Benton, Michael. Recommended Films of 2019. Letterboxd (Ongoing Archive)
Berg, Kirsten and Moiz Syed. "Under Trump, LGBTQ Progress Is Being Reversed in Plain Sight." Pro Publica (November 22, 2019) ["Donald Trump promised he would fight for LGBTQ people. Instead, his administration has systematically undone recent gains in their rights and protections. Here are 31 examples."]
Do Not Resist (USA: Craig Atkinson, 2017: 71 mins) ["Do Not Resist documents, from the perspective of the police, their view of the social unrest following the shooting and killing of Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, 2014, against a backdrop of the routine and escalating use of military tactics and high-powered weaponry by local police forces throughout the United States in the past two decades. Military equipment deployed throughout the Middle East returns home to be used against the citizenry. Local police recruitment and training is awash in military commandments backed by views of escalating ‘righteous’ violence and sadism. Meanwhile curfews are imposed, along with frivolous drug raids and incessant racial profiling. The voices of concerned citizens ignored. What is the cultural and technological trajectory here?"]
Moskowitz, P.E. and Carolyn Rouse. "The Mythical Bygone Glory Days of 'Free Speech.'" Citations Needed #88 (September 25, 2019) ["We are often warned by conservatives, liberals and even some on the Left that we live in a time where “free speech” is under threat from far-left forces. “Political correctness” and “snowflakes” have shut down free inquiry, specifically on college campuses, and led to a crisis threatening the very foundation of our democracy. But the origins of the label “free speech” — as it’s currently practiced — paint a much messier picture. Rather than appealing to the Vietnam-era Berkeley protest glory days, what one sees when examining the history of the concept is a temporary tactic used by the Left in the mid-to-late 1960s that has, since that late 1980s, become a far-right wedge designed to open up space for racism, eugenics, genocide denial, trans and homophobia and anti-feminist backlash. Defense of the right to keep open this space as an appeal to a universal value hides a well-funded, coordinated far-right attempt to maintain a conservative, largely male and cishet version of political correctness. On this episode, we discuss where the contemporary concept of “free speech” comes from, what its uses and misuses have been and how a rose-tinted time of pristine, perfectly free" speech never really existed. We are joined by journalist and author P.E. Moskowitz and Chair of Princeton University's Department of Anthropology Carolyn Rouse."]
Otto, Florian, et al. "The Cassandra Curse: Why We Heed Some Warnings, And Ignore Others." Hidden Brain (September 17, 2018) ["After a disaster happens, we want to know, could something have been done to avoid it? Did anyone see this coming? Many times, the answer is yes. There was a person — or many people — who spotted a looming crisis and tried to warn those in power. So why didn't the warnings lead to action? This week on Hidden Brain, we look into the psychology of warnings. We'll turn to an unusual source — an ancient myth about the cursed prophet Cassandra — to understand why some warnings fail. We'll travel 40 feet below the ground to talk to a modern-day Cassandra, and we'll speak with a government official who managed to get his warnings heard. There's also a gory (and fictional) murder plot, and even some ABBA."]
Weiwei, Ai. "Chinese Artist & Filmmaker Ai Weiwei on State Violence from Mexico to Hong Kong to Xinjiang." Democracy Now (January 28, 2020) ["In 2014, 43 students from Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College disappeared after they were abducted in Iguala, Mexico. More than five years after their disappearance, the families of the students are still fighting for justice. The story is the subject of a stunning new documentary by the world-renowned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei. The film, “Vivos,” follows the families of the disappeared students in their daily lives as they grapple with the absence of their loved ones and attempt to hold the Mexican government accountable for their disappearance. We sat down with Ai Weiwei earlier this week at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, to speak with him about “Vivos,” why his next project will focus on Hong Kong, and more."]
Jonas Staal, ‘PROPAGANDA ART FROM THE 20TH TO THE 21ST CENTURY’, PhDArts 2018 from Lectorate KTP & PhDArts on Vimeo.
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs [Full Album] from ElEcosound on Vimeo.
Friday, January 31, 2020
ENG 281/282: 2020s
2020:
Ammonite (UK/Australia/USA: Francis Lee, 2020: 120 mins)
Hudson, David. "Francis Lee's Ammonite." The Current (September 15, 2020)
Breznican, Anthony. "Black Storytellers Are Using Horror to Battle Hate." Vanity Fair (August 3, 2020) ["After Get Out, movies such as Antebellum, the upcoming Candyman retelling, and other tales of terror and the macabre are part of a cultural exorcism centuries in the making."]
Candyman (Canada/USA: Nia DaCosta, 2020: )
Ammonite (UK/Australia/USA: Francis Lee, 2020: 120 mins)
Hudson, David. "Francis Lee's Ammonite." The Current (September 15, 2020)
Another Round (Denmark/Sweden/Netherlands: Thomas Vinterberg, 2020: 117 mins)
Burris, Greg. "Another Round: Drinking (and Dancing) in the Age of Apocalypse." Film International (January 16, 2021)
Heeney, Alex, et al. "Are Men Ok? Masculinity, Mental Health, & Addiction in Another Round and Oslo, August 31st." Seventh Row (December 15, 2020)
Antebellum (Delayed Release)Breznican, Anthony. "Black Storytellers Are Using Horror to Battle Hate." Vanity Fair (August 3, 2020) ["After Get Out, movies such as Antebellum, the upcoming Candyman retelling, and other tales of terror and the macabre are part of a cultural exorcism centuries in the making."]
Candyman (Canada/USA: Nia DaCosta, 2020: )
Bastién, Angelica Jade. "Candyman is a Soulless, Didactic Reimagining." Vulture (August 25, 2021)
Breznican, Anthony. "Black Storytellers Are Using Horror to Battle Hate." Vanity Fair (August 3, 2020) ["After Get Out, movies such as Antebellum, the upcoming Candyman retelling, and other tales of terror and the macabre are part of a cultural exorcism centuries in the making."]
City Hall (USA: Frederick Wiseman, 2020: 292 mins)
Edwards, Lydia and Fred Wiseman. "Documenting Democracy: Fred Wiseman’s City Hall." Open Source (November 19, 2020) ["What Fred Wiseman found in Boston City Hall is not what he was looking for. The master of documentary film is famous for his almost innocent camera eye that unlocks visual drama in big institutions — the New York Public Library, the Paris Opera, or in his early days: Bridgewater State Mental Hospital in 1960s Massachusetts. So why not finally get inside the modern brick and concrete fortress of official life in his hometown, and see what’s going on in the faces, the meeting rooms, the tone of voice in local affairs. What he found was simpler than all that. It was the un-Trump in the un-Washington. An almost astonishing civility, good humor, what looks like good faith in the hundreds of negotiations every day that keep a community going, and growing."]
Coronation (Ai Weiwei, 2020: 113 mins)
Johnson, Ian. "From Ai Weiwei, a Portrait of Wuhan’s Draconian Covid Lockdown." The New York Times (August 21, 2020)
Crip Camp (USA: James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham, 2020: 106 mins)
LeBrecht, Jim and Nicole Newnham. "Crip Camp Directors on the Overlooked Disability Rights Movement." At Liberty (July 30, 2020) ["July 26th marked the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA. The ADA is a federal law that requires businesses, employers, public facilities, schools, and transportation agencies to make accommodations for disabled people, and helps weed out basic discrimination. When President George HW Bush signed the ADA into law in 1990, it was one of the most comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation in American history. But the disability rights movement didn’t begin or end with the ADA. In spite of the law’s existence, Americans with disabilities still face discrimination and other barriers to equal rights and opportunities.
Today, even though nearly 50 percent of Americans live with at least one disability, few know the history of the fight for disability rights. With Crip Camp, a new documentary on Netflix, filmmakers Jim LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham fill in some of that history through the personal and political stories that started the rise of a movement."]
Holler (USA: Nicole Riegel, 2020: 90 mins)
Hunters (Amazon Prime: David Weil, 2020)
Jerri, Alexander. "Moment of Truth: Gently, Gently Hunters." This is Hell! (February 27, 2020) [On the Amazon TV show]
I Care a Lot (USA/UK: J. Blakeson, 2020: 118 mins)
I'm Thinking of Ending Things Soon (USA: Charlie Kaufman, 2020: 134 mins)
Hudson, David. "Charlie Kaufman's Antkind." Current (July 13, 2020)
Invisible Man (Australia/USA/Canada/UK: Leigh Whannell, 2020: 124 mins)
McMillan, Candice. "How Trump and #metoo Have Scared Us Into the New Decade." Chaz's Journal (March 10, 2020)
Kingdom of Silence (USA: Rick Rowley, 2020: 101 mins)
Rowley, Rick and Lawrence Wright. "Kingdom of Silence: 2 Years After Khashoggi Murder, New Film Explores Deadly U.S.-Saudi Alliance." Democracy Now (October 1, 2020) ["Two years ago, in a story that shocked the world, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul for marriage documents and was never seen again. It was later revealed that Khashoggi — a Saudi insider turned critic and Washington Post columnist — was murdered and dismembered by a team of Saudi agents at the direct order of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. We speak with a friend of Khashoggi and with the director of a new documentary, “Kingdom of Silence,” that tracks not only Khashoggi’s brutal murder and the rise of MBS, but also the decades-long alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia. “What drew me into this story is Jamal was one of our own,” says director Rick Rowley. “When one of our colleagues is killed, it falls on all of us as journalists to try to do what we can to rescue their story from the forces that would impose silence on it.”"]
