#barbara kopple

[fuckyeahwomenfilmdirectors]

Havoc dir. Barbara Kopple (2005)

[schlock-luster-video]

On December 23, 1977, Harlan County, USA debuted to a limited release in the United States.

Here's some original art inspired by the classic documentary!

[genevieveetguy]

Harlan County U.S.A., Barbara Kopple (1976)

[davidhudson]

Happy 78th, Barbara Kopple.

[oldfilmsflicker]

new-to-me #256 - Shut Up & Sing

[corythesaxon]

I’m from WV and people have this weird glorification with coal mining despite it being the reason Appalachia is covered in poverty and why a lot of people die before they’re old.

Harlan County, U.S.A., 1976

[theoscarsproject]

American Dream (1990). Recounts the 1985-86 strike against the Hormel Foods Corporation in Minnesota after its employees' wages and benefits were cut.

This is just - - God. Such a devastating exploration at the killing of American class consciousness and union solidarity, because it is a killing and not a death. Barbara Kopple really has to be one of the best documentary directors around, her capacity for capturing shifting political tides and grounding them in so much humanity feels close to unparalleled, and I loved Harlan County, USA, and this one just really got me too. It should be essential viewing. 9/10.

[audreys-hepburn]

Anne Hathaway as Allison Lang HAVOC 2005 — dir. Barbara Kopple

[todayontumblr]

Wednesday, July 12.

1970s.

Ah, those were the days...

...not that we were there, of course. But we can sure as sugar pretend: listen to dusty vinyl records, grow our hair in all manner of styles, write on typewriters, watch films from the innovative "New Hollywood" directors such as Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Barbara Kopple, and Francis Ford Coppola if we're feeling artistic, neigh, intellectual (or sit down with Star Wars, Jaws, Rocky, and Saturday Night Fever if we're not), go to a lot of protests, recall our most grisly, harrowing memories from 'Nam, wear high-waisted trousers, and try to sneak into Fleetwood Mac's ever destructive, irresistibly sexy inter-band drama. 

In short, there was a lot happening in the 1970s, or indeed, the #70s, all of it big, bold, colorful, yet earthy, and very often brilliant. It was a decade of immense cultural, political, and societal change, much of it for the better, and much of it that, at the very least, continues in spirit to our own day. The 70s is not such a period of time, indeed, but a state of mind. 

[thoughtportal]

Harlan County, USA is a 1976 American documentary film covering the "Brookside Strike",[1] a 1973 effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company's Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, southeast Kentucky. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary at the 49th Academy Awards.

It was directed and produced by filmmaker Barbara Kopple, then early in her filmmaking career. A former VISTA volunteer, she had worked on other documentaries, especially as an advocate of workers' rights.

[kissablelips-desireslure-vol2]

OZ: THE SERIES SEASON 3 EPISODE 8 (1999)

Directed By: Barbara Kopple

Written By: Tom Fontana

CHRISTOPHER MELONI (as Chris)

&

LEE TERGESEN (as Tobias)

[immortalnetizen]

American Cinema throughout the decades.

Wings (1927) - The first ever recipient for best picture in the 1927 Oscar ceremony. A thrilling World War One drama with visuals and spectacle that still can't be topped by most CGI dependent blockbusters today with more action and salacious material than can be found in most post-code studio films from the 30's.

The Grapes of Wrath (1939) - Based on Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize winning, Depression-era tale of a Mid-Western family and their travels Westward in pursuit of greater opportunity. With cinematography reminiscent to that of the photography work composed by Dorothea Lange, it bucks the more polished look preferred by most studio films during the post-code era to paint a grittier and more realistic look of American hardship and economic struggle.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946) - A post-war feelgood film by Director Frank Capra, about a small-town banker (Jimmy Stewart) who struggles to realize his true purpose on this Earth. Initially overlooked upon release, has since gone on to become a quintessential Christmas Holiday classic.

Blackboard Jungle (1955) - A gritty look into the emerging 1950's youth culture and the growing moral crisis surrounding its development. With subject matter ranging from rape to racism and a rock-n-roll soundtrack, the film sets a daring precedent for the social conscious films to come.

Easy Rider (1969) - A free-wheeling, run-n-gun take on 1960's hippie culture. Taking inspiration from the international New-Wave, it's a story without much of a plot with the film perfectly encapsulating the sentiments and zeitgeist of the era with excessive drug use, allegedly both on and off camera, and a cast of characters that seek nothing more than to understand themselves and the open American roads.

Harlan County USA (1976) - A revolutionary documentary by Barbara Kopple, detailing a labor strike between Kentucky coalminers and the Brookside Mine over the workers decision to unionize, a film which helped to supercharge political documentary filmmaking.

