The Other Boleyn Girl
Posted February 29, 2008
The Other Boleyn Girl starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, and Eric Bana opened this weekend. The film is an adaptation of the 2002 historical novel of the same title by Philippa Gregory. A dramatic retelling of romantic intrigue in King Henry's court, two beautiful sisters vie for the affection of King Henry VIII. Mary becomes King Henry's mistress at the young age of 14 and remains so for many years until her calculating younger sister, Anne, starts a determined campaign to replace Katherine of Aragon as queen. Author Gregory has written several other historical novels set in the era, including The Queen's Fool, The Virgin's Lover, The Constant Princess, and The Boleyn Inheritance. Gregory takes enormous liberties in The Other Boleyn Girl as there is actually very little known about Mary Boleyn, but it still makes for an entertaining novel; full of political maneuverings, sisterly rivalry and sexual intrigue. For those interested in reading a historically accurate account of Anne Boleyn's life as Henry's wife, check out The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII.
This weekend, crossword enthusiasts gather for the 31st American Crossword Puzzle Tournament started by Will Shortz and featured in the film Wordplay, a documentary about crossword constructers and solvers. The crossword puzzle has a long history. Crossword solvers can thank Liverpool journalist Arthur Wynn, who published the first "word-cross" puzzle in the New York World on December 21, 1913. In 1924 when Simon and Schuster printed the first book of crosswords it started a national craze. Today many newspapers print a crossword puzzle daily, the New York Times puzzle being the most prestigious. Those intrigued by the history and culture of the puzzle should check out Crossworld: One Man’s Journey into America's Crossword Obsession by Marc Romano.
Well, Sunday night was another long Oscar awards ceremony. As usual, it had a few moments of genuine excitement and a lot of filler, but there remains something thrilling about seeing the happiness on the winners' faces as the hard work they did to create a perfect moment on film are recognized and celebrated. Although many of the winners and nominees, including the Best Picture winner No Country for Old Men, are not yet available on DVD, CPL owns many of the films honored at this year's ceremony. Here are a small sampling of titles in our collections right now:
Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Best Supporting Actress
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Best Animated Feature Film
Ratatouille
Best Actor nominee
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Best Spporting Actor nominee
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Best Documentary nominee
No End in Sight
And if you want to catch up on all the Best Picture Oscar winners, CPL has a list called Academy Awards on our Books, Movies, and More page that should keep even an avid moviewatcher busy for a while.
Riding a modern-day Amtrak train, it is hard to imagine that train travel was ever glamorous, but apparently travelers used to enjoy both style and luxury on their cross-country journeys. One of the key figures in creating this golden age of train travel was George Pullman (born March 3, 1881), the inventor of the Pullman "Palace" sleeper cars. His luxury cars were advertised as being the ultimate in comfort and service. The service was provided by thousands of former African-American slaves who became the porters, valets, and waiters of the Pullman cars. Pullman, in fact, became the largest single employer of African-Americans after the end of the Civil War. He set up one of his factories on the South Side of Chicago, and built a town around this factory for the employees. This planned community was a marvel of its day, and was even an attraction at the World’s Columbian Exhibition of 1893. It all came tumbling down, however, when the Pullman workers went on strike in 1894, protesting the cuts in their wages made by the company. This strike, put down brutally by Pullman with the help of the U.S. government, was one of the largest in history; stopping all train traffic into Chicago and crippling train travel nationwide. After the strike, the Pullman company was ordered to divest itself of all land owned, marking the end of the company town. But even though the neighborhood of Pullman has long since been absorbed into the city of Chicago, it remains quite proud of its history. Read more about the workers who made George Pullman's empire what it was, the Pullman Porters:
Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class by Larry Tye
Those Pullman Blues: an Oral History of the African American Railroad Attendant by David D. Perata.