The Plot Against America (HBO: Ed Burns and David Simon, 2020: 360 mins)
Tallerico, Brian. "The Plot Against America." Roger Ebert (March 13, 2020)
Oladipo, Gloria. "The Missed 'Magical Negro' Trope in The Queen’s Gambit." Bitch Media (November 25, 2020)
Rebuilding Paradise (USA: Ron Howard, 2020: 90 mins)
Else, Lincoln and Ron Howard. "On the Documentary Rebuilding Paradise." The Cinematography Podcast (August 10, 2020) ["Oscar-winning director Ron Howard talks about directing his first documentary, Rebuilding Paradise, about the devastating Camp fire that completely wiped out the town of Paradise, California on November 8, 2018. The film follows the people in community over time as they deal with the tragedy and begin rebuilding. Directing a documentary was a new experience for Ron, and he felt a personal connection to the town- his mother-in-law had lived in Paradise. Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s production company, Imagine, had wanted to start producing documentaries and they sent out a crew to begin shooting just one week after the fire. Ron picked up some new skills while working on the unscripted project. He had to learn how to let the cameras follow the flow of the conversation, and to be minimalist in covering every possible angle. The experience has led him to make directorial choices in his scripted work that are more verité. Director of photography Lincoln Else worked closely with Ron and the Imagine production team, and developed a unified visual language for Rebuilding Paradise that he communicated with the other shooters. Lincoln learned documentary filmmaking at an early age, loading 16mm mags and assisting his father, documentarian and professor Jon Else. He likes a very simple hand-held style, opting to just put a camera on his shoulder in order to be as reactive as possible. Though footage from many different news sources and people’s personal videos was used, the bulk of the interview content in Rebuilding Paradise was “fly on the wall” style."]
Shirley (USA: Josephine Decker, 2020: 107 mins)
Brody, Richard. "Shirley: Josephine Decker’s Furious Melodrama of Shirley Jackson’s Life and Art." The New Yorker (June 4, 2020)
Hudson, David. "Josephine Decker's Shirley." Current (January 30, 2020)
Sophie Jones (USA: Jessie Barr, 2020: 85 mins)
Breznican, Anthony. "Black Storytellers Are Using Horror to Battle Hate." Vanity Fair (August 3, 2020) ["After Get Out, movies such as Antebellum, the upcoming Candyman retelling, and other tales of terror and the macabre are part of a cultural exorcism centuries in the making."]
City Hall (USA: Frederick Wiseman, 2020: 292 mins)
Edwards, Lydia and Fred Wiseman. "Documenting Democracy: Fred Wiseman’s City Hall." Open Source (November 19, 2020) ["What Fred Wiseman found in Boston City Hall is not what he was looking for. The master of documentary film is famous for his almost innocent camera eye that unlocks visual drama in big institutions — the New York Public Library, the Paris Opera, or in his early days: Bridgewater State Mental Hospital in 1960s Massachusetts. So why not finally get inside the modern brick and concrete fortress of official life in his hometown, and see what’s going on in the faces, the meeting rooms, the tone of voice in local affairs. What he found was simpler than all that. It was the un-Trump in the un-Washington. An almost astonishing civility, good humor, what looks like good faith in the hundreds of negotiations every day that keep a community going, and growing."]
Coronation (Ai Weiwei, 2020: 113 mins)
Johnson, Ian. "From Ai Weiwei, a Portrait of Wuhan’s Draconian Covid Lockdown." The New York Times (August 21, 2020)
Crip Camp (USA: James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham, 2020: 106 mins)
LeBrecht, Jim and Nicole Newnham. "Crip Camp Directors on the Overlooked Disability Rights Movement." At Liberty (July 30, 2020) ["July 26th marked the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA. The ADA is a federal law that requires businesses, employers, public facilities, schools, and transportation agencies to make accommodations for disabled people, and helps weed out basic discrimination. When President George HW Bush signed the ADA into law in 1990, it was one of the most comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation in American history. But the disability rights movement didn’t begin or end with the ADA. In spite of the law’s existence, Americans with disabilities still face discrimination and other barriers to equal rights and opportunities.
Today, even though nearly 50 percent of Americans live with at least one disability, few know the history of the fight for disability rights. With Crip Camp, a new documentary on Netflix, filmmakers Jim LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham fill in some of that history through the personal and political stories that started the rise of a movement."]
The Devil All the Time (USA: Antonio Campos, 2020: 138 mins)
Hudson, David. "Borderline Week." The Current (September 17, 2020)
Disclosure (USA: Sam Feder, 2020: 108 mins)
Gardner, Caden Mark. "Disclosure and Pursuing the Trans Film Image." Reverse Shot (June 19, 2020)
High Ground (Australia: Stephen Maxwell Johnson, 2020: 104 mins)
Johnson, Stephen Maxwell. "High Ground – Director Stephen Maxwell Johnson." Film School Radio (May 12, 2021) ["In Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s powerful new film, High Ground, a young indigenous man, Gutjuk, teams up with a World War I soldier / ex-sniper, Travis, to track down the dangerous Bayawara, a fierce warrior in the Territory, who is also his uncle. As Travis and Gutjuk journey through the outback they begin to earn each other’s trust, but when the truths of Travis’ past actions are suddenly revealed, it is he who becomes the hunted. High Ground was conceived as a story that would challenge accepted notions of the colonial settlement of Australia. High Ground is a powerful human drama, instilled with a strong sense of hope and fear, a story of treachery, heroism, sacrifice, freedom and love, misguided beliefs, an unequal struggle for power, and grief. But above all it is a story about the finding of one’s roots. Director Stephen Maxwell Johnson joins us for a conversation on the shameful treatment the indigenous peoples of Australia have suffered under, the denial of that history and why it was so important that High Ground reflect the human drama, instilled with a strong sense of hope and fear, but above all a story about the finding of one’s roots."]
Holler (USA: Nicole Riegel, 2020: 90 mins)
Hunters (Amazon Prime: David Weil, 2020)
Jerri, Alexander. "Moment of Truth: Gently, Gently Hunters." This is Hell! (February 27, 2020) [On the Amazon TV show]
I Care a Lot (USA/UK: J. Blakeson, 2020: 118 mins)
Corcoran, Miranda. "I Care a Lot, Or Not Enough: Bad Caregivers in Saint Maud (2019) and I Care a Lot (2020)." Diabolique (April 6, 2021)
Hudson, David. "Charlie Kaufman's Antkind." Current (July 13, 2020)
Smith, Orla. "Anatomy of an Adaptation: I’m Thinking of Ending Things and Unpacking Charlie Kaufman and Ian Reid’s Contrasting Visions." The Film Stage (September 8, 2020)
McMillan, Candice. "How Trump and #metoo Have Scared Us Into the New Decade." Chaz's Journal (March 10, 2020)
Kingdom of Silence (USA: Rick Rowley, 2020: 101 mins)
Rowley, Rick and Lawrence Wright. "Kingdom of Silence: 2 Years After Khashoggi Murder, New Film Explores Deadly U.S.-Saudi Alliance." Democracy Now (October 1, 2020) ["Two years ago, in a story that shocked the world, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul for marriage documents and was never seen again. It was later revealed that Khashoggi — a Saudi insider turned critic and Washington Post columnist — was murdered and dismembered by a team of Saudi agents at the direct order of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. We speak with a friend of Khashoggi and with the director of a new documentary, “Kingdom of Silence,” that tracks not only Khashoggi’s brutal murder and the rise of MBS, but also the decades-long alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia. “What drew me into this story is Jamal was one of our own,” says director Rick Rowley. “When one of our colleagues is killed, it falls on all of us as journalists to try to do what we can to rescue their story from the forces that would impose silence on it.”"]
Los Conductos (France/Colombia/Brazil: Camilo Restrepo, 2020: 70 mins)
Romney, Jonathan. "Los conductos is a swirling, cryptic journey into a hellish Medellín night." Sight and Sound (April 14, 2021) [" Camilo Restrepo’s stunning debut mixes up myth, fantasy and contemporary Colombian social reality to potent effect."]
Lovers Rock (UK: Steve McQueen, 2020: 70 mins)
López, Cristina Álvarez & Adrian Martin. "The Thinking Machine #45: Roll and Rock." de Film Krant (December 16, 2020)
Mama Weed (France/Belgium: Jean-Paul Salomé, 2020: 104 mins)
Bozdech, Betsy, et al. "Movie of the Week July 16, 2021: Mama Weed." Alliance of Women Film Journalists July 11, 2020)
Mank (USA: David Fincher, 2020: 132 mins)
Connor, J.D. "Put Some 'Mank' on It." Los Angeles Review of Books (May 29, 2021)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (USA: George C. Wolfe, 2020: 94 mins)
Grier, Miles P. "Why (and How) August Wilson Marginalized White Antagonism: A Note for Hollywood Producers." Los Angeles Review of Books (April 12, 2021)
The Nest (UK/Canada: Sean Durkin, 2020: 107 mins)
Hudson, David. "Borderline Week." The Current (September 17, 2020)
Hudson, David. "Borderline Week." The Current (September 17, 2020)
Night of the Kings (France/Côte d'Ivoire/Canada/Senegal: Philippe Lacôte, 2020: 93 mins)
Carpenter, Max. "Whatever Gets You Through the Night: Night of the Kings." Reverse Shot (December 29, 2020)
On the Rocks (USA: Sofia Coppola, 2020: 96 mins)
Heath, Roderick. "On the Rocks (2020)." Film Freedonia (December 1, 2020)
Our Own (Les Notres) (Canada: Jeanne LeBlanc, 2020: 103 mins)
Bozdech, Betsy, et al. "MOVIE OF THE WEEK June 18, 2021- LES NOTRES." Alliance of Women Film Journalists (June 13, 2021)
The Plot Against America (HBO: Ed Burns and David Simon, 2020: 360 mins)
Tallerico, Brian. "The Plot Against America." Roger Ebert (March 13, 2020)
Queen's Gambit (Netflix: Scott Frank and Allen Scott, 2020: 393 mins)
Oladipo, Gloria. "The Missed 'Magical Negro' Trope in The Queen’s Gambit." Bitch Media (November 25, 2020)
Rebuilding Paradise (USA: Ron Howard, 2020: 90 mins)
Else, Lincoln and Ron Howard. "On the Documentary Rebuilding Paradise." The Cinematography Podcast (August 10, 2020) ["Oscar-winning director Ron Howard talks about directing his first documentary, Rebuilding Paradise, about the devastating Camp fire that completely wiped out the town of Paradise, California on November 8, 2018. The film follows the people in community over time as they deal with the tragedy and begin rebuilding. Directing a documentary was a new experience for Ron, and he felt a personal connection to the town- his mother-in-law had lived in Paradise. Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s production company, Imagine, had wanted to start producing documentaries and they sent out a crew to begin shooting just one week after the fire. Ron picked up some new skills while working on the unscripted project. He had to learn how to let the cameras follow the flow of the conversation, and to be minimalist in covering every possible angle. The experience has led him to make directorial choices in his scripted work that are more verité. Director of photography Lincoln Else worked closely with Ron and the Imagine production team, and developed a unified visual language for Rebuilding Paradise that he communicated with the other shooters. Lincoln learned documentary filmmaking at an early age, loading 16mm mags and assisting his father, documentarian and professor Jon Else. He likes a very simple hand-held style, opting to just put a camera on his shoulder in order to be as reactive as possible. Though footage from many different news sources and people’s personal videos was used, the bulk of the interview content in Rebuilding Paradise was “fly on the wall” style."]
