Recommended reading - Film Noir Reader 3: Interviews with Filmmakers of the Classic Noir Period (2004):

Film Noir Reader 3:

Interviews with Filmmakers of the Classic Noir Period

Edited by Alain Silver, Robert Porfirio and James Ursini.

Published by Limelight.

Published 2004.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0879109610

ISBN-13: 978-0879109615

Description:

Departing from the approach of its Film Noir Reader predecessors, this third volume in the series assembles a collection of interviews with film noir directors and a cinematographer, few of whom are alive today. Interviewees include Billy Wilder (Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard), Otto Preminger (Laura), Joseph Lewis (Gun Crazy and The Big Combo), Curtis Bernhardt (Possessed and A Stolen Life), Edward Dmytryk (Murder, My Sweet and Crossfire), and Fritz Lang (Scarlet Street and The Woman in the Window).

Henry Ward Beecher, on books:

It's a man's duty to have books.

A library is not a luxury,

but one of the necessities of life.

- Henry Ward Beecher.

A Multiple Sclerosis Night Before Christmas:

A Multiple Sclerosis Night Before Christmas

in Positive Thoughts

by Penelope Conway

 

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through my body,

Not a nerve was behaving, making me move rather shoddy.

My daily activities were chosen with care,

In hopes that each one could be done from a chair.

 

Each word that I spoke seemed to come out all wrong,

So much to be finished, I had to stay strong.

And John in the kitchen, and Missy making frappe,

Everyone busy working, no time for a nap.

 

When somewhere outside there arose such a clatter,

I peeked through the window, to see what was the matter.

I tried to move fast, to get to the door,

But I didn’t quite make it, and wound up on the floor.

 

As I lay on the rug, making sure nothing broke

Through tears I could see it, even gave it a poke.

Yes, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But the cane that I had lost, earlier this year.

 

Then the front door cracked open, and before me he stood,

I immediately knew help had arrived which was good.

And more rapid than eagles, his phrases they came,

As he whistled and shouted, and called them by name.

 

“Now hang on, now slow down, now take more life pauses,

With stressful, and chaos, and tearful day causes.

To the end of the checklist, to the end of the hall,

Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

 

And then I could see, as I wiped away tears,

Why, his words and his wisdom had settled my fears.

As I sat on the floor, too weak to even move

He knelt down beside me, and said I have nothing to prove.

 

He looked a bit weary, as a glance we exchanged,

And he said that my focus is what needs to be changed.

What’s important is family and those who are nearby.

(On that last one he spoke with a twinkly eye.)

 

Your weakness…it’s real. Your limits…real too.

MS has this way of making even brilliant days blue.

He smiled as he spoke, and I knew he was right.

No more pity party moments or MS fist fights.

 

He spoke not a word more as he helped me to stand.

I found myself smiling as I reached for his hand.

I sat on the couch as he gave me a nod,

He helped me to see that my thinking was flawed.

 

Then he sprang to his sleigh, and to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, “You’re doing great, don’t forget,

To pause more and smile, you have nothing to fret.

In support of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research:

https://positivewithms.com/

http://www.nationalmssociety.org

http://www.mshope.com/

https://www.cando-ms.org/

http://msfocus.org

https://multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com

http://www.momentummagazineonline.com/

https://www.msmindshift.com/

http://mymsaa.org

https://mssociety.ca

https://fumsnow.com/

http://www.msra.org.au/

https://www.annerowlingclinic.org/

#BikeMS #Brain #ChronicIllnessWarrior #CureMS #Demyelination #Disease #FightMS #FuckMS #FuckYouMS #FUMS #Lesion #MovingMountainsForMS #MS #MSawareness #MSAwarenessMonth #MSeducation #MSOnMyMind #MultipleSclerosis #MSHope #MSstrong #MSSucks #MSwarrior #MuckFestMS #Myelin #mymsme #OverMS #LivingWellWithMS #ThisIsMS #Vertigo #WalkMS #WalkTogether #WeAreILLmatic #WeAreStrongerThanMS #WorldMSDay #WorldMultipleSclerosisDay #EndMS

NEVER GIVE UP!

On this day in movie history - The Pale Blue Eye (2022):

The Pale Blue Eye

directed and written by Scott Cooper,

based on the novel by Louis Bayard,

was released in the United States on December 23, 2022.
Music by Howard Shore.

