The 1969 Oscars are best remembered for the tie between Best Actress winners Katharine Hepburn (“The Lion in Winter”) and Barbra Streisand (“Funny Girl”), but history was also made outside of that category. Daniel Massey’s supporting nomination for “Star!” made him and his father, Raymond Massey, the second such pair of performers to both be recognized by the academy. The latter competed for the lead prize as the title character in “Abe Lincoln in Illinois” (1941), and his son earned his notice for playing his own godfather, Noël Coward.
Although Coward maintained discretion when it came to the details of his love life, he did comfortably identify as gay among his friends. Thus, Massey blazed a trail as the first man to be Oscar-nominated for portraying a clearly-defined member of the LGBTQ community. In the years since, over 60 more actors and actresses have followed in his footsteps, and over a dozen...
Although Coward maintained discretion when it came to the details of his love life, he did comfortably identify as gay among his friends. Thus, Massey blazed a trail as the first man to be Oscar-nominated for portraying a clearly-defined member of the LGBTQ community. In the years since, over 60 more actors and actresses have followed in his footsteps, and over a dozen...
- 6/25/2022
- by Matthew Stewart and Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
The 1969 Oscars are best remembered for the tie between Best Actress winners Katharine Hepburn (“The Lion in Winter”) and Barbra Streisand (“Funny Girl”), but history was also made outside of that category. Daniel Massey’s supporting nomination for “Star!” made him and his father, Raymond Massey, the second such pair of performers to both be recognized by the academy. The latter competed for the lead prize as the title character in “Abe Lincoln in Illinois” (1941), and his son earned his notice for playing his own godfather, Noël Coward.
Although Coward maintained discretion when it came to the details of his love life, he did comfortably identify as gay among his friends. Thus, Massey blazed a trail as the first man to be Oscar-nominated for portraying a clearly-defined member of the LGBTQ community. In the years since, over 60 more actors and actresses have followed in his footsteps, and over a dozen...
Although Coward maintained discretion when it came to the details of his love life, he did comfortably identify as gay among his friends. Thus, Massey blazed a trail as the first man to be Oscar-nominated for portraying a clearly-defined member of the LGBTQ community. In the years since, over 60 more actors and actresses have followed in his footsteps, and over a dozen...
- 6/25/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
When the late William Hurt (“Kiss of the Spider Woman”) won Best Actor at the 1986 Oscars, he opened a door that had been shut for 57 years. Till then, no performer had ever been honored at the Academy Awards for playing a clearly-defined LGBTQ character. Nearly two decades after the first such performance was even nominated — Daniel Massey as Noel Coward in 1968’s “Star!” — Hurt proved that it could be done. Toward the end of his brief, unrehearsed acceptance speech, he appropriately encapsulated the moment by saying “I am very proud to be an actor.”
Since Hurt made history, a lucky 13 actors and actresses have followed in his footsteps. Each of the lead categories has produced five such wins to date, while four victories have come for supporting performances (three actors and one actress). Overall, four of these performances have been in the last decade.
We’ve gathered together all 14 Oscar-winning...
Since Hurt made history, a lucky 13 actors and actresses have followed in his footsteps. Each of the lead categories has produced five such wins to date, while four victories have come for supporting performances (three actors and one actress). Overall, four of these performances have been in the last decade.
We’ve gathered together all 14 Oscar-winning...
- 6/20/2022
- by Matthew Stewart and Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
When the late William Hurt (“Kiss of the Spider Woman”) won Best Actor at the 1986 Oscars, he opened a door that had been shut for 57 years. Till then, no performer had ever been honored at the Academy Awards for playing a clearly-defined LGBTQ character. Nearly two decades after the first such performance was even nominated — Daniel Massey as Noel Coward in 1968’s “Star!” — Hurt proved that it could be done. Toward the end of his brief, unrehearsed acceptance speech, he appropriately encapsulated the moment by saying “I am very proud to be an actor.”
Since Hurt made history, a lucky 13 actors and actresses have followed in his footsteps. Each of the lead categories has produced five such wins to date, while four victories have come for supporting performances (three actors and one actress). Overall, four of these performances have been in the last decade.
