Yesterday afternoon, I saw the new film Fifty Shades of Grey, based on the erotic romance novel of the same name by E.L. James. I hadn’t read the books beforehand, which I expect I would have found insufferable if the general consensus about the quality of their prose is even half-true. (Judging from the stilted,…
Read MoreIt is indeed difficult to imagine the world without America, which is what the one-sheet movie poster for Dinesh D’Souza’s America dares us to imagine. After all, America is every bit as much a symbol, an aspiration and an idea as it is a nation-state. However, it is not difficult to imagine the world without D’Souza’s “America” or…
Read MoreOnce again this semester, I assigned short-film projects to the students in my Existentialism course. And once again, the products of that assignment (which I only just finished grading) were amazing. I’ve employed this assignment in select courses for the last several years and each year the students’ films have gotten more and more impressive. …
Read MoreVince Johnson of the Plantation AllStars So, I promised to update you readers occasionally on the progress of the documentary film that my student Sophie Osella and I are shooting this summer about working Memphis musicians… but, to be honest, I’ve barely had a free moment to do so. As I said in the previous…
Read MoreToday’s is the easiest pick of the 31 Day Film Challenge by a long-shot. I really, truly, deeply and categorically cannot stand Matt Damon. As much as I wish I could, I cannot put a finger on exactly what it is that irks me so much about Matt Damon. I like many, even most, of…
Read MoreSo, I know I chose both a Jeff Bridges and a Coen brothers film just a couple of days ago, but I can’t help it. I’m doing it again today. Jeff Bridges is an unlikely pick, I know, but he’s definitely one of my favorite actors. And if I’m forced (which I am today) to…
Read MoreAbout eight months ago, when I was planning the syllabus for last semester’s Philosophy of Film course, I had exactly the same problem I’m having today trying to determine which is the “best” of the hundreds of truly great sports films. Here was (and is) my dilemma: when I think of sport as an important…
Read MoreMy “favorite Director” is, technically speaking, two directors: the brothers Ethan and Joel Coen. Although they are separate people, of course, who have talents distinct from one another, it is still the case that most cinephiles treat them as the single entity “Coen brothers.” It was hard to pass over many in the pantheon of…
Read MoreAs I mentioned a few days ago, I am in the process of making my first documentary film this summer, so I probably thought a good deal more about today’s prompt than I otherwise might have. There are so many different types of documentaries and the ones I like the most, I like for very…
Read MoreLike a lot of other people doing the 31 Day Film Challenge, I can quote “a” line from most film’s that I’ve seen. I can quote several lines from all the good films I’ve seen. Some films, like Casablanca and The Godfather and The Holy Grail, include dialogue that has embedded itself so deeply in…
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