Awards Buzz

Best Ensemble? Best Assemble?

Let's start with Moonrise Kingdom. Like most of Wes Anderson's films, it has a striking look that sets it apart – a whimsical visual symmetry that amplifies its narrative themes. I guess the Oscars would put this in the cinematography category, although it's more than that.

I was glad to see that the National Board of Review gave something to Ann Dowd, who plays the restaurant manager in Compliance. It's not a glamorous or showy performance, but it's pitch-perfect. I found myself wondering if even our best A-List actresses could do this particular role so well – so simply and naturally. She got me to believe, or almost believe, in the story.

I loved Argo: Funny, suspenseful, smart, hip. But then I also really enjoyed Les Miz, which seems like a more complex, if more square, achievement. Lincoln, which certainly has its virtues, isn't on this level, mainly because Spielberg's direction is so old-fashioned. It takes, like, 20 minutes for a character to stand up and cross the room. And please don't get me started on The Master, which is the disappointment of the year, as far as I'm concerned.

Back to Lincoln, I love Daniel Day Lewis' performance. So understated. The character of Lincoln seems almost ghostly, as if he'd died BEFORE the movie began and had come back to earth to clear up some unfinished business – like passing the 13^th amendment. I wonder if the film's screenwriter, Tony Kushner, thinks of him as an angel in America. (I also got a big kick out of James Spader's very funny and fully imagined supporting performance in Lincoln.) But then I have to say that Hugh Jackman is brilliant in Les Miz. 

Was there a more visually beautiful animated film than Brave this year? The characters are pretty stock, the story unsurprising (except for one major twist), but the look of the film just knocked me out. All that great red hair! Is there a category for hair? (I can't get behind Frankenweenie; I like the original short version better.)

I like Silver Linings Playbook, which avoids most of the pitfalls of films about people with severe emotional damage. But I can't figure out a category to put it in. Screenplay maybe? Similar problem with The Avengers: It was, of course, awesome, but how to honor it? Best ensemble? Best assemble?

Talking Points: Honors Comedy

Honors Comedy

When you come to our final class on Monday (12/3), please be prepared to talk about your final paper for about five minutes and to answer these questions:
1) Which films did you write about?
2) What is your paper's theme?
3) Why did you choose those films and that theme?
4) What is something, large or small, that you learned in the course of researching and writing your final paper?

Composition: Final Papers

Composition

The next class is our final class of the semester. Please remember to bring in your final paper and be prepared to talk about it.

Expository Writing: Final Papers

Expository Writing

The next class is our final class of the semester. Please remember to bring in your final paper and be prepared to talk about it.

Criticism: Final Papers

Cinema Criticism Writing

The next class is our final class of the semester. Remember to bring in your final paper and be prepared to talk about it.

Election: Talking Points

Honors Comedy





We had an awesome, self-funded pizza party last time, but now it's back to work. This week, there are just two questions for you to think about:
In your personal opinion, which of the main characters in Election is the best person? Why?

Schedule for Monday Night

Honors Comedy

NOV. 19

6-7 p.m. Final Paper Conferences in my office.
7-8 p.m. Pizza Party in our classroom, COMM 145
8-8:50 p.m. More Final Paper Conferences in my office.

Talking Points: Rear Window

Composition

1) Jeff sees several apartments by looking out of his rear window. What do the stories of most of the people in those apartments have in common?
2) How does Hitchcock use his camera to help tell the story of this movie?
3) Do you like Rear Window?
4) What does the ending of the movie involving Lisa (see photo here) tell us?

Talking Points: Lost in Translation

Expository Writing

1) Basically, what is this movie about?
2) Would you call it a comedy?
3) Did you like it?
4) Did anything in it make you feel uncomfortable?
5) What special challenges does it present, in terms of writing about it?
6) Where do you see the theme of alienation in it?

Blogging as Teaching

At the request of UCF's Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, I wrote an article about using this blog as a teaching tool. It appears in the current issue of Faculty Focus. Here's a link to the electronic version. Just scroll down to Page 3:
 http://www.fctl.ucf.edu/Publications/FacultyFocus/content/2012/2012_october.pdf
 

Critical Concerns

Cinema Criticism Writing


This week, I started with a big question: What is art? That got the class' attention (and laughter). Then, quickly, I narrowed the question slightly to: "How do you know when a film is a work of art?" The answers were really interesting, especially because they were so different from each other and touched on so many film- and art-related issues. (Someone even brought up the Mona Lisa.) For a while, we talked about the case of films whose artistic merit is generally apparent only years after the films are made. We also spoke about how very subjective any question about art must be. We covered a lot of ground in a short time. I couldn't offer a definitive answer to my own question, but I could, at least, suggest some rules of thumb. Not quite sure what the students thought of those. They may be mulling them over. 

