When you read a line that is so well-written, you just close the book and stare at the wall for a minute...

When you read a line that is so well-written, you just close the book and stare at the wall for a minute...

- Anonymous.

Recommended reading - Early Film Noir: Greed, Lust and Murder Hollywood Style (2003):

Early Film Noir: Greed, Lust and Murder Hollywood Style (2003).

By William Hare.

Published by McFarland & Company.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0786416297

ISBN-13: 978-0786416295

Description:

The name is French and it has connections to German expressionist cinema, but film noir was inspired by the American Raymond Chandler, whose prose was marked by the gripping realism of seedy hotels, dimly lit bars, main streets, country clubs, mansions, cul-de-sac apartments, corporate boardrooms, and flop houses of America.

Chandler and the other writers and directors, including James M. Cain, Dashiell Hammett, Jane Greer, Ken Annakin, Rouben Mamoulian and Mike Mazurki, who were primarily responsible for the creation of the film noir genre and its common plots and themes, are the main focus of this work. It correlates the rise of film noir with the new appetites of the American public after World War II and explains how it was developed by smaller studios and filmmakers as a result of the emphasis on quality within a deliberately restricted element of cities at night. The author also discusses how RKO capitalized on films such as Murder, My Sweet and Out of the Past – two of film noir's most famous titles – and film noir's connection to British noir and the great international triumph of Sir Carol Reed in The Third Man.

Contents: Foreword; Introduction; Film Noir: Chandler and the American Institution with a French Name; A Blend of Three Great Talents: Double Indemnity (1944); Women of Danger and RKO's Noir Factory; Dmytryk and the RKO Team; Jane Greer: Hollywood's Unforgettable Femme Fatale; Laura (1944); An Obsession in White and a Final Reckoning: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946); British Noir: The Third Man (1949) and Across the Bridge (1957); Synopses of Major Films; Bibliography; Index.

Jesse Owens, on dreams:

We all have dreams.

But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.

- Jesse Owens.

On this day in movie history - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014):

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),

directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu,

written by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr. and Armando Bó,

was released at the Venice Film Festival in Italy on August 27, 2014.
Music by Antonio Sánchez.

Cast:
Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Kenny Chin, Jamahl Garrison-Lowe, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts, Jeremy Shamos, Andrea Riseborough, Katherine O'Sullivan, Damian Young, Keenan Shimizu, Akira Ito, Natalie Gold, Merritt Wever, Edward Norton, Michael Siberry, Clark Middleton, Amy Ryan, William Youmans, Lindsay Duncan, Paula Pell, David Fierro, Hudson Flynn, Warren Kelley, Joel Marsh Garland, Brent Bateman, Donna Lynne Champlin, Valentino Musumeci, Taylor Schwencke, Craig muMs Grant, Kyle Knauf, Dave Neal, Kelly Southerland, Roberta Colindrez, Catherine Peppers, Frank Ridley, Janis Corsair, Rakesh Shah, Bill Camp, Malachi Weir, Jackie Hoffman, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Glenn Wein, Ebrahim Jaffer, Rain Noe, Susan Blackwell, Anna Hardwick, Dusan Dukic, Helena-Alexis Seymour, Ian Finlay, Alexandra Aristy, Marshall Axt, Robbin Banx, Thomas J. Bellezza, Kevin Berrey, Paula Blum, Dave Bobb, Roger Brenner, Bryan Burton, Teena Byrd, Brian Cheeks, Kymberly Clark, Richard R. Corapi, Alan Davis, Casey Davis, Johanna Day, Madeline Farbstein, James Farley, Zach Fouche, Z. Frankie, Les Gardonyi, David H. Holmes, David Itchkawitz, Joseph Anthony Jerez, Benjamin Kanes, Kenneth Kopolovicz, Anna Kuchma, Kamron Leal, Tracy Michael Lynch, Rachael Ma, Keith Mackler, Vanessa Malanga, Alex Malaos, Raymond Mamrak, Michelle E. Mancini, Lynn Marocola, Nicholas Marocola, Chris McFarland, Chuck McMahon, Laura Merrill, Teresa Meza, Leslie C. Nemet, Thelma O'Leary, Philip Odango, Carrie Ormond, And Palladino, Stephen Payne, Raffaello Perfetto, Rich Petrillo, Joe Michael Phillips, Josephine Pizzino, Jon Douglas Rainey, Dawn Ressy, Dwayne Rivera, Charles J. Rosa, Shade Rupe, Gary Ryder, Stuart Schnitzer, Nancy Ellen Shore, Bomber Hurley Smith, Janet Stanwood, John Stepanian, Janelle Tedesco, Paul Thornton, Stella Toppan, Millie Torchetti, Wyatt Unger, Stefano Villabona, Bill Walters, Dorothy Weems, Kelli Wilcoxen.

On this day in music history - Bel Canto, by Renée Fleming and Patrick Summers (2002):

The album Bel Canto,

by Renée Fleming and Patrick Summers,

was released on August 27, 2002.

On this day in music history - Saturate, by Breaking Benjamin (2002):

The album Saturate,

by Breaking Benjamin,

was released on August 27, 2002.

On this day in movie history - The 13th Warrior (1999):

The 13th Warrior,

directed by John McTiernan,

written by William Wisher, Jr. and Warren Lewis,

based on the novel Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton,

was released in the United States on August 27, 1999.
Music by Jerry Goldsmith.

Cast:
Antonio Banderas, Diane Venora, Vladimir Kulich, Dennis Storhøi, Omar Sharif, Anders T. Andersen, Richard Bremmer, Tony Curran, Mischa Hausserman, Neil Maffin, Asbjorn Riis, Clive Russell, Daniel Southern, Oliver Sveinall, Sven Wollter, Albie Woodington, John DeSantis, Eric Avari, Maria Bonnevie, Susan Willis, Yolande Bavan.