In this video, I explain how Aristotle’s ideas of what makes a tragedy help to explain the enormous success of HBO’s hit series, “Succession.” Continue reading Succession (HBO) and Aristotle’s Characteristics of a Tragedy (The Poetics)
Here’s my latest vlog post, this one on Carl Sagan’s 13 part television series, Cosmos and his use of kairos as a rhetorical technique in the famous program. Continue reading Cosmos and Kairos: A Rhetorical Journey
I’ve created my second vlog, this one over the 2001 film, Monsters, Inc., directed by Pete Docter. You can find it below. I hope you enjoy. If you do, please share! Continue reading Monsters, Inc., (2001) Monsters, and Commonplaces
I’ve made my first video blog, or vlog, as they say. It’s over the film, Meet the Parents, from 2000, directed by Jay Roach. I hope you’ll watch my short movie and tell me your thoughts, either about cinematography or Meet the Parents! Continue reading Meet the Parents and Cinematography
There’s all kinds of movie speeches–the inspirational speech, the redemption speech, the condemnatory speech, and the romantic plea for love speech. But one of my favorites is what you might call the “F**k you and the horse you rode in on” speech. The most typical version of this speech happens towards the end of the film. The protagonist looks to be completely finished, his or … Continue reading Ten films with “F**k you and the horse you rode in on” speeches
At one point, there was NBC and CBS. Then along came ABC. Slowly people started to gain access to cable television, an invention that first developed to help people in the valley get access to stations when geography prevented a broadcasting signal to be picked up. With cable television came dozens, then scores, then hundreds of channels. Now there’s streaming shows on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, … Continue reading YouTube Channels Worth a Gander
I’ve been asked by my friend and colleague, Alana, create a list of family friendly films. Now, this challenge is both easy and hard. It’s easy because there’s no shortage of family friendly films. But that abundance of options is what makes it hard. How does one pick from such a plentiful list? Another challenges comes the way memory erodes our impressions of these stories. … Continue reading Family Friendly Films: Deep Loves, Deep Cuts, and Might Be’s
There’s so many different parts of a film that can make it memorable, an exciting beginning, a thrill-ride story, surprises and suspense, and sometimes the quietude of slow camera work can provoke reflective thought. It’s the endings, though, that leave people breathless and wide-eyed when the lights come-up and the people shuffle out into the hallways. It’s the endings that keep the viewers in their … Continue reading The Crisp Ending: What is it and Which Films Have it?
There are all kinds of First Amendment films, freedom of the press films, media films, broadcasting films, and so forth. You’ve probably seen many of them yourself. One common characteristic amongst these films is the hagiographic treatment they give of journalists, reporters, and anchors. If you watch too many of these films, you’ll get the sense that your average reporter is a modern day errant … Continue reading Ten Films about the Media that Will Make You Think
Footnotes for Film Buffs 