1.
“Talk to the animals“: The Dissolve‘s Keith Phipps analyzes science fiction films from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s that offer “a vision of the universe without humanity at its center.”
“Thanks
to the relative ease of suggesting giant animal attacks via miniatures and rear
projection—however awkwardly—the 1950s and ’60s saw invasions from grasshoppers
(‘Beginning Of The End’), giant
gila monsters (‘The Giant Gila Monster’),
crab monsters (‘Attack Of The Crab
Monsters’), and other such films, many of which made their way to ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000.’ That
dubious tradition persisted in the 1970s via films like ‘Night Of The Lepus’ (which set loose
giant rabbits in Arizona) and ‘The
Giant Spider Invasion’ (which made rural Wisconsin the site of, well,
read the title again). The lattermost boasted the tagline ‘There has never been
a film like this before.’ In fact, there had been many, and more followed. Yet
a handful of science-fiction films took a different approach to human/animal
relations, exploring what it might be like to fulfill the Dolittle-ian dream of
talking to the animals—be it in the here and now, a post-apocalyptic future, or
on the cusp of some tremendous planet-wide transformation. Perhaps there were
stories to tell other than those in which mutated creatures trampled major
cities.”
2.
“History of Film: The Best Movies of the 1960s“: At Movie Mezzanine, RogerEbert.com writer Sam Fragoso compiles a series of top ten lists from various writers ranking the best films of the 1960s.
“For
those who are new to this series, History of Film is designed to examine each
decade of cinema, ten films at a time (see our results from the 00s, 90s, 80s
and 70s). In an attempt to present a multiplicity of voices, we’ve reached out
to a plethora of people in the film industry. Thankfully, a whole host of
gifted and esteemed individuals responded rather enthusiastically, happy to
contemplate the cineamatic greatness that was the 1960s for a moment. So what
follows is a collection of ballots from Movie Mezzanine staff and friends —
from filmmakers to film critics to festival programmers to a publicist (yes,
even a publicist). Of course, the most integral part of this process is
you, the reader. Throughout the month of June we’ll be accepting ballots from
anyone and everyone interested in submitting their top ten list in the comment
section. Come the end of the month we’ll tally the ballots up and highlight the
ten most popular films from the 1960s (as voted on by all of us). Those ten
films will then each individually be written about by a writer on our staff.”
3.
“It’s Been A Rough Year For Cable News Networks“: At The Huffington Post, David Bauder reveals the strikingly low ratings earned this year by several top cable networks.
“During
some perilous times for the cable news networks, CNN is relieved to find
there’s still some resonance to the 1960s. The first of a series of look-backs
at the decade that CNN is planning to air, this one focused on television,
reached 1.39 million viewers Thursday, the Nielsen company said. That more than
doubled the 493,000 viewers the network has been averaging in the 9 p.m.
weeknight time slot this year. CNN repeated the show immediately at 10 p.m.,
and that also more than doubled the time slot’s average. CNN repeated the show
four times over the weekend. The good vibes didn’t last, however. On Friday,
CNN had 182,000 viewers at 10 p.m. for a profile on Seth MacFarlane and a
sports show, the network’s smallest audience for the time slot since 2000. Except
for a brief flurry of interest with the story of the missing Malaysian
airlines, it has been a rough year for the cable networks.”
4.
“Take Vulture’s Tom Cruise Hair Quiz and Guess What Movie Each Do Is From“: A self-explanatory, rather hair-raising amusement posted by Adam K. Raymond.
“Over three decades in film, Tom
Cruise’s face hasn’t changed that much. His hair is a different story. Short
hair, long hair, crew cut, flowing locks — Cruise likes to jump back and forth
between the two extremes. In his latest film, ‘Edge of Tomorrow,’ he opts for a variation of the unremarkable
short and simple look that he so often trots out for regular guy characters.
But so many of the roles he has played have hair so distinct that the movies
they come from can be identified on that point alone. At least that’s the
challenge presented in the quiz below. Can you guess the movie each one is
from?”
5.
“Wilde’s World of Journalism“: Stefano Evangelista of TLS discusses the new definitive two-volume edition of Oscar Wilde’s journalism edited by John Stokes and Mark W. Turner.
“Since
the days of Robbie Ross, no one has attempted to put together a complete,
authoritative edition of Wilde’s journalism. Now, John Stokes and Mark W.
Turner have done so in two thick, heavily annotated volumes that are a landmark
in Wilde studies and in the study of late Victorian journalism more broadly.
Stokes and Turner revise and update Ross’s edition by going back to the
original newspapers and magazines for which Wilde wrote, reconsidering the
attribution of every unsigned piece included by Ross and adding new ones
omitted by him. We now have 168 items of Wilde’s journalism, including thirty
for which the editors were reluctant, perhaps erring on the side of caution, to
make a definitive claim for Wilde’s authorship. In a very readable
introduction, Stokes and Turner help the reader navigate the complex world of
Victorian journalism; in their annotations, they provide detailed contextual
information for each review, cross-referencing it with Wilde’s better-known
works.”
Image of the Day
Prepare to laugh out loud when you skim through Matthew Perpetua’s collection of “43 Out-Of-Context Comic Panels That Prove All Superheroes Have Dirty Minds” on BuzzFeed.
Video of the Day
The Blank on Blank animated series from PBS Digital Studios presents a heartbreaking excerpt from an interview with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman conducted by Simon Critchley in December 2012.
