Recent comparisons to the early experience of using an ATM seem to offer quite a bit of potential for describing how we will be buying and watching movies and television shows in the near future.
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Film
Accessing the Cinematic Cloud
An Oscar for Andy?
20th Century Fox is mounting an Oscar campaign for The Planet of the Apes' Andy Serkis. Tama Leaver examines the potential implications of this sort of virtual acting or 'synthespian' (synthetic thespian) performance for our understanding of what it means to act or perform.
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The Materiality of Media
As culture becomes increasingly digitized, arguments for the “dematerialization” of media are becoming commonplace. However, media have always been, and remain, embedded in and structured by material objects, networks, and practices that delimit their uses and meanings.
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Sarah Palin, Anti-Fandom, and the Nature of Political Celebrity
With the release of the new documentary on Sarah Palin, the former governor takes umbrage at the "hate" directed toward her by Hollywood celebrities. She either doesn't understand celebrity culture or understands it all too well.
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Charlie Chan and Contemporary B-Movie Fandom
A controversial new book argues that it’s okay to enjoy Charlie Chan movies.
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In Memoriam: The Late, Great Leslie Nielsen
Remembering the man Roger Ebert once called "the Olivier of spoofs."
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Late to the Party: It’s a Wonderful Life
For me, Jimmy Stewart and my hometown became one. As a teenager, I hated my hometown and small-town life in general. Why on earth would I watch the film on which my town based its image?
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Anti-Social? The Classic Aesthetic of The Social Network
The biggest fiction in the popular press about the film dubbed "the Facebook movie" is that it is, in fact, about Facebook.
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Arthur Penn and Live Television Drama
Director Arthur Penn, who passed away last week, is best remembered for his Broadway plays and Hollywood films, but his impressive work in television's live anthology dramas has been neglected.
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Action Scenes in 1990s Bond Films: A Modest Reply to David Bordwell
The action scenes in some Bond films go for "less is more."
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A Summer of Over-Hyped Films and Box-Office Duds
Summer 2010 can be summed up in two words for Bollywood watchers - hype and disappointment! With just a few hits, a couple of average earners, and a long list of flops, the industry’s scorecard has been nothing but dismal.
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From Painting to Cinema: A Skeptical Look
When, if at all, can we appeal to painting to explain a filmmaker's work?
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Men Who Write About Men Who Hate Women
Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy is a detailed storyworld in which crimes of sex trafficking, rape, and domestic abuse are acknowledged and exposed, and men who perpetrate violence against women are made to suffer. So, what does this mean for "feminism"?
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Report from the On, Archives! Conference
The Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research hosted a major conference this past week that featured a symposium on broadcasting in the 1930s, several thought-provoking keynote addresses, and presentations on all manner of issues pertaining to archives and the historical past.
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Summer Media: The Drive-in Theater
The second post in our ongoing Summer Media column reflects on how there’s something unique about going to the drive-in, even on bikes. And it’s not just about the blockbuster doubleheader.
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