Veterans Day

Honors Comedy


 Veterans Day (observed)

Monday, November 12th

No Class

On the Lookout

Composition

James Stewart, on the lookout in Rear Window

Well, we're well into our study of Alfred Hitchcock. Last week we saw his Strangers on a Train, and I got the feeling that a lot of students were noticing how he used visual techniques to explore the film's themes. Can't wait to see what they came up with! This week we'll be watching Rear Window, a film ABOUT watching.

Glad I Tweaked

Expository Writing

Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation

I think this past week was a really important class. We covered a lot, including an exercise about writing descriptively, a detailed discussion of A Night at the Opera, an examination of assigned readings in our text, an exercise on self-editing, and a further explanation of the final paper assignment, to name just a few things we got into. I got the feeling that all this lowered student anxieties about a lot of things, and I'm glad I tweaked the class schedule to allow for all this. Sometimes you have to adjust a bit! Coming up this week is our screening of Lost in Translation. I'm looking forward to that. An unusual role for Bill Murray... 

Talking Points: The Purple Rose of Cairo

Cinema Criticism Writing

Talking Points:

1) What does this film have to say about illusion and reality?
2) Which set or costume details tell us something important?
3) Does the occasional use of black-and-white enhance or distract from the story?
4) What are the special challenges for the critic in reviewing this film?

Talking Points: Beetlejuice

Honors Comedy

1) If you've seen this film before, did you see it differently this time?

2) Is it subversive?

3) Why does the title refer to a supporting character?

4) What does this movie have to say about death?

ALSO: BRING $3 TO CLASS THIS WEEK FOR OUR PIZZA PARTY 
(WHICH WILL BE ON 11/19)!!!!

Hitchcock Challenge!

Composition

Since we're heading into our unit on Alfred Hitchcock this week, here's a little challenge for everyone: Come to class with one fact about Alfred Hitchcock (and the source where you got that fact). The winner will be the one to come up with the most interesting fact from a reliable source. Good luck!

Critical Concerns

Cinema Criticism Writing

This past week we spent some time discussing the pros and cons of movie reviews in traditional media (magazines, newspapers) vs. movie reviews in new media (blogs, etc.). At first, the conversation was very much in favor of new media. The feeling in the room was that its informality and diversity give it a major advantage. But then I asked if we lose anything if movie reviews in old media go away. At that point, there was a sort of collective shift. The authority of those reviews, based on the critics' experience and knowledge base, was seen as valuable. We didn't even get into the issue that movie reviews in new media may not be especially independent. It's easier for a movie studio to influence an underpaid (or unpaid) blogger than it is for the studio to influence a reputable reviewer from the NY Times, say, or Roger Ebert. I think the class still might prefer the critics on new media, but we have to acknowledge that the issue is more complex than it may at first appear.

Movie of the Year (So Far)

John Goodman (L), Alan Arkin and Ben Affleck in Argo

For me, the movie of the year (so far) is Argo, which is like a cross between a satire (Wag the Dog, say) and a thriller (like the old Mission: Impossible TV show, not so much the film series). The hero of the mostly true story is a secret agent-type (Ben Affleck) who attempts to extract six Americans hiding in Iran by pretending they are filmmakers. But the real hero is Hollywood itself. That's because two old Hollywood hands, played by the great Alan Arkin and John Goodman, make the escape possible by concocting the phony movie that those pretend filmmakers are supposedly making. The whole film is a tribute to Hollywood because it says that movie people are totally willing and able to come to the rescue of their country BECAUSE they are incorrigible dreamers and effective liars. In a weird and unexpected way, the film is actually TOUCHING. How will academy voters be able to resist giving Argo their best-picture Oscar?

Schedule Change

Expository Writing

I'm changing the schedule slightly. We'll talk about the details in class, but for now here's a heads up:

10/31. Paper 3 due. Paper 4 (alienation) assigned. Discuss alienation. Discuss A Night at the Opera & Dr. Strangelove. Exercise: Sensuous sentences. Lecture: Reading assignments.

11/7. Intro to Lost in Translation. View Lost in Translation (2003, 104 min.). Final paper conferences begin.

