April 12, 2004
Adaptation Review
Weird. I didn't realize that my review of Adaptation is out. Not sure when I would have noticed, but I just got an email from someone who'd come across the review. To be honest, I'm not sure it's my best writing. Still, the review conveys my ambivalence about Adaptation's cynicism. That's what really matters.
April 11, 2004
Spider-Man Meets The Donald
While talking to some of my students before (during?) class on Monday, one of them mentioned a USA Today article on recent movie marketing efforts on television. The article emphasizes a 2.5-minute trailer for Spider-Man 2 (IMDB), which apparently aired during annoyingly ubiqitous reality TV show, The Apprentice.
Other examples include the USA cable network broadcasting the first ten minutes of the new Dawn of the Dead remake (my take on the film). Movie marketers describe this technique as "sampling." As usual, the USA Today article is irritatingly brief, but might provide a reference point for thinking about the marketing of Dawn for my horror film article.
Speaking of Spider-Man 2, I just learned that Michael Chabon wrote the screenplay. How cool is that? I'm probably the last person to know this (the last person who cares, anyway). Just politely ignore me if you knew about Chabon writing the screenplay six months ago.
April 10, 2004
Learning From Toys
I'm fascinated by some of the toys and collectibles that have emerged after September 11. Here's yet another innocent childhood toy from Playmobil, a security check in (here's another image in case the previous one doesn't work), complete with conveyor belt to screen luggage and a metal detector (via Metafilter).
April 09, 2004
Build Your Own Steadicam
Steadicams allow for smooth camera shots even while the camera operator is walking, jogging, or climbing stairs, but professional steadicams usually cost over $1000. Many aspiring filmmakers' cameras aren't even that expensive, so here's a way to build your own steadicam for only $14. Of course, you'd need to own a lot more tools and equipment than I do. And you'd probably need to know more about how to use them, too.
Upcoming Atlanta Film Events
Here are two cool Atlanta film events:
- Georgians for Democracy will conduct a free screening of Unprecedented, a documentary about the 2000 Presidential election on Monday, April 12, at 7 PM.
- The 48 Hour Film Project, in which competitiors have just two days to make a short film from scratch, will be in Atlanta May 21-23.
Arianna's Blog Crush
Arianna Huffington has a crush on the blogosphere. Now she's started her own blog.
Her Salon article might be useful for my freshman composition course this fall, and her blog should be well worth watching. I'm now thinking that my fall course blog should include more links to more of the high profile political and journalism blogs that I'll suggest that my students read.
April 08, 2004
Cultural Studies Association 2004
I've recently learned that my proposal for the Cultural Studies Association conference in Boston was accepted. The panel focuses on documentary film, and I'll be discussing the distribution and reception of Robert Greenwald's Uncovered, which I've discussed here, here, and here. The panel is a discussion group, which means the paper should only be about ten minutes long, just long enough to sketch out a very brief overview of my interests in the Greenwald film, but that's actually a nice break from writing a full-length conference paper (writing my paper on The Ring stressed me out quite a bit). Anyway, it should be a fun panel, and I'll get to fly for free. Hooray for flight delays!
More updates in the next few days, but I'm about to enter the grading inferno for about two weeks. I'll see you on the other side.
Guided By Voices Database
Via Metafilter: The Guided by Voices Database, which basically has all things GBV. The enthusiasm and the attention to detail is amazing:
This site allows you to navigate & search the Guided By Voices discography and gigography. Information includes catalog #'s, scanned album images, track times, credits, vinyl color, pressing information, release dates, setlists, and gig ticket/poster images. Song details include the releases the song appears on and gigs where the track was played live. GBV discography searches can be performed on album titles, song titles, and lyrics.
April 07, 2004
"Blair" Helmer Tackles TV
Via Cinema Minima: According to Variety, Blair Witch Project co-writer and director, Daniel Myrick, "is taking his bootstrap filmmaking style to the TV world, shooting a pilot with a significant online component." Reading the full article requires a subscription, so I'll keep scouting. It sounds like an interesting project, though.
