Tag Archives: Film Theory

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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Roger & Me Vs. Capitalism: A Love Story

Because I have seen all of Michael Moore’s recent documentaries, and because he implied that Capitalism: A Love Story might be his last, I decided to see the first documentary he made back in 1989, Roger & Me. It occurs … Continue reading

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Brooding Females, a Recent Trend Imitating the “Brooding Male” Cliche?

I was watching old episodes of Daria recently and it got me thinking about the introduction and continuing low-level trend of the brooding female teenager character in television shows and movies. Dark, brooding characters are a perennial favorite for screenwriters. … Continue reading

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Father-Daughter Stories: A New TV Trend

I thought it might be interesting to talk a little bit about the recent trend of father-daughter dynamics in TV shows, especially in crime shows. What’s so interesting about the most recent examples is that it’s basically the same dynamic … Continue reading

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The Future of the MPAA Ratings System

One of the primary complaints I hear and read from critics of the current ratings system is that it prevents NC-17 (X-rated) movies from being shown in most theaters and decreases advertising venues for such films. It is for this reason that, when filmmakers claim they are being forced to edit/censor their movies, what they’re actually complaining about is that their movies will receive a higher rating in its original form and, thus, be less likely to rake in significant revenues. Continue reading

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Television Was Theater, Television is Cinema

More often than not, those discussing the history of television tend to focus on changes in social content or technology. Interesting though those topics may be, my thoughts linger on the change in style and presentation. Continue reading

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CGI + Traditional Animation = The Future of Cartoons?

Because CGI makes for very crisp, slick-looking backgrounds and hand-drawn pictures make for very rich, varied, and often diaphanous backgrounds, the combination of the two made for a visually stunning movie. Continue reading

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Socio-Political Symbolism in Dracula

Robert Sklar said the horror movies of the 1930s, like the 1931 film Dracula, expressed the public’s “fear for the survival their society and pleasure at seeing someone… vent his rage at it” (179). Rather than venting rage, one could suppose that it was more along the premise of seizing personal power over society Continue reading

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Film Noir: The Mother of the Psychological Thriller

I believe it is possible that psychological thrillers such as Rope (1948), The Shining (1980), Jaws (1975); and the genre of psychological thrillers as a whole are natural extensions of film noir. Continue reading

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