Well that was quick: Cinerama Dome and Arclight to be restored and reopened

Sony didn't waste any time. They've just made it official: they will restore and reopen the Cinerama Dome and the Hollywood Arclight.

 

As I suspected, the Dome needs some work and because of that it will not open until 2028. Alamo Drafthouse, owned by Sony, will turn the now former Arclight into an Alamo Drafthouse.

 

I have to say, it's so good to see a piece of Hollywood/Los Angeles history being preserved instead of razed and replaced by soulless modern construction, which is what usually happens. I may even need to mosey over to Hollywood in 2028. It's been years since I was in either of these theaters.

 

Well done, Sony. 

 

Sony to save the Cinerama Dome and Arclight Hollywood?

Given Los Angeles's propensity for destroying its historic buildings, this is wonderful news: Sony Pictures Looking to Bring Cinerama Dome and Arclight Back to Life. 

 

A few points to consider before I get too excited:

• According to some of the comments, Sony also recently bought the Alamo Drafthouse chain and the commenters didn't seem impressed with what they've done with it, so there's some concern they would do the same thing with the Dome and Arclight.
• Speaking of Arclight, due to its current owners filing for bankruptcy, the name cannot be used in the future, so the Arclight would get a new name (although locals would probably continue to refer to it as the Arclight, at least for a while. I know I would.)
• The theaters have been closed since the COVID shutdown in 2020, so we're probably looking at a lot of work needing to be done, not just a simple reopening. Depending on what it will cost to get them up and running, this could be a deterrent. 

But for now I'm choosing to stay hopeful. Both L.A. and Hollywood could use some good news for a change.

 

RIP Ann Blyth

Ann Blyth, who had a great career but is probably best known for playing Joan Crawford's snobbish monster of a daughter Veda in the classic film Mildred Pierce, died Wednesday at the age of 98. 

 

One of my favorite childhood memories was when I was about ten years old, and my Mom (who, like me, loved classic films) let me stay up late on a school night because a late night movie program was showing Mildred Pierce and she thought it was important for me to see it. To this day it's one of my all-time favorite films. 

 

In spite of how horribly her character behaved toward Mildred in the film, per Blyth she and Crawford got on well.

 

RIP Ann, and thanks for the great performances.

 

Even Hollywood is abandoning Hollywood

Hollywood is following the exodus out of Hollywood, although they aren't going as far as others: The Oscars are leaving the Dolby Theatre for the Peacock Theater.

 

What this means is that the Academy Awards will depart its Hollywood Boulevard location of over twenty years for the L.A. Live complex in Downtown L.A. This will put them near the Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center).

 

The problem with this, in my opinion, is two-fold. All of Los Angeles has gone downhill in the past 5-10 years, overrun with drug-addled homeless, increasing crime, and rising cost of living that hugely outpaces the rest of the country (in fact, this pretty much applies to all if not most of California). So Hollywood the town loses one of the few things left that gives it shine and prestige, but the event moves to an area (DTLA) that has even worse problems than Hollywood. I haven't been to DTLA in years, not even to see a Kings game, partly because I no longer feel safe on Metro or the area, and only partly due to the team's lackluster play. So neither location is particularly desirable, but at least Hollywood Boulevard put the ceremony in the heart where it all started for Tinseltown.

 

I lived in Hollywood for fifteen years (1997-2012) and watched it bloom after years of deterioration with the addition of the Kodak Theatre, the return of the Oscars, and the installation of the Red Line subway. You couldn't pay me to live there now. And I remember when the Oscars moved to the Kodak/Dolby - after years at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in DTLA - bringing the ceremony to the industry's namesake town was presented as a big, meaningful deal. I think it's a real hit for Hollywood and Hollywood Boulevard as a destination (albeit one that needs to be cleaned up big time).

 

And it's not just Hollywood the town that's lost much of its luster - the film industry has been dying, especially in the past few years after the 2023 writers and actors strikes. Viewership for the Oscars has plummeted over the years. It's no longer appointment television. What was once a yearly event now barely registers with a huge portion of the public.

