Les Jones

Word of the Day: Dolly Zoom (Cinematography)

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 | A&E, Photos, Word of the Day | Permalink | 1 Comment |

Wikipedia:

The dolly zoom is an unsettling in-camera special effect that appears to undermine normal visual perception in film.

The effect is achieved by using the setting of a zoom lens to adjust the angle of view (often referred to as field of view) while the camera dollies (or moves) towards or away from the subject in such a way as to keep the subject the same size in the frame throughout. In its classic form, the camera is pulled away from a subject whilst the lens zooms in, or vice-versa. Thus, during the zoom, there is a continuous perspective distortion, the most directly noticeable feature being that the background appears to change size relative to the subject.

As the human visual system uses both size and perspective cues to judge the relative sizes of objects, seeing a perspective change without a size change is a highly unsettling effect, and the emotional impact of this effect is greater than the description above can suggest. The visual appearance for the viewer is that either the background suddenly grows in size and detail overwhelming the foreground; or the foreground becomes immense and dominates its previous setting, depending on which way the dolly zoom is executed.

The effect was first developed by Irmin Roberts, a Paramount second-unit cameraman, and was famously used by Alfred Hitchcock in his film Vertigo.

The dolly zoom is commonly used by filmmakers to represent the sensation of vertigo, a “falling away from oneself feeling”, feeling of unreality, or to suggest that a character is undergoing a realization that causes him to reassess everything he had previously believed. After Hitchcock popularized the effect (he used it again for a climactic revelation in Marnie), the technique was used by many other filmmakers, and eventually became regarded as a gimmick or cliché. This was especially true after director Steven Spielberg repopularized the effect in his highly regarded film Jaws, in a memorable shot of a dolly zoom into Police Chief Brody’s (Roy Scheider) stunned reaction at the climax of a shark attack on a beach (after a suspenseful build-up). Spielberg used the technique again in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was originally used within Battlestar Galactica to depict the feeling experienced by characters when the ship utilises faster-than-light travel. However, the technique was not used again until the fourth season.

The Wikipedia entry on perspective distortion in photography is really interesting, too.

Previous WOTD - Nuke the Fridge

Movies: Atonement, Tropic Thunder, Burn After Reading, Zack and Miri

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | No Comments |

Burn After Reading
The latest Coen brothers movie is a different direction for them. The movie has a backdrop of D.C. espionage, but the big themes are middle age and infidelity.

The Coens get another great performance out of Frances McDermott and George Clooney. Brad Pitt is great as a likeably hyped-up dimwit.

Tropic Thunder
A parody of Vietnam war movies that’s even better at parodying Hollywood cynicism. Robert Downey, Jr., plays an Australian method actor who has his skin dyed to play a black actor. He’s a dude playing a dude acting like another dude. The further he gets into the movie the more he forgets he’s actually white, which gets under the skin of rapper-turned-actor Alpha Chino (Brandon T. Jackson).

Ben Stiller is a past-his-prime action hero who temporarily becomes an action hero when he believes the fight they’re in is staged. He’s ultimately saved by his role as a lovable retarded character named Simple Jack, an Oscar-seeking role that had previously been the low point of his acting career. (One character explains his mistake: “Never go full retard.”)

I don’t think I realized that Jack Black could actually act, but in several scenes he’s in charge as a typecast, overweight comedian trying to become a serious actor. Tom Cruise was the other shocker, playing a red-faced Hollywood mogul spraying profanity and spittle that’s a stretch from his previous roles. Dude’s weird, but dude can act.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Hilarious, but definitely not for everyone. I have to think this Kevin Smith movie barely made R and not X. And that’s all I’ll say about that.

Lots of faces to look for in this one. The Bubbles character is former porn queen Traci Lords. Stacey is current porn queen Katie Morgan. Jason Mewes plays a non-Jay porn rookie. Comedian and Opie and Anthony regular Jim Norton is one of the people auditioning. Stay and watch the bonus clip after the credits.

Atonement
Beautifully-made film about betrayal and missed redemption.

