Category Archives: Chapter 8

West Bank Story

My commentary students viewed the Oscar-winning short film West Bank Story as part of a reviewing assignment. It’s a fun little film that runs about 20 minutes and is a great choice for a review assignment.  It’s short enough to … Continue reading

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Reviewing The Movies

My JMC 406 commentary class is going to be talking about writing critical reviews over the next week or two.  Here are several readings and great talk by movie critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert for my students.  But for … Continue reading

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Link Ch. 8 – Great Bollywood Example

UPDATE – New version of clip with good subtitles. I showed a great clip from the Bollywood musical Mohabbatein today in class.  It’s a wonderful way to get across the idea of what the masala or “spice” movies are like. … Continue reading

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You talkin’ to me? 150 great movie lines & catch-phrases

/Film posted a great collection of movie lines and catch-phrases today.  Quotable quotes ranging from Apocalypse Now (“I love the smell of napalm in the morning….” to Zombieland (“Time to nut up or shut up.”)  You can read the complete … Continue reading

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Thinking about media change (and iPads)

It hasn’t been a productive day today.  My main interest has been following all the news about the new iPad 2 announced over the lunch hour. I’m impressed by it, and absolutely certain I did the right thing in waiting … Continue reading

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Oscars, the day after

An array of links, inspired by last night’s Academy Awards: Pete Docter’s student film Winter An art-school animated film from Pete Docter, director of last year’s Best Animated Film Up. (/Film) A short story not actually by James Franco about … Continue reading

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Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

How on earth did Rocky beat All the President’s Men, Network, and Taxi Driver for best pix? This was just plain wrong.  “I’m mad as hell….” Is Ridley Scott’s Prometheus an Alien prequel? And if so, does it matter?  Yes, … Continue reading

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How can you tell when women have significant roles in movies?

There are lots of movies with great relationships between men.  There are a number of movies with interesting roles for women.  But how many movies out there feature multiple major female characters who interact with each other?  That’s the question … Continue reading

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Rocky Horror Glee Reaction #2

Debbie Deese Linder is a former student of mine from my West Virginia days.  She is in her 40s, is a lesbian in a committed relationship, and has been a hard core Rocky fan since the mid 1980s.  Here’s her reaction … Continue reading

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Rocky Horror Glee Reaction #1

I posted my reaction to preview materials of the Rocky Horror Glee Show last week, and nothing I saw during the episode changed my opinion.  But I’m an old guy who used to go to Rocky Horror Picture Show when … Continue reading

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