if the reader were an alcohol, it would have one of those painful, complex tastes. something that burns as it goes down, and sobers as much as it intoxicates.
the film is complex in that sense that it’s hard to know what particularly one should be considering amongst the emotional wreckage the film quickly unleashes upon [...]
Entries Tagged as 'film'
the reader: a pale film that both sobers and intoxicates
January 26th, 2009 · No Comments
Tags: Culture · culture studies · film · providence · rhode island
doubt-less
January 9th, 2009 · No Comments
doubt is an actor’s vehicle, a film of great performances, but without any real drive to its narrative. where philip seymour hoffman, meryl streep, and amy adams put in exceptional performances, they seem to be almost freestyling through a listless and contrived story-line. perhaps this artificiality has something to do with the fact the doubt [...]
Tags: Culture · culture studies · film · lifestyle · media · semiotics
on benjamin button: between circuses and operas, reality and mythology, life and death
January 2nd, 2009 · No Comments
the curious case of benjamin button is philosophy produced from a photograph found in the attic of american literature. it is gimmick made beautiful, which makes it a truly american film, caught between the circus and the opera as it were, and in the tradition of ‘fable americana’ films like forrest gump, and big fish. [...]
Tags: Culture · christmas · culture studies · film · semiotics
christmas: a short filmic history
December 24th, 2008 · No Comments
in the spirit of christmas, and the fact that i just completed my gift wrapping (yes! best wrapping-EVER), here’s a short history of xmas in celluloid.
1898
the most interesting thing about this short clip, is that santa claus carries a tree the whole time (wtf?) i was assuming that he was bringing it to the kids, [...]
Tags: Culture · culture studies · film · new york · semiotics · video
face/off now possible, my 1997 self rejoices
December 17th, 2008 · No Comments
the big news today is that a hospital in cleveland (cleveland?) has completed the most advanced face transplant in history, the first such operation in the united states, and just the fourth worldwide.
while no one’s talking about it, i think it’s clear that the most important implication of this surgery is that john woo’s legendary [...]
back to the future (of narrative) mit-edition
November 19th, 2008 · No Comments
here is a story about stories; with a question about whether stories are still stories and whether we are beginning to live in a post-story age.
the already cool mit media lab has founded a “center for future storytelling.” the purpose of this “labette” as the initiative is described, is to engage in studying and possibly [...]
Tags: Culture · Internet · boston · culture studies · data culture · film · free culture · media · semiotics · technology
better than sex, the new bond breaks apart and reimagines the action movie
November 19th, 2008 · 2 Comments
the american action movie is founded on the idea of catharsis through violence. which is why critics and intellectuals generally object to it. because it espouses a sort of primitivism in the name of healing, and engages in profound acts of brutality in the pursuit of some sort of harmony.
the american action movie confronts an [...]
Tags: Culture · film · politics · semiotics
in other news, a new ‘batman’ movie comes out, is good
August 4th, 2008 · No Comments
i recently caught a pretty underground flick at the fenway regal. you might not have heard of it. it’s called “the dark knight” and it’s about a rich, urban billionaire who spends his evenings fighting crime as a super hero in a city called gotham. apparently, this dramatis persona, called “bruce wayne,” is a recurring [...]
sphere, my favorite underrated 90’s sci fi thriller
July 12th, 2008 · No Comments
before i crash for the evening, a quick note on sphere, the best bad sci fi thriller of the 1990’s. it was just on “chiller” (what kind of a name is that for a tv network?), and I finally got a chance to see the whole thing.
for the first time since around 1999.
i frickin’ love [...]
Tags: film