 

This isn't the only recent move made by the Academy. They recently announced the broadcast was leaving its long-time home on ABC to YouTube. While this may be a statement about the power of tech over broadcast television, I think it also says something about the drop in viewership. This may make it easier for more people to watch, giving them a chance to claim increased interest and restored importance. Both moves take effect with the 2029 ceremony.

 

Updated 4/3/26: The exodus continues to hollow out the home of the entertainment industry: J.J. Abrams is closing the Los Angeles location of Bad Robot, his production company. 

 

RIP Bud Cort, and a rough couple of weeks for Hollywood

Bud Cort, immortalized as the death-obsessed Harold Chasen in the classic Harold and Maude, passed away today at the age of 77. This longtime cult classic has been a favorite of mine forever. Cort wasn't the last remaining of the three main stars: the wonderful Ruth Gordon (Maude) passed away in 1985, but the hilarious Vivian Pickles (Harold's deadpan mother) is still with us at 94.

 

 

According to imdb's trivia page, Cort ad-libbed both this fourth wall-breaking side eye, as well as the ferocious middle finger he gave his mother after her reaction to his hybrid Jaguar/hearse.

 

Earlier today the death of Dawson's Creek star James Van Der Beek was announced. Van Der Beek, only 48, had been battling colorectal cancer.

 

In addition, beloved comedy star Catherine O'Hara passed away on January 30. She had also been suffering from rectal cancer, although the primary cause of death was a pulmonary embolism.

 

There's the idea that in Hollywood they die in threes, and after O'Hara, I wondered who was going to be numbers two and three. Today brought that sad answer.

 

RIP everyone. 

 

Recent reading: EQMM and AHMM

The new publisher is still behind (I don't have the Jan/Feb issues yet) but I'm also behind on reading, so I guess that makes us even.

 

 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (September/October 2025)

 

Favorites from this issue:

• "The Corpse Collector" by David Morrell: A dental assistant moonlights as a pickup driver for a funeral director for extra money and uses her day job skills to determine that the seemingly accidental death of an old man was actually murder.
• "Where the Good Dogs Go" by Kai Lovelace: A dog's sickness pits his owners against each other - Rose, who wants to sink money they don't have into his treatment, and Brad, the husband she feels increasingly distant from and who she suspects of having the dog euthanized. Rose gets a rude surprise when she decides to take revenge on Brad. Great twist ending.
• "The Book of Dead Cats" by Sue Parman: A mysterious death of a professor at a prep school, eccentric characters, family drama, and cats.  

 

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (November/December 2025)

 

Favorites from this issue:

• "Doctor Morbilius" by Gary Phillips: Set in the 1960's, this story sees a Los Angeles PI and his estranged father caught up in a scam perpetrated by a charismatic conman.
• "Fursona Non Grata" by Richard Helms: A fun story about a supposedly psychic eccentric who assists a detective in solving a murder of a furry (a guy in a dog costume). 
• "Halloween Party" by David Dean: A young woman wants to get to know her new neighbors and neighborhood, only to get more information than she bargained for in this tale of infidelity, scandal, and murder. 

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine (November/December 2025)

 

Favorites from this issue:

• "Circumstantial Evidence" by Eric B. Ruark: A bicyclist discovers a murder victim in a small town and is pressed to stick around because he's a potential suspect. When local troublemakers are arrested for the crime, the cyclist is free to leave...only to reveal that he's a contract killer and the murder was, in fact, his doing. Terrific use of an unreliable narrator. I did not see that ending coming AT ALL.
• "Take Me for a Ride" by Michael Mallory: Set in post-WWII Los Angeles, this is the story of a private eye who takes on the case of a valuable stolen car for an old war buddy, only to have it turn into an increasingly complicated murder case.
• "The Other Side of the Window" by Adrian McKinty: One of my favorite stories of the year. It's Hitchcock's Rear Window from the POV of Lars Thorwald, the killer played by Raymond Burr in the film. We learn how he reached the point of killing his wife (accidentally) after meeting another woman, who wants them to run off to California, and who enthusiastically helps Thorwald dispose of the wife's body and establish his alibi. An interesting aspect is how much the characters of Jefferies (James Stewart) and Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly) were minimalized. The character of Helen, Thorwald's paramour, doesn't appear in the film and is a device created to explain how and why Thorwald's wife ended up dead. Just a really great alternative take on a classic.
• "A New Life" by LaToya Jovena: A man seeks sole ownership of his late mother's twenty acre property with plans to turn it into a multi-million dollar development scheme, but his estranged daughter has other ideas. Great double-cross at the end.  

