|
This site is for everyone who loves historical films: epics, biopics, period pieces, and true-life stories, but who also wants to know: Did it really happen that way?
Cathy Schultz is a history professor at the University of St. Francis in Illinois, and from 2004-2010 wrote the syndicated column, History in the Movies, which was featured on NPR.org and reached well over a million readers in newspapers nationally. On this site, you'll find her commentary on the accuracy of over fifty historical films released since 2004.
Though she’s not currently writing new History in the Movies columns, Dr. Schultz is available to lecture on topics of popular history. Subjects include: "Is Hollywood's History Good for You?" and "The Life and Loves of Jane Austen."
Email her for more information.
RECENT NEWS AND LINKS
'The King's Speech' grabs twelve Oscar nominations
Mark Zuckerberg calls 'The Social Network' "fiction."
Richard Rushfield delivers a scathing critique on
the inaccuracies in 'The Social Network."
EARLIER HEADLINES
Invictus gets a nom for Best Picture at the Golden Globes
The New York Times reviews 'Young Victoria'
A documentary filmmaker complains about being erased from 'The Men Who Stare at Goats.'
Mark Whitacre's former lawyer weighs in on the accuracy of the film, 'The Informant!'
'Invictus'--Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman), during his first term as President, works with a white South African rugby star (Matt Samon) to unite black and white South Africans behind the rugby team.
Follow the bullet holes for a 'Public Enemies'
tour of 1930s war on crime
The life story of a Pittsburgh man echoes the story of Defiance
Frost/Nixon scores with Golden Globe nods
The critics love 'Milk.'
A friend of Harvey Milk, celebrates the film
Tom Cruise takes a risky flight with World War II film - 'Valkyrie.'
Bloggers take on Cruise and 'Valkyrie'
Australians like 'Australia'
Australia's young Aboriginal star
'Frost/Nixon' recalls turbulent
post-Watergate era
A
Review of The Other Boleyn Girl
A
scientific look at the beasties of 10,000 B.C
Leatherheads,
a film that explores
football in the 1920s
Breakfast
with the real American Gangster
American
Gangster
scores with the critics
Expect
some hokey history fun with National Treasure: Book of Secrets
An
historian's take on the Persians of 300: "Imagine
a Xerxes who [says]: 'I am Xerxes, Emperor of Persia... My grandfather
Cyrus liberated the Jews from their Babylonian exile and let
them return to Judea and rebuild their temple. My father Darius
urged our people to revere the ‘God of Daniel.’ I
myself married Esther, a Jew.”
Set
in the early 1970s, The Hoax looks at writer Clifford
Irving, who scams publishers by writing a fake autobiography
of Howard Hughes
Liam
Neeson talks about his role as Lincoln in Spielberg's biopic
Oscar-winning
Adrien Brody will play a real-life bullfighter with a tragic
end in Manolete,
The
original story of survival which inspired World Trade Center
Walk
the Line's
quest for truth
Good
Night, Good Luck:
Slate slams its history
Strong
review of Spielberg's Munich...
...And
a review that's more negative
Top
Ten list: What you need in a period film
Christian
critique of Kingdom of Heaven
Arabs
praise even-handed treatment of
Kingdom of Heaven
And for a different take....Egyptian
paper has highly critical take on Kingdom of Heaven
Ron
Howard talks about Cinderella Man
Russell
Crowe's boxing lessons for Cinderella Man
Historical
Films in India
Hitler:
That fellow with the nice little dog...(NYT)
In
praise of Hotel Rwanda
Thoughts
on Unforgiven: Gender and the Western
The
Aviator
fudges Hughes's relationship to money
Was
Melvin Dummar (of Melvin and Howard) telling the truth
about his meeting with Howard Hughes?
Background
on the real Alfred Kinsey
James
Braddock, the actual Cinderella Man
Mel
Gibson's Braveheart doesn't get
much love from Brits
Stars
work hard to play real people
Biopics:
Portrait of the artist, Hollywood style
"I
have let Alexander the Great down:"
Oliver Stone regrets his mistakes in his film.
Making
Howard Hughes's life dramatically exciting
'The
Aviator' vs. The real Howard Hughes (from NPR)
The
'anxious epic:' What film epics can reveal about our current
political realities (from Boston Globe)
Telling
lives: Why are so many biopics coming to theaters? Because when
this tricky genre is done right, truth can be stronger than
fiction (Boston Globe)
The
greatest epics of all time
|
Stellar acting and a moving story make 'The King's Speech" an Oscar favorite. 
Invictus is a stirring tale showing how Nelson Mandela united South Africa
'The Men Who Stare at Goats' shows the U.S. Army dabbling in the paranormal.
'The Informant!' Matt Damon has some fun playing Mark Whitacre, the quirky whistleblower in Steven Soderbergh's film.
'Inglourious Basterds:' Quentin Tarantino's quest to annoy both history and spelling teachers
Johnny Depp plays John Dillinger in 'Public Enemies'
Tom Hanks returns as Robert Langdon in Angels and Demons
Jews fight back against the Nazis in Defiance
Tom Cruise and his eyepatch star in Valkyrie.
Australia: Baz Luhrmann aims for epic in his new film.
W. Oliver Stone takes on the President.
Miracle at St. Anna: Spike Lee tries his hand at a World War II epic.
Two
Boleyn sisters have a fling with a King in 'The Other Boleyn Girl
/Boleyn_Girl_Natalie_Portman_and_Scarlett_Johansson.jpg)
More
goofy fun with National Treasure 2
Charlie
Wilson's War has fun with Afghanistan
Denzel
and Russell bring back the mean streets of 1970s New York City.
Cate acts
queenly in 'Elizabeth: the Golden Age.'
Becoming
Jane takes on the true-life tale of Jane Austen
300:
Manly Spartans vs. Sissy Persians.
Amazing
Grace:
An excellent movie about (gasp!) a heroic politician. 
Miss
Potter: A sweet take on the life of Beatrix Potter
Dreamgirls:
How close is it to the real story of the Supremes?
NEW!
We are Marshall:
Picking up the pieces after a real-life tragedy
Flags
of our Fathers:
Other
Movie Links
Fandango
Movie Tickets, Showtimes, and News
The
Flick Filosopher
One of the best sites for reviews.
Insightful and very funny!
Boxofficemojo
For all you numbers geeks.
Shows U.S. and international returns
Comingsoon.net
Great site for all upcoming and
recent films
History
on Film
Andrew Allen's wonderful resource for history on film. Check it
out!
The History Teacher’s
Movie Guide, by Richard Di Giacomo.:
History
in Film
Internet Movie Database
Movie City News
Oscar Watch
Rotten Tomatoes
|