Shirley (USA: Josephine Decker, 2020: 107 mins)
Brody, Richard. "Shirley: Josephine Decker’s Furious Melodrama of Shirley Jackson’s Life and Art." The New Yorker (June 4, 2020)
Hudson, David. "Josephine Decker's Shirley." Current (January 30, 2020)
Small Axe (UK: Steve McQueen, 2020: 5 sixty minute episodes)
Heeney, Alex, et al. "Steve McQueen's Small Axe." The Seventh Row #72 (December 30, 2020) ["To cover Steve McQueen’s ambitious Small Axe series, we have assembled one of our most ambitious episodes of the year. We discuss each film (or episode?) of McQueen’s series and how they work together to form a cohesive whole."]
The Social Dilemma (USA: Jeff Orlowski, 2020: 94 mins)
Harris, Tristan. "Social Dilemma Star on Fighting the Disinformation Machine." Berkeley Talks (February 26, 2021) ["In this episode of Berkeley Talks, Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, former Google design ethicist and star of the 2020 Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, discusses how fake news spreads faster than factual news — a result of citizens sharing emotionally resonant misinformation or disinformation, often weaponized for profit and propaganda purposes, while tech algorithms amplify the viral spread."]
Chen, Yun-Hua. "Embodying Coming of Age: An Interview with Jessie Barr on Sophie Jones." Film International (April 8, 2021)
Sugar Daddy (Canada: Wendy Morgan, 2020: 99 mins)
Merin, Jennifer, et al. "Movie of the Week: Sugar Daddy." AWFJ (March 28, 2021)
Mobarak, Jared. "Sugar Daddy Review: Paid Dating Scene Drama Unpacks Transactional Existence in a Misogynistic Society." The Film Stage (April 5, 2021)
Tesla (USA: Michael Almereyda, 2020: 102 mins)
Tesla (USA: Michael Almereyda, 2020: 102 mins)
Dorian, M.J. "Nikola Tesla & the Paradox of Genius." Creative Codex #5 (May 9, 2019) ["Nikola Tesla's unique genius is the stuff of fantasy; he electrified the world, feuded with Thomas Edison, invented a death ray, and caused an earthquake in Manhattan. In this episode we try to untangle the paradox of Nikola Tesla's life: how can a man of unrivaled genius change the world but die a hermit with no money to his name?"]
Uppercase Print (Romania: Radu Jude, 2020: 128 mins)
Emmerzael, Hugo. "Reaching Into History: Radu Jude on Uppercase Print and The Exit of the Trains." Senses of Cinema #94 (April 2020)
Tafoya, Scout. "Limits Don't Exist: Michael Almereyda on Tesla." Roger Ebert (August 18, 2020)
Time (USA: Garrett Bradley, 2020: 81 mins)
Hudson, David. "Garrett Bradley's Time." The Current (October 8, 2020)
Tove (Finland/Sweden: Zaida Bergroth, 2020: 116 mins)
Bozdech, Betsy, et al. "Movie of the Week: Tove." Alliance of Women Journalists (June 4, 2021) ["It’s no surprise by now to discover that the private lives of the authors and artists behind some of the world’s most beloved children’s books were anything but calm (or G-rated). But it’s always fascinating to get a glimpse into the events, people, and places that shaped them and led to their iconic creations, and Zaida Bergroth’s Tove — which stars the excellent Alma Pöysti as Finnish Moomin mastermind Tove Jansson — is no exception."]
Tragic Jungle (Mexico/France/Colombia: Yulene Olaizola, 2020)
Hudson, David. "Yulene Olaizola’s Tragic Jungle." The Current (October 6, 2020)
Undine (Germany/France: Christian Petzold, 2020: 91 mins)
Cleaver, Sarah Kathryn. "Swept Away: A Thematic Dive Into the Depths of Undine." Curzon (April 1, 2021)
Uppercase Print (Romania: Radu Jude, 2020: 128 mins)
Emmerzael, Hugo. "Reaching Into History: Radu Jude on Uppercase Print and The Exit of the Trains." Senses of Cinema #94 (April 2020)
Violation (Canada: Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer, 2020: 107 mins)
Cleaver, Sarah Kathryn and Mary Wild. "Promising Young Woman & Violation." Projections (May 12, 2021) ["Mary and Sarah review two recently released rape revenge films; Emerald Fennell's highly anticipated Promising Young Woman (2020) and Madeleine Sims-Fewer's Violation (2020) which several listeners recommended to us."]
Mobarak, Jared. "Violation Tells a Story with Cross-Cutting Precision." The Film Stage (September 13, 2020)
Vivos (Germany: Ai Weiwei, 2020: 112 mins)
Weiwei, Ai. "Chinese Artist & Filmmaker Ai Weiwei on State Violence from Mexico to Hong Kong to Xinjiang." Democracy Now (January 28, 2020) ["In 2014, 43 students from Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College disappeared after they were abducted in Iguala, Mexico. More than five years after their disappearance, the families of the students are still fighting for justice. The story is the subject of a stunning new documentary by the world-renowned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei. The film, “Vivos,” follows the families of the disappeared students in their daily lives as they grapple with the absence of their loved ones and attempt to hold the Mexican government accountable for their disappearance. We sat down with Ai Weiwei earlier this week at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, to speak with him about “Vivos,” why his next project will focus on Hong Kong, and more."]
Who Killed Malcolm X? (USA: Netflix series, 2020: 6 episodes)
Harris, Shayla, Abdur-Rahman Muhammad and Ilyasah Shabazz. "Malcolm X’s Daughter Ilyasah Shabazz on Her Father’s Legacy & the New Series Who Killed Malcolm X?" Democracy Now (February 21, 2020) ["Fifty-five years ago today, Malcolm X was assassinated. The civil rights leader was shot to death on February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. He was only 39 years old. Details of his assassination remain disputed to this day. Earlier this month, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said he was considering reopening the investigation, just days after a new documentary series about the assassination was released on Netflix called “Who Killed Malcolm X?” It makes the case that two of the three men who were convicted for Malcolm X’s murder are actually innocent and that his uncaught killers were four members of a Nation of Islam mosque in Newark, New Jersey. We are joined by Ilyasah Shabazz, one of six daughters of Malcolm X, who was just 2 years old when her father was assassinated in front of her, her siblings and her mother. We also speak with award-winning author Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, independent scholar, historian, journalist, writer and activist, who is widely regarded as one of the most respected authorities on the life and legacy of Malcolm X and is featured in the new documentary series, and Shayla Harris, a producer for the series and an award-winning filmmaker and journalist."]
Vivos (Germany: Ai Weiwei, 2020: 112 mins)
Weiwei, Ai. "Chinese Artist & Filmmaker Ai Weiwei on State Violence from Mexico to Hong Kong to Xinjiang." Democracy Now (January 28, 2020) ["In 2014, 43 students from Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College disappeared after they were abducted in Iguala, Mexico. More than five years after their disappearance, the families of the students are still fighting for justice. The story is the subject of a stunning new documentary by the world-renowned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei. The film, “Vivos,” follows the families of the disappeared students in their daily lives as they grapple with the absence of their loved ones and attempt to hold the Mexican government accountable for their disappearance. We sat down with Ai Weiwei earlier this week at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, to speak with him about “Vivos,” why his next project will focus on Hong Kong, and more."]
Who Killed Malcolm X? (USA: Netflix series, 2020: 6 episodes)
Harris, Shayla, Abdur-Rahman Muhammad and Ilyasah Shabazz. "Malcolm X’s Daughter Ilyasah Shabazz on Her Father’s Legacy & the New Series Who Killed Malcolm X?" Democracy Now (February 21, 2020) ["Fifty-five years ago today, Malcolm X was assassinated. The civil rights leader was shot to death on February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. He was only 39 years old. Details of his assassination remain disputed to this day. Earlier this month, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said he was considering reopening the investigation, just days after a new documentary series about the assassination was released on Netflix called “Who Killed Malcolm X?” It makes the case that two of the three men who were convicted for Malcolm X’s murder are actually innocent and that his uncaught killers were four members of a Nation of Islam mosque in Newark, New Jersey. We are joined by Ilyasah Shabazz, one of six daughters of Malcolm X, who was just 2 years old when her father was assassinated in front of her, her siblings and her mother. We also speak with award-winning author Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, independent scholar, historian, journalist, writer and activist, who is widely regarded as one of the most respected authorities on the life and legacy of Malcolm X and is featured in the new documentary series, and Shayla Harris, a producer for the series and an award-winning filmmaker and journalist."]