Georgia Tech update: I've learned a little more news about the campus controversy I mentioned yesterday. It appears to be a more complicated case than the students' op-ed piece originally implied. So, until I get more public information, I'm probably not going to say much more about it.
April 06, 2004
Students for Academic Freedom
I must have missed this story because I was at ICFA. A Georgia Tech Public Policy professor is accused of discriminating against a student because of her political beliefs. The school is now facing political pressure from conservative critic David Horowitz, who recently wrote the "Academic Bill of Rights" and Georgia State Senator, Eric Johnson, who sponsored a bill passed by the Georgia Senate "that encourages public colleges and universities to refrain from discriminating against students based on their political or religious beliefs."
The AJC op-ed piece by two students in the class, Doug Gladden and John Putrich, reports that these allegations are essentially a "political witch hunt." Some of the basics as teh students explain them:
To recap the story, a Tech professor is accused of saying to a student: "You don't know what you're talking about. George Bush isn't doing anything for you. He's too busy pimping for the Christian Coalition."I don't know much more about this story yet, but I'll certainly start digging around. I've got a meeting on campus, but I'll do some digging tonight and try to get to the bottom of this story. The students in the editorial note that a campus group, Students for Academic Freedom, have been seeking out a "test case." Right now, it's leading me to rethink teaching English 1101 using an election theme this fall.As students in that class, we feel obligated to speak out on behalf of a professor whom we believe to be fair and highly capable. It doesn't matter whether or not we agree with what she said. What matters is that alleging "indoctrination" or "discrimination" based on the remark she made is nothing more than a political witch hunt.
The professor was reviewing for an upcoming test when two students decided to engage her in a debate that had nothing to do with the topic at hand. Keep in mind that these same students have previously started discussions on current events rather than the course material. They routinely tried to steer these discussions to get an opinionated reaction from the professor.
After they made their point, the professor replied with her own view, and then encouraged the class not simply to be flag-wavers for any party, but to learn about and support issues rather than a party platform. The professor's remark was much more a way to end the debate and return to the material in the course rather than an attempt at indoctrination.
The fact is that things will be said that you don't agree with, no matter where you are or what you do. The professor expressed a political opinion that cannot be debated objectively. In the end, however, our test included questions such as "discuss the Administrative Procedures Act" or "discuss the budget process," not "for which group is President Bush pimping?"
April 05, 2004
So the Yellow Jackets Lost
At least I can take consolation in the following news:
Continue reading "So the Yellow Jackets Lost"Thirty Minutes to Tip-Off
The big game starts in just a few minutes. Not sure how much energy I'll have to blog the game. My allergies are hitting me hard today, so we'll see how things go. To be honest, I wasn't much of Tech fan growing up. I usually cheered for that other school down the road. But for tonight, I'm a rambling wreck from Georgia Tech.
It has been interesting to watch the police build-up for the game. They've basically sealed off campus, which is difficult to do in the middle of downtown Atlanta. They've been closing off all the roads into campus, and only Tech students, faculty, and staff are allowed on campus tonight. But with the recent history of college students rioting after basketball championships it makes sense. Apparently there were some serious riots at University of Maryland last year, and Purdue used to have a terrible problem with rioting every basketball season.
So, now it's just about game time (I'm a slow typist). I'll try to check back from time to time, but for now, go Jackets!
April 04, 2004
Political Blogger Under the Microscope
A colleague at Tech (who will remain anoymous for now) passed along this article on the attacks on Daily Kos a moderately liberal political blog that has successfully raised thousands of dollars for Democratic candidates for Congress (as well as giving Howard Dean's campaign an early bump). For now, I don't have time to comment on the article at length, but it might usefully augment my discussions of blogs as campaign tools this fall in my English 1101 classes.
More Eternal Sunshine
I caught Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind last night, but after a long day of grading-for-hire, I didn't have the energy to write a review. I think I'll have to see the film a second time to really give it the attention it deserves (which may mean waiting for the DVD), but I can say that David Edelstein's insight about Sunshine's reworking of the screwball comedy genre for the 21st century captures much of the spirit of the film (the connections to the work of Stanley Cavell also seem promising).