We’ve gathered together all 14 Oscar-winning...
Since Hurt made history, a lucky 13 actors and actresses have followed in his footsteps. Each of the lead categories has produced five such wins to date, while four victories have come for supporting performances (three actors and one actress). Overall, four of these performances have been in the last decade.
We’ve gathered together all 14 Oscar-winning...
- 6/20/2022
- by Matthew Stewart and Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Robert Wise would’ve celebrated his 104th birthday on September 10. Although you won’t often hear his name mentioned among auteur theorists, the four-time Oscar winner amassed an impressive filmography in his lifetime. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Wise cut his teeth as a film editor, most notably working on Orson Welles‘ landmark film “Citizen Kane” (1941), for which he received an Oscar nomination. He made his directorial debut with “The Curse of the Cat People” (1944), the first of many successful collaborations with low-budget horror producer Val Lewton.
Throughout his career, Wise excelled at a number of genres, including science fiction (“The Day the Earth Stood Still”), film noir (“Odds Against Tomorrow”), horror (“The Haunting”), war (“The Desert Rats”), comedy (“Two for the Seesaw”), and drama (“Executive Suite”). Rather than imposing his own directorial fingerprint on each film,...
Wise cut his teeth as a film editor, most notably working on Orson Welles‘ landmark film “Citizen Kane” (1941), for which he received an Oscar nomination. He made his directorial debut with “The Curse of the Cat People” (1944), the first of many successful collaborations with low-budget horror producer Val Lewton.
Throughout his career, Wise excelled at a number of genres, including science fiction (“The Day the Earth Stood Still”), film noir (“Odds Against Tomorrow”), horror (“The Haunting”), war (“The Desert Rats”), comedy (“Two for the Seesaw”), and drama (“Executive Suite”). Rather than imposing his own directorial fingerprint on each film,...
- 9/10/2018
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
I’ve always had a great appreciation and fondness for horror anthologies, and I devoured horror comics as a kid; whether it was House of Mystery or Creepy magazine, they never failed to fire my imagination in short, sharp bursts. When the Romero/King collaboration Creepshow (1982) came out, my dream of seeing these kinds of stories translated to film was nothing but revelatory. I soon discovered it was not the first of its ilk, and began a journey through dusty video store shelves looking for its long-lost relatives. One of my first (and favorite) finds was Vault of Horror (1973), a five-fingered punch to my nascent, pubescent, omnibus-loving heart.
Released by Cinerama Releasing stateside in March and produced by Amicus (the fine folks behind its predecessor, Tales from the Crypt), Vault of Horror (aka The Vault of Horror, for the easily confused, I guess) was not as well received by critics as Tales,...
Released by Cinerama Releasing stateside in March and produced by Amicus (the fine folks behind its predecessor, Tales from the Crypt), Vault of Horror (aka The Vault of Horror, for the easily confused, I guess) was not as well received by critics as Tales,...
- 11/4/2017
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Gem Wheeler Jan 10, 2017
To mark 30 years of Inspector Morse on television, here are 10 of his most complex, macabre and memorable cases...
Warning: contains spoilers.
See related Legion: Marvel shares cryptic logo for X-Men series What can Fox learn from the previous X-Men TV series? 50 upcoming comic book TV shows, and when to expect them New TV 2016: 28 Us shows for this autumn
Beer, Wagner, a red Jaguar, and Barrington Pheloung’s haunting theme. Those images conjure up one of the most memorable characters in British television. Inspector Morse’s final episode aired in the UK over fifteen years ago, yet the impression left by the hugely popular drama remains indelible. Its popular spinoff, Lewis, finished only two years ago after nine successful series, while a prequel, Endeavour, has just started to air its fourth run. The appeal of Morse and his Oxford is clearly as strong as ever.
Inspector Morse...
To mark 30 years of Inspector Morse on television, here are 10 of his most complex, macabre and memorable cases...
Warning: contains spoilers.
