Yesterday was the opening of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The dedication is coming up on Sunday (and Aretha will be there -- one waits in breathless anticipation to see what she will have perched on her head!). Here some more factoids about the memorial. While I work on getting to DC myself, I'll look forward to hearing a report from someone who's been there.
Update (Thursday evening): The foundation building the new memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. on the National Mall said the dedication has been postponed due to Hurricane Irene, according to the Associated Press. Executive architect Ed Jackson Jr. told the AP in a statement that no new date has been set for the dedication originally planned for Sunday (more info).
Showing posts with label king. Show all posts
Showing posts with label king. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Movies That Will Never Be Made
I have very mixed feelings about books being made into movies. If I'm going to see a movie that's based on a book, I usually try to read the book first, because I've found that having seen the movie can often disrupt the experience of reading the book, while reading the book first rarely ruins the viewing of the movie.
I can only think of one movie that was actually better than the book, and that was The Shawshank Redemption -- since it was based on a short story, there wasn't so much to lose in the translation to film, and with Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman and the splendid perfomances of the film's supporting cast, the story really comes to life in a way that pleases my imagination. Mr. Freeman's Red Redding is embodied with much more depth than the character has in the book. And his voice always adds to whatever role his is playing -- I would happily listen to the man reading a phone book.
I can think of wonderful movies that are based on books, but most adaptations never reach quite as far as the tomes from which they rose. Gregory Peck gave us a beautiful Atticus Finch, but if I really want to wallow in that delightful story set in Maycomb, Alabama, I can't do it without pulling out out our well-worn copy of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. And while I am fond of all of the amusing attempts to bring Pride and Prejudice to the big screen (despite its rather obvious shortcomings, my favorite is the 1940 Garson/Olivier version, because Olivier is wonderful in every way), who could ever really prefer any of them to Jane Austen's beautiful novel?
Anyway, that's a long way around to saying that I think it's a good thing that for one reason or another, these books might never make it to the multiplex. I'm rather attached to the wacky casts of characters that have populated my imagination since savoring 100 Years of Solitude and A Confederacy of Dunces and would rather not have my versions replaced with someone else's. And who could possibly be so arrogant as to think he (or she) can bring life to Holden Caufield or Gregor Samsa in a way that would do the characters justice? And so on...
I think I'm glad these books have, so far, stayed safe from those would Disnify them. I hope it lasts.
I can only think of one movie that was actually better than the book, and that was The Shawshank Redemption -- since it was based on a short story, there wasn't so much to lose in the translation to film, and with Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman and the splendid perfomances of the film's supporting cast, the story really comes to life in a way that pleases my imagination. Mr. Freeman's Red Redding is embodied with much more depth than the character has in the book. And his voice always adds to whatever role his is playing -- I would happily listen to the man reading a phone book.
I can think of wonderful movies that are based on books, but most adaptations never reach quite as far as the tomes from which they rose. Gregory Peck gave us a beautiful Atticus Finch, but if I really want to wallow in that delightful story set in Maycomb, Alabama, I can't do it without pulling out out our well-worn copy of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. And while I am fond of all of the amusing attempts to bring Pride and Prejudice to the big screen (despite its rather obvious shortcomings, my favorite is the 1940 Garson/Olivier version, because Olivier is wonderful in every way), who could ever really prefer any of them to Jane Austen's beautiful novel?
Anyway, that's a long way around to saying that I think it's a good thing that for one reason or another, these books might never make it to the multiplex. I'm rather attached to the wacky casts of characters that have populated my imagination since savoring 100 Years of Solitude and A Confederacy of Dunces and would rather not have my versions replaced with someone else's. And who could possibly be so arrogant as to think he (or she) can bring life to Holden Caufield or Gregor Samsa in a way that would do the characters justice? And so on...
I think I'm glad these books have, so far, stayed safe from those would Disnify them. I hope it lasts.
(And I brace myself for what the film industry is going do to Phillip Pullman's wonderful trilogy, His Dark Materials, when it hits the theaters this fall.)
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Coming Out Day
It was today.
Via Tennessee Guerilla Women
"Like my husband, I believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere." -- Coretta Scott King
Civil rights are civil rights. There are no persons who are not entitiled to their civil rights. -- Dorothy Height
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
King Funeral (updated)
I caught as much of the King funeral as I could on C-Span Tuesday afternoon and then watched it again when they reran the whole thing in the evening -- it was a beautiful event. Maya Angelou was wonderful, as usual (I could listen to that woman read the phone book and be happy) and the speeches were moving and inspiring. I'm sure plenty of links to quotes, videos and other bits and pieces will sprout up in the coming hours, and I'll post them here as I come upon them.
The Funeral Program (pdf), funeral photo gallery and CSK photo gallery.
Video of remarks from Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King Jr.; some video clips: Carter, Bush, and the Big Dog; and Coretta Scott King Remembered.
Bush's remarks.
The King Center and Wiki bio.
Recaps from Kim, Mark, Rod and Keith, who included this gem:
And here's more from perrspectives, Susan, TL, the Republic of T, Matt, Keith, John and Markos ("it's up to Republican blowhards to tell people when to create life, when they can die, and, now, how they are eulogized").
What do you think pisses the right wing off most about this funeral? That speakers were all factually correct? That Bill Clinton can out-Bible Bush, even without notes and a speech writer? That Bush was forced to appear in front of a group of people that didn't have to sign loyalty oaths on their way into the venue? I agree that Bush had no good option in this situation -- he had to either go to the funeral and take it like a man (which, to his credit, he did), or skip the funeral and be criticized for not going. Bush has spent years making his bed and yesterday he was willing to lie in it -- so why are the wingnuts having such a hard time with it? Perhaps they have been lulled into a false sense of reality by all of Bush's carefully selected, pre-screened audiences and faked events?
The Funeral Program (pdf), funeral photo gallery and CSK photo gallery.
Video of remarks from Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King Jr.; some video clips: Carter, Bush, and the Big Dog; and Coretta Scott King Remembered.
Bush's remarks.
The King Center and Wiki bio.
Recaps from Kim, Mark, Rod and Keith, who included this gem:
She was surely a legend, as many people pointed out, but she was also a living human being, as Bill Clinton observed thoughtfully. She was a real person, not just a symbol. And of all her numerous accomplishments, perhaps none is greater than the legacy that she left. That she was able to bring the President of the United States to Atlanta to listen to the plight of the people that many felt he had once ignored. I don't know what speech George Bush thought he was giving last week in Washington. But down in Atlanta, he was forced to hear the real State of the Union.The rightwing blogosphere is having a collective stroke because people at the King funeral dared to tell us what was in their hearts and on their minds as they remembered a great woman. Oliver, ReddHedd, Jane, Steve, Digby (via kos), John, Pam, a dude named "Dad", and Oliver again are on it.
And here's more from perrspectives, Susan, TL, the Republic of T, Matt, Keith, John and Markos ("it's up to Republican blowhards to tell people when to create life, when they can die, and, now, how they are eulogized").
What do you think pisses the right wing off most about this funeral? That speakers were all factually correct? That Bill Clinton can out-Bible Bush, even without notes and a speech writer? That Bush was forced to appear in front of a group of people that didn't have to sign loyalty oaths on their way into the venue? I agree that Bush had no good option in this situation -- he had to either go to the funeral and take it like a man (which, to his credit, he did), or skip the funeral and be criticized for not going. Bush has spent years making his bed and yesterday he was willing to lie in it -- so why are the wingnuts having such a hard time with it? Perhaps they have been lulled into a false sense of reality by all of Bush's carefully selected, pre-screened audiences and faked events?
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