The film is reasonably well-produced, with satisfactory sets and locations and a decent number of extras when needed.  The full-size V-1 (which is never referred to like this) mockup seems to be fairly accurate; there is an opening shot of the V-1 flying and a shot of the V-1 containing Atwood crashing (both miniatures), as well as wartime footage of actual V-1's being launched and flying.  It should be noted that the optical effects showing Atwood and Blenkinsop in the same shot are excellent: the filmmakers know they’re good and there are a number of such shots, with no cheats like doubles shot from behind or obvious split-screens. 

The Night We Dropped a Clanger (known as Make Mine a Double in the USA), followed I Was Monty's Double (1958), based on the true story of an actor who impersonated British General Montgomery during WWII. [Curiously, Cecil Parker and Leslie Phillips appear in both movies.]  In one scene in The Night We Dropped a Clanger, Blenkinsop is taken to see General Montgomery, who can vouch for his identity: however, "Montgomery" admits he doesn't know Blenkinsop at all--because he's Monty's double!  [On the Double, 1961, was a Hollywood film on a similar topic, starring Danny Kaye.]

[junker-town]

20 sports movies we love that will ease your boredom

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It may be hard to find real sports to watch right now, but there is an ABUNDANCE of great fictional sports at your fingertips.

Televised sports are on hiatus for the foreseeable future. It’s a tough (but obviously necessary) blow, considering we’re all stuck inside with little to do, and sports would be the perfect diversion right about now.

Thankfully, there are hundreds, or possibly thousands, of sports-centric movies available to wile away the hours. Some might even be convincing enough to get you to yell at your screen, or feel the inimitable catharsis that comes from watching your team (the good team, obviously) win.

Below are some of the SB Nation staff’s go-to sports flicks, with information about where to stream them included. The majority are also available to rent via Amazon, YouTube, Google Play and the like.

Hot Rod (2007)

Available on Netflix, Prime and Pluto.

Insofar as failing to jump over things with a moped is a sport, Hot Rod is about sports. It’s an extremely dumb, pleasant movie with no stakes whatsoever, and it is my number one.

— Seth Rosenthal

Yes, it’s hilarious — but even more importantly, it has the ability to absorb you before you realize it and not let your mind wander out of its grasp. Distraction grade: 10 out of 10

— Will Buikema

Creed (2015)

Available to rent

Too many Rocky sequels to count, but this one really engages with the mythos around the character and who gets to take part in that myth. Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson are two of Hollywood’s brightest stars, and while it’s frustrating they were not awarded like Sylvester Stallone for their performances, all three are terrific here. Also: unlike the original Rocky, this movie recognizes that boxing includes dodging and blocking as well as punching!

— Pete Volk

Goon (2011)

Available on Netflix.

You could probably analyze Goon for commentary about how we glorify violence in hockey, or you could sit back and enjoy a genuinely hilarious movie. It has everything you want in a hockey film. There’s a dim-witted but lovable bouncer who gets a chance at a hockey career in the minors, and a grumpy Quebecois prodigy with a physicality issue. There’s gratuitous blood and gore, and Liev Schreiber getting into fights, and a hint of bromance. There are even cameos from former NHL players, and one from current Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin in the film’s 2017 sequel, Goon: Last of the Enforcers, which is also on Netflix.

If you don’t mind some exaggerated violence and slapstick comedy (and particularly if that’s what you’re into), I highly recommend it. Plus, the soundtrack slaps.

— Sydney Kuntz

Bend it Like Beckham (2002)

Available on demand with Starz and DirecTV

It’s funny, it’s sweet, and the fact that you’ve definitely seen it before doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch it again. It made Keira Knightley an international star, and Parminder Nagra picked up the FIFA presidential award. Beyond the film, it represented a crucial moment in David Beckham’s relationship with his country. He’d gone from villain in 1998 after that red card against Argentina, to hero in 2001 after that free kick against Greece. Eight months later this came out, and canonized him as a national treasure.

— Andi Thomas

High Flying Bird (2019)

Available on Netflix

What better to watch during a period without basketball than a movie about basketball personnel that takes place during a time of no basketball? High Flying Bird, shot entirely on iPhone by Steven Soderbergh, follows a top rookie and his ambitious agent during an NBA lockout, as they try and change the owner-heavy economic structure of the NBA.

— Pete Volk

Escape to Victory (1981, also just known as Victory)

Available on demand with Cinemax and DirecTV

Sylvester Stallone is an Allied solider in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp. So is Michael Caine. In there with them, for some reason, is Pele, Bobby Moore, Ozzy Ardiles, and half of Ipswich Town’s 1981 UEFA Cup winning squad. And wouldn’t you just know it, they have to play an exhibition against a handpicked German side, for reasons of propaganda. Will they escape … to victory?

— Andi Thomas

Goal of the Dead (2014)

Available on Shudder

”Some kind of a riot. They are burning cars.”

”Given the refereeing, no wonder.”

French football superstar Samuel Lorit faces off against his hometown team in a cup game. His formerly adoring fans now all despise him. And then a tainted steroid injection turns pretty much everybody into zombies, straight from the 28 Days Later school of hard-running mouth-frothers. Good blood-soaked fun, if probably a bit too long. But then all films are too long these days. Return of the King won a million Oscars, and that didn’t have a ‘roid-raging zombie kicking a man’s head off his neck and into the goal.

— Andi Thomas

Fighting with My Family (2019)

Available on Prime and Hulu

Maybe the only worthwhile WWE Studios release ever? I’ll await the flame from fans of The Marine 5: Battleground in the comments. What would have otherwise been yet another vanilla sports inspiration story is elevated by a terrific cast, led by newly Oscar-nominated Florence Pugh.

— Pete Volk

The Damned United (2009)

Available to rent

An adaptation of a brilliant but bleak novel about Brian Clough’s doomed spell at Leeds United, the film dispenses with most of the book’s harrowing existential loneliness and discovers a surprisingly soft-hearted buddy story underneath. Michael Sheen disappears uncannily into his role, absolutely nailing Clough’s astringent self-possession, but Colm Meaney almost steals the film as Clough’s nemesis, Don Revie. A reminder that English football, back in the ‘70s, was a strange, drizzly place full of strange, compelling people.

— Andi Thomas

Hoop Dreams (1994)

Available on HBO, Kanopy and DirecTV

One of the best American documentaries. Also one of the best movies about dreams, who crushes them and how they evolve. It is also one of the best movies about race and poverty in America. All in all, this is one of the best movies about the allure and grace of basketball. A phenomenal film!

— Pete Volk

Horse Feathers (1932)

Available via the Internet Archive

I grew up watching the Marx Brothers with my dad, and I would be remiss not to mention this college football-centric classic. Turns out the “amateur” status of college football players was a joke in the 1930s, too!

— Pete Volk

Minding the Gap (2019)

Available on Hulu

Only tangentially about sports, since the group of kids at this documentary’s focus are skateboarders, but this is one of the great modern American documentaries about growing up, difficult friendships and toxic masculinity. Highly, highly recommend.

— Pete Volk

Starship Troopers (1997)

Available on Showtime, CBS All Access, DirecTV and Vudu

There are several reasons Starship Troopers is memorable — the broadly written anti-nationalist commentary! The exploding bugs! The co-ed showers! That one fight scene soundtracked to Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You,” for some reason! — but space football is the only one that fits with our theme. In the future, America’s favorite sport is played in high school gymnasiums on old wrestling mats. There are no special teams or roughness penalties. The ball is Nerf’s rough approximation of a baked potato wrapped in foil.

Johnny Rico, our protagonist, wins and is escorted off the field a hero. Roughly 20 minutes of film later, he’s left to die on an alien planet. Shit’s real, yo.

— Christian D’Andrea

Rush (2013)

Available on HBO

If you liked Ford V. Ferrari, you’ll probably love this. Retelling the true story of James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda’s intense Formula 1 rivalry, Rush has fantastic racing scenes and benefits from focusing on the wildly different personalities and approaches of the two rivals.

— Pete Volk

A League of Their Own (1992)

Available on Showtime, and very often randomly on cable

It almost feels redundant to list this classic, which you’ve probably already seen once or dozens of times. But if you have seen it, you know it holds up better than most of the feel-good, strings-swelling-styled sports hagiographies of the 1990s. A more-or-less accurate retelling of a vital and often ignored part of American sports history, conveyed via an all-star cast and too many quotable lines to count. The “hard” may be what makes it great, but there’s nothing hard about watching this iconic and genuinely uplifting movie. (I also wrote more about it here.)

