(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Kitchen Table Kibitzing 8/18/2026: The Academy [1] ['Belinda Ridgewood', 'Dan K', 'Chitown Kev'] Date: 2026-08-18 Good evening, Kibitzers! The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, familiar to us all for its annual Academy Awards, presents several other types of award and also maintains a library, an archive, and a museum. They have the largest film-related collection in the world. And, they have a YouTube channel. Here is the text there: Welcome to the official channel of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Our mission is to celebrate the art, craft, and history of filmmaking. Dive into the stories behind the camera, the moments that shaped cinema, and the creators charting its future. From timeless classics to groundbreaking new films, this is the place for movie lovers to explore, discover, and connect with the magic of movies! This channel has tons of stuff about all aspects of the film industry; I’d encourage you to take a look if you’re interested. I picked out some things that seemed interesting to me, that you may like too. Marilyn Monroe’s iconic pink gown from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was missing for many years. Here’s the story of the dress and the hunt for it. ❧ [8:36] There’s a current exhibit, Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon, on display at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles through February 2027, so there are several good videos related to that exhibit. Rather than make a whole Marilyn section, here are a couple of links: Onward! A curator discusses an exhibit on Casablanca, and the making of this film about WWII refugees while being unable to refer to Jews in any way. ❧ [4:05] The last four artists at Disney (or anywhere) who ink and paint animation cels by hand show us their art form. ❧ [4:25] Museum curators discuss “race films” made for Black audiences in the first half of the 20th century. ❧ [7:45] In 1973, Marlon Brando famously declined his Oscar and sent activist Sacheen Littlefeather to deliver his speech for that purpose. She was not permitted to give the entire speech at the time, but she reads the full speech here. ❧ [6:24] Since the Oscars ceremony is a live telecast featuring all the most prominent movie actors, it’s not possible to compel the “cast” to appear for days of rehearsals. Yet, the director and the entire crew need the rehearsals to create a smooth performance. That’s where Oscars stand-ins come in. ❧ [4:56] Title designer Dan Perri describes the art of creating movie title sequences. ❧ [4:40] Special makeup effects artist Howard Berger explains how he goes about creating the elaborate prosthetic makeups used for movie “creatures”. ❧ [4:05] Several Foley artists describe the intricate process of adding practical (not computer-generated) sound effects to a film. ❧ [7:11] From childhood, specialized actor Tom Woodruff, Jr. wanted to be someone who played monsters and other creatures on film. As we’ve seen in every case, it involves a lot more detail than we might have considered. ❧ [6:41] Composer Christopher Young speaks about his process to create a film score. ❧ [6:18] Three linguists who’ve created entirely new languages for movies (Na’vi, Klingon, Dothraki) explain what doing it right entails. ❧ [6:23] Stop-motion animator Daniel Alderson takes us through this astonishingly detailed art form. (There’s a shot at about 2:30 that is possibly my favorite in this whole diary.) ❧ [7:09] A film historian and a couple of comic actors, plus of course Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam, tell us how Monty Python and the Holy Grail came about, what made it so very silly, and how it changed movie comedy. ❧ [6:29] One more thing! Recently re-monetized political parodist Patrick Fitzgerald has a new song about the catering truck incident, to the tune of Good Morning, Baltimore, from John Waters’ Hairspray. ❧ [4:03] [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/18/800085582/community/kitchen-table-kibitzing-8-18-2026-the-academy/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/