When "Act of Valor" places real-life Navy Seals in major acting roles for a complex action drama, a familiar face to fans and viewers of the "We Are Marshall" movie will notice a familiar name in the credit: Shane Hurlbut, director of photography, who came to the "Valor" set shortly after completing "Terminator Salvation" for McG. "Act of Valor" had been selected from a variety of proposals for which the U.S. Navy would extend full cooperation. Those conditions included not costing the Navy any bucks and not delaying any operation in the field. One scene allowed photography of one of five small nuclear subs; the film crew had to act instantly on the available GPS data and had 45 minutes to complete the task. Read more
Critics have an unwritten cardinal obligation to pen a year end wrap and highlight the next year’s upcoming top flicks. Instead, I’m going to respond to Chicago Sun Times critic , Roger Ebert’s essay, which in essence covers both topics. Ebert expressed theories for the flat boxoffice attendance in 2011; he has several valid points and some pertinent only to metropolitan areas like his beloved Chicago. Read more
For the last Friday in February, four new flicks enter mainstream release, just two days prior to the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday. Look for a massive pull back of the award nominated productions. The buzz is already causing cinemas to return screens to mass appeal releases, as even Oscar knows there will are only a few categories in which a win will pump up additional viewership. Read more
An independently produced narrative film celebrating music, dance and storytelling in North Carolina will be the opening feature of this year's Appalachian Film Festival. "If I Had Wings to Fly" screens at 9 p.m. at Black Sheep Burrito (former Java Joint across from Smith Hall at Hal Greer and Third Avenue). Additional short films will be screened for the laid back, just off campus first evening of the annual festival.
On Friday, the "Appy" Festival moves downtown to Huntington's jewel --- the Keith Albee Performing Arts Center, where Disney's "America's Heart and Soul" became the initial studio sponsored signature presentation.
Features to be shown are: "If I Had Wings to Fly," "It's in the Blood," "Lake Effects," "Ai Means Love," and "A Dead Dog Like Me." The parody of Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth," titled, "Inconsistent Truth," which debunks the global warming controversy will also be shown. Read more
No disrespect to Mac Faraday, Archie Monday, David O'Callaghan, Travis Turner or any of the multitude of good, bad and ugly characters populating Lauren Carr's "It's Murder, My Son" (CreateSpace, 286 pages, $14.99) but to me the most interesting character in the book is a lovable, mischievous, sneaky German shepherd named Gnarly. Read more
Timing is everything and former D.C. police detective Mac Faraday's ex-wife Christine certainly timed her infidelity and departure from Mac's life poorly, pun intended!
In a slim book, with an Introduction and 27 essays, George Soros analyzes the financial meltdown of 2008 in "Financial Turmoil in Europe and the United States" (PublicAffairs Books, 208 pages, index, $19.99). The 81-year old Hungarian born billionaire investor and philanthropist not only gives his expert opinion on what went wrong, he offers concrete solutions to prevent another crisis that rivaled the Great Depression of the 1930s -- a crisis that continues to roil the world. Read more
Sunday, April 29th at 7:00 PM West Virginia’s won Mountain Stage with Larry Groce will celebrate 75 years of the Marshall Artists Series with an already stellar lineup including folk singer Arlo Guthrie and iconoclastic singer-songwriter Paul Thorn for a special solo set. Today Mountain Stage announces that Broadway Star and Huntington native Michael Cerveris will join the show to tribute the Marshall Artists Series.Read more
Studio Ghibli has given us some of the greatest animated films of the past 30 years including several collaborations with master animator Hayao Miyazaki such as “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Princess Mononoke,” and “Spirited Away.” “The Secret World of Arrietty” is a return to the land of imagination that is so often the basis for these beautiful films that continually show that animation can be so much more than just a cartoon.Read more
Today, a valentine from the Knopf poetry program, to be shared with the one you love: a poem by the incalculably influential singer-songwriter and longtime poet Leonard Cohen, who turned 77 in September and just released his newest album last month. It is from a new eShort sampling of his verse, Fifteen Poems, published today by Everyman's Library, that also includes many of his provocative line drawings. Like so much of Cohen's genre-crossing work, "When I Uncovered Your Body," originally published in a 1961 collection, has lost none of its freshness and sidelong genius over the decades.Read more
It sounded like a good idea when Maggie and John Anderson came up with it: Patronize only African-American owned businesses for a year. But, as Maggie Anderson, with co-author Ted Gregory, writes in "Our Black Year: One Family's Quest to Buy Black in America's Racially Divided Economy" (PublicAffairs Books, 320 pages, $25.99) buying "Black" turned out to be much more complicated.
The past is history, the future is a mystery" -- Poker player's mantra
Carla, Bess, Alicia and Robin have nothing in common besides having children enrolled in an uber-pricey (how about $32,000 a year tuition pricey?) Brooklyn Heights private school, but a tentative poker game in Valerie Frankel's "Four of a Kind" (Ballantine Books trade paperback, 352 pages, $15.00) is the catalyst that lets them open up their mouths -- and their hearts. Read more
Demonstrations and vigils are only two ways of expressing need for social change. Motion pictures have vaulted from their early history ("The Grapes of Wrath," anyone seen it?) to the front of the theater, telling stories that showcase an issue and how the film's characters band together and overcome. More recently, legal thrillers, such as "Erin Brockovich," have typified the art of producers, directors and filmmakers making a social statement.
The risky rewards of whistleblowing have tackled injustice, discrimination, gender abuse, drug and people trafficking, and political corruption. Read more
This year marks the centennial of the election of Woodrow Wilson, a date that will live in infamy for many people -- including the present reviewer-- who believe that his presidency was an unmitigated disaster. Steven F. Hayward, author of "The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents: From Wilson to Obama" (Regnery, 272 pages, bibliography, index, $19.95) agrees with my assessment, giving Wilson a grade of "F." A tentative "F" goes to Barack Obama -- tentative because his administration is a work in progress. Read more
There are action films that try to engage an audience by having well-developed plots and characters, and then there are action films like “Safe House,” where the filmmakers try to make it as noisy as they can in hopes of at least keeping their audience awake. It becomes a prime example of why no matter how many chases and other action sequences they may throw into the mix, they can’t even begin to make up for the more important elements.Read more
Do you want to see a good movie? This is your week. Studios since mid-January have been rolling out two or more new releases a week. Coupled with 'niche' films up for awards, such as The Artist, Descendants, Iron Lady, My Week with Marilyn, the multiplex has become a revolving door. You'll notice, particularly this week, that numerous films are on 'split schedules,' that means they share an auditorium, often a more kid friendly flick takes afternoons while more mature fare comes in the evening.
Adding to the movie rush, Huntington's favorite "movie son," McG who bled green for "We Are Marshall," even insisting that the final fountain gathering scene stay in the picture when some opposed it will try his hand at reviving romantic comedy. "This Means War" opens Valentine's Day and it has an action/adventure/thriller edge. Read more
McG , who shot three weeks of scenes for his "We Are Marshall" film in Huntington, discusses the release of his newest production, "This Means War." Read more
Max Von Sydow has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor playing a grandfatherly man where trauma has taken away his ability to speak. In the first featurette, Sydow and members of the "Extremely Loud, Incredible Close" cast discuss the performance. Read more
