Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Biographies “Paging through movie-star biographies - Rock Hill Herald” plus 3 more

Biographies “Paging through movie-star biographies - Rock Hill Herald” plus 3 more

Paging through movie-star biographies - Rock Hill Herald

Posted: 11 Nov 2009 05:00 AM PST

So how was her life really? Donald Spoto, who's written a slew of celebrity biographies, has an answer: pretty much the same as the fairy tale.

It may not be completely Spoto's fault that "High Society" has a glossy, less-is-less feel to it. As he explains in the introduction, he first met Kelly when she already was settled into her role as Princess Grace of Monaco, and she immediately cast a spell over him. (I'm sure he wasn't the first.)

What you get is largely Kelly's life from Kelly's point of view, a poor little rich girl who has it all and lives happily ever after, while missing what she had.

There's some of the gossip-page stuff, like her coulda-woulda-shouldn'ta relationship with fashion designer Oleg Cassini. There's unpublished interviews with co-stars (James Stewart, Cary Grant) and directors (Alfred Hitchcock).

But for all the pop psychology - a hard-to-please father and the daddy complex that resulted - "High Society" is more a valentine than the detailed portrait it might have been.

-"Thank Heaven: A Memoir" by Leslie Caron; Viking (272 pages, $25.95)

In her enchanting but sketchy memoir, Caron doesn't pretend she's got the whole story on herself. Which is a good thing, since there are whole chunks of her history missing from "Thank Heaven."

What you do get are some captivating remembrances of some of her best-known movies ("An American in Paris," "Gigi") and Caron's opinions on just about everyone in her life. And for someone with her resume - hired as a teenager by Gene Kelly, befriended by French film giants Francois Truffaut and Jean Renoir, a player by marriage in the London theater revival, lover of Warren Beatty (who then rejected her as a co-star in "Bonnie and Clyde") - that's a lot of people.

She also offers a lot of insight into the nature of celebrity, a world that she loathes and, when it's gone, mourns.

Caron recalls, after leaving a Hollywood party, nearly driving into a house in the middle of the street; it was being moved to a higher-priced neighborhood. What surprised her most was that no one else was surprised. "Everyone in Hollywood was in transit," Caron writes. "You were either rising or slipping."

-"How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood" by William J. Mann; Houghton Mifflin (484 pages, $28)

Mann's point is simple: Liz Taylor invented modern-day movie stardom. And he's right, although he probably could have made his point better without the cattiness and hero worship.

Then again, if you can't be dishy about Liz - who busted up two famous marriages (not counting her own famous marriages), took on one movie studio while nearly bankrupting another, and gave the paparazzi their reason for being - who can you be dishy about?

For what is, in its essence, a superficial subject, Mann digs pretty deep, with loads of interviews and context to show Taylor's steady, deliberate construction of her fame from her days as a teen star (1944's "National Velvet") to winning her second Oscar (for 1966's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?").

In the end, the tone is the funnest thing about "How to Be a Movie Star." But it's also a distraction from an otherwise engaging and insightful study of celebrity.

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Award-Winning Filmmaker Frederic Lumiere Brings Week-Long Television ... - Consumer Electronics Net

Posted: 11 Nov 2009 06:05 AM PST

WWII in HD Premiers on Sunday, November 15

November 11, 2009 --

DOYLESTOWN, Pa., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- WWII in HD is the first-ever World War II documentary presented in full, immersive HD color. Interviews with war veterans and thousands of hours of rare color footage were gathered from a two-year worldwide search.

The series tells the story of the war through the eyes of 12 Americans who lived it. It's narrated by Emmy Award winner Gary Sinise and voiced by Justin Bartha, Rob Corddry, Tim DeKay, Mark Hefti, James Kyson Lee, Ron Livingston, LL Cool J, Rob Lowe, Josh Lucas, Jason Ritter, Amy Smart and Steve Zahn.

WWII in HD is a new approach to war documentary filmmaking. With a merging of genres, it's a war documentary mixed with a feature film and a drama television series. "Everything is in-the-moment. The battles are as real as they can be, creating a visceral experience. This is presented as a billion-dollar Hollywood epic but better, because it's real. We see what they saw and we hear the soldiers' thoughts through the voices of Hollywood's top talents as their stories develop," stated Frederic Lumiere, producer and director of WWII in HD. "The contemporary interviews with the veterans are each treated like a scene in a film. The aim is to keep the viewer captivated."


WWII in HD was produced by Lou Reda Productions with Executive Producers Lou Reda, Scott Reda and Matt Ginsburg; Producer Liz Reph; and Producer/Director Frederic Lumiere.

The 10-hour series will premiere over five consecutive nights from Sunday-Thursday, Nov. 15-19 at 9-11 p.m. EST on History Channel. To view the trailer for WWII in HD: http://www.history.com/content/wwii-in-hd

About Frederic Lumiere

Lumiere is an award-winning filmmaker and an industry-recognized leader in the fields of HD production and post-production. His first feature film, "Tomorrow is Today" starring Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie's Halloween/Halloween II) has received 11 awards to date including the Directorial Discovery Award from the Rhode Island International Film Festival and Best Actress Award from Method Fest. He has also produced, directed and edited award-winning programming for Cinemax, A&E, History Channel and Biography Channel.

Lumiere created Lumiere HD, software recognized by Apple as the only viable solution to edit HDV on their platforms for two years after the introduction of the format. He was also one of the original architects of the revolutionary Red Digital Camera, which is now employed by leading filmmakers such as Peter Jackson and Steven Soderbergh.

