Tag Archives: Critical Analysis

All Reruns All the Time, and Other Recent TV Maladies

For the most past few years, I’ve pretty much entirely been watching “TV” on the internet by streaming from places like Hulu or Netflix. Starting a month or so ago, I began watching actual TV again and found that some … Continue reading

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Lost in Translation: Are Insufficient Subtitles Robbing Unilingual Viewers of Potential Enjoyment?

Last year, when I took my first semester of Spanish, I began to notice that I could tell what Spanish-speaking characters were saying some of the time in the movies and television shows I was watching. Unfortunately, I was able … Continue reading

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Date Night Should Have Been Titled “Two Sketch Comedians On The Town”

The 2010 movie Date Night was an interesting attempt at portraying a boring, middle aged, suburban couple caught in a comedic maelstrom of intrigue and adventure. Unfortunately, it’s pretty clear that the writer (whose only other credits are a horror … Continue reading

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Some Shows Are Only Good When You’re Tired

Since television became available for streaming over the internet, I’ve realized something that was impossible to notice when I used to watch TV on a programmed schedule. There were a few shows, which shall remain nameless, that I used to … Continue reading

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A Modern Perspective on King Lear

Just a few brief thoughts. . . In watching the 1984 TV version of King Lear last week, it occurred to me that this story would take on quite a different interpretation in modern times. Perhaps it’s over-simplified, but as … Continue reading

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The Disappearance of the Wide-Eyed, Idealistic Hero

In the last decade, mass media in the United States has seen many changes in the way characters and stories are written. One change which I consider to be particularly unfortunate is the gradual, yet rapid, decline in the use … Continue reading

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Why Go to Film School? (Part 2)

In my last post, I talked about why production-centered classes might be helpful for a wannabe director/producer/screenwriter. This week, I’ll list a few attributes of the more purely scholastic side of film school (e.g. film history/media studies, Gen. Ed. requirements, … Continue reading

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Why Go to Film School? (Part 1)

If you look around on the internet, there are some pretty convincing arguments against the idea of going to school to learn about filmmaking, mostly revolving around the cost or the time and effort it takes to earn a degree. … Continue reading

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Italian Native Americans and German Japanese: The Probable Importance of Verisimilitude in Casting

Perhaps it doesn’t matter, perhaps it does. But no matter how good the acting ability of the players in movies and television, ranging from many of the characters in the 1935 movie Charlie Chan in Egypt to the character Gwen … Continue reading

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SFX Evolution: How Special Effects Have Changed, and Not Changed

It’s interesting to consider that many of the special effects invented by Melies during the dawn of filmmaking were not only still in use half a century later, but even into the present century. Take, for example, the 1960 version … Continue reading

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