Not gonna lie, this sounds tempting

 

I remember reading something where the question of why not convert abandoned malls into housing, and a lot of it had to do with plumbing not being in place, because the places were set up as stores, not homes with sinks, showers, and toilets.

 

Having said that, I still think this is a cool idea, especially with the classic films and food courts. I'd consider it.

 

Via Remembering the Goold Ole Days on FB.

 

Recent reading: "Future Boy"

Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum

by Michael J. Fox and Nelle Fortenberry

 

This slim (150 pages) volume is a brief but exciting memoir of how Michael J. Fox famously juggled two full-time acting jobs and ended up as the star of one of the most beloved films of all time. By day he portrayed Alex P. Keaton on the hit TV show Family Ties, while by night he was Marty McFly, the time-traveling teen of Back to the Future. 

 

Fox goes briefly into how his early Canadian acting success led him to Los Angeles at the age of eighteen and how a few years later, when he was on the verge of having to give up on Hollywood and return to Canada, he scored the role that made him famous. Family Ties was filming its third season when his boss, the show's creator, Gary David Goldberg, refused to make him available for BTTF because Fox couldn't be spared...without informing Fox of the offer. Some months later the film's producers tried again when Eric Stoltz as Marty wasn't working out. This time Goldberg was ready to work with them and a crazy plan to replace Stoltz and reshoot the film with Fox while he continued his work on Family Ties was hatched.

 

Fox was twenty-three at the time, so a lot of what got him through the punishing schedule was both youthful energy and an intense dedication to both projects. A driver would pick him up in the morning and deliver him to Paramount for Family Ties. Once he was done for the day, another driver would pick him up at Paramount and deliver him to Universal Studios (or filming locations, including the Puente Hills Mall) where he would work through most of the night. His driver would then drop him off at home for a few hours sleep, then it was rinse and repeat. 

 

Some interesting points:

• Per Lea Thompson, Stoltz viewed Marty's return to 1985 as having a tragic quality - although things had turned out so much better for his family, there was now an entire, revised family history that Marty had no memory of. Interesting take, but the Bobs (writer Bob Gale and writer/director Bob Zemeckis) wanted a comedy, not a tragedy. Fox had high praise for Thompson in their first scene together, the one where Marty wakes up in 1955 and meets his mother as a teenager, especially because of how well she adjusted to the difference between how he played the role compared to Stoltz.
• Crispin Glover had made a guest appearance in an earlier episode of Family Ties. He played one of two friends who take Alex out to celebrate his eighteenth birthday. Fox has high praise for Glover's comedic ability.
• Because of how he was thrown into production without any rehearsal time with his castmates, Fox says he didn't really get to know Christopher Lloyd until the sequel, making the onscreen bond between Marty and Doc Brown all the more impressive. 
• The story of how Fox's stunt double got his job on the film is insane. It sounds like something out of a movie. Just read the book.
• The guitar Fox played in the "Johnny B. Good" performance at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance went missing and hasn't been seen since. Fox estimates that if it were to resurface, it "...could easily fetch in excess of seven figures."
• In preparation for the book Fox contacted Eric Stoltz, who has always maintained complete silence on the subject of his tenure as Marty McFly. The two got together and seem to have bonded, although at Stoltz's request whatever was discussed about the film stays private. I would love for Stoltz to someday write a book about his BTTF experience - I don't know if it's a sore spot he won't revisit, but if he did I would buy that book.

This was a quick, energetic read but if you want an extremely comprehensive look at the making of BTTF, I highly recommend We Don't Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy by Caseen Gaines. 

 

From the book:

Any awkwardness in this meeting was immediately dispelled by Eric's grace. He entered with a smile, and we quickly acknowledged that neither of us had an issue with the other. What transpired on Back to the Future had not made us enemies or fated rivals; we were just two dedicated actors who had poured equal amounts of energy into the same role.  

