As curator of Entertainment History at the Smithsonian, Dwight Blocker Bowers spends his days surrounded by movie costumes and props from past and present, including the Lone Ranger’s mask and those famous red shoes worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Speaking recently to The Collectors Weekly, Blocker Bowers explains what his job entails, the most popular exhibits at the museum and why Carol Burnett wore a dress with a curtain road attached. Entertainment Curator… Blocker Bowers: I’ve been at the Smithsonian for 28 years—I never thought I’d stay that long! The first job I had was as a producer and annotator of recordings. We used to…

Pleasant surprise of the day, the first official photo for The A-Team movie has gone online – and it looks rather good. Obviously there has been some updating going on, the original TV show began in 1983 don’t forget. Overall though there is nothing too jarring here, it is recognisably The A-Team, no question. But let’s analyse exactly what has changed in twenty six years… Bradley Cooper as Templeton Peck, aka ‘Faceman’ Wearing a smart grey mohair suit, open neck white shirt and black oxford lace-ups, Cooper looks similar to his character in The Hangover (2009), apart from the machine gun accessory of course. When not in disguise, Dirk Benedict’s…

Costume designer Mark Bridges described There Will Be Blood (2007) as his most challenging film, referring to the difficulties he faced in transporting costumes to the remote location in West Texas, after director Paul Thomas Anderson called for a new concept three days before a re-shoot. However these challenges seem to channel the themes of the film itself: hardship, isolation, and the determination to overcome any obstacle to fulfil a goal. Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a turn-of-the-century prospector, who receives a tip about a giant oil deposit under a family farm in California. The family includes Eli Sunday, a zealous preacher and faith healer who wants the money from…

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang Directed By: James Cameron Avatar (2009) is one of those ‘don’t judge a book by its cover films’. Just on the first trailer alone it seemed director James Cameron had been overdosing on his FernGully: The Last Rainforest video. Plus the promo art, for all its build up, was less than inspiring; looking something akin to an early nineties Rutger Hauer movie. Though being as this has nothing to do with the content of the film itself, it is irrelevant. It isn’t, of course, because even on a subliminal level factors such as these can affect a viewing experience. But it is supposed…

Produced by acclaimed filmmaker David Puttnam, The Mission (1986) is an epic 18th century set tale of Spanish Jesuits who travel into the South American jungle to protect an Indian tribe from virtual extinction under the Treaty of Madrid (the formation of what we now call Brazil). Jeremy Irons plays one of these adventurous Jesuit priests, tough but mild mannered Father Gabriel. During the film’s first act, as Gabriel undertakes a death defying waterfall climb to reach the Indian tribe, he wears a classic example of early extreme sports attire – a plain linen shirt: Natural linen open-neck shirt with long sleeves. Turn down outer collar and internal stand collar,…

Le full trailer for Luc Besson’s latest film as director, Les Aventures Extraordinaires d’Adele Blanc-Sec (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec) has arrived on the net. It is the early 20th Century and ladies wore massive hats. Watch le trailer with subtitles HERE Based on the dual French/Belgian comics of writer/illustrator Jacques Tardi, the movie, like the books, follows the escapades of heroine Adèle Blanc-Sec, an eligible investigative journalist who battles crime and mythical monsters while all the time endeavouring to ‘act like a lady’. The stories first appeared in 1976 and are set in the 1910s and later on around 1918, after Blanc-Sec is cryogenically frozen for the duration…