Film
Why Do We Expect Ancient Romans to Have British Accents in Movies?
Most of the objectors to Denzel Washington’s accent are men who think too much about the Roman Empire. Here’s how the accent has changed throughout cinema.
Film history
Film
Nudity in the US Film Industry, and How it Has (and Hasn’t) Evolved
The documentary Skin spurs the viewer to think about what kind of bodies are usually naked in movies.
Art
An Early Peek Inside the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
As Tom Hanks announced at the Oscars, the museum opens December of this year, the result of a 90-year quest by the Academy to create a museum dedicated to their art and industry.
Film
A History of Film at MoMA, as Told by Its Original Curator
As part of its reopening slate, a film series at the museum pays tribute to the foundational programming of its influential film curator Iris Barry.
Film
A 14-Hour Documentary on Female Filmmakers Illuminates and Frustrates
Seeking to upend the male-dominated canon but directed by a man, Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema defies some hierarchies while reinforcing others.
In Brief
The World's First Movie Poster Goes to Auction
The rare 1896 graphic work advertised the world's first public screening of a film by the Lumière brothers.
Books
The Underappreciated Art of the Hollywood Backdrop
A new book highlights the unheralded contributions of backdrop artists to the history of film.
Art
Conservators Reverse-Engineer the First Noncommercial 35mm Film Strip
Using salvaged machines and a hand-cranked camera, conservators at the George Eastman Museum created the first strip of 35mm motion-picture film not produced by a commercial company.
Art
The Hypnotic Portrait Paintings of Film Noir
Before she even appears in the 1944 film noir classic Laura, Laura Hunt is an obsession for the hardboiled police detective, who is mesmerized with the supposedly dead woman through her portrait.
Art
Nature in an Acid Bath: Early Color Films of National Park Vistas
In the 1930s the National Park Service created silent films, hand-tinted and toned with vibrant color, to promote outdoor oases to American travelers.
Books
The Early Color Films Left Out of the History of Cinema
Dorothy stepping into a Technicolor Oz in 1938 is so iconic that the decades of color film history before it are almost forgotten.
Interview
Talking Pictures with a Film Curator of 45 Years
Charles Silver has worked at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) since 1970, first in the film studies center and then (and still) as a curator in the department of film.