11/14. Paper 4 due. Final paper proposal due. Workshop papers. Discuss Lost in Translation. Exercise: self-editing. Final paper conferences continue.

11/21. OFF (Thanksgiving)

11/28. Final paper due. Goodbyes.

12/5: FINAL EXAM WEEK.

Talking Points: Sleeper

Honors Comedy

1) How are some of the targets of subversion in Sleeper different from the targets in the other films we've looked at this semester?
2) How are some of them similar to the targets in other movies we've seen?
3) What jokes or gags didn't you get?
4) How would you describe the film's distinctive visuals?

Be Prepared

Composition

Here's a reminder to the music majors and anyone else who missed class last week: We're going to be spending a lot of time this week discussing "Juno," so be sure to see it before class this week. If you can't find the film anywhere else, you can find a copy on reserve in Olin Library, which you can view in the library. (You can't take it out.) Also, be sure to read pages 236-259 in your text because we'll be talking about that, too.  See you in class!

Talking Points: Dr. Strangelove

Expository Writing

1) Who is the "I" of the title?
2) What do you make of the characters' names?
3) What off-screen event kicks off the story?
4) Why is this movie called "Dr. Strangelove"?

Talking Points: A Mighty Wind

Cinema Criticism Writing


1) What is this movie saying?
2) How do you feel about the way the music is integrated into the story?
3) Which of the several major characters is the most like a "normal" person?
4) Does the structure of the film present any special challenges for a reviewer?

Talking Points: M*A*S*H

Honors Comedy

Sorry to post this so late, but there were unavoidable technical difficulties.

Some questions to think about:
1) What annoys you (or strikes you as odd) about this movie?
2) What do you think of the shower scene?
3) What do you think of the ending?
4) What are the targets of the movie's subversiveness?

Talking Points: Young Frankenstein

Cloris Leachman as Frau Blucher

Composition

1) Why is this 1974 movie in black and white?
2) What's your favorite scene? Why?
3) Remember the scene, early in the film, in which Dr. Frankenstein keeps hitting a thin, old man as part of a classroom demonstration? Did you find this scene funny? Why?
4) What do you make of the way the horses always react when the name "Frau Blucher" is spoken?

Pro or Con?

Expository Writing

One of the surprises of this particular group of students is how reluctant they are to express their opinions, especially negative opinions, about the films we're watching. I wonder if they have the same problem outside of class or if it's just the formal classroom setting that makes them so shy about this sort of thing. Maybe it's because, in the context of this class, any opinion has to be backed up, as opposed to, say, posting an unsupported snarky comment on a message board. In any case, we clearly have to work on this.

Talking Points: Diner

Cinema Criticism Writing

1) How would you classify this film?
2) Which character is your favorite?
3) What does the ending mean? Why is it in slo-mo?
4) What's the point of the scene where Fenwick (Kevin Bacon) watches "College Bowl"?

Talking Points: Dr. Strangelove

Honors Comedy

1) Who is the "I" of the title?
2) What do you make of the characters' names?
3) What off-screen event kicks off the story?
4) How do you interpret the on-screen disclaimer at the beginning of the film?

Final Papers

Cinema Criticism Writing

It's hard to believe we're more than halfway through the semester already. Last week, I think we made a lot of progress and covered a lot of territory. This week, it's time to start focusing of final paper topics. Questions to consider:

1) What belongs in a "profile" article?
2) What belongs in a "trend" piece?
3) What does it mean to write a "profile" or "trend" piece from a critic's perspective?
4) What sort of film or filmmaker really interests you, personally?

Fun Facts: Some Like It Hot

George Raft

Honors Comedy

In Some Like It Hot, the actor who plays Spats Columbo is George Raft, who was famous for playing gangsters in other, usually more serious movies. Some Like It Hot contains a couple of jokes involving him that the audience of time (1959) would have recognized. When playing gangsters, notably in Scarface (1932), Raft's signature move was to flip a coin. So when Spats encounters another gangster who's flipping a coin in Some Like It Hot, Spats is annoyed. Another actor who played a lot of gangsters was James Cagney. In one film, The Public Enemy (1931), Cagney's character pushes half a grapefruit into the face of a woman played by Mae Clarke. In Some Like It Hot, there's a little tribute to Cagney in which Spats threatens to shove half a grapefruit into the face of a henchman.

Are You Kidding Me?

