The Assassination Of Abraham Lincoln

  

The Assassination Of Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln is still considered the most respected and revered of all U.S. Presidents ever elected to that esteemed office. I have always held a deep and profound sense of awe of the man and all that he accomplished in his years in office. With the presidential reelection last week, the parallels of the pervasive ideologies that divide our nation now and then, tells me that nothing has changed in the years since the Civil War. I found a video today that shows what drove John Wilkes Booth to murder President Lincoln. This video shows the bitterness and the deep hatred that drove the South to separate from the Union that still permeates throughout the country today and deeply divides us all. Not just in a sense of they were wronged by the North, but also how they view life in general, and in their arrogant thinking, that everyone needs to have the same views and rules as they set forth. Will this bring our country down yet again or can we learn from the past?

This HBO documentary is 1 hour and 21 minutes, this film is riveting, moving and very accurate.

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The Secrets of J. Edgar Hoover

One man made the G-men legendary, turned a bumbling FBI into what was perceived to be an army of truth and justice known the world over, and made himself a towering American legend: J. Edgar Hoover. For nearly 50 years, he ran the FBI. As the gatekeeper of its secrets, its power and its image, Hoover kept the keys to a kingdom called Washington.

Of course today, the Hoover legend is not just about crime fighting. It has as much to do with playing fast and loose with civil liberties, with collecting vast secret files on innocent people — a powerful man with secrets of his own, including rumors of bizarre sexual behavior. Though never elected to any office, for 50 years he was more powerful than presidents. As head of the FBI he knew what everyone else wanted to keep hidden. But behind the public persona, his shocking private life nearly brought him down. What were the Secrets of J. Edgar Hoover?

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The Elephant Man

Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick, a 19th-century Englishman afflicted with a disfiguring congenital disease. A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous facade, there is revealed a person of intelligence and sensitivity.

Stars John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft.

Watch the trailer below and view the film at PutLocker, WatchFreeInHD, HDPlay or SockShare.

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Les enfants du siècle

Les enfants du siècle (The Children of the Century): The only thing more outrageous than French novelist George Sand's torrid love affair with the decadent author Alfred de Musset and her affinity for wearing men's clothing, was the content of her writing. Though Sand (otherwise known as the Baroness Dudevant) smoked cigars and cross-dressed, it was the boldness of her writing on issues such as the abstinence of marriage and women's frigidity that most contributed to the scandalous reputation she earned in French literary circles. When she met Alfred de Musset, the most gifted poet of his generation, the two quickly became a public cause celebrity while their work would go on to become some of the finest examples of 19th century romanticism. Stars: Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel and Stefano Dionisi. Watch the trailer below, and the film via YouTube in French, or several versions subtitled in English on PutLocker, uFliq or SockShare.

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Girl with a Pearl Earring

This film, adapted from a work of fiction by author Tracy Chevalier, tells a story about the events surrounding the creation of the painting "Girl With A Pearl Earring" by 17th century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer.

Little is known about the girl in the painting, it is speculated that she was a maid who lived in the house of the painter along with his family and other servants, though there is no historical evidence . This masterful film attempts to recreate the mysterious girl's life.

Griet, played by Scarlett Johansson, is a maid in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer, played by British actor Colin Firth. Vermeer's wealthy patron and sole means of support, Van Ruijven, commissions him to paint Griet with the intent that he will have her for himself before it is finished. She must somehow secretly pose for the crucial painting without the knowledge of Vermeer's wife. Watch the clip, and the movie at StageVU

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Julie & Julia

Nora Ephron adapts Julie Powell's autobiographical book Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen with this Columbia Pictures production starring Amy Adams as an amateur chef who decides to cook every recipe in a cookbook from acclaimed celebrity chef Julia Child (played by Meryl Streep) in order to chronicle it in a blog over the course of a year. Streep's Devil Wears Prada co-star Stanley Tucci re-teams with the actress as Child's husband. Watch a clip below, and the movie at Sockshare, Vidreel, Zalaa.

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Frost/Nixon

Frost/Nixon: A dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon. Stars: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen and Kevin Bacon. Director: Ron Howard

Hollywood heavyweight Ron Howard adapts playwright Peter Morgan's West End hit for the silver screen with this feature focusing on the 1977 television interviews between journalist David Frost (Michael Sheen) and former president Richard Nixon (Frank Langella). At the time Nixon sat down with Frost to discuss the sordid details that ultimately derailed his presidency, it had been three years since the former commander in chief had been forced out of office.