—Natalie Weiner

Speed Racer (2008)

Available to rent

One of my favorite movies of all-time, taking many aesthetic cues from anime and seamlessly bringing them into the live-action world with breathtaking visual effects. Speed Racer is visually explosive and a delight for the senses, with a grounded conflict at its core (a family business getting bought out by a heartless corporation). In my opinion, this is sports + movies in their best balance with each other.

— Pete Volk

The Heart of the Game (2005)

Available to rent

A hardscrabble team works diligently to overcome the odds, with a few twists. The movie centers on a girls basketball team from Roosevelt High School, 10 minutes from where I grew up in Seattle, and the star of the team gets pregnant. Bring tissues.

— Natalie Weiner

Uncut Gems (2019)

Available to rent

No movie better captures the anxiety of being a sports fan, or the bad decisions you make because of your fandom. Also sports luminaries Kevin Garnett and Mike Francesa deliver excellent performances. My favorite 2019 release! Louis wrote more about it here.

— Pete Volk

Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)

Available on Starz and DirecTV

This is the height of me on-my-bullshit, but please allow it: Scott Adkins and Michael Jai White are generational action stars, and this entry in the excellent Undisputed series shows their singular talents at their best. White plays an ex-boxer framed for a crime and sent to prison, where he fights for his freedom in an underground MMA ring. Adkins plays the terrifying Yuri Boyka, the reigning prison champ. This is so up my alley it’s not even funny, and hopefully it’s up yours, too!

— Pete Volk

More Than a Game (2008)

Available on Starz

It’s very easy to take LeBron James for granted. After all, he’s been doing otherworldly things in the NBA for almost two decades now. Sometimes it just seems like he’s always existed, like he’ll just be inevitable forever. At a time when we’re (hopefully temporarily) deprived of watching him play basketball, it’s worth revisiting this great documentary about his origin story. Yes, he overcame seemingly insurmountable odds, but the part that sticks with you is the people around him — those who believed in him completely, and who he has been just as loyal to in return.

— Natalie Weiner

[ramajmedia]

10 Things You Didn't Know About Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino's ninth feature film, Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood, continues his streak of universally praised works. It's also not without controversy due to its depiction of late '60s Hollywood and several historical figures. Several moments polarized audiences and critics, but most agreed that it was a stellar film. Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and the rest of the cast pull off astounding performances, bringing the auteur filmmaker's script to life with gusto.

Related: Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood's 10 Biggest Unanswered Question

The film is huge, brimming with countless details, each of which containing a behind the scenes story. The following ten entries will take a look at these lesser known facts about what is shaping up to be one of the best movies of the year. For the spoiler cautious, it is best to watch the movie first if one doesn't want key events ruined.

10 Burt Reynolds

Hollywood legend Burt Reynolds was to take part in the film, but passed away before he was able to shoot his scenes. The role in question was George Spahn, the owner of the ranch the Manson Family used as a home. Burt attended rehearsals, but the role went to Bruce Dern after the actor's passing. That's not the only connection he has to the film, though. Rick Dalton's cameo on F.B.I. is a role Reynolds originally played. The quip about chewing gum during the scene is a reference to the beloved actor.

9 Debra Tate

Sharon Tate's sister, Debra, had understandable reservations about the film. She eventually gave her blessing after meeting with Tarantino and reading the script. On top of that, she also visited the set and brought some of her late sibling's jewelry for Margot Robbie to wear during filming. Despite the family giving their stamp of approval, that didn't stop others from voicing displeasure with Sharon's portrayal in the film. Journalist Farah Nayeri felt she didn't get enough dialog during the almost three hour run time.

8 Wikipedia Plot Summary

Wikipedia's wild west of information caused quite the ruckus before the film's July 26th release. The plot summary detailed an entirely untrue ending even more ridiculous than the one in the film. In it, The Manson Family breaks into Sharon Tate's house, but Bruce Lee, Cliff, and Rick show up in the nick of time to rescue them. Also, Sharon utilizes her own marshal arts prowess to best the attackers. Cliff would have succumbed to his wounds during this encounter in the fake ending. The weird event triggered an internal quarrel among the Wikipedia editors and their ethics regarding spoilers in an unreleased movie.

7 Damon Herriman

For a movie initially described as being about Charlie Manson's cult and the murders, he actually has a minuscule amount of screen time. It makes sense; the story shines a light on and glorifies the last days of a bygone era, and wasn't meant to focus on the thing that brought it down. Interestingly enough, Damon Herriman also played the notorious cult leader both in the movie and on the Netflix television show Mindhunter in the same year. For the actor's sake, we hope he doesn't receive any public ire for portraying one of America's most notorious criminals twice in quick succession.

6 Famous Actors On The Cutting Room Floor

The cast list in this movie is simply huge, brimming with Hollywood Legends, recognizable character actors, and younger faces just getting their feet wet in the industry. Several big names filmed scenes that ultimately didn't make it into the movie. Two such names were James Marsden and Tim Roth. Marsden filmed scenes playing Burt Reynolds, while Roth, a long time friend of the director, had a small role as a butler. We hope they weren't too sore about their work not showing up in the final cut. It must have been nice just to work with Tarantino.

5 Roman Polanski

Because of Roman Polanski's legal issues, he was unable to fly out to the states and meet with Tarantino. Instead, a close friend of his met with the director and read the script on the exiled filmmaker's behalf. According to Tarantino, Polanski wasn't immediately opposed to the idea, but was simply curious as to what the project ultimately would be. After his friend read the script, he assured the Polish director that he had nothing to worry about.

4 Hell River

One of the fictional movies Rick Dalton starred in is called The 14 Fists of McCluskey. A brief snippet of it is shown early in the movie. They didn't film an imaginary segment in the style of a classic World War II film to pull this off. Instead, footage from a different movie was used.

Related: Brad Pitt's 10 Most Memorable Characters

The movie in question was Hell River, about Partisans in Yugoslavia. Fittingly, the movie starred Adam West, whose most famous role was that of Batman on the hit '60s television show. Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood features a nod to that show.

3 Phones Were Banned From The Set

According to actor Timothy Olyphant, phones were firmly banned on set. Anybody caught using their device would be promptly fired from the production. The ban was meant to remove any distractions, getting everyone to focus on the task at hand.

Related: 10 Films That Directly Influenced Quentin Tarantino

He added that special areas outside the set were there for anyone needing to make a call. It's hard to argue with this philosophy; phones really do distract people in every day life, and a filmmaker doesn't want any of that during their production.

2 Bruce Lee Fight

Bruce Lee's portrayal is one of the film's more controversial moments. Lee's daughter took umbrage with the martial arts legend's perceived arrogance. Originally, his fight with Cliff ended drastically different. Instead of their bout facing an interruption, it was to conclude with Cliff victorious.

Related: The 10 Best Historical Cameos In Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood

Everybody involved with the scene felt uncomfortable with this, including the stunt coordinator, so it was changed during filming to end in a draw. Some were still displeased with Lee's inclusion in the movie, however.

1 How Tarantino Prevented The Script Leaking

Several of Quentin Tarantino's prior films have all had their scripts leak before release. The director was determined not to let this happen again, going to great lengths in order to prevent such a security breach. Only a handful of people were allowed to read the script in its entirety beforehand, and members of production involved in pulling off the finale only learned of the ending a couple of months before it was filmed. Given the prior debacles with his scripts, Tarantino's precaution was wholly justified.

Next: Top 10 Quotes From Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood

source https://screenrant.com/one-upon-time-in-hollywood-facts/

[aion-rsa]

Jack Kirby: Comics' Greatest Storyteller

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On what would have been his 102nd birthday, we take a moment for Jack Kirby, an undisputed titan of comics and culture.

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How is it that the work of Jack Kirby, which contains some of the most colorful characters and influential mythology of the last century, still manages to feel so personal? Comic books are now known at least as much as source material for exciting movies as they are for being currently published graphic stories. Kirby’s work has been adapted into roughly a dozen of the most successful feature films of recent years, with more on the way all the time.

