Movie night and definitions for red herring and white elephant
Movie Night
Week LVI
Cobweb Hotel dir. Fleischer Brothers (1936) (short)
Copy Shop dir. Virgil Widrich (2001) (short)
Teorama dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini (1968)
short winter break
Week LV
Jumping dir. Osamu Tezuka (1984) (short)
Red Hot Riding Hood dir. Tex Avery (1943) (short)
La Ronde dir. Max Ophüls (1950)
Week LIV
C'etait un Rendezvous dir. Claude Lelouch (1976) (short)
Cashback dir. Sean Ellis (2007) (short)
Goyokin dir. Hideo Gosha (1969)
Week LIII
The Seasons dir. Artavazd Peleshyan (1975) (short)
Doppelganger dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa (2003)
Dreamworks dir. Peter Tscherkassky (2001) (short)
Week LII
Tango dir. Zbigniew Rybszynski (1980) (short)
Neighbors dir. Norman McLaren (1952) (short)
The Earrings of Madame de... dir. Max Ophüls (1953)
Week LI - New location!
Bumping into Broadway dir. Harold Lloyd (1919) (short)
Miracle in Milan dir. Vittorio de Sica (1951)
ELECTION!
Week L
Black Christmas dir. Bob Clark (1974)
A Tale of Two Sisters dir. Ji-woon Kim (2003)
A Page of Madness dir. Teinosuke Kinugasa (1926)(short)
Week XLIX
From Beyond dir. Stuart Gordon (1986)
Zombi 2 dir. Lucio Fulci (1979)
2008 presidential debates
Week XLVIII
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes dir. Stan Brakage (1971) (short)
Balance dir. Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein (1989) (short)
The Devils dir. Ken Russell (1971)
Cat's Cradle dir. Stan Brakage (1955) (short)
What's Opera, Doc? dir. Chuck Jones (1957) (short)
Oh Dem Watermelons dir. Robert Nelson (music by Steve Reich) (1965) (short)
Week XLVII
One Week dir. Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton (1920) (short)
The Big Gundown dir. Sergio Sollima (1966)
Week XLVI
Assault on Precinct 13 dir. John Carpenter (1976)
Week XLV
Fétiche aka The Mascot dir. Wladyslaw Starewicz (1934) (short)
Black Cat, White Cat dir. Emir Kusterica (1998)
Week XLIV
Alone. Life Wastes Andy Hardy dir. Martin Arnold (1998) (short)
Hotel E dir. Priit Pärn (1992) (short)
Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets dir. Shuji Terayama (1971)
summer break
Week XLIII
Double Indemnity dir. Billy Wilder (1944)
(we were supposed to watch The Fury (1936), but started late)
Week XLII
Sexmission dir. Juliusz Machulski (1984)
Sleeper dir. Woody Allen (1973)
Week XLI
A Boy and His Dog dir. L.Q. Jones (1975)
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind dir. Hayao Miyazaki (1984)
Week XL
Daisies dir. Vera Chytilová (1966)
A Moment of Innocence dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf (1996)
Week XXXIX
A Woman Is a Woman dir. Jean-Luc Godard (1961)
(we were supposed to watch My Life to Live (1962), but started late)
Week XXXVIII
Baby Face dir. Alfred E. Green (1933)
Red-Headed Woman dir. Jack Conway (1932)
Week XXXVII
I Am Cuba dir. Mikhail Kalatozov (1964)
Week XXXVI
Hausu dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi (1977)
Black Lizard dir. Kinji Fukasaku (1968)
Week XXXV
The Beyond dir. Lucio Fulci (1981)
Hatchet for the Honeymoon dir. Mario Bava (1970)
Week XXXIV
Who Can Kill a Child? dir. Narciso Ibáñez Serrador (1976)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer dir. Tom Tykwer (2006)
Week XXXIII
Gold Diggers of 1933 dir. Mervyn LeRoy (chor. Busby Berkley) (1933)
Sullivan's Travels dir. Preston Sturges (1941)
Week XXXII
Daughters of Darkness dir. Harry Kümel (1971)
La Belle Captive dir. Alain Robbe-Grillet (1983)
Week XXXI
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance dir. Kenji Misumi (1972)
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin dir. Chia-Liang Liu (1978)
Week XXX
Possession dir. Andrzej Zulawski (1981)
(we were supposed to watch The Reflecting Skin, but started late)
Week XXIX
The Hustler dir. Robert Rossen (1961)
(we were supposed to watch Hud, but started late)
Week XXVIII
I'm Not There dir. Todd Haynes (2007)
Paprika dir. Satoshi Kon (2006)
Week XXVII
Gate of Flesh dir. Seijun Suzuki (1964)
Battles Without Honor and Humanity 5: Final Episode dir. Kinji Fukasaku (1974)
Week XXVI (curated by Ben)
Fata Morgana dir. Wener Herzog (1971) [mainly used as background]
Stardust Memories dir. Woody Allen (1980)
Week XXV
Funky Forest: The First Contact dir. Katsuhito Ishii (2005)
Persepolis dir. Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi (2007) [shown at theater]
Week XXIV
Dog Star Man: I-III dir. Stan Brackage (1962-64) (short)
Stalker dir. Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)