 

Happy New Year's and Happy Public Domain Day!

2026 is upon us! 

One thing that has become a NY tradition for me is checking out the works entering the public domain. You can find the complete list here, but here are a few that jumped out at me: 

 

Books:

• The Maltese Falcon (full book version) (Dashiell Hammett)
• The Murder at the Vicarage (The first Miss Marple story) (Agatha Christie) 
• The first four Nancy Drew books.
• As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner)
• Private Lives (Noel Coward) 
• Are you old? Would you like to feel older? The debut of Dick and Jane is now in the public domain: Elson Basic Readers (William H. Elson) 

Films:

• All Quiet on the Western Front (Director: Lewis Milestone, winner of the Oscar for Best Picture) 
• Animal Crackers (Director: Victor Heerman, starring the Marx Brothers)
• The Blue Angel (Director: Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich)
• Anna Christie (Director: Clarence Brown, starring Greta Garbo)
• Hell's Angels (Director: Howard Hughes, film debut of Jean Harlow) 

Music:

• Four songs by George and Ira Gershwin: I Got Rhythm, I've Got a Crush on You, But Not for Me, Embraceable You
• Dream a Little Dream of Me (Gus Kahn/Fabian Andre/Wilbur Schwandt)
• Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight (Al Lewis/Al Sherman)
• Just a Gigolo (first English translation by Irving Caeser) 

Characters/Comics/Cartoons: various Betty Boop, Pluto, Blondie and Dagwood cartoons and comics, along with some more Mickey Mouse cartoons and comic strips, and ten more of Disney's Silly Symphonies.

 

Some interesting stuff this year. 

And the Oscar goes to...

Belated news as this week was finals week of English 2 for me, so I haven't weighed in on this yet. But as of 4pm today, my fall semester final essay was submitted and another semester in the books! I am free of school assignments until Spring semester begins in mid-February! And so now, da entertainment industry newz.

 

An oldie but goodie from I Can Has Cheezburger. Remember them?

 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was apparently thrilled to announce that YouTube will be airing the Oscars beginning in 2029.

 

Oscar on the move image snicked from here.

 

The contract runs through 2033. 

 

Time will tell if this is a win. ABC has aired the Oscars for decades and viewership has dropped dramatically over the years as Hollywood holds less and less sway over the masses. It will be interesting to see if YouTube can reignite interest in the ceremony or if they inherited an albatross that ABC will be glad to be rid of.

 

Recent reading: "We Did OK, Kid"

 

We Did OK, Kid: A Memoir

by Anthony Hopkins

 

This is a wonderful memoir of Sir Anthony Hopkins's life and times, as well as his career as an Oscar-winning actor. He was an only child whose parents despaired of what his future held as he was a middling, disinterested student and didn't seem to have any particular talent or ambition. In fact, at one point he announced he wanted to be a hobo when he grew up. But love of film, literature, poetry, and an innate gift for reading material out loud eventually led him to the theatre.

 

We Did OK, Kid takes us through Hopkins's childhood in Wales, into his acting career in film, television and theatre, and how he honed his skills to become one of the greatest actors of his generation. We see his early exposure to legendary actors like Richard Burton and Laurence Olivier and how they molded him. On the personal side Hopkins doesn't shy away from the disasters that his first two marriages devolved into and of course there's his battle with alcohol (he's been sober for decades and often speaks eloquently on the subject on social media).

 

Hopkins also spends time explaining how he crafted what is probably his most famous performance, Dr. Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. It says a lot about his preparation that even during the table read he managed to frighten co-star Jodie Foster. It's a fascinating behind the scenes look at what is considered by many to be the embodiment of one of the greatest villains in film history.

 

Hopkins managed to eventually settle into a happy third marriage in 2003. His only child is a daughter named Abigail from his first marriage. When he left that unhappy union, he walked away completely feeling it was best for everyone involved, resulting in estrangement from Abigail and he admits that he wishes he could have had a better relationship with her. But of all the ups and downs Hopkins has experienced over his long life (he'll be 88 on New Year's Eve) he seems to have made his peace with it all and now appears to live a happy, examined life with regrets accepted and dealt with.

