TOP GUN (Paramount) Director: Tony Scott Starring: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt You don’t really want me to review the movie Top Gun, do you Top Gun is one of the most influential action movies of all time, informing both serious blockbuster fare and blockbuster parodies for years after its release. It’s arguably Tom Cruise’s most famous role, and certainly the film that launched him into the superstardom he enjoys now
Tag Archives: artifacts
Archaeology: MYSTERY OF THE OLMEC
More than 1,500 years before the Maya flourished in Central America, 25 centuries before the Aztecs conquered large swaths of Mexico, the mysterious Olmec people were building the first great culture of Mesoamerica. Starting in 1200 B.C.
Art: China’s Revamped National Museum
Spring flowers bloomed and soldiers could be seen goose-stepping across Tiananmen Square as I walked through the recently renovated National Museum in Beijing. A new exhibit, “The Road of Rejuvenation,” promised to highlight “the glorious history of China under the leadership of the Communist Party.” So what’s included in a permanent show that contains 2,220 “First-Rank Cultural Objects” and occupies roughly one-fifth of the massive museum’s exhibition space
Pop Goes the Culture
It may be the ultimate instance of American mixed feelings.
Buddha Bashing
The name Taliban means “seekers of knowledge.” Since they seized control of most of Afghanistan in 1996, the clique of fundamentalist zealots who go by that name have eliminated virtually all human rights within their reach.
The Art of Museum Diplomacy
When western diplomats seek concessions from Iran, they typically dish out tough rhetoric and threaten sanctions. Neil MacGregor, the cherub-faced director of the British Museum, uses a more refined arsenal: cultural relics and priceless artifacts.
Lost and Found: Afghan Treasures Reunite at the British Museum
In the minds of many outside the country, Afghanistan occupies a space somewhere between war and chaos. But millennia before the Soviet invasion kicked off 30 years of conflict and upheaval, and well before the Taliban began to brutalize its own people, Afghanistan flourished as a hub along the Silk Road
Egypt severs ties with France’s Louvre museum
Egypt is suspending ties with France’s famous Louvre museum until the latter returns artifacts that it knew were stolen when it purchased them, the head of the country’s antiquities council said Wednesday.
Cruise to trace Titanic’s route on centennial of ship’s sinking
A memorial cruise is scheduled to set sail 100 years after the sinking of the Titantic, following the same trans-Atlantic route as the ill-fated ship, according to organizers. The Titanic Memorial Cruise is to set sail in April 2012, departing from Southampton, England, on April 8, just as the Titanic did
Ancient bones seized, returned to China
Fossilized bones of a saber-toothed cat and dinosaurs that may be 100 million years old are among “priceless” artifacts that the United States handed over to China in a ceremony Monday. The fossils, which also include dinosaur eggs believed to be 60 million years old, were seized by U.S