It's been around 150 years since we gave much respect to Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle's so-called Great Man Theory of history. While there are unquestionable great men and great women who helped shape culture and history, the number of great men and women who made impacts that are worth studying outside of the context of their society is virtually nil. It's not an interesting or accurate way to view history and, as a result, we don't give credence to people who try it. It's even less informative to view tragedy through an Awful Man Theory. It's almost inconceivable to imagine an interpretation of World War II, for example, that said, "So Germany was just going along fine and then Hitler came and ruined everything." As monstrous as Hitler was, you'd never write a story of Nazi atrocities in which you reached the end and said, "And it was all Hitler's fault.
- 1/27/2015
- by Daniel Fienberg
- Hitfix
Summer box office season has become synonymous with superhero movies over the course of the past decade, but what does our insatiable lust for tales of men (and women… but mostly men) in spandex really say about us a culture? That’s what the latest installment of PBS’ Idea Channel looks to answer. It’s not every day that you hear Batman mentioned in the same breath as Thomas Carlyle’s Great Man Theory, but the video does make an interesting and compelling case for our current obsession with superhero movies being more than just mankind wanting to see good vanquish evil in spectacular fashion. The video gets into some fairly heady concepts, and we’re not entirely sure the argument that comic book heroes are the modern-day equivalent of the...
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- 6/17/2014
- by Mike Bracken
- Movies.com
Looks like the pressure worked!
D.C. filmmakers Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine took home the Oscar for Best Documentary Short for their film "Inocente." And they showed hometown pride while they did it.
Check out a photo of Sean's socks -- the pair tweeted this photo to Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III:
The gold and burgundy socks read "No Pressure No Diamonds" -- it's a quote attributed to Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle, more recently associated with RG3.
RG3's response?
Sean Fine's socks come from an Adidas sock collection dedicated to the 2012 Rookie of the Year. According to one sneaker blog, the socks "feature Formotion technology for natural motion and Climalite fabric for moisture control," which sounds reassuringly high-tech on the red carpet or the football field.
Similar socks -- as well as "No Pressure No Diamonds" t-shirts and other paraphernalia -- are available on eBay.
D.C. filmmakers Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine took home the Oscar for Best Documentary Short for their film "Inocente." And they showed hometown pride while they did it.
Check out a photo of Sean's socks -- the pair tweeted this photo to Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III:
The gold and burgundy socks read "No Pressure No Diamonds" -- it's a quote attributed to Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle, more recently associated with RG3.
RG3's response?
Sean Fine's socks come from an Adidas sock collection dedicated to the 2012 Rookie of the Year. According to one sneaker blog, the socks "feature Formotion technology for natural motion and Climalite fabric for moisture control," which sounds reassuringly high-tech on the red carpet or the football field.
Similar socks -- as well as "No Pressure No Diamonds" t-shirts and other paraphernalia -- are available on eBay.
- 2/25/2013
- by Arin Greenwood
- Huffington Post
Humphrey Jennings's purpose was clear: to present the human history of the industrial revolution
When factory chimneys reared up during the Olympic opening ceremony I thought at once: "Pandaemonium – he must have read it" – then "Oh nonsense, it was published almost 30 years ago and one never sees it around nowadays." But Danny Boyle had, indeed, read it. Humphrey Jennings's great work did inspire an occasion with which nearly everyone in this country was going to fall in love.
Jennings is most often remembered for the documentary films he made about Britain at war. His daughter Marie-Louise, who (with their friend Charles Madge) edited Pandaemonium, prefaces a new edition of it with a brief account of his life that shows how many and how various were his gifts. Erudite scholar, painter, poet, film-maker – before he died in an accident at the age of 43 it must have been hard to...
When factory chimneys reared up during the Olympic opening ceremony I thought at once: "Pandaemonium – he must have read it" – then "Oh nonsense, it was published almost 30 years ago and one never sees it around nowadays." But Danny Boyle had, indeed, read it. Humphrey Jennings's great work did inspire an occasion with which nearly everyone in this country was going to fall in love.
Jennings is most often remembered for the documentary films he made about Britain at war. His daughter Marie-Louise, who (with their friend Charles Madge) edited Pandaemonium, prefaces a new edition of it with a brief account of his life that shows how many and how various were his gifts. Erudite scholar, painter, poet, film-maker – before he died in an accident at the age of 43 it must have been hard to...