An Anthology of Respect: the Pullman Porters National Historic Registry of African American Railroad Employees by Lyn Hughes
A. Philip Randolph: a Life in the Vanguard by Andrew Edmund Kersten
The Other Boleyn Girl starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, and Eric Bana opened this weekend. The film is an adaptation of the 2002 historical novel of the same title by Philippa Gregory. A dramatic retelling of romantic intrigue in King Henry's court, two beautiful sisters vie for the affection of King Henry VIII. Mary becomes King Henry's mistress at the young age of 14 and remains so for many years until her calculating younger sister, Anne, starts a determined campaign to replace Katherine of Aragon as queen. Author Gregory has written several other historical novels set in the era, including The Queen's Fool, The Virgin's Lover, The Constant Princess, and The Boleyn Inheritance. Gregory takes enormous liberties in The Other Boleyn Girl as there is actually very little known about Mary Boleyn, but it still makes for an entertaining novel; full of political maneuverings, sisterly rivalry and sexual intrigue. For those interested in reading a historically accurate account of Anne Boleyn's life as Henry's wife, check out The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII.Before Sudoku there was the Crossword
Posted February 27, 2008This weekend, crossword enthusiasts gather for the 31st American Crossword Puzzle Tournament started by Will Shortz and featured in the film Wordplay, a documentary about crossword constructers and solvers. The crossword puzzle has a long history. Crossword solvers can thank Liverpool journalist Arthur Wynn, who published the first "word-cross" puzzle in the New York World on December 21, 1913. In 1924 when Simon and Schuster printed the first book of crosswords it started a national craze. Today many newspapers print a crossword puzzle daily, the New York Times puzzle being the most prestigious. Those intrigued by the history and culture of the puzzle should check out Crossworld: One Man’s Journey into America's Crossword Obsession by Marc Romano.Oscar winning films at CPL
Posted February 25, 2008Well, Sunday night was another long Oscar awards ceremony. As usual, it had a few moments of genuine excitement and a lot of filler, but there remains something thrilling about seeing the happiness on the winners' faces as the hard work they did to create a perfect moment on film are recognized and celebrated. Although many of the winners and nominees, including the Best Picture winner No Country for Old Men, are not yet available on DVD, CPL owns many of the films honored at this year's ceremony. Here are a small sampling of titles in our collections right now:
Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Best Supporting Actress
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Best Animated Feature Film
Ratatouille
Best Actor nominee
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Best Spporting Actor nominee
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Best Documentary nominee
No End in Sight
And if you want to catch up on all the Best Picture Oscar winners, CPL has a list called Academy Awards on our Books, Movies, and More page that should keep even an avid moviewatcher busy for a while.
George Pullman and the Pullman Porters
Posted February 21, 2008Riding a modern-day Amtrak train, it is hard to imagine that train travel was ever glamorous, but apparently travelers used to enjoy both style and luxury on their cross-country journeys. One of the key figures in creating this golden age of train travel was George Pullman (born March 3, 1881), the inventor of the Pullman "Palace" sleeper cars. His luxury cars were advertised as being the ultimate in comfort and service. The service was provided by thousands of former African-American slaves who became the porters, valets, and waiters of the Pullman cars. Pullman, in fact, became the largest single employer of African-Americans after the end of the Civil War. He set up one of his factories on the South Side of Chicago, and built a town around this factory for the employees. This planned community was a marvel of its day, and was even an attraction at the World’s Columbian Exhibition of 1893. It all came tumbling down, however, when the Pullman workers went on strike in 1894, protesting the cuts in their wages made by the company. This strike, put down brutally by Pullman with the help of the U.S. government, was one of the largest in history; stopping all train traffic into Chicago and crippling train travel nationwide. After the strike, the Pullman company was ordered to divest itself of all land owned, marking the end of the company town. But even though the neighborhood of Pullman has long since been absorbed into the city of Chicago, it remains quite proud of its history. Read more about the workers who made George Pullman's empire what it was, the Pullman Porters:Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class by Larry Tye
Those Pullman Blues: an Oral History of the African American Railroad Attendant by David D. Perata.
An Anthology of Respect: the Pullman Porters National Historic Registry of African American Railroad Employees by Lyn Hughes
A. Philip Randolph: a Life in the Vanguard by Andrew Edmund Kersten