July 26 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
July 27 – Chicago, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
July 28 – Indianapolis, IN – Klipsch Music Center
July 29 – Toronto, ON – Molson Canadian Amphitheatre**
August 1 – Boston, MA – Comcast Center
August 2 – New…
For the Return of ‘Mad Men,’ an Ad Pitch Comes Wrapped in an Enigma | NYT
“This is a dreamlike image,” Mr. Weiner said, likening it to work of the Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico, who specialized in surreal, mannequin-like figures.
“By the end of the season,” he said, “I guarantee you’ll know what it is about.”
French filmmaker Georges Méliès’s A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la lune) is widely considered the first ever science fiction movie. It turns 110 years old this year.
It drew inspiration from both H.G. Wells’ The First Men in the Moon and Jules Verne’s From Earth to the Moon, and, though it lacked any coherent plot, Méliès’s innovative special effects were a marvel to its viewers (he also designed the sets, acted in the lead role, produced, and directed). Although the film was a success, Méliès eventually went bankrupt in part because of Thomas Edison and his associates, who, among other American filmmakers, distributed stolen copies of his movies in the United States and reaped enormous profits. This was Méliès’s 400th film (he would go on to make over 500), and it cost 10,000 Francs to produce.
Colored versions of Méliès’s movies were sold alongside black-and-white ones, but hand-colored prints of this particular film, his most famous, were only rediscovered in 1993. The film premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival completely restored with color and a new soundtrack, 109 years after its original release in 1902.
Via UNHISTORICAL
Here’s a list of the Best Picture nominees, with links to reviews and other coverage from The New Yorker.
“The Artist”
Read Anthony Lane’s review. Tad Friend talks with writer-director Michel Hazanavicius on the challenges of getting audiences to watch a black-and-white silent French film. Richard Brody on how the film reflects our economic moment.
“The Descendants”
“The latest exhibit in Payne’s careful dissection of the beached male,” Anthony Lane writes in his review. Richard Brody traces the diverse lineage of Alexander Payne’s films and George Clooney’s cool acting style.
“Moneyball”
David Denby calls “Moneyball” “one of the most soulful of baseball movies.” Richard Brody anticipates European reviewers’ interpretations of the American pastime.
“Midnight in Paris”
“People just blurt out their identifying traits; the dialogue is so blunt that it’s a little embarrassing. But Allen is moving fast with a purpose: he’s setting up a fable of longing and satisfaction.” Read David Denby’s review of “Midnight in Paris.” Paul Goldberger writes that the film’s interpretations Paris’s present and past are “products of Allen’s imagination.” Richard Brody reviews PBS’s “American Masters” special on Woody Allen, with an exclusive clip of Allen and his trusty typewriter.
“The Tree of Life”
Anthony Lane’s review of “Tree of Life.” David Denby calls the film “insufferable” and “a considerable enlargement of the rhetoric of cinema.” Richard Brody surveys Malick’s career.
“The Help”
“‘The Help’… is, in some ways, crude and obvious, but it opens up a broad new swath of experience on the screen.” Read David Denby’s review.
“Hugo”
“In a flashback, Scorsese re-creates Méliès’s glass-walled studio and his films, with their exuberance of creatures, ‘natives’ with spears, nymphs hanging from the stars—sheer exultant zaniness, part magic show, part burlesque, and all cinema.” More from David Denby’s review of “Hugo.” Richard Brody discusses the film’s clockwork mechanisms and Scorsese’s approach to filmmaking.
“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”
David Denby’s review of “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” which is based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel about a young boy whose father died on 9/11. On the tenth anniversary of the attacks, Safran Foer writes about discussing 9/11 with his children.
“War Horse”
David Denby reviews “War Horse.” Susan Orlean comments on the spectacle and experience of the theatrical version of “War Horse.” Richard Brody writes, “The movie is—by design—a pile of clichés.”
Here’s the complete list of Academy Award nominees from the official Oscars site.
About me
New Yorker and latte addict, lit and film deconstructionist, chocolate and Capote connoisseur
