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

So Goes the Nation (Documentary)

A ‘what went wrong?’ documentary bristling with answers, “...So Goes the Nation” is a clear-eyed and utterly ruthless dissection of the battle for Ohio in the months leading up to the 2004 presidential election. Zeroing in on the strategic decisions of both major parties, the directors, James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, illuminate not only the putative blunders of the Kerry-Edwards campaign but also the larger difficulties of the Democratic Party itself. It’s not pretty, but it is instructive.

The Queen (Movie)

Directed by Stephen Frears from a very smart script by Peter Morgan, who helped write “The Last King of Scotland,” also about crazy rulers and the people who love (and hate) them, “The Queen” pries open a window in the House of Windsor around the time of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, blending fact with fiction. It begins just days before her fatal car crash in 1997, when the princess, glimpsed only in television news clips and photographs, had completely transformed into Diana, the onet

American Blackout (Documentary)

Few things in a democracy are more sacrosanct than the right to vote, and in his furious documentary “American Blackout,” Ian Inaba assembles compelling evidence to support his claim that African-Americans — who are traditionally more likely to vote Democratic — are being deliberately and systematically excluded from the political process. Interviewing Congressional leaders, journalists and regular voters, Mr. Inaba begins by addressing the Florida debacle of 2000, arguing that behind the exhaus

Flags of Our Fathers (Movie)

Oscar season is only just getting under way, but on credentials alone a presumptive front-runner would have to be Clint Eastwood’s “Flags of Our Fathers,” the World War II epic about the men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima, which began screening for selected journalists this week in New York. ... A big, booming spectacle that sprawls across oceans and generations, “Flags of Our Fathers,” which opens on Oct. 20, was anything but a simple undertaking. With much of film following the surviving flag

Discovering the Dead Sea Scrolls (Exhibit/Seattle Pacific Science Center)

The Dead Sea scrolls have awed audiences everywhere they have been exhibited. Discovering the Dead Sea Scrolls is an original exhibition exploring both the context of the scrolls and the science and scholarship associated with their discovery and interpretation. Regarded by many as one of the greatest archeological discoveries of the 20th century, these scrolls predate Christianity. Until their discovery, the oldest Hebrew biblical manuscript known to scholars was written in 895 C.E.* The

The U.S. vs. John Lennon (Documentary)

This movie documents the FBI's investigation of Beatle John Lennon in the early 1970s. It features interviews with historian Jon Wiener.

Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela (PBS)

One black-and-white photograph turns up several times in Thomas Allen Harris’s “Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela,” to be shown tonight on PBS’s “P.O.V.” series. It shows a dozen young black men, half of them seated, the other half standing behind them as if for a class picture, most with beaming smiles. As Mr. Harris points out in this important documentary, some called them the Twelve From Bloemfontein, for the South African city where they lived. The photo was taken almost half a century ago

Mr. Conservative (HBO)

First came Rory Kennedy, then Ivy Meeropol, and now CC Goldwater. Yet another young woman from a famous family has turned documentarian. Maybe there’s something in the granddaughter’s vantage that translates smoothly into the form: modern documentaries are typically observant, archival, conscientious, interrogative and ideologically tentative. A girl who grew up listening to blowhard arguments, staying out of fights and keeping watchful track of people’s feelings may find in documentary both

The day Elvis got all shook up over secret White House meeting

It was one of the more unlikely meetings in American history - the day the president came face to face with the King. The Richard Nixon Presidential Library in California is celebrating what would have been Elvis Presley's 72nd birthday with a display of items from the day he dropped in unannounced to the White House. The photograph of a cloaked and bejewelled Elvis solemnly shaking hands with Mr Nixon at their secret meeting on 21 December, 1970, remains the most requested

Greensboro Lunch counter in special museum exhibit

The Woolworth's lunch counter that became a symbol of the nation's civil rights movement in 1960 is part of an exhibit of national icons at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.The 8-foot section of the lunch counter is displayed with Thomas Jefferson's Bible, the Lone Ranger's mask and the hat Abraham Lincoln wore the night he was assassinated. It sits across from the desk where Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. The collection is

Why tales of Bonnie Prince Charlie still have an edge

Made in Germany in the 18th century it features, near the hilt, the legends "Prosperity to Schottland" and "End the Union". The weapon is part of the "Rebels With a Cause" exhibition in Holyrood that examines the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745 and the influence they had on the history of Scotland as well as the wider world. The sword is part of a fascinating display that is also the harbinger of a series of lectures on the Jacobites a

A Tale of Nanjing Atrocities That Spares No Brutal Detail

Two terrible faces stare out from “City of Life and Death,” a fictionalized telling of the Rape of Nanjing, a pair of indelible bookends for this anguished film. The first belongs to Lu (Liu Ye), who, with hundreds of other soldiers, has been rounded up by invading Japanese troops amid a frenzy of violence. The close-up of Lu’s impassive face locked in unspoken emotion floods the screen.

Robin Hood Trailer Released

Universal Pictures has released the first trailer for the Robin Hood movie that will be coming out in 2010. Directed by Ridley Scott, the film stars Russell Crowe along with Cate Blanchett and William Hurt. It has been described as a more gritty portrayal of the Robin Hood legend. The official synopsis of the film was also released: "Oscar winner Russel Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as 'Robin Hood,' whose exploits have endured in popular

Movie Review: "Precious"

Is Precious keeping it real or just keeping it sordid? Audiences are clearly moved by it, but moved to do what? To feel and think what? Many viewers have hailed the recent release as Oscar-worthy because it's "raw" and "powerful." As Peter Travers of Rolling Stone writes, "Once Precious gets its hooks into you, no way is it letting go." Whether the Hollywood elite reacting to exclusive private screenings or Facebook users turning their status updates in

Greg Victor: “The People Speak”: Matt Damon rewrites American History

[Greg Victor, Culture Editor for "ParcBench" is a historian, pop culture critic, and theatrical writer] Hate history class? If so, then you must have had to put up with one of those pesky history teachers that insisted on footnotes and citations. And your teacher must have forced you to study the humankind-hating words of dead, white males that are responsible for everything bad in this world. Now there is no more need for any of that. Matt Damon

"From Babylon to Baghdad: Ancient Iraq and the Modern West" a free e-book

Announcing the release of From Babylon to Baghdad: Ancient Iraq and the Modern West, a free e-book published by the Biblical Archaeology Society (BAS). This latest publication from BAS comes at a time of great concern for Iraq’s cultural heritage on the part of the archaeological community, which is outlined in a recent UNESCO report assessing the damage incurred to ancient sites and museums during the course of the Iraq war. From Babylon to Baghdad: Ancient Iraq and the Modern West e

Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire (video)

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Germany to stage Mel Brooks's Nazi-themed musical for the first time

The controversial Mel Brooks musical The Producers is to be staged in Germany for the first time amid a debate over whether the country is ready to laugh at its Nazi past. Berlin's Admiralspalast theatre is putting on the first-ever production of the show which features tap-dancing storm troopers and jokes about the invasion of Poland. The move comes as part of a rise in the number of films and documentaries revisiting the Third Reich in recent years.

Ford's Theater reopens (video)

Washington to Obama, morphed