Current Events

Torchwood Miracle Day, Episode Seven: Who’s Buying Who?

August 26, 2011
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Torchwood Miracle Day, Episode Seven: Who’s Buying Who?

Captain Jack flashes back in time, and we find out about the beginnings of Miracle Day. But just what is the episode saying about its sinful villains?
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Torchwood Miracle Day, Episode Six: Stuck in the Middle?

August 19, 2011
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Torchwood Miracle Day, Episode Six: Stuck in the Middle?

The slow pacing of 'Miracle Day' has been criticized, but this seems like an odd response to a thriller - a genre based on delaying its reveals. What about the pleasures of being caught up in the middle of a story?
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Posted in Columns, Current Events, Torchwood, TV | 5 Comments »

You Can Patent That?

August 17, 2011
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You Can Patent That?

If you've ever clicked once to buy, you've taken part in an activity that has implications across the North American technology sectors for how consumers interact with the books, music, and movies they love on their digital devices.
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The Rise and Fall of @Sutterink: Showrunners [Off] Twitter III

August 14, 2011
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The Rise and Fall of @Sutterink: Showrunners [Off] Twitter III

While it was perhaps inevitable that Sutter’s lack of a filter would result in his Twitter account becoming a liability, the rise and fall of “@sutterink” has more to do with public perceptions of Twitter than with his actual commentary.
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Posted in Internet, Showrunners on Twitter, Technology, TV, TV | 7 Comments »

The Media and the Riots in England: Unordered Thesis on Days of Disorder

August 13, 2011
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The Media and the Riots in England: Unordered Thesis on Days of Disorder

The two words that political leaders, have resorted to in the wake of the riots that have spread throughout England since unrest in Tottenham last Saturday night, are “simple” and "criminality”. However, none of these crimes is simple.
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Posted in Current Events, Internet, Politics, Print, TV | 2 Comments »

Torchwood Miracle Day, Episode Five: The Allegories of Life?

August 12, 2011
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Torchwood Miracle Day, Episode Five: The Allegories of Life?

This series reaches its halfway mark with a terrifying version of the Holocaust. Science fiction allegory raises tough questions here, questions about what can be symbolically coded, and how.
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Posted in Columns, Current Events, Torchwood, TV | 1 Comment »

Torchwood Miracle Day, Episode Four: Escaping Cliché?

August 5, 2011
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Torchwood Miracle Day, Episode Four: Escaping Cliché?

Torchwood continues to explore the consequences of a world without death. But how (if at all) does that transformation effect its narrative logic, and its use of thriller conventions?
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Posted in Columns, Current Events, Torchwood, TV | 7 Comments »

Torchwood Miracle Day, Episode Three: Tonight’s The Night?

July 29, 2011
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Torchwood Miracle Day, Episode Three: Tonight’s The Night?

BBC1 edited out two intercut gay/het sex scenes - neither especially graphic - from its broadcast of Torchwood: Miracle Day episode 3, 'Dead of Night'. What's at stake here for John Barrowman as an actor/TV personality?
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Posted in Columns, Current Events, Torchwood, TV | 15 Comments »

Captain America and the Representation of Entertainment

July 23, 2011
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Captain America and the Representation of Entertainment

The USO sequence in Captain America: The First Avenger speaks to the influence of a cynical modern eye and a gendered dismissal of historical realism, comic book necessity, and the possibility of media effects.
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Posted in Current Events, Film, Print | 10 Comments »

Torchwood Miracle Day, Episode Two: A Rickety Rendition?

July 22, 2011
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Torchwood Miracle Day, Episode Two: A Rickety Rendition?

As Torchwood: Miracle Day progresses past its initial world-changing premise, how does it shape up? Episode 2 ('Rendition') seems to lack coherence. But for Torchwood, that's almost business-as-usual...
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Posted in Columns, Current Events, Torchwood, TV | 1 Comment »

Transatlantic Torchwood: Everything Changes?

July 15, 2011
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Transatlantic Torchwood: Everything Changes?

What changes has Torchwood undergone as a BBC Worldwide/Starz co-production? Perhaps this latest version brings to the surface a logic present from the very beginning of Russell T. Davies's Doctor Who spin-off.
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Posted in Columns, Current Events, Torchwood, TV | 1 Comment »

How the Categories Got Their Shapes: Eligibility & the Emmy Nominations

July 14, 2011
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How the Categories Got Their Shapes: Eligibility & the Emmy Nominations

While we are often quick to point out the flaws in the Emmy nomination process, lamenting the absence of our favorite programs, often the nominations are guided as much by eligibility as by voter subjectivities.
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Posted in TV, TV | 2 Comments »

You Have Friends That Want You Back Home

July 7, 2011
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You Have Friends That Want You Back Home

Treme’s focus on how its culture and cultural economies are created and presented through music and cuisine has meant a majority of its almost 22 narrative hours watching musicians struggle with bar owners, the recording business, the law and each other.
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Whatever Happened to the Devil’s Music?

July 3, 2011
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Whatever Happened to the Devil’s Music?

Surely in the final minutes of the last day of the Glastonbury rock festival, people are supposed to look sick, bedraggled and filthy, following a weekend of unfettered debauchery, but those kids are just too clean!. Come to think of it, why is Beyonce headlining anyway?
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Posted in Celebrity/Stardom, Celebrity/Stardom, Current Events, Industry, Music, Music, Perspectives, Politics, TV | Comments Off on Whatever Happened to the Devil’s Music?

Sarah Palin, Anti-Fandom, and the Nature of Political Celebrity

July 1, 2011
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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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Posted in Celebrity/Stardom, Celebrity/Stardom, Current Events, Film, Film, Perspectives | 2 Comments »