film

• 
• SOURCE: TomDispatch
  3/19/2023
  

  We Miss Dr. Strangelove now that We've Learned to Stop Worrying and Forget the Bomb

  by Andrew Bacevich

  Kubrick's classic film forced viewers to confront the possibility that the controls of the world's nuclear weapons were held by fools, fanatics, and outright lunatics. Today, it's too easy to ignore it altogether. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  3/10/2023
  

  What Anna May Wong's History Tells us About Oscar's Asian and Asian American Moment

  by Katie Gee Salisbury

  The first Asian-American film star got her break when a film company cast ethnic actors in a 1922 film made to test out the new Technicolor technology. But Hollywood's racial politics and commercial imperatives kept other Asian actors from stardom. 

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• SOURCE: Hollywood Progressive
  3/1/2023
  

  "Mr. Jones" Shows Fake News Has Always Been a Weapon Against Ukraine

  by Walter G. Moss

  The new Amazon feature "Mr. Jones" details the famine imposed on Ukraine by Stalin's policies in the 1930s, and the battle among journalists to control the story. It's a timely reminder of the connection of information and power. 

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• SOURCE: Los Angeles Review of Books
  2/26/2023
  

  30 Years Later, "Falling Down" Still Shows the Shallowness of Suburbanites' Views of the City

  by Carl Abbott

  Set in a moment of economic upheaval, racial conflict, and media-driven fear of crime, Joel Schumacher's film reflected the degree of separation between America's suburbs and cities. Today, it's necessary to recognize that its portrayal of hostility and alienation isn't inevitable. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Nation
  2/27/2023
  

  "Argentina, 1985" is a Warning for 2023

  The film's most important contribution is to remind that the rule of law must be maintained.

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  2/27/2023
  

  20 Biopics Worth Watching

  It's rare for a biopic to attempt artistic innovation. A critic offers a list of those that succeed. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  2/16/2023
  

  From "Birth of a Nation" to "Till": The Politics of White House Screenings

  The Bidens hosted a group of about 100 historians, civil rights leaders, and members of Congress to screen the biographical film adaptation of the story of Emmett Till and his mother's quest for justice. 

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  1/23/2023
  

  The Real Story of "Casablanca" Was the Refugees

  At its 80th anniversary, it's appropriate to honor the classic film by focusing on the waves of Europeans fleeing Nazi persecution and working to fight back. 

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• 1/15/2023
  

  Teach the History Behind "Emancipation" with the Primary Sources

  by Alan J. Singer

  Antoine Fuqua and Will Smith's "Emancipation" has rediscovered the life of an enslaved man variously called Peter or Gordon, who had been made famous through an 1863 photograph. Here's how history teachers can use the primary records of his life to accompany the film. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  1/2/2023
  

  Croatian Filmmaker Seeks to Polish Image of Late Leader by Casting... Kevin Spacey?

  Franjo Tudjman, whose post-Yugoslavia brand of ethnonationalism has been harshly criticized, remains a favorite of the Croatian right. It's unclear how casting Kevin Spacey to play him will help polish his image, however. 

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• SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
  12/18/2022
  

  How "Till" Stands out Among Civil Rights Films

  "Till" shows that it is no longer possible for a movie about the civil rights era to put historical Black characters in the shadow of white protagonists. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Hub
  10/27/2022
  

  Koritha Mitchell Discusses Representation of Racist Violence and "Till"

  Prof. Mitchell and host Karen Hunter discuss who the audience is for "Till" and whether movies about lynching are needed today. 

• 
• SOURCE: Columbia News
  8/13/2022
  

  A Columbia Prof. Fact-Checked the New Vietnam-Era Film "The Greatest Beer Run Ever"

  Although it tells the story of American protagonists, Prof. Lien-Hang Nguyen worked with the producers to ensure accuracy and avoid stereotyping in the depiction of Vietnamese characters in the film; she susggests that there are many more Vietnamese stories to tell. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  9/16/2022
  

  How True is the History in "The Woman King"?

  "'The Woman King' chooses to make resistance to slavery its moral compass, then misrepresents a kingdom that trafficked tens of thousands as a vanguard in the struggle against it."

• 
• SOURCE: Slate
  9/16/2022
  

  "The Woman King" Softens Truths of the Slave Trade

  by Ana Lucia Araujo

  The film has a delicate task: showing the involvement of the Kingdom of Dahomey in selling other Africans to European slave traders without feeding narratives that blame Africans for the slave trade. It largely sidesteps this history instead. 

• 
• SOURCE: SF Gate
  9/14/2022
  

  A Forgotten 1972 Planning Experiment Made "Star Wars" Possible

  The modeling and filming techniques that brought the attack on the Death Star to life were developed by planners using miniature cityscapes to help people experience possible urban environments before building them in real life. 

• 
• SOURCE: New Statesman
  8/17/2022
  

  Sarah Churchwell on the Lies of "Gone With the Wind"

  by Adam Hochshild

  Does a 500 page book on the historical distortions of the novel and film seem like beating a dead horse? What if the horse is still alive and threatening to trample people? 

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• SOURCE: Los Angeles Review of Books
  7/20/2022
  

  The Method is the Main Character: A Conversation with Isaac Butler

  by Lauren Goldenberg

  Isaac Butler has recently published an acclaimed book on the rise of the method school of acting and its origins with Konstantin Stanislavski's "system" of training the inner creative life of actors.

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  6/9/2022
  

  "All the President's Men": From Misguided Buddy Flick to Iconic Political Thriller

  Hollywood's original plan for the film based on Woodward and Bernstein's book was light on substance and heavy on macho hijinks. How would Watergate be remembered if the script weren't changed? 

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• 6/12/2022
  

  Top-Gunning for Empire

  by Scott Laderman

  "Top Gun: Maverick" is ressurecting the theatergoing experience. Will it do the same for American enthusiasm for the imperial ambitions it represents?