Zola (USA: Janicza Bravo, 2020: 86 mins)
Hudson, David. "Janicza Bravo's Zola." The Current (June 30, 2021)
2021:
Ahed's Knee (France/Israel/Germany: Nadav Lapid, 2021: 109 mins)
Ehrlich, David. "Filmmaker Searches for Hope in the People of His Irredeemable Homeland." IndieWire (July 7, 2021)
Hudson, David. "Nadav Lapid's Ahed's Knee." Current (July 8, 2021)
Ehrlich, David. "Filmmaker Searches for Hope in the People of His Irredeemable Homeland." IndieWire (July 7, 2021)
Hudson, David. "Nadav Lapid's Ahed's Knee." Current (July 8, 2021)
Annette (France/Mexico/USA/Switzerland/Belgium/Japan/Germany: Leos Carax, 2021: 139 mins)
Hudson, David. "Leos Carax's Annette." Current (July 7, 2021)
Azor (Switzerland/France/Argentina: Andreas Fontana, 2021: 100 mins)
Anderson, Melissa. "Azor: In Andreas Fontana’s debut feature, Dirty War and dirty business." 4 Columns (September 10, 2021)
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (USA: Josh Greenbaum, 2021: 107 mins)
Greenbaum, Josh and Guillermo Del Toro. "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar." The Director's Cut #299 (2021) ["Director Josh Greenbaum discusses his new film, Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar, with fellow director Guillermo del Toro in a spoiler-filled virtual Q&A. The film tells the story of best friends Barb and Star, who leave their small Midwestern town for the first time to vacation in Vista Del Mar, Florida and soon find themselves tangled up in adventure, love, and a villain’s evil plot to murder the entire town."]
Greenbaum, Josh and Guillermo Del Toro. "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar." The Director's Cut #299 (2021) ["Director Josh Greenbaum discusses his new film, Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar, with fellow director Guillermo del Toro in a spoiler-filled virtual Q&A. The film tells the story of best friends Barb and Star, who leave their small Midwestern town for the first time to vacation in Vista Del Mar, Florida and soon find themselves tangled up in adventure, love, and a villain’s evil plot to murder the entire town."]
Belfast (UK: Kenneth Branagh, 2021: 97 mins)
Hudson, David. "Belfast and Yuni Top Toronto Awards." The Current (September 20, 2021)
Benediction (UK/USA: Terence Davies, 2021: 137 mins)
Hudson, David. "Terence Davies and Benediction." The Daily (September 16, 2021)
Bloodsuckers - A Marxist Vampire Comedy (Germany: Julian Radlmaier, 2021: 125 mins)
Chen, Yun-Hua. "Bloodsuckers: A Marxist Vampire Comedy at Berlinale 2021 – An Interview with Julian Radlmaier." Film International (March 21, 2021)
Can't Get You Out of My Head (BBC: Adam Curtis, 2021: 6 episodes)
Can't Get You Out of My Head ["Can’t Get You Out of My Head: An Emotional History of the Modern World is a six-part series that explores how modern society has arrived to the strange place it is today. The series traverses themes of love, power, money, corruption, the ghosts of empire, the history of China, opium and opioids, the strange roots of modern conspiracy theories, and the history of Artificial Intelligence and surveillance. The series deals with the rise of individualism and populism throughout history, and the failures of a wide range of resistance movements throughout time and various countries, pointing to how revolution has been subsumed in various ways by spectacle and culture, because of the way power has been forgotten or given away."]
Koehler, Robert. "Can’t Get You Out of My Head: An Emotional History of the World." Cineaste (Summer 2021)
Dune (USA/Canada: Denis Villeneuve, 2021: 155 mins)
Hudson, David. "Denis Villeneuve's Dune." The Daily (September 16, 2021)
El Planeta (USA: Amalia Ulman, 2021: 79 mins)
Hudson, David. "Amalia Ulman's El Planeta." The Current (April 28, 2021)
The Hand of God (Italy: Paolo Sorrentino, 2021: 129 mins)
Ehrlich, David. "‘The Hand of God’ Review: Paolo Sorrentino’s Most Personal Movie Is Also His Best." IndieWire (September 2, 2021)
In the Earth (UK: Ben Wheatley, 2021: 107 mins)
Encinias, Joshua. "Ben Wheatley on Processing the Pandemic Through In the Earth and the Singular Cinema of John Carpenter." The Film Stage (April 22, 2021)
Encinias, Joshua. "Ben Wheatley on Processing the Pandemic Through In the Earth and the Singular Cinema of John Carpenter." The Film Stage (April 22, 2021)
Judas and the Black Messiah (USA: Shaka King, 2021: 126 mins)
King, Shaka. "Judas and the Black Messiah: Director Shaka King on Fred Hampton, the Black Panthers & COINTELPRO." Democracy Now (February 1, 2021) ["A highly anticipated new feature film, “Judas and the Black Messiah,” tells the story of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton and William O’Neal, the FBI informant who infiltrated the Illinois Black Panther Party to collect information that ultimately led to Hampton’s killing in 1969 by law enforcement officers. The film is premiering at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and stars Daniel Kaluuya as Hampton, LaKeith Stanfield as O’Neal and Martin Sheen as FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Shaka King, the film’s director and co-writer, says focusing on Hampton and O’Neal was a way “to make 'The Departed' inside the world of COINTELPRO,” referring to the decades-long illegal FBI program to undermine Black and radical political organizations. “I just thought that that was a very clever vessel and intelligent way to Trojan-horse a Fred Hampton biopic.”"]
The Mauritanian (UK/USA: Kevin McDonald, 2021: 129 mins)
Hollander, Nancy, et al. "The Mauritanian: Film Tells Story of Innocent Man Held at Guantánamo for 14 Years Without Charge." Democracy Now (March 8, 2021) ["A new feature film, “The Mauritanian,” tells the story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian man who was held without charge for 14 years at the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo and repeatedly tortured. We speak with Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who says the film is not just about his struggle. “This is not my movie. This is the movie of so many people,” he says. “Some of the people who were kidnapped after 9/11 were tortured to death. They did not have a chance to tell their story.” We also speak with Kevin Macdonald, director of “The Mauritanian”; Nancy Hollander, the lead lawyer for Mohamedou Ould Slahi; and actor Tahar Rahim, whose portrayal of Slahi earned him a Golden Globe nomination."]
Moxie (USA: Amy Pohler, 2021: 111 mins)
Merrin, Jennifer, et al. "Movie of the Week: Moxie." Alliance of Women Film Journalists (March 7, 2021)
Merrin, Jennifer, et al. "Movie of the Week: Moxie." Alliance of Women Film Journalists (March 7, 2021)
Nobody (USA: Ilya Naishuller, 2021: 92 mins)
Adejuyigbe, Demi. "Nobody." Letterboxd (April 2, 2021) [Coins the genre classification "impotence thriller."]
Parallel Mothers (Spain: Pedro Almodovar, 2021: 120 mins)
Hudson, David. "Pedro Almodovar's Parallel Mothers." The Daily (September 2, 2021)
The Power of the Dog (UK/Australia/USA/Canada/New Zealand: Jane Campion, 2021: 126 mins)
Ehrlich, David. "‘The Power of the Dog’ Review: Jane Campion Returns to the Big Screen with a Wickedly Great Western." Indiewire (September 2, 2021)
Hudson, David. "Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog." The Daily (September 8, 2021)
Spencer (Germany/Chile/UK/USA: Pablo Larrain, 2021: 111 mins)
Hudson, David. "Pablo Larrain's Spencer." The Daily (September 9, 2021)
Titane (France/Belgium: Julia Ducournau, 2021: 108 mins)
Kiang, Jessica. "Titane: The New Flesh Is Thriving, Living Rent-Free in Julia Ducournau’s F*cked Up Metallica Brain [Cannes Review]." The Playlist (July 13, 2021) ["We can all stop wishing it a long life: the new flesh is thriving, living rent-free in Julia Ducournau‘s fucked-up titanium brain, oozing from every frame of her bizarrely beautiful, emphatically queer sophomore film, and thence seeping in through your orifices, the better to colonize your most lurid, confusing nightmares, as well as that certain class of sex dream that you’d be best off never confessing to having. “Titane,” Ducournau’s follow-up to her sensational debut “Raw,” is roughly seven horror movies plus one bizarrely tender parent-child romance soldered into one machine and painted all over with flames: it’s so replete with startling ideas, suggestive ellipses, transgressive reversals and preposterous propositions that it ought to be a godforsaken mess. But while God has almost certainly forsaken this movie, He wouldn’t have been much needed around it anyway. Ducournau’s filmmaking is as pure as her themes are profane: to add insult to the very many injuries inflicted throughout, “Titane” is gorgeous to look at, to listen to, to obsess over, and fetishize."]
Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror (USA: Brian Knappenberger, 2021: 300 mins)
Knappenberger, Brian and Mohammed Ali Naqvi. "Turning Point: Legacy of the U.S. Response to 9/11 Is Terror, Domestic Surveillance & Drones." Democracy Now (September 9, 2021) ["As this week marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., we look at a new five-part documentary series on Netflix about the attacks and the response from the United States, both at home and abroad. “Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror” features a wide range of interviews with survivors of the attacks, U.S. officials, former CIA members and veterans, as well as soldiers in the Afghanistan National Army, Taliban commanders, and Afghan officials, warlords and civilians. “What we really wanted to do was tell the story not just of what happened that day, but how we got there and where our response to those attacks took us as a country,” says director Brian Knappenberger. We also speak with co-executive producer Mohammed Ali Naqvi, an award-winning Pakistani filmmaker, who says the film was an attempt to go “beyond the binary narrative of good versus evil.”"]
The Velvet Underground (USA: Todd Haynes, 2021: 110 mins)
Hudson, David. "Todd Hayne's The Velvet Underground." Current (July 12, 2021)
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Dialogic Cinephilia - January 25, 2020
Benton, Michael. "On the Dangers of Thinking." North of Center (January 22, 2020)
Bordwell, David. "When media become manageable: Streaming, film research, and the Celestial Multiplex." Observations on Film Art (January 22, 2020)
Bordwell, David. "When media become manageable: Streaming, film research, and the Celestial Multiplex." Observations on Film Art (January 22, 2020)
Eggert, Brian. "Uncut Gems." Deep Focus Review (Ongoing Archive)
Honey, Michael, et al. "The Real Martin Luther King." The Back Story (January 17, 2020) ["Had he lived, Martin Luther King, Jr. would have celebrated his 91st birthday this week. King is celebrated as an American hero and championed in children’s books and inspirational posters, but have Americans lost sight of the real MLK?"]
