On this day in movie history - Dead Birds (2004):

Dead Birds

directed by Alex Turner,

written by Simon Barrett,

was released at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada on September 13, 2004.
Music by Peter C. Lopez.

Cast:

Henry Thomas, Patrick Fugit, Nicki Aycox, Michael Shannon, Muse Watson, Mark Boone Junior, Isaiah Washington, Harris Mann, Melanie Abramoff, Donna Biscoe, Brian Bremer, Russell Durham Comegys, David Dwyer, Michael Faella, Steve Green, Douglas M. Griffin, Drew Hall, Evan Hipps, Sydney Jones, Terry Jones, Danny Kamin, Mikal Kartvedt, Ted Manson, Ken McGhee, Michael Purnell, Sam Rhymes, Bret Roberts, Terrie Thompson, Sam Breslin Wright, Allan B. Holt, Robbie (the dog).

Recommended reading - The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction (2004):

The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction

By Deane Mansfield-Kelley and Lois A. Marchino.

Paperback.

Published by Pearson.

Published in 2004.

ISBN 13: 9780321195012

ISBN 10: 0321195019

Description:

A detective fiction anthology filled with award winning short stories, information on the authors who wrote them, discussion about the history and evolution of the genre, and important literary criticism.

On this day in movie history – Downfall (2004 movie & books):

Downfall

directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel,

written by Bernd Eichinger,

released in Munich, Germany on September 8, 2004.

Based on the books: Inside Hitler’s Bunker by Joachim Fest and Until the Final Hour by Traudl Junge and Melissa Müller.

Music by Stephan Zacharias.

Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005.

Won the BBC Four World Cinema competition in 2005.

Cast: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler, Heino Ferch, Christian Berkel, Matthias Habich, Thomas Kretschmann, Michael Mendl, André Hennicke, Ulrich Noethen, Birgit Minichmayr, Rolf Kanies, Justus von Dohnányi, Dieter Mann, Christian Redl, Götz Otto, Thomas Limpinsel, Thomas Thieme, Alexander Held, Donevan Gunia, Bettina Redlich, Heinrich Schmieder, Anna Thalbach, Dietrich Hollinderbäumer, Ulrike Krumbiegel, Karl Kranzkowski, Thorsten Krohn, Jürgen Tonkel, Devid Striesow, Fabian Busch, Christian Hoening, Aleksandr Slastin, Alina Sokar, Amelie Menges, Charlotte Stoiber, Gregory Borlein, Julia Bauer, Laura Borlein, Andrey Blagoslovenski, Dirk Borchardt, Elizaveta Boyarskaya, Michael Brandner, I. Bubenchikov, Leopold von Buttlar, Martin Butzke, Dmitriy Bykovskiy-Romashov, Sergey Evseev, Mathias Gnädinger, Bohdan Graczyk, Sergey Rublev, Norbert Heckner, Enno Hesse, Evgeniy Ilovayskiy, Julia Jentsch, Oleg Khoroshilov, Michael Kind, Elisabeth von Koch, Tara Marie Linke, Michael Lippold, Konstantin Lukashov, Stefan Mehren, Ilya Mozgovoy, Silke Nikowski, Alexei Oleinikov, Oleg Piminov, Katerina Poladjan, Oleg Popov, Silke Popp, Vasiliy Reutov, Igor Romanov, Tanja Schleiff, Christian Schmidt, August Schmölzer, Jurij Schrader, Boris Schwarzmann, Mariya Semyonova, Igor Sergeev, Valeri Slavinski, Valeriy Salomakhin, Hans H. Steinberg, Klaus-Jürgen Steinmann, Oliver Stritzel, Veit Stübner, Mikhail Tryasorukov, Vsevolod Tsurilo, Klaus B. Wolf, Elena Dreyden, Tatyana Zhuravlyova, Frank Brandes, Thomas Franke, Traudl Junge, Martin Kessler, Henning Peker, Dieter Rupp, Aleksandr Styopin.

Recommended reading:

Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich

By Joachim Fest.

Translated by Margot Bettauer Dembo.

Published by Picador.

Published 2002.

