Alright, so once again I have failed to keep a fully updated list of critical discourse, much less any critical discourse to this blog. My disparaging readers (who are faulted only in the sense of my imagination's existance) have pined away at me recently for new entries.
Well, there shall be a new entry to come, a shorter essay concerning the recent film Captain America: The First Avenger.
Also to come are those essays about Machete, Scott Pilgrim and Zombieland, and probably something about Spiderman and 9/11.
That being said, CA:TFA will hopefully be written by Monday/Tuesday, barring further obstructions of writing.
In the meantime, consider checking out Captain America so as to share in my opinions and criticism of the film. My topic will be Propaganda and Nostalgia in a Postmodern Environment.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Performing Tricky Dick; PLUS: An Apology of Sorts
Well, it has been a while.
In the time since I (allegedly) started this up, I have changed jobs three times, completed three shows, begun a fourth, put 7,500+ miles on my car, and decided the imminent move to the city will take place in August to Chicago (neighborhood pending). In the meantime, this has left little time for me to update this/write about cinema/partake in cinematic events.
HOWEVER, I have recently completed and published my first scholarly article, to which I now give you the link so that you can keep track of my thoughts, ideas, and theories concerning popular film and other media formats.
As Rosalind Sibielski says, my article "looks at changing representations of Richard Nixon in U.S. popular culture. Using portrayals of Nixon in the popular press over the course of his political career, as well as his representation in historical films such as Oliver Stone’s Nixon (1995) and Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon (2008), and television series such as Futurama, Cook traces a shift in characterizations of Nixon from opportunist politician, to disgraced President, to parodic caricature. Examining the ways in which these changes in depiction reflect changes in public perception, and ultimately in the meanings attached to the figure of Nixon within U.S. culture, he argues that Nixon can be read as “a politician whose sometimes ‘failed’ public performances highlighted the artificial qualities of media society” during his years of public service, and whose “sometimes threadbare attempts to create an authentic, sincere, trustworthy public image can be seen as an inspiration for the increasingly stark caricatures of Nixon in film and television” today." (Projector Introduction, pg. 1. 13 May, 2011.)
In addition, I have a list of topics that I've been meaning to write about for months now, and in an effort to keep my mind fresh, occupy my time, and keep my writing hand strong, I will be trying to post at least monthly a series of shorter essays concerning popular cinema. Hopefully I will hold myself to a stricter account than I did last October/November/December/etc.
NEXT TIME - Robert Rodrigues, "Machete", and Political Discourse as Populist Discourse.
http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/theatrefilm/projector/page96215.html
In the time since I (allegedly) started this up, I have changed jobs three times, completed three shows, begun a fourth, put 7,500+ miles on my car, and decided the imminent move to the city will take place in August to Chicago (neighborhood pending). In the meantime, this has left little time for me to update this/write about cinema/partake in cinematic events.
HOWEVER, I have recently completed and published my first scholarly article, to which I now give you the link so that you can keep track of my thoughts, ideas, and theories concerning popular film and other media formats.
As Rosalind Sibielski says, my article "looks at changing representations of Richard Nixon in U.S. popular culture. Using portrayals of Nixon in the popular press over the course of his political career, as well as his representation in historical films such as Oliver Stone’s Nixon (1995) and Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon (2008), and television series such as Futurama, Cook traces a shift in characterizations of Nixon from opportunist politician, to disgraced President, to parodic caricature. Examining the ways in which these changes in depiction reflect changes in public perception, and ultimately in the meanings attached to the figure of Nixon within U.S. culture, he argues that Nixon can be read as “a politician whose sometimes ‘failed’ public performances highlighted the artificial qualities of media society” during his years of public service, and whose “sometimes threadbare attempts to create an authentic, sincere, trustworthy public image can be seen as an inspiration for the increasingly stark caricatures of Nixon in film and television” today." (Projector Introduction, pg. 1. 13 May, 2011.)
In addition, I have a list of topics that I've been meaning to write about for months now, and in an effort to keep my mind fresh, occupy my time, and keep my writing hand strong, I will be trying to post at least monthly a series of shorter essays concerning popular cinema. Hopefully I will hold myself to a stricter account than I did last October/November/December/etc.
NEXT TIME - Robert Rodrigues, "Machete", and Political Discourse as Populist Discourse.
http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/theatrefilm/projector/page96215.html
Saturday, September 25, 2010
First Sighting
As I have been advised by several people to continue writing, I will be posting my thoughts, musings, and notions here. Is this a cop-out to my film studies degree? Yes. Influenced by friends? Certainly. (Looking at you, Midwestern Media Musings...) Irrelevent and seldom worthy of more than a moment's notice? Likely. An exercise in self-promotion and self-aggrandizing? Check. Culturally irrelevent?
Certainly not.
My goal with this blog/journal/rambling is to observe the cinematic trends happening around us and reporting back to you (my intrepid readers) why the films being released around us are worth watching, and what they're really trying to say about our culture. It is my viewpoint that there are NO culturally irrelevant films being released. Everything has something to say about who we are, where we are, how we got here, and where we're going as a society. It is not my intention to hold the mirror up to nature, but merely to hold it at a better angle so that we can see things from a different angle.
This is NOT a blog of movie reviews. This is instead designed to look deeper into a film and look at it in a way that either isn't being noticed, or to re-examine a film to bring a new level of awareness to the table. This will include new releases, old classics on DVD (preferred medium of choice), direct DVD releases, and in rare cases, television. (I might just leave that one alone. The nature of my schedule doesn't encourage much TV watching....except in the nature of DVD releases.)
I'd say that there'd be baseball information as well, but I think I can leave that to Facebook. Chances are, if you're reading this blog, you're not here to learn of my undying love for the Cincinnati Reds. (Which will filter into the blog, just so that everyone is aware.)
For the time being, expect there to be a mixture of small posts about films and larger articles/essays about bigger topics. Look for the first of those, a report on Postmodernism in Zombieland and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, to hit around October. In the meantime, look forward to some new sightings in the Postmodern Jungle.
Certainly not.
My goal with this blog/journal/rambling is to observe the cinematic trends happening around us and reporting back to you (my intrepid readers) why the films being released around us are worth watching, and what they're really trying to say about our culture. It is my viewpoint that there are NO culturally irrelevant films being released. Everything has something to say about who we are, where we are, how we got here, and where we're going as a society. It is not my intention to hold the mirror up to nature, but merely to hold it at a better angle so that we can see things from a different angle.
This is NOT a blog of movie reviews. This is instead designed to look deeper into a film and look at it in a way that either isn't being noticed, or to re-examine a film to bring a new level of awareness to the table. This will include new releases, old classics on DVD (preferred medium of choice), direct DVD releases, and in rare cases, television. (I might just leave that one alone. The nature of my schedule doesn't encourage much TV watching....except in the nature of DVD releases.)
I'd say that there'd be baseball information as well, but I think I can leave that to Facebook. Chances are, if you're reading this blog, you're not here to learn of my undying love for the Cincinnati Reds. (Which will filter into the blog, just so that everyone is aware.)
For the time being, expect there to be a mixture of small posts about films and larger articles/essays about bigger topics. Look for the first of those, a report on Postmodernism in Zombieland and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, to hit around October. In the meantime, look forward to some new sightings in the Postmodern Jungle.
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