Category Archives: Period and Historical

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The National Film Registry: The Fantastic Five

image via loc.gov/film/tour.html

image via loc.gov/film/tour.html

The National Film Registry is a collection of films selected for preservation in the Library of Congress by the United States National Film Preservation Board. Established in 1988, the board is given the responsibility of selecting up 25 films that are either “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films” annually, in a bid to “showcase the range and diversity of American film heritage to increase awareness for its preservation”.

All films must be at least 10 years old before they are available for selection. A film is eligible regardless of length, style and purpose and an official theatrical release is not compulsory criteria to be selected. The Registry contains documentary films, shorts, experimental films, news reels, silent films, films out of copyright, music videos and many, many more.

As of 2013, the National Film Registry contains 625 films, all considered to be deserving of recognition, preservation and access by future generations. Some of the most creative, innovative and awe-inspiring works are contained within the protecting arms of the Registry. However, of the several hundred films selected, 5 are considered more prestigious than all the rest.

As mentioned earlier, a film must be at least 10 years old before it can be considered for selection. The earliest listing is Newark Athlete (1891) and the latest Decasia (2002). Only 5 films have ever been selected in its first year of eligibility, a feat which is now regarded as a major honour amongst American film makers.

The following films were all selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in their first year of eligibility:

1: Raging Bull (1980) Selected for Cultural Significance

2: Do the Right Thing (1989) Selected for Aesthetical Significance

3: Goodfellas (1990) Selected for Cultural Significance (A second first year selection for Robert De Niro (Raging Bull 1980)

4: Toy Story (1995) Selected for Cultural and Aesthetical Significance

5: Fargo (1996) Selected for Cultural and Aesthetical Significance

Nation Film Registry – www.loc.gov/film/registry_titles.php

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The Death of Brandon Lee: One of Films Most Tragic Moments

March 31st 1993 will forever remain one of the saddest days in modern film history. 52 days into a 60 day shoot, Brandon Lee, son of the late martial arts expert Bruce Lee, was tragically shot and killed during the filming of the supernatural action film, The Crow.

As did his father (Enter the Dragon 1973), Lee never lived to see the release of his most successful work. However, also like his father, mystery and suspicion surrounding the actor’s death will forever immortalise Brandon Lee in movie folklore.

Young Brandon Lee with father Bruce. image via es.wikipedia.org

Young Brandon Lee with father Bruce.
image via es.wikipedia.org

On April 1st 1993, the Los Angeles Times reported “Actor Brandon Lee, the 28-year-old son of the late Kung Fu star Bruce Lee, was killed Wednesday after a small explosive charge used to simulate gunfire went off inside a grocery bag during filming on a movie set in Wilmington, N.C.”

However, the article later states that “it is still unclear whether the projectile came from the gun or the grocery bag or both. “When the other actor fired a shot, the explosive charge went off inside the bag,” said Wilmington police Officer Michael Overton. “After that, we don’t know what happened.”

Although admitting the case was still under investigation, Wilmington Police announced that they were treating the incident as an accident, yet many fans suspected foul play. After suspicion surrounding the cause of Bruce’s death from an apparent reaction to painkillers in 1973, many were sceptical about the causality of Brandon’s fatal last scene.

The unfinished 1973 martial arts film Game of Death, starring Bruce Lee, provides even more spooky coincidences that further fuelled the fire of many conspiracy theorists, as Lee’s character is shot in similar circumstances to his real life son, although he does return to take revenge.

So how did this tragic event really occur? In the scene, Lee is supposed to have been shot by thugs as he walks into his apartment to find his girlfriend being raped. It is believed that due to increasing time restraints, the decision was made to use dummy cartridges in the prop weaponry, which appear functional, yet contain no gun-powder.

The empties would be made from real cartridges, a responsibility handed to effects technician Bruce Merlin. To do this, Merlin, assisted by prop master Daniel Kuttner, would dismantle the live cartridges by removing the bullets, emptying all contained gun-powder, detonating the primer (a device for igniting the powder charge in a modern cartridge of centerfire ammunition) and then re-assembling the cartridge.