The Watergate scandal was still fresh in everyone's minds, and Nixon had remained notoriously tight-lipped until he agreed to sit down with Frost. Nixon was certain that he could hold his own opposite the up-and-coming British broadcaster, and even Frost's own people weren't quite sure their boss was ready for such a high-profile interview. When the interview ultimately got under way and each man eschewed the typical posturing in favor of the simple truth, fans and critics on both sides were stunned by what they witnessed.

Instead of Nixon stonewalling the interviewer as expected, or Frost lobbing softballs as the truth-seekers feared, what emerged was an unguardedly honest exchange between a man who had lost everything and another with everything to gain. In this film, viewers are treated to not only a recreation of that landmark interview, but a behind-the-scenes look at the power struggles that led up to it as well. Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, and Brian Grazer team to produce a film adapted for the screen by original play author Morgan (The Queen and The Last King of Scotland).

Watch the trailer, below, or the movie at Vidreel, DediTV, or VidBox.

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Miss Potter

Miss Potter: The true story of the woman who created some of the most beloved characters in children's literature comes to the screen in this drama leavened with elements of comedy and romance. Beatrix Potter (Renée Zellweger) is a imaginative but gently eccentric woman living in the socially and intellectually confining circumstances of Victorian England. Potter's wealthy parents are eager for her to marry a successful man and settle down, but she has ideas of her own, and has been writing and illustrating a series of stories for children centered around a character she calls Peter Rabbit.

Potter's efforts to find a publisher for her stories prove difficult, but in time she finds a firm who agrees to give her book a chance, and Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor) is put in charge of the project. While Warne is new to the publishing game, he believes Potter has great talent and potential, and throws himself into the work with enthusiasm. A strong personal bond grows between Potter and Warne, and in time he asks her to marry him; however, Beatrix's parents do not approve of Norman, and she is forced to choose between her mother and father and the man she loves. Norman's sister Mille (Emily Watson) urges Beatrix to follow her heart, and she accepts Norman's proposal, but fate has other plans. Miss Potter was directed by Chris Noonan, who created an international sensation with his first feature film, Babe.

Watch the trailer, below, and the movie at Google Videos or Tudou one and two.

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The Gospel of Judas

National Geographic The Gospel of Judas has been part of an international effort, in collaboration with the Maecenas Foundation for Ancient Art and the Waitt Institute for Historical Discovery, to authenticate, conserve, and translate a 66-page codex, which contains a text called James (also known as First Apocalypse of James), the Letter of Peter to Philip, a fragment of a text that scholars are provisionally calling Book of Allogenes, and the only known surviving copy of the Gospel of Judas.

The Gospel of Judas gives a different view of the relationship between Jesus and Judas, offering new insights into the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Watch on PutLocker or YouTube, embedded below.

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Armando's Tale Of Charles Dickens

Satirist and lifelong Charles Dickens fan Armando Iannucci, worried that endless adaptations of the novelist's work have led his skills to go unappreciated, sets out to prove why he still matters as a writer in the 21st century. Using David Copperfield as a starting point, he unpicks the language and the revolution of a master storyteller, and with the help of funnymen Barry Cryer, Kevin Eldon and Phill Jupitus, he gets beneath the skin of some of the more outlandish characters. Finally, through encounters with the types of people Dickens wrote about, including lawyers and a debtor, Iannucci claims that his stories are just as relevant today.

Armando's Tale of Charles Dickens began with Armando Iannucci embarking on the Great Expectations boat ride at Dickens World, an epitome, for the presenter, of the pasteurised, theme-park Dickens that he wanted to get away from. "I think he's the funniest comedian we've ever produced," he declared, rather mysteriously delivering this uncontroversial remark as if he was flying in the face of received opinion.

