Monuments Men: Opening Day Roundup

Two years ago I learned about the Monuments Men when it was announced that George Clooney had optioned Robert Edsel's book. In the ensuing months, I read all I could about the Monuments Men and art looting by the Nazis and blogged about it here, here, here, here, here, and here. 

In November of last year, I heard Robert Edsel speak about the Monuments Men at the Cleveland Museum of Art where I purchased an autographed copy of his newest book, Saving Italy. Edsel will be speaking at the National Archives on 19 February, details here.  If you can't make it to DC, you can watch him discuss his book on BookTV. He will appear live on BookTV on 22 February at 11 am ET. There is a profile of him in the Washington Post here and an interview with the Holocaust Memorial Museum here.

With the opening of the movie today, there is news about the Monuments Men (and women) everywhere. 

Reviews: Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Los Angeles Times, Forbes, and Variety. The general consensus of the reviews is probably not what Mr. Clooney hoped for. 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Getty, and the Huntington Library have posted articles about their connections to the Monuments Men.

There have been countless articles related to the history and mission of the Monuments Men: NBC Nightly News, the National Archives Prologue, the BBC, the Smithsonian, National Archives The Text Message, New York Times, the Huffington Post, the U.S. Army, Artlog, the Des Moines Register, and the National WWII Museum. 

Behind-the-Scenes/Making of articles are here, here, and here.

Read about the larger message of the film, the problem of looted art and heritage, in the Jewish Daily Forward. 

Robert Edsel and George Clooney were both scheduled to appear on the Charles Rose show this week.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly for a genealogy blog, Ancestry.com reports that Clooney is distantly related to George Stout, the leader of the Monuments Men.

Movies - 52 Weeks of Personal History & Genealogy, Week #12

I do love the movies, but not quite enough to leave the house to go see them very often. I'm not certain why this is exactly, perhaps I'm simply lazy and cheap. On the other hand, seeing movies in the middle of the afternoon with about 10 other people just doesn't compare to watching Terminator 2 with a full house at the Cinerama Dome on Sunset in Hollywood or watching When Harry Met Sally in an equally packed theatre in Universal City.

I have a tendency when watching movies to try and figure out where they were shot - what part of California, London or New York are they in? Especially California - lots of films used to be shot in California, even if they weren't set there. I remember during my first quarter away at college I saw a movie (I think with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor) that had a scene shot in the Mission District of South Pasadena, my hometown. It was such a comfort to see a familiar site at time when everything around me was new and a bit scary. My friends, who were watching with me, however, were unimpressed; or, perhaps, had had too much to drink to realize what was going on.

If I find a movie I like, I will get the DVD and play it many times; kind of like visiting with an old friend. Some of my favorite movie friends at the moment are:

Julie & Julia

Persuasion

Michael Clayton

Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Legally Blonde

Sliding Doors

You've Got Mail

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Star Trek

Lilo & Stitch

The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara

Dead Poet's Society

The Hunt for Red October

A Room with a View

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain

I'm sure this list provides some great insight into my character, but I'm not entirely certain I want to know what it is. There are no films about Sweden either, although I'm certain one will present itself shortly.


image credit: photl.com