Category: Media

NEW SPECIAL EDITION BLU – RAY!!

765_BD_box_348x490_original

Coming in July this summer! The all new Criterion Collection Special Edition remastered Blu-Ray edition of “The Black Stallion”!!
This is the DIRECTOR APPROVED – SPECIAL EDITION, by Carroll Ballard.
This is sure to be a winner as the digital transfer was supervised by master cinematographer Caleb Deschanel himself!
It has loads of special features – here’s what’s going to be included;

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:

**New 4K digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Caleb Deschanel, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
**Five short films by Carroll Ballard, with introductions by the director: Pigs! (1965), The Perils of Priscilla (1969), Rodeo (1969), Seems Like Only Yesterday (1971), and Crystallization (1974)
**New conversation between Ballard and film critic Scott Foundas
**New interview with Deschanel
**New piece featuring photographer Mary Ellen Mark discussing her images from the film’s set
**Trailer
**PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Sragow
The exciting new cover art is by Nicolas Delort.

It will be great to see it again as it should be seen! It’s about time!
Be sure to get a Bucephalus of your own – better than popcorn!

Check back close to the release as we’ll try to get discount codes for purchasing this fantastic NEW edition of “The Black Stallion“!

“Homecoming of Horses” Sunday Fun!

This Sunday, December 14, 2014 – A GREAT way to spend the day…
see you there?!! Stop at the shop on your way!al marah

 

Public Invited to Al-Marah Arabians “Homecoming of Horses”
WHAT: Welcoming ceremony and equine events to celebrate the arrival of the very best of

Al-Marah Arabians famous horses to their new Clermont home

WHEN: Sunday, December 14

TIME:  11:00 am – 4:00 pm

WHERE: Al-Marah Arabians, 11105 Autumn Lane in Clermont

BACKGROUND: Al-Marah Arabians invites the public to its Homecoming of Horses event to see the arrival of the last and very best of the farm’s famous Arabian horses as they arrive from Tucson. The day-long event is FREE and open to the public.

Highlights of the event include:

  • Riding demonstrations featuring horses that have won more than 40 National Championships
  • Tours of the 78-acre farm
  • Meet and greet with Mark Miller and the Al-Marah trainers
  • Riding demo by Greta Wrigley, trainer and winner of multiple national championships
  • Horse sales
  • Entertainment
  • Food

The highlight of the event will be the arrival of the broodmares at 2:00 pm as they take their first steps on the lush green pastures of their new home.

The Al-Marah Arabians are the oldest, privately-owned, continuously-bred band of horses in the world. Their ancestors date back to 1815 when they were first rounded up from the Egyptian desert.

Now owned by Mark Miller, who owned the Arabian Nights attraction, the horses are bred to exacting standards for beauty, athleticism, agility and a warrior-spirit; with dispositions that make them perfect companions and show horses.

For more information on Al-Marah Arabians, please visit

35th Anniversary Interview with Jeanne Rosenberg


Here’s a special treat for you, an interview with Jeanne Rosenberg, the screenwriter on the movie of “The Black Stallion” (1979)
She was there in the early days and we all had a very strange trip … at the track, on the Drake and back home again. Thanks to our friends at the Horse Channel and Horse Illustrated. Check out the November magazine for two more articles on “The Black Stallion”!HI nov

Don’t forget to pick up a little piece of history for yourself @ the Gift Shop!

 
The Black Stallion Film’s 35-year Anniversary
Screenwriter Jeanne Rosenberg recalls her unlikely path to the job.
By Elizabeth Kaye McCall | September 2014

Never doubt the impact of a college course on life. Los Angeles screenwriter Jeanne Rosenberg can vouch for it. “I had written a script analysis of my favorite childhood book, The Black Stallion, when I was in film school,” says Rosenberg about the door that opened her screenwriting career. “After I graduated, I found out that they were making it into a movie and Carroll Ballard was directing it. I wrote him a letter. I had done a script analysis. He called and said, ‘I really like what you wrote. We have to get together.’ Time passed, we didn’t get together. I called again. ‘Oh, they’re in Canada in pre-production.’ I called him again. He apologized for not getting back to me.”
Crazy about horses from her earliest girlhood memories in Illinois, Rosenberg grabbed the reins of her own destiny. “I said, ‘Oh, I’m coming your way. Do you mind? Maybe I’ll just stop in.’ I was flying from Los Angeles to the Midwest and they were in Toronto.” She arrived in the midst of chaos. “People were tearing their hair out because Carroll wouldn’t commit to anything,” she recalls. “We were supposed to meet for coffee one morning. He was late. I was making some notes on a napkin. He showed up, grabbed the napkin out of my hand and kept my notes. I went home and got another call. ‘Carroll would like you to come back. We need help on the script.”