Wall Street (1987) - Roger Stone's sinical take on the young professional or yuppie culture of the 1980's amid the Reagan era policy of unrestrained capital investment and free-market enterprise with father and son duo Martin and Charlie Sheen exploring the cutthroat world of stockbroking where "greed", for lack of a better term, is good.

Forrest Gump (1994) - Based on the novel by Winston Groom, the film is an allegorical tale told through the perspective of a somewhat slow-witted yet resilient young man (Tom Hanks) as he lives through some of America's most historic moments in the late Twentieth Century. With director Robert Zemeckis' use of ground-breaking computer-generated images, the film tells the story of America in a time when the nation was struggling to define itself.

[glennmillerorchestra]

i was tagged by maddie @leonardcohenofficial to post my top 9 ntm watches of 2023! i really slacked on my film goals this year but the movies i DID watch i enjoyed :)

in no particular order, L-R from the top:

asteroid city (2023), dir. wes anderson mr. smith goes to washington (1939), dir. frank capra mermaids (1990), dir. richard benjamin the shop around the corner (1940), dir. ernst lubitsch salmonberries (1991), dir. percy adlon harlan county, usa (1976), dir. barbara kopple to wong foo, thanks for everything! julie newmar (1995), dir. beeban kidron the caddy (1953), dir. norman taurog bottoms (2023), dir. emma seligman

i'll tag @frogeye-pierce @juliebarnes @iwrotemrtambourineman :))

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Barbara Kopple

Documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple was born in New York City in 1946. Kopple's film Harlan County USA, a documentary about a coal miners' strike in Kentucky, won an Academy Award and was named to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Her film American Dream, which focused on a food worker strike in Minnesota, won an Academy Award as well as a DGA Documentary Award. Two years later, in 1994, Kopple won another DGA Documentary Award for Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson. She has also been nominated for seven Emmy Awards, and in 2023, was honored with the Emmy's News & Documentary Lifetime Achievement Award.

[symptomofloves]

[nancywheeeler]

any movie recs??? 👀

oh anon, i love you and you have no idea the can of worms you have just opened. heck yeah do i have movie recs...

movies i've loved recently:

Rye Lane {incredible modern rom-com, awesome lead performances, gorgeous to look at, takes the "one chaotic day together" narrative structure and runs full speed with it}

Bound {the wachowskis' first movie! a very intense neo-noir thriller. the directing is giving "we're already conceptualizing the matrix" which means they direct the hell out of it}

Harlan County, USA and American Dream {both essential documentaries by Barbara Kopple about union efforts in Pennsylvania in the 70s and Minnesota in the 80s respectively. if you're then looking for a narrative feature with similar themes, Norma Rae is great}

Duck Soup / The Gold Rush / The General {three classics of the Hollywood Golden Age for one! go with Chaplin's The Gold Rush if you want snowy antics in Alaska, Buster Keaton's The General if you wanna see a guy almost die on a train many, many times, and the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup if you want a sharp-witted satire on fascism and war}

movies i personally never shut about:

All the President's Men {it's so sexy when people are good at their jobs! especially if that job is journalist who takes down the nixon administration! if you want a thriller that isn't bloody or overtly sexual, this is the thriller for you!}

The Full Monty {a comedy i believe everyone needs to watch. a 90 minute delight about a group of unemployed blue-collar guys trying to stage a strip show. given it came out in 1997, it's not nearly as dated as you think it'll be and stars a tumblr sexyman hall of famer, Robert Carlyle}

The Vast of Night {weird to describe a movie as gentle sci-fi horror, but that's exactly what this is. it centers around one eerie night in a 1950s town where the local radio station manager and a telephone operator begin picking up strange signals. it has vibes for days and does a lot with a very simple story and small budget}

Cure {...okay, this movie is not for everyone, but if you're down for a very unsettling horror movie, i cannot recommend this one highly enough. the premise is a detective investigating a series of murderers where each murderer has no memory of committing the crime. one of the best-directed movies i've ever seen. like it'll have you holding your breath in scene after scene}

The Last Waltz {since i recommended two other documentaries, i can't resist also recommending my favorite. it's Martin Scorsese's concert film of The Band's final show together. a great movie to put on in the background while cooking / doing chores since it's mostly musical performances, or you can do what i do and stare at Rick Danko the entire time!}

okay, i'll quit while i'm ahead now. if you're looking for movies in a specific genre (drama, comedy, romance, horror, sci-fi, sci-fi horror, horror comedy, romantic comedy with a dash of horror, throw me anything), let me know! i seriously could talk about movies for the rest of my life.