- 10/12/2012
- by Diana Athill
- The Guardian - Film News
Viewers would probably prefer a warts-and-all Dr King biopic. But his legacy is worth protecting
Question: what do Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Martin Luther King Jr have in common? Answer: both are suspected of having plagiarised their PhD theses. A 1980s committee of investigation went further, in the case of Mlk, and put on record that his doctorate was undeserved. Had young Martin's examiners failed his thesis, as they should have done, and drummed him out of Boston University in disgrace, he could have gone on to dream all he wanted – and posterity would, for the larger part, never have heard of him.
King died, by a still-mysterious assassin's hand, 43 years ago today. And the dream he proclaimed on 28 August 1963 has gone some way to being realised, with an African American in the White House. It should be a time of rejoicing.
It isn't. It's a time of ignominious squabbling.
Question: what do Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Martin Luther King Jr have in common? Answer: both are suspected of having plagiarised their PhD theses. A 1980s committee of investigation went further, in the case of Mlk, and put on record that his doctorate was undeserved. Had young Martin's examiners failed his thesis, as they should have done, and drummed him out of Boston University in disgrace, he could have gone on to dream all he wanted – and posterity would, for the larger part, never have heard of him.
King died, by a still-mysterious assassin's hand, 43 years ago today. And the dream he proclaimed on 28 August 1963 has gone some way to being realised, with an African American in the White House. It should be a time of rejoicing.
It isn't. It's a time of ignominious squabbling.
- 4/4/2011
- by John Sutherland
- The Guardian - Film News
The Observer's film critic reflects on The King's Speech – and how his own speech impediment has contributed to his life and character
From as early as I can remember until 1952, when I left home at the age of 18 to go into the army, there was an annual ritual on the afternoon of Christmas Day. Dinner, which meant turkey and all the trimmings followed by plum pudding, began around two o'clock and was carefully timed to end so that everyone could sit there beneath the paper decorations, wearing the hats that came out of the crackers, and earnestly, reverently listen to the king's Christmas message on the radio.
This hallowed national tradition, initiated by Sir John Reith in 1932, was not five years old when George V, who'd given four of them, died. His successor Edward VIII's landmark contribution to broadcasting was his 1936 abdication speech: there was no Christmas message that year.
From as early as I can remember until 1952, when I left home at the age of 18 to go into the army, there was an annual ritual on the afternoon of Christmas Day. Dinner, which meant turkey and all the trimmings followed by plum pudding, began around two o'clock and was carefully timed to end so that everyone could sit there beneath the paper decorations, wearing the hats that came out of the crackers, and earnestly, reverently listen to the king's Christmas message on the radio.
This hallowed national tradition, initiated by Sir John Reith in 1932, was not five years old when George V, who'd given four of them, died. His successor Edward VIII's landmark contribution to broadcasting was his 1936 abdication speech: there was no Christmas message that year.
- 12/26/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Legend says the greatest Victorian was put off sex by the sight of his wife's naked body. A new film will try to establish the truth
The secret at the heart of the short-lived, notoriously unconsummated marriage of John Ruskin, the great artist, architect, poet and political thinker of the Victorian age, has baffled fans of his work for a century. United on his wedding night in April 1848 with Effie Gray, the girl who had been the object of some of his most beautiful writing during their courtship, something went badly wrong.
A feature film is due go into production written by Emma Thompson and starring the Oscar-nominated Carey Mulligan in the role of Gray. Together with a new book by Ruskin expert Robert Hewison, it will attempt to clear up the speculation surrounding the sex life of the man sometimes referred to as "the greatest Victorian".
"The wedding night was clearly a failure,...
The secret at the heart of the short-lived, notoriously unconsummated marriage of John Ruskin, the great artist, architect, poet and political thinker of the Victorian age, has baffled fans of his work for a century. United on his wedding night in April 1848 with Effie Gray, the girl who had been the object of some of his most beautiful writing during their courtship, something went badly wrong.
A feature film is due go into production written by Emma Thompson and starring the Oscar-nominated Carey Mulligan in the role of Gray. Together with a new book by Ruskin expert Robert Hewison, it will attempt to clear up the speculation surrounding the sex life of the man sometimes referred to as "the greatest Victorian".
"The wedding night was clearly a failure,...
- 3/14/2010
- by Vanessa Thorpe
- The Guardian - Film News
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