Comments for American Cinema: 1960-Present

Comment on Avengers and Point Break by prncfan1

prncfan1 — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:40:16 +0000

So funny that you posted this. I did the same thing, and people looked at me like I was nuts. I had to explain it and they still didn’t get it. I thought I was the only one. You just made my day.

Comment on Avengers and Point Break by prncfan1

prncfan1 — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:39:06 +0000

LOL I was cracking up, and was sure that no one else understood the reference either. So glad I’m not the only one….Your post made my day, as I had to explain it to everyone else.

Comment on Bruno’s Recitation 5/2/12 by Bruno

Bruno — Thu, 03 May 2012 01:36:52 +0000

Hi Dom! Thanks for the video with the hand thing. I couldn’t sit through it even though it’s short. Maybe after the semester is over…

Comment on Bruno’s Reciation, 2:00, 4/25 (Section 5) by Bruno

Bruno — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:23:35 +0000

Alex,
Thanks for a great analysis of Lynch’s film, and for filling in the gaps we leave open due to our unfortunate time constraints.
we should’ve had a 5-hour long recitation today to be able to properly discuss “Mulholland Dr.”

Comment on Bruno’s Reciation, 2:00, 4/25 (Section 5) by Role Theory, Star Wars The Musical and More: Bruno’s 2PM Recitation | American Cinema: 1960-Present

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:18:12 +0000

[...] everyone. Today, perspicacious Alex Greenberger gave a good summary of our recitation and more (his analysis of/love letter to Mulholland Drive is quite phenomenal, [...]

Comment on Bruno’s 3:30 Recitation 04/04 Sparknotes by stevodwyer

stevodwyer — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:05:47 +0000

Thanks, Ted. I knew I could count on you to tell it how it was!

Comment on Jaap RCT Summary : 3/28 @ 12:30 by nathandroberts

nathandroberts — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 03:40:25 +0000

Perhaps I am unnaturally biased toward Back to the Future, but I feel like action does not primarily trump character development in its case. I feel like that film is an exception to many 80s blockbusters because most all of the action is directly related to character development and perpetuating character development (except for, you know, the first scenes of the Libyans chasing Marty in the time machine and the whole stuff with the lightning at then end). Certainly the plot and the payoffs are incredibly important to Back To The Future, but I think its difficult to say that the action OVERPOWERS the characters. Are the characters particularly deep? Eh. But are they arguably as important as the action? I think so.

Comment on Boobs and Blood: Bruno’s Recitation 3/28 2:00 by nathandroberts

nathandroberts — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:56:07 +0000

Let me just clarify that my point: “narrative cinema at its best is like pornography” was what I felt DePalma was saying, particularly with his final shot of blood on breasts. I think he’s somewhat challenging how we conceptualize narrative cinema while “getting off” on all of it: the Hitchcockian style of filming, the sex, the violence. In some ways, he seems like a predecessor to Tarantino, although perhaps simpler in his methods (no one can adequately say that the dialogue in Body Double even remotely compares to the opening scene of Inglourious Basterds, for instance). So I didn’t consider Body Double the worst movie ever. In fact, I thought it was a lot of fun and satisfyingly meta. Like most narrative films, DePalma asks the audience to buy into a contrived experience; he just lets you know that its contrived.

Comment on City Island by zacharykislevitz

zacharykislevitz — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:25:40 +0000

What’s ironic about this clip as a “cynical” portrayal of the American family as inherently flawed, is that it is inspiring in its rather comforting indication that this ‘type’ of dysfunction is entirely normal. Thus, this cynical view of the American family is just as much pessimistic as it is nostalgic for what makes American notoriously sweet: its imperfection and open-minded acceptance.

Comment on The Shawshank Redemption and nostalgia by Mara Goodman

Mara Goodman — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 01:23:41 +0000

I think that the entire concept of prison and further, life in prison, deals with the idea of nostalgia. Prison is intended to cause reflection upon what it is that the prisoners have committed, whatever crime or misdemeanor, and they are supposed to think back and feel something towards it. I agree with what you say about prison suspending you in time—this awful scene where we lose Brooks is so sad because in prison all he learnt to do was be nostalgic and interact with earlier times that he lost any connection to the present. It seems that the only answer left for him to grapple with learning how to live in the present and not the past was death.