... Body in Question: Image and Illusion in Two Chinese Films by Director Jiang Wen is a wonderful resource. I thought I'd share my mini-review here. I'm still working on my post with a breakdown/review of his films, FYI.

Body in Question offers extremely useful insights for unpacking renowned Chinese filmmaker Jiang Wen’s subversive and ( Read more... )

This past summer marks the 200th anniversary of the infamous Year without a Summer, during which the Villa Diodati near Lake Geneva in Switzerland served as the setting of a historic literary meeting of the minds. Two of the remarkable products of that gathering (which included Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, later to become Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe ( Read more... )

It's film time! Every year about this time I think about good Halloween films (not necessarily horror movies, and definitely not lame slasher pictures, but suspenseful, atmospheric films that put a chill up the spine) that are "off the beaten path" -- that is, films that are independent, foreign, direct to DVD or VOD, or somehow under promoted, and ( Read more... )

I'm still broken up about the loss of Anton Yelchin. Art, when it's done well, transcends its time and the artificial boundaries we place between each other, and it helps us reflect on our humanity in the long term. Yelchin was one of those rare artists whose restraint, subtlety, and fierce intelligence made his performances stand apart and speak ( Read more... )

Tropical Mary of MoviePilot.com poses an interesting question: "What was the first horror movie ever made?"

The answer hinges on whether or not we count the 17-second silent film The Execution of Mary Stuart from 1895 (directed by Alfred Clark and produced by Thomas Edison) as horror or historical drama.


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My latest "Looking Back on Genre History" segment is up today on StarShipSofa's Episode 440. I discuss the two classic (and non-Star Wars) films director Rian Johnson has named as significant inspirations for Star Wars Episode VIII. (Fear not: there are no Star Wars spoilers/speculations in the segment.)

If you listen, I hope you enjoy!


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It's film time! Every year about this time I think about good Halloween films (not necessarily horror movies, and definitely not lame slasher pictures, but suspenseful, atmospheric films that put a chill up the spine) that are "off the beaten path" -- that is, films that are independent, foreign, direct to DVD or VOD, or somehow under promoted, and ( Read more... )

Three things today that are awesome:

1. H.P. Lovecraft’s copy of the famous novel Moby Dick has been found.

2. There's a new Harry Potter movie coming out, and Snape fans will love it.

3. And last but not least, one of my graduate students, Mark Lachniet, made this film on "The 'Real' Science of Lovecraft's 'The Colour Out of Space'"! Woohoo!

Click to view

It's film time! Every year about this time I think about good Halloween films (not necessarily horror movies, and definitely not lame slasher pictures, but suspenseful, atmospheric films that put a chill up the spine) that are "off the beaten path" -- that is, films that are independent, foreign, direct to DVD or VOD, or somehow under promoted, and ( Read more... )