Rosenberg’s initiative paid off. “It was total chaos when I arrived in the pre-production phase. Melissa Mathison [who later wrote “ET”] got off another plane and we met and became this writing team as we were about to shoot,” she describes. “Carroll hadn’t committed to a screenplay! All the actors were there. Everyone was. The art department didn’t know where to go to dress the set. They didn’t even know the locations. Do we need a farm house? Do we need a race track? What do we need? Carroll liked to keep everything open and see what developed. To have an entire film crew that had to be told [what to do] at every moment and to get that information from a guy who doesn’t like to make decisions is tough,” Rosenberg laughs. “He was driving everyone crazy, of course.”

A graduate of USC Film School [now USC School of Cinematic Arts], Rosenberg planned on a documentary film career. “I remember being forced to take a writing class and thinking, ‘This is ridiculous. There’s no way I’m writing.’ And, here I am,” adds the real-life horsewoman and reining competitor, whose scores of film credits include family favorites like “White Fang,” “Bambi II,” and “The Young Black Stallion.”

The date “The Black Stallion” started shooting in Toronto is etched on Rosenberg’s mind. It was 7/7/77. “We shot the second part of the movie first,” she notes. Meanwhile, preparations were underway to move the crew overseas to film the first half of the movie. “Carroll kept refusing to let us write the island sequence,” says Rosenberg. “Of course, we did it anyway. He has an amazing eye and is quite a storyteller. But he was really more used to being a one-man band, making all of the decisions on the fly.”

Now the mother of two grown children, Rosenberg writes from an office with a view of her American Quarter Horses. She revisited the production that launched her career this summer, when film critic Stephen Farber held a 35th anniversary screening of “The Black Stallion” in Los Angeles.

From a personal standpoint, Rosenberg shares that “The Black Stallion’s” magic remains. “It was fun to see again,” she says. If any scenes can be favorites, these made Rosenberg’s list: “The shipwreck sequence is amazing and scary. The whole island scene was everyone’s favorite. When the boy wakes up on the beach and is staring straight at a cobra ready to strike, and The Black comes and saves him—that’s a wonderful scene. Of course, the boy climbing on The Black for the first time is brilliant. But it all goes back to Walter Farley’s novel,” adds Rosenberg. “He wrote such a wonderful, descriptive story.”

Belmont today!! 6:30 PM est

rosieBelmont Stakes

rosie1

Rosie Napravnik and Unlimited Budget?
Orb?
Oxbow?

Who is it going to be?
1. Frac Daddy
2. Freedom Child
3. Overanalyze
4. Giant Finish
5. Orb
6. Incognito
7. Oxbow
8. Midnight Taboo
9. Revolutionary
10. Will Take Charge
11. Vyjack
12. Palace Malice
13. Unlimited Budget
14. Golden Soul

Don’t forget and have the TV off while you make yourself a nap snack!

Here’s a little story from Trackside from Rachael Kraft – I’ll post the rest later this week-
Enjoy the Ride! TF

Traveling inStyle

By: Rachael Kraft *Representative of Double D Trailers:  Horse Trailer Manufacturer since 1997 with emphasis on research, design, product improvement and horse safety through creation of safer technologies. Owned by Brad Heath.

For humans, we have the choice of car or truck…train or bus…economy or first class.  Wherever we go, we’d like to get there quickly, comfortably, and without a lot of hassle.   Some horses travel just as much or more than the typical person and they have the added challenge of weighing close to a ton!  Whether the horse is an elite athlete, a show performer or a beloved pet, they still have the ability to travel in style.

In the horse world, the most recent example of horses traveling in style is the group of talented three-year-olds competing in this year’s Triple Crown.  This prestigious set of three grueling races starts in the rolling hills of bluegrass state with the Kentucky Derby.  The horse Orb gave us a thrilling victory at the 2013 race and many hoped he would be a three-win contender.  His hopes were dashed when he was defeated at the second race, The Preakness, held at Pimlico Racetrack in Maryland.  Only one more race remains, and fans across the nation are eagerly awaiting the Belmont Stakes this Saturday, June 8 where Orb will get a chance to meet his rival Oxbow in the 1 1/2 mile challenge. 

Many spectators forget what a terrific challenge the Triple Crown is for a young horse.  After all, they are only three-years-old.  In many other horse disciplines, a horse this young would barely be starting the training for their sport.  For a racehorse, they are expected to be at their very best.  Each of the races is a physical and mental stress on the animal and there are only days between each of the races.  In addition, the horses need to travel hundreds of miles, settle into a new stable, and prepare on a new racetrack. 

It’s not surprising that Orb’s trainer, Shug McGaughey considered not racing his colt in the Belmont after a fourth place finish at the Preakness.  Lucky for us, he recently announced that his colt would definitely be racing this Saturday.  He made this decision after Orb ran a good workout this past Sunday morning1. Racing fans across the nation have been eagerly watching this year’s Triple Crown competition.  With June 8th’s Belmont Stakes in New York, we will get to see the exciting showdown between Derby winner Orb and Preakness winner Oxbow.

 (the rest later this week)