Never mind, though, because although his film couldn't entirely overcome television's deep anxiety when it comes to the discussion of literature, this had more close reading than most contain, and Phill Jupitus actually pointed us to a Dickens story that most people wouldn't have heard of – "Mugby Junction" – enthusing over a marvellous description of a man "who had turned grey too soon, like a neglected fire". It also had a pertinently uncomfortable moment when Iannucci visited Fort House in Broadstairs, to be shown round by the current owners. The camera darted a sideways look at the pencil drawing of Princess Diana on the mantelpiece and the oil painting of Leo and Kate on the bow of the Titanic, and said nothing. But it had noticed, and trusted us to get the point: Dickens might be long dead, but Dickensian characters aren't. Watch on PutLocker, SockShare, YouTube or below on YouTube as well.

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Edward VII: Prince of Pleasure

Playboy? Wastrel? Or a visionary modernizer and accomplished diplomat? Edward VII - known as Bertie - was all of these, and more. Yet – while there is some justice in this view - he was at the same time arguably one of the most politically astute and effective monarchs of the 20th century. This programme uses documents including previously unseen letters that have survived to find the truth that lies behind the enigmatic personality. Watch on PutLocker, SockShare, YouTube starting with Part One below or at its playlist.

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Heavenly Creatures

After winning a cult following for several offbeat and darkly witty gore films, New Zealand director Peter Jackson abruptly shifted gears with this stylish, compelling, and ultimately disturbing tale of two teenage girls whose friendship begins to fuel an ultimately fatal obsession. Pauline (Melanie Lynskey) is a student in New Zealand who doesn't much care for her family or her classmates; she's a bit overweight and not especially gracious, but she quickly makes friends with Juliet (Kate Winslet), a pretty girl whose wealthy parents have relocated from England. Pauline and Juliet find they share the same tastes in art, literature, and music (especially the vocal stylings of Mario Lanza), and together they begin to construct an elaborate fantasy world named Borovnia, which exists first in stories and then in models made of clay.

The more Pauline and Juliet dream of Borovnia, the more the two find themselves retreating into this fantastical world of art, adventure, and Gothic romance as they slowly drift away from reality. The girls' parents decide that perhaps they're spending too much time together, and try to bring them back into the real world, but this only feeds their continued obsession with Borovnia (and each other) and leads to a desperate and violent bid for freedom. Featuring excellent performances (especially by Kate Winslet) and imaginative production design and special effects, Heavenly Creatures skillfully allows the audience to see Pauline and Juliet both from their own fantastic perspective and how they seem to the rest of the world. Remarkably enough, Heavenly Creatures is based on a true story; in real life, Juliet grew up to become mystery novelist Anne Perry. Watch on NovaMov, SockShare, uFLiQ, VideoWeed or PutLocker.

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Spitfire Sisters

'Spitfire Sisters' tells the story of the remarkable ladies who flew for the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) in World War Two. Called upon to ferry military planes of all types between airfields, factories and maintenance units, these ladies were faced with bad weather, operational adversities and flying planes they had never flown before.

Now in their 90's, these ladies tell us of the adventures they experienced during their incredible lives as Ferry Pilots. With tales of love, laughter and loss, people can't help but feel permanently amazed by the achievements of these unique women. They are the unsung heroes of the Second World War. Watch on PutLocker, SockShare or VideoWeed

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Jivin' in Be-Bop

Jivin' in Be-Bop is a 1947 musical film. It was produced by William D. Alexander and stars Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra, which included notable musicians such as bassist Ray Brown, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, and pianist John Lewis. The film also features singers Helen Humes and Kenny "Pancho" Hagood, Master of Ceremonies Freddie Carter, and a group of dancers.

The film consists of a plotless revue presented in a theatrical setting, offering a total of 19 musical and dance numbers. Gillespie and his band are shown performing eight songs, including "Salt Peanuts", "One Bass Hit", "Oop Bop Sh'Bam", and "He Beeped When He Should Have Bopped". The band plays off-camera while dancers perform during the remaining songs, which include "Shaw 'Nuff", "A Night in Tunisia", "Grosvenor Square", and "Ornithology".

It is not known whether the performances in Jivin' in Be-Bop were recorded live or if the film's soundtrack was pre-recorded. The liner notes that accompany the DVD release suggest the latter, as does one of Gillespie's biographers. At least one critic believes the musicians were playing live.The dancing in the film has been described as "dull and frequently silly" by writer Phil Hall, who wrote that Jivin' in Be-Bop includes "one of the worst ballets ever put on film".