Jack Kirby may primarily be known as a great and influential comic book creator, but above all else, he was a storyteller. He understood the powerful impact that stories, any stories, could have. His mother and other elders told stories that enraptured him as a boy. The stories in the newspaper comics and in the movie theaters did the same.

Jack drew as a child, he drew as a teen, he drew as a young man, and he drew well into his old age. Kirby learned that he, his pencil, and a piece of paper could engage the mind and emotion of the audience as much as his own mind had been engaged. He learned that science fiction could serve the same function in the present as mythology had in the past. He knew, from his time spent with his gang of buddies in New York City’s toughest ghetto, the Lower East Side, his fellow soldiers on the battlefields of Europe during World War Two, and the life-long love he shared with his wife Roz, how we all used drama and myth to help cope with the best and the worst of times.

Early on, Kirby’s drawings became more than just lines on a page, they became the raw material for stories. Jack Kirby was there at the beginning of the comic book as it is known in America.

Comics were the perfect place for his distinctive stories, and through his career he drew literally thousands of pages of them, often at the almost superhuman rate of four pages a day. He helped shape what was initially considered disposable entertainment into the enduring art form we know today. Jack, along with his one-time boss, Will Eisner, his partner Joe Simon, and Jack “Plastic Man” Cole, learned the new creature of the comic book was a unique, valid narrative art form. They took comic books seriously, and it showed. It was no surprise that Jack would later put that seriousness to work in epic tales like “Mother Delilah” in the pages of Boys’ Ranch, “The Galactus Trilogy” in The Fantastic Four, or “The Glory Boat” in The New Gods.

Between the comic book boom of the early ‘40s (where, in addition to superhero work like Captain America, the Simon & Kirby team developed the Young Allies, the Boy Commandos, and the Newsboy Legion, setting the stage for other, better known bickering teams of adventure comics characters), his distinguished service in combat during World War II, and the superhero renaissance of the jet age, the S&K team invented the incredibly successful genre of romance comics during the late 1940s.

And that was only the beginning.

In case you’re one of the uninitiated, let me give you an idea of the sheer scope of Kirby’s work as a comic book writer and artist over his fifty year career. Get ready, because this reads like a greatest hits collection of some of the most recognizable characters in popular fiction...

Jack was there at the birth of Marvel Comics as we know it and helped bring Captain America into existence. He created or co-created (with Stan Lee) future box-office sensations like The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Avengers, Nick Fury, and the X-Men. Groot began life as a Kirby-drawn short story long before he became a beloved supporting character in Guardians of the Galaxy, and if you look closely, you can even spot one of Kirby’s cosmic Eternals in an easter egg in that film. You’ll be seeing Black Panther and The Inhumans on the silver screen soon enough. There’s more, but you get the idea.

Before detailed credits in comics became the norm, many young readers would still recognize Kirby’s stories. The art pulled them in like no other. Readers recognized the eyes, the hands, the staging, the action. When creator credits proliferated in the 1960s, Kirby’s name became associated with dynamic action, compelling drama, and mind-blowing concepts. No one did comics at the level Kirby did.

When DC lured Jack away from Marvel, which seemed like an unthinkable creative coup, the cover of his first issue of Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen (which had previously been a rather milquetoast tertiary Superman title before Jack imbued it with a psychedelic energy and dynamic storytelling that the normally staid DC wasn’t known for at the time) proudly proclaimed that “Kirby is here!” In 1970, comics companies didn’t engage in that kind of promotion, but such was the power and influence of Kirby’s work at the time.

At DC, an entirely new mythology sprang from his pencil. His Fourth World comics brought a host of characters and concepts that DC Comics and Warner Bros. continue to use to this day. These concepts became a cornerstone of DC’s own cosmic mythology, an element that had been sorely lacking in their books until that time. Perhaps his most memorable contribution to DC lore was cosmic warlord Darkseid, a character with power-levels that could match Superman, but whose motivations were far more layered than merely using his strength to cause destruction.

Darkseid and the New Gods made their way into action figure lines and animated series, and their influence can be seen reflected in pop culture titans from Star Wars to Masters of the Universe. The villainous Steppenwolf will face off against the Justice League in their big screen debut this November. Darkseid and The New Gods probably won’t be far behind.

So, yes… Jack Kirby helped bring many of your favorite superheroes to life, and they are the current lifeblood of blockbuster cinema. But decades before dystopian futures were a sub-genre of their own in Hollywood, Jack produced OMAC and Kamandi for DC Comics. He explored themes of ancient aliens back at Marvel in The Eternals. Even his lesser known latter-day creations like Captain Victory are brimming with the kind of mythic interpersonal sci-fi dynamism Kirby brought to all his work.

Jack Kirby was a storyteller above all else. Science-fiction, action-adventure, mythology, romance...he put himself into all of those stories. It just so happened that when he told his stories, many of these characters became the superheroes we know and love.

***

Visit kirbymuseum.org for information on how you can support the future efforts of the Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center. 

In honor of Jack Kirby's birthday, please make a donation to The Hero Initiative, dedicated to helping comic book creators in need.

Read and download the Den of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Feature Rand Hoppe

Aug 28, 2019

Jack Kirby

Marvel

DC Entertainment

from Books https://ift.tt/2L182rl

[oldschoolretrogaming-blog]

