Lang's Metropolis rediscoveredAmong the footage that has now been discovered, according to the unanimous opinion of the three experts that ZEITmagazine asked to appraise the pictures, there are several scenes which are essential in order to understand the film: The role played by the actor Fritz Rasp in the film for instance, can finally be understood. Other scenes, such as for instance the saving of the children from the worker’s underworld, are considerably more dramatic...
The rediscovered material is in need of restoration after 80 years; the pictures are scratched, but clearly recognizable. Martin Koerber, the restorer of the hitherto longest known version of “Metropolis”, who also examined the footage, said to ZEITmagazine: “No matter how bad the condition of the material may be, the original intention of the film, including all of its minor characters and subplots, is now once again tangible for the normal viewer. The rhythm of the film has been restored.”
Snip from NYT story by Miguel Helft:
Google and Viacom said they were hoping to come up with a way to protect the anonymity of the site’s visitors. Viacom also said that the information would be safeguarded by a protective order restricting access to the data to outside lawyers, who will use it solely to press Viacom’s $1 billion copyright suit against Google.Google Told to Turn Over User Data of YouTubeStill, the judge’s order, which was made public late Wednesday, renewed concerns among privacy advocates that Internet companies like Google are collecting unprecedented amounts of private information that could be misused or fall unexpectedly into the hands of third parties.
“These very large databases of transactional information become honey pots for law enforcement or for litigants,” said Chris Hoofnagle, a senior fellow at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology.
Public schools in Barnegat were locked down briefly after someone reported seeing a ninja running through the woods behind an elementary school.LinkTurns out the ninja was actually a camp counselor dressed in black karate garb and carrying a plastic sword.
Last year, New York police officers were seen dancing in the streets just before arresting four men in a city nightclub on charges of selling $100 worth of cocaine. It took six months and the men's life savings, but their names were finally cleared when prosecutors took the unusual step of announcing in court that the men had committed no crime.LinkThat's because club surveillance video shows that the undercover cops had no contact with the accused men in the two hours they were in the club.
Now, club owner Eduardo Espinoza says the police are retaliating against him.
Tiger Temple
Tiger Temple, or Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua, is a Buddhist temple in Western Thailand which keeps numerous animals, among them several tigers that walk around freely once a day and can be petted by visitors. It was founded in 1994 as a forest temple and sanctuary for numerous wild animals. As of 2007, over 21 cubs have been born at the temple and the total number of tigers is about 12 adult tigers and 4 cubs.
The Tiger Temple practices a different conservation philosophy than in the west. In western zoos and parks the emphasis is on providing a natural environment for the animals. In the temple, at least until the sanctuary is completed, the animals seem to be treated more as family members. Although it may be possible for the offspring of the current generation to return to the wild, their parents will live out a life within the temple grounds. Their conservation philosophy seems to be working, while projects elsewhere often need to resort to artificial insemination. Over 10 cubs have been born at the temple in the last three years despite having no breeding program whatsoever.
(Thanks to Grow-A-Brain for the piece)
A long-lost original cut of the 1927 silent film sat for 80 years in a private collection and then in the Museum of Cinema in Buenos Aires, where it was discovered in April with scratched images that hadn't been seen before.
Museum director Paula Felix-Didier said theirs is the only copy of German director Fritz Lang's complete film.
"This is the version Fritz Lang intended," said Martin Koerber, a curator at the Deutsche Kinemathek film museum in Berlin, Germany.
"Metropolis," written by Lang and his actress wife Thea von Harbou, depicts a 21st century world divided between a class of underworld workers and the "thinkers" above who control them.
Soon after its initial release at the height of Germany's Weimar Republic, distributors cut Lang's three-and-a-half-hour masterpiece into the shorter version since viewed by millions worldwide.
But a private collector carried an original version to Argentina in 1928, where it has stayed, Felix-Didier said.
In the 1980s, Argentine film fanatic Fernando Pena heard about a man who had propped up a broken projector for "hours" to screen "Metropolis" in the 1960s. But the version of the film he knew was only one-and-a-half hours long. For years, he begged Buenos Aires' museum to check their archives for the man's longer version.
This year, museum researchers finally agreed and in April uncovered the reels in the museum's archive.
In June, Felix-Didier flew with a DVD to the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation in Wiesbaden, Germany, which owns the rights to "Metropolis." Researchers there confirmed that the scenes were original.
News of the find excited film enthusiasts worldwide.
"This is a movie that millions and millions of people have seen since its release and yet, in many ways, we've never seen the true film," said Mike Mashon, head of the Moving Image section of the U.S. Library of Congress in Washington.
"Metropolis" was reissued in the U.S. in 2002 by Kino International Corp., which owns the rights to distribute the film domestically, Kino's general manager Gary Palmucci said.
Kino may rerelease the new, complete version of the film, although Palmucci said it is too soon for details.
Meanwhile, Buenos Aires' Museum of Cinema is holding its treasure tight.
"The film hasn't left the museum and it won't leave until the city government and the Murnau Foundation decide what to do," Felix-Didier said.
At 11 p.m. EDT Thursday, Bertha was centered 185 miles west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands.
The second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season is moving toward the west at about 14 mph, and forecasters expect that to continue for the next two days.
Maximum sustained winds are near 45 mph. Some gradual strengthening was forecast during the next day or two.
It's still too early to say if or where Bertha will hit land.
The first named storm this year, Arthur, formed in the Atlantic the day before the season officially started June 1 and soaked the Yucatan Peninsula.
All I know is I had two grandmothers named Bertha and I am here to tell you anyone with the name Bertha is no one to be trifled with so this storm may be a doozy.