Levin, Yuval. "The Conservative Mind of Yuval Levin." The Ezra Klein Show (January 9, 2020) ["Something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently is the way we often conflate two very distinct things when we assign political labels. The first is ideology, which describes our vision of a just society. The second is something less discussed but equally important: temperament. It describes how we approach social problems, how fast we think society can change, and how we understand the constraints upon us. Yuval Levin is the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, the editor-in-chief of the public policy journal National Affairs, and the author of the upcoming book A Time to Build. Levin is one of the most thoughtful articulators of both conservative temperament and ideology. And, perhaps for that reason, his is one of the most important criticisms of what the conservative movement has become today.There’s a lot in this conversation, in part because Levin’s book speaks to mine in interesting ways, but among the topics we discuss are: The conservative view of human nature Why the conservative temperament is increasingly diverging from the conservative movement What theories of American politics get wrong about the reality of American life The case Levin makes to socialists How economic debates are often moral debates in disguise Levin’s rebuttal to my book The crucial difference between “formative” and “performative” social institutions Why the most fundamental problems in American life are cultural, not economic Why Levin thinks the New York Times should not allow its journalists to be on Twitter Whether we can restore trust in our institutions without changing the incentives and systems that surround them There’s a lot Levin and I disagree on, but there are few people I learn as much from in disagreement as I learn from him."]
RIP Terry Jones
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Monsoon Wedding (India/USA/Italy/Germany/France: Mira Nair, 2001)
Monsoon Wedding (India/USA/Italy/Germany/France: Mira Nair, 2001: 114 mins)
Batra, Kanika and Rich Rice. "Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding and the Transcoded Audiologic of Postcolonial Convergence." Postcolonial Cinema Studies. ed. Sandra Ponzanesi & Marguerite Waller. NY: Routledge, 2012: 205-217. [Available in BCTC Library PN1995.9 P6 P68 2012]
Coles-Riley, Georgia. Monsoon Wedding." Far Flung Families in Film (October 2, 2012)
Ebert, Roger. "Monsoon Wedding." Chicago Sun-Times (Chicago 8, 2002)
Edwards, Judson Michael. "Wedding Customs in Monsoon Wedding." The Pick #30 (2004)
Eggert, Brian. "Monsoon Wedding (2001)." Deep Focus Review (114 mins)
Iyer, Pico. "Monsoon Wedding: A Marigold Tapestry." Current (October 19, 2009)
Lanouette, Janine. "The Story Women Have Been Trying to Tell For Years Now." Filmmaker (November 15, 2017)
Nair, Mira. "Her Search for a Cinema of Truth." The Current (July 19, 2018)
Sharpe, Jenny. "Gender, Nation, and Globalization in Monsoon Wedding and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge." Meridians 6.1 (2005): 58-81.
Some Kind of Arrangement (Canada: Ali Kazimi, 1998: 45 mins)
Swafford, Andrew. "Monsoon Wedding (2001)." Cinematary (July 7, 2016)
Dialogic Cinephilia - January 21, 2020
Later when he becomes an important player, he will learn that people are not bribed to shut up about what they know. They are bribed not to find it out. And if you are as intelligent as Kim,it is hard not to find things out. Now, American boys are told they should think. But just wait until your thinking is basically different from the thinking of a boss or a teacher ... You will find out that you aren't supposed to think. -- William S. Burroughs, The Place of the Dead Roads (Picador, 1983: 16)
Benton, Michael. Horror (Genre) Dialogic Cinephilia (Ongoing Archive)
Chenoweth, Erica. "How to Topple Dictators and Transform Society." The Ezra Klein Show (January 2, 2020) ["The 2010s witnessed a sharp uptick in nonviolent resistance movements all across the globe. Over the course of the last decade we’ve seen record numbers of popular protests, grassroots campaigns, and civic demonstrations advancing causes that range from toppling dictatorial regimes to ending factory farming to advancing a Green New Deal. So, I thought it would be fitting to kick off 2020 by bringing on Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard specializing in nonviolent resistance. At the beginning of this decade Chenoweth co-authored Why Civil Resistance Works, a landmark study showing that nonviolent movements are twice as effective as violent ones. Since then, she has written dozens of papers on what factors make successful movements successful, why global protests are becoming more and more common, how social media has affected resistance movements and much more. But Chenoweth doesn’t only study nonviolent movements from an academic perspective; she also advises nonviolent movement leaders around the world (including former EK Show guests Varshini Prakash of the Sunrise Movement and Wayne Hsiung of Direct Action Everywhere) to help them be as effective and strategic as possible in carrying out their goals. This on-the-ground experience combined with a big-picture, academic view of nonviolent resistance makes her perspective essential for understanding one of the most important phenomena of the last decade -- and, in all likelihood, the next one."]
Covering Climate Now (Covering Climate Now is a global journalism initiative committed to bringing more and better coverage to the defining story of our time.")
"Goodfellas: Martin Scorsese’s Anthropological Goodlife Through a Lens." Cinephilia and Beyond (ND)
Martin Luther King, Jr. (Preacher/Activist/Philosopher) Dialogic Cinephilia (Ongoing Archive)
Monday, January 20, 2020
Goodfellas (USA: Martin Scorsese, 1990)
Goodfellas (USA: Martin Scorsese, 1990: 146 mins)
Carvajal, Nelson and Max Winter. "Video Essay: Women in the Works of Martin Scorsese." Vimeo (2013)
Freedman, Carl. "Hobbes After Marx, Scorsese After Coppola: On GoodFellas." Film International (2011)
---. "The Supplement of Coppola: Primitive Accumulation and the Godfather Trilogy." Film International 9.1 (2011): 8-41
Gamman, Lorraine. "If Looks Could Kill: On Gangster Suits and Silhouettes." Moving Image Source (May 8, 2012)
"Goodfellas: Martin Scorsese’s Anthropological Goodlife Through a Lens." Cinephilia and Beyond (ND)
Hudson, David. "Crime Bosses and Made Men." The Current September 16, 2020)
Juan, Eric San. "The Films of Martin Scorsese: Gangsters, Greed, and Guilt (ROWMAN AND LITTLEFIELD 2020)." New Books in Film (October 20, 2020) ["Few mainstream filmmakers have as pronounced a disregard for the supposed rules of filmmaking as Martin Scorsese. His inventiveness displays a reaction against the “right” way to make a movie, frequently eschewing traditional cinematic language in favor of something flashy, unexpected and contrary to the way “proper” films are done. Yet despite this, he’s become one of the most influential directors of the last fifty years, a critical darling (though rarely a box office titan), and a fan favorite. In this book, Eric San Juan guides readers through the crooks, the mobsters, the loners, the moguls, and the nobodies of Scorsese's 26-movie filmography. The Films of Martin Scorsese: Gangsters, Greed, and Guilt (Rowman and Littlefield, 2020) examines the techniques that have made him one of the most innovative directors in history. The book further looks at the themes that are the engine driving all of this, including themes of self-sabotage, alienation, faith, and guilt. Eric San Juan has written a number of books, including one on Akira Kurosawa and co-authored two books on the films of Alfred Hitchcock."]
Kenny, Glen. "Made Men: The Story of Goodfellas." New Books in Film (September 30, 2020) ["For the thirtieth anniversary of its premiere comes the vivid and immersive history behind Martin Scorsese’s signature film Goodfellas, hailed by critics as the greatest mob movie ever made. In the first ever behind-the-scenes story of Goodfellas, film critic Glenn Kenny chronicles the making and afterlife of the film that introduced America to the real modern gangster—brutal, ruthless, yet darkly appealing, the villain we can’t get enough of. Featuring interviews with the film’s major players, including Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, Made Men: The Story of Goodfellas (Hanover Square, 2020) shines a light on the lives and stories wrapped up in the Goodfellas universe, and why its enduring legacy is still essential to charting the trajectory of American culture thirty years later. Glen Kenny is a long-time film critic based in New York. He currently writes for RogerEbert.com and the New York Times."]
Koresky, Michael and Jeff Reichert. "Martin Scorsese: He Is Cinema." Reverse Shot (September 17, 2014)
"A Life in Pictures: Martin Scorsese." BAFTA (April 6, 2011)
Morton, Drew. "'Look. I Know You're Not Following What I'm Saying Anyway.': The Problem of the 'Video Essay' and Scorsese as Cinematic Essayist." [in]Transition (December 12, 2014)
Newland, Christina Marie. "Satirical Excess and Empty Vessels: Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy." Bright Lights Film Journal #80 (May 2013)
Sims, David. "Was Goodfellas the Last Truly Great Mobster Film?" The Atlantic (September 19, 2015)
Williams, Johnny. "Goodfellas." I Was There Too #8 (February 4, 2015)
Martin Scorsese - The Art of Silence from Tony Zhou on Vimeo.
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Dialogic Cinephilia - January 19, 2020
In arguing against a position you should not rely on attacking the integrity, competence, personal morality or sanity of the holders of that position; nor should you argue against the weakest, most flawed version of the position that you can find. You should argue against the strongest version you can find. You should even try to help your opponents to formulate an even better version of their argument and then argue against it. This way, if you win the argument anyway, your victory will be all the more glorious. And if you end up being convinced by the argument that you were opposing; well that is good too. -- Rick Lewis "Into the Cauldron!" Philosophy Now #135 (January 2020)
Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes … known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.… No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare. Those truths are well established. They are read in every page which records the progression from a less arbitrary to a more arbitrary government, or the transition from a popular government to an aristocracy or a monarchy. — James Madison, Political Observations, 1795
We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.
-- Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anais Nin, Volume 4 (1971)
Amer, Karim, Emma Briant and Brittany Kaiser. "The Weaponization of Data: Cambridge Analytica, Information Warfare & the 2016 Election of Trump." Democracy Now (January 10, 2020) ["We continue our conversation with the directors of “The Great Hack,” Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer, as well as former Cambridge Analytica employee Brittany Kaiser and propaganda researcher Emma Briant, about Cambridge Analytica’s parent company SCL Group’s history as a defense contractor. “We’re in a state of global information warfare now,” Briant says. “How do we know if our militaries develop technologies and the data that it has gathered on people, for instance, across the Middle East … how do we know when that is turning up in Yemen or when that is being utilized by an authoritarian regime against the human rights of its people or against us? How do we know that it’s not being manipulated by Russia, by Iran, by anybody who’s an enemy, by Saudi Arabia, for example, who SCL were also working with? We have no way of knowing, unless we open up this industry and hold these people properly accountable for what they’re doing.”"]
Benton, Michael. "The Work of Propaganda." North of Center (January 15, 2020)
Schönecker, Dieter. "Protecting Academic Freedom: Five Arguments for Freedom of Expression." Philosophy Now #135 (January 2020)
Excerpt from Tim Maugham's novel Infinite Detail (one of the best of the 21st Century)
If I tell you my dream, you might forget it; If I act on my dream, perhaps you will remember it; But if I involve you, it becomes your dream too." -- Tibetan Proverb
JINPA - TRAILER - TIFF 2019 from Tromsø Int. Film Festival on Vimeo.
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Dialogic Cinephilia - January 14, 2020
Bacevich, Andrew. "The U.S. Needs to Abandon 'Militarized Approach' to Middle East and Build Peace." Democracy Now (January 9, 2020) ["We continue our conversation with Andrew Bacevich, president and co-founder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He is a retired colonel, Vietnam War veteran and author of, most recently, of “The Age of Illusions: How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory.” Bacevich says the crisis with Iran, sparked by President Trump’s assassination of top general Qassem Soleimani, is just the latest in a long series of ill-advised American actions in the Middle East. “The only conceivable way for us to begin to extricate ourselves from this terrible mess in the region … is to abandon this militarized approach and to take a more balanced position with regard to the rivalries in the region,” Bacevich says."]
Clarke, Cheryl, et al. "The Fire This Time." Public Seminar (April 3, 2019) ["Violence against African American people creates pain and outrage, but policy makers offer us few solutions. In this episode, we ask: how can the fight for racial justice be accelerated, even as racism remains as persistent today as it was before the modern Civil Rights movement? In the spirit of writer James Baldwin’s vehement call for black liberation, this Exiles on 12th Street episode, the second in our series, gives voice to local activists and artists fighting for change. Come think with us about civil rights with our guests: civil rights lawyer Douglas White, community organizer Cidra Sebastien, the Reverend Marcus McCullough, and poet Cheryl Clarke. The episode is presented by your host, historian Claire Potter, executive editor of Public Seminar."]
Fife, Carol and Dominique Walker. "Moms 4 Housing: Meet the Oakland Mothers Facing Eviction After Two Months Occupying Vacant House." Democracy Now (January 14, 2020) ["In Oakland, California, a group of mothers fighting homelessness is waging a battle against real estate speculators and demanding permanent solutions to the Bay Area housing crisis by occupying a vacant house with their children. The struggle began in November, when working mothers in West Oakland moved into 2928 Magnolia Street, a vacant house owned by real estate investment firm Wedgewood Properties. The firm tried to evict them, claiming they were illegally squatting on private property, but the mothers went to court and filed a “right to possession” claim, saying housing is a human right. Their name is Moms 4 Housing. The battle for the house came to a head last week when an Alameda County judge ruled in favor of Wedgewood Properties and ordered the mothers to vacate the house. But Moms 4 Housing has stayed to fight eviction. Monday night, hundreds of protesters gathered at the house after receiving a tip that the Sheriff’s Office was coming to evict the families — a show of support that led the sheriff to abandon the eviction attempt. We speak with Carroll Fife, director of the Oakland office for the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, and Dominique Walker, a member of Moms 4 Housing who has been living at the house with her family."]
I Am Not Your Negro (France/USA: Raoul Peck, 2016) Dialogic Cinephilia (Ongoing Archive)
Morozov, Evgeny. "Tech-Master Disaster: Part One." Open Source (September 12, 2019) ["Techno-capitalism's moral and intellectual calamities. ... There’s trouble in the magic Kingdom of Advanced Computation, and the late Jeffrey Epstein leads us to it. This hour is one man’s critical overview of the kingdom and its landscape. Silicon is its valley, its production center out west. The Media Lab at MIT has been high ground of ideas on the east coast. WIRED is the magazine of the realm; TED talks are its showcase. It’s a kingdom of masterful men—names like Bezos, Zuckerberg, Gates, and Kurzweil. And it has its own code of intelligence, called AI, A for Artificial. It has its high priests like Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the Media Lab in 1985 and of WIRED magazine in 1993. Linkages are tight and loyalty is firm to some central ideas, above all that technology is good for everybody. If it can’t fix a problem, it can transform it—even ultimate challenges of life and death. This kingdom of computation has had it rogue financiers, like the late Jeffrey Epstein. And it has its dissenters, too. Our guest this hour is eminent among those critical insiders: the writer-historian Evgeny Morozov."]
American Hate Documentary from News21 on Vimeo.
HEALING FROM HATE: Battle for the Soul of a Nation (TRAILER) from Big Tent Productions on Vimeo.
Clarke, Cheryl, et al. "The Fire This Time." Public Seminar (April 3, 2019) ["Violence against African American people creates pain and outrage, but policy makers offer us few solutions. In this episode, we ask: how can the fight for racial justice be accelerated, even as racism remains as persistent today as it was before the modern Civil Rights movement? In the spirit of writer James Baldwin’s vehement call for black liberation, this Exiles on 12th Street episode, the second in our series, gives voice to local activists and artists fighting for change. Come think with us about civil rights with our guests: civil rights lawyer Douglas White, community organizer Cidra Sebastien, the Reverend Marcus McCullough, and poet Cheryl Clarke. The episode is presented by your host, historian Claire Potter, executive editor of Public Seminar."]
Fife, Carol and Dominique Walker. "Moms 4 Housing: Meet the Oakland Mothers Facing Eviction After Two Months Occupying Vacant House." Democracy Now (January 14, 2020) ["In Oakland, California, a group of mothers fighting homelessness is waging a battle against real estate speculators and demanding permanent solutions to the Bay Area housing crisis by occupying a vacant house with their children. The struggle began in November, when working mothers in West Oakland moved into 2928 Magnolia Street, a vacant house owned by real estate investment firm Wedgewood Properties. The firm tried to evict them, claiming they were illegally squatting on private property, but the mothers went to court and filed a “right to possession” claim, saying housing is a human right. Their name is Moms 4 Housing. The battle for the house came to a head last week when an Alameda County judge ruled in favor of Wedgewood Properties and ordered the mothers to vacate the house. But Moms 4 Housing has stayed to fight eviction. Monday night, hundreds of protesters gathered at the house after receiving a tip that the Sheriff’s Office was coming to evict the families — a show of support that led the sheriff to abandon the eviction attempt. We speak with Carroll Fife, director of the Oakland office for the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, and Dominique Walker, a member of Moms 4 Housing who has been living at the house with her family."]
I Am Not Your Negro (France/USA: Raoul Peck, 2016) Dialogic Cinephilia (Ongoing Archive)
Morozov, Evgeny. "Tech-Master Disaster: Part One." Open Source (September 12, 2019) ["Techno-capitalism's moral and intellectual calamities. ... There’s trouble in the magic Kingdom of Advanced Computation, and the late Jeffrey Epstein leads us to it. This hour is one man’s critical overview of the kingdom and its landscape. Silicon is its valley, its production center out west. The Media Lab at MIT has been high ground of ideas on the east coast. WIRED is the magazine of the realm; TED talks are its showcase. It’s a kingdom of masterful men—names like Bezos, Zuckerberg, Gates, and Kurzweil. And it has its own code of intelligence, called AI, A for Artificial. It has its high priests like Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the Media Lab in 1985 and of WIRED magazine in 1993. Linkages are tight and loyalty is firm to some central ideas, above all that technology is good for everybody. If it can’t fix a problem, it can transform it—even ultimate challenges of life and death. This kingdom of computation has had it rogue financiers, like the late Jeffrey Epstein. And it has its dissenters, too. Our guest this hour is eminent among those critical insiders: the writer-historian Evgeny Morozov."]
American Hate Documentary from News21 on Vimeo.
HEALING FROM HATE: Battle for the Soul of a Nation (TRAILER) from Big Tent Productions on Vimeo.
