Mr. Rogers/Hanks' Neighborhood
I have mixed feelings about this movie. Rogers was a wannabe Catholic . . . maybe (link).
“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” starring Hanks as the host of “Mister Rogers Neighborhood,” premiered Saturday night at the Toronto International Film Festival, revealing a nuanced and layered performance by Hanks that goes well beyond the cardigan.
The film, which will open in theaters Nov. 22, isn't a Fred Rogers biopic but dramatizes the true story of magazine journalist (Matthew Rhys, playing a fictionalized version of writer Tom Junod) who went to Pittsburgh to profile Rogers for Esquire magazine.
Where Is the Best City to Live, Based on Salaries and Cost of Living?
None of the major metro areas are on the list.
Nazi war criminals, potentially including Adolf Hitler, used clandestine international routes to flee defeated Germany for safe haven in Argentina and other South American countries. Using these archives, eye-witness reports and other local histories, Williams published the book, Grey Wolf: The Escape of Adolf Hitler. Despite the rigor in his journalism and his adherence to facts and evidence, the international community has largely ignored him.
The Patriots: Can't be Learned from
Why do the Patriots always win? Great question. If you ask 10 people in the NFL–and I've asked many more than that–you might get different answers from each. One general manager told me a few months ago that nothing mattered except head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. Hmm. Others point to a much bigger picture in New England: roster management and ruthless long-term planning. Some executives or coaches point to the team's game-planning and the flexibility to change how it plays from week to week.
Filming the Dead: Defunct Malls
Filmmaker and producer Dan Bell knows dead malls – since 2014, he's been documenting these crumbling bastions of consumerism. It started with Bell wanting to explore malls he remembered from his childhood in Maryland, but "gradually it got to a point where I was like, maybe I should start filming them and putting them on YouTube as a digital archive," he told The Week. . .
Malls now have a completely different meaning than they did 30 years ago, when people – especially teenagers – went to meet friends, go on dates, and just hang out. "Today, there is no social meaning to a mall," Bell said. "It's not the center of the community anymore. We have Facebook now, and Instagram and Twitter. Mall-age people now hang out on Facebook all day, complaining and taking pictures of their food. ... You used to take your pictures to the mall and bitch about things at the mall with friends. We've digitized the food court."
Bell has been to dead and dying malls across the United States, all in various states of disrepair. Going into certain abandoned malls has been a trip – he's stumbled upon frozen-in-time Subway sandwich shops with the old-school wallpaper, and a sign for a Ben Franklin Crafts store in perfect condition, 30 years after it closed. "It was sealed off inside of this building for decades," he said. "It kind of gives you the chills."
By the time Bell arrived at the Rolling Acres Mall in Ohio, the building had been stripped of anything worth money, and there was a strange fungus growing on the ground, with puddles everywhere. The floor had an oily sheen to it, and he slipped; because there were no railings, he almost fell down to the first floor. At another abandoned mall, donning a mask and protective suit, he walked into an eerie defunct Ames department store, with rows and rows of Hallmark greeting cards, surrounded by mold. "I could see why people are drawn to that kind of thing," he said. "In a weird way, it's like a video game and a post-apocalyptic movie and a nightmare all wrapped into one."
