Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...the Mother's Day edition!

...Based on what I've read so far, Jennifer Grant's tribute to her father, Cary Grant, is charming. I love the insight into things such as how much he treasured books, music -- and the Dodgers! Last weekend CBS had an interview with Jennifer which included home movie footage. For more information, check out Susan King's interview with Jennifer in the Los Angeles Times.

...Leonard Maltin writes about the disappearance of film and its distinctive look, as well as the pressures the changeover to digital is putting on independent and small theaters. The L.A. Times article he references was linked in a previous roundup.

...I'm sure most of my readers enjoy Jacqueline Lynch's Another Old Movie Blog as much as I do. Jacqueline celebrated National Train Day -- who knew there was one?! -- with reviews of UNION PACIFIC (1939) and THE NARROW MARGIN (1952). As much as I loved THE NARROW MARGIN, I'm still trying to figure out if Marie Windsor's character made sense. A good excuse to watch it again!

...At another favorite blog, Out of the Past, Raquelle made me aware of an interesting new documentary, THESE AMAZING SHADOWS (2011), about the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

...Speaking of the Library of Congress, the L.A. Times ran an interesting story about the Library's work to preserve America's musical heritage.

...Jim Lane's Cinedrome has a thoughtful post on NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES (1948), which I reviewed in February. I was interested to make the connection that the coauthor of the script was Barre Lyndon, whose work included the very recently seen films THE LODGER (1944) and HANGOVER SQUARE (1945), as well as the docu-noir THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET (1945).

...It's always great to see a post by J.C. Loophole at the Shelf! J.C. recently reviewed THE JACKPOT (1950), a comedy starring Jimmy Stewart, Barbara Hale, and Natalie Wood.

..."If Supermarkets Were Like Public Schools" -- I love this analogy! Having experienced both public and private schools, as well as homeschooling, I love the points about the lack of choice and the lack of responsiveness to customers at the public school. Although there are individual good teachers, the public school in general simply has no reason to think of us as "paying clients." At the private school, on the other hand, the attitude was always "How can we help your student and your family?"

...Here's Cliff's tribute to TCM Star of the Month Esther Williams at Immortal Ephemera. Wonderful photos!

...I love the classic look of THE FRENCH BRASSERIE COOKBOOK by Daniel Galmiche, coming this fall.

...Also in a cooking vein, this recipe for pretzel rolls at the blog Butteryum looks amazing. (Via TasteSpotting.)

...Friday was Stewart Granger's birthday, celebrated at Noir and Chick Flicks.

...Chris Yogerst reviews a new book, THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE WESTERN, at Big Hollywood.

...In his column The British Beat, Barrie Maxwell of the Digital Bits reviews recent releases of British films and TV shows, including James Mason in CANDLELIGHT IN ALGERIA (1943), which I'd like to pick up at some point.

...I enjoyed this L.A. Times overview of dance being celebrated at the recently concluded TCM Festival. I'm glad I got to see both Leslie Caron and George Chakiris at the Egyptian Theatre last year...I'd love the opportunity to see Marge Champion in person.

...And speaking of Leslie Caron, last week Suzidoll wrote about AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951) at the TCM Movie Morlocks blog.

Have a great week!