Fall 2020 ENG 282 Student Responses and 102 Extra Credit tally
Recommended responses:
Whitney Combs - Pan's Labyrinth: The Rabbit Hole
Parker Stonebarger Uncut Gems: Two Hours of Tension and Uncut Gems: Addicted to Winning
Chase Becker: The VVitch
Morgan Deatley: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Kendyl Beckett - The VVitch: The Forest of Vulnerability
Ashleigh Adkins - The Perceived Evils of Foregoing Femininity in The Witch
Michael Bondarenko - Pan's Labyrinth: Much Disobedience
Whitney Combs - Parasite: The Irony of Winning
Alex Dubilier: Shadow
Morgan Deatley: The Lodge
Kendyll Beckett - Pan's Labyrinth: The Escape of Imagination
Kendyll Beckett - Parasite: The Butterfly Effect
Kendyll Becket - Shadow: The Balance of Blood and Beauty
Ashleigh Adkins - Pan's Labyrinth: A Purposeful Renaming to Stimulate the Mind
Ashleigh Adkins - Fifties and Forgeries: The Linguistic Nuances of Parasite
Ashleigh Adkins - Shadow: Bodily Autonomy and the Consequences of Sacrifice
Hayley Pierce - Shadow: Living as Someone You're Not
Aspen Fulkerson - Shadow: A Bleak World Slashed with Red
Drew Robinson - Parasite: Drenched in Metaphor
Michael Bondarenko - “Shadow-A Study of Art Story And Weapon Fetish”
Whitney Combs - The Farewell: The Many Facets of Coping
Parker Stonebarger - Shadow: Beautiful and Ugly Violence
Morgan Deatley - Shadow Channeling Kurosawa's Shakespeare
Morgan Deatley - Monsoon Wedding: When the Camera Comes Alive
Morgan Deatley: Zodiac is a Horror Movie
Morgan Deatley - Dogtooth: An Exercise in the Uncanny
Emilie Shuck: Dogtooth
Kendyll Beckett - The Farewell: The Importance of a Lie
Ashleigh Adkins - The Farewell: The Family Burden of Grief and Secrecy
Ashleigh Adkins - Monsoon Wedding: The Universality of Family and Trauma
Aspen Fulkerson - Monsoon Wedding: A Deluge of Sound
Drew Robinson - The Farewell: Re-Contextualizing Grief
Drew Robinson - Monsoon Wedding: Connections to My Family
Michael Bondarenko - Monsoon Wedding: More Than Just One Story
Abigail Howard: Dogtooth
Whitney Combs - Monsoon Wedding: The Shades of Dependency and the Spider-web Effect
Ashleigh Adkins - Dogtooth: The Loneliness of Purity
Andrew Robinson: Dogtooth
Whitney Combs: Dogtooth
Michael Bondarenko: Dogtooth
Parker Stonebarger 8 (Color Out of Space - 2; Shadow; Uncut Gems; Dark Knight; Joker; John Wick; The Room) - B
Whitney Combs 10 (Dogtooth; Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; The Witch; Gangs of New York; 2 extra credits) -- A
Abigail Howard 10 (Dogtooth; The Farewell; Parasite; Monsoon Wedding; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; Monos; Tangerine; Sorry to Bother You; The Irishman) - A
Michael Bondarenko 12 (Dogtooth; Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; video aired by Radio Lex 5 credits) - A
Narayan Upreti 10 (Dogtooth; Color Out of Space - 2; Monsoon Wedding; Skin; The Farewell; Wednesday Film; 3 extra credits) - A
SIFTING
Caleb Monahan 10 (Lighthouse; The Farewell; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; Lord of the Flies; The Witch; Monos; The Art of Self Defense; Ford vs Ferrari) - A
Chris McElligott 8 (Dogtooth; Being John Malkovich; Parasite; Sorry to Bother You; Good Time; Gangs of New York; Snowpiercer; Uncut Gems) - B
Drew Robinson 10 (Dogtooth; Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; The Lighthouse; The Irishman; Uncut Gems; Videodrome) - A
Aspen Fulkerson 10 (Dogtooth; Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; Monos; Two extra credit) - A
Hayley Pierce 6 (Dogtooth; Shadow; Monsoon Wedding; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York) - C
Ashleigh Adkins 10 (Dogtooth; Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; The Witch; Colorful; A Silent Voice) - A
Markelius Hill 0 - D
Kendyl Beckett 10 (Dogtooth; The Farewell; Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; Wednesday Film; The VVitch; Labyrinth; V for Vendetta) -- A
Emilie Shuck 10 (Dogtooth; The Farewell; The Shadow; Parasite; Video aired by Radio Lex - 5 credits; Moonrise Kingdom) - A
Morgan Deatley 10 (Dogtooth; Zodiac; Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; The Lodge; The Witch; The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) --- A
Chase Becker 10 (Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; The Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; The VVitch; Her; The Dallas Buyer's Club; Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) -- A
Alex Dubilier 10 (The Farewell; The Shadow; The Godfather; Se7en; The Shawshank Redemption; Meeting Gobachev; Gladiator; Shadow and Fog; Remastered: Devil at the Crossroads; Parasite; Gangs of New York; ) - A
Shea Wyatt 8 (Gangs of New York; Invisible Man; A League of Their Own; Knives Out; Toy Story 4; Parasite; A Quiet Place; Pulp Fiction) - B
Michael Benton
Extra Credit:
Zoe Lucas 1
Abel Abera
Sunita Bohara
Anna Hardin
Whitney Combs - Pan's Labyrinth: The Rabbit Hole
Parker Stonebarger Uncut Gems: Two Hours of Tension and Uncut Gems: Addicted to Winning
Chase Becker: The VVitch
Morgan Deatley: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Kendyl Beckett - The VVitch: The Forest of Vulnerability
Ashleigh Adkins - The Perceived Evils of Foregoing Femininity in The Witch
Michael Bondarenko - Pan's Labyrinth: Much Disobedience
Whitney Combs - Parasite: The Irony of Winning
Alex Dubilier: Shadow
Morgan Deatley: The Lodge
Kendyll Beckett - Pan's Labyrinth: The Escape of Imagination
Kendyll Beckett - Parasite: The Butterfly Effect
Kendyll Becket - Shadow: The Balance of Blood and Beauty
Ashleigh Adkins - Pan's Labyrinth: A Purposeful Renaming to Stimulate the Mind
Ashleigh Adkins - Fifties and Forgeries: The Linguistic Nuances of Parasite
Ashleigh Adkins - Shadow: Bodily Autonomy and the Consequences of Sacrifice
Hayley Pierce - Shadow: Living as Someone You're Not
Aspen Fulkerson - Shadow: A Bleak World Slashed with Red
Drew Robinson - Parasite: Drenched in Metaphor
Michael Bondarenko - “Shadow-A Study of Art Story And Weapon Fetish”
Whitney Combs - The Farewell: The Many Facets of Coping
Parker Stonebarger - Shadow: Beautiful and Ugly Violence
Morgan Deatley - Shadow Channeling Kurosawa's Shakespeare
Morgan Deatley - Monsoon Wedding: When the Camera Comes Alive
Morgan Deatley: Zodiac is a Horror Movie
Morgan Deatley - Dogtooth: An Exercise in the Uncanny
Emilie Shuck: Dogtooth
Kendyll Beckett - The Farewell: The Importance of a Lie
Ashleigh Adkins - The Farewell: The Family Burden of Grief and Secrecy
Ashleigh Adkins - Monsoon Wedding: The Universality of Family and Trauma
Aspen Fulkerson - Monsoon Wedding: A Deluge of Sound
Drew Robinson - The Farewell: Re-Contextualizing Grief
Drew Robinson - Monsoon Wedding: Connections to My Family
Michael Bondarenko - Monsoon Wedding: More Than Just One Story
Abigail Howard: Dogtooth
Whitney Combs - Monsoon Wedding: The Shades of Dependency and the Spider-web Effect
Ashleigh Adkins - Dogtooth: The Loneliness of Purity
Andrew Robinson: Dogtooth
Whitney Combs: Dogtooth
Michael Bondarenko: Dogtooth
Parker Stonebarger 8 (Color Out of Space - 2; Shadow; Uncut Gems; Dark Knight; Joker; John Wick; The Room) - B
Whitney Combs 10 (Dogtooth; Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; The Witch; Gangs of New York; 2 extra credits) -- A
Abigail Howard 10 (Dogtooth; The Farewell; Parasite; Monsoon Wedding; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; Monos; Tangerine; Sorry to Bother You; The Irishman) - A
Michael Bondarenko 12 (Dogtooth; Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; video aired by Radio Lex 5 credits) - A
Narayan Upreti 10 (Dogtooth; Color Out of Space - 2; Monsoon Wedding; Skin; The Farewell; Wednesday Film; 3 extra credits) - A
SIFTING
Caleb Monahan 10 (Lighthouse; The Farewell; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; Lord of the Flies; The Witch; Monos; The Art of Self Defense; Ford vs Ferrari) - A
Chris McElligott 8 (Dogtooth; Being John Malkovich; Parasite; Sorry to Bother You; Good Time; Gangs of New York; Snowpiercer; Uncut Gems) - B
Drew Robinson 10 (Dogtooth; Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; The Lighthouse; The Irishman; Uncut Gems; Videodrome) - A
Aspen Fulkerson 10 (Dogtooth; Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; Monos; Two extra credit) - A
Hayley Pierce 6 (Dogtooth; Shadow; Monsoon Wedding; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York) - C
Ashleigh Adkins 10 (Dogtooth; Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; The Witch; Colorful; A Silent Voice) - A
Markelius Hill 0 - D
Kendyl Beckett 10 (Dogtooth; The Farewell; Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; Wednesday Film; The VVitch; Labyrinth; V for Vendetta) -- A
Emilie Shuck 10 (Dogtooth; The Farewell; The Shadow; Parasite; Video aired by Radio Lex - 5 credits; Moonrise Kingdom) - A
Morgan Deatley 10 (Dogtooth; Zodiac; Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; The Lodge; The Witch; The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) --- A
Chase Becker 10 (Monsoon Wedding; The Farewell; The Shadow; Parasite; Pan's Labyrinth; Gangs of New York; The VVitch; Her; The Dallas Buyer's Club; Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) -- A
Alex Dubilier 10 (The Farewell; The Shadow; The Godfather; Se7en; The Shawshank Redemption; Meeting Gobachev; Gladiator; Shadow and Fog; Remastered: Devil at the Crossroads; Parasite; Gangs of New York; ) - A
Shea Wyatt 8 (Gangs of New York; Invisible Man; A League of Their Own; Knives Out; Toy Story 4; Parasite; A Quiet Place; Pulp Fiction) - B
Michael Benton
Extra Credit:
Zoe Lucas 1
Abel Abera
Sunita Bohara
Anna Hardin
Monday, January 13, 2020
HUM 121: Peace and Conflict Studies student film responses
Recommended Responses:
Olivia Crowdy - American Dharma: Deeper Government
Olivia Crowdy - Hail Satan?: Fear of the Unknown
Lizzie Buchholtz - Hail Satan?: Ave Satanas
Beth Brown - Power to the People: Black Panthers
