Behind the scenes at TCM’s A History of Disability in Film festival
It's not even 11 a.m. on the set of Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz's living room in Midtown Atlanta and already Lawrence Carter-Long has the movie buff, along with director Sean Cameron and the crew completely charmed. Carter-Long, the public affairs specialist for the National Council on Disability, has flown in from Washington D.C. to co-host TCM's month-long film festival "The Projected Image: A History of Disability in Film." Carter-Long curated the 21 films in the series and they range from 1946's post-World War II drama "The Best Years of Our Lives" to Jack Nicholson's Oscar-winning performance in 1975's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" as a psychiatric patient who rebels against the institution's dire conditions. Nattily attired in a gray formal jacket, Carter-Long is artfully making a case for tonight's airing of "Charly," the now-dusty 1968 drama that won Cliff Robertson an Oscar playing an intellectually disabled man who undergoes experimental (and highly questionable by today's standards) surgery to raise his IQ.
The 4,978 schools that fueled a movement
Andrew Feiler’s book, A Better Life for Their Children, remembers the improbable partnership that empowered a generation of Black students to become poets, civil rights leaders, and Congress members.
Moore and Dickens seem bound for Atlanta mayoral runoff, leaving Reed out
Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore trounced the competition, claiming more than 40 percent of the 96,122 votes tallied. Councilmember Andre Dickens defied pollsters and leapfrogged one-time frontrunner Kasim Reed, likely earning a runoff spot.
Barry Manilow, Bruce Sussman introduce Harmony to Atlanta
Die-hard Fanilows (the self-appointed nickname for Barry Manilow fans) and skeptical, pop music schmaltz allergic Alliance Theatre veteran supporters streamed in together for the world premiere of Harmony A New Musical at the Woodruff Arts Center Sunday night. The ambitious show, composed by Grammy-winning Copacabana songwriting partners Bruce Sussman and Barry Manilow, is based on the real-life German singing group, The Comedian Harmonists, who battled to stay together (and alive) as the Nazis ascended to power in 1930s Germany.
Zoo Atlanta’s panda twins celebrate their first birthday
Happy birthday, Mei Lun and Mei Huan! One year ago today, pandemonium began when Zoo Atlanta's giant panda Lun Lun gave birth to a set of tiny pink cubs, the first giant panda twins born in the U.S. since 1987. Through the zoo's blog, eager Atlantans (and the rest of the world) watched the twins transform from four-ounce newborns to the 60-pound adorable balls of fluff they are today, along the way hitting classic milestones such as opening their eyes for the first time and getting their baby teeth. Today, the zoo celebrates the girls’ birthday with a set of ice cakes, but let’s first go back in time and look at how far these cuties have come.
The Shelf: Melanie Sumner
Melanie Sumner A cavernous sense of loss permeates The Ghost of Milagro Creek (Algonquin Books, $13.95 paperback), a tragic story of love and heartbreak
Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain are unconventional
Every four years, TV executives agree to allow Democrats and Republicans to air lengthy political infomercials for free. These ads, better known as the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, are an opportunity for presidential candidates to pitch their candidacies to an audience considerably larger than the party die-hards they were talking to during primary season.
Q&A with Natasha Trethewey
With Emory professor Natasha Trethewey named poet laureate of the United States, discussions of Southern identity get a higher profile.
The Walking Dead Awards: “It’s never gonna get any better than this”
Each week, we comb through the guts of The Walking Dead, much like a horde of hungry walkers, to bring you the episode’s best moments, surprises, and other post-apocalyptic curiosities. This week: police do not have to self-identify, the dangers of packing a yo-yo, and out, damned spot!
