TheArchive: Reviewing the Rare, Retro, and Restored

Written by Multicom's Nicole Bajorek (artwork by Nicole Bajorek) This post was originally published on (2/15/21) and updated on (3/27/22) . CODA has won Best Picture tonight at the 94th annual Academy Awards, a a historic win for the Deaf community. Deaf characters and actors have long been underrepresented, stereotyped, and ignored in the history of cinema and television. A majority of the few deaf characters featured or included in movies and shows were often played by hearing actors (usually with no ties to the Deaf community), and painted as highly-dependent beings. A deaf character was also often dismissed by the majority of (hearing) characters, and regarded as slow-minded and gullible.   While I cannot speak for deaf people, as a #CODA (acronym for Child of Deaf Adults), I’ve grown up among the Deaf community and have experienced, understood, admired, and respected Deaf culture firsthand. My mother was born deaf, while my father became deaf at the age of three due to tubercu...

As we head into Oscar weekend,  TheArchive  is proud to present one of our favorite Academy Award winning films,  Dangerous Moves . It is the story of two chess masters who duel each other in classic gameplay but discover that it is their differing ideologies that truly raise the stakes. When aging Soviet Jew and title holder Akiva Liebskind arrives in Geneva to face off against his former student and USSR defector in the World Championship match, the Soviet authorities threaten to harm Akiva's family if he does not defeat the rogue player. Their differences will be put to the ultimate test when discovering they are mere pawns in a much more sinister game. TheArchive  brings you the Oscar winning Arthur Cohn production of  Dangerous Moves . “An engrossing Swiss film that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the cerebral sport of chess.” - Spirituality and Practice Review TheArchive  channel is dedicated to aficionados and lovers of story, craft, and silver sc...

We don't have all the answers but we do have the content that explores the many aspects of what we are currently experiencing. And it is serious. In Shootdown - a chillingly bleak cautionary tale based on a true story - Angela Lansbury is trying to get answers and refers to the fact that, getting information or rather the truth from the then Soviets, was nearly impossible. Lansbury plays the mother of one of the victims of Korean Airlines Flight 007, which was shot down while flying over the Soviet Union in 1983, and is desperately searching for answers regarding the tragedy. When tensions arise and a mystery ensues, and the Russians are behind it, Lansbury's character stops at nothing to get answers.   In the vein of Russian disinformation and propaganda, we also uncovered the Dean Stockwell narrated Phenomenon : a series that examines governments, corporations, and religious groups that have secretly wielded vast power by suppressing critical data or spreading disinformatio...

We've got the best of Pam, and the worst of Pam. But either way we're about to drop some wisdom on you but first we'll start with the foolishness. Are you ready for some Pam spam? If ever we’ve overreached to connect the dots of our content to what's up in the world, then we're about to outdo ourselves. This week we bring you two thesps. Well one. But two people nonetheless all up on our screens.  Renée Zellweger and Pamela Anderson.  We have been barraged lately with ads on  The Thing About Pam starring  two-time Academy-Award winner Renée Zellweger in the titular role. Speaking of titular, Pamela Anderson has been all over our screens lately as well. From the new year's kickoff of Hulu's Pam and Tommy to Pam's latest announcement that she's going to sell err tell her "real" story to Netflix. Big shout out to the Pams this week and in their honor, when you decide you want to get another taste of Renée, tune into sweeping romantic epic  T...

Uncover the lost hero of ’50s television — Patricia “Casey” Jones. TV'S FIRST FEMALE COP IN... DECOY • Audrey L. Hamm •  This post was originally published on (3/5/21) and updated on (3/1/22) . In 1957, Beverly Garland pioneered the starring role of ‘Casey’ in the short-lived television series, DECOY (1957-1958). Producing only 39 episodes, Decoy was the first-of-its-kind to feature a policewoman as its syndicated star. Garland solidified her place in history as a cinematic first for women, yet remains largely unknown by American audiences.  Casey Jones offered women of the '50s an empowered and respected, female hero of the silver screen; a role model, whose story was worth telling week after week! Why has it been so decidedly forgotten?  Perhaps a lack of interest in women’s rights, at the time, made it difficult to sustain meaningful longevity in the hearts of America. The discussion and celebration of women is finally making its way out of the shad...

Let's take a break from cold world events as we long for a little summer warmth.... Four years before the the series debut of nearly the same title starring Will Smith (now a ubiquitously marketed Peacock remake of their own), and a year before starring together in the cult hit Summer School , Mark Harmon and Kirstie Alley showed their romantic comedy chemistry in this week's remake spotlight and little known 80s classic called  Prince of Bel-Air .  Mark Harmon’s perfect life gets better when he meets Kirstie Alley  a preppy artist who catches Harmon’s eye, much to the chagrin of her wealthy uncle, who is his pseudo-mentor cum benefactor.  He blackmails Harmon into breaking off the relationship or else he’ll cut off all financial support and break their business partnership.  The interesting piece of nostalgia about this movie is that it clearly inspired  Summer School!  Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley, Patrick Labyorteaux , and Dean Camron all play t...

This post was originally published on (2/15/21) and updated on (2/21/22) . On the eve of some unpredictable tensions across the world, this President’s day TheArchive honors the Presidents who have led our country through conflict. Some have guided us past it while others caused it.   Either way, it’s challenging at the top, especially as we see President Biden navigate some very provocative leadership moments this week.  These stories of leadership have carved their way into our zeitgeist as they help to inform how our future can and may be shaped. In Ronald Reagan, The Hollywood Years, and Ronald Reagan, the Presidential Years , we track Reagan’s rise to power and his brush with the kind of conflict he could rise above. From that iconic moment on stage with Goldwater in 1964, to his governorship shortly thereafter, to his presidency, Reagan is celebrated as one of the most popular presidents of our time. But we also learn that the Iran-Contra affair certainly led to some ...

This post was originally published on (7/22/21) and updated on (2/15/22) . What better way to celebrate the 2022 Winter Olympic Games than with a deep cut absolutely worth every inappropriate, animated moment.  Allow us to introduce... Animalympics . In this "animalated" film, critters from all around the world gather to stage and compete in their own Olympic games, which feature a variety of summer and winter sporting events. It's super funny and totally bizarre - especially the Winter games. Snow doubt about it. The film also represents a piece of cinematic history. Animalympics was commissioned by NBC in 1978 as a couple of specials to run parallel to the 1980 Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics in Moscow. But following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Jimmy Carter boycotted the Moscow Summer Olympics and NBC shelved the coverage and the Animalympics special which did not rear its head again until July 4, 1982. Now as we face down another "cold war" ...