Kelso

Monday, December 1st, 2008 | A&E, Quotes | Permalink | No Comments |

“What does he have that I don’t? I mean, I have the three things women want: I’m hot and I’m smart.”
 – Michael Kelso (Ashton Kucher), “That ’70s Show”

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Monday, November 24th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | 2 Comments |

Five word review:

“Lowered expectations saved the movie!”

I had heard so many bad things about the long-delayed Indiana Jones sequel that my wife had to dig in her heels to get me to watch it. For the first 15 minutes I complained endlessly about the improbabilities and mistakes (gun powder and lead shot aren’t magnetic, for Pete’s sake).

Past that part the story is good Indy fare and the acting ain’t bad at all. Shia LaBeouf is much less annoying than the buzz (or his name) suggested. When the credits rolled I was surprised to learn which actors played Professor Oxley, Indy’s old buddy Mac, and Natasha Colonel Doctor Spalko.

Then there’s the typical Indy action, archaeological puzzles, and adventure in exotic lands. The ending is goofy, but by then I had forgiven all. Critics did their job - my expectations were lowered enough that I was surprised how much I liked the good parts. Thanks, critics!

“You got your Sopranos in my Batman.” “You got your Batman in my Sopranos.”

Monday, October 13th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | No Comments |

“Delicious!”

See Chris Range at DragonCon this weekend

Thursday, August 28th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | 3 Comments |

My pal and Knoxville artist Chris Range will be at DragonCon this Labor Day weekend signing copies of his new puzzle book, Emblems from the Runes of Magness. The show runs August 29 - September 1 in Atlanta.

Season 5 of “The Wire” is out on DVD Tomorrow

Monday, August 11th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | 3 Comments |

The official release date of “The Wire” Season 5 isn’t until tomorrow, but I just got email notice from Amazon that my pre-order has shipped.

Have I Mentioned How Much I Like “The Wire”?

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | No Comments |

Well, I do. Years ago I read Homicide by David Simon, then a “Baltimore Sun” reporter hanging out with the Baltimore homicide unit. The book begat the TV show of the same name. It never drew me in, but its commercial success paved the way for the HBO series “The Wire,” which is unbelievable. It’s one of the few shows with the confidence and realism to regularly kill off main characters every season. Anyway, here are a couple of related The Wire notes.

From Slate’s review of Generation Kill:

I was eager to watch this series because David Simon and Ed Burns, who co-produced it, were the wise men behind The Wire; I wanted to see what these masters of urban narratives would do with a military story. Here the miniseries is revelatory, because it shows a similarity between the emotional hydraulics of a military unit in Iraq and a drug gang in Baltimore. As in The Wire, the Marines who are the focus of Generation Kill are crude young toughs who have a hard-to-decipher patois of their own. (By the end of the series, you still might not know the meaning of ROE, MSR, RCT, POG, and AO.) Their chain of command is led by an intelligent lieutenant and a veteran sergeant known as “Iceman”; if you put together the characteristics of these two warriors, you have Marlo Stanfield, the coolly analytic gang leader of The Wire. Just as a drug gang can be more sophisticated than we thought, a Marine battalion can be less perfect than we wish.

And from Entertainment Weekly’s interview with Watchmen/V for Vendetta/League of Extraordinary Gentlemen creator Alan Moore:

Do you ever relax and just watch television?
Selectively, mostly on DVD. The absolute pinnacle of anything I’ve seen recently has got to be The Wire. It’s the most stunning piece of television that has ever come out of America, possibly the most stunning piece of television full-stop.

That’s a great example of storytelling that takes its time.
Absolutely, that is grown-up television! It’s novelistic. You get to find out about all these tiny different aspects of Baltimore, to build up a huge picture of the city with all of its intricacies — from the wharf side, to the kids in the projects, to the power structure with the boardrooms and police department and governor’s office. And it’s got some great writers: It’s got George Pelecanos and David Simon. And so many wonderful characters, Bubbles, Omar. So yeah, everything else looks pretty lame next to The Wire.

PS - BET is showing re-runs again, starting with the 2002 season.

“Lost” Flash-forwards in Chronological Order

Thursday, June 26th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | No Comments |

At JOpinionated’s.

