Menu Skip to primary content Search Drew Lichtenberg Dramaturg and Theater Critic Bottomless Dream (or, Palindromes and Palimpsests) Written in the Winter of 2012 for Ethan McSweeny’s Dream at the Shakespeare Theatre. Indebted to Jan Kott and "The Bottom Translation," but there are worse fates than to be Kott’s amanuensis. -D...
(Credits: Warner Bros. Pictures)Metacinema: how self-awareness sucked the fun out of movies Fri 2 August 2024 11:00, UKThere’s a time and a place for self-awareness in cinema, and when used correctly, it does nothing but increase the enjoyment factor. However, when it’s used as a crutch that doubles as a thinly veiled admission of substandard writing, then it crosses the line from innovation into apathy.Make no mistake about it—there are a number of wonderful films that wink directly to the a...
Table of ContentsMovies about filmmakers and the process of making movies have been around for ages. It makes sense. After all, what’s one subject that most filmmakers are interested in? Movies, of course. But while many films about filmmaking focus on the wonder and power inherent in movie magic, there is a dark side to everything. That means there is no shortage of horror movies that focus on film productions.Horror movies about making movies fall into a wide variety of subgenres. Many have...
Call for Chapters - ReFocus: The Films of Guy RitchieThe career of Guy Ritchie encompasses an eclectic selection of films across a number of genres. His most noted work is in the arena of the gangster film, spanning from 1995’s The Hard Case to 2019’s The Gentleman, and evidences a journey from genre-defining texts (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, 1998), through critical disappointments (Revolver, 2005)attempted returns to form (RockNRolla, 2008) and recent more successful reinventions o...
"Wax on, wax off." This classic line from The Karate Kid is ingrained in our minds as the epitome of cinematic martial arts lessons. It captures the elfin broken English of Mr. Miyagi in all his humble and quirky charm. Miyagi won our hearts as the kindly sensei, and the role earned Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (1932-2005) a nomination for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. But did you know that Mr. Miyagi was based on a real person? Actually, he was based on three people, all famous karate masters. Her...
Remembering John Carpenter’s "They Live"Do any of the great movie fight scenes stick in the memory as much as Nada taking on Frank in an alleyway in 1988's They Live? Is Roddy Piper and Keith David’s epic fight scene in John Carpenter’s They Live the greatest of all time? Granted, there have been some epic one on ones over the years: Neo versus Agent Smith in The Matrix, Indiana Jones versus The German Mechanic in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Bruce Lee versus Han in Enter the Dragon. But do a...
There's something comforting about settling in to watch a good mystery movie. You sort of know exactly what to expect. I watch a ton of mystery movies because I think they are wonderful at getting audiences excited about their premises and clearly defining their stakes. Mystery movies have captivated audiences for generations, weaving intricate plots, enigmatic characters, and thrilling suspense. Their ability to transport us to worlds of intrigue and challenge our deductive skills is what ma...
By Jeremy Carr. Ben Model and his Undercrank Productions continue to deliver eclectic fare from the annals of film history, distributing movies that shed light on their respective era, their audiences, and their creators."Given the nature of what is discovered, handled, and ultimately distributed as part of the Accidentally Preserved series, a fair amount of variety is to be expected. Accrued from private collections of rare 16mm prints—"Show-at-Home" versions of a studio’s 35mm offerings—div...
Review by Jason Gorber.There will be plenty of hyperbole flung about in celebration of this film with the joy and abandon of an ape playfully lobbing his poop at an appreciative audience.Yet like the scatological simian show at your local zoo, there may be those that fixate on the repellent parts of the display, annoyed perhaps by the fact, they may claim, that this latest Apes film feels like a previously enjoyed meal - something familiar, sure, but no longer sustaining after passing through...
Skip to content What is Genre? Definition and Examples from Film. Published: May 2, 2024 Updated: May 3, 2024 DISCLOSURE: AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES. READ THE FULL DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO. ALL AFFILIATE LINKS ARE MARKED #adDefinition: Genre functions as a categorization system that helps creators and audiences ...
Regarding the film Marooned In "Marooned," there is a subplot involving the astronauts’ communication with their families from space. The astronauts are allowed to have brief communication sessions with their wives via a video link, which becomes a source of emotional support and comfort for both the astronauts and their loved ones during the crisis. However, there is some obfuscation surrounding the communication link due to the severity of the situation and the desire to minimize public pan...
"The Maze Runner" can be perceived as Hollywood’s apology for the capitalist system that’s destroying the world as we know it. It’s a post-apocalyptic, end-of-the-world, survivalist narrative where a few teenagers take on a corporation and try to save themselves and the world. Science has made ungodly progress, and as paradoxical as the sentence sounds, belief becomes the center through which we justify our actions. Science is also driven by the belief that there is a silver lining at the end...