See related Legion: Marvel shares cryptic logo for X-Men series What can Fox learn from the previous X-Men TV series? 50 upcoming comic book TV shows, and when to expect them New TV 2016: 28 Us shows for this autumn
Beer, Wagner, a red Jaguar, and Barrington Pheloung’s haunting theme. Those images conjure up one of the most memorable characters in British television. Inspector Morse’s final episode aired in the UK over fifteen years ago, yet the impression left by the hugely popular drama remains indelible. Its popular spinoff, Lewis, finished only two years ago after nine successful series, while a prequel, Endeavour, has just started to air its fourth run. The appeal of Morse and his Oxford is clearly as strong as ever.
Inspector Morse...
- 2/8/2016
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Danièle Delorme: 'Gigi' 1949 actress and pioneering female film producer. Danièle Delorme: 'Gigi' 1949 actress was pioneering woman producer, politically minded 'femme engagée' Danièle Delorme, who died on Oct. 17, '15, at the age of 89 in Paris, is best remembered as the first actress to incarnate Colette's teenage courtesan-to-be Gigi and for playing Jean Rochefort's about-to-be-cuckolded wife in the international box office hit Pardon Mon Affaire. Yet few are aware that Delorme was featured in nearly 60 films – three of which, including Gigi, directed by France's sole major woman filmmaker of the '40s and '50s – in addition to more than 20 stage plays and a dozen television productions in a show business career spanning seven decades. Even fewer realize that Delorme was also a pioneering woman film producer, working in that capacity for more than half a century. Or that she was what in French is called a femme engagée...
- 12/5/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Raymond Massey ca. 1940. Raymond Massey movies: From Lincoln to Boris Karloff Though hardly remembered today, the Toronto-born Raymond Massey was a top supporting player – and sometime lead – in both British and American movies from the early '30s all the way to the early '60s. During that period, Massey was featured in nearly 50 films. Turner Classic Movies generally selects the same old MGM / Rko / Warner Bros. stars for its annual “Summer Under the Stars” series. For that reason, it's great to see someone like Raymond Massey – who was with Warners in the '40s – be the focus of a whole day: Sat., Aug. 8, '15. (See TCM's Raymond Massey movie schedule further below.) Admittedly, despite his prestige – his stage credits included the title role in the short-lived 1931 Broadway production of Hamlet – the quality of Massey's performances varied wildly. Sometimes he could be quite effective; most of the time, however, he was an unabashed scenery chewer,...
- 8/8/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Glenda Jackson: Actress and former Labour MP. Two-time Oscar winner and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson returns to acting Two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Glenda Jackson set aside her acting career after becoming a Labour Party MP in 1992. Four years ago, Jackson, who represented the Greater London constituency of Hampstead and Highgate, announced that she would stand down the 2015 general election – which, somewhat controversially, was won by right-wing prime minister David Cameron's Conservative party.[1] The silver lining: following a two-decade-plus break, Glenda Jackson is returning to acting. Now, Jackson isn't – for the time being – returning to acting in front of the camera. The 79-year-old is to be featured in the Radio 4 series Emile Zola: Blood, Sex and Money, described on their website as a “mash-up” adaptation of 20 Emile Zola novels collectively known as "Les Rougon-Macquart."[2] Part 1 of the three-part Radio 4 series will be broadcast daily during an...
- 7/2/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ron Moody as Fagin in 'Oliver!' based on Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist.' Ron Moody as Fagin in Dickens musical 'Oliver!': Box office and critical hit (See previous post: "Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' Actor, Academy Award Nominee Dead at 91.") Although British made, Oliver! turned out to be an elephantine release along the lines of – exclamation point or no – Gypsy, Star!, Hello Dolly!, and other Hollywood mega-musicals from the mid'-50s to the early '70s.[1] But however bloated and conventional the final result, and a cast whose best-known name was that of director Carol Reed's nephew, Oliver Reed, Oliver! found countless fans.[2] The mostly British production became a huge financial and critical success in the U.S. at a time when star-studded mega-musicals had become perilous – at times downright disastrous – ventures.[3] Upon the American release of Oliver! in Dec. 1968, frequently acerbic The...
