Welcome, FILM 2350 Students!

As you've already discovered, we are going to spend the next 16 weeks screening, examining, and writing about the major movements and authors of cinema history. This blog/discussion board is one of many assignments that will allow us as a class to delve further into into the history of cinema; it will also help you sharpen your argumentative writing skills as well as serve as a foundation for your final project in FILM 2350.

As your syllabus indicates, you are required to post to this forum at least once a week excluding Spring Break (March 10-14) and the final week of classes (April 28-May 2). Therefore, by the close of the semester, you will have responded to my and/or your classmates' postings nearly 15 times.

Only ten of these responses, however, will be graded. Obviously, the more you post, the more you'll have to choose from! In any case, before you begin writing and hit that Publish button, please keep in mind the following Rules for the Road...

Rules for the Road!

IMPORTANT!!
If you do choose not to adhere to the following rules, your posting may be deleted and thus rendered ineligible for your "Final 10." Consequently, please, please keep all of these things in mind before you hit that publish button!

1. Place film titles in italics or all caps, NEVER in quotation marks (e.g., Sherlock, Jr., SHERLOCK, JR.).
2. Explain your answer in detail, citing for example WHY you think Time considers Buster Keaton's film Sherlock, Jr. "a great example of American minimalism."
3. Limit responses to about 250-300 words (this post is approx. 150). If you exceed that count, tighten your writing, i.e., review what you’ve already written and see what can be omitted, combined, and/or made more concise.
4. Respond tactfully. By all means, make your case, but be thoughtful when you do it.
5. Finally, all postings should be published by 11:59 PM every Saturday. The new week begins every Sunday at 12:00 AM.

• Get started with:
  TR 2 PM: Movies: How Much Do They Cost?
  TR 6 PM: What Do Movies Say about Us/U.S.?
  

Movies: How Much Do They Cost?

Time reviews Woody Allen's film The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) as "a light, lovely meditation on the cost of surrendering our lives to commercialized fantasy."

• First, using at least 2 examples from Allen's film, explain in no more than 3 sentences why this magazine's statement is valid.
• Second, in no more than 3 sentences, address the overall idea at play here. In other words, does our relationship with commercialized cinema come with a cost? If not, why? If so, what is that cost?

To respond, click "Comment" below, and please use your name rather than an alias.

Finally, as always--for full credit--please italicize/underline all movie titles.

Students in the 6-8:50 T/Th class,
who did not get to screen The Purple Rose,
should post to What Do Movies Say about Us/U.S.?

What Do Movies Say about Us/U.S.?

This blog was written for students
who meet on T/Th, 6-8:50 PM.
Because of technical problems,
they did not screen The Purple Rose of Cairo.

However, if students from the 2-4:50 class
want to post here as well, that is fine.
But again, their required blog for the week is
Movies: How Much Do They Cost?

This week, we looked several ways that turn-of-the-century films reflected the period's fascination with travel and transportation, public events (e.g., world's fairs), and popular amusements (e.g., vaudeville, boxing matches) (World Cinema 18).

With this in mind, explore what current films--those released in the last four years perhaps--reflect about our country's apparent interests. Use at least FIVE EXAMPLES to support your answer, and as always, film titles should be underlined, italicized, or placed in all caps (e.g., THE DARK KNIGHT).

HINT: You might start with Box Office Mojo, clicking on the links for 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005 to see the top 10 grossing films of the last four years.