Ed Rampell

Ed Rampell is an LA-based film historian/critic, author of "Progressive Hollywood: A People’s Film History of the United States," and co-author of "The Hawaii Movie and Television Book." He has written for Variety, Television Quarterly, Cineaste, New Times L.A., and other publications. Rampell lived in Tahiti, Samoa, Hawaii, and Micronesia, reporting on the nuclear-free and independent Pacific and Hawaiian Sovereignty movements.

LATEST ARTICLES BY Ed Rampell

Culture

Melancholy Danes: A Scandinavian ‘Sunset Boulevard’ in Bille August’s ‘The Pact’
February 11, 2022 By Ed Rampell
The 73-year-old Danish helmer’s almost two-hour The Pact is a thought-provoking, moody movie.
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Culture

‘Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom’: Learning life’s meaning in the remote Himalayas
January 25, 2022 By Ed Rampell
What Lunana lacks in modern technical amenities it more than makes up for with majestic, mountainous scenery .
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Opinion

Remembering Archbishop Desmond Tutu: An encounter in Hawaii
January 4, 2022 By Ed Rampell
Desmond Tutu may have been slight in height but he was a colossus in stature.
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Culture

AFI Fest features the reel and the real Little Tramp, Charlie Chaplin
November 23, 2021 By Ed Rampell
I love and highly recommend The Real Charlie Chaplin, which provides a penetrating portrait of one of the geniuses who coinvented and shaped the silver screen.
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Culture

L.A.’s AFI Fest returns with films about occupation, voting, and protest
November 22, 2021 By Ed Rampell
The AFI Fest returned to Hollywood for live, in-person screenings and events, with an additional virtual component.
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Culture

L.A.’s biggest film festival returns with great anti-racist films
November 19, 2021 By Ed Rampell
Some of the screenings were accompanied by talent who introduced and/or spoke about their films when they were shown at the TCL Chinese Theatres.
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Culture

‘The Serpent’: An Edenic experimental classic returns to the live stage
October 27, 2021 By Ed Rampell
Instead of telling a single tale, in The Serpent the dozen multi-culti, mostly young members of the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble stage a series of vignettes with an improvisational vibe.
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Culture

Lights! Cameras! Action! Academy Museum features Hollywood history, hoopla and inclusivity
October 1, 2021 By Ed Rampell
The Motion Picture Academy’s latest creation is walking a tightrope, mixing showbiz pizzazz with world cinema and a reflectiveness on the medium’s origins and power.
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