So That’s Why So Many People Hated “I Am Legend”

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | 1 Comment |

I Saw “I Am Legend” when it was in theaters and thought it was pretty good. Turns out, that’s because I hadn’t read the book and didn’t realize how much they butchered the ending. No wonder some people hated it so much.

Bonus! - The Editing Room re-write of “I am Legend”

WILL SMITH falls for a trap set up by a monster, indicating they are actually intelligent, fully contradicting everything else in the movie and making it extremely clear how many rewrites the script has gone through.

In the process, WILL SMITH’S DOG dies, giving him absolutely nobody to talk to. Saddened, he decides to kill himself by being eaten by vampires. Because if you’re going to kill yourself, you may as well make it the most painful, terrifying suicide possible.

The Editing Room

Monday, June 23rd, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | No Comments |

If you like movies (check) and grew up reading Mad magazine (check) go visit The Editing Room for their movie script parodies. Here’s Iron Man:

GWYNETH PALTROW: Robert, your stock is plummeting and your board of directors wants you out.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR: Superheroes, press conferences, and now all of the excitement of corporate takeovers and stock market fluctuations? This movie has everything!

GWYNETH PALTROW: Everything except a villain.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR: Oh, who would you prefer I face off against? The Chinese guy with the ten magical rings?

GWYNETH PALTROW: Well no, but so far your biggest villain has been the host of Mad Money. Does Iron Man really suck this much?

ROBERT DOWNEY JR: What about myself? As a Marvel character, I have flaws, so perhaps my real villain is my crippling alcoholism.

GWYNETH PALTROW: You mean the crippling alcoholism that in no way stopped you from becoming a genius billionaire inventor and so far has manifested itself in a single scene where you hold a drink without actually drinking it?

ROBERT DOWNEY JR: That’s the one. Now get out of my way, I have to go to Afghanistan and fly around a bit to make it seem like this movie has an action sequence.

:::later:::

GWYNETH PALTROW: You did it, Robert! The world has been saved from the dangerous weapon that you built in the first place!

TERRENCE HOWARD: And I’m still in the movie, everyone!

ROBERT DOWNEY JR: Let’s celebrate with a drink! Just kidding of course, alcoholism is a totally manageable disease.

And don’t miss Juno:

ELLEN finds a couple to adopt her kid: JASON BATEMAN and JENNIFER GARNER. ELLEN goes to meet them.

JENNIFER GARNER: We’re so happy you’d consider us despite the fact that I starred in Elektra.

JASON BATEMAN: So who is the father of the little bastard?

ELLEN PAGE: Oh, just this awkward, typecast kid at school named Michael Cera.

JASON BATEMAN: No shit? He played my son on Arrested Development. I look forward to the scene in this movie that reunites us for the first time since the show was canceled, which is sure to be a real pleasure for fans.

That scene NEVER HAPPENS. ELLEN agrees to give her kid to JENNIFER and JASON.

TIME PASSES and MORE INDIE ROCK MUSIC PLAYS. ELLEN goes through the various scenes that movies about pregnant people are obligated to include.

She visits JASON BATEMAN.

JASON BATEMAN: Hey Ellen. Want to watch some indie horror films and listen to some indie music together?

ELLEN PAGE: That sounds great! I sure hope that watching the movie isn’t interrupted by me having to go puke my guts out, sweaty and hunched over the toilet. (pause) Just kidding, none of that crap happens in the movie. Pregnancy is easy-peasy.

JASON BATEMAN: Well, I have good news. I’m leaving Jennifer Garner.

ELLEN PAGE: Why, because your marriage to her has robbed you of your youth, which you have been reminded of since you started hanging around with me?

JASON BATEMAN: No, I just rented 13 Going On 30. I can’t even look at her now. Has she been in anything good?

“Lost” Season Recaps, Easter Eggs, Alternate Endings, &Theories

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | No Comments |

DarkUFO has season 4’s alternate endings with different cast members in the coffin. As Count Floyd would say, “Ewww, skerry.”

Jim Treacher has a roundup of roundups.

JOpinionated wraps up the season finale. I love his summary of all the games Hurley has played during the four seasons - has Hurley ever lost at anything?