During preparation, Merlin and Kuttner tested the gun that would be used in scene by using a cartridge containing only a primer and a bullet with no gun-powder, which caused the bullet to become lodged into the forcing cone of the gun. When it came to shooting the scene, the live bullet remained in the barrel, which was then propelled out by the explosion from a blank cartridge, fatally injuring Lee in the process, as the cameras rolled.

Lee was pronounced dead at 1.04pm. After being buried next to his father in Washington, footage capturing Lee’s death was destroyed before ever being developed. Released in 1994, The Crow became a box office smash and is now regarded as a cult classic.

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Searching for Sugarman: The Story of Sixto Rodriguez

 

Many of us would like to believe in destiny. Many of us wander our way through life, satisfied in the knowledge that our path may already be laid out ahead of us. Others jump from dream to dream, waiting for fate to find them. Yet, no matter the journey, all of us yearn to reach the same destination, our fate, our happily ever after. Your dreams may become reality, or they could forever remain unreachable, a work of fiction.

Directed by Malik Bendejoull, Searching for Sugarman is a documentary film detailing the fascinating life of 1970’s musician Sixto Rodriguez. “Who”, I hear you ask? Well, the unfortunate truth is that if this is the first time you’re reading about Rodriguez, the likelihood is you, like many others, have never heard of him.

video via studiocanaluk

Rodriguez lived his life on the mean streets of 1960/70’s Detroit. He is described as being a drifter, a lost soul, and not much more than a homeless man, who would spend his days doing odd jobs and playing music around the city. Those who had contact with Rodriguez maintain his mysterious, prophet like image. He was a good man, who kept himself to himself, and until the release of Searching for Sugarman in 2012, those who had heard of Rodriguez had very little to add to that information.

After becoming somewhat of a local mystery, Rodriguez released Cold Fact in 1970, followed by Coming from Reality a year later. Both albums dramatically flopped in the US and Sixto was swiftly dropped from his label. Thought to have become depressed, he later committed suicide, allegedly shooting himself in the head during a performance in a local Detroit bar, though this information cannot be confirmed.

Compared by his management to Bob Dylan, in terms of song writing ability, the tragedy of Sixto Rodriguez represents how life has a funny way of putting you on a path to destiny.

South Africa was a dangerous place in the 1970’s. With apartheid in full swing, the troubled country was a cultural boycott. A behind closed doors situation, damaged by violence and racial tensions, with some events described as resembling the holocaust. Nobody is quite sure how the first copy of Cold Fact found itself in the country, but that album would change life in South Africa forever.

By 1975, Cold Fact was a platinum selling album in the country. Rodriguez’s music inspired musicians across the country to stand up and take action against their government. “Anti-Establishment” was not even a recognized word in South Africa before it appeared on a Rodriguez record. Cold Fact and Coming from Reality taught the South African people, of all races and creeds, that it was fine to be angry at the government.

Elvis; the Beatles; Bob Dylan; Cat Stevens, you name it, Rodriguez was bigger.  Bendejoull’s Oscar winning masterpiece is an absolute must watch for fans of film, music and life. This is not a review, nor a recommendation. It is a command. If you’ve ever had a dream, this documentary is for you, and one is assured, the best is yet to come.

See the Studio Canal UK trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKXewWDh1og

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Leonardo Dicaprio and that elusive Oscar.

Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr, Johnny Depp, and even our Inside Film favourite Bill Murray, are just a few of countless examples of superstar actors who have, surprisingly, never won an Oscar.

However, none ever seemed more surprising than the case of Leonardo DiCaprio, possibly the most “A-list” one of all. In recent years, the capture of “Leo” as your lead or supporting actor almost guaranteed Box Office success.  His four film partnership with master director Martin Scorsese has provided some of the most complete pictures of the last two decades.

The Aviator picked up five Oscars in 2004, whilst the Departed took four in 2007. He was the main event of the $160 million dollar blockbuster Inception, which also won four Oscars. The joint highest academy award winning film in one year, Titanic, which took eleven, co-starred DiCaprio in what once was the highest grossing film of all time, second only to Avatar.

