ON THIS DAY in 1849, American abolitionist Harriet Tubman and her two brothers escaped from slavery. Tubman’s escape was depicted in the 1978 made-for-TV movie, A WOMAN CALLED MOSES, starring Cicely Tyson and narrated by Orson Welles.
Archives
All posts by Dave
If you spent most of your time watching movies this past week, you might have missed these articles here at Home Projectionist:
- Shoes and Sex and More Shoes
- Bond. Jerry Bond…
- “You make this very room a theater”: An Alfred Hitchcock Quiz
- Three Projectors + Blank Room = New Reality
- Algorithms: Hunters and Gatherers No More
- The Great Fred Astaire (clip)
- Rome, Romance, and the Aperol Spritz
- Reel History Archive
- Poetry in Motion: MAN ON WIRE
- A Perfect Double Feature: ZERO HOUR and AIRPLANE!
Visit Home Projectionist on Facebook
ON THIS DAY in 1955, Juan Perón was ousted as President of Argentina when a nationalist Catholic group led the Revolución Libertadora. Perón’s tenure as President was dramatized in the 1996 film, EVITA, with Jonathan Pryce and Madonna.
ON THIS DAY in 2008, global financial services firm Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. The 2011 HBO movie TOO BIG TO FAIL recounted the events that led to the the largest Chapter 11 filing in U.S. history.
Good evening. A perfect time to take your favorite tuxedo out of mothballs, don your string of pearls or put on your top hat. It’s time to ring the chauffeur: you’re ready to be taken to the theater. Tonight’s performance has gotten killer reviews. As a matter of fact, we hear that the one critic who gave it a rather poor review has gone into an early and somewhat permanent ‘retirement’, so to speak. At any rate, the curtain is rising. Enjoy.
Good luck, Mr. Thornhill, wherever you are…
Take the Quiz!(*The quiz title was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest: “Something wrong with your eyes?” “Yes”, says the sunglass-clad Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant), “They’re sensitive to questions”. Vandamm (James Mason) dismisses Thornhill’s denials that he is George Kaplan: “With such expert playacting, you make this very room a theater.”)
ON THIS DAY in 1812, Napoleon’s French Grande Armée entered Moscow, causing the great Fire of Moscow as Russian citizens and troops abandoned the city. This series of events was dramatized in the 2002 European TV mini-series, NAPOLEON.
ON THIS DAY in 1475, cardinal Cesare Borgia–son of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei, and brother of Lucrezia Borgia–was born in Rome, Italy. Borgia was portrayed by Orson Welles in the 1949 film, PRINCE OF FOXES, also starring Tyrone Power.
ON THIS DAY in 1953, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier married U.S. Representative John Fitzgerald Kennedy at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island. The Kennedy wedding was depicted in the 1991 television mini-series, A WOMAN NAMED JACKIE, with Roma Downey and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
A LITTLE OVER 27 years before the tragic events of September 11th, a daring Frenchman stepped off the edge of one of the World Trade Center towers and walked to the other—on a thin wire. That daring, young man was Phillipe Petit, and MAN ON WIRE tells his story.
It’s a story of courage and much planning. A tale of bank-heist proportions, of law-breaking and recklessness. Yet, it culminates in sheer magic and poetry–a gentle stroll between two points. A simple walk among giants that would, on one, sad day, be toppled in an unbelievable act of cruelty.
It’s a melancholy-tinged remembrance of an audacious feat–a feat of pure, awe-inspiring beauty. On this day, MAN ON WIRE is a way to see man at his best.
ON THIS DAY in 2001, terrorists flew two, hijacked jet aircraft into New York City’s World Trade Center, destroying the towers and killing over 2,750. Director Oliver Stone’s 2006 film, WORLD TRADE CENTER, documented the day’s events.
News concerning big screens and small…
- Worship movies at a theater of your choice
- The ongoing switch from film to digital continues to affect small theaters
- The future of one of Chicago’s oldest movie theaters is now uncertain
- Oh well, there’s always Junior Mints…
- The ultimate home theater projector. The catch: you might have to sell your home in order to buy it.
- Offbeat offerings at the concession stand
- New lineup of Epson home theater projectors
Visit Home Projectionist on Facebook
ON THIS DAY in 1934, New York Yankees right fielder Roger Maris was born. Maris broke Babe Ruth’s record by hitting 61 home runs during the 1961 season. In 2001, 61*, directed by Billy Crystal, documented the season’s events.
If you spent most of your time watching movies this past week, you might have missed these articles here at Home Projectionist:
- Alamo Drafthouse: a Self-Described “Movie Nerd” Builds a Cinematic Empire
- “Expedient exaggeration”: an ad-based quiz on the films of Alfred Hitchcock
- Let the Streaming Wars Begin
- 10 Things About Director Elia Kazan
- Art imitates life: this week’s Reel History
- Lyrics for Our Lives: Thank You, Mr. Hal David
- One Small Step: Doris Wishman’s NUDE ON THE MOON
- Happy Labor Day: PICNIC (1955)
Visit Home Projectionist on Facebook
ON THIS DAY in 1971, a riot began at a state prison in Attica, New York, eventually resulting in the deaths of 39 prisoners. In 1980, the made-for-TV movie, ATTICA, starring George Grizzard, Morgan Freeman and Charles Durning, documented this four-day event.
ON THIS DAY in 1935, Senator Huey Long was assassinated during a session at the Louisiana capitol building. The story of Huey Long’s career inspired a novel and the 1949 dramatic film ALL THE KING’S MEN, starring Broderick Crawford.
Home Projectionist 