ISBN-10: 0312423926

ISBN-13: 978-0312423926

Description:

Fest describes in riveting detail the final weeks of the war, from the desperate battles that raged night and day in the ruins of Berlin, fought by boys and old men, to the growing paranoia that marked Hitler's mental state, to his suicide and the efforts of his loyal aides to destroy his body before the advancing Russian armies reached Berlin. Inside Hitler's Bunker combines meticulous research with spellbinding storytelling and sheds light on events that, for those who survived them, were nothing less than the end of the world.

"A riveting book." – Henry A. Kissinger.

"Fest's concise volume is clear – indeed, even elegant – in its style and keen in its observations." – The Dallas Morning-News.

"Fest brings a unique perspective to his subject, coupling objective narrative with a keen critical disdain for Hitler and his subordinates." – The Roanoke Times.

"A lifetime of reflection on the Nazi period is distilled in a short but diligently written and incisive book." – Michael Burleigh, author of The Third Reich: A New History.

Joachim Fest was born in Berlin in 1926. His previous books include The Face of the Third Reich; Hitler, his celebrated biography of Adolf Hitler; Plotting Hitler's Death; and Speer: The Final Verdict, for which he has won numerous awards. A film adaptation of Inside Hitler's Bunker, entitled Downfall, has become a European blockbuster.

Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary

By Traudl Junge.

Edited by Melissa Müller.

Published by Orion Paperbacks.

Published 2002.

ISBN-10: 0753820552

ISBN-13: 978-0753820551

Description:

Offering a unique insider's perspective on Adolf Hitler and the final days of the Third Reich, the personal recollections of a woman who became Hitler's secretary at the age of twenty-two in 1942 sheds new light on Hitler's day-to-day life, character, and habits, while chronicling a young woman's discovery of the evil that lurked behind the pleasant façade of the man for whom she worked.

Recommended reading - Fifty Best Mysteries (2004):

Fifty Best Mysteries

Edited by Eleanor Sullivan.

Published by Da Capo Press.

Published 2004.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 078671347X

ISBN-13: 978-0786713479

Description:

Fifty Best Mysteries is a Who’s Who of mystery from the pages of the leading magazine in the field. Showcasing the best short fiction published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine over a range of fifty years, this book is a treasure trove for mystery lovers everywhere. As editor Eleanor Sullivan writes, “I took the task by decades and decided to go after solid and entertaining stories by regular and significant contributors, stories that reflected the time in which they were written and the best work being produced in that decade.” To this end, Sullivan has collected an astounding array of talent, from early works by John Dickson Carr, Margery Allingham, Anthony Boucher, and Ngaio Marsh in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, to later selections by Patricia Highsmith, Robert Bloch, Ruth Rendell, Donald E. Westlake, and Simon Brett that appeared over the next two decades.

Contents: The clue of the red wig / John Dickson Carr — Lost star / C. Daly King — The Bloomsbury wonder / Thomas Burke — Dressing-up / W. R. Burnett — Malice domestic / Philip MacDonald — I can find my way out / Ngaio Marsh — The fourth degree / Hugh Pentecost — Midnight adventure / Michael Arlen — A study in white / Nicholas Blake — The phantom guest / Frederick Irving Anderson — As simple as ABC / Ellery Queen — Money to burn / Margery Allingham — The gentlest of brothers / David Alexander — One-way street / Anthony Armstrong — Murder at the dog show / Mignon G. Eberhart — Always trust a cop / Octavus Roy Cohen — The withered heart / Jean Potts — The girl who married a monster / Anthony Boucher — Between eight and eight / C. S. Forester — Knowing what I know now / Barry Perowne — Change of climate / Ursula Curtiss — Life in our time / Robert Bloch — The special gift / Celia Fremlin — A neat and tidy job / George Harmon Coxe — Run—if you can / Charlotte Armstrong — Line of communication / Andrew Garve — Danger at Deerfawn / Dorothy B. Hughes — The man who understood women / A. H. Z. Carr — Revolver / Avram Davidson — The eternal chase / Anthony Gilbert — Reasons unknown / Stanley Ellin — Three ways to rob a bank / Harold R. Daniels — The perfect servant / Helen Nielsen — The marked man / David Ely — Flowers that bloom in the spring / Julian Symons — A nice place to stay / Nedra Tyre — Paul Broderick’s man / Thomas Walsh — When nothing matters / Florence V. Mayberry — This is death / Donald E. Westlake — Woodrow Wilson’s necktie / Patricia Highsmith — The jackal and the tiger / Michael Gilbert — The fix / Robert Twohy — One moment of madness / Edward D. Hoch — Loopy / Ruth Rendell — The plateau / Clark Howard — The butchers / Peter Lovesey — Burning bridges / James Powell — A good turn / Robert Barnard — Clap hands, there goes Charlie / George Baxt — Big boy, little boy / Simon Brett.

