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

Perfume vials from Christ's era unearthed in Israel

A team of Franciscan archaeologists digging in the biblical town of Magdala in what is now Israel say they have unearthed vials of perfume similar to those that may have been used by the woman said to have washed Jesus' feet. The perfumed ointments were found intact at the bottom of a mud-filled swimming pool, alongside hair and make-up objects, the director of the dig conducted by the group Studium Biblicum Franciscanum told the Terrasanta.net religious website.

Unraveling a 15th-Century Whodunit

FRANKFURT — Here at the Städel Museum “The Master of Flémalle and Rogier van der Weyden” is an old-fashioned whodunit. Almost exhaustingly erudite, it mixes up very great Netherlandish paintings of the 15th century with a few not so great ones to unravel perennial questions from galaxy academe about which artist painted what. Why should we care? For the same reason film buffs debate if Howard Hawks was the real director behind “The Thing From Another World,” the sci-fi classic from

Paris exhibit chronicles Napoleon's encounter with the Pharaohs

A brash young Western leader, fresh off a traumatic national crisis, invades a Middle East country, ostensibly to spread democratic ideals. Instead he winds up violently resented by the locals and strengthening his rivals, who immediately exploit his weaknesses. No, we’re not talking about George W. Bush and his post-Sept. 11 war against Iraq, but Napoleon Bonaparte, the French general whose forces invaded and briefly occupied Egypt nine years after a cataclysmic revolution.

Dr. King's Documents Withdrawn From Auction

On the eve of a planned Sotheby’s auction of three documents related to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Harry Belafonte, the singer and a friend of Dr. King who owned the papers, withdrew the items for sale. In a brief statement released on Wednesday afternoon, Sotheby’s said the items had been removed from the auction roster “at the request of Mr. Harry Belafonte.” Sotheby’s gave no reason for the withdrawal, and Mr. Belafonte did not return calls left with his agent.

Selling the Myriad Products of Churchill's Toil and Sweat

There is an enthusiastic bite -- nipper unknown -- taken from the blue front cover of a first-edition copy of "The Unrelenting Struggle," a collection of Winston Churchill speeches published in 1942. It's yours to chew over for $60 at Chartwell Booksellers, a store that caters to Winnie's most loyal -- ravenous -- fans. According to proprietor Barry Singer, Chartwell, which is now in its 25th anniversary year, is the world's largest dealer in Churchill materials -- books, photographs,

British museum's Hadrian Exhibit ... Empire repeats itself

If Gordon Brown, the UK's current prime minister, or the next American president (yet to be determined) were to visit the British Museum's latest high-profile show, Hadrian: Empire and Conflict , he might find some uncomfortable parallels with one of Rome's greatest emperors — not to mention some differences he might envy. As the exhibition catalogue points out, the major conflict zones of his time are strikingly familiar today: the Balkans, Caucasus, Mesopotamia and Judea/Palestin

Zoie Films offers Victoria Woodhull documentary now on DVD free!

More than a century after she became the first woman to run for president, the controversial and colorful Victoria Woodhull is chronicled in a compelling documentary produced by Victoria Weston and is available to individuals and libraries free for the holidays. "America’s Victoria, Remembering Victoria Woodhull” is a feature length documentary previously featured on PBS television is now available for free. Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to campaign for US Presiden

For the Inauguration, 10 Smithsonian Exhibits

To celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama, the Smithsonian Institution yesterday announced 10 exhibits at its museums -- five that are brand new and five that center on Abraham Lincoln. Those five shows play into the Lincoln-Obama connections that popped up during the election, and also give the Smithsonian a little jump on the events surrounding next year's bicentennial of Lincoln's birth."Part of it is that Lincoln is an enduring personality. Lincoln is in our national DNA, a

500 years on, a fresh look at England's mightiest monarch

An exhibition that seeks to blow away the preconceptions surrounding arguably England's most important monarch was yesterday announced by the British Library to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne. Its curator, the historian and broadcaster David Starkey, said the exhibition would go beyond most people's perceptions of Henry, which tended to focus on the wives, monasteries and murders. "In this exhibition," Starkey said, "W

Charlotte Bronte's handiwork set for auction

Described as "unique" by art experts, the cabinet contains four rooms decorated with miniature figures and furniture by the author of Jane Eyre. It was last owned by Roger Warner, the legendary antiques dealer, whose private collection is to be auctioned by Christie's in January. The "George II grained four-room 'baby' house circa 1750" was redecorated by Bronte in 1839 during her time as a governess for the Sidgwicks, a wealthy family based in Skipton, Yorkshire

TV series on Imam Khomeini's exile in Paris being filmed

Some episodes were shot at Sadabad and Niavaran palaces and some others will be shot on location in suburbs of Tehran, the series producer Abdolhamid Arjmand told MNA. “We are remaking Imam Khomeini’s residence located near Tehran, which even includes a garden with a tree he sat under most of the time,” he said. He went on to say that amateur extras, who resemble the political figures and officials of those days, will be playing the roles in the TV series.