Lumiere is a frequent speaker at events such as NAB, DV Expo and Macworld and has been interviewed for feature articles in trade magazines such as Post, Videography, Studio Daily, Film & Video Magazine, Videomaker and others. Over the past three years, Lumiere has worked as a producer, director or editor on four biographies, three feature-length documentaries and two History Channel series.

For additional press information and photography:

Press Photos:

http://gallery.me.com/frhaubrich#100163

Follow Frederic Lumiere on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/frednow

MEDIA CONTACT: Jennifer Haubrich (310) 880-6690 jennifer@lumieremedia.com

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Lumiere Media

Copyright 2009 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved

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Award-Winning Filmmaker Frederic Lumiere Brings Week-Long Television ... - Investors Business Daily

Posted: 11 Nov 2009 05:00 AM PST

DOYLESTOWN, Pa., Nov 11, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- WWII in HD is the first-ever World War II documentary presented in full, immersive HD color. Interviews with war veterans and thousands of hours of rare color footage were gathered from a two-year worldwide search.

The series tells the story of the war through the eyes of 12 Americans who lived it. It's narrated by Emmy Award winner Gary Sinise and voiced by Justin Bartha, Rob Corddry, Tim DeKay, Mark Hefti, James Kyson Lee, Ron Livingston, LL Cool J, Rob Lowe, Josh Lucas, Jason Ritter, Amy Smart and Steve Zahn.

WWII in HD is a new approach to war documentary filmmaking. With a merging of genres, it's a war documentary mixed with a feature film and a drama television series. "Everything is in-the-moment. The battles are as real as they can be, creating a visceral experience. This is presented as a billion-dollar Hollywood epic but better, because it's real. We see what they saw and we hear the soldiers' thoughts through the voices of Hollywood's top talents as their stories develop," stated Frederic Lumiere, producer and director of WWII in HD. "The contemporary interviews with the veterans are each treated like a scene in a film. The aim is to keep the viewer captivated."

WWII in HD was produced by Lou Reda Productions with Executive Producers Lou Reda, Scott Reda and Matt Ginsburg; Producer Liz Reph; and Producer/Director Frederic Lumiere.

The 10-hour series will premiere over five consecutive nights from Sunday-Thursday, Nov. 15-19 at 9-11 p.m. EST on History Channel. To view the trailer for WWII in HD: http://www.history.com/content/wwii-in-hd

About Frederic Lumiere

Lumiere is an award-winning filmmaker and an industry-recognized leader in the fields of HD production and post-production. His first feature film, "Tomorrow is Today" starring Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie's Halloween/Halloween II) has received 11 awards to date including the Directorial Discovery Award from the Rhode Island International Film Festival and Best Actress Award from Method Fest. He has also produced, directed and edited award-winning programming for Cinemax, A&E, History Channel and Biography Channel.

Lumiere created Lumiere HD, software recognized by Apple as the only viable solution to edit HDV on their platforms for two years after the introduction of the format. He was also one of the original architects of the revolutionary Red Digital Camera, which is now employed by leading filmmakers such as Peter Jackson and Steven Soderbergh.

Lumiere is a frequent speaker at events such as NAB, DV Expo and Macworld and has been interviewed for feature articles in trade magazines such as Post, Videography, Studio Daily, Film & Video Magazine, Videomaker and others. Over the past three years, Lumiere has worked as a producer, director or editor on four biographies, three feature-length documentaries and two History Channel series.

For additional press information and photography:

Press Photos:

http://gallery.me.com/frhaubrich#100163

Follow Frederic Lumiere on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/frednow

    MEDIA CONTACT:

    Jennifer Haubrich
    (310) 880-6690
    jennifer@lumieremedia.com

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Lumiere Media


http://www.history.com/content/wwii-in-hd

Copyright (C) 2009 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

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27 veterans honored at Booton ceremony - Morris County Daily Record

Posted: 11 Nov 2009 04:17 AM PST

BOONTON --They could only be gathered for one purpose, these officials, these sons and daughters, grandchildren, husbands and wives.

They could only be coming together to honor those from families, neighborhoods and towns who had donned a uniform, picked up a weapon, or drove a truck, designed a plan for battle or supplies, as they served in the U.S. military.

So at Boonton High School Tuesday, more than 100 friends and family watched as childern of the town honored 27 U.S veterans.

Frank Dunn, a Boonton High School teacher, and one of those presented with the Morris County Distinguished Service Medal, reminded the audience of the cost of service as he called for a moment of silence to remember five Boonton veterans who died in combat, and the 13 victims of the Fort Hood shooting.

Boonton Schools Superintendent Christine Johnson said that since her district has developed a good relationship with Morris County, she wanted to combine the medal ceremonies held to honor county veterans with an educational experience for her students.

A group of middle and high school students researched the stories of the local veterans, and found not just stories about those men and woman, Johnson said, but found family members and neighbors who had served but who had not been presented with the county service medal.

The students, in pairs, read brief biographies of the recipients' service and lives on Tuesday and placed the medal suspended on a red, white and blue ribbon around their necks.

Besides the research, Johnson said, the goal of the effort was to show the students what exists outside their young lives.

Johnson said she would like to see other Morris school districts try a similar project.

Freeholder Director Gene Feyl reminded the audience that only six months ago on Memorial Day, they had gathered to remember those who died in service of their country.

The medal presented to the Boonton veterans Tuesday continues an effort started by Morris County that has resulted in honoring 8,950 veterans, Feyl said.

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