List Of SNES Games

3 Ninjas Kick Back 7th Saga, The 90 Minutes European Prime Goal A.S.P.: Air Strike Patrol AAAHH!!! Real Monsters ABC Monday Night Football ACME Animation Factory ActRaiser ActRaiser 2 Addams Family, The Addams Family, The: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt Addams Family Values Adventures of Batman & Robin, The Adventures of Dr. Franken, The Adventures of Kid Kleets, The Soccer Kid EU Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle and Friends, The Adventures of Tintin, The: Prisoners of the Sun Adventures of Yogi Bear Aero Fighters Aero the Acro-Bat Aero the Acro-Bat 2 Aerobiz Aerobiz Supersonic Air Cavalry Al Unser Jr.'s Road to the Top Alfred Chicken Alien³ Alien vs Predator All-American Championship Football American Gladiators American Tail, An: Fievel Goes West Andre Agassi Tennis Animaniacs Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1 Arcana Ardy Lightfoot Arkanoid: Doh it Again Art of Fighting Asterix Asterix & Obelix Axelay B.O.B. Ballz 3D Barbie Super Model Barbie: Vacation Adventure Barkley Shut Up and Jam! Bart's Nightmare Bass Masters Classic Bass Masters Classic Pro Edition Bassin's Black Bass with Hank Parker Batman Forever Batman Returns Battle Blaze Battle Cars Battle Clash Battle Grand Prix Battletoads & Double Dragon Battletoads in Battlemaniacs Bazooka Blitzkrieg Beavis and Butt-head Bebe's Kids January 1994 Beethoven's 2nd Beethoven: The Ultimate Canine Caper Best of the Best: Championship Karate Big Sky Trooper Biker Mice From Mars Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball Bill Walsh College Football Biometal Blackthorne BlaZeon: The Bio-Cyborg Challenge Blues Brothers, The Bonkers Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure Boxing Legends of the Ring Brain Lord Brainies, The Bram Stoker's Dracula Brandish Brawl Brothers BreakThru Breath of Fire Breath of Fire II Brett Hull Hockey Brett Hull Hockey '95 Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus Brunswick World: Tournament of Champions Brutal: Paws Of Fury Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind Bubsy II Bugs Bunny in Rabbit Rampage Bulls vs Blazers and the NBA Playoffs Bust a Move C2: Judgment Clay Cacoma Knight in Bizyland Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball California Games II Cannon Fodder Capcom's MVP Football Capcom's Soccer Shootout Captain America and the Avengers Captain Commando Captain Novolin Carrier Aces Casper Castlevania: Dracula X Champions World Class Soccer Championship Pool Championship Soccer '94 Sensible Software Chessmaster, The Chester Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool Chester Cheetah: Wild Wild Quest Choplifter III Chrono Trigger Chuck Rock Civilization Clay Fighter Clay Fighter: Tournament Edition Claymates Cliffhanger Clue College Football USA '97: The Road to New Orleans College Slam Combatribes, The Congo's Caper Contra III: The Alien Wars Cool Spot Cool World Cutthroat Island Cyber Spin Cybernator Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions Darius Twin David Crane's Amazing Tennis Daze Before Christmas Death and Return of Superman, The Demolition Man Demon's Crest Dennis the Menace Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf D-Force Dig & Spike Vollyball DinoCity Dino Dini's Soccer Dirt Racer Dirt Trax FX Disney's Aladdin Disney's Beauty and the Beast Disney's Goof Troop Disney's The Lion King Donkey Kong Country Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! Doom Doom Troopers Doomsday Warrior Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden Dragon Ball Z 2: La Legende Saien Dragon Ball Z 3: Ultime Menace Dragon View November 1994 Infogrames KEMCO NA Dragon's Lair Drakkhen Dream TV Duel, The: Test Drive II Dungeon Master E.V.O.: Search for Eden EarthBound Earthworm Jim Earthworm Jim 2 Eek! The Cat Elite Soccer World Cup Striker EU July 1994 Emmitt Smith Football Equinox ESPN Baseball Tonight ESPN National Hockey Night ESPN Speed World ESPN Sunday Night NFL Extra Innings Eye of the Beholder F-Zero F1 Pole Position F1 Pole Position 2 F1 ROC: Race Of Champions Exhaust Heat EU F1 ROC II: Race Of Champions F1 World Championship Edition Faceball 2000 Family Dog Family Feud Fatal Fury: King of Fighters Fatal Fury 2 Fatal Fury Special FIFA International Soccer FIFA Soccer '96 FIFA 97: Gold Edition FIFA 98: Road to World Cup Fighter's History Final Fantasy II Final Fantasy III Final Fantasy Mystic Quest Final Fight Final Fight 2 Final Fight 3 Final Fight Guy Firemen, The Firepower 2000 Firestriker First Samurai Flashback: The Quest for Identity Flintstones: The Movie Flintstones, The: The Treasure of Sierra Madrock Football Fury Foreman For Real Frank Thomas' Big Hurt Baseball Frantic Flea Frogger Full Throttle: All-American Racing Gemfire Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Grey Wolf George Foreman's KO Boxing Ghoul Patrol Goal! Gods GP-1 GP-1: Part II Gradius III Great Circus Mystery, The: Starring Mickey and Minnie Great Waldo Search, The GunForce Hagane: The Final Conflict HammerLock Wrestling Hardball 3 Harley's Humongous Adventure Harvest Moon Head-On Soccer Fever Pitch Soccer EU Hebereke's Popoitto Hebereke's Popoon Hit the Ice Hole in One Golf Home Alone Home Alone 2: Lost in New York Home Improvement Hook Humans, The Hungry Dinosaurs Hunt for Red October, The Hurricanes Hyper V-Ball HyperZone Ignition Factor, The Illusion of Gaia Imperium Incantation Incredible Crash Dummies, The Incredible Hulk, The Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures Inindo: Way of the Ninja Inspector Gadget International Superstar Soccer International Superstar Soccer Deluxe International Tennis Tour Irem Skins Game, The Itchy & Scratchy Game, The Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings Jack Nicklaus Golf James Bond Jr. James Pond 3: Operation Starfish Jammit Jelly Boy Jeopardy! Deluxe Edition Jeopardy! Featuring Alex Trebek Jeopardy! Sports Edition Jetsons: The Invasion of the Planet Pirates Jim Lee's WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour Jimmy Houston's Bass Tournament USA Joe & Mac Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja EU Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics John Madden Football John Madden Football '93 Judge Dredd Jungle Book, The Jungle Strike Jurassic Park Jurassic Park 2: The Chaos Continues Justice League Task Force Ka-Blooey Kawasaki Caribbean Challenge Kawasaki Superbike Challenge Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run Kendo Rage Kevin Keegan's Player Manager Kick Off Kick Off 3: European Challenge Kid Klown in Crazy Chase Killer Instinct King Arthur & the Knights of Justice King Arthur's World King of Dragons, The King of the Monsters King of the Monsters 2: The Next Thing Kirby Super Star Kirby's Avalanche Kirby's Dream Course Kirby's Dream Land 3 Knights of the Round Krusty's Super Fun House Kyle Petty's No Fear Racing Lagoon Lamborghini American Challenge Last Action Hero Lawnmower Man, The Legend Legend of the Mystical Ninja, The Legend of Zelda, The: A Link to the Past Lemmings Lemmings 2: The Tribes Lester the Unlikely Lethal Enforcers Lethal Weapon Liberty or Death Lock On Looney Tunes B-Ball Lord of the Rings, (J.R.R. Tolkien's) The, Vol. I Lost Vikings, The Lost Vikings 2, The Lucky Luke Lufia & the Fortress of Doom Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals M.A.C.S. Basic Rifle Marksmanship Madden NFL '94 Madden NFL '95 Madden NFL '96 Madden NFL 97 Madden NFL 98 Magic Boy Magic Sword Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse, The Manchester United Championship Soccer Mario Is Missing! Mario Paint Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters Mario's Early Years: Fun with Numbers Mario's Early Years: Preschool Fun Mario's Time Machine Mark Davis: The Fishing Master Marko's Magic Football Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Mask, The Math Blaster: Episode 1 Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow Donald in Maui Mallard EU Mecarobot Golf MechWarrior MechWarrior 3050 Mega-Lo-Mania Mega Man 7 Mega Man Soccer Mega Man X Mega Man X2 Mega Man X3 Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge Metal Marines Metal Morph Metal Warriors Michael Andretti's Indy Car Challenge Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse Mickey's Ultimate Challenge Micro Machines Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra Mighty Max Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Fighting Edition Miracle Piano MLBPA Baseball Mohawk & Headphone Jack Monopoly Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat II Mortal Kombat 3 Mountain Bike Rally Mr. Do! Mr. Nutz Ms. Pac-Man Musya: The Classic Japanese Tale of Horror Natsume Championship Wrestling NBA All-Star Challenge NBA Give 'N Go NBA Hangtime NBA Jam NBA Jam Tournament Edition NBA Live '95 NBA Live '96 NBA Live '97 NBA Live '98 NBA Showdown 94 NCAA Basketball NCAA Final Four Basketball NCAA Football Newman Hass Indy Car Racing NFL Football NFL Quarterback Club NFL Quarterback Club '96 NHL '94 NHL '95 NHL '96 NHL '97 NHL '98 NHL Stanley Cup NHLPA Hockey '93 Nickelodeon Guts Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing Ninja Gaiden Trilogy Ninja Warriors, The No Escape Nobunaga's Ambition Nobunaga's Ambition: Lords of Darkness Nolan Ryan's Baseball Nosferatu Obitus Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen Olympic Summer Games On the Ball Operation Europe: Path to Victory Operation Logic Bomb Operation Thunderbolt Oscar Out of This World Out to Lunch Outlander P.T.O.: Pacific Theater of Operations P.T.O.: Pacific Theater of Operations II Pac-Attack Pac-In-Time Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures Packy and Marlon Pagemaster, The Paladin's Quest Paperboy 2 Parodius: Non-Sense Fantasy Peace Keepers, The PGA European Tour PGA Tour 96 PGA Tour Golf Phalanx Phantom 2040 Pieces Pilotwings Pinball Dreams Pinball Fantasies Pink Panther in Pink Goes to Hollywood Pinocchio Pirates of Dark Water Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure Pit-Fighter Plok Pocky & Rocky Pocky & Rocky 2 Pop'n TwinBee Pop'n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures Populous Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday Power Drive Power Instinct Power Moves Power Piggs of the Dark Age Power Rangers Zeo: Battle Racers Powermonger Prehistorik Man Primal Rage Prince of Persia Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame Pro Quarterback Pro Sport Hockey Pushover Putty Squad Q*bert 3 Race Drivin' Radical Rex Raiden Trad Rampart Ranma ½: Hard Battle Rap Jam: Volume One Realm Redline F-1 Racer Relief Pitcher Ren & Stimpy Show, The: Buckaroo$ Ren & Stimpy Show, The: Time Warp Ren & Stimpy Show, The: Veediots! Ren & Stimpy Show Part II: Fire Dogs Revolution X Rex Ronan: Experimental Surgeon Riddick Bowe Boxing Chavez MX Rise of the Phoenix Rise of the Robots Rival Turf! Road Riot 4WD Road Runner's Death Valley Rally RoboCop 3 Robocop versus The Terminator Robotrek Rock N' Roll Racing Rocketeer, The Rocko's Modern Life: Spunky's Dangerous Day Rocky Rodent Roger Clemens' MVP Baseball Romance of the Three Kingdoms II Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire RPM Racing R-Type III: The Third Lightning Run Saber Sailor Moon Samurai Shodown Saturday Night Slam Masters Scooby-Doo Mystery SeaQuest DSV Secret of Evermore Secret of Mana Secret of the Stars Sensible Soccer Shadowrun Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye Shaq Fu Shien's Revenge Side Pocket SimAnt SimCity SimCity 2000 SimEarth: The Living Planet Sink or Swim SkulJagger: Revolt of the Westicans Skyblazer Smart Ball Smash Tennis Smurfs, The Smurfs, The: Travel The World Snow White: Happily Ever After Soldiers of Fortune Sonic Blast Man Sonic Blast Man II SOS Soul Blazer Space Ace Space Football: One on One Space Invaders Space Megaforce Spanky's Quest Sparkster Spawn Spectre Speed Racer: In My Most Dangerous Adventures Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos Spider-Man: The Animated Series Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage Spider-Man and Venom: Separation Anxiety Spider-Man & the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge Spindizzy Worlds Spirou Sporting News, The: Power Baseball Sports Illustrated: Championship Football & Baseball Star Fox Star Fox: Official Competition Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Crossroads of Time Star Trek: Star Fleet Academy Star Trek: The Next Generation: Future's Past Stargate Steel Talons Sterling Sharpe: End 2 End Stone Protectors Street Combat Street Fighter Alpha 2 Street Fighter II: The World Warrior Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting Street Hockey '95 Street Racer Strike Gunner S.T.G. Stunt Race FX Sunset Riders Super 3D Noah's Ark (Unl) Super Adventure Island Super Adventure Island II Super Aquatic Games Starring the Aquabats, The Super Baseball 2020 Super Baseball Simulator 1.000 Super Bases Loaded Super Bases Loaded 2 Super Bases Loaded 3: License to Steal Super Batter Up Super Battleship Super Battletank: War in the Gulf Super Battletank 2 Super Black Bass Super Bomberman Super Bomberman 2 Super Bomberman 3 Super Bonk Super Bowling Super Buster Bros. Super Caesars Palace Super Castlevania IV Super Chase H.Q. Super Conflict: The Mideast Super Double Dragon Super Dany Super Dropzone Super E.D.F.: Earth Defense Force Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts Super Goal! 2 Super Godzilla Super High Impact Super Ice Hockey Super International Cricket Super James Pond Super Mario All-Stars Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World Super Mario Kart Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Super Mario World Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Super Metroid Super Morph Super Ninja Boy Super Nova Super Off Road Super Off Road: The Baja Super Pinball: Behind the Mask Super Play Action Football Super Punch Out!! Super Putty Super RBI Baseball Super R-Type Super Scope 6 Super Slam Dunk Super Slap Shot Super Smash TV Super Soccer Super Soccer Champ Super Solitaire Super Star Wars Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers Super Strike Eagle Super Tennis Super Troll Islands Super Turrican Super Turrican 2 Super Valis IV Super Widget Suzuka 8 Hours SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron Syndicate Syvalion T2: The Arcade Game Taz-Mania Tecmo Super Baseball Tecmo Super Bowl Tecmo Super Bowl II: Special Edition Tecmo Super Bowl III: The Final Edition Tecmo Super NBA Basketball Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters Terminator, The Terminator 2: Judgment Day Terranigma Tetris & Dr. Mario Tetris 2 Tetris Attack Theme Park Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends Thunder Spirits Tick, The Time Slip Time Trax Timecop Timon & Pumbaa's Jungle Games Tin Star Tintin in Tibet Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose Tiny Toon Adventures: Wacky Sports Challenge TKO Super Championship Boxing TNN Bass Tournament of Champions Tom and Jerry Tommy Moe's Winter Extreme: Skiing & Snowboarding Tony Meola's Sidekick Soccer Top Gear Top Gear 2 Top Gear 3000 Total Carnage Toys: Let the Toy Wars Begin! Troddlers Troy Aikman NFL Football True Golf: Wicked 18 True Golf Classics: Pebble Beach Golf Links True Golf Classics: Waialae Country Club True Lies Tuff E Nuff Turbo Toons Turn and Burn: No-Fly Zone Twisted Tales of Spike McFang, The U.N. Squadron Ultima: Runes of Virtue II Ultima VI: The False Prophet Ultima VII: The Black Gate Ultimate Fighter Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Ultraman: Towards the Future Uncharted Waters Uncharted Waters: New Horizons Uniracers Untouchables Urban Strike Utopia: The Creation of a Nation Vegas Stakes Virtual Bart Virtual Soccer Vortex War 2410 War 3010: The Revolution Wario's Woods Warlock Warp Speed Waterworld Wayne Gretzky and the NHLPA All-Stars Wayne's World WCW SuperBrawl Wrestling Weaponlord We're Back!: A Dinosaur Story Wheel of Fortune: Featuring Vanna White Wheel of Fortune Deluxe! Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? Whirlo Whizz Wild Guns Wild Snake Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits Wing Commander Wing Commander: The Secret Missions Wings 2: Aces High Winter Gold Winter Olympic Games: Lillehammer '94 Wizard of Oz, The Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom Wolfchild Wolfenstein 3D Wolverine: Adamantium Rage Wordtris World Class Rugby World Cup USA '94 World Heroes World Heroes 2 World League Soccer World Masters Golf World Soccer '94: Road to Glory Worms WWF RAW WWF Royal Rumble WWF Super WrestleMania WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game Xardion X-Kaliber 2097 X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse X-Zone Yoshi's Cookie Yoshi's Safari Young Merlin Ys III: Wanderers From Ys Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel Zombies Ate My Neighbors Zool: Ninja of the "Nth" Dimension Zoop