On this day in music history - Change, by Sue Foley (2004):

Change

Album by Sue Foley,

released August 24, 2004.

Track list:

Goin’ Down the Road Again; Hardworking Woman; Doggie Treats; Careless Love; Change; Bad Luck Woman; Mournin’ in the Morning; Sugar in My Bowl; Here Comes the Sun; Me and My Chauffeur; You Don’t Have to Go; Shake That Thing.

On this day in movie history - Collateral (2004):

Collateral

directed by Michael Mann,

written by Stuart Beattie,

was released in the United States on August 6, 2004.
Music by James Newton Howard.

Cast:

Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill, Irma P. Hall, Barry Shabaka Henley, Richard T. Jones, Klea Scott, Bodhi Elfman, Debi Mazar, Javier Bardem, Emilio Rivera, Jamie McBride, Ken Waters, Charlie E. Schmidt, Michael Bentt, Ian Hannin, Robert Deamer, David Mersault, Anthony Ochoa, Edgar Sánchez, Cosme Urquiola, Thomas Rosales Jr., Wade Williams, Paul Adelstein, Jessica Ferrarone, Troy Blendell, Inmo Yuon, Howard Bachrach, Chic Daniel, Corinne Chooey, JoNell Kennedy, Steven Kozlowski, Roger Stoneburner, Rodney Sandberg, George Petrina, Donald Dean, Elliott Newman, Trevor Ware, Bobby English, Auggie Cavanagh, Ronald Muldrow, Peter McKernan, Ivor Shier, Daniel Luján, Eddie Diaz, Joey Burns, John Convertino, Josh Cruze, Martin Flores, Rick Garcia, Larry G. Goldman, Maurilio Pineda, Dan Sistos, Jacob Valenzuela, Luis Villegas, Yussi Wenger, Jason Statham, Angelo Tiffe, Ismeal Vidrio, Ron Eckert, Manuel Urrego, Jessie Bernard, Luis Moncada, Dyna Teal, Sandi Schroeder, Michael-John Wolfe, Addie Yungmee, J.D. McElroy, Megan Hiratzka, Kate Gopacco, Christy Yi, Lisa Marie Basada, Wilson Wong, Mark Stainbrook, Brandon Molale, Marianne M. Arreaga, Spike Silver, Ben Mihm, Niles Roth, Linda Asuma, Esther K. Chae, Danny Del Toro, Tara Erickson, Melissa Gomez, Annabella Gutman, Janet Linn, Gino Montesinos, Janessa Mun, Masami Okada, Janice Paik, Neil Patil, Gary Rodriguez, Erina Sako, Emily VanSonnenberg, Emily Ming-An Wang, Michael Waxman, Henry T. Yamada.

On this day in music history:

B.B. King: Into the Night (2004)

Queen Bee: The Antone’s Collection by Sue Foley (2009)

Flute Flight by Sherry Finzer & Mark Holland (2015)

B.B. King: Into the Night

Documentary directed by John Landis, Jeff Okun.

Released in Spain on June 30, 2004.

Featured on the DVD for the movie Into the Night (1985), directed by John Landis.

Cast: B.B. King, John Landis, Ira Newborn, Forrest J. Ackerman, Domingo Ambriz, Dan Aykroyd, Jeff Goldblum, Beruce Gramian, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hadi Sadjadi, Michael Zand.

Queen Bee: The Antone’s Collection

Album by Sue Foley,

released June 30, 2009.

Track list: Queen Bee; Cuban Getaway; Gone Blind; Off the Hook; Ruby Duby Du; Give Me Time; Truckin’ Little Woman; Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is; Big City Blues; Howlin’ for My Darlin’; As Long As I Have You; If You Gotta Go; Give It to Me; Walk in the Sun; The Wind; Love Sick Child; Lightning Boogie; Positively 4th Street; I Feel So Good; Guitar Rhumba.