Also check out A.O. Scott's New York Times article, which covers similar territory. I have some more pressing writing to do right now, but hopefully I'll be able to write a full review soon. In short, I really liked this film, and like Shaviro, I think it's screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's best work and one of the more innovative studio films I've seen in a long time.
Update: Two more "Eternal" links. Steven Johnson's Slate essay on brain science and Dereks' review of ESSM, which led me there.
April 03, 2004
Still Ramblin'
Wow! What a game! Georgia Tech advances to the national title game for the first time in school history on Will Bynum's last second shot. Center Luke Schenscher played an amazing game, rebounding, blocking shots, and shooting over the smaller Oklahoma State team. Maybe I'll follow Kathleen's example and blog the championship game on Monday night.
Update: Patrick's pretty excited, too.
Reel Families
Two good finds for the price of one. First, a recent trackback led me to creativity/machine, which looks like a really cool blog, and which led me to Patricia Zimmerman's book, Reel Families: A Social History of Amateur Film (Arts and Politics of the Everyday), which also looks like a good, and valuable, read.
Update: While I'm thinking about it, Zimmerman's more recent book, States of Emergency, about documentary film, looks good, too.
Dawn of the Dead 2004
I finally got a chance to see a movie tonight, and decided to watch the Dawn of the Dead remake (IMDB). To be honest, I don't remember the original that well, but I remember liking the earlier film's satire of mall culture, with the zombies unconsciously lurching across the mall. There are a few Muzak jokes (Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy" and a cover of "You Light up My Life"), but the remake dispenses with that version of satire pretty quickly, with Ving Rhames' police officer, Kenneth, delivering one of the mall joke lines from the original quickly. But the mall serves primarily as a useful setting for the action of the film, which I think is a very smart move.
Instead, the film (like many remakes) becomes much more about media and communications technologies. The tour de force opening sequence shows nurse Ana (Sarah Polley, a personal fave) returning from a long shift at work. She talks to a neighbor girl and joins her boyfriend in their modest home. Soon after, the girl bursts into the apartment, bites the boyfriend, and the film explodes into action. Quick cuts, simulating channel surfing, show a social order on the verge of collapse, with cities, including the nation's capital besieged by zombies while Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around" blares over the soundtrack. The film very quickly sets up the apocalyptic tone of the film and visually and aurally links that apocalypse to the television coverage of the zombie attack. This "haunted media" (Jeffrey Sconce's term--I need to come up with my own) theme persists later in the film as characters in the mall watch TV in several key sequences. The film also used the mall's security cameras in an interesting, though problematic, way (I'm not sure it complicates one security guard's voyeurism effectively enough). There's one other key use of "haunted media" which I'll explain below the fold to avoid spoiling the film for anyone who hasn't seen it.
I also liked the move of making the zombies faster, able to make decisions more quickly. I don't regard their unflinching slowness in the original as a flaw--it fit perfectly with the film's mallrat satire. But the speed of the new generation of zombies beautifully fit the speed of digital video, and the flicker effect worked nicely with what I regard to be the film's updated satire.
A few other observations: the film generally ignores the Romero film's self-conscious treatment of race although there is one interesting subplot (perhaps the film's creepiest) involving Mekhi Phifer and his very pregnant Russian girlfriend/wife. The film also makes the mistake of adding a few too many characters--I actually had a difficult time keeping track of some of them, but perhaps this, too, was intentional, a way of de-individuating the human characters. There were several great uses of humor, including Rhames communicating with a gun store owner across the parking lot using dry erase boards. The film did feel a little flat in a few places, and I don't think the satire was quite as compelling as in the original. But I do think that some critics have underestimated the new Dawn. I really liked the way in which the film was able to riff off of other recent horror films that have commented, in some way, on media and communications technologies. And it was pretty damn fun, too. Brief spoiler below.
Continue reading "Dawn of the Dead 2004"