Film Resources |
| When I taught drama in college, I always placed several films on my syllabus. My focus on the film now—as then—is the connection between film and literature. Specifically, I am interested in the narrative element of films—how meaning is conveyed through this visual medium. But my interest in film is not limited to the narrative aspect of film. I am interested in semiology, the study of signs, and film as popular culture. At this time I have little interest (or patience) in the more rarefied, mostly academic, study of film deconstructionism—or any other "ism," for that matter. My interest in film as an artistic medium is in what film can help us discover about ourselves, our world, and our perception of reality. |
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This section contains full-length articles on various of my favorite films. As opposed to my Film Reviews, which average from two to four typed pages (including stills), film articles average from four to ten typed pages. I have also included articles written by others (friends and family) who have an interest in film and film studies. All film reviews and articles that I have written carry my personal rating of the subject film, from four stars to Bomb. |
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One of my side interests is the Japanese film. I audited a course in Japanese drama (in English translation) at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville). While kabuki theatre is not exactly cinema, I learned a good deal from Professor Eric Gangloff. I especially admire the films of Akira Kurosawa. But there are other excellent Japanese directors who are not as well known in America as Kurosawa, and one of these is Kon Ichikawa. The first film to gain Ichikawa some fame and acknowledgement in the West was The Burmese Harp (1956). Back in 1991, during the Gulf War, I—like everybody else—was mesmerized by the images of that war brought to us by CNN. I confess that I watched the bombing of Baghdad in a kind of horrified fascination. Shortly after that historic episode, however, I rented a copy of The Burmese Harp, which is a fierce anti-war film. I was so moved by the film that I wrote the following short article. |
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Ichikawa's The Burmese Harp HTML (12KB) or PDF Burmese Harp (71KB) |
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I received an article from a friend who recently returned to college teaching after about a decade in Technical Writing. Originally from Billings, Montana, Dr. Daryl Grider has a serious interest in the West in both literature and film. He has kindly allowed me to post his article on Wyatt Earp on my Website. I believe that anyone interested in the Western film will enjoy his article. In this very readable article, Dr. Grider looks at two books that attempt to portray the historical reality of Wyatt Earp and his brothers, Stuart N. Lake's 1931 account, Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal, reissued by Pocket Books in 1994, and the much more reliable account by Frank Waters, The Earp Brothers of Tombstone (1960, reprinted by the University of Nebraska Press in 1985). He then looks at the five major film embodiments of Wyatt Earp and his brothers, beginning with John Ford's classic 1946 version, My Darling Clementine, and concluding with George Cosmatos's Tombstone (1993) and Lawrence Kasdan's Wyatt Earp (1994). |
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Our Favorite American: Wyatt Earp in Fact, Myth, and the Movies HTML (68KB)
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Alas, Poor Titus Is Quite Undone: An Appreciation and Critique of Julie Taymor’s Titus HTML (119KB) or PDF Titus (480KB)
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My son Eric, who is also very interested in film, is taking a film course in college this semester. He recently sent me an essay of his for a class assignment, and I decided to place it on my Website (with his permission, of course). There are obviously many ways to approach Hitchcock's films, and Eric chose to look at how set design contributes to meaning in Rear Window. I believe that anyone interested in Hitchcock's Rear Window would enjoy this short article. |
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Set Design in Hitchcock's Rear Window HTML (22KB) or: Set Design in Rear Window PDF (211KB)
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| I have liked Westerns since I was a child. In addition to the "classic" Western of John Ford, I also like some less-heralded films. Sergio Leone's take on the American Western gave birth to the "Spaghetti Western," a sub-genre of the Western. One film I recently bought on DVD is Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). I have written a short article on the friendship between Blondie (Clint Eastwood) and Tuco (Eli Wallach), to me the most distinctive and interesting aspect of the film. |
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Are Tuco and Blondie Really Friends? Metamorphosis of Friendship in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly HTML (38KB) or: Leone's GB&U PDF (195KB) |
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Most of the films I taught in college were shown on videocassettes which the college had purchased. (I realize that to some purists this will come as a shameful confession.) Even with a large television screen mounted from the ceiling and large (non-standard) VHS tape, the results were only fair. |
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Death and the Knight: |
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The English Department did purchase several standard 16mm films, and luckily one of these was The Seventh Seal. Here are several of the study sheets that I handed out to my students to encourage comments when we discussed this—and other films—in the classroom.
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Bergman's The Seventh Seal HTML (13KB) or PDF Seventh Seal (64KB) |
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Hitchcock's The 39 Steps HTML (14KB) or PDF 39 Steps (71KB) |
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Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes HTML (13KB) or PDF Lady Vanishes (79KB) |
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De Sica's The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di biciclette) HTML (15KB) or PDF Bicycle Thief (69KB) |
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I am currently writing a number of reviews on both classical and popular films. As I define it, the difference between a review and an article (or essay) is that an article generally looks at several films of one director, or several films of a type or a genre. My reviews collected here, however, discuss only (or primarily) one film, though contrasts and comparisons with other films may be included. The reviews collected here are generally from two to four type-written pages (including stills). |
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Denzell Washington Plays |
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The first review I placed online was a review of Fallen, which I consider an interesting failure. Other reviews include American Beauty, Elizabeth, and Life Is Beautiful. I am adding other reviews as time permits. |
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Please click here to go to the Film Reviews Page. |
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I have written a number of short reviews over the past three years, and I am placing some of them on my Short Film Reviews Page. I am also currently writing a number of short reviews on both classical and popular films. The reviews collected here average from three lines to four paragraphs (type written). Actually, many of my longer reviews (and even articles) started out life as "short" reviews. Often, when I anticipate writing a short review, somehow I can't stop the pen or keyboard. Sometimes I look over what I've written and see glaring holes that need to be filled up. Other times the reviews sort of write themselves. Such is the nature of the writing life : - ) |
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A poster for François Truffaut's "The Last Metro"
(Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu)
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Please click here to go to the Short Film Reviews page. |
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Oscar Werner and Julie Christie
in Truffaut's "Fahrenheit 451" |
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I have "collected" more than forty Web Sites dedicated to film. Some of these sites are for serious students of the film, but most of them can be browsed with enjoyment by anyone even remotely interested in the art of film. I found several of these sites by surfing the Internet, but some were recommended by reviewers of several of the Web magazines (10KB). |
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Stanley Kubrick's "2001:
A Space Odyssey" |
| I make a somewhat arbitrary distinction between films and
movies on my Web Page. If you are at all interested in my criteria, I have
placed a very short discussion on a separate page.
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| A Definition of "Films" and "Movies" HTML (7KB) or PDF Films and Movies (89KB) |
The Infamous Robot in Fritz Lang's "Metropolis"
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| I have written several short tributes to people in film
(both film critics and film directors) who have died recently. These
people have all made substantial contributions to film and film
criticism. Please note that while I do not claim to have known any
of these people personally, I am familiar with their work. All three
of these individuals have produced a body of work that has enriched my own
study and enjoyment of films.
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Pauline Kael HTML (12KB) |
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Stanley Kubrick HTML (15KB) |
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Gene Siskel HTML (9KB) |
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