-
-
The Dark Night’s Insane Joker: Heath Ledger Touted for Oscar
Handsome is as handsome doesn't in "The Dark Knight." Of the three male actors who have major roles the movie, Heath Ledger with his face hidden behind twisted clown makeup, whose perfect features and fair brow are never seen, has proven to be the most memorable one.
Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in "The Dark Knight" is both a demonic creation and a three-ring circus of one. Ledger's performance is so intense and lasting in part because, despite his insane mask, it's a subtle and nuanced performance that is so powerful it almost erases all memories of the handsome Australian actor behind the Joker's mask.
The makeup seems to have liberated Ledger. Ledger's body movements are flexibly agile, he's expressive using only his eyes and his voice has astonishing oscillating surges of irony, mockery and psychopathology in it.
While the Academy Awards are more than six months away, the late Heath Ledger already is being touted for an Oscar nomination for his demonic and terrifying portrayal of the Joker. His stunning performance is pure magnetic charisma.
This article also presents photographs and three videos about "The Dark Night" (including an interview with Heath Ledger). Handsome is as handsome doesn't in "The Dark Knight." Of the three male actors who have major roles the movie, Heath L... more -
Remembering 28 Days: Rediscovering the Intimacy of Love
“28 Days” is a film about a young woman (played by Sandra Bullock), who by day is a very successful New York City writer. However, at the same time she's living in the fast lane in the bar and club scene of New York City's nightlife, where she also happens to be everyone's favorite party girl.
Clinging to her jaded belief that life has no more meaning than a state of perpetual debauchery, she finally ends up with a 28-day stay in a substance abuse rehab center. While there, she finally begins to rediscover a capacity for the intimacy of love.
Photographs and a video from this memorable and very timely movie are included. “28 Days” is a film about a young woman (played by Sandra Bullock), who by day is a very successful New York City writer. However, at... more -
A Child is Saved: Faith in Humanity is Restored
"Children of Men" is a science-fiction motion picture that is well worth remembering in our currently troubled times. The film presents the dark vision of a totalitarian world ravished by war, paranoia and the frustrations of man.
The world’s youngest citizen has just died at the age of eighteen, and with female fertility becoming obsolete, man cannot reproduce. No child has been born on the face of the planet for eighteen years. Man, and his future, is dying.
However, the unexpected discovery of a lone pregnant woman represents the miracle that can change the course of humanity. The discovery launches a desperate, perilous journey to deliver the woman and her child to safety, restoring faith in a future for humans beyond those presently on earth.
Photographs and the dramatic, chilling video of the movie's final scene are included. "Children of Men" is a science-fiction motion picture that is well worth remembering in our currently troubled times. The f... more -
The Victimization of Dalton Trumbo: Political Persecution in America
Dalton Trumbo was a prolific Hollywood screenwriter who wrote dozens of movie scripts during the 1930s and ’40s. In 1947, Trumbo was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) as part of the Hollywood Ten, who were questioned about their ties to the Communist Party. Trumbo refused to testify or divulge the names of others, and was found in contempt of Congress.
Subsequently, he was kicked out of the screenwriter’s guild, and all of the Hollywood motion picture studios almost immediately blacklisted him. For his refusal to testify in the HUAC hearings, Trumbo eventually served nearly a year in federal prison. Dalton Trumbo’s ruination took him from being one of Hollywood’s highest-paid writers to a Hollywood pariah.
After his release from prison, Hollywood kept him on the blacklist for a decade. Nevertheless, he kept writing for films under various pseudonyms. He won an Oscar in 1957 for one of those films, but couldn't pick it up. It is the only unclaimed Oscar in the history of the Academy Awards. Dalton Trumbo was a prolific Hollywood screenwriter who wrote dozens of movie scripts during the 1930s and ’40s. In 1947, Trumbo was ... more -
Wayne Forster, Cinematographer: Online Gallery
Wayne Forster, talented DP of many feature films, national commercials, music videos and much more has posted some of his favorite work in an online gallery. This is a terrific resource for anyone looking for a great cinematographer, or fans of great motion picture images. Wayne Forster, talented DP of many feature films, national commercials, music videos and much more has posted some of his favorite wor... more
-
Fazil’s Ramshackle Hoofer Palace Closes
Places where cultural history was made in Manhattan have vanished for the most part. On Friday, another cultural institution was lost when Fazil's Times Square Dance Studio closed its doors after 73 years. It was a ramshackle, homey rehearsal hub that served as a mecca for both movie stars and penniless, struggling dancers.
From the start, tap and flamenco dancers thronged there, as well as Broadway hoofers. By the late 1950s, Alvin Ailey was teaching there. Something of Fazil’s Dance Studio will live on in scenes from the movies that were filmed there, including Woody Allen’s Broadway Danny Rose and Nick Castle’s Tap. Gregory Hines, a fixture at Fazil’s, modeled “Sonny’s”, the hoofers’ hangout in "Tap", after Studio A-1.
Photographs, a photo-gallery and videos are included. The videos include a scene of Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. dancing in the movie "Tap." Places where cultural history was made in Manhattan have vanished for the most part. On Friday, another cultural institution was lost ... more
-
related topics
Motion Pictures
Contributors (5)
Motion Pictures
