The Fellowship of the Ring released

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Released: December 9, 2001 Studio: New Line Cinema Genre: fantasy Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 315.50 Worldwide: 898.20 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 537.63 Worldwide: 1372.30

Directing: Peter Jackson Screenwriting: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson Starring: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett Review: “It may feature monsters, wizards and plucky little fellas with furry feet, but The Lord of the Rings isn’t a fairy tale. Which is why Peter Jackson’s adaptation worked so well; from this note-perfect first instalment, it was treated exactly as Tolkien intended — as a historical epic which just happens to be set in an alternative world.” E18 Fellowship marks “the beginning chapter of Frodo’s strange and mighty odyssey to the Cracks of Doom to destroy the ring. ‘There is only one Lord of the Ring, only one who can bend it to his will. And he does not share power.’” A07 Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” E18 Empire (3/20/2018). “The 100 Greatest Movies”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Box Office: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 4 – including Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, Best Visual Effects Nominations: 13 – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (McKellen), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song (“May It Be”), Best Sound Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Leslie Halliwell/John Walker First posted 8/24/2019; last updated 6/2/2023.

Today in Movie History (1951): A Streetcar Named Desire released

A Streetcar Named Desire Released: September 19, 1951 Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures Genre: romance Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 8.0 Worldwide: -- Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 231.20 Worldwide: --

Directing: Elia Kazan Screenwriting: Tennessee Williams, Oscar Saul Starring: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden Review: This is a “powerful, frank dramatic adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, based upon Oscar Saul’s adaptation.” FS “The performances…remain among the most electric in American film.” TV This is the story of Blanche DeBois (Leigh), “a neurotic, fragile, aging Southern belle,” A07 who visits her sister (Hunter) “in a down-and-out New Orleans project in the French Quarter.” FS Hunter is married to Stanley Kowalski, a “blue-collared brute.” A07 Marlon Brando recreates the role of Stanley, “the role that made him a star on Broadway.” A07 “Mitch (Malden), one of Stanley’s buddies takes an interest in Blanche until Stanley strips and ultimately reveals the secrets of her embarrassing, lurid past. After being ‘raped’ by Stanley in a heavily-censored and edited sequence, the vestiges of her shattered self are led away to a mental institution.” FS “The brutish Stanley Kowalski reminds us how Marlon Brando became Marlon Brando. And Vivien Leigh’s Blanche DuBois is a heartbreak, and not just because she evokes an aging Scarlett O’Hara: Of all the screen actresses who played one of Williams’s doomed heroines, Leigh best personified the fate that befalls fragile souls in a world of Stanleys. Censors forced Williams to alter the play’s ending, but Streetcar is still a steamy hothouse of a movie.” TV Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” TV TV Guide (August 8-14, 1998 issue). “50 Greatest Movies on TV and Video”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Eras: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 4: Best Actress (Leigh), Best Supporting Actor (Malden), Best Supporting Actress (Hunter), Best Art/Set Direction Nominations: 12: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Brando), Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Recording, Best Musical Score Hall of Fames: Lists: First posted 3/9/2025.

Spirited Away released in Japan

Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) Released: July 20, 2001 in Japan Studio: Toho Genre: animation/fantasy/foreign Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 12.40 Worldwide: 365.48 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: ? Worldwide: 645.07 estimated

Directing: Hayao Miyazaki Screenwriting: Hayao Miyazaki Starring: Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takashi Naito, Yasuko Sawagachi, Tsunehiko Kamijo Review: Initially released in Japan in 2001 as Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, this was released as Spirited Away in the United States by Disney Studios over a year later. Until 2016’s Your Name, it was the highest-grossing anime movie of all time. EM’18 The movie makes three different Dave’s Movie Database genre lists – animation, foreign, and fantasy. “Master animation director Hayao Miyazaki follows up on his record-breaking 1997 opus Princess Mononoke with this surreal…tale about a lost little girl.” RT Spirited Away, his “most successful film…is truly a moving work of art, in both senses. Every frame bursts with vibrant detail and beautifully fantastical invention.” EM’18 “It’s a bit like Alice In Wonderland, but better.” EM’18 Chihiro is “a sullen 10-year-old girl” IMD on an outing with her family. They “come upon a blocked tunnel; her parents decide to have a look around – even though Chihiro finds the place very creepy. When they pass through the tunnel, they discover an abandoned amusement park…After her mother and father help themselves to some tasty purloined morsels, they turn into giant pigs.” RT Chihiro “learns that this very weird place, where all sorts of bizarre gods and monsters reside, is a holiday resort for the supernatural after their exhausting tour of duty in the human world.” RT She “has to toil in a bath house for demons to return her piggy parents to human form.” EM’18 She also learns that “if she forgets her real name…then she will never be permitted to leave.” RT Sources: EM’18 Empire (3/20/2018). “The 100 Greatest Movies” RT Details unknown.

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Oscars: Wins: 1 – Best Animated Feature Nominations: 1 Other Awards: Other Lists/Honors: First posted 9/12/2019; last updated 5/28/2023.