February 2 - Super Bowl LIV

Happy Super Bowl LIV Sunday! On the first Sunday in February, America’s love affair with football springs into action.  

After sixteen hard-fought matches spanning seventeen weeks, the two best football teams in the NFL battle their way to a world championship in the grandest televised spectacle in the United States. And with the ball actually only in play for about eleven minutes during a four hour plus game, what's not to love? 

However, over the past fifty-three years, the Super Bowl has evolved into much more than a championship football game. Today, it is a cultural phenomenon that nearly one-third of Americans anticipate the whole year round, each for his or her own reasons.

This includes the spicy chicken wings, the hearty chili, the ice cold beer, the rowdy friends, the big-budget commercials, the spectacular halftime show, and last but not least, the star of the show, the football.  

With that said, crack open a cold one, settle down on the couch, and flip on the needlessly big screen television — it’s Super Bowl Sunday! 

Go (insert favorite team name here)! 

"69 is divine! 69 is divine!" 

#SuperBowlLIV 

@NFL 

@49ers 

@Chiefs 
@nichecinema 

  

February 2 - Laura Poitras

Happy 56th Birthday, Laura Poitras! Born today in 1964, this American producer and director of documentary films. She is best known for co-producing and directing the 2014 American historical documentary/documentary film 'Citizenfour'.  

The film follows a documentarian and a reporter who travel to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with American whistleblower Edward Snowden. 

One of the executive producers for the film was American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and actor Steven Soderbergh ('Sex, Lies, and Videotape', 'Traffic'). 

Poitras currently lives in New York City, New York. She has been active from 2003–present. 

#borntodirect 

@WomenInFilm 

@Snowden 

@HBO 

February 2 - Věra Chytilová

Happy Birthday, Věra Chytilová! Born today in 1929, this avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech cinema was banned by the Czechoslovak government in the 1960s for her work. 

Chytilová is best known for co-conceiving, co-writing and directing her most well-known installment of Czech New Wave. This was the 1966 Czechoslovak drama/comedy-drama film 'Sedmikrásky' ('Daisies'). 

An aesthetically and politically adventurous film, 'Daisies' is widely considered one of the great works of feminist cinema. 

Believing the world to be spoiled, two teenage girls, Marie #I (Jitka Cerhová) and Marie #II (Ivana Karbanová), decide that they will be spoiled too. They embark on a series of destructive pranks to rebel against a materialistic society. 

Regarding credits, they are only at the beginning. At the end, all that appears onscreen is the statement: "THIS FILM IS DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO GET UPSET ONLY OVER A STOMPED-UPON BED OF LETTUCE".

Regarding the Czech New Wave, Chytilová is considered to be one of the most rebellious, irreverent and boundary-breaking talents.  

 

Chytilová had been active from 1962–2011. 

#borntodirect 

#CzechItOut 

@WomenInFilm
@BFI  

@BAMstage
@Criterion 

February 2 - Frank Lloyd

Happy Birthday, Frank Lloyd! Born today in 1886 as Frank William George Lloyd, this British-born American actor, scriptwriter, producer and film director was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was its president from 1934 to 1935. 

Lloyd is best known for co-producing and directing the 1935 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer American black and white drama film 'Mutiny on the Bounty'. The following year, it won an Oscar for Best Picture at the 8th Academy Awards in early March 1936. 

Lloyd had been active from 1913-1955. 

#borntodirect 

@BFI 

@tcm 

February 1 - National Grapefruit Month

Happy National Grapefruit Month! During the month of February, be sure to get your fill of the ruby reds, marsh, pomelo and oroblanco. 

These citrus fruits range from white to red and sweet to tart but add a brightness to the tongue that will make anyone perk up. And, grapefruits are extremely healthy for you.  

High in vitamins C and A, grapefruits also pack in the potassium.  They contain no cholesterol or sodium and only fifty-two calories per serving. 

This month, celebrate by eating all the grapefruit you want and enjoy this tart snack guilt-free! 

HOW TO OBSERVE 

Try one of the several varieties of grapefruit until you find one you like and use #NationalGrapefruitMonth to share on social media. 

Good news, it’s citrus season! That means it’s the best time of year to add a little grapefruit to your diet.  

Want a few more excuses? Here you go.

 

1. 1. Grapefruit is loaded with Vitamin C, and is friendly to basically any and every diet on the planet. It’s cholesterol-free, fat-free, gluten-free, raw, vegan, full of antioxidants, and the list goes on. 

2. 2. Its trees are packed with the fruit. One grapefruit tree can produce more than 1,500 pounds of fruit! 

3. 3. The majority of the world’s grapefruit is grown right here in the United States, most of it in Florida. 

HISTORY 

 
The research done by National Day Calendar® did not identify the source of National Grapefruit Month. 

 
#NationalGrapefruitMonth 

@oceanspray 

@MinuteMaidUS 

@Tropicana 

@FloridasNatural 

@simplybeverages 

@nichecinema