Taylor Biography

A new biography of Elizabeth Taylor -- "Accidental Feminist: How Elizabeth Taylor Raised Our Consciousness and We Were Too Distracted by Her Beauty to Notice" --focuses on Taylor as a feminist on the screen and in her personal life. The author, M.G. Lord, discusses a number of important film roles where Taylor portrays strong-willed and independent women.

Read the review from the New York Times.

The Canyons

The Canyons is a contemporary thriller to be directed by Paul Schrader and written by Bret Easton Ellis -- follow the development on Facebook.

American Smart Cinema

Check out this new title by Claire Perkins and published by Edinburgh University Press.

From the publisher's website, "American Smart Cinema examines a contemporary type of United States filmmaking that exists at the intersection of mainstream, art and independent cinema and often gives rise to absurd, darkly comic and nihilistic effects. Tracing the emergence of smart cinema amidst the texts and debates of the 1990s 'irony epidemic', the book describes the unstable tone and 'double' speech of such films as: The Royal Tenenbaums, Adaptation, The Squid and the Whale, Palindromes, The Last Days of Disco, Flirt, Ghost World, Your Friends and Neighbors, Donnie Darko and The Savages. "

‘Robert Johnson at 100’ at the Apollo Theater

In honor of Robert Johnson (see New York Times article on the event), enjoy this clip from the Coen Brothers amazing film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

The Right Stuff

In his New York Times review of The Right Stuff (1983), Vincent Canby wrote about the film, "...rousing, funny screen adaptation of Tom Wolfe's book about Project Mercury and America's first astronauts, is probably the brightest and the best rookie/cadet movie ever made, though the rookies and cadets are seasoned pilots and officers."

The film is a masterpiece -- sensational and timeless. Given the state of the too political, political scene in the United States today, this film makes you yearn for the focused determination of America's first astronauts -- motivated by excellence, challenge, intelligence, and many by patriotism and love of country.

Most of the film centers on the training of the astronauts and the development of the space program with successful flights in the 1960s. These first Americans were selected for their experience, education, and physical stamina. The film does not shy away from reliving the rigorous testing these men had to undergo to make the team which included Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn), Virgil "Gus' Grissom (Fred Ward), John Glenn (Ed Harris), Scott Carpenter (Charles Frank), Walter Schirra (Lance Henriksen), Gordo Cooper (Dennis Quaid), and Deke Slayton (Scott Paulin).

Canby rightly notes that Chuck Yeager, as played by Sam Shepherd, is a central force of the film and story. Yeager was the first man in the world to break the sound barrier and truly had the right stuff. Early in the film we see Yeager on his record flight -- a flight sequence that will take your breath away. Thank you Philip Kaufman for casting the real Chuck Yeager as the bartender at Poncho's (Poncho is played by a wonderful Kim Stanley) -- which serves as reassurance to the audience -- yes, he survives!

With Donald Moffat as Lyndon B. Johnson and a wonderful cast of women as the "wives" including Veronica Cartwright and Pamela Reed -- there is a good amount of archival footage placing the film in its historical context.

Direction and screenplay by Philip Kaufman, original music by Bill Conti, and cinematography by Caleb Deschanel.

Oxford Bibilographies Online Cinema and Media

For Columbia students and faculty -- check out this new resource.

Cinema and Media, a new subject module, was recently added to our collection of Oxford Bibliographies Online. From the publisher's website, "Oxford Bibliographies offers exclusive, authoritative research guides. Combining the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia, this cutting-edge resource guides researchers to the best available scholarship across a wide variety of subjects."

This is a highly recommended resource for beginning research in cinema studies.

Six Degrees of an Oscar Nominated Film!

The Descendants has been nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director and a nod to George Clooney for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.

Matt King (Clooney) is faced with new challenges in his life. In his role as the "back-up parent" -- he now needs to take care of his two daughters, he has to resolve issues with his wife and accept her impending death as well as deal with the news that she has a lover. The film has a wandering structure but never leaves you off the road. All performances are strong.

The screenplay, written by Payne, is based on the first novel of Kaui Hart Hemmings.

The Descendants is six degrees from Carnage (2011).

Hint: Tilda Swinton

Six Degrees of an Oscar Nominated Film!

Nominated for Best Picture, The Artist is a delightful homage to the silent era. The film tells the story of silent film matinee idol George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) who at the height of his stardom faces painful consequences when he fails to adapt to the new era of the talkie. Dujardin, also nominated in the acting category, is brilliant as the dashing star who faces failure at the same time he falls for the irresistible Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo). Peppy is the star-struck ingenue who embraces the talkies to find stardom. Even though she may believe that Hollywood is for the young -- she never loses her love for Valentin.

Directed by Michel Hazanavicius, the film evokes all of the allure of the silent movies with romance, comedy, song and dance and charismatic personalities. The cast includes a delightful John Goodman as the studio boss, James Cromwell as the faithful chauffeur to Valentin and a standout performance by Uggie as the dog. There should be an Oscar category for Best Acting by a Dog -- Uggie ranks right next to Asta aka Skippy.

Six Degrees of an Oscar Nominated Film -- can you guess how The Artist gets to Sideways (2004)

Hint -- the first degree is John Goodman.

Happy Valentine's Day

My pick for this Valentine's Day movie -- the delightful Some Like It Hot (1959). Ranked Number 22 in the AFI's 100 Years.. 100 Movies list -- Some Like It Hot (1959) is a clever and sophisticated farcical comedy directed by Billy Wilder. Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond spent a year developing the script which was based on a 1951 German film, Fanfaren das Liebe.

Brilliant casting by Wilder -- the film stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft with a fantastic supporting cast including Pat O'Brien, and a delightful Joe E. Brown. The story of two jazz musicians (Curtis and Lemmon) who witness the St. Valentine's Day massacre and have to escape the threat of being killed from "Spats" Columbo (George Raft). They dress like women and join an all-girl's band. Here is where the fun begins. Joe E. Brown provides one of the most quoted closing lines from a film, "Nobody's Perfect" --Jack Lemmon gives one of his most brilliant comedic performances in the first of seven films he would make with Wilder. Tony Curtis has fun mimicking Cary Grant in one of three roles he has in the film and Marilyn Monroe demonstrates her natural comic timing and sexual allure. She is irresistible as Sugar Kane Kowalcyzki.

The National Catholic Legion of Decency found the film seriously offensive -- with subject matter that played with gender roles suggesting homosexuality. They failed to acknowledge that girls dressed as men and men dressed like women is a theatrical plot device that dates back centuries.

Orry-Kelly designed Miss Monroe's gowns. The film was awarded an Academy Award for Best Costume Design and received nominations for Best Actor (Lemmon), Best Director and Best Screenplay.

Oscar Nominations

The nominations are in and in celebration of the nominated films --

Enjoy a few clips from select films in the category of Best Picture.

The Artist -- the scene is entitled "Accidental Photo-Op"

The Descendants -- the scene -- "You have no clue, do you?"

Hugo -- the scene -- "Card Tricks"

Midnight in Paris -- the scene "Exceptionally Lovely"