Since its 1927 premiere, the extraordinary, innovative silent film epic has survived mostly in heavily cut and simplified versions. Now historian Kevin Brownlow’s 5½-hour restoration is making its US debut, with a full orchestral score from 1980 that has never been heard here.
Category: media
Hollywood’s Problem With IMDb? Too Much Information (Of The Wrong Kind)
“Over the past 15 years, the Internet Movie Database, or IMDb, has become an increasingly popular source for biographical data, with profiles of more than four million Hollywood types. But many aren’t exactly thrilled about its accuracy – or its revelatory powers.” Actors’ ages are a particular sore spot.
BBC Director General Mark Thompson To Leave Post
“Trust and approval are at record highs, our services are in brilliant creative form and we’ve demonstrated beyond contradiction that the BBC can be just as much of a leader and innovator in the digital age as we once were in the analogue one.”
When Hollywood’s Finest Filmed The Nazi Death Camps
“John Ford was the Academy Award-winning director of The Grapes of Wrath and Westerns starring John Wayne. George Stevens was known for comedies featuring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. They would make history, at Nuremberg, with the first documentary film ever created for submission as evidence in a trial.”
Why We Don’t See Tech In TV Shows
“Think about the last time you saw someone on TV check their email, use a laptop or read something on their cellphone. Compare that to the last time you saw somebody in real world do the same. Quite a difference, right? The easy reason why we don’t see it is because producers think that people watching screens at home think it’s boring to see people looking at screens.”
When Movies Mattered – The 70’s
“During this golden age, a night at the movies was still an evening’s entertainment, but it was also an invitation to discuss important works of art that were shaped by, and in dialogue with, the political, social, and philosophical issues of their times.”
Screen Actors Guild Pension Plan Denies Fed Investigation Rumors
“The Screen Actors Guild – Producers Pension and Health Plans (SAG-PPHP) has denied reports of an ongoing federal investigation into alleged fraud, embezzlement, and cover-ups at the Plan.”
Miramax CEO Performs Well, And Gets The Boot Anyway
Miramax announced on Friday that CEO Mike Lang was leaving. “The news came as a surprise because Lang has spearheaded a number of deals that Miramax’s owners have boasted led to financial success. They included a DVD distribution agreement with Lionsgate and Studiocanal and digital partnerships with Netflix, Hulu and Facebook.”
The Economy Is Killing Italian T.V., Or So Say Execs
“Italian TV fiction output is smaller than it was 15 years ago, despite a proliferation of channels. Italy lags well behind the output of the U.K., France and Germany.” And Italy doesn’t export its shows, either. Producers and other execs want more, and better, from their government.
Gandalf To Lawyers: You Shall Not Oppress This Pub
When lawyers for the film company that owns rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s work threaten a pub called The Hobbit, Sir Ian McKellen – Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films – steps in.