Cast:

Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Fred Hechinger, Gillian Anderson, Robert Duvall, Lucy Boynton, Toby Jones, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Timothy Spall, Charlie Tahan, Simon McBurney, Harry Lawtey, Hadley Robinson, John Fetterman, Gideon Glick, Brennan Keel Cook, Joey Brooks, Steven Maier, Jack Irv, Matt Helm, Gisele Fetterman, Kade Nicholson, Brennan Cook, Wendy Renee Cade, Mathias Goldstein.

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek: Discovery (2021)

Star Trek: Discovery

Season 4. Episode 6.

Episode entitled: Stormy Weather.

Released December 23, 2021.

Directed by Jonathan Frakes.

Created by Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman.

Written by Anne Cofell Saunders, Brandon Schultz, Glenise Mullins, Carlos Cisco.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Jeff Russo.

Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, Blu del Barrio, David Ajala, Annabelle Wallis, Ian Alexander, Rothaford Gray, Emily Coutts, Patrick Kwok-Choon, Oyin Oladejo, Ronnie Rowe, Sara Mitich, Raven Dauda, Ivan Lopez, Robinne Fanfair, Avaah Blackwell.

On this day in movie history - Nobody’s Fool (1994):

Nobody’s Fool

directed and written by Robert Benton,

based on the novel by Richard Russo,

was released in the United States on December 23, 1994.
Music by Howard Shore.

Cast:

Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Dylan Walsh, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Gene Saks, Josef Sommer, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco, Catherine Dent, Margo Martindale, Shannah Laumeister Stern, Angelica Page.

On this day in movie history - Talk Radio (1988 movie & books):

Talk Radio

directed by Oliver Stone,

written by Eric Bogosian and Oliver Stone,

based on the play: Talk Radio, by Eric Bogosian and Ted Savinar,

and the book: Talked to Death: The Life and Murder of Alan Berg by Stephen Singular,

was released in New York City, on December 23, 1988.
Music by Stewart Copeland.

Cast:

Eric Bogosian, Alec Baldwin, Ellen Greene, Leslie Hope, John C. McGinley, John Pankow, Michael Wincott, Zach Grenier, Anna Levine, Robert Trebor, Linda Atkinson, Allan Corduner, Bruno Rubeo, Bill Johnson, Rockets Redglare.

Recommended reading:

Talk Radio (1987) & Talked to Death (1987)

Both books filmed as Talk Radio (1988), directed by Oliver Stone.

Talk Radio

By Eric Bogosian.

Published 1987.

Published by Concord Theatricals.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0573651248

ISBN-13: 978-0573651243

Description:

Characters: 7 male, 2 female, plus offstage voices.

Scenery: Interior.

Newly revised! Barry Champlain Cleveland's controversial radio host is on the air doing what he does best: insulting the pathetic souls who call in the middle of the night to sound off. Tomorrow Barry's show is going into national syndication and his producer is afraid that Barry will say something that will offend the sponsors. This of course makes Barry even more outrageous. Funny and moving off beat outrage.

Talked to Death:

The Life and Murder of Alan Berg

By Stephen Singular.

Published 1987.

Mass Market Paperback.

Published by Berkley.

ISBN 13: 9780425113295

ISBN 10: 0425113299

ASIN: 0425113299

Description:

The book that inspired Oliver Stone’s controversial film Talk Radio.

On June 18, 1984, one of the nation’s most controversial talk-show hosts was gunned down.

The murder triggered an extensive FBI manhunt that ended in a shocking discovery.

THE VICTIM: Alan Berg was the talk-show host all of Denver loved to hate. Aggravating. Irrepressible. Charismatic. Nobody escaped his withering attacks on hypocrisy, bigotry, and injustice.

THE CRIME: Berg was brutally murdered in front of his house. Unarmed. Unsuspecting. He was caught in a hail of machine-gun fire. His death shocked the country... and led the FBI on a nationwide manhunt for the killers.

THE SUSPECTS: The trail led investigators to the Order, a radical cult of neo-Nazi white supremacists. Armed and violent - their doctrine declared war on the United States and preached a philosophy of racial hatred and fear.