Top of page

Category: Film

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

What Do You Go to the Movies For?

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

This year’s entries to the Library of Congress National Film Registry, 25 in all (bringing the grand total of films of cultural, historic or aesthetic value to be preserved for posterity to 700), will fulfill many of our reasons for going to the pictures: “I go to the movies to be terrified.” – Well, we’re …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Good Timing for a Sliming

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

This year’s list of 25 noteworthy films named to the Library of Congress National Film Registry is out, and it includes some well-known favorites: “Ghostbusters,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Top Gun,” even the original Douglas Fairbanks vehicle “Zorro.”  Films are annually named to the registry that are culturally, historically or aesthetically important; the object is preservation …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

History You Could Really Sink Your Teeth Into

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

E.L. Doctorow, a giant of American letters who uplifted the genre of the historical novel, died yesterday at the age of 84. The author of “Ragtime,” “World’s Fair,” “Billy Bathgate,” “The March,” “Welcome to Hard Times” and “Andrew’s Brain,” among many other works of fiction, will be much missed. Doctorow was the recipient of the …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

The Big Lebowski Abides

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

My condition is in fantastic condition today – I’m pleased that “The Big Lebowski” made this year’s list of 25 films selected for placement on the Library of Congress National Film Registry. These movies are judged to have special cultural, historic or aesthetic value and to be worthy of preservation for posterity. Other noteworthy films …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Opera Onstage, Drama Offstage

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Today marks the anniversary of the opening of the original Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, on Oct. 22, 1883.  This is the hall, no longer in existence, where Enrico Caruso performed “Vesti La Giubba” in “Pagliacci”; where Geraldine Farrar sang “Un Bel Di,” in “Madame Butterfly.”  Thanks to radio broadcasts, it was the …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

A Book Festival for the Bird(er)s

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

David Allen Sibley – yes, the author of the recently updated “Sibley Guide to Birds,” that indispensable handbook on all things feathered – will appear at this year’s National Book Festival, Saturday, August 30 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. In addition to this most highly respected ornithologist, we will also welcome Sally Satel, …