Harold Lloyd

Roger Ebert has this blog post—Harold Lloyd: A rare early short and an interview—that contain video of the recently restored Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) film Captain Kidd's Kid.

Lloyd was one of the most successful comic film stars of all time. He is not as well know today as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, partially because he was shrewd enough to retain the copyright to most of his films. His films were not broadcast on TV, because of the high price he wanted to sell the broadcast rights. The Ebert post also contains video of a 1962 interview Lloyd did with Harry Reasoner.

In addition to the clips you can watch on Ebert's post, here is the sequence that Lloyd is probably most remembered for today—the clock scene from the 1923 film Safety Last.

Otto Dix on War

A video with a collection of art from Otto Dix (1891-1969) on the subject of War. Dix served in the Germany army during WWI, and was present at the Battle of the Somme. From his artwork it is clear that he was profoundly affected by this experience. Much of his work can be unpleasant to look at, but very few artists can match his ability to capture the gruesomeness of his experience.

I was prompted to post this by the book I just finished reading, To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918, about the conflict in the UK during WWI between those who thought the war was a noble cause, and those who were totally opposed to the war. My May 3, 2011 blog post is about this book.

Leonora Carrington (1917-2011)

From The Independent, the obituary for the surrealist artist Leonora Carrington. Born, a rebellious child, in the England in 1917. She resettled to Mexico in the 1940's, where she spent the rest of her life. I had a post last year with a very interesting video about her.

Here is a detail from her painting The House Opposite.

Cooling Off

Two duck cooling off in this photograph I took last night. They are in the reflecting pool at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. The building in the background is the National Building Museum, originally constructed by Montgomery Meigs as the Pension Building.

Monuments & Sculptures - 2011

Everything Must Go

[Added 9/26/11: Read Why Don't You Dance?, the Raymond Carver short story this film is based on Here, until 11/15/11]

What better way to mark what would have been Raymond Carver's 73rd birthday than to see a movie based on one of his short stories. It would probably be more correct to say that the film Everything Must Go is inspired by the short story Why Don't You Dance. Both involve a man who drinks, and has all his furniture on the front lawn. The short story is only about 5 pages long, so you could not make that into a movie even if you wanted to.

I am always apprehensive about any film based on one of Carver's works, because his stories don't seem very filmable to me. Also I had seen the trailer for this film, and it did strike me a something I wanted to see. But being that today would have been Carver's birthday, I went anyway.

I ended up liking the film more than most of the critics. I do think the film had the tone of a Carver story, even if the story was not really one that he had written. A film like this is totally dependent on the actors, because if they don't give good performances, nothing else can save the film. In this case I thought all of the actors gave great performances, including Will Ferrell as the lead, in a more serious role than he usually takes.

Sometimes you just have to be in the right mood for a film like this, so I guess I was in the right mood tonight. This film has no chance to be a big box office success, but I am glad that I decided to see it.

Add to that I really liked the soundtrack, even though I have not been able to find a track listing for the film.

Meek's Cutoff

From the previews, I expected more from Meek's Cutoff than it delivered. The film follows a group of mid-1800 pioneers as they cross Oregon heading for the Willamette Valley. It starts as they are crossing a river. What follows is a long desolate search for the next source of water, and that is the entire plot. Sometimes you can look at a film like this as a character study. While the performances are good, in this film you learn very little about any of the characters, other than the fact that the father of one of the characters had pigs.

About 2/3 of the way through the film, I started to wonder how the film would end. If they suddenly found water, it would upset the entire mood the film had set. But the other option would be for them all to die. The film chooses to avoid this dilemma, by not bothering with an ending. When the film stopped, everyone in the theater just started laughing. I am not sure that this is the response the director was aiming for.

The cinematography is beautiful, but mostly limited to a brown and gray palette.

The film does have one great line—"We're not lost, we're just finding our way."

The Seed Cathedral

A TED video. Thomas Heatherwick of Heatherwick Studio talks about several projects including the Seed Cathedral, built for Britain as part of the recent Chinese Expo, and a bridge that opens by curving back on itself.

The Woodlawn Vase

In time for the Preakness tomorrow, a video about the Woodlawn Vase. The Vase resides at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

The Book Bubble

Here is an article about the University of Chicago's new Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, designed by architect Helmut Jahn. The book collection is housed underground, and retrieved by an automated system. Above ground is a large glass dome containing a reading room, and book conservation and digitization labs. Here is a video of how the book retrieval system works, followed by some photos of the building.


Mansueto Library at University of Chicago

Cave of Forgotten Dreams - Pt. 3

This is my third post on Werner Herzog's new film Cave of Forgotten Dreams. (September 16, 2010 & February 26, 2011) I actually saw the film today. I am not generally a big fan of 3D, but for parts of this film it was very effective and affective. Much of the art work filmed in the Chauvet Cave is on contoured walls, and this was more vividly displayed in 3D, than it could have ever been in 2D. Sometimes it really did fell like you where standing under the images looking up at them on the cave walls. In additions to the art work that is over 30,000 years old, the rock formations and crystals of the cave are incredible by themselves. This film did live up to my high expectations.

Here is a recent interview with Herzog about the film.