Did DiCaprio ever really stand a chanc of winning an Oscar in 2014? "Absolutely ****ing not. image via www.awardsdaily.com

Did DiCaprio ever really stand a chanc of winning an Oscar in 2014? “Absolutely ****ing not.
image via www.awardsdaily.com

Yet, as we all know, DiCaprio has not managed to pick up an Oscar for himself, and that has slowly become a somewhat begrudgingly, accepted reality. Speaking to Deadline.com before the 89th Academy Awards, DiCaprio said that “As you know my friend, no one knows what is going to happen. Everyone has their predictions about everything. I’ve no expectations whatsoever for anything or anyone. All I am doing at this point is doing my best to showcase a project I love very dearly and am very proud of.”

No one ever really expected Leonardo to win Best Lead when he was nominated in 2014, yet everyone was rooting for him when the award eventually went to Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club.

Despite his countlessly diverse roles, undeniable popularity and an ability to be an absolute box-office smash hit, DiCaprio appears to be no closer to making his acceptance speech to the academy. Moreover, his recent announcements to take a “long, long break” from acting, after filming the Great Gatsby, Django Unchained and the Wolf of Wall Street back to back threatens any opportunity of academy award nominations, of which he has only ever had four, in the near future. His last substantial hiatus lasted over two years and DiCaprio has given very little to indicate when he will return to the screen.

However, with Scorsese remaining precautious over details of a Frank Sinatra biopic, which may or may not be coming sooner than we originally thought, it has become a widespread assumption that DiCaprio will take the lead on a sixth collaboration. Biopics have long since been seen as an actor’s easiest way to win the award, a recent example being Jamie Foxx taking the Best Actor award for Ray in 2004.

So, perhaps it may still be a case of when, rather than if, Leonardo DiCaprio finally wins an Academy Award. DiCaprio said in 2014 that “I don’t feel like I deserve anything but it feels good to just be in the conversation and have your peers say, ‘OK, this is at least worth talking about’. “ Though in hindsight, does Leonardo even need the award in the first place? He may not have been officially recognized by the Academy, but that does not mean DiCaprio still has anything to prove. Not to his fans at least, who to them – the longer Leo goes on without winning an Oscar, the less significant every past Oscar winner becomes.

Keep smiling Leo!

image via kelizaeverson.wordpress.com

image via kelizaeverson.wordpress.com

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Blue Jasmine wins at the Costume Design Guild Awards.

Cate Blanchett on the red carpet.
An image of Cate Blanchett star of Blue Jasmine.

Star of Blue Jasmine, Cate Blanchett.

The 16th Annual Costume Designers Guild (CDG) Awards were announced last night and saw films such as Blue Jasmine, 12 Years a Slave and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, walk away with awards.

The Guild which hands out competitive awards in seven categories honoured the five-time Oscar nominee, Amy Adams, with the Lacoste Spotlight Awards.

Suzy Benzinger, costume designer for Blue Jasmine, walked home with the Excellence in Contemporary Film. Relatively new to the business, Suzy has only worked on a few low-budget films.

When she was hired to work on the Woody Allen film, that sees Cate Blanchett grace the screen as the leading actress, Suzy could not believe the budget she had for the film.

She said, “When you do a Woody Allen film you have a very limited budget. How limited? The entire budget for this film was $35,000. Panic set in.”

Suzy explained that once she started name dropping ‘Woody Allen’ and ‘Cate Blanchett’ doors soon began to open.

Often undervalued, the CDG awards are one of the lesser known awards that takes place all over Hollywood in the run up to The Oscars.

Other winners of the night included 12 Years A Slave for Excellence in Period Film and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire for Excellence in Fantasy Film.

Surprisingly, only one of the winners of the night are nominated for an Academy Award on Sunday evening. Patricia Norris for 12 Years a Slave will go up for Best Costume Design against films such as American Hustle, The Great Gatsby and The Invisible Woman.

if you haven’t already, please check out our post-BAFTAs podcast.