Given my most recent Favorite Films list, I figured it’d be nice to highlight the National Film Registry, a project by the Library of Congress. Each year, they add titles to the registry, serving as an annual reminder of the work they do and highlighting some films that might have fallen off people’s radar. You can read about this years inductees at the link above, from NPR and Variety, or via this fun video below:
It’s that time of [even] year where I reflect on the many films I’ve seen and perform that most Internet of activities: ranking them. I mean, I’ve done an offline sort of my favorite films for about 30 years, but the past 10 year online have been right at home here on the Intertubes. You can see my previous entries here (including how I do the sort by pairwise comparison). This year, the total of…
TCM does a great montage every year of the film folks we’ve lost. It never fails to make me want to rewatch a film or three. This year, we lost a couple actors particularly dear to my cinemania, David Warner and Angela Lansbury. They’ve gotten better about making sure their videos are on YouTube, so you can check out past editions, including the recent 2021, 2020, and 2019 — the last of which I find…
The McRib and the Shamrock Shake will always have their adherents. Chicken McNuggets and Egg McMuffins will be the go-to McItem for many. But since the debut of the McDLT and its egregious use of Styrofoam, I’ve always had a soft spot for the “other burger” on the McDonald’s menu. For a brief time in the late 90s, that role was filled by the Arch Deluxe, McDonald’s attempt at a “grown-up burger.” It failed. Miserably.…
If you want to get wonky, I mean deeply wonky, about modern supply chains and quality control have I got the article for you: Adam Rogers’ piece for Insider on how some cities streetlights are turning purple. It makes me wonder how many news stories there were about mishaps with the introduction of electric streetlights back in the day… and how long we are before cities have “smart” streetlights that change color and intensity depending…
I’d seen this as a suggested video last month and, while it’s arguably more of a Halloween kind of thing, “Christmas Carol” guarantees that ghosts are still seasonal. It might be time to re-watch Rashomon as well…
There are many ways to remember the “Day that Will Live in Infamy.“ Watching the 2001 film, Pearl Harbor, is arguably not one of them. Honest Trailers has my back on this. I mean, it does inexplicably find a way to cram Spitfires in there, but come on!
In trying to figure out what all those rings of power in Middle Earth actually do, I came across some videos by the self-described “Tolkien Professor,” Corey Olsen, where he fields a number of questions. This was evidently well received enough that they did another one, which I kinda like more: There’s also an explanation about all the different peoples and creatures of Middle Earth. So there you have it. A lot more Tolkien information…
A holiday tradition for many people is cookie making, which is all well and good, but what to do about all those cookies once they’re made? Here, we learn from the undisputed master of cookie eating.
Earlier this week, I mentioned doing the sort of my biennial favorite films list. My favorite film for a few years back in the pre-Internet era (well, pre-Netscape Navigator for sticklers) was the experimental, non-narrative film Koyaanisqatsi. Technically a documentary, I suppose, but really more of a visual essay. It uses a variety of slow-motion, time-lapse, and regular speed, but breathtaking, cinematography resulting in a film unlike anything I had seen before. It may also…