On this Day in history as it relates to the movies...

Happy Memorial Day my peoples. Let's have another history lesson via showbiz

On this day in history as it relates to the movies...

1431 Joan of Arc is burned at the stake. If you've never seen The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), one of the best movies of all time containing hugely powerful actressing by Falconetti you must repent. Save your soul and watch it.
1536 King Henry VIII, whose wives all tended to die prematurely (funny how that happens) marries Jane Seymour (not to be confused with the Dr Quinn Medicine Woman & Somewhere in Time actress). 477 years later Oscar Isaac sings about Queen Jane's tragic life in Inside Llewyn Davis's very best scene. 
1896 Howard Hawks is born. Makes so many great films but my favorites are: Bringing Up Baby (1938), Red River (1948) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) 

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013): The Death Of Queen Jane (The Movie Title Song) from dky6dcnQbL dky6dcnQbL on Vimeo.

1899 Movie titan Irving Thalberg is born. The craziest actressexuals (*raises hand*) know him as Mr. Norma Shearer but mostly people think of him as "another name for an Honorary Oscar" though the prize is actually a bust of the man himself. 39 people have won this at the Oscars for bodies of work that "reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production". All 39 of them have been men.
1920 Franklin J Schaffner is born in Tokyo to American missionary parents. He'll eventually direct motion pictures like The Stripper, Boys from Brazil, and Planet of the Apes and win the Oscar for Patton (1970). 
1928 International treasure Agnès Varda is born in Belgium. Anne Marie wrote about her work last year so check that out.
1941 Blood and Sand, Tyrone Power's matador pic, is released. Wins Best Cinematography at the Oscars. Happy 75th Anniversary!
1971 "Adele Dazeem" is born, shatters the ear drum of the doctor who spanks her newborn tush.
2003 Finding Nemo opens in movie theaters. Begins its gargantuan box office swim through movie theaters 
2014 Maleficent opens in theaters, desecreating the beautiful wickedness of one of the all time great screen villains by making her a misunderstood victim.  

Will you be making history today? What's your plan?

Team Experience: Sight & Sound Poll

There's a lot to parse within the BFI's Sight & Sound poll, a once a decade event in which the [air quotes] greatest films of all time [/end air quotes] are named. Given that the results are a product of accumulation of individual opinions, I enlisted Team Film Experience for a variety of voices to respond to it and you can see their quotes below. The list is a critic friendly and far more international affair than other famous mainstream rankings like AFI's Top 100. How did they determine the rank? According to Nick James 1000 critics, academics, writers, cinephiles, and directors were polled as to what ten films they considered The Greatest Ever, whether great meant "historical significance", "artistry" or something more personal to them. 846 top-ten lists were received which means we would like to volunteer to replace any of the 164 invitees who couldn't be bothered next time!

Every entry on a top ten list received one vote so rank didn't matter, nor should it, given that once you're in the upper echelons of achievement it's like splitting hairs. Or, since we're talking about Vertigo, judging who has the best bunhead.

As you've already heard, Alfred Hitchcock's discomfiting chilly double-identity thriller VERTIGO (1958) tossed the discomfitting chilly and ever triumphant CITIZEN KANE (1941) from its bell tower. Is it lonely at the top? Sure thing. [The list and what Team Experience had to say after the jump]

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