- 6/19/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Outstanding actor of stage and screen who made his name as Bri in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
The British theatre changed for ever when Joe Melia, as the sardonic teacher Bri, pushed a severely disabled 10-year-old girl in a wheelchair on to the stage of the Glasgow Citizens in May 1967 and proceeded to make satirical jokes about the medical profession while his marriage was disintegrating. The play was Peter Nichols's A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which transformed the way disability was discussed on the stage. It made the names overnight of its author, the director Michael Blakemore, and Melia. Albert Finney took over the role of Bri on Broadway.
Flat-footed, slightly hunched, always leaning towards a point of view, Melia, who has died aged 77, was a distinctive and compassionate actor who brought a strain of the music hall to the stage, a sense of being an outsider.
The British theatre changed for ever when Joe Melia, as the sardonic teacher Bri, pushed a severely disabled 10-year-old girl in a wheelchair on to the stage of the Glasgow Citizens in May 1967 and proceeded to make satirical jokes about the medical profession while his marriage was disintegrating. The play was Peter Nichols's A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which transformed the way disability was discussed on the stage. It made the names overnight of its author, the director Michael Blakemore, and Melia. Albert Finney took over the role of Bri on Broadway.
Flat-footed, slightly hunched, always leaning towards a point of view, Melia, who has died aged 77, was a distinctive and compassionate actor who brought a strain of the music hall to the stage, a sense of being an outsider.
- 11/7/2012
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
To mark the release of Go to Blazes on DVD this Monday, 6th February, Studio Canal have given us three copies of the class movie to give away. The movie was originally released in 1962, is directed by Michael Truman and stars Maggie Smith, Dave King, Robert Morley and Daniel Massey.
For anyone who loves British comedy, Go To Blazes features an all-star cast that includes Robert Morley (The African Queen, Topkapi), Daniel Massey (In Which We Serve, The Entertainer), Dennis Price (Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Rebel) and Coral Browne (Auntie Mame, Theatre of Blood). Go To Blazes also features classic British character actors Norman Rossington (The Wrong Box, The Charge of the Light Brigade), Finlay Currie (Around The World in Eighty Days, Ben Hur) and Miles Malleson (The Importance of Being Earnest, The Man In The White Suit). And last but not least, Go To Blazes stars Dame Maggie Smith...
For anyone who loves British comedy, Go To Blazes features an all-star cast that includes Robert Morley (The African Queen, Topkapi), Daniel Massey (In Which We Serve, The Entertainer), Dennis Price (Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Rebel) and Coral Browne (Auntie Mame, Theatre of Blood). Go To Blazes also features classic British character actors Norman Rossington (The Wrong Box, The Charge of the Light Brigade), Finlay Currie (Around The World in Eighty Days, Ben Hur) and Miles Malleson (The Importance of Being Earnest, The Man In The White Suit). And last but not least, Go To Blazes stars Dame Maggie Smith...
- 2/3/2012
- by Competitons
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Go To Blazes
Stars: Dave King, Robert Morley, Daniel Massey, Maggie Smith | Written by Patrick Campbell, Vivienne Knight | Directed by Michael Truman
First released in 1962, Go to Blazes is a frothy British comedy in the classic mould. The film follows the escapades of a trio of hapless criminals. After their getaway from a jewellery shop robbery is foiled by a traffic jam caused by a fire engine, the gang decide to procure a fire engine of their own as the perfect getaway vehicle. With zany results!
For some reason it feels more difficult to criticise old movies than it does modern ones. I think there’s an innate instinct to revere that which has gone before, at least in terms of cinema. Of course, the language and culture of cinema today is vastly different from the early sixties, which makes it tricky, for me at least, to offer a fair critique.
Stars: Dave King, Robert Morley, Daniel Massey, Maggie Smith | Written by Patrick Campbell, Vivienne Knight | Directed by Michael Truman
First released in 1962, Go to Blazes is a frothy British comedy in the classic mould. The film follows the escapades of a trio of hapless criminals. After their getaway from a jewellery shop robbery is foiled by a traffic jam caused by a fire engine, the gang decide to procure a fire engine of their own as the perfect getaway vehicle. With zany results!