JOpinionated links to this YouTube clip of edits of the “time-travelling bunnies” Orchid station orientation video that Locke watched:

He She also offers an interesting theory:

“3) Jeremy Bentham was not John Locke. He was a clone of Locke that was created in the Vault below the Orchid station (like the rabbits). Whether this happens as an accident or was purposeful remains to be seen.”

Could be. When the Orchid was introduced we were told it was a cloning station, not a time travel station. In light of the Orchid orientation video above we now know it’s both, after a fashion. The clones are created by time travel, rather than by genetic means. Having a bunny in different time lines means having two bunnies until the time lines converge.

I wonder what happens if they come in contact? The people in the video are panicked that that might happen. I wonder if anyone on the island (e.g., Jacob, whoever became the Smoke Monster, etc.) ever came into contact with his doppelganger?

In a related idea, Time Loop Theory uses time travel to explain the island’s ghosts (such as Christian, Claire, and Jacob). According to his theory the ghosts are people who are alive in an unaltered timeline, but dead in the island’s current timeline. The ghosts are just “fate course-correcting” as Desmond and the elderly psychic woman like to say:

Jacob is also a time traveler with Richard and Ben; however, we haven’t seen him in his “alive” state. At some point in time after Jacob goes back in time with Richard and Ben to start the time loop, Jacob dies. However, being that Jacob lived in a previous timeline on the island up to the year 2007, his “spirit” is able to stay alive in order communicate with Ben and Richard.

Time Loop Theory attempts to explain everything on Lost in terms of time travel. For instance, when the survivors crashed on the island they travelled back in time. Therefore Locke could walk again because they’re at a point in time before his legs were paralyzed. Desmond was entering a code into the computer that reset island time every 108 minutes.

Another theory, this one mine: the Locke in the coffin is the normal-timeline Locke who is paralyzed, not the the island-time Locke whose legs are intact. In other words, the real Locke is dead and it’s only his timeclone who is alive. Thoughts?

Finally, I’ve enjoyed Jorge Garcia’s (Hurley’s) blog in the days since the finale:
- Taller Ghost Walt
- Playing on a C-130
- Hurley in the vault

Where I’ll Be Checking in During Lost’s Season Finale

Thursday, May 29th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | 2 Comments |

Jim Treacher will be liveblogging it over at Blowing Smoke. Some of his previous liveblogs here, here, and here. (That first one is a goof to fill in last week’s gap - it’s a “liveblog” of last year’s season finale as if he hadn’t seen season four three.)

Lost: Did Anyone Else Notice Jack’s Chipped/Missing Tooth?

Sunday, May 18th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | No Comments |

Or was it just me? In the first scene last week Jack and the rest of the Oceanic 6 are in the Coast Guard plane. One of Jack’s lower incisors is missing or badly chipped.

It could be nothing. Maybe he just gets in fight prior to getting off of the island. Or maybe this fits in with JOpinionated’s theory about characters on Lost sometimes losing body parts as a side effect of time travel.

Lost Links as the Season Finale Approaches

Thursday, May 15th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | No Comments |

The next time I make homebrew I think I’ll print up some Dharma Initiative Beer labels

Tonight’s Lost is a build-up to next week’s the week after next’s season finale. Here are some tasty links while you wait for tonight’s ep.

Via Cathy I found Barry’s wrap-up of last week’s Lost. Like my wife, Barry thinks Claire is dead and that’s why we saw her in Jacob’s cabin with Christian, who is definitely long dead, but who has appeared as a ghost to his son, Jack. (Christian is also Claire’s father, though I’m not sure if that matters.)

From Barry’s post I discovered JOpinionated’s Lost pages. Great stuff. Remember I mentioned my wife’s theory about why Ben couldn’t kill Widmore? Check out this theory: “Widmore and Ben are each other’s constant and therefore can’t kill each other.” I don’t know if that’s right or not, but it’s mighty interesting.