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/technology/entertainment/whats-new-on-netflix-hulu-and-amazon-for-february/

What's new on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon for February

Streaming platforms have hundreds of exciting films and television programs arriving today!

Interested in Netflix?

Add Netflix as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Netflix news, video, and analysis from ABC News.

From classics like “The Matrix” and “Caddyshack” to new seasons of “The Voice” and “Real Housewives of New York City,” there’s something for everyone.

If you’re looking for a new show to marathon or a film to check out on movie night, refer to these options from Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.

Here’s the full list:

NETFLIX

Feb. 1

About a Boy

American Pie

American Pie 2

American Wedding

As Good as It Gets

Billy Elliot

Dear Ex

Final Destination

Hairspray

Hostel

Jaws

Jaws 2

Jaws 3

Jaws: The Revenge

Personal Shopper

Pretty in Pink

The Edge of Seventeen

Velvet Buzzsaw

Free Rein: Valentine’s Day

Russian Doll

Siempre bruja

True: Happy Hearts Day

Feb. 2

Bordertown: Season 2

Romance is a Bonus Book

Feb. 3

Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua

Feb. 5

Ray Romano: Right Here, Around the Corner

Feb. 6

Feb. 8

El árbol de la sangre

High Flying Bird

Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History

Nailed It! México

One Day at a Time: Season 3

ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke

The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants: Season 2

Unauthorized Living

Feb. 9

Feb. 10

Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj: Volume 2

Feb. 11

Little Women

Flavorful Origins: Chaoshan Cuisine

Feb. 14

Dating Around

Ken Jeong: You Complete Me, Ho

Feb. 15

The Breaker Upperers

Yucatan

Larry Charles’ Dangerous World of Comedy

The Dragon Prince: Season 2

The Umbrella Academy

Feb. 16

Black Sea

The 40-Year-Old Virgin

Studio 54

Feb. 21

Feb. 22

Paddleton

Paris Is Us (Paris est à nous)

Firebrand

The Photographer of Mauthausen

Chef’s Table: Volume 6

GO! Vive a tu manera

Rebellion: Season 2

Suburra: Season 2

The Big Family Cooking Showdown: Season 2

Workin’ Moms

Feb. 25

Feb. 26

Feb. 27

Feb. 28

The Rebound

Jeopardy!: Collection 2

AMAZON

Feb. 1

Agatha Christie Presents: ABC Murders (Prime Original series), Season 1

In Plain Sight, Season 1-5

Just Add Magic (Prime Original series), Season 3

23 1/2 Hours Leave (1937)

