Not much ties these two together except that they died on the same day. Here a list of the 24 Bergman films we have in Media Services in various formats:Ansiktet = The Magician (1959) HOME USE COLLECTION VHS 283Camera (1975) VHS 1237Cries and whispers (1972) HOME USE COLLECTION VHS 319, VHS 319Djävulens öga = The […]
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Obit: Tammy Faye Bakker, 65
The Eyes of Tammy Faye documents the life of the emotive camp icon from the time she met Jim Bakker until the fall of their ministry. DVD 468
Continue readingObit: Jack Palance, 87, one of the heaviest of screen heavies
It’s impossible to capture in words the menacing effect Palance was able to exude on-screen. His deepset eyes and tight angular face, even as a younger man, probably got him typecast as a villain early on but his acting made his characters indelible. He’s probably best known to today’s moviegoers for the role of Curly […]
Continue readingObit: Glenn Ford, 90, star of Blackboard Jungle, Gilda, and The Big Heat
The films of Glenn Ford available in Media Services: The Big Heat DVD 758Blackboard Jungle DVD 1232Gilda DVD 1604 Ford always struck me as a likable journeyman. With a few exceptions, including his role in Gilda, he usually found himself playing easy-going sympathetic characters. Of the 85 or so films he made, only the above-mentioned […]
Continue readingObit: Naguib Mahfouz, 94, Egyptian Novelist
Mahfouz is the only Arab to have ever been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and was also the oldest living recipient of the award. A critic of Egyptian society and Islamic Fundamentalism, in 1994 Mahfouz, then 82, was stabbed in an assassination attempt over perceived blasphemy in his 1959 novel Children of Gebelawi. Media […]
Continue readingObit: Mickey Spillane, 88, creator of detective Mike Hammer, hence also the writer of film noir classic, Kiss Me Deadly
No Mickey Spillane, no Quentin Tarantino. Spillane’s writing had an edgy toughness, some might say sadism, that seemed to dovetail with the alternately explosive and nonchalant method acting of Marlon Brando, James Dean, Dennis Hopper, Lee Marvin, and Jack Nicholson to create a new anti-hero archetype. A handful of his novels were made into movies […]
Continue readingObit: Shohei Imamura, 79, Japanese New Wave filmmaker
Imamura was one of the icons of Japanese New Wave cinema, twice winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Concentrating on gritty social issues, he frequently raised eyebrows with his work, which included a piece based on the September 11th terrorist attacks as part of the 2002 short film compilation 11’09”01 (DVD 1329). […]
Continue readingObit: Elma Gardner Farnsworth, 98, wife of Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television
We all owe a great debt to Philo T. Farnsworth. He’s known to many, but not most, as the true inventor of what became television. Married in 1926, Elma was at the side of Philo when he first tested the invention he had conceived seven years earlier while going back and forth plowing a field […]
Continue readingObit: Garrett Scott, Documentarian, 37
Garrett Scott’s most recent film Occupation: Dreamland is about the lives of army personnel fighting in Fallujah, Iraq. It is slated to air on the Sundance Channel next month.In 2002, his first film, Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story (VHS 7270), was released. This unusual film starts with the news story of Shawn Nelson, […]
Continue readingObit: Gordon Parks, 93
Parks, a multi-talented artist, first gained recognition as a photographer for Life Magazine, often focussing on individuals dramatically affected by living in poverty. He also directed two films of historic interest. His first feature, The Learning Tree (VHS 4291), was based on his autobiography and was among the first 25 films selected for the National […]
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