For some reason it feels more difficult to criticise old movies than it does modern ones. I think there’s an innate instinct to revere that which has gone before, at least in terms of cinema. Of course, the language and culture of cinema today is vastly different from the early sixties, which makes it tricky, for me at least, to offer a fair critique.
- 1/29/2012
- by Jack Kirby
- Nerdly
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Receiving its first ever DVD release this week, classic comedy Go To Blazes is unfortunately not as wonderful as many other British farces. So before you rush to the shops – or indeed the cinema, where the film is also being re-released in a limited capacity – check out our review first!
Bernard, Harry and Alfie are three charming but foolhardy crooks that smash and grab tactics rarely come off. On their way for another stint behind bars they see the traffic part for an on call fire engine and hatch a new plan. Upon their release they set out to acquire a fire engine to use as the perfect getaway vehicle on a jewellery robbery. But when they are mistaken for real firemen their plan slowly begins to unravel. When Harry gets scared by the appearance of the police, he accidentally runs into a dress salons changing room.
Receiving its first ever DVD release this week, classic comedy Go To Blazes is unfortunately not as wonderful as many other British farces. So before you rush to the shops – or indeed the cinema, where the film is also being re-released in a limited capacity – check out our review first!
Bernard, Harry and Alfie are three charming but foolhardy crooks that smash and grab tactics rarely come off. On their way for another stint behind bars they see the traffic part for an on call fire engine and hatch a new plan. Upon their release they set out to acquire a fire engine to use as the perfect getaway vehicle on a jewellery robbery. But when they are mistaken for real firemen their plan slowly begins to unravel. When Harry gets scared by the appearance of the police, he accidentally runs into a dress salons changing room.
- 1/4/2012
- by Stuart Cummins
- Obsessed with Film
Canny film producer known for his horror and sci-fi classics
The producer Richard Gordon, who has died aged 85, was involved with several offbeat classics of horror and science-fiction cinema. These included Arthur Crabtree's Fiend Without a Face (1958), which climaxes with a still-astonishing siege of a power station by disembodied, tentacled, malicious human brains, and Antony Balch's Horror Hospital (1973), a lively and perverse mad-scientist satire featuring Michael Gough and Robin Askwith.
It may be that Gordon and his brother, Alex, so closely associated that many reference sources mistakenly say they were twins, were the first people to take the now-common route from movie-crazed kid to industry professional, later the path of film-makers as different as Jean-Luc Godard and Steven Spielberg. As schoolboys, the Gordons founded a film society, then wrote for fan magazines and performed menial roles on low-budget productions, always motivated by a boundless enthusiasm for the films...
The producer Richard Gordon, who has died aged 85, was involved with several offbeat classics of horror and science-fiction cinema. These included Arthur Crabtree's Fiend Without a Face (1958), which climaxes with a still-astonishing siege of a power station by disembodied, tentacled, malicious human brains, and Antony Balch's Horror Hospital (1973), a lively and perverse mad-scientist satire featuring Michael Gough and Robin Askwith.
It may be that Gordon and his brother, Alex, so closely associated that many reference sources mistakenly say they were twins, were the first people to take the now-common route from movie-crazed kid to industry professional, later the path of film-makers as different as Jean-Luc Godard and Steven Spielberg. As schoolboys, the Gordons founded a film society, then wrote for fan magazines and performed menial roles on low-budget productions, always motivated by a boundless enthusiasm for the films...
- 11/8/2011
- by Kim Newman
- The Guardian - Film News
Anna Massey, a Tony nominee who played supporting roles in more than 40 movies, died of cancer on Sunday, July 3, in London. Massey was 73. The daughter of Academy Award nominee Raymond Massey (Abe Lincoln in Illinois) and sister of another Oscar nominee, Daniel Massey (Star!), Anna Massey began her acting career in the late '50s. She was nominated for a Tony for her performance in The Reluctant Debutante (1958), which was made into a movie that same year. Directed by Vincente Minnelli, the movie version starred Sandra Dee as an Americanized version of the role Massey had originated in the West End and on Broadway. Massey's first film appearance also took place in 1958, in John Ford's crime drama Gideon's Day, starring Jack Hawkins. Other notable film roles, invariably supporting bigger names, include those in Michael Powell's controversial Peeping Tom (photo, 1960), with Karl Böhm as a fetishistic serial killer; Otto Preminger...
