Kirsten Studio

an editor’s blog

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Entries from July 25th, 2010

Hammer Films returns from the dead!

July 25th, 2010 No Comments

Legendary Hammer Films started in 1934. With some fits and starts it began to take real shape following World War II, when productions started again in 1949. It wasn’t until the last 50′s however where two great entities came together – that of Hammer’s Gothic/Horror/Sci-Fi melodrama subject matter and those amazingly intense blood reds of [...]

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Maya Deren

July 24th, 2010 No Comments

As Zeitgeist Films puts it “Maya Deren is arguably the most important and innovative avant-garde filmmaker in the history of American cinema.”  MoMA is honoring the artist’s incredible contribution to experimental film with Maya Deren’s Legacy: Women and Experimental Film, curated by MoMA’s Sally Berger (see her blog posts on MoMA’s Inside/Out. The exhibit which [...]

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Another inconvenient truth

July 21st, 2010 No Comments

Countdown to Zero, a documentary about the global nuclear arms race, is brought to you by the folks behind the global warming and climate change issue, An Inconvenient Truth. Real impending doom illustrations aren’t normally subjects you want when going out for an evening of entertainment at the local movie house, but if you care [...]

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The man with no name

July 15th, 2010 No Comments

The Walter Reade Theater showcases Clint Eastwood in their The Complete Clint Eastwood retrospective now through July 27th.  I just caught For a Few Dollars More and it’s quite something to see a Sergio Leone film on the big screen.  The extreme close-up and the extreme wide shot like never before.  It’s not just spaghetti [...]

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David Stone Martin

July 13th, 2010 No Comments

David Stone Martin (1913-1992) created hundreds of jazz record album covers with the height of his work in the 1950′s.  Most well known for his album art, he also illustrated for many well known publications such as Time and The Saturday Evening Post.  He’s shown at the Museum of Modern Art and The Metropolitan Museum [...]

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Envision educates and humanizes

July 11th, 2010 No Comments

My Grandpa Al once said, “Nothing is more important than an education”. I wish I would have given a little more heed to this idea. I would have acquired more of an academic history. I did get an education but not everyone has access to the same opportunities. It’s not just a matter of applying [...]

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The Hitchcock 9

July 10th, 2010 No Comments

Alfred Hitchcock has nine surviving silent films and the clock is ticking. The British Film Institute (BFI) is asking for our help.  It’s hope is to bring these films back to life, and a long one at that, via public and private donations. It’s not a bad idea either. The Pleasure Garden (1925) is on [...]

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Day & Night

July 6th, 2010 No Comments

Pixar’s pre-feature short, Day & Night screens with Toy Story 3.  It’s the story of how Day and Night experience fear, jealousy, curiosity and joy in the discovery of each other’s existence.  Done in a terrific sort of retro animation, it’s a sweet stylized film that says so much about the human condition.  I liked [...]

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Filmmakers and the United Nations

July 2nd, 2010 No Comments

Envision is a collaboration of between Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) and the United Nations Department of Public Information. The goal of this day long event is to unit the filmmaking community with the UN, civil society organizations, entrepreneurs, activists, journalists, economists, public policy makers and NGOs to address global issues through the international shared language [...]

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In celebration of Alice Guy-Blaché

July 1st, 2010 No Comments

Alice Guy-Blaché who produced, directed and shot hundreds of of films, was born July 1st, 1873.  She is remembered for being the first female director and one of the first narrative filmmakers. Alice Guy-Blaché was French but developed her career in America where she owned a studio here on the east coast.  Happy birthday to Ms. Guy-Blaché.

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