ARCHIVE PAGE

• September 16, 2008
Library of Congress Moves Film and Sound Recording Library With over nearly 5 million collection items held in five separate locations, the Library of Congress is consolidating to a single spot in Culpeper, Virginia
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• September 14, 2008
Carole Lombard Month TCM has the late Ms. Clark Gable on their October 2008 cover, and are running a string of 18 films every Monday to survey her career.
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• September 7, 2008
Anita Page has Died
Sometimes called "The Last Silent Movie Star" for her resume of roles opposite Gilbert, Lon Chaney, and others, has passed away.
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• August 24, 2008
A.F.I. shutting down film cataloging department
Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood web site is showing a letter from former AFI staffers that purport to tell that AFI is abandoning a core mission of researching every American film made. Most telling is Finke's reaction t the news: another example of the industry turning its back on its history.

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• August 22, 2008
M-G-M for sale: only 5.2 Billion
The Nikki Finke Deadline Hollywood web site is describing M-G-M as being offered at $5.2 billion USD. (This is separate from the M-G-M library of old films, which is owned by Turner Network Television, which is owned by Time Warner. Read a history of MGM at Wikipedia)

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• August 22, 2008
What Years are the best from Hollywood?
The pjstar.com site from the Journal-Star newspaper in Peoria, Illinois, has a run an article with competing film critics/fans arguing over what decade of film production is the "best." To get a look at the arguments made for each era, go here. We've had a similar question on our contact page for a little while now.

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• August 22, 2008

Batman : The Dark Knight hits 800.1 Million USD
Our review is here. I guess the comic book movie genre is now officially triumphant. Read more at reuters.com

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[July 10, 2007]

Oh Rats!
The film is entertaining, but probably a bit over the head for little kids who won't catch on to the adult issues about pursuing a career that is the heavy problem in the midst of the film's levity and episodes of slapstick. The distinctions being made between good gourmet food and not-so good food is another area probably lost on little kids.

Ratatouille is a little clumsy in how it goes about explaining all of this, but it seems to be an honest film about ambition, facing up to unbeatable personal limitations, and also the myriad consequences all that brings. Unusual territory for family-fare animated movies, and certainly not a topic many live action films aim for. But this is Pixar, and it's Brad Bird (who did the film The Incredibles) who has the directing chores, and thus Pixar continues to stand well out and away from competition from it's (ironically) in house rival, Disney Animation. The difference between the jaded numbness from Disney and the earnestness of Pixar is made clearer with every Pixar release.

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A Love Letter to Surfing
Surf's Up The story is generic (penguin overcomes numerous impediments to become a champion surfer) but there are human touches about the cost of wanting to be a champion (and it reducing other people to mere tools for the goal). Ultimately, though, the movie is one long kiss blown toward the sport of surfing. It is also an ode to the plain beauty of getting out in the water (well, the water around a fictitious Pacific Island). The animation is very pretty, the story isn't subtle but it get's the point across (friends are more important than winning), and it celebrates the wonder of 'riding inside the tube.'

From Sony Animation.