A Romance of Happy Valley (1919)

A Strange Adventure (1932)

Along Came Polly (2004)

Barefoot (2014)

Bounty (2009)

Brand of the Devil (1944)

Broadway Danny Rose (1984)

Chaos (2009)

Delta Farce (2007)

Flesh+Blood (1985)

Foolish (1999)

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

Gambler’s Choice (1944)

Generation Wealth (Prime Original movie) (2018)

Gorilla Ship (1932)

Guru, the Mad Monk (1970)

Hay Foot (1942)

Headline Crasher (1937)

High Lonesome (1950)

High School Girl (1934)

Hollywood Without Make-Up (1963)

Hunters of the Deep (1954)

Irish Luck (1939)

Jacaré (1942)

Joan the Woman (1916)

Lady from Chungking (1942)

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

Little Miss Hoover (1918)

Loaded Pistols (1948)

Lost Canyon (1942)

Lucky Ghost (1942)

Lucky Terror (1936)

Lying Lips (1939)

Marathon Man (1976)

Marie Galante (1934)

Men of the Plains (1936)

My Lady of Whims (1925)

Neath Canadian Skies (1946)

Neath the Arizona Skies (1934)

Next Day Air (2009)

No Substitute for Victory (1970)

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

Oriental Evil (1951)

Orphans of the Storm (1921)

Outlaw Express (1938)

Outlaws of the Desert (1941)

Paradise Express (1937)

Partners of the Plains (1938)

Pirates on Horseback (1941)

Private Snuffy Smith (1942)

Queen of the Jungle (1935)

Racing Blood (1936)

Raiders of the Border (1944)

Rawhide (1938)

Reckless Decision (1933)

Rogue of the Range (1936)

A Romance of the Redwood (1917)

Round-Up Time in Texas (1937)

Rubber Tires (1927)

Secret of the Wastelands (1941)

Secrets of Three Hungry Wives (1978)

Sepia Cinderella (1947)

Sisters of Death (1976)

Sparrows (1926)

Spirit of Youth (1938)

Star Kid (1997)

Stella Maris (1918)

Swamp Fire (1946)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Texas Jack (1935)

Texas to Bataan (1942)

That Gang of Mine (1940)

The Blues Brothers (1980)

The Border Legion (1940)

The Ghost Walks (1934)

The Hoosier Schoolmaster (1935)

The James Dean Story (1957)

The Jesus Trip (1971)

The Kid (1921)

The Kid Ranger (1936)

The Last of the Clintons (1935)

The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

The Love of Sunya (1927)

The Married Virgin (1918)

The Matrix (1999)

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

The Money (1976)

The Phantom Broadcast (1933)

The Portrait of a Lady (1996)

The Proud and Damned (1972)

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)

The Quiet Ones (2014)

The Shadow Strikes (1937)

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)

The Violent Years (1956)

Thelma & Louise (1991)

Three Husbands (1950)

Three Men from Texas (1940)

Tombstone Canyon (1932)

Tomorrow at Seven (1933)

Tracy the Outlaw (1928)

Unforgettable (2017)

Universal Soldier (1992)

Untamed Heart (1993)

Vigilantes of Boomtown (1947)

Wacky Taxi (1972)

Wagon Trail (1935)

Wagon Wheels (1934)

Water Rustlers (1939)

Wayne’s World (1992)

Wayne’s World 2 (1993)

West of the Law (1942)

Whistling Bullets (1937)

White Pongo (1945)

Wild Country (2005)

Wildfire (1988)

Winning of the West (1953)

Ye Shanghai (1941)

Yodelin’ Kid from Pine Ridge (1937)

Young Dynamite (1937)

Feb. 5

Feb. 6

Feb. 7

Feb. 8

The Expanse, Season 3

White Dragon (Prime Original series), Season 1

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot (Prime Original movie) (2018)

The Promise (2017)

Feb. 15

Lorena (Prime Original series), Season 1

Feb. 16

Feb. 17

Feb. 21

Odd Squad: Odds and Ends (2018)

Feb. 22

This Giant Beast That Is The Global Economy (Prime Original series), Season 1

Feb. 23

Feb. 25

Feb. 28

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (2013)

HULU

Feb. 1

A View to Kill

Bad Santa

Barefoot

Born on the Fourth of July

Broadway Danny Rose

Caddyshack

Caddyshack II

Capote

Chaos

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Chasing Liberty

Dazed and Confused

Deep Blue Sea

Delta Farce

Dr. No

Equilibrium

Escape from Alcatraz

Field of Dreams

Flesh + Blood

Foolish

For Your Eyes Only

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Freedomland

From Russia with Love

Goldeneye

Hairspray

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

How to Deal

Kingpin

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Lars and the Real Girl

Licence to Kill

Marathon Man

Metro

Mississippi Burning

Moonraker

Moonstruck

Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat Annihilation

Mystic Pizza

Next Day Air

Old Fashioned

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Space Jam

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

The Animal

The Big Lebowski

The Bounty

The Bourne Ultimatum

The Madness of King George

The Purple Rose of Cairo

The Quiet Ones

The Royal Tenenbaums

The Secret Garden

The Thomas Crown Affair

The Thomas Crown Affair

The Toybox

Thelma & Louise

Three Kings

Thunderball

Tomcats

Tomorrow Never Dies

Unforgettable

Universal Soldier

Untamed Heart

Wayne’s World

Wayne’s World 2

Wedding Crashers

Wes Craven Presents: Dracula 2000

While You Were Sleeping

Into The Dark: Down: Episode 5 Premiere

Record of Grancrest War: Season 1

The Portrait of a Lady

Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatre

Feb. 2

Cabin Fever

Pick of the Litter

Feb. 3

Feb. 4

Dog Days

Experimenter

Real Housewives of New York City: Season 10

Saints & Sinners: Seasons 1-3

Feb. 8

Feb. 9

Feb. 10

Feb. 14

False Flag: Season 2

Zac & Mia: Season 2

Feb. 15

Next

Bondi Harvest: Season 1

Jamie’s Quick and Easy: Seasons 1-2

Feb. 16

A Perfect Day

Proven Innocent: Series Premiere

Feb. 17

Feb. 18

The Party

The Sisters Brothers

Elvis All-Star Tribute: Special

Feb. 20

Stan Against Evil: Season 3

Feb. 23

Feb. 25

Every Day

The School

Archer: Danger Island: Season 9

Feb. 26

Three Identical Strangers 

The Enemy Within: Series Premiere

The Voice: Season 16 Premiere

Feb. 27

Tickled

World of Dance: Season 3 Premiere

Feb. 28

Digging for Fire

The Guilty

Whiskey Cavalier: Season 1 Mid-Season Premiere

[nitrateglow]

Movies watched in 2017 (11-20)

Continuing my 2017 film journal. So far, I’ve continued to find some real gems!

Three Came Home (dir. Jean Negulesco, 1950)

Documenting the true story of the American Agnes Newton Smith, a writer interred with her son in a Japanese POW camp during WWII, Three Came Home is a decent film, with solid performances and a few standout scenes. It is a movie which the censorship codes held it back from being a more powerful work; you always get the sense that the filmmakers wanted to show more of the graphic and harrowing side of Smith’s ordeal, which included torture and almost being raped. nevertheless, the filmmakers go as far as they could at the time, even allowing star Claudette Colbert to get in front of the camera sans make-up. Everyone is coated in sweat and grime. Sessue Hayakawa is there too as the sympathetic Colonel Suga. He gets one strong scene toward the end of the movie, where he evokes immense grief and guilt without words, a reminder of his power as a performer and his heyday as one of the best starring actors in Hollywood during the 1910s. (7/10)

BBC Sunday-Night Theatre: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954)

Peter Cushing as Winston Smith—who can resist that? Once again, this man proves he is one of the most underrated actors to have ever stood before a camera. Despite the obvious low budget, this is a great adaptation of Orwell’s novel, much superior to the American feature adaptation made a few years after. In fact, I would say the low budget and cramped sets add to the desolate, gloomy, claustrophobic atmosphere of Oceania’s dystopian world. Everything is dingy and depressing. The ending retains the bleak outlook of Orwell’s novel and Cushing’s great depiction of brokenness only makes it all the creepier. I also want to highlight the great work Yvonne Mitchell does as Julia; she’s pretty and sensual, but not at all a glamorous starlet like the American ‘50s adaptation. Overall, a great version. If you love the book and care about your adaptations being accurate, then you’ll probably enjoy this picture. (9/10)

