Tag Archives: film

The Birth of a Nation: Lighting and (mostly “non”) camera movement, racism, and Abraham Lincoln’s assassination reenacted a mere 50 years after

Posted on March 27, 2018 by

NOTE: This post is under reconstruction because a) the YouTube account that I originally took my clips from has been shut down and b) WordPress doesn’t seem to be working correctly to allow me to play clips to and from … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Movies and film, Political Analysis, Popular culture, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Watching the “Up” Documentary Series (Film #3, 21 Up)

Posted on July 24, 2013 by

Over the weekend I watched the third film in the “Up” series.  All the original seven-year-olds are back and are now age 21. I started writing this post on Saturday; today is Wednesday.  In a couple of days I’ll be … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Movies and film, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer) | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Watching the “Up” Series (#1, Seven Up)

Posted on July 8, 2013 by

Several years ago, in one of those serendipitous moments that can occur only in the physical world (i.e., not online),  I stumbled across a film in the documentary section of a Blockbuster video store, 49 Up.  I realized at once … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Movies and film | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Woody Allen on filmmaking as therapy

Posted on June 30, 2013 by

Great article about Woody Allen in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal Magazine.  In a post I wrote on “Creativity and the importance of routine” last year, I mentioned Allen as an example of someone who shows up every day and does … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies and film | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Pixar’s “The Blue Umbrella” is cinematic poetry. “Monsters University” is fun, too.

Posted on June 28, 2013 by

This past weekend my younger daughter and I continued our longstanding tradition of catching Pixar’s new release on its opening weekend. Monsters University was a lot of fun.  Not completely on a par with the studio’s finest hits, but really nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies and film | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Why “The Hunger Games” should win the Academy Award for Best Production Design

Posted on September 25, 2012 by

I was finally able to watch The Hunger Games about a week ago and was extremely impressed by the film’s visual design – the locations, costumes, sets, props, makeup, etc.  Immediately I began thinking about writing a post arguing that the film … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies and film, Popular culture, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Westworld” (Boy, have we got a vacation for you!)

Posted on July 16, 2012 by

Over the weekend my older daughter and I watched Westworld.  Again 🙂 Although we always enjoy this film for the story itself, we also get a kick out of deconstructing its “high tech” symbolism and noting anachronisms and things so commonplace … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies and film | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Thoughts on “Blade Runner” thirty years later

Posted on July 2, 2012 by

I recently joined a LinkedIn group called “World Cinema Critics” to be part of a community engaged in serious film discussions.  Lately we’ve had a comment thread going on the subject of Blade Runner, a movie I hadn’t seen since its theatrical release … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies and film | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rave review for Pixar’s “Brave”!

Posted on June 25, 2012 by

First, a quick disclaimer: WordPress won’t let me use italics in the headline, which is why I’ve put quotation marks around the title “Brave.”  I usually italicize titles, as called for by the style guide for my field, the MLA (Modern Language … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies and film | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pixar’s (nearly) unbroken streak

Posted on June 22, 2012 by

I want Brave to be good.   My younger daughter and I have a standing date every year to see the newest Pixar movie during its first weekend in theaters.  Already today I’ve seen so-so reviews for Brave, but don’t want … Continue reading →

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