Watch FX Legend Ray Harryhausen’s Contribution to the War Effort (While Working for Frank Capra and Dr. Seuss)
Every true movie lover is familiar with the work of Ray Harryhausen, the visual effects legend who died this morning at age 92. But while we’re all mournfully remembering his great science fiction and fantasy creations, models and animations for such films as Jason and the Argonauts, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and the original versions of Mighty Joe Young …
Read MoreWatch: A Place At The Table Featurette with Tom Colicchio
Lori Silverbush and Kristi Jacobson‘s A Place at the Table is opening this week both in theaters nationwide and on demand from Magnolia Pictures. The film, which addresses the issue of hunger in America, was partly produced by Participant Media, which also gave us Food, Inc. And it features such notable people as Jeff Bridges and Top Chef co-host Tom …
Read MoreWatch: Frank Langella Narrates Bad News in an Exclusive ‘Genius on Hold’ Clip
Who was Walter L. Shaw? Not even Wikipedia knows, apparently. All the more reason to check out the new crime documentary Genius on Hold, which opens in theaters this Friday. Directed by Gregory Marquette and narrated by actor Frank Langella, the film tells the story of this unknown inventor of touch-tone dialing, the speakerphone, conference calling, call forwarding, the White …
Read MoreWatch and Discuss: 1945 Oscar Winner ‘With Our Marines at Tarawa’ Presents Embedded War Coverage Worth Dying For
From the Documentary Channel streaming library, I present you with With the Marines at Tarawa in honor of the Academy Awards this month. This film received the Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Subject) in 1945. Last week’s dip into the Documentary Channel vault focused on 1943 Oscar winner The Battle of Midway. This week I’m continuing the celebration of Academy Awards month with …
Read MoreLearn About Einstein’s Theory of Relativity From this 90-Year-Old Documentary By Max and Dave Fleischer
It was pretty much declared impossible a year earlier by Scientific American, the idea of a film explaining Albert Einstein‘s Theory of Relativity to a general audience. But following the lead of a successful German production that did just that, Fleischer Studios (then Inkwell) released their animated educational documentary The Einstein Theory of Relativity to cinemas on February 8, 1923. …
Read MoreWatch and Discuss: ‘The Battle of Midway’ is the Best American Propaganda Film of All Time
From the Documentary Channel streaming library, I present you with The Battle of Midway in honor of the Academy Awards this month. This film was one of the first to win in the newly created Oscar category for Best Documentary in 1943. One of my favorite documentary moments ever comes from John Ford‘s The Battle of Midway. It’s a very …
Read MoreScratch An Itch With This Clip From Classic Disney Oscar Winner ‘Bear Country’
I’ve got another documentary anniversary to celebrate, as James Algar‘s Bear Country turns 60 years old today. The live-action short, sixth in Walt Disney‘s True-Life Adventure series, had its world premiere on February 5, 1953, as an accompaniment to the animated feature Peter Pan. Honorary “Disney Legend” Winston Hibler, who co-wrote Peter Pan, narrates the wildlife doc, which is about …
Read MoreWatch Pare Lorentz’s ‘The River’ For Its 75th Anniversary
Today, one of the most notable social documentaries of all time turns 75. Pare Lorentz‘s The River was first publicly shown on February 4, 1938, at the Loew’s Criterion in New York City. It was held over there and later in the month opened in Boston, where it ran for five weeks. Not bad for a half-hour New Deal propaganda …
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