The Woman in Black (2012) – 7

Reblogged from John of the Dead's Horror Flick Reviews:

Director – James Watkins Cast – Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds, Janet McTeer, Misha Handley, Lucy May Barker, Shaun Dooley, Mary Stockley, Tim McMullan Release Year – 2012 Reviewed by John of the Dead While not initially stoked when I first learned of this remake/adaptation of the 1989 TV film and Susan Hill’s 1983 novel of the same name, I was eventually brought on board the bandwagon when I saw the first trailer for this one. The trailer looked dark, gothic, and like the Hammer films of decades ago that …

What better to do on a cold night than to cuddle up with a good book or movie. John of the Dead’s review of the latest retake of The Woman in Black is a good one. While John goes into great detail of the special effects and mood setting, the story is a good one making the film not just another horror flick. All in all, John’s review is a good read and has inspired me to check for show times.

Making Mountains: Liz Tran

Reblogged from Artsy Forager:

I love it when painters explore their 3-dimensional side.  I’m not talking about donning special sunglasses to see the latest technology driven flick.  I mean, when artists who normally work in 2-dimensions explore the world of sculpture.  The result is often magical, their paintings come to life!  Seattle artist Liz Tran ( an Artsy Forager fave ) brings her color saturated paintings to life in ceramic form. Perhaps what draws me to Liz’s work time and time again is her obvious love for the outdoors …

Here’s a great article about Seattle artist Liz Tran who works ceramic in wonderful, ways. Good read.

Street art in progress

Reblogged from Noisy Pilgrims:

Check out our other work here!

Photograph of the week

Ridgefield Theater Barn hosts Susan Grace Cohen for special adult acting class.

Registration is still open for this calss as noted on the Barn’s website. But that won’t last for long.

“Developing Your Acting Career” Returns!

The Ridgefield Theater Barn is thrilled to be able to offer an adults-only acting class again this season, taught by Susan Grace Cohen, formerly of  NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

Among Ms. Cohen’s former students: James Gandolfini (Sopranos), Linda Hamilton (Terminator 1 & 2) Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark), James Spader (Sex, Lies and Videotape, Boston Legal, Race), Melora Walters (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Big Love), Steven Buscemi (Fargo, Sopranos), Mel Harris (thirtysomething), Justin Chambers (Grey’s Anatomy), Heather Juergensen (Kissing Jessica Stein) and Sarah Burns, (I Love You, Man).

With John Strasberg, son of the late Lee Strasberg, Ms. Cohen owned and operated a private acting studio in New York City, Paris, Barcelona and Madrid. She coaches principals for Broadway, Off Broadway, film & television. She was honored to represent the United States in the work of Lee Strasberg, at the Metodi Festival in Tuscany, where guest master acting teachers and directors from throughout the world were represented.

She is author of Bridging the Gap, Student to Professional Actor, and is a contributing essayist to the online newspaper, Soul of the American Actor. Recently, Ms. Cohen received the James L. Hearst Guest Lecturer Award in the Arts and Humanities at the University of Northern Iowa. She has led acting workshops at Pace University, Miami Dade Community College and The Bank Street College of Education.

Dowton Abbey: Season 2, Inside a Soldier’s Mind

I came across this wonderful Masterpiece Classic series by happenstance; I was trolling through television series and movies on the Internet, looking for something that was meatier than a staged and all-too-predictable sitcom. My first exposure was after the last episodes of first season. After the first viewing, I purchased the entire first season and have watched each episode, looking forward to season two.

I watched Sunday night and was as engaged as I was with every episode. The cast does a magnificent job of presenting the lives of a traditional, English household of means set in the Victorian era. Each detail is carefully done making watching the events of the wealthy household take place “upstairs” and the engine that makes that household work by those in “service” downstairs.

The first episode of this season takes on the devastating effects of war (WWI) and how post-traumatic stress, depression and other mental issues were misunderstood during that time. I came across an interesting article about this episode by Brian Moore and thought it worthy of a reprint.  Enjoy.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Downton Abbey: Inside a Soldier’s Mind

By Brianne Moore

Those of you who watch Masterpiece Classic know that the second season of the much-loved Downton Abbey started up last night, and it was a doozy of an episode. Hardly surprising, considering the season takes place during World War I (and starts off at the Battle of the Somme, one of the most devastating and costly engagements of the entire war). With a war on, characters off fighting (or getting ready to go) and youngest daughter Sybil taking up nursing, there are bound to be some interesting and sometimes heartbreaking medical cases coming across our screens over the next few weeks.

In our first episode, we got to see some of the more common and highly devastating effects of being at war: shell shock (now more commonly referred to as PTSD) and depression. Lang, the new valet, arrives at Downton a bit jumpy, and we quickly learn that he’s been invalided out of the service, even though he doesn’t look like he’s been wounded. His anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and flashbacks to his time in the trenches are all classic symptoms of PTSD, and with the house preparing to turn itself into a convalescent hospital for returning wounded soldiers, we can be sure Lang’s condition will only deteriorate. Lang is hardly alone—many soldiers develop PTSD after being in combat (more than half of all Vietnam veterans experienced symptoms)—but the disorder wasn’t actually identified and named until the Vietnam War era. Soldiers like Lang were considered “shell shocked” and just urged to rest for a bit. For someone in his social position, however, a period of rest isn’t necessarily an option—after all, one has to eat and have a roof over one’s head.

Even sadder than Lang’s story was that of Lieutenant Courtney, the blinded soldier being treated in the local hospital. He’s so pitiful he even makes the hateful former footman Thomas grow a bit of a heart. His blindness is the result of the use of new chemical weapons during the war: chlorine, and later mustard gas. These gasses not only caused blindness (both temporary and permanent); they also severely damaged the lungs, caused internal bleeding and blistered the skin. The young lieutenant, faced with a very different life from the one he’d planned, is also suffering from severe depression. Like Lang, he’s not alone—depression currently affects one in 10 Americans—but like so many things, it was poorly understood during this period, and effective treatments were virtually nonexistent. The doctor’s advice that the young man chin up and make the best of his situation was about the best they could do. Tragically, this advice did nothing to help the young soldier, who like many depressed people was struggling with thoughts of suicide.

Nowadays, depression is far better understood, and a wide range of treatments are available (the same holds true for blindness as well), but it never hurts to brush up on some of the warning signs of depression so someone can intervene before it’s too late.