Don’t miss JOpinionated’s profiles:

• Libby/Elizabeth

• Missing Limbs & Time Travel: A LOST Connection? Great stuff
• Smoke Monster
• Michael and Walt
• Charles Widmore
• Juliet Burke
• Sayid
• Mothers of Lost

Bonus! - Previously on Lost, a band that performs musical recaps of Lost episodes:

Gotta Take Your Meds (Jack’s Appendectomy Episode)

The baby mama and her southern savior really can’t stand
Miles showing them that Carl’s turned into a man plant
How do you escape (How do you escape ooh…) the whisperings of the deceased,
treat yourself to ample helpings of a medication feast (pop pop pow!)

Free NIN MP3s

Friday, May 9th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | 1 Comment |

You can download free MP3s of The Slip and the first nine tracks of Ghosts. For The Slip there are even some higher-quality-than-CD formats available, which is amazing, seeing as how they’re going to turn around and ask money for the CD in July.

Did I mention it’s free?

Melissa’s “Lost” Theory

Friday, April 25th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | No Comments |

Spoilers ahoy if you haven’t seen Thursday night’s episode.

On Thursday Widmore’s man killed Ben’s daughter on the island. Off of the island Ben sought out Widmore and managed to enter his penthouse and catch him unaware. Widmore asked if Ben was going to kill him and Ben said he couldn’t. Why not? Ben had a gun and Widmore was unarmed. So why couldn’t he kill him?

Melissa thinks that if you’ve been to the island you become immortal when you return to the real world. A few episodes ago we learned that when Michael escaped the island he tried to commit suicide multiple times but couldn’t. Tom tells Michael he couldn’t kill himself even if he wanted to.

Other evidence? Counter-evidence?

P.S. Screencaps from the episode

Movies in 5 Seconds

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | No Comments |

or,

You Can Tell I Don’t Have to Time Post When I Link to Videos

Titanic in 5 Seconds

The Big Lebowski in 5 Seconds

Silence of the Lambs in 5 Seconds

Godfather in 5 Seconds

While You Wait for Tonight’s “Lost” Episode

Thursday, February 7th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | No Comments |

visit the blog of Jorge Garcia (AKA the actor who plays Hurley on “Lost”). He’s a pretty good blogger, and his blog is pretty much what you’d expect if Hurley had a blog.

Movie: “Fanstastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer”

Monday, February 4th, 2008 | A&E, Comic Books | Permalink | 2 Comments |

(Home sick. Watching movies.)

I loved comic books as a kid, so I can’t help but watch comic book adaptations. Even though I didn’t much like the first Fantastic Four movie I had some hope for this one because the second movie in these franchises is often better than the first.

The basic storyline isn’t bad, and involves some venerable Fantastic Four characters and plots. Sue and Reed are trying to plan a wedding while dealing with the chaos that comes with their lives as members of the Fantastic Four. Meanwhile there are mysterious sightings around the world, followed by massive craters and cosmic energy readings. The mysterious sightings are the Silver Surfer, and his arrival signals the Earth’s imminent destruction.

One thing I liked about the movie was the portrayal of the media circus surrounding the heroes’ lives. Part of the postmodern comic world is viewing comic book heroes as real life figures who have to live in the same world as everyone else, by the same rules, and there’s no reason to think superheroes would escape media scrutiny and tabloid journalism.

Some of the scenes and dialog are obviously aimed at a teen audience. I’m a 39 year old man watching a comic book movie, so I can’t complain too much about the filmmakers not targeting me, but I cringed a couple of times and eventually fast-forwarded through the dopey bachelor party scene.

The casting for the Fantastic Four movies is mostly terrible. Reed and Sue Richards are too young. Victor Von Doom should not have a high-pitched voice. Even the Silver Surfer CGI could have used a personality upgrade. Unlike the Batman and X-Men movies, there isn’t a single A-list actor here.

Not recommended.

Interviews with “No Country for Old Men” Cast Javier Berdam, Tommy Lee Jones and Kelly MacDonald

Thursday, January 24th, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | 1 Comment |

I am not turning into an obsessive fan boy. Shut up.

“No Country for Old Men” - the actual movie

Monday, January 21st, 2008 | A&E | Permalink | 3 Comments |

After playing with puns on the name, I finally saw the movie tonight with my wife. (Possible only because my mother in law was nice enough to keep the kids tonight even after keeping them all day today. Thanks, Ginny!)