Flute Flight

Album by Sherry Finzer & Mark Holland,

released June 30, 2015.

Track list: Looking Through; Seasons of the Heart; Echo of Desire; Always a Dream; Illumination; From Afar; Luna’s Dance; Sea of Stars; The Way; Reflection; Planetary Drift; Nature’s Spirit; Into the Light.

On this day in movie history - Criminal (2004):

Criminal

directed by Gregory Jacobs,

written by Gregory Jacobs, Steven Soderbergh/Sam Lowry,

was released at the Seattle International Film Festival in the United States on June 12, 2004.

Music by Alex Wurman.

A remake of Nine Queens (2000), directed and written by Fabián Bielinsky.

Cast:

John C. Reilly, Diego Luna, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Mullan, Zitto Kazann, Jonathan Tucker, Laura Cerón, Soledad St. Hilaire, Ellen Geer, Brandon Keener, Nick Anavio, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Maeve Quinlan, Brent Sexton, Malik Yoba, Lillian Hurst, Jack Conley, Juan Carlos Cantu, Enrico Colantoni, Manny Jimenez Sr./Manuel G. Jimenez, Luis Contreras, Michael Shannon, Patricia Belcher, Paul Norwood, Gary Littman/Gary Mack, Paul Korda.

On this day in movie history - The Day After Tomorrow (2004):

The Day After Tomorrow

directed by Roland Emmerich,

written by Roland Emmerich and Jeffrey Nachmanoff,

based on a story by Roland Emmerich,

was released in the United States on May 24, 2004.
Music by Harald Kloser.

Cast:

Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum, Dash Mihok, Jay O. Sanders, Sela Ward, Austin Nichols, Arjay Smith, Tamlyn Tomita, Sasha Roiz, Ian Holm, Nassim Sharara, Carl Alacchi, Kenneth Welsh, Michel ‘Gish’ Abou-Samah, Robin Wilcock, Jason Blicker, Kenneth Moskow, Tim Hamaguchi, Glenn Plummer, Adrian Lester, Richard McMillan, Nestor Serrano, Sylvain Landry, Chris Britton, Vlasta Vrana, Pauline Little, Alan Fawcett, Howard Bilerman, John Maclaren, Frank Schorpion, Rachelle Glait, Pierre Leblanc, Richard Zeman, Perry King, Frank Fontaine, Mimi Kuzyk, Al Vandecruys, Vitali Makarov, Russell Yuen, Tim Bagley, Pierre Lenoir, Don Kirk, Lisa Canning, Terry Rhoads, Nicolas Feller, J.P. Manoux, Chuck Shamata, Phillip Jarrett, Ayana O’Shun, Tony Calabretta, Vivian Winther, Sheila McCarthy, Tom Rooney, Amy Sloan, David Schaap, Marylou Belugou, Nobuya Shimamoto, Bunrey Miyake, Karen Glave, Jennifer Morehouse, Christian Tessier, Joe Cobden, Caroline Keenan, Aaron Lustig, Sam Woods, Jesus Perez, Jack Laufer, Luke Letourneau, John Sanford Moore, William Francis McGuire, Michael McNally, Anne Day-Jones, Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais, Lynne De Bel, Mikio Owaki, Terry Simpson, Alvin Tam, Joey Elias, Ron Darling, José Ramón Rosario, Kwasi Songui, John Colton, Dilva Henry, Mark Thompson, Wendy L. Walsh, Mark Pfister, Ana Garcia, Lauren Sanchez, Rob Fukuzaki, Ross King, Robert Holguin, Suzanne Michaels, Leyna Nguyen, Lina Patel, Rosey Edeh, Lori Graham, Jesse Todd, Gordon Masten, Matt Adler, Ray Légaré, Matt Holland, Greg Kramer, Joel McNichol, Rick Hoffman.

On this day in movie history - Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004):

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession

documentary directed by Xan Cassavetes,

was released at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 16, 2004.
Music by Steven Hufsteter.  

