Newsreel: Sen. Huey Long

For some reason I have taken in interest in a very ancient way of digesting news. This ancient way is referred to as the Newsreel. Certainly in the days before TV this is the primary reason beyond probably radio or newspapers that people got their news. Like short subjects consisting of movie serials, comedies, or even cartoons these presentations would precede the feature film. Even better some of these newsreels were attractions at those theaters dedicated to exhibiting newsreels.

In an era where people can often produce pieces of original citizen journalism I wouldn't mind if these types of media made a comeback. People with a video camera and decenting videographing and editing skills can share their vids even if such work won't proceed the main attraction. Especially if we have tools like YouTube to share this work.

In any event this newsreel comes to us courtesy of Paramount News. I'm sure most of us have heard of at least FOX Movietone News, especially if we've seen them on either AMC (when they actually showed classic movies) or even on FOX News Channel when there was an hour devoted to showing old FOX newsreels on the weekends.

Anyway this story was a documentary on the life of former Louisiana Governor and US Senator Huey Long. There is a lot of discussion of the man and his role in Louisiana and future aspirations of this very brash and bold politician. It was thought that he might be a candidate for President in 1936 until he was shot in the Louisiana state capitol where he contiued to hold his sway. That's where this newsreels ends talking about the assassination and footage of his casket leaving the grounds of the Louisiana capitol.

I hope that I can show more newsreels in the future.

Quantum of Solace

This film was full of action and a good story to boot. This story has made me more enthusiastic for the film franchise that was recently rebooted with Casino Royale. This current installment was a great follow up.

Bond is after revenge, but along the way he's caught up in international intrigue involving oil. In fact one British agent was killed with oil. I should note that this film begins right at where Casino Royale ends.

Tangent: Not only was I not there for the beginning of this movie I was a lil under the weather. I didn't see the exact 1st moment of the film just the part where Bond kills an enemy agent by shooting him right off of a cliff. I left primarily because the film hadn't started and I was tired of the trailers especially tired of the one for Will Smith in Seven Pounds.

In any event the movie was at times slow but certainly in the action sequences very, very fast. Bond does use his classic charm, indeed he bagged a woman the ill-fated British agent who was supposed to send Bond back to London when he arrived in Bolivia. There was another lady who he should've bagged a Bolivian secret agent who sought to exact revenge on a budding Bolivian despot who was responsible for the murder of her father and he also raped and then murdered his mother and daughter right before he burned their house down.

Those two certain had something in common. Both wanted revenge the Bolivian agent got hers, but Bond apparently took another path. While this film started with revenge the major theme of this movie was trust. Could M trust 007 to do his duty?

M couldn't trust her bodyguards. One tried to kill her at the beginning of the movie although Bond dispatched him fast. M admonished Bond for being quick on the "licence to kill". In the end M trusted Bond in the long run.

So we find ourselves in Italy, Haiti, Bolivia and finally Russia which is where the films final act was played out although the major plot was largely resolved before Bond dropped off one of the villains in a Bolivian desert. And the woman he didn't bag, she was gorgeous, even used as a bargaining chip. Especially when Bond procured the use of a DC-3 aircraft, although Bond offer the Land Rover he was driving around in on the way to this airstrip. She was even offered to this same Bolivian dictator who proved himself a creep, especially near the end when he was about to have his way with a servant whom he had tied up in his suite. This was one guy who needed his comeuppance.

Finally while Craig's Bond is a very ruthless character, he seems at times very tender. As a secret agent with a licence to kill, indeed a secret intelligence agent hitman, one wouldn't normally expect a hint of warmth in him. This Bond displays that and for some reason it doesn't bother me.

Go see this film!

Introducing the talking movie

Well sound films have been around somewhat longer than the copyright year of this video. But the animation is interesting and this blog should be know for not only movie or TV soundtracks, but the science of motion pictures. Especially now in the early days sound was recorded onto films. Enjoy.

More scenes from The Jazz Singer is coming up on the 30th of the month.

The Dark Knight

Yesterday I saw probably one of the best Batman films I have ever seen.

The ending of the movie I saw as poetic in a way that I could imagine was written in the comic books. I also saw a little more Chicago than I would have liked but in other ways the film more than made up for that. A few interesting shocks in the film as far as what happens to some of the characters.

We in fact see three Batman villains in this movie. Of course only two play a significant role in this film. As a matter of fact if you know Batman canon, a movie goer probably knows what happens to a certain district attorney in this film.

If you notice I'm trying not to give too much away. I already noted on my original blog that the other actors to play The Joker (Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Hamill) have nothing on the character as portrayed by the late Heath Ledger. It's very unfortunate that he won't play this character again. If The Joker is ever brought back to the big screen, the next actor will certain have a challenge on his hands.

At the movie theater where I was, someone called out, "Zeus!" Zeus being a man who at one point in time fued with Hulk Hogan during the original heyday of the WWF. He also made an appearance in Hulk Hogan's movie, No Holds Barred. And you may also know Zeus in the film Friday.

Zeus played a prisoner on a ferry where he saw prison officials were unwilling to activate the detonator in one of the Joker's schemes. He did what he thought prison officials should have done 10 minutes ago. The prison official let him take the detonator out of the box and threw it out of a window on the ferry. That whole scene involving prisoners and everyday citizens on two different ferries was a deep scene.

Also there was a lot of cheering in my theater for this film. Especially for the stunts such as Batman's use of his motorcycle and for Zeus throwing out the detonator. Laughter for some of the Joker's sillier scenes even if the Joker kills someone.

Almost like Batman Begins, this film is a little on the long side. Whenever I thought the movie was finally over it keeps going. I thought the Joker getting arrested was supposed to be the end but it was only the beginning. There was certainly a lot going on in this film.

Go see this movie when you get the first chance or if you don't like the theaters get this for your home enjoyment when it comes out! Don't get a bootleg copy either!

The Dark Knight!

Since this blog appreciates old films

This video had to have been from the late 1920s to early 1930s when they started attaching soundtracks to films is series of scenes from Broadway in New York City. The music goes from optimistic fanfare to more calm and serene then an ending cadence. And the sound surely some of it were dubbed the whistle of a policeman, the honk of a horn, or the bells of a streetcar. I wish that we can see similar films or vids of how a city would look in the modern day. It wouldn't matter if it was Chicago, New York or even Los Angeles.

Vid provided by TVDays.

Clint Eastwood aims to revive Dirty Harry in new movie

I bought the very first Dirty Harry film a couple or so years ago. I enjoyed it although I thought by maybe the third film it was starting to lose its punch. Though I have to imagine Dirty Harry Callahan as a 77 year old man. Dirty Harry being the same age as Clint Eastwood, the man who brought him to life. Daily News:

Clint Eastwood's gun-slingin', smack-talkin' tough guy, Dirty Harry, is rumored to be returning to the big screen, but - spoiler alert! - he may not live to see a sixth sequel.

Britain's The Sun newspaper reports that Eastwood, 77, wants his Dirty Harry character - immortalized in five movies - to go out in style.

The ruthless policeman, who uttered the infamous "make my day" line, was first seen in 1971 and made his last appearance in 1988's "The Dead Pool."

In March, Ain't It Cool News reported a rumor that 'Gran Torino,' Eastwood's lastest production for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow, was indeed this sixth installment in the Dirty Harry series. 'Torino' is slated for a December release.

This should be interesting!