- 7/4/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Anna Massey, the member of an acting dynasty whose roles ranged from lonely spinsters to Margaret Thatcher, has died, her agent said Monday. She was 73.
Massey died Saturday after a battle with cancer, with her husband and son at her side, according to agent Pippa Markham.
The actress was born in 1937 into a performing family - her father was Canadian actor Raymond Massey and her mother British actress Adrianne Allen. Her brother Daniel Massey also became an actor, and her godfather was director John Ford.
Massey made her West End stage debut at 17 in The Reluctant Debutante and her film debut in Ford's 1958 police procedural Gideon's Day.
She had roles in films including Michael Powell's classic chiller Peeping Tom, Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake is Missing, Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy and the 2002 adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest, in which she played the comic governess Miss Prism.
Massey died Saturday after a battle with cancer, with her husband and son at her side, according to agent Pippa Markham.
The actress was born in 1937 into a performing family - her father was Canadian actor Raymond Massey and her mother British actress Adrianne Allen. Her brother Daniel Massey also became an actor, and her godfather was director John Ford.
Massey made her West End stage debut at 17 in The Reluctant Debutante and her film debut in Ford's 1958 police procedural Gideon's Day.
She had roles in films including Michael Powell's classic chiller Peeping Tom, Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake is Missing, Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy and the 2002 adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest, in which she played the comic governess Miss Prism.
- 7/4/2011
- by Cineplex.com and contributors
- Cineplex
DVD Playhouse—March 2011
By
Allen Gardner
127 Hours (20th Century Fox) Harrowing true story of Aron Ralston (James Franco, in another fine turn), an extreme outdoorsman who finds himself trapped in a remote Utah canyon, his arm pinned between two boulders, with no help nearby, no communication to the outside world, and dim prospects for survival, to say the least. Director Danny Boyle manages to prove again that he’s one of the finest filmmakers working today by making a subject that is seemingly uncinematic a true example of pure cinema. Inventive, breathtaking, funny, and horrifying, often all at once. Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara make a memorable, brief appearance as hikers who connect with Ralston during his journey. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Boyle, producer Christian Colson, co-writer Simon Beaufoy; Deleted scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.
Amarcord (Criterion) Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning, autobiographical classic might...
By
Allen Gardner
127 Hours (20th Century Fox) Harrowing true story of Aron Ralston (James Franco, in another fine turn), an extreme outdoorsman who finds himself trapped in a remote Utah canyon, his arm pinned between two boulders, with no help nearby, no communication to the outside world, and dim prospects for survival, to say the least. Director Danny Boyle manages to prove again that he’s one of the finest filmmakers working today by making a subject that is seemingly uncinematic a true example of pure cinema. Inventive, breathtaking, funny, and horrifying, often all at once. Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara make a memorable, brief appearance as hikers who connect with Ralston during his journey. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Boyle, producer Christian Colson, co-writer Simon Beaufoy; Deleted scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.
Amarcord (Criterion) Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning, autobiographical classic might...
- 3/1/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Composer of a string of Broadway musicals, he was best known for Fiddler On the Roof
Days after speaking at a memorial service for his Fiddler On the Roof collaborator Joseph Stein, the composer Jerry Bock has died, aged 81. With Stein and the lyricist Sheldon Harnick, Bock wrote some of the most loved and admired Broadway songs of the last century. Fiddler On the Roof, set in Tsarist Russia and starring Zero Mostel as Tevye the milkman, opened on Broadway in 1964 and broke all box-office records, running for more than 3,200 performances.
The show made Bock world-famous for his lilting, instantly familiar Jewish melodies and catchy rhythms. There was consummate artistry in the way he could set to music even so banal an exchange as "Do you love me?" "Do I what?" "Do you love me?" "Do I love you...?" with its tender, affirmative swerve in the last phrase.
Between 1956 and...