 

I cannot recommend this memoir highly enough. I expected Hopkins to be fascinating based on what I'd seen of him on film and social media, and We Did OK, Kid didn't disappoint. 

 

Even Kermit is leaving Hollywood

For years the entertainment industry has been fleeing Hollywood. Vancouver, Toronto, North Carolina, New Mexico and Georgia are just a few of the places that have benefited from this exodus, mainly due to the vastly lower cost of doing business outside of California.

 

And now Kermit the Frog is departing Tinseltown. The Kermit-as-Little-Tramp statue that has graced the main gate of The Jim Henson Company on La Brea for so long has been gifted by Henson's family to The Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. 

 

The lot, originally Charlie Chaplin Studios and later A&M Records, was sold last year so that may be the reason for this move, although if I bought the place I would have tried to include Kermit's statue as part of the deal. 

 

I think the gate is going to look sadly naked without it as another part of Hollywood history moves on. I haven't been to that part of town in ages, but I may need to drive by so Kermit's nod to the lot's founder can make me smile one last time.

 

Farewell!!! (*sniffles*)

 

UPDATE 1/2/26: Looks like there is some good news - John Mayer and McG, who bought the Henson lot, have renamed it for Chaplin and intend to preserve its history. Note: If you want to read the entire article linked in that post, you'll need a subscription to the L.A. Times.

 

Recent reading: "L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood"

L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood

by Anne Soon Choi

This is a terrific look at the career of Dr. Thomas Noguchi, L.A.'s legendary "coroner to the stars". Noguchi was a fixture in local news during my younger years and I'd always heard he'd done amazing work with the L.A. County Coroner's office. He was regarded as a brilliant pathologist by many, but his political savvy and administrative/management skills were lacking. His most fatal flaw, and the one that eventually cost him the job he loved, was developing an affinity for the limelight, and this book doesn't sugar coat how this affected his reputation and career. At times this weakness made him his own worst enemy.

 

Initially shy of it, Noguchi soon succumbed to the lure of the media spotlight, and this (along with administrative issues in the department) would cost him dearly when he was regarded as overstepping the bounds of his position. Beyond establishing causes of death, he would increasingly lay out for the press his interpretations of crime/death scenes, something that irritated the police and DA's office. He also created a badly conceived "reinactment" of one case with cameras in tow. Finally, following the deaths/autopsies of Hollywood legends William Holden and Natalie Wood in which he gave detailed versions of his interpretations of the deaths to the media, the County Board of Supervisors had enough. These issues combined with managerial disarray at the coroner's office, plus Noguchi's increasingly distracting outside endeavors, resulted in the end of his career as L.A.'s coroner.

Among the high-profile cases covered in the book is the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy and the deaths of Marilyn Monroe, Holden, and Wood, as well as the Manson Family Murders. The book is also a revealing look at the racism faced by the Japanese-American community in Los Angeles in the 1960's-1980's, especially in terms of their assimilation back into the city following internment in World War II (Noguchi wasn't among them; he emigrated from Japan after the war ended). 

 

Anne Soon Choi is a local historian and college professor, and the notes in her acknowledgement detailing the research she did for this book are as fascinating as the book itself. If you're a fan of L.A. history (especially the time period Noguchi served as coroner) this is well worth your time. Highly recommended. Disclaimer: I bought this book directly from Anne when she was signing at the Sisters in Crime L.A. booth at the L.A. Times Festival of Books in April and she was kind enough to sign it for me.

From the book:

With the investigation in its early stages, Noguchi refrained from any speculation. As the chief coroner, his job was to report the cause of death and let the investigation move forward. Subsequently, Noguchi's "perfect autopsy" of Kennedy would become the standard in forensic science and vault him into national prominence in the field.

MUST...POSSESS...

So many of the Hallmark Christmas ornaments are just absolute works of art. Not to mention the ideas they come up with for ornaments is really clever. 

I have this Jaws ornament from years ago. In fact, it's on my fireplace mantel year round since I live by the beach. And now today, I stumbled across this absolutely awesome upcoming Jaws ornament:

 

 

When you tilt the ornament it changes from the original billboard to the vandalized billboard. SQUEEEE!!!!