Reaching for the Moon (dir. Edmund Goulding, 1930)

I wouldn’t really call this movie good and the only folks I can recommend it to are old movie buffs like me, but if you are into pre-code movies, art deco, Bebe Daniels, and/or Douglas Fairbanks Sr., then Reaching for the Moon is worth watching once. The plot is frivolous and forgettable, the pace is slow even for a 70 minute picture, and poor Fairbanks is kind of wasted. He spends some time doing his usual acrobatic thing, but it always feels slapped on and not organic to the scenes. Apparently the movie was originally supposed to be a musical, but the studio cut most of the songs at the last minute since audiences were getting tired of musicals in mid-1930. To be honest, I wish they had kept them in, because the musical numbers are the most energetic and engaging parts of the film. I especially enjoyed Bing Crosby and Bebe Daniels in the jazzy, very Depression-era number “When the Folks High Up Do the Mean Low Down.” Easily, that scene and the art direction are the best assets the movie has to offer; William Cameron Menzies does lovely work on the art deco sets, which are like a dream of 1920s glamor. (6/10)

The Eternal Mother (dir. DW Griffith, 1912)

Like the Griffith short I watched in the last batch, not an essential among his early work. Mabel Normand and Blanche Sweet are wasted as a wanton woman and a virtuous wife. The plot is incredibly thin and silly: a man leaves his good wife for a tart; the tart bears his child and dies on cue. The wife is so good that she takes in the child and the husband spends his years alone until he and the wife reunite as elderly folks. Not much of interest on the technical or story scale. (4/10)

Three Outlaw Samurai (dir. Hideo Gosha, 1964)

I got interested in this one after figuring out Rian Johnson used it as an influence on the next Star Wars movie. I’m guessing most of the influence came from the way Gosha shoots the swordplay, which is very kinetic and rough, but there may be some of the film’s cynical treatment of justice and honor in the new Star Wars too… maybe, since Star Wars is rarely cynical when it comes to good and evil, but we shall see. Regardless, it is a good film, an essential if you like chambara. (8/10)

The Dentist (dir. Leslie Pearce, 1932)

To say WC Fields is weird is an understatement. I would not say I am a fan, but I do adore his surreal and deadpan Yukon parody The Fatal Glass of Beer and generally like The Bank Dick. The Dentist isn’t as impressive as either of those, but it has plenty of good, misanthropic laughs as well as some very risqué humor for 1932 (but then again, this is from the pre-code era). (7/10)

The Fall of the House of Usher (dir. JS Watson Jr. and Melville Webber, 1928)

While not as good as the later Watson and Webber offering, Lot in Sodom, their surreal adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story is still dazzling. It actually feels quite modern. It is a modern dress adaptation and conjures more of the dreadful, claustrophobic spirit of the original story rather than sticking closely to the letter. It also has a lot more obvious Caligari influence than the later Lot in Sodom. (9/10)

Fire Over England (dir. William K. Howard, 1937)

I’ve been reading a lot about the Tudors lately and Elizabeth is my favorite of the bunch. After watching the pretty poor Cate Blanchett movie, I went sixty years back to this 1937 adventure film produced by Alexander Korda. While not focusing exclusively on Elizabeth, it does tell a rousing yarn about an English spy (playing by a young and totally adorable Laurence Olivier) out to do business in Philip II’s court before the legendary English victory over the Spanish Armada in the 1580s. It’s a fun swashbuckler complete with broad characters, a hiss-worthy villain, swordplay, and daring escapes, also of historical interest since the conflict between England and Spain is meant to reflect the then-contemporary conflict between most of Europe and the Nazi Germany. Flora Robson is a great screen Elizabeth, commanding and charismatic while also sporting a fierce temper. And though given little to do, Vivien Leigh is ravishing, and even in this early film, she and Olivier are wonderful together. (8/10)

Ruka [The Hand] (dir. Jiri Trnka, 1965)

I was turned onto the work of Czech animator Jiri Trnka by the Brows Held High episode on his 1959 feature adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That film is a charming fantasy and heartfelt look at the power of art; however, Trnka’s most famous film, the short “Ruka,” is much darker and proved to be his swan song before he passed away in 1969. It is a political satire about the suppression of artistic expression in totalitarian regimes. It is both darkly hilarious and incredibly bleak. Considering Trnka’s work is usually characterized as nostalgic and whimsical, his final film is strikes a sad, but still powerful chord and remains incredibly relevant even today. (10/10)

Big Deal on Madonna Street (dir. Mario Monicelli, 1958)

So freaking funny! I watched this one because Martin Scorsese recommended it as one of his choices for essential foreign cinema. Though Big Deal is a parody of 1950s heist pictures such as The Asphalt Jungle and Rififi, it is nothing like the pathetic cinematic parodies we get now, like Meet the Spartans or Fifty Shades of Black. Like Airplane or Blazing Saddles, it still understands that it needs to work as an original story with characters we enjoy watching and good gags that don’t really on references to popular culture alone. Big Deal is also interesting in its presentation of everyday life and urban poverty, seeing as our heroes are a mix of sad sack, small time criminals and lower class working folk; in many ways, it feels like a comic romp set in the same universe as The Bicycle Thieves or Umberto D. (9/10)

[4yourexcitement]

To be fair, this past week has generally been a little bit shit. No matter where you are around the world, the sky is falling and life as we know it has been turned on its head. Thank God for Ryan Murphy who swept in yesterday (April 2) and took us back to simpler times. To the glitz, glamour and bright lights of Hollywood in its golden years. Not only that, but we also got some 4YE-staff favourite Darren Criss thrown in (who is also an executive producer on the production), which, to be frank, pretty much made the week.

Yes we were given our first official look at Murphy’s new Netflix limited series Hollywood, which debuts on the streaming site next month. And what’s not to love about the 14 decadent photos we were graced with? We have cocktails, we have 40s fashion, we have men in uniforms (including Criss), we got the furs, we got the hair, we got the red lips and plenty of drama.

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In addition to the images, a special note for fans was published from series executive producer, writer and director Janet Mock:

“With the present so fraught and the future uncertain, we turned to the past for direction, uncovering buried history to spin an aspirational tale of what ifs: What if a band of outsiders were given a chance to tell their own story? What if the person with greenlight power was a woman? The screenwriter a black man? What if the heroine was a woman of color? The matinee idol openly gay? And what if they were all invited into the room where the decisions are made, entering fully and unapologetically themselves to leave victorious and vaunted, their place in history cemented. Hollywood is a love letter to our little industry town where dreamers dwell, stars are born, and magic transcends reality.”

Pretty much just what we need right about now I’d say.

Set in post-World War II Tinseltown, it is the Golden Age of movie-making. Hollywood will shine a light on “the unfair systems and biases across race, gender, and sexuality that continue to this day”.

The series brings together not only a vast collection of Murphy players but a number of big names from the stage and screen. There’s Criss as Raymond, Patti LuPone as Avis, The Politician‘s David Corenswet as Jack, Broadway’s Choir Boy star Jeremy Pope as Archie, Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s Laura Harrier as Camille, Ready or Not‘s Samara Weaving as Claire, American Horror Story‘s Dylan McDermott as Ernie, Holland Taylor as Ellen Kincaid, The Big Bang Theory‘s Jim Parsons as Henry Willson, Horse Girl‘s Jake Picking as Rock Hudson, The Normal Heart‘s Joe Mantello as Dick, and Euphoria‘s Maude Apatow as Henrietta.

Hollywood premieres on Netflix May 1.

Hooray For Hollywood: We Get Your First Look at Ryan Murphy's New Netflix Series To be fair, this past week has generally been a little bit shit. No matter where you are around the world, the sky is falling and life as we know it has been turned on its head.