Cast:

Robert Altman, Vera Carlisle Anderson, C.L. Batten, Jacqueline Bisset, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Champlin, David Chasman, Stuart Cooper, F.X. Feeney, James B. Harris, Jerry Harvey, William Holden, Don Hyde, Henry Jaglom, Jim Jarmusch, Charles H. Joffe, Kris Kristofferson, John McNally, Bill Mechanic, Ned Nalle, Alexander Payne, Sam Peckinpah, Doreen Ringer Ross, Chuck Ross, Alan Rudolph, Theresa Russell, Timothy Ryerson, Jeff Schwager, Penelope Spheeris, Bob Strock, Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Thomas, Jonathan Turell, Douglas Venturelli, Paul Verhoeven, James Woods, Vilmos Zsigmond.

On this day in music history:

Ives: Concord Sonata; Songs by Susan Graham (2004)

Haunted Heart by Renée Fleming (2005)

lovestrong by Christina Perri (2011)

Ives: Concord Sonata; Songs

Album by Susan Graham,

released May 10, 2004.

Piano: Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

Track list: The Things Our Fathers Loved; The Housatonic at Stockbridge; Swimmers; Memories; Ann Street; Serenity; 1, 2, 3; Songs My Mother Taught Me; The Circus Band; The Cage; The Indians; Like a Sick Eagle; Remembrance; September; Soliloquy; A Farewell to Land; Thoreau; Sonata No. 2: Concord, Mass; Emerson; Hawthorne; The Alcotts; Thoreau.

Haunted Heart

Album by Renée Fleming,

released May 10, 2005.

Track list: Haunted Heart; River; When Did You Leave Heaven?; You’ve Changed; Answer Me; My Cherie Amour; In My Life; The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress; Wozzeck/The Midnight Sun; Liebst du um Schönheit; My One And Only Love/This Is Always; Canção do Amor; Psyché; Hard Times Come Again No More.

lovestrong

Album by Christina Perri,

released May 10, 2011.

Track list: Bluebird; Arms; Bang Bang Bang; Distance; Jar of Hearts; Mine; Interlude; Penguin; Miles; The Lonely; Sad Song; Tragedy; [CD-ROM Track] [Multimedia Track].

On this day in movie history - Man on Fire (2004):

Man on Fire

directed by Tony Scott,

written by Brian Helgeland,

based on the novel by A. J. Quinnell,

was released in the United States on April 23, 2004.
Music by Harry Gregson-Williams and Lisa Gerrard.

Cast:

Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Radha Mitchell, Christopher Walken, Marc Anthony, Giancarlo Giannini, Mickey Rourke, Rachel Ticotin, Roberto Sosa, Jesús Ochoa, Carmen Salinas, Gero Camilo, Rosa María Hernández, Charles Paraventi, Mario Zaragoza, Esteban De La Trinidad, Angelina Peláez, Norma Pablo, Heriberto Del Castillo, Steve Gonzales, Andrés Pardave, Rodrigo Zurita, Marisol Cal y Mayor, Hector Hernandez Zertuche, René Campero, Angélica Rosado, Georgina González, Abraham Sandoval, Hugo Pelaez, Jorge Victoria, Ariane Pellicer, Jorge Picont, Alberto Estrella, Gerardo Taracena, Nydia A. Trujillo, Maria Hall Rueda, Elvira Richards, Javier Zaragoza, Valentina Garcia Contreras, Enrique Cimet, Sparkle, Dunia Alvarez, Beatriz Pina, Hector Tagle, Jose Jesus Garcia, Guadalupe Flores Garcia, Daniela Martinez, Rubén Santana, Fernando Berzosa, Eduardo Rivera, Victor De Pascual, Norma Martínez, Aram Cardenas, Manuel Poncelis, Alejandro Camps, Jorge Almada, Carlos Barada, Eduardo Yáñez, Jorge Merlo, Alberto Pineda, Jesús González Leal, Rodrigo Chavez, Fernando Arvizu, Ghalil Elhateb Estrada, Hugo Genesio, Gonzalo Alvarez, Ofelia Aguirre, Itatí Cantoral, Jose De Jesus Hernandez, Arturo Farfán, Rossana Fuentes, Enrique Gonzalez, Adrian Grunberg, Jorge Guerrero, Roberto Kwok, José Montini, Fernando Moya, Iztel Navarro Vazquez, Stacy Perskie, Berenice Manjarrez Vericat, Raul Zermeño, Jorge Zárate.