I can't find it on Hallmark's website yet, but I will be there ready to give them my money the minute this thing becomes available.

April Words of Wisdom

What people commonly call fate is mostly their own stupidity. --Arthur Schopenhauer

 

Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. --Carl Jung

Close some doors. Not because of pride, incapacity, or arrogance, but simply because they no longer lead somewhere. --Paulo Coelho

I restore myself when I'm alone. A career is born in public, talent in private. 

--Marilyn Monroe

There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand. --Mary Shelley

Twice Upon a Time in Hollywood

Didn't have this on the bingo card: A sequel to Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is in the works. 

 

I'm a sucker for anything historic Hollywood/L.A., plus this was a great film, so I'm totally onboard for this. It's so nice to see Hollywood announce something I can get excited about.

 

The sequel will focus on Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth character. Apparently Tarantino couldn't get past the idea of the further adventures of the aging stuntman, so here we are. 

While Tarantino is writing, the project will be directed by David Fincher, who directed Pitt in the immortal Se7en. Leo DiCaprio's involvement is apparently up in the air, but given that Cliff is the focal point here, Rick Dalton may be off on location in this one.

March Words of Wisdom

A true passion that burns within your soul is one that can never be put out. 

--Zach Toelke

 

I do not suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it. --Edgar Allan Poe

 

Sadness is caused by intelligence. The more you understand certain things, the more you wish you didn't understand them. --Charles Bukowski

I sat with anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief. 

--C.S. Lewis

We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle. --Marilyn Monroe

It was an amazing life

This keeps popping up on my social media and I found it fascinating every time, so I thought I'd post it. Check out the amazing life of actor Christopher Lee:

 

 

What a man. Seriously. Imagine the stories he could tell.

 

RIP Gene Hackman

I was really hoping this class act could depart this mortal coil with dignity, but the story has gotten really weird: Gene Hackman and Wife's Death Probed by Police.

 

Hackman was one of those actors that everyone loved. I doubt he ever gave a bad performance. He was nominated for five Oscars, winning two (Best Actor for The French Connection and Best Supporting Actor for Unforgiven). My personal favorite was his role as the eccentric, absentee father in The Royal Tenenbaums. 

Hackman, who retired from acting following Welcome to Mooseport (2004) was 95. His wife, Betsy Arakawa, was 64.

Rest in peace.

Public Domain Day strikes again

January 1 has become a double holiday for creatives. In addition to welcoming a new year, it is also now recognized as the day copyrighted works are welcomed into the public domain. That's right - January 1 is Public Domain Day. 

Several classic animated characters and shorts have just hit the public domain. Post-Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse (now talking and clad in his familiar white gloves), Popeye, and Tintin are now fair game, as are the first Silly Symphonies, including the classic The Skeleton Dance. 

 

Some major novels are now in the public domain: The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner), A Farewell to Arms (Ernest Hemingway), The Maltese Falcon (Dashiell Hammett), A Room of One's Own (Virginia Woolf), Seven Dials Mystery (Agatha Christie), The Roman Hat Mystery (Ellery Queen's debut), and the first English translation of All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque).

 

Among the films now in the public domain are The Marx Brothers' debut The Cocoanuts, Best Picture Winner The Broadway Melody, Pandora's Box (directed by G.W. Pabst, starring Louise Brooks), Blackmail (Alfred Hitchcock's first talkie), The Wild Party (Clara Bow's first talkie), and Hallelujah, one of the first major studio films with an all-black cast (directed by King Vidor).

Some classic songs and musical compositions hit the public domain yesterday: Singin' in the Rain, Ain't Misbehavin', Happy Days are Here Again, Tiptoe Through the Tulips, An American in Paris, and Bolero. Actual recordings now up for grabs are California Here I Come (Al Jolson), Rhapsody in Blue (George Gershwin), and Shreveport Stomp (Jelly Roll Morton).

In addition to the above, there are also poetry and artwork losing their copyrights. A comprehensive list can be found at Duke University's Center for the Study of the Public Domain, and be sure to scroll down to the section where they discuss the importance of the public domain. You may or may not agree with their point of view, but they still make some compelling arguments for the release of works to anyone who wants to use them.