In the PBS documentary "Inheritance," the daughter of Nazi murderer Amon Goeth struggles to accept an unbearable legacy.

Monika Hertwig knew very little about her father until she went to see Steven Spielberg's film "Schindler's List." According to Hertwig, no one in Germany talked about the Second World War. Her grandmother had told her, when she was 11, that her father was hanged for killing Jews as the head of the Plaszow concentration camp in Krakow, Poland. But she didn't fully grasp her father's unconscionable acts until 1993, when Spielberg's film came out. The moment Ralph Fiennes' character was

Disney's Tomorrowland remembered

MORE THAN HALF a century ago, Disneyland opened its House of the Future attraction. I was 10, and I was attracted. In fact, I was in love. The Tomorrowland dwelling had a cruciform floor plan, a more elegant solution to bringing light and air into a "machine for living" than Le Corbusier had been able to devise. Each side of each arm of the cross was glazed, sill to ceiling. The mullions and rails between the panes were as pleasingly orchestrated as Mondrian's black stripe

'Frost/Nixon' shines a light on the Bush presidency

Nixon gave the country closure; Bush shows no such inclination. When Richard Nixon, a politician who hated and feared the media, decided to spurn the networks and the newsmen and give his first comprehensive, post-resignation interviews to a lightweight talk-show host, the country got something unexpected from the disgraced president and his dilettante interviewer: Closure. The televised confrontation, and the catharsis it engendered, made it to a wider screen last week as Ron

Queen Victoria's sleigh goes on display at Windsor Castle

A sleigh used by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert went on display for the first time at Windsor Castle to mark the festive season. Victoria and Albert often enjoyed rides around Windsor in the sleigh, made by Hooper & Co. The Prince would drive the carriage, which was pulled by a pair of horses with harnesses decorated with ostrich plumes and silver bells.

Benecio del Toro’s new film about Che glorifies the communist mass murderer

“I’d like to dedicate this to the man himself, Che Guevara!” announced Benicio del Toro this May, as he received a “best actor” award for his starring role in Che, a reverent new film about the communist revolutionary. As the crowd at the Cannes Film Festival erupted in thunderous ovation, the Puerto Rico-born actor gushed that “I wouldn't be here without Che Guevara, and through all the awards the movie gets you'll have to pay your respects to the man!" But some stubbornly ref

Wilde's earliest letter to Bosie found after 50 years

A collection of letters and manuscripts by Oscar Wilde, seemingly lost for more than 50 years have been rediscovered by academics. The nine manuscripts and four letters that illuminate the life and work of the celebrated writer, dramatist, wit, and self-proclaimed "lord of language", were donated to The Morgan Library.

Race to South Pole in Cpt Scott's footsteps launched

Adventurers including Ben Fogle and James Cracknell have begun training in earnest for a race to the South Pole following in the footsteps of Captain Scott. The Amundsden Omega 3 South Pole Race represents the first international race over the Antarctic since the defeat of Capt Scott by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen almost 100 years ago. Olympic rowing gold medallist Cracknell, television presenter Fogle and their UK teammates will race a Norwegian team, among others f

Shakespeare and Dickens brought to life on Nintendo DS games consoles

Nintendo, the Japanese video games has announced a deal with the publisher HarperCollins to make the classics available to read on its DS games consoles. The unlikely partnership means that the names of computer game characters such as Donkey Kong and Mario will sit alongside the likes of Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters on the hand-held gadgets. The 100 Classic Book Collection will cost about £20 and will be available initially only in Britain. However, if the collab

National Academy Sells Two Hudson River School Paintings to Bolster Its Finances

The National Academy, the venerable artist-governed museum and school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, has quietly sold two Hudson River School paintings from its collection to shore up its finances and enable it to show more of its holdings on a consistent basis, the academy’s officials said on Friday. The sale of the paintings, Frederic Edwin Church’s “Scene on the Magdalene” from 1854 and Sanford Robinson Gifford’s “Mount Mansfield, Vermont” from 1859, was sharply criticized