[itsfinancethings]

When it comes to culture wars, the past century was undoubtedly an American century. Coming victorious out of the ruins of World War II, with its economy experiencing momentous growth and influence and power, America was positioned as the global emblem of progress, liberty and modernity. This chimera was largely achieved through the might of American culture, with Hollywood films, television shows, and music that spread far and wide across the world.

Steve McQueen bested the Nazis in The Great Escape, whose film adaptation took notable liberties from the book – such as including Americans among the escapees of the German POW camp; Sylvester Stallone as Rambo single-handedly fought off and defeated a roster of American enemies, civilizing the weaklings of Vietnam, and taught the Soviets a good lesson by thrashing Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, the greatest grossing sports movie for nearly two decades.

Today, however, American soft power faces serious challenges from a slew of Asian countries, increasingly recognized as cultural hegemons themselves. America’s credibility in the world has taken a serious hit, limiting the persuasive effect of its films. Migration and urbanisation have had profound consequences too. In 2015, over one billion people left their homes in search of a better life. Only a small percentage, 244 million, migrated abroad. The majority, some 763 million, moved from rural to urban areas within their own countries. Crammed into urban areas with no support, the many millions coming late to the modern world have found themselves unmoored. The promise of globalisation has been exposed as a lie – not all boats were lifted with the rising tide, rather, the majority of the world is struggling not to drown while only the one percent floats comfortably. Those abandoned by capitalism and globalization have turned their loyalties away from Hollywood. The pop culture being produced out of India, Turkey and South Korea – to say nothing of China, which is a separate story altogether – exposes the twentieth century Western cultural tsunami as receding and revealing the seashore. Its tide has been broken.

South Korean Kpop music videos make up more than half of YouTube’s most watched videos of all time (with 80% of the views coming from outside the Asian peninsula nation) and one of Turkey’s most popular dizi, or television drama, Magnificent Century, has been watched by upwards of 500 million people globally. For comparison, the Guinness World Book of Records estimates that at its height, The Bold and The Beautiful had been seen by a peak of 26 million people around the world. Tuba Büyüküstün, one of Turkey’s most popular stars of Asi and Kara Para Ask – she was even awarded an acting prize by the Vatican in 2015 – says Turkey’s dizi production is important because “we have values but American TV or films doesn’t have anything to do with values or even cultural values.”

Bollywood produces more films than anyone in the world, grows at an astronomical 11.5% and sells more tickets at the box office than Hollywood could dream of. Its muscularity is not limited to the arts, either. After Pakistan and India – two nuclear armed powers – faced off in February 2019, it was Bollywood that beat the war drums for India. Star after star took to Twitter to cheer on their air forces and hashtag patriotic slogans alongside flag emojis. Priyanka Chopra, building a career stateside as a women’s empowerment role model, was unable to account for her online jingoism when recently questioned at Beautycon 2019. But the biggest promoters of pop cultural politics – and movie metaphors – might be the two leaders of the subcontinent.

Narendra Modi, India’s right-wing Prime Minister, campaigned for the May 2019 elections by promising his electorate that the standoff with Pakistan in February was just “the trailer” with the “full movie to come.” He is the subject of a fawning movie biopic – which its makers attempted to release before the Indian elections – and numerous, celebratory mini- series. On the Prime Minister’s birthday, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the director of classic Bollywood films such as Devdas, marked the occasion by announcing that he too would be making a Modi movie. Few but fans of the hardline government cheered the news.

Most recently, at the UN’s General Assembly in September, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan decried the Indian communications blackout and two-month long curfew of Kashmir, warning that its neighbor was building a case for yet another war with Pakistan over the disputed territory. “We’ve been brought up with films, Western films,” Prime Minister Khan orated. “This good decent guy doesn’t get justice, he decides to pick up a gun and start seeking justice. There was a film made in New York, famous film named Death Wish, this guy gets mugged and his wife gets killed or something and he can’t get justice. He picks up a gun and goes around shooting muggers and the whole cinema cheers him on.” The power of popular culture was very much on PM Khan’s mind and he concluded his trip to the UN by announcing that Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia would be banding together to start a television channel aimed at combating Islamophobia.

Though in his metaphor, it is unclear who is supposed to be Charles Bronson, pushed to the limits of human decency, his ultimate point is clear: politics is no longer fought through ballot boxes alone. The coming battlefield will be cultural, too.

[thisguyatthemovies]

The Endgame to end all endgames

Title: “Avengers: Endgame”

Release date: April 26, 2019

Starring: A cast of thousands (actually, it includes 157 credited actors)

Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Run time: 3 hours, 2 minutes (not a typo)

Rated: PG-13

What it’s about: Marvel’s Avengers hatch a plan to take a final stand against Thanos, who had wiped out half the universe in last year’s “Avengers: Infinity War.”

How I saw it: Everything about “Avengers: Endgame” is massive. It’s as if directors Anthony and Joe Russo and the powers that be with Marvel Studios said, “Let’s make this big, and then quadruple whatever that is. And then multiply that by 10. And then make it bigger than that.” The running time, a mind-boggling, intermission-free 3 hours and 2 minutes will test the staying power of bladders everywhere. The cast is humongous. Roughly six working actors in Hollywood are NOT in this movie. IMDB lists 157 credited actors, and about 100 of those seem to get their moment in the spotlight. Maybe take a scorecard. The story is big; “Avengers: Endgame” is the capper on the 22-film Infinity Saga series, and the preceding 21 films left a lot of loose ends, especially last year’s (yes, there was an Avengers film just last year) “Avengers: Infinity War,” which left off where this one picks up. And the final epic battle, which is always an orgy of destruction in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, is the war to end all wars and features everybody in the world fighting against everybody else.

No wonder these films are so popular, especially in the good ol’ U.S. of A. (“Avengers: Endgame” set all kinds of box-office records in its first few days of release.) We like everything BIG. Big trucks. Big money. Big meals (which also means big people). Big guns. Big stars. Did I mention that this movie is big?

So, it’s a lot of everything. But is “Avengers: Endgame” good? Well, yes, it is, in exactly the ways you would expect a Marvel movie to be good. Audiences have come to expect certain qualities from this 11-year-old series (that’s a lot of movies in a short time; the James Bond series will reach its 25th film in its 58th year), and the last entry in the Infinity Saga leaves nothing out. How could it in three hours? All your favorite characters are here, they often say funny things despite being under pressure to save the universe (again), enough heartstrings are pulled to put tear ducts to the test, there’s a healthy dose of crowd-pleasing nostalgia via crowd-pleasing flashbacks (Remember the good old days of 2008 and the first Iron Man movie? Remember the good old days of World War II?) and then our heroes and villains get down to the business of smashing everything an army of CGI artists could create while working under the constraints of a $356 million budget. By comparison, the gross domestic product of Tuvalu (it’s an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, not a planet in Marvel comic books) is just $45 million.

Vying for attention among all this largeness is a story, and it’s a better-than-average one as far as MCU movies go. It owes some of that to the nature of making a film to put an exclamation point on a series. Plot points already had been set up through the course of 11 years of movies; this one just ties the whole thing together, like a good rug ties a room together. Without giving much away, “Avengers: Endgame” figures out a way to create a satisfying end to this whole Thanos-destroys-the-universe thing, but fear not: There will be future Marvel movies, despite the seeming finality here, as there still is much money to be made, and since this is a comic-book land, time can be bounced around in. Another Marvel fix is coming in less than two months with yet another Spider-Man movie.

Where does “Avengers: Endgame” rank among the 22 Infinity Saga movies? An argument could be made that it’s the best one (or close to it), but an argument also could be made for it being in the bottom half of the top 10 (especially for those who prefer the more singular-focused entries), and whether or not it is better than “Avengers: Infinity War” could be debated, though it is difficult to separate the two movies. It doesn’t break ground in the diversity world like “Black Panther” or “Captain Marvel” and thus isn’t likely to be around on Oscars night. It’s not as fresh as the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie, not as mind-altering as “Doctor Strange,” it’s too important to be as funny as the Ant-Man movies. But it is a whole lot of everything audiences like in a comic-book movie and a fitting victory lap for a wildly successful 22-film series.

My score: 90 out of 100

Should you see it? Yes, unless you take pleasure in being the only one on your block who hasn’t seen it. Will it help to have seen the preceding 21 movies in the Infinity Saga, or at least the most recent Avengers film? Yes. If you haven’t, will it still be entertaining? Yes.