From Dr of DoomCop Hater is a 1958 American crime B-movie based on one of Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct novels. Since it’s a crime movie shot in black-and-white a lot of people have succumbed to the temptation to assume it’s film noir. It isn’t. Not even close. It’s a tough police procedural, just as the Ed McBain novels are police procedurals. It’s a hot day in the city. Apparently all it takes is a hot day and everyone goes crazy and starts killing people. A cop named Reardon gets gunned down i...
From: 16-9.dk Apr 25, 2024 by Joachim Smed-Petersen, Josefine Bjerre Lyndgaard & Karen Marie The female avenger exists in countless forms, universes and genres and has been a rapidly developing character especially since the 1970s. We see her as the femme fatale in film noir, we get to know her through the rape revenge genre, and we fall in love with her when, in the 1990s and 2000s, she becomes a celebrated and more common female figure on film. But where is the female avenger today, and ho...
From Roger Ebert dot com:There’s an ongoing theme in Alexander Payne’s films -- the people we think are the antagonists aren’t actually bad people; we simply force ourselves into the corner of seeing them that way. From the simple-minded and unfortunately coiffed future in-laws in "About Schmidt" to the adulterous characters in "Sideways" and "The Descendants," to the animosity of the student-teacher relationship at the heart of "The Holdovers," these films all feature cases of the protagonis...
Paramount Pictures/Ringer illustration As the release of Francis Ford Coppola’s self-funded, $100 million extravaganza ‘Megalopolis’ nears, it’s worth revisiting ‘The Conversation’ from 50 years ago as a reminder of what it looks (and sounds) like when a master is at work"At my age, I can afford for film to be a passion and not a business." That’s what Francis Ford Coppola told me 15 years ago during an interview about his 2009 film, Tetro, a glossy, quasi-autobiographical melodram...
We welcome submissions from all graduate students and faculty or independent scholars Apologies for cross-posting Synoptique is soliciting proposals for book reviews for our upcoming issue 11.1, which is a special issue with the topic "Teaching Media Archives." We invite reviewers to propose reviews for both the themed and general review sections. If you are interested in writing a review for this issue, please contact book.reviews@synoptique.ca with a short proposal (maximum 250 words) outl...
https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-an-origin-story-definition/An origin story serves as the backbone of any iconic character, offering a glimpse into their past, their motivations, and the circumstances that forged their identity. As we delve into the roots of celebrated characters, we not only understand their journey but also appreciate the complexities that make them uniquely compelling. What is an Origin Story of a Character?First, let’s define origin storyBefore looking at the fun...
https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-an-origin-story-definition/An origin story serves as the backbone of any iconic character, offering a glimpse into their past, their motivations, and the circumstances that forged their identity. As we delve into the roots of celebrated characters, we not only understand their journey but also appreciate the complexities that make them uniquely compelling. What is an Origin Story of a Character?First, let’s define origin storyBefore looking at the fun...
— Prime Video It’s uncertain whether or not a remake of Road House was necessary, but Doug Liman’s retelling of the 1989 Patrick Swayze cult classic is surprisingly instructive. It captures, for better and worse, everything about the current era of Hollywood filmmaking, resulting in a movie that’s often riotously funny, but ends up lacking in every way that the original succeeded — including being a completed production ready for release.The 2024 Road House follows Jake Gyllenhaal’s Elwood Da...
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Although conversation may have momentarily shifted away from Paul King’s wonderful musical Wonka and over to the short-lived waking nightmare that was Glasgow’s Willy Wonka Experience, this prequel to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory has now come to streaming, so we can enjoy the taste all over again. As we mentioned at the time in our review, and our chats with director Paul King and producer David Heyman, it’s a good hearted, funny, and joyful romp. Timothée Chalamet is charming and ...
— 20th Century Fox The biggest twist of the original 1968 Planet of the Apes was actually very different from the Pierre Boulle novel, and that twist has since determined the direction of every single Apes adaptation, reboot, and sequel. But as the latest trailer for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes suggests, the best bet for this high-concept planet might be to undo the oldest twist of all time with... the original twist.During the 2024 Super Bowl, Fox dropped a new trailer for the latest i...
— 20th Century Fox The biggest twist of the original 1968 Planet of the Apes was actually very different from the Pierre Boulle novel, and that twist has since determined the direction of every single Apes adaptation, reboot, and sequel. But as the latest trailer for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes suggests, the best bet for this high-concept planet might be to undo the oldest twist of all time with... the original twist.During the 2024 Super Bowl, Fox dropped a new trailer for the latest i...