Phoenix in The Master

A couple of years ago, Joaquin Phoenix starred in and co-wrote I'm Still Here, a sort-of documentary about his fake attempt to give up acting to become a rapper, all the while seeming to slide into self-destruction. I wish I could say that his latest film, The Master, is also a hoax of some kind, but I'm afraid it isn't. Pretentious, pointless and thoroughly enervating, it's directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson, a filmmaker of great talent and genuine accomplishments like Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love. But The Master is purest folly; the raves it's received in some circles tell us more about the sorry, insecure state of contemporary film criticism than they do about the movie itself. Phoenix's performance as a cult hanger-on is the best thing about The Master, and that, believe me, is not saying much. 

Mockumentaries

Expository Writing

Woody Allen as Zelig

I can't wait to hear what the class thinks of Zelig. It's such an unusual movie, although not as unusual as it seemed when it opened back in 1983. Its fake-documentary (or "mockumentary") format wasn't as common then as it is today. This Is Spinal Tap opened the next year, followed by similar movies like Best in Show from essentially the same group of people who made Spinal Tap. And now, of course, we have TV shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation and Modern Family that are presented as mockumentaries. Still, Zelig remains its own particular thing because Woody Allen, who made it, is his own particular thing.

Talking Points: His Girl Friday

Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell

Honors Comedy

1) What does the title mean?
2) From whose perspective is the movie presented?
3) What does the film have to say about journalists?
4) What does the film have to say about marriage (and divorce)?

Watching the Detectives

Composition

We watched Double Indemnity last week and Body Heat this week, a film noir and a neo noir. To set the mood, I played Elvis Costello's "Watching the Detectives" at the start of class. I explained it was a song about film noir and that it was perhaps the only song I know that's about a film genre. I don't think anyone in the class had ever heard the song, though. Then I went home and watched the new show Elementary, an updating of Sherlock Holmes on CBS. (It's not bad, BTW.) And what do you know? The show ended with that very song.  Here are the lyrics:

WATCHING THE DETECTIVES

Elvis Costello

Nice girls, not one with a defect
Cellophane shrink-wrapped, so correct
Red dogs under illegal legs
She looks so good that he gets down and begs

(CHORUS) She is watching the detectives
"Ooh, he's so cute"
She is watching the detectives
When they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot
They beat him up until the teardrops start
But he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart

Long shot of that jumping sign
Visible shivers running down my spine
Cut to baby taking off her clothes
Close-up of the sign that says "We never close"
He snatches at you and you match his cigarette
She pulls the eyes out with a face like a magnet
I don't know how much more of this I can take
She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake

(REPEAT CHORUS)

You think you're alone until you realize you're in it
Now fear is here to stay, love is here for a visit
They call it instant justice when it's past the legal limit
Someone's scratching at the window, I wonder who is it?
The detectives come to check if you belong to the parents
Who are ready to hear the worst about their daughter's disappearance
Though it nearly took a miracle to get you to stay
It only took my little fingers to blow you away

Just like watching the detectives
Don't get cute
It's just like watching the detectives
I get so angry when the teardrops start
But he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart

Watching the detectives
It's just like watching the detectives
Watching the detectives
Watching the detectives
(REPEAT AND FADE)

More Fargo?

Cinema Criticism Writing

Interesting development about Fargo:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/sep/25/coen-brothers-fargo-tv-series?fb=optOut

Wednesday, 9/26/12

Expository Writing

Remember that class is cancelled this Wednesday, 9/26. Use the week to start thinking about or researching your final paper. See you in class next week!

Talking Points: The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

Honors Comedy

OK, campers! We're back to work this Monday evening (9/24). Some things to think about for our class discussion about The Miracle of Morgan's Creek:

1) What, specifically, are the targets of this movie?
2) What would have been shocking to the audience in 1944? Why?
3) What's the significance of the title?
5) How did Preston Sturges get this movie past the Hays Office and its Production Code?

 

Double Feature

Composition

Body Heat

Double Indemnity

The movies we'll be watching this week and next are related. This week, we'll watch Double Indemnity, a class film noir. Next week's movie is Body Heat, which is heavily influenced by the film noir spirit but is not, strictly speaking, a film noir. What is film noir, anyway? Finding that out is one of the things on the schedule for this week.

Daryl Hannah Under Fire

Expository Writing

Good discussion, this past week, about Roxanne. A lot of people seemed to like the movie, but not everyone, which made things even more interesting. There was a pretty strong anti-Darryl Hannah sentiment, even among the film's fans, which was also interesting. She may represent a type that is no longer in style. Then, when we work-shopped the students' papers, the class was generous with its comments. Things are  coming together nicely. Almost everyone seems to want to make a contribution.

