Resources for January 13, 2017

Bukatman, Scott. "Some Came Running." The Cinephiliacs #84 (August 28, 2016) ["Criticism is often described as an act of interpretation—explaining how or why a film works. But the act of cinema at its most basic level is an experience of image, sound, bodies, gestures, materiality, and everything in between. Stanford Professor Scott Bukatman has explored that experiential level of art in all of its forms from high to low. Scott and Peter cross boundaries of genre and time to discuss post-modern science fiction and its most abstract moments, performative bodies that explained our new technological moment, and even gravitational expectations in the new digital landscape. They also discuss cinema's closest (and often problematic) cousin, the comic book, alongside Scott's new exploration of Hellboy and how the act of reading itself can (and should) be reconsidered in the act of discussing a text. Finally, the two dive deep on Vincent Minnelli's Some Came Running, and truly ask what is it that makes a performance, especially in a melodrama in which the art of acting is key to everything."]

Douglas, Timothy and Sandra Shannon. "August Wilson and Fences." Radio West (January 11, 2017) ["August Wilson, one of the great American playwrights … period. That doesn’t need the qualifier that he was a black playwright. But his plays were about the black experience in this country, and one of his masterpieces was Fences. Denzel Washington’s film version is now in theaters, and the stage version has just opened at Pioneer Theatre Company. We’re taking the opportunity to talk about the heart breaking beauty of August Wilson’s work."]

Gorman, Steve. "U.S. Lists a Bumble Bee Species as Endangered for First Time." Scientific American (January 11, 2017)

Johnson, Steve. "Hollywood Daedalus: The Robert Wise of Audrey Rose." Bright Lights Film Journal (April 25, 2014)

Messina, Chris. "Live By Night." The Treatment (January 11, 2017) ["As an acting fan, Chris Messina is especially fond of actor/directors. He reunites with director Ben Affleck in Live by Night, channeling Goodfellas while playing prohibition era gangster Dion Bartolo. Messina reflects on Ben Affleck's ability to quickly transition from actor to director when filming a scene and the way casting sets the foundation of acting quality within a film."]

Nimoy, Adam. "For the Love of Spock." The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy (August 16, 2016)

Raboteau, Albert. "Fannie Lou Hamer and Thomas Merton." Against the Grain (January 11, 2017)
["Fannie Lou Hamer and Thomas Merton were both, as Albert Raboteau puts it, religious radicals. Hamer became an outspoken advocate for racial and social justice; she risked her life to secure voting rights and political equality for African Americans. Thomas Merton was a Catholic contemplative who spoke out forcefully against racism, militarism, and rampant consumerism. Albert Raboteau, American Prophets: Seven Religious Radicals and Their Struggle for Social and Political Justice Princeton University Press, 2016."]

Riesman, Abraham. "The Vulture Transcript: Alfonso Cuarón on Children of Men." Vulture (January 6, 2017)

Rosen, Jay. "Plagiarism charges against Monica Crowley put her publishing house on stage." Press Think (January 7, 2017)

Stevens, Brad. "Emotion Pictures; Story may be the least important thing in Hou Hsiao-hsien's Millennium Mambo." Keyframe (January 11, 2017)