Roundup: Pop Culture & the Arts ... Movies, Documentaries and Museum Exhibits

World War II: Behind Closed Doors BBC2

As BBC documentaries go, World War II: Behind Closed Doors is rather significant. Not only is it the last series that will be written and directed by Laurence Rees, the BBC's creative head of history (Rees, who brought us such magnificent films as The Nazis: a Warning from History and Auschwitz, is leaving the corporation to devote himself to writing), it also signals the climax of the inexorable march within the BBC towards "presenter-led" history documentaries. From now on, we can ex

Darwin's mockingbirds feature in London exhibition

Two dead birds, one big idea. Mockingbirds collected by Charles Darwin on the Galapagos Islands may not be the most visually exciting part of an exhibition that opened Friday at the Natural History Museum, but they stimulated the thinking that led to the theory of evolution. The specimens have never before been on public display. Darwin found that the mockingbirds he saw in the Galapagos Islands in September and October of 1835 were different from the ones he had

Project sheds light on Klan history in Washington State

Never-before-seen images are shining new light on a grim chapter of Washington's history, when the Ku Klux Klan operated from state headquarters in Belltown, its members gathering robed and hooded at what longtime Seattleites might remember as the Crystal Pool. The additions to a University of Washington Web site came about as part of a senior-level history class. The rare photos and newspaper clippings tell of the Kl

'Tudors' Season 2 not for kids

History was never like this when I was a boy, or I might be an historian instead of a film critic. The Tudors: The Complete Second Season made its cheeky royal bow on DVD this week. It is labeled the Uncut Edition, offering more nudity and simulated sex than was shown in the mainstream broadcasts. Given how raunchy the series is anyway, that means these unedited versions should not be shown to children, at least not without supervision and discussion. Especially because the historic

The English revolution on screen in the UK

The two executioners waiting on the small scaffold erected outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall were disguised in masks and long grey wigs, adding to the macabre theatricality of the occasion. The wooden platform on which they stood was sprinkled with sand to soak up the blood that would shortly be spilled, and scattered about were staples and lengths of rope to tie down the condemned man in the event he became difficult. An open coffin lay nearby, with a folded black velvet pall. And, of c

Discovery Channel: Tech puts JFK conspiracy theories to rest

A team of experts assembled by the Discovery Channel has recreated the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Using modern blood spatter analysis, new artificial human body surrogates, and 3-D computer simulations, the team determined that the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository was the most likely origin of the shot that killed the 35th president of the United States. "The question we were trying to answer is, given the spatter evidence in a vehicle, and knowing

Historian despairs about yet another film that mistakenly sanitizes the story of Sacco & Vanzetti

As a historian, author of a book on the case, and a talking head in the film itself, I should like to comment upon the film Sacco and Vanzetti, which recently received the AHA’s John E. O’Connor Award. The Sacco-Vanzetti story is perfect in projecting the image of two Italian immigrants convicted of their idealistic beliefs for a common payroll robbery and murder doubled. Surely, one must think and feel, a conspiracy railroaded these proudly admitted anarchists to the electric chair. In t

The colonel who came to love video games

"I was prepared to hate these guys, these little squirrels who make videogames," said Keirsey, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who has for the last few years served as a consultant on all of the versions of the popular Call of Duty videogame franchise. Keirsey came by the Post the other day on the eve of the launch of the latest entry in that shoot-em-up series, which has often used real-world battles from U.S. military history as source material. I think he tried to bre

The Waste Museum? (Ukraine)

The Waste Museum belongs to those lesser-known museums of Kyiv, not listed in most tourist guides, but is an interesting place to visit for almost anybody. Like most museums, the Waste Museum is all about history, only represented in an extraordinary way, as all of its exhibits are basically garbage, things that people once used and then threw away. The history of the museum dates back to the early 1950s. Employees of the City Secondary Resources Plant in Kyiv, which co

Wall Street tour reveals a turbulent history of finance

The enduring symbols of Wall Street’s fabled, turbulent history are inescapable on this walk through the epicenter of American capitalism. Over there, at 23 Wall, is the former headquarters of J.P. Morgan’s banking dynasty, its granite facade still scarred by pockmarks from a terrorist bomb that killed 33 people in 1920. A block away, a skyscraper at 48 Wall occupies the site of the city’s first bank, founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1784. Names like Rockefeller, Roosevelt and Goldm

Book deals for Laura Bush and Sarah Palin?