Watching the Detectives

Cinema Criticism Writing

We'll be seeing Body Heat this week, a 1981 movie in the film noir tradition but not, strictly speaking, a film noir. This class seems to be familiar with the term film noir but I'm not clear on how much the students know about it and about how these films came to be. Guess I'll find out on Tuesday. And while we're on the subject, have they heard Elvis Costello's "Watching the Detectives"?

Reminder

Comedy

Remember, Honors Comedy students: No formal class this coming Monday (9/17). Explore some options for your final papers.

Lanewatch: Lane Change?

Things seem to have changed for Anthony Lane, a film critic for The New Yorker -- and a proud Brit. I like the magazine, but I've been irritated (and also amused) by Lane's totally Anglo-centric perspective on American movies. In fact, I was able to construct a 10-point checklist of mainly British topics (Shakespeare, Dickens, etc.), at least one of which (and usually about three of which) Lane would feel compelled to reference in nearly every piece he'd written on movies. But he may have changed. He has now written three substantial pieces in a row in which I could not detect excessive Anglo-centricity. I wish I could take credit for this shift, but I have to assume other forces are at work. Anyway, "jolly good!" for Lane. (But I'm still watching...)

Office Hours Change

Comedy & Cinema Criticism Writing

Something came up at the last moment and I couldn't be in my office for my 2 pm office hours on Tuesday (9/11). Hope this didn't inconvenience anyone. I also have to skip those hours next week. Please message me if you'd like to make an appointment.

JB

Talking Points: Back to the Future

Composition

1) What is the name of the mall where Doc Brown and Marty first test the time machine?
2) Who is the central character of this movie?
3) When does the camera movement or position contribute to the comedy?
4)  When does that tinkling sound occur? What does it mean?
5) What is the major theme of this movie?

Talking Points: Roxanne

Expository Writing

What is the point of the scene with the boy on the roof?

What do you like – and what don't you like – about this movie?

What do you think about how C.D.'s nose is revealed?

What sort of a sense do you get of the town (and its people) in which the film is set? 

What's the point of the scene in the bar in which C.D. makes many jokes about his nose?

Describe C.D.

Describe Roxanne.

 

Talking Points: A Night at the Opera

Comedy



1) Who's your favorite Marx Brother? Why?
2) What targets are being subverted in this film?
3) Why do the Marx Brothers' characters care about the movie's young lovers?
4) To which social class do the brothers' characters belong?

Talking Points: Fargo

Cinema Criticism Writing



1. Where is this movie set? Why is it called Fargo?
2. Is there a point to the scene in which Marge meets her old friend at the hotel?
3. Why does the movie declare itself a true story when it isn't?
4. Marge's husband is named Norm. Is that significant?

As Time Goes By

Composition

I always wonder about the reactions of students to a classic movie like Casablanca. Does the film hold up "as time goes by"? We watched Casablanca this week and I heard a lot of laughter in the room, which is usually a good sign. Some of the laughter, however, seemed to be in places where the movie used old-fashioned filming techniques, like having a fake background when the characters are seen riding in a car while talking. This was necessary back when practically everything in a movie had to be shot on a sound stage. Should be interesting to hear everyone's comments next week and to read the students' reviews of the film.

Nobody's Perfect

Expository Writing

Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot

We watched Some Like It Hot this week. It takes a while getting started, but as soon as the guys appear in their female disguises, it takes off and never stops. When Tony Curtis adopts his second disguise, as an oil tycoon, he does an impression of Cary Grant. It'll be interesting to see if anyone in the class picked up on that. I'll bet at least a couple of students did. I'll also be interested to hear what they made of the movie's famous final line. ("Nobody's perfect.") And then, of course, there's Marilyn Monroe. Will they see what made her an icon?

Great Performance

Cinema Criticism Writing

Robert Walker in Strangers on a Train

Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951) is a somewhat neglected masterpiece. True, it did serve as the basis for the Billy Crystal-Danny DeVito Throw Momma From the Train (1987), but it tends to get short shrift compared to Hitchcock's Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, The Birds and especially Psycho. Watching Strangers on a Train again in class this week, I was struck by Robert Walker's charming and extremely disturbing performance as the psychopathic killer Bruno Anthony. I would say it's every bit as good (if not nearly as famous) as Anthony Perkins' performance as Norman Bates in Psycho.