News

Christmas movies are a thing on their own. They tend to be heartwarming dramedies akin to slice-of-life movies that make us emotional but also offer us a sense of warmth and comfort. Centred around the year-end festival, these movies often speak about the spirit of togetherness and are drenched in a cosy, celebratory spirit of the festival. From Frank Capra’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ to Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’, we have seen the festival bringing people together, literally or emotionally. Tyler Taormina’s ‘Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point’ is the latest, charming addition to this list that uses its big ensemble to offer a time capsule to a a bygone era.

While Christmas is a cause for celebration, it may not be the same for everyone everywhere. Some may cherish getting together and sharing the same space with their families. For some, it can be pitch-perfect like...

Muppeteer Jim Henson’s rarities, late quilt artist Faith Ringgold’s earliest interview, and an ad for Jacuzzi rival Vibrabath saw the light of day at the 14th Orphan Film Symposium.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary earlier this week, the NYU-produced Orphans (first founded by University of South Carolina turned NYU professor Dan Streible in 1999) gathered scholars, archivists, and preservationists for a range of media obscurities: including home videos, newsreels, and medical films abandoned by their copyright holders at the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI). Blame low commercial value, the deterioration of VHS/celluloid copies in the Dcp era, or the shrouding of sociopolitical messages from the masses for their loss.

This year’s theme was the broadly named “Work and Play.” According to the convening’s open call, “Work” alludes to labor, occupations, and machines. Conversely, “Play” implies joy, games, entertainment, and sex. Yet, the two realms intersect...

For those of us who remember going to the movies in 1977, we were treated to Star Wars, Smokey And The Bandit, The Spy Who Loved Me, Airport 77, The Car, Orca and Capricorn One. There was a rich wealth of movies to choose from and a time when audiences in their local cinemas would cheer and clap for the heroes. Then on December 14, 1977, coming off the success of Jaws, that director Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi masterpiece graced the screens. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind was the filmmaker’s next movie and, along with star Richard Dreyfuss and the magnificent score from composer John Williams, took audiences on a journey of mankind’s first meeting with aliens and let us know we are not alone in the universe.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning for Best Cinematography by Director of Photography Vilmos Zsigmond (The Sugarland Express...

Those attending the 15th annual TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood next month will have an opportunity to engage with Mel Brooks and Vitaphone, both born in 1926. One’s extinct, the other’s still going strong.

While Brooks, 97, will be on hand for a closing-night screening of his 1987 comedy Spaceballs, six Vitaphone vaudeville shorts from the 1920s will be projected in 35mm, with sound played back from their original 16-inch discs on a turntable designed and engineered by Warner Bros.’ postproduction engineering department.

Also announced Thursday:

• Steven Spielberg will participate in a Q&a with Howard Suber — the UCLA faculty member at the center of the recent six-part TCM documentary The Power of Film — ahead of a director’s cut of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977);

• Nancy Meyers and Alexander Payne, respectively, will introduce world premiere restorations of Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959) and John Ford’s The Searchers...

In today’s TV news roundup, NBC announced the Season 20 premiere date of “The Voice,” AMC Plus moved the return of “The Walking Dead” on its streaming service up a few days early.

Dates

The Paley Center for Media will celebrate Black History Month with “A Salute to Black Achievements in Television presented by Citi” beginning Feb. 1. The annual celebration spotlights significant contributions from Black icons, innovators and leaders in media and entertainment. Programming includes “For Life in Conversation with Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson” Feb. 1 at 8 p.m.; “Queen Sugar” exclusives Feb. 13-15; a special family preview screening of Netflix’s “Family Reunion” on Feb. 27, and 100th anniversary spotlights of The Negro Leagues and Black women in government and politics on TV on Feb. 28. While these screenings and panels will be available on the Paley Center’s YouTube page, interactive experiences with archival content will also be available on its website.