Archive for July 30th, 2010

How To Collect Hollywood Memorabilia.

We all have our favourite film or television series that we never tire of watching. There is something special about films made in Hollywood that fascinates and intrigues us as viewers. There have been so many good films to come out of Hollywood that the Hollywood memorabilia industry is big business. Anything can count as Hollywood memorabilia from film props to movie posters, and lots of people chose to buy and sell memorabilia as part of a fun hobby.

If youve ever wanted to own props from the Star Wars movies or the script from Spielbergs latest film then collecting Hollywood memorabilia could be for you. Nowadays there are lots of places to look for rare and interesting pieces, but you need to make sure that what you are buying is authentic. Finding authentic pieces and buying them for a fair price can be very tricky. There are reliable sellers out there but you need to know what to look for.

It can be hard to know a reputable seller from one that is not. You should look out for auction houses and galleries who have not only been around a long time, but have given speciality collections by celebrities themselves. Two of the best auction houses specialising in Hollywood memorabilia that come recommended are Profiles in History and Juliens Auctions.

Dont be afraid to ask questions. Things you should find out include how long the company has been going for, the history of the item and what sort of certificate of authenticity comes with the item. As a rule of thumb a business that has been around for more than 10 years is not likely to be going anywhere and is a safe bet. It is essential to find out the history of the piece as this could help you to work out if it is authentic or not. Finally, a certificate of authenticity is a must when purchasing memorabilia and without it you can safely assume it is a fake.

You might need to do a bit of detective work when you get your memorabilia. In most cases, costumes and props will have labels or markings on them. Costumes often have the Western Costume Company label sewn in to them. If you see these labels then you can rest easy that the memorabilia is authentic. With regards to props, the items often have studio stamps and/or production markings for specific scenes on them. Finding these small details can help identify an authentic from a fake.

If you follow these simple guidelines then will save yourself falling victim to fake items of memorabilia. Hollywood memorabilia is a great way of making a connection to the past and celebrating the glowing past that the film industry has had in Hollywood. If you are looking for more pieces of Hollywood memorabilia to add to your collection then why not visit Genuine Memorabilias site and browse through the extensive catalogue. For more information click here.

Movies On Dvd — War Of The Worlds (2005)

There have been several adaptations of H.G. Wells’ classic “War of the Worlds”. On Sunday, October 30th 1938, Orson Welles’ famous Halloween radio broadcast managed to scare many listeners into believing that the Martians had actually invaded our planet. In 1953 a film adaptation starring Gene Barry had good special effects for its day, but the “scare” factor wasn’t particularly high.

In 2005, Steven Spielberg tried again with his version of War of the Worlds.

The 2005 version of War of the Worlds stars Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin, and Tim Robbins.

The movie starts off in New York and travels its way up towards Boston as opposed to H.G. Wells’ London and southern England. But what’s important to note is that Spielberg managed to capture the feel of the original work, and the scare factor from Orson Welles’ radio broadcast.

He did it by making it personal – personal to an individual family.

Tom Cruise stars as Ray Ferrier, an arrogant and self-centered dock worker. He is divorced and has two children from the union. Rachel (Fanning) is an intelligent and precocious 10 year old, and Robby (Chatwin) is a rebellious teenager who is also highly antagonistic towards his father.

Ray’s pregnant ex-wife (Otto), along with her new husband ask Ray to take care of the kids while they make a trip up to Boston to visit her parents. It doesn’t take Ray long to re-antagonize Robby, after which he informs Rachel that he is going to take a nap and that she should order food as he doesn’t seem to have any in the house.

On awakening, Ray is informed by Rachel that Robby has “borrowed” his car. Infuriated, he storms outside to see his neighbors and passers-buy looking up at the sky.

There’s a storm coming in. But it’s unlike any storm anyone had ever seen. He calls for Rachel so that she can witness with him this unexpected and “cool” event.

But the wind is blowing away from the storm instead of coming from it. And there are repetitive lightning strikes – all seemingly at the same spot off in the near distance.

By now somewhat frightened, Ray and Rachel retire inside and hide under the kitchen table hoping for the end of the storm. Finally the storm does end, but now the power is out.

His mobile phone doesn’t work either, and neither does his wristwatch.

Telling Rachel to stay inside, Ray ventures outside to investigate and encounters the returning Robby – on foot.

Robby tells him that all of the cars had stopped running and that he knows where the lightning strikes were concentrated – all on one little spot in the pavement that created just one small hole.

As it’s not very far away, Ray rushes over to see for himself. When he arrives on the scene, a small crowd has already gathered.

But now rumblings are beginning to be heard from underneath. The pavement begins to crack, then crumble. Cars are flung outward from the expanding hole in the ground. The crowd is caught between fear and fascination as a huge web-footed tentacle shoots out from the opening, followed closely by another.

Now a machine emerges from the ruins in the middle of the street and rises up from the ground supported by three tentacle type legs. The machine has what appears to be a large “eye” in front. Two stubby “arms’ flank the sides. It now towers over the buildings in the area.

For a long moment, the crowd eyes the “Tripod” machine in horrible fascination, then the Tripod suddenly opens fire on them from its two arms with some kind of ray gun. On contact with humans, the ray literally explodes them into a white ash-type substance.

Panicked, the crowd tries to run away from the scene, the Tripod picking them off one by one while destroying buildings as it advances.

Ray, covered with the ash remains of one of the victims, manages to escape back to his house where he tells Rachel and Robby that they are leaving.

The kids are naturally confused and skeptical regarding Ray’s behavior, but they can see that he has been badly frightened – and this frightens them in turn.

They manage to find a working RV at a repair shop, and drive off just as the Tripod comes into the area blowing everything up and killing people.

As it turns out, there are a whole bunch of tripods. And they are all bent on destroying everything in their path.

They also feed on human blood.

For Ray Ferrier, it now becomes a struggle for survival. Everything he knows is now all wrong. His previous self-centered existence has been shattered. He must now figure out how to keep his family together and alive in the midst of sudden war and the deterioration of society caused by an alien invasion.

Tom Cruise does a fine job portraying Ray Ferrier as a man in transition from an arrogantly assured self-centered jerk to a nurturing father. Dakota Fanning plays Rachel as intelligent and precocious yet vulnerable. Justin Chatwin plays Robby as being torn between the hostility towards his father, his natural protectiveness towards his sister, and his almost maniacal desire to “get back” at the Tripods. Tim Robbins makes his appearance about two-thirds into the film as a man who has been broken by events into a psychotic with plans of his own on how to deal with the Tripods. Morgan Freeman handles the narration for this film and does his usual great job.

The camera work in this film has a grainy home-movie feel to it (a lot like the Omaha Beach scene in “Saving Private Ryan”) that brings an extra element of realism to the viewing experience.

The special effects are spectacular, but the Tripods are not a constant presence. They are on-camera sparingly at just the right times to accentuate the horror of events. We also get to briefly meet the creatures themselves.

This is a film about one man’s redemption and about how a family tries to cope with sudden extraordinary events.

“War of the Worlds” is well worth seeing again and again.