Days of Heaven

Here from the Museum of the Moving Image, a video about one of my all time favorite films, Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven.

The Great Flood

With the Mississippi River spilling over it's banks again, here is a video about the great Mississippi River flood of 1927, one of the worst disasters in U.S. history. The flood also led to Herbert Hoover's election to the Presidency, so it would be hard to overstate the influence this flood has had on American History.

John Barry is interviewed in this video. He is the author of a Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America, a book that covers the social and political impact of the flood.

Also see today's post on Just Music for Randy Newman's song about the flood.

Afghanistan from the Air

A selection of photographs from the Denver Post's Photo Blog. These pictures of Afghanistan are mostly taken from U.S. Transport and Medivac Aircraft.

Captured: Afghanistan from the Air

Cumberland Road Turns 200

Today marks 200 years since the contract was let to begin construction of the Cumberland Road. Later to become known as the National Road, and then part of U.S. Route 40, this is usually consider the first significant public works project undertaken by the U.S. Government. Starting in Cumberland, MD, the road finally made it to Vandalia, Illinois, in 1838.

The road generated much controversy when it was first proposed, as the Tea Partiers of the day did not believe that the Federal government should do things like build roads. Thomas Jefferson's push for an "Act to Regulate the Laying Out and Making a Road From Cumberland, in the State Of Maryland, to the State of Ohio" was successful, and 200 years later we have an entire Interstate Highway System—for better or worse.

This road has it's own web site, The Cumberland Road Project, with a complete gallery of photographs. Of course none of the photographs go back to 1811, but they are still interesting. Here is one of the photographs of the Toll House west of Cumberland. I am not sure what it is about the photo, but the people in it look amazingly small to me. Also, I don't think the original travelers rode a trolley.

The Cumberland Road Project
Photo Gallery

Circo

If a movie about the circus is what you are after. skip Water for Elephants, and go see Circo instead. In this documentary about a family owned circus in rural Mexico riven with personal and financial pressures, the scenery is a colorful as the family members. Watch as 100 years of family tradition may or may not come to an end.

Jane Eyre

The new film of Jane Eyre may be the best adaptation of the book ever made. Not that I have seen all of the previous adaptations, or even read the book, but this is a very good film. Mia Wasikowska, who was Alice in Tim Burton's recent adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, really does transform herself into Jane. Michael Fassbender is Mr. Rochester, and Judi Dench is Mrs. Fairfax.

Any film with these three actors would have to be good. Add to that, this film has a great script. The cinematography is done mostly with muted colors, but that really works with the tone of the story. I liked the score so much that I went home and bought a copy of the soundtrack. Something I rarely do. Scored by Dario Marinelli, who won an Academy Award for his score for Atonement, it is mostly done with sparse and haunting orchestration.

Here is a featurette. I would say that the scenes included in the trailer are all of the most melodramatic of the film. Most of the rest of the film is a lot more restrained.

The Conspirator

I saw The Conspirator on Tuesday. This is the film about the trial of Mary Surratt for the assassination of President Lincoln. Directed by Robert Redford, the film is a bit didactic, so I am not sure how much the story was skewed to make Redford's case on the injustice of military tribunals. I think it is mostly fact based though. I was bothered by a scene near the end where Secretary of War Stanton and the military prosecutor have a discussion about influencing the military jury to change their decision from life in prison to hanging. The film then proceeds to the delivery of the verdict. There seemed to me to be a big gap here concerning whether Stanton did intervene with the jury, and I am no sure why that was left out. The implication of the film is that he did, but that is never represented in the film.

That being said, the film is worth seeing, if for no other reason than Robin Wright's performance as Mary Surratt. The entire cast, including James McAvoy, Kevin Kline, Tom Wilkinson, Evan Rachel Wood, all give great performances.

Canal Boat Returns

After being dry docked for the winter, the Canal Boat has returned to the water in Georgetown. I took this photograph tonight.

Canal/River - 2011

To End All Wars

Next up on my reading list To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 by Adam Hochschild. Published today, the book explores the conflict between pacifists and those supporting Britain's entry into WW I.

Hochschild's 1999 book, King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa, covers the little known history of the Belgium Congo. The story in that book is so gruesome, it is hard to believe it actually happened. In 2005 he published Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves, about the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. I would say the Hochschild is one of the best non-fiction writers today, so I am anxious to read his new book.

The Great Exhibition

As memorialized in today's Google Doodle, May 1st is the 160th anniversary of the opening of the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations. Often considered the model of all worlds fairs that have followed, the exhibition was primarily sponsored by Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, in order to promote modern technology and design.

The Crystal Palace, a 1848 feet by 454 feet wide, glass and cast iron structure, was build in Hyde Park, London to enclose the event. At the time many people considered it a folly to attempt such a large glass building, and predicted that the building Joseph Paxton had designed would never stand up. It did, in fact, remain standing as 6 million people visited during the fair's 5 ½ month run. At the end of the Exhibition, the Crystal Palace was moved to Sydenham in south London, where it remained standing until destroyed by a fire in 1936. In a sense, this building was the precursor to all of the glass enclosed building that exist around the world today.

Here is a video with some images of the Crystal Place.