Days after speaking at a memorial service for his Fiddler On the Roof collaborator Joseph Stein, the composer Jerry Bock has died, aged 81. With Stein and the lyricist Sheldon Harnick, Bock wrote some of the most loved and admired Broadway songs of the last century. Fiddler On the Roof, set in Tsarist Russia and starring Zero Mostel as Tevye the milkman, opened on Broadway in 1964 and broke all box-office records, running for more than 3,200 performances.
The show made Bock world-famous for his lilting, instantly familiar Jewish melodies and catchy rhythms. There was consummate artistry in the way he could set to music even so banal an exchange as "Do you love me?" "Do I what?" "Do you love me?" "Do I love you...?" with its tender, affirmative swerve in the last phrase.
Between 1956 and...
- 11/4/2010
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
DVD Playhouse—August 2009
By
Allen Gardner
Watchmen—Director’S Cut (Warner Bros.) Director Zack Snyder’s film of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ landmark graphic novel is as worthy an adaptation of a great book that has ever been filmed. In an alternative version of the year 1985, Richard Nixon is serving his third term as President and super heroes have been outlawed by a congressional act, in spite of the fact that two of the most high-profile “masks,” Dr. Manhattan (Billy Cruddup) and The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) helped the U.S. win the Vietnam War. When The Comedian is found murdered, many former heroes become concerned that a conspiracy is afoot to assassinate retired costumed crime fighters. Former masks Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) and still-operating Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley, in an Oscar-worthy turn) launch an investigation of their own, all while the Pentagon’s “Doomsday...
By
Allen Gardner
Watchmen—Director’S Cut (Warner Bros.) Director Zack Snyder’s film of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ landmark graphic novel is as worthy an adaptation of a great book that has ever been filmed. In an alternative version of the year 1985, Richard Nixon is serving his third term as President and super heroes have been outlawed by a congressional act, in spite of the fact that two of the most high-profile “masks,” Dr. Manhattan (Billy Cruddup) and The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) helped the U.S. win the Vietnam War. When The Comedian is found murdered, many former heroes become concerned that a conspiracy is afoot to assassinate retired costumed crime fighters. Former masks Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) and still-operating Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley, in an Oscar-worthy turn) launch an investigation of their own, all while the Pentagon’s “Doomsday...
- 8/10/2009
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Very Short List Day of the dolphin
Invention The Lunocet
The Lunocet is a carbon-fiber monofin that’s modeled on a dolphin’s tail. Strap it on, and you’ll find yourself swimming twice as fast as any Olympian.
Invented by a Georgia engineer named Ted Ciamillo, the James Bondish device weighs 2.5 pounds, has a 42-inch wingspan, and propels you through the water at speeds of up to 8 mph. (Michael Phelps hits 4 mph on a good day.) Ciamillo’s hoping that the Marine Corps’s amphibious unit adopts the Lunocet, but civilians can order it now (for $1,500), in one of five eye-popping colors. Put us down for “Orange Ruffian,” please.
an article on the Lunocet in Scientific American
the Lunocet website
the VeryShortList.com archive
Vsl:web Imperfect harmony
Recording “Bicycle Built for 2,000”
Aaron Koblin and Daniel Massey paid 2,088 people in 71 countries $0.06 each to listen to a sound clip and record it in their own voice.
Invention The Lunocet
The Lunocet is a carbon-fiber monofin that’s modeled on a dolphin’s tail. Strap it on, and you’ll find yourself swimming twice as fast as any Olympian.
Invented by a Georgia engineer named Ted Ciamillo, the James Bondish device weighs 2.5 pounds, has a 42-inch wingspan, and propels you through the water at speeds of up to 8 mph. (Michael Phelps hits 4 mph on a good day.) Ciamillo’s hoping that the Marine Corps’s amphibious unit adopts the Lunocet, but civilians can order it now (for $1,500), in one of five eye-popping colors. Put us down for “Orange Ruffian,” please.
an article on the Lunocet in Scientific American
the Lunocet website
the VeryShortList.com archive
Vsl:web Imperfect harmony
Recording “Bicycle Built for 2,000”
Aaron Koblin and Daniel Massey paid 2,088 people in 71 countries $0.06 each to listen to a sound clip and record it in their own voice.
- 4/2/2009
- by Very Short List
- Fast Company
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