Although book publishers advised President Bush to take his time on his memoirs (waiting until he’s out of office and his approval ratings improve), they are apparently suggesting the opposite to Laura Bush. Interest in anything the first lady would write is high and speculation is that she could make a book deal rivaling that of the $8 million contract that Hillary Rodham Clinton signed for her 2003 memoir “Living History.” Sally McDonough, Mrs. Bush’s spokeswoman, said yesterday t

Harvey Milk Stars Say Gay-Rights Pioneer's Story 'Isn't Just A History Lesson'

More than a week after California narrowly passed Proposition 8, which effectively bans gay marriage, protests have erupted all over the Golden State. In many ways, the demonstrations mirror the efforts of '70s gay-rights pioneer Harvey Milk. As a new biopic gets ready to tell Milk's story with a newfound relevance, and the film's stars march alongside the Prop 8 protesters, art and life are imitating each other in a very unique way. "Things [since the '70s] have c

Why Is Harriet Tubman Facing South?

A new 10-foot-tall bronze statue of Harriet Tubman in Harlem, part of a $2.8 million project, is being formally dedicated by the city at 1 p.m. on Thursday, but the work has confounded some observers because Tubman appears to be striding determinedly south, rather than heading north toward freedom. The blog Uptown Flavor asked why the statue faces south and generated strong responses from readers who said the decision reflected ignorance or intellectual laziness. A viewer on the Web

Ataturk: Turkey’s Hero, Behind the Bronze Veneer

After nearly a century of looking serious, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, has started to smile. Ataturk — a war-hero-turned-statesman who defended Turkey during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire — is the subject of what is perhaps the world’s longest personality cult. His portrait hangs in every tea shop, government office and classroom. Insulting his memory is a crime under Turkish law. And every Nov. 10, Turkey observes a moment of silence t

Fifty Year Ago Today, Batso Harding and his Buddies Finally Conquered "Unclimbable" El Capitan

November 12, 1958, was an auspicious day for the climbing world and Yosemite National Park. Using siege tactics considered primitive by modern standards, a team led by Warren J. "Batso" Harding finally conquered "unclimbable" El Capitan. El Capitan is a truly impressive hunk of granite. It soars 3,600 feet almost vertically from the Yosemite Valley floor, and to the untrained eye it appears to be utterly sheer, offering no purchase for anything more substantial t

Darwin's 'beard' on show for first time

Strands of hair believed to have fallen out of Charles Darwin's beard will go on show in public for the first time tomorrow in what is expected to be a blockbuster exhibition on the Victorian naturalist. The wisps were discovered this summer by Randal Keynes, Darwin's great-great grandson, while he looked through the contents of a small leather box that had been kept by Darwin's daughter Etty. They were wrapped in tissue paper marked "remaining hair" and pla

New home for Donatello and Da Vinci in London

The Victoria and Albert Museum yesterday announced that the first phase of its dramatic expansion plans will be completed with the opening of its £30m medieval and Renaissance galleries this time next year. Ten new rooms occupying an entire wing of the museum will display 1,800 treasures including a permanent display of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks. A whole gallery is to be devoted to the work of the sculptor Donatello, while masterpieces of medieval craftsmanship on

Waltz with Bashir: buried memories of a massacre

When director Ari Folman set out four years ago to shoot what he calls “a personal documentary” about his memories of serving in the Israeli Army during the first Lebanon War of 1982, he thought he was making a small, anti-Establishment film. He could hardly have foreseen how differently events would turn out. Waltz with Bashir, an animated account of Folman’s experiences as a soldier, has become a huge, unexpected international success. Wildly acclaimed on its world premiere at th

Monster influence of loch mystery

Since the Dark Ages, stories of the Loch Ness Monster have thrilled and intrigued the public. Nessie has gone on to inspire Hollywood, monster hunters and the advertising world. On the video sharing website, YouTube, a search for the Loch Ness Monster offers more than 2,000 clips. On the 75th anniversary of the first photograph of a mysterious shape on the loch, here are some of the stories, films, adverts and theories....

Darwin at the Natural History Museum: the original of the species

Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species shattered a vast collection of cherished myths. The truths he showed us are so difficult to consider that we still haven't got round to taking them on board. Instead, we have created a new mythology to cover up the gaping hole Darwin has left in our species-pride. It was Freud who suggested that history had given three insupportable blows to human self-esteem. The first was the revelation that the Earth was not the centre of the Univers