Gillespie's dancing, on the other hand, is generally praised. One writer said "his unique technique is shown to great effect" in the film. One biographer described Gillespie "skipping about the stage", and another wrote that Gillespie was "quite happy to dance to the band's sounds, ... spinning around and mugging in front of the band".Between the songs, Carter tells jokes and banters with Gillespie. Film historian Donald Bogle described the comic routines as "dull-witted". Bogle went on: "There are only two redeeming factors here: namely Dizzy Gillespie and vocalist Helen Humes. Otherwise the proceedings are pretty dreary."

Alt Link 1 and Alt Link 2

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Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Leonard Cohen

Paints an informal portrait of the legendary Montreal poet, novelist and songwriter both onstage and off.

Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Leonard Cohen is a 1965 documentary about Leonard Cohen, co-directed by Don Owen and Donald Brittain, and written by Brittain.

Produced by John Kemeny for the National Film Board of Canada, the film received the Genie Award in the TV-Information category.

 The original idea for the film had involved documenting a tour of Canadians poets, including Irving Layton and Earle Birney; however, that idea was abandoned when the filmmakers decided the other poets would not serve as charismatic film subjects. Watch courtesy of the NFB from their site, below, or via their YouTube channel.

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Quills

The infamous writer, The Marquis de Sade of 18th Century France, is imprisoned for unmentionable activities at Charanton Insane Asylum. He manages to befriend the young Abbe de Coulmier, who runs the asylum, along with a beautiful laundress named Madeline. Things go terribly wrong when the Abbe finds out that the Marquis' books are being secretly published. Emperor Napoleon contemplates sending Dr. Royer-Collard to oversee the asylum, a man famed for his torturous punishments. It could mean the end of Charanton and possibly the Marquis himself.

Watch on PutLocker one or two, Sockshare one or two, MegaVideo or below, via another PutLocker link.

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Coco Avant Chanel

Several years after leaving the orphanage to which her father never returned for her, Gabrielle Chanel finds herself working in a provincial bar both.

She's both a seamstress for the performers and a singer, earning the nickname Coco from the song she sings nightly with her sister. A liaison with Baron Balsan gives her an entree into French society and a chance to develop her gift for designing increasingly popular hats.

When she falls in love with English businessman Arthur Capel further opportunities open up, though life becomes ever more complicated.

Watch on Videoweed or NovaMov, or below.

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Soraida, a Woman of Palestine

This feature-length film introduces viewers to Soraida, a Palestinian woman who lives in Ramallah.

In her neighbourhood the women do not all wear veils, the men do not rattle off empty political slogans, the young people do not strap bombs to their belts, and the children play together like kids everywhere.

Taking us into the daily existence of Soraida, her family and neighbours, the film compels us to ask fundamental questions about life in the Middle East.

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A History of God

Based on Karen Armstrong’s acclaimed book, this feature-length film guides viewers along one of humanity’s most elusive quests.
 
For over 4,000 years, adherents of the world’s monotheistic faiths have wrestled with the question of God. This extraordinary, feature-length film, based on Karen Armstrong’s acclaimed book of the same name, traces that elusive and fascinating quest.

A History of God examines the familiar images of deity as presented in the Bible and Koran and traces the evolution and interrelation of the various Christian, Jewish, and Islamic interpretations of the divine figure. Through balanced analysis of historic and holy texts and extensive use of ancient art and artifacts, we’ll follow the long road to today’s understanding of God and what the journey–and the destination–have to tell us about humanity and its never-ending search for meaning and comfort.

From the time of Abraham to the present, this is a thought-provoking look at the God at the heart of the world’s three great monotheistic religions.

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The History Of Devil

Lucifer, Beelzebub, The Beast, Satan...

He has been called many names and taken many strange different forms over the ages. So where does the concept of the traditional evil come from?

The History of the Devil goes back to the ancient Middle East, even before the Old Testament to find the roots of Satan. The answer is in the ancient Mesopotamia. In Zoroastrianism it was believed that the all-knowing good God was Ahura Mazda, the one Uncreated Creator, and Ahriman was his antithesis, the God of chaos, the dark and evil one.

Probably the bases of these teachings like heaven and hell, good and evil were transferred to the other monotheistic religions.

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