Neif Arreola-Lopez - American Hate: Victims and Offenders
Lizzie Buchholtz - American Hate: The Cruel Groups of Society
Beth Brown 10 (American Hate; Black Panthers; Hail Satan?; Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy; Play Again; Pig Business; Mirror Mirror; Abused; Truth Lies and In Between; Killing the Reef) - A
Alanaa Anthony 10 (American Hate; Do Not Resist; Coronavirus Capitalism; Hail Satan!; Black Panthers; The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez; Get Out; Miss Representation; The Purge; You Are Alive for a Reason) -- A
Lizzie Buchholtz 9 (American Hate; Do Not Resist; Hail Satan?; The Animal People; Beau of the Fifth Column; You Are Alive for a Reason; The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez; When They See Us; Surviving R. Kelly) - B
Cecee Epps 0 - D
Kade Pena 0 - D
Tony Rutledge 8 (American Hate; Black Panthers; The Animal People; Policing the Police; Blue; Imminent Threat; Pig Business; Mass Extinction) - B
Sifting
Neif Arreola-Lopez 6 (American Hate; If a Tree Falls; Democracy Now coronavirus report; Joe Rogan & Darryl Davis; Law and Disorder; Mike Kurlansky) - C
Monell Richards 9 (Do Not Resist; Hail Satan; American Dharma; Inside Job; Citizenfour; Tomorrow; If Beale Street Could Talk; Bisbee 17; American Factory) - B
Hannah Yahr 10 (Do Not Resist; Hail Satan?; Girls: Moving Beyond Myth; The Secret World of Tinder; CIA Drug Trafficking; Smartphones: The Dark Side; Rape on the Night Shift; The Bystander Movement; Unslut; Beauty Movement) - A
Olivia Crowdy 11 (American Hate; Do Not Resist; Hail Satan?; American Dharma; Miss Representation; You Are a Life for a Reason; Beau of the Fifth Column) - A
Will Clay 9 (American Hate; Black Panthers; Do Not Resist; Inside Job; 13th; The Purge; Trials of Gabriel Fernandez; Animal People; Don't Fuck with Cats) - B
Riley Whittaker 8 (American Hate; Do Not Resist; Hail Satan!; The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez; Don't Fuck with Cats; Unbelievable; Tiger King; Blackfish) - B
Levi Piatt 2 (Hail Satan; Do Not Resist) - D
Michael Benton
Olivia Crowdy - American Dharma: Deeper Government
Olivia Crowdy - Hail Satan?: Fear of the Unknown
Lizzie Buchholtz - Hail Satan?: Ave Satanas
Beth Brown - Power to the People: Black Panthers
Neif Arreola-Lopez - American Hate: Victims and Offenders
Lizzie Buchholtz - American Hate: The Cruel Groups of Society
Beth Brown 10 (American Hate; Black Panthers; Hail Satan?; Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy; Play Again; Pig Business; Mirror Mirror; Abused; Truth Lies and In Between; Killing the Reef) - A
Alanaa Anthony 10 (American Hate; Do Not Resist; Coronavirus Capitalism; Hail Satan!; Black Panthers; The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez; Get Out; Miss Representation; The Purge; You Are Alive for a Reason) -- A
Lizzie Buchholtz 9 (American Hate; Do Not Resist; Hail Satan?; The Animal People; Beau of the Fifth Column; You Are Alive for a Reason; The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez; When They See Us; Surviving R. Kelly) - B
Cecee Epps 0 - D
Kade Pena 0 - D
Tony Rutledge 8 (American Hate; Black Panthers; The Animal People; Policing the Police; Blue; Imminent Threat; Pig Business; Mass Extinction) - B
Sifting
Neif Arreola-Lopez 6 (American Hate; If a Tree Falls; Democracy Now coronavirus report; Joe Rogan & Darryl Davis; Law and Disorder; Mike Kurlansky) - C
Monell Richards 9 (Do Not Resist; Hail Satan; American Dharma; Inside Job; Citizenfour; Tomorrow; If Beale Street Could Talk; Bisbee 17; American Factory) - B
Hannah Yahr 10 (Do Not Resist; Hail Satan?; Girls: Moving Beyond Myth; The Secret World of Tinder; CIA Drug Trafficking; Smartphones: The Dark Side; Rape on the Night Shift; The Bystander Movement; Unslut; Beauty Movement) - A
Olivia Crowdy 11 (American Hate; Do Not Resist; Hail Satan?; American Dharma; Miss Representation; You Are a Life for a Reason; Beau of the Fifth Column) - A
Will Clay 9 (American Hate; Black Panthers; Do Not Resist; Inside Job; 13th; The Purge; Trials of Gabriel Fernandez; Animal People; Don't Fuck with Cats) - B
Riley Whittaker 8 (American Hate; Do Not Resist; Hail Satan!; The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez; Don't Fuck with Cats; Unbelievable; Tiger King; Blackfish) - B
Levi Piatt 2 (Hail Satan; Do Not Resist) - D
Michael Benton
Saturday, January 11, 2020
I Am Not Your Negro (France/USA: Raoul Peck, 2016)
I Am Not Your Negro (France/USA: Raoul Peck, 2016: 95 mins)
Als, Hilton. "Capturing James Baldwin's Legacy Onscreen." The New Yorker (February 13, 2017)
Baldwin, James. "A Talk to Teachers." (PDF: 1963)
---. "The Creative Process." (PDF: 1962)
---. "Going to Meet the Man." (PDF: 1965)
---. "Go the Way Your Blood Beats." (PDF: 1984)
---. "The New Lost Generation." (PDF: 1961)
---. "Notes of a Native Son." (PDF: 1955)
---. "On Being White ... and Other Lies." (1984) Black on White: Black Writers on What It Means to Be White. ed. David Roediger. Schocken Press, 1998: 177-180.
---. "Sonny's Blues." (PDF: 1957)
Baldwin, James, et al. "I Am Not Your Negro." Making Contact (November 8, 2017) ["Master filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished, Remember This House. The result is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, using Baldwin’s original words and flood of rich archival material. I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond. And, ultimately, by confronting the deeper connections between the lives and assassination of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., Baldwin and Peck have produced a work that challenges the very definition of what America stands for."]
Baldwin, James, et al. "I Was There." The Paris Review Podcast #3 (2018) ["LeVar Burton recreates the Review's Art of Fiction interview with James Baldwin; Morgan Parker reads her poem HOTTENTOT VENUS; Dakota Johnson reads a poem by Dorothea Lasky; and Lorin Stein reads WHY DON'T YOU DANCE, a classic story by Raymond Carver. "]
Clark, Ashley, Violet Lucca and Amy Taubin. "Identity." Film Comment (January 17, 2017) ["Ideology and aesthetics have somehow come to be positioned opposite one another—in film criticism, should one be privileged over the other? This episode of The Film Comment Podcast discusses how race, ethnicity, and other markers of identity factor into film criticism and cinema generally. FC Digital Editor Violet Lucca unpacks the topic with Amy Taubin, Contributing Editor to FC and Artforum, and Ashley Clark, FC contributor and programmer, in a conversation that spans multiple decades of film history—from Taxi Driver to OJ: Made in America to Notting Hill to I Am Not Your Negro, to the canceled Michael Jackson episode of Urban Myths starring Joseph Fiennes."]
Clarke, Cheryl, et al. "The Fire This Time." Public Seminar (April 3, 2019) ["Violence against African American people creates pain and outrage, but policy makers offer us few solutions. In this episode, we ask: how can the fight for racial justice be accelerated, even as racism remains as persistent today as it was before the modern Civil Rights movement? In the spirit of writer James Baldwin’s vehement call for black liberation, this Exiles on 12th Street episode, the second in our series, gives voice to local activists and artists fighting for change. Come think with us about civil rights with our guests: civil rights lawyer Douglas White, community organizer Cidra Sebastien, the Reverend Marcus McCullough, and poet Cheryl Clarke. The episode is presented by your host, historian Claire Potter, executive editor of Public Seminar."]
Crump, Andy. "You Can't Keep Up: Raoul Peck and I Am Not Your Negro's Call To Action." Paste (February 1, 2017)
Dixon, Osato. "I Am Not Your Negro: Baldwin Doc Affirms Troubling Truths of Race in America." NBC News (February 3, 2017)
Erickson, Steven. "'There Cannot Be a Dream If It's Based On a Lie': I Am Not a Negro director Raoul Peck on James Baldwin, active citizenship, and America." Keyframe (February 2, 2017)
Hart, Harrison. "I Am Not Your Negro." Letterboxd (April 19, 2018)
I Am Not Your Negro Critics Round Up (Ongoing Archive)
Kohn, Eric. "I Am Not Your Negro: Samuel L. Jackson Brings James Baldwin to Life in the Year's Most Important Oscar Nominee." IndieWire (February 2, 2017)
Lapin, Andrew. "James Baldwin, In His Own Searing, Revelatory Words: I Am Not Your Negro." NPR (February 2, 2017)
Miller, Danny. "Interview: Director Raoul Peck on James Baldwin, Karl Marx, and the Parkland Students." Cinephiled (March 8, 2018)
Pavlic, Ed. "Baldwin's Lonely Country." Boston Review (March 29, 2018)
Peck, Raoul, et al. "Beyonce to Baldwin and Back Again." Still Processing #24 (April 16, 2017)
Pinckney, Darryl. "Under the Spell of James Baldwin." The New York Review of Books (March 23, 2017)
Rainer, Peter. "I Am Not Your Negro Shows That the World Today is Poorer for Not Having James Baldwin's Views." The Christian Science Monitor (February 24, 2017)
"Raoul Peck." WTF #789 (February 27, 2017) ["Filmmaker Raoul Peck spent more than a decade putting together the documentary I Am Not Your Negro, a powerful film illuminating the words and life of writer and social critic James Baldwin. But as Marc learns in this conversation, Raoul’s own backstory of living under dictatorships, studying across four continents, and learning how to engage activism through art is just as important in understanding how to respond to the world today."]
Rose, Steve. "'We can't wait for Hollywood to change' - the directors reframing black history." The Guardian (April 1, 2017) ["From Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro to Ava DuVernay’s 13th, the factual film-makers tackling race in the era of Black Lives Matter."]
Scott, A.O. "I Am Not Your Negro Will Make You Rethink Race." The New York Times (February 2, 2017)
Vogel, Joseph. "The Forgotten Baldwin." The Boston Review (May 14, 2018)
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