Sunday, March 1, 2026

Recommended reading - Making Movies, by Sidney Lumet (1996):


Making Movies

By Sidney Lumet.

Published by Vintage.
Published 1996.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 0679756604
ISBN-13: 978-0679756606

Description:

Why does a director choose a particular script? What must they do in order to keep actors fresh and truthful through take after take of a single scene? How do you stage a shootout – involving more than one hundred extras and three colliding taxis – in the heart of New York’s diamond district? What does it take to keep the studio honchos happy? From the first rehearsal to the final screening, Making Movies is a master’s take, delivered with clarity, candor, and a wealth of anecdote.

For in this book, Sidney Lumet, one of our most consistently acclaimed directors, gives us both a professional memoir and a definitive guide to the art, craft, and business of the motion picture. Drawing on forty years of experience on movies that range from Long Day’s Journey into Night to Network and The Verdict – and with such stars as Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and Al Pacino – Lumet explains how painstaking labor and inspired split-second decisions can result in two hours of screen magic.

“Film would be a better place if every director were required to share with other romancers of film his process. It is a gift to us all that it is Sidney Lumet, one of American’s greatest filmmakers, who is sharing his point-of-view.” – Stephen Spielberg.

“Invaluable. . . . I am sometimes asked if there is one book a filmgoer could read to learn more about how movies are made and what to look for while watching them. This is the book.” – Roger Ebert, The New York Times Book Review.

“Remarkable . . . . as dignified as the movies [Lumet] has made and yet deeply felt and very moving. . . . Anyone who truly loves movies ought to read what he has to say about them. . . . Delightfully engrossing.” – Los Angeles Times.

“The film bible from a master. It tells in meticulous detail the step-by-step process of making a movie. You feel you’re on the set. A must.” – Quincy Jones.

“Full of energy, enthusiasm and wisdom. . . . It’s all engrossing because [Lumet] speaks so fervently and opinionatedly about matters on which he has earned the right to opinions.”  - The New Republic.

T. S. Eliot, on literature:


The purpose of literature is to turn blood into ink.

- T. S. Eliot.

March is MS Awareness Month:


Please make a donation.


In support of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research:

http://www.nationalmssociety.org

http://www.mshope.com/

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

http://msfocus.org

https://multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com

http://www.momentummagazineonline.com/

http://positivelivingwithms.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

NEVER GIVE UP!

Saturday, February 28, 2026

On this day in music history: Transcendence, by Sherry Finzer (2020):


Transcendence

Album by Sherry Finzer,
released February 28, 2020.

Track list:

The Ascent; Third Eye Opening; Veil of the Unknown; Inner Awakening; Meditative, relaxing, soothing, contemplative, cinematic, flutes, calming, relaxing - Ancient Roots; Evening Prayer; Winds of Intuition; Elements of Light.

On this day in movie history - Los Angeles: City of Film Noir (2015):


Los Angeles: City of Film Noir

aka Los Angeles: Cité du Film Noir,
documentary directed and written by Clara Kuperberg and Julia Kuperberg,
was released in France on February 28, 2015.

Cast:

James Ellroy, Eddie Muller, Alain Silver.

On this day in television history - Justified (2012):


Justified

Season 3. Episode 7.
Episode entitled: The Man Behind the Curtain.
Released February 28, 2012.
Directed by Peter Werner.
Written by Graham Yost, Ryan Farley, Nichelle Tramble Spellman, Ingrid Escajeda, Ryan Farley and Jon Worley.
Based on the short story Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard.
Music by Steve Porcaro.

Cast:

Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Natalie Zea, Walton Goggins, Raymond J. Barry, Jere Burns, David Andrews, Jim Beaver, David Meunier, Max Perlich, William Ragsdale, Stephen Tobolowsky, Demetrius Grosse, Jenn Lyon, Cleavon McClendon, Mykelti Williamson, Neal McDonough, David Atkinson, Michael Boucher, LaQuita Cleare, Kathleen M. Darcy, Elena Evangelo, Brandon Ford Green, Audra Griffis, Steven Helmkamp, Jonathan Kowalsky, William Gregory Lee, Brendan McCarthy, Van White, Garland Whitt, Chaz Maas.

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek (1969)
Star Trek: Voyager (2001)
Star Trek: Discovery (2019)


Star Trek
Season 3. Episode 21.
Episode entitled: The Cloud Minders.
Released February 28, 1969.
Directed by Jud Taylor.
Written by Margaret Armen, David Gerrold, Oliver Crawford, Arthur H. Singer.
Created by Gene Roddenberry.
Music by Alexander Courage.
Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Majel Barrett, Jeff Corey, Diana Ewing, Charlene Polite, Kirk Raymond, Jimmy Fields, Ed Long, Fred Williamson, Garth Pillsbury, Harv Selsby, Bill Blackburn, Louie Elias, Dick Geary, Jay D. Jones, Bob Miles, Marvin Walters.


Star Trek: Voyager
Season 7. Episode 16.
Episode entitled: Workforce, Part II.
Released February 28, 2001.
Directed by Roxann Dawson.
Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor.
Written by Kenneth Biller, Michael Taylor, Bryan Fuller, Robert Doherty, Phyllis Strong, Michael/Mike Sussman.
Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.
Music by Dennis McCarthy.
Cast: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Jeri Ryan, James Read, Don Most, John Aniston, Tom Virtue, Robert Joy, Jay Harrington, Michael Behrens, Joseph Will, Matthew/Matt J. Williamson, Damara Reilly, Majel Barrett, Carlo Antonazzo, John Austin, Mario Carter, Damaris Cordelia, Tarik Ergin, Ken Gruz, Joyce Lasley, Dennis Madalone, Mark Major, Robert Mammana, Iona Morris, James Pearson, Stephen Pisani, Akemi Royer, Richard Sarstedt, Pablo Soriano, John Alex Tampoya, Lisa Vanasco.


Star Trek: Discovery
Season 2. Episode 7.
Episode entitled: Light and Shadows.
Released February 28, 2019.
Directed by Marta Cunningham.
Created by Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman.
Written by Ted Sullivan, Vaun Wilmott, Kirsten Beyer, Sean Cochran.
Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.
Music by Jeff Russo.
Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Shazad Latif, Anson Mount, Michelle Yeoh, James Frain, Mia Kirshner, Ethan Peck, Alan Van Sprang, Hannah Cheesman, Emily Coutts, Patrick Kwok-Choon, Oyin Oladejo, Ronnie Rowe, Julianne Grossman, Arista Arhin, Liam Hughes.