PJTV - "A Lesson in Heroism From The Decks of The Titanic"

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Historical Movie Theater: A Short History of Bad Ideas

Tonight in Politeia's historical movie theater a video version of a British Independent Television News documentary, compiled by the renowned suspense film director, Alfred Hitchcock.

The work was withheld by the post war government because it was deemed to gruesome to be shown. The footage was shot by Allied military on entering the Nazi concentration camps at the end of World War II.

The movie illustrates the first in a series of posts on Politeia, "A Short History of Bad Ideas", aiming to chart the lofty ideas underpinning collectivist ideals and the resulting dystopias. The first instalment is entitled, "The Victims".

Watch "The Holocaust", compiled by Alfred Hitchcock.

French Fanfare

WSJ: "Hats Off to Monsieur Hulot", by RICHARD B. WOODWARD

The films of Jacques Tati don't square with many other cultural products of postwar France. Released between 1947 and 1974 but unmarked by existential despair or other trends of Parisian intellectual life, his experiments in slapstick and whimsy had more in common with the skits of Red Skelton than the agit-prop pastiches of Jean-Luc Godard.

In retrospect, his work may be seen as an attempt to recover for a humiliated nation the innocence of vaudeville (originally a French word) that older audiences had found in the British music hall and in American silent comedies. Monsieur Hulot, the character he created for five of his best-known films, is one of the screen's endearing oddballs.  (...) >>>

Read more on the current tribute to M. Hulot and its creator at the Cinemathèque Française in Paris, in the WSJ article.

Here's a trailer related to a recent Tati "jour de fête" at Scénovision in Sainte-Sévère sur Indre:

"No More Excuses"

Recruited from Flickr, photo by Christolakis - Hat Tip: Lefteris Heretakis

Sitting Down With a Star Trek Author

Seattle Times: "A Q&A with "Star Trek" co-writer Roberto Orci", by Jeff Shannon

Roberto Orci approached the writing of "Star Trek," a new movie that opened here last night, as a devoted fan. His screenwriting partner, Alex Kurtzman, was also familiar with the original "Star Trek" TV series, and their mutual enthusiasm — along with credits including blockbuster hits like "Transformers," "Mission: Impossible III" and the upcoming "Transformers" sequel — made them strong candidates for reinventing "Star Trek" as a big-screen adventure for the original, much-younger crew of the starship Enterprise.

- Caption: Star Trek actors, then and now -

Friends and collaborators for 17 years, Kurtzman and Orci (who's now 35) met in high school and later wrote numerous TV scripts before working on "Alias" with creator/producer J.J. Abrams ("Lost"). In addition to writing "M:I III" and "Star Trek" (both directed by Abrams), Kurtzman and Orci are co-creators of "Fringe," the Abrams-produced Fox TV series that's presently awaiting a second-season commitment. (...) >>>

Read a review of the new Trekker blockbuster in the US:

CNN: "Review: 'Star Trek' is exhilarating"

"Cry Me A River"

The latest great effort of LadyNea:



She ought to go pro. Brava!