Jane Miller Film Series
FILM FESTIVALS AND ART OF THE AGE & THE STORY OF ENGLISH 2012
with Jane Miller
John F. Armstrong Wing – Blake Library
JANUARY
2:00 FRIDAY – JANUARY 13 – FOREIGN FILM – TOGETHER – 2002
Chinese-South Korean with English Subtitles
A lyrical, enchanting film about a violin prodigy and his father who go to Beijing seeking fame and fortune. Love, ambition and destiny in China’s high-pressure world of classical music form the center stage for the story. (2 hours)
2:00 TUESDAY – JANUARY 17 – ART OF THE AGE & THE STORY OF ENGLISH – MASTERS OF SEA AND SAIL
This fourth part of eight-part study series begins with glorious one-hour film on 17th CENTURY DUTCH MARINE ARTISTS. This remarkable film is a voyage in art aboard magnificent sailing ships on the high seas.
The second one-hour film continues THE STORY OF ENGLISH as trading ships sailed the seas, and sea trade words from 50 languages entered the English language. At this time, Shakespeare’s contribution of roughly 2,000 words commonly used today influenced the power and beauty of the English language. (2 hours)
2:00 TUESDAY – JANUARY 24 – MOVIE – HARVEY – 1950
Pulitzer Prize–winning play stars Jimmy Stewart as tippler Elwood P. Dowd, whose companion is a six-foot invisible while rabbit named Harvey, (actually, he is 6 foot, 3 ½ inches). Josephine Hull won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her roll as Elwood’s distraught sister. Don’t miss this charming heartwarming comedy. (1 hour 45 minutes)
2:00 FRIDAY – JANUARY 27 – MOVIE FROM BOOK – TRUE GRIT – 2010 PG-13
Jeff Bridges won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Rooster Coburn, a one-eyed, trigger-happy U. S. Marshall with an affinity for drinking. He is hired by young Mattie Ross to avenge her father’s death. This movie is a re-make of the original True Grit film of 1969 starring John Wayne, and this new version is more violent and receives a PG-13 for “some intense sequences of Western violence.”
FEBRUARY
2:00 FRIDAY – FEBRUARY 3 – FOREIGN FILM – BRIGHT STAR – 2009
French with English subtitles
Vivid, romantic drama about the young, 19th century poet John Keats and the love of his life, Fanny Brawne. The gorgeous and impressionistic cinematography captures the essence of Keats’ poetry and the beauty of the changing seasons. (2 hours)
2:00 TUESDAY – FEBRUARY 7 – ART OF THE AGE & THE STORY OF ENGLISH
RICHES, RIVALS AND RADICALS – 100 YEARS OF MUSEUMS IN AMERICA
The formation of great art collections grew simultaneously with American wealth. Jane Miller will present The Barnes Collection story, which will be followed by a one-hour film on the ART COLLECTIONS OF WEALTHY AMERICANS that evolved into museums as the Smithsonian, Gardner Museum in Boston, Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The second one-hour film continues THE STORY OF ENGLISH from the Plymouth Plantation to the 19th century when new words were added from frontiersmen, cowboys, gamblers, African slave ships and Mark Twain. (2 hours)
2:00 TUESDAY – FEBRUARY 16 – MOVIE – SINATRA SERIES – GUYS AND DOLLS - 1955
Lavish Hollywood film of Broadway musical based on Damon Runyon’s colorful characters stars Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons and Vivian Blaine. Frank Loesser score makes this a winning musical comedy. (2 hours 30 minutes)
2:00 TUESDAY – FEBRUARY 21 – MOVIE – SINATRA SERIES – FROM HERE TO ETERNITY – 1953
Based on James Jones’ hefty 859–page steamy 1951 novel, the film won eight Oscars. Sinatra won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor with his portrayal of Private Maggie. Shot with almost documentary realism, the movie was set on a Hawaiian military base just before Pearl Harbor. The cast includes Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Montgomery Clift and Donna Reed. (2 hours)
MARCH
2:00 FRIDAY – MARCH 2 – MOVIE – SINATRA SERIES – HIGH SOCIETY – 1956
Remake of “The Philadelphia Story” with music added is fun for Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby with Grace Kelly and Celeste Holm. Cole Porter songs “True Love,” “You’re Sensational” plus Crosby & Louis Armstrong duet “Now You Has Jazz.” (2 hours)
2:00 TUESDAY – MARCH 6 – ART OF THE AGE & THE STORY OF ENGLISH
THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH 1727 – 1788
London was the epicenter of art in 18th century England, and the first one-hour film presents THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH whose “Blue Boy” became one of the world’s recognizable paintings.
The second one-hour film continues THE STORY OF ENGLISH when new words came into the English language
from science, technology and commerce. (2 hours)
2:00 MARCH 16 – FRIDAY – MOVIE FROM BOOK – THE TOURIST – 2010 – PG 13
Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp star in visually stunning and engaging thrills filmed in Venice, Italy.
A complicated web of dangerous deceit evolves as they are chased by Interpol, the Italian police, and Russian hit men.
Film received three Golden Globe nominations. (1 hour 45 minutes).
2:00 TUESDAY – MARCH 20 – ANIMATED FILM – RATATOUILLE – 2007
Animated charming film is about Remy, a highly cultivated rat (yes, a rat) with a genius for cooking. He gets separated from his family in the French countryside and lands in a Parisian restaurant where he becomes the toast of the town.
This Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature is lots of fun and a feast for the eyes.
Fine voice work by Patton Oswalt, and Peter O’Toole is a treat as a formidable food critic. (2 hours)
APRIL
2:00 – TUESDAY – APRIL 3 - ART OF THE AGE & THE STORY OF ENGLISH
BUDDIST ART – AJANTA CAVES IN INDIA
The first one-hour film explores the remarkable structure and paintings of BUDDIST CAVES IN INDIA. These 1500-year-old murals are remarkably well preserved, and feature floral and animal forms in imaginative color and motion of a decidedly advanced sophistication.
A one-hour film continues THE STORY OF ENGLISH as British adventures abroad produced “new” English languages in India, the Caribbean, and Australia. (2 hours)
2:00 – FRIDAY – APRIL 13 -
HITCHCOCK SERIES – PSYCHO – 1960
The Master’s most notorious film is still terrifying after all these years.
Janet Leigh picks the wrong place to spend the night: the Bates Motel run by a peculiar young man (Anthony Perkins) and his crotchety old “mother.” Happy Friday the 13th. (2 hours)
2:00 – TUESDAY – APRIL 17 – MOVIE COMEDY
SOME LIKE IT HOT – 1959
Legendary comedy by director Billy Wilder stars Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Marilyn Monroe, Joe E. Brown.
Sensational from start to finish, and Joe E. Brown has film’s now-classic closing line. (2 hours)
2:00 – THURSDAY – APRIL 26 – MOVIE FROM BOOK
SEABISCUIT – 2003
The true story based on Laura Hillenbrand’s best-selling book tells the story of a group of the unlikeliest of heroes. It would seem that pairing a knobbly-kneed horse with a half-blind jockey (Tobey Maquire) would lead only to last place. The owner of the horse (Jeff Bridges) and the trainer (Chris Cooper) complete the trio who became a winning combination that inspired and intrigued a nation
suffering the hardships of the Great Depression. (2 hours 20 minutes)