Film

Pixar and the Ambivalence of Nostalgia

June 21, 2013
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Pixar and the Ambivalence of Nostalgia

With the release of "Monster's University," Pixar takes the next step in nostalgic tendencies, but has this stifled their innovation and creativity?
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Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vices?

June 7, 2013
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Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vices?

Casting news on Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Inherent Vice' leads to a reflection on his past work, authorship, and his own inherent vices.
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What Are You Missing?: Cannes Film Festival Edition

May 31, 2013
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What Are You Missing?: Cannes Film Festival Edition

From prix winners to distribution deals, here are 10 Cannes-related items you may have missed over the past two weeks.
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Steven Soderbergh’s Spectacular Un-Retirement

May 30, 2013
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Steven Soderbergh’s Spectacular Un-Retirement

Although prolific filmmaker Steven Soderbergh claims the new HBO hit, Behind the Candelabra will be his last, the director has been busy at work setting the stage for his second act as a TV/stage director-painter-novelist-t-shirt entrepreneur and headphone designer-hyphenate.
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Posted in Current Events, Film, Industry, Perspectives, TV | 2 Comments »

The Deanna Durbin Cult

May 7, 2013
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The Deanna Durbin Cult

The figure of the recently passed Deanna Durbin (1921-2013) is fascinating today because of how it embodies a sensibility within stardom: the cult of the child star.
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Posted in Celebrity/Stardom, Celebrity/Stardom, Current Events, Film, Film, Industry, Industry | 1 Comment »

“What is a Wisconsin Film?”: 2013 Wisconsin Film Festival

April 10, 2013
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“What is a Wisconsin Film?”: 2013 Wisconsin Film Festival

This year’s “Wisconsin’s Own” selections speak to the exciting way in which films tied to a particular place nevertheless negotiate multiple influences in surprising and original ways.
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Missionary for the Movies: Remembering Roger Ebert

April 8, 2013
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Missionary for the Movies: Remembering Roger Ebert

Roger showed that popular film criticism could be an intellectually honorable enterprise—more than that, a calling.
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“We Saw Your Misogyny”: The Oscars & Seth MacFarlane

February 27, 2013
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“We Saw Your Misogyny”: The Oscars & Seth MacFarlane

The controversy surrounding Seth MacFarlane's hosting of the 2013 Oscars offers an opportunity to have productive discussions about the role of the media in shaping ideology.
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Posted in Celebrity/Stardom, Current Events, Film, TV | 7 Comments »

An Entourage Movie? Why?

February 19, 2013
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An Entourage Movie? Why?

Entourage may have already given HBO’s parent company Time Warner all that it’s capable of giving.
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“Depiction is not Endorsement”: Representing Torture in Zero Dark Thirty

January 22, 2013
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“Depiction is not Endorsement”: Representing Torture in <i>Zero Dark Thirty</i>

Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty has ignited a virtual powder keg of controversy regarding its depictions of the use of torture as a means of getting information during the ten-year hunt for Osama bin Laden. Despite complaints that it justifies the use and effectiveness of torture, the film cannot be dismissed so easily.
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Posted in Current Events, Film, Industry, Politics | 5 Comments »

Star Trek into (Fandom’s) Darkness

December 24, 2012
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Star Trek into (Fandom’s) Darkness

If Star Trek was once a foundation for the idea of taking fans seriously, then today it might simply be a sad commentary on fandom’s token function within the industry, another form of “crowdsourcing,” a destructive marriage based on the contradictory feelings of mutual dependence and contempt.
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Dark Knight Myths and Meanings

July 22, 2012
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Dark Knight Myths and Meanings

Dark Knight Rises is about the fragility of definitions, the limits of structures, and the illusion of binary oppositions.
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Gazes, Pleasure, and the Failure of Magic Mike

July 3, 2012
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Gazes, Pleasure, and the Failure of Magic Mike

Though it's marketed as a film that promotes the female gaze, Magic Mike's message is a reprimand and a ridicule of the very women whose money it desperately seeks.
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