Loved it. There were plenty of memorable characters and dialog, and great direction and cinematography by the Coen brothers. The acting is mostly good to great. Josh Brolin made me believe he was just some hard luck Charlie the casting director found in a Texas trailer park. No Country for Old Men also has one of the best villains in movie history.

I should probably mention that it’s a movie that invites bitching and questions, but also serious consideration. Without giving anything away, you’ll wonder why the Coen brothers showed some events which seem inconsequential, while leaving to your imagination events which would be pivotal scenes in other movies. I don’t think for a minute that those decisions were unintentional, and I look forward to pondering their reasons the next time i watch the movie.

P.S. - Now that I’ve seen the movie I no longer have to dodge spoilerific discussions of same. I love this comment on that post:

Folks who truly enjoy Mozart and Dostoevsky don’t love them just for a crossword-puzzle workout, aren’t concerned with social climbing, and are not bothered that other people might be enjoying entirely different works. But as rule, the need to look down on others is more powerful in more hearts than the love for music. People are shitty that way.

I don’t think that’s completely true, because I don’t think there are that many snobs in the world, but, yeah, there are snobs like that in the world.

Have You Some Sesame Street Trivia

Thursday, December 27th, 2007 | A&E | Permalink | 4 Comments |

So we got the kids the first volume of Sesame Street on DVD for Christmas. Here’s some trivia about the first show.

Did you know Oscar the Grouch was originally orange?

• Some of the original characters were Oscar, Big Bird, Kermit, Bert and Ernie. Elmo and some of the other mainstays didn’t come along until later.

• The first show had the “one of these things is not like the other” game and ended with the “this show was brought to you by the letters … and the numbers …” bit.
• Carol Burnett was a guest star on the first show.
• A juggling Jim Henson appears in the first episode.

Some things in the early episodes would never make it on kids TV today. In one counting cartoon the numbers are shown by flashers opening their trench coats to flash the numbers. No, really.

Bonus! - From reading Jim Henson’s Wikipedia entry I discovered that his Kermit the Frog dates all the way back to the 1950s TV show “Sam and Friends.”

John Hartford and Johnny Cash at the Grand Ole Opry

Thursday, December 20th, 2007 | A&E | Permalink | 5 Comments |

And I think that’s Vassar Clements on the fiddle during “Uncle Pen,” a song he also played with Old and In the Way.

In John Hartford trivia:

In 1967, Hartford’s second album Earthwords & Music spawned his first major hit, “Gentle On My Mind.” His recording of the song was only a modest success, but it caught the notice of Glen Campbell, who recorded his own version, which gave the song much wider publication. At the 1968 Grammies, the song netted four awards, two of which went to Hartford; just as importantly, it became one of the most widely recorded country songs of all time, and the royalties it brought in allowed Hartford great financial independence; Hartford would later say that the song bought his freedom.[1] As his popularity grew, he moved to the West Coast, where he became a regular on the “Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour”; other television appearances followed, as did recording appearances with several major country artists. The success on “SmoBro” was enough that Hartford was offered the lead role in a TV detective series but he turned it down to move back to Nashville and concentrate on his music. He also was a regular on the Glen Campbell’s and Johnny Cash’s television shows.

In other trivia, Albert Brumley wrote “I’ll Fly Away” (featured on the movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou for which Hartford performed several soundtrack tunes) and also wrote “Turn Your Radio On,’ which Hartford recorded on his “Aereo-plain” album.

This next video is JH and Glen Campbell on the Smothers Brothers show singing “Gentle On My Mind.” Someone dressed JH in a turtleneck and told him to emote for the TV camera, which turned out awkward, but they sound good.

John Hartford sings “Gentle on My Mind” solo.

Elvis sings “Gentle on My Mind.”

Movie: “Meet Me in St. Louis” (1944)

Sunday, December 16th, 2007 | A&E | Permalink | 2 Comments |

Melissa was re-watching Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland, Mary Astor, and Margaret O’Brien. I watched a little and it was pretty good, but Melissa bowled me over with some trivia. The song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was written for that movie.

M. tells me that “White Christmas” was written for the movie Holiday Inn. I checked on IMDB and she’s right. Irving Berlin wrote it for Bing Crosby to sing.