Week XXIII
Lola dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1981)
All That Heaven Allows dir. Douglas Sirk (1955)
Week XXII
The Way Things Go dir. Peter Fischli & David Weiss (1987) (short)
Mr. Hulot's Holiday dir. Jacques Tati (1953)
Ace in the Hole dir. Billy Wilder (1951)
Week XXI
Dzhamilya dir. Irina Poplavskaya (1969)
Loves of a Blonde dir. Milos Foreman (1965)
Week XX
Broken Down Film dir. Osamu Tezuka (1985) (short)
Legend of the Forest dir. Osamu Tezuka (1987) (short)
Sweet Movie dir. Dusan Makavejev (1974)
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner dir. Werner Herzog (1974) (short)
Week XIX
Suspiria dir. Dario Argento (1977)
Eyes without a Face dir. Georges Franju (1960)
Week XVIII
The Thing dir. John Carpenter (1982)
(we were supposed to watch Daughters of Darkness, but started late)
Week XVII
Texas Chainsaw Massacre dir. Tobe Hooper (1974)
Evil Dead 2 dir. Sam Raimi (1987)
Week XVI
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders dir. Jaromil Jires (1970)
Black Moon dir. Louis Malle (1975)
Week XV
Performance dir. Donald Cammell / Nicolas Roeg (1970)
Emperor Tomato Ketchup dir. Shuji Terayama (1971)
Week XIV
Raiders of the Lost Ark dir. Steven Speilberg (1981)
Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation by three kick-ass kids (1982-'89)
Week XIII
Purple Rain with Prince (1984) [shown at McCarren Pool]
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg dir. Jacques Demy (1964)
Week XII
Bonnie and Clyde dir. Arthur Penn (1967) [shown at McCarren Pool]
The Battle of Algiers dir. Gillo Pontecorvo (1966)
Week XI (curated by Lauren)
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai dir. W.D. Richter (1984)
Brother from Another Planet dir. John Sayles (1984)
Week X
Wayward Cloud dir. Ming-liang Tsai (2005) [shown at Monkeytown]
Roman Holiday dir. William Wyler (1953)
Week IX
Bringing Up Baby dir. Howard Hawks (1938)
Duck Amuck anim. WB, dir. Chuck Jones (1953) (short)
The Skeleton Dance Walt Disney (1929) (short)
Hedgehog in the Fog anim. Soyuzmultfilm, dir. Yuri Norstein (1975) (short)
Week VIII
Tai Chi Master (aka Twin Warriors) dir. Woo-ping Yuen (1993)
Five Deadly Venoms dir. Cheh Chang (1978)
Week VII
Hour of the Wolf dir. Igmar Bergman (1968)
Cat People dir. Jacques Tourneur (prod. Val Lewton) (1942)
Week VI
Woman in the Dunes dir. Hiroshi Teshigahara (writ. Kôbô Abe) (1964)
Balance dir. Wolfgang & Christoph Lauenstein (1989) (short)
Harpya dir. Raoul Servais (1978) (short)
Tango dir. Zbigniew Rybszynski (1980) (short)
Week V
The Great Silence dir. Sergio Corbucci (1968)
On Dangerous Ground dir. Nicholas Ray (1952)
Week IV
Rififi dir. Jules Dassin (1955)
The Hole dir. Ming-liang Tsai (1998)
Week III
Thriller: A Cruel Picture dir. Bo Arne Vibenius (1974)
Lady Snowblood dir. Toshiya Fujita (1973)
Week II
The Bride Wore Black dir. François Truffaut (1968)
(we were supposed to watch Torso, but started late)
Week I
Vanishing Point dir. Richard C. Sarafian (1971)
Two-Lane Blacktop dir. Monte Hellman (1971)
Two definitions
A white elephant is a supposedly valuable possession whose upkeep exceeds its usefulness, and it is therefore a liability. The term derives from the sacred white elephants kept by traditional Southeast Asian monarchs in Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. To possess a white elephant was regarded (and still is regarded, in Thailand and Burma) as a sign that the monarch was ruling with justice and the kingdom was blessed with peace and prosperity[citation needed]. The tradition derives from tales in the scriptures which associate a white elephant with the birth of Buddha[citation needed].
P.T. Barnum once sent an agent to buy a white elephant, sight unseen, hoping to use it as a circus attraction. When it arrived in Bridgeport, Connecticut, it was covered with large pinkish splotches and was not white at all. The public was not impressed and Barnum had to keep his "white elephant" hidden from public view in a stable while he tried to decide how to recover some of the high cost. The elephant later died when his stable burned down.[citation needed]
The metaphor was popularized in the United States after New York Giants manager John McGraw told the press that Philadelphia businessman Benjamin Shibe had "bought himself a white elephant" by acquiring the Philadelphia Athletics baseball team in 1901. The Athletics manager Connie Mack subsequently selected the elephant as the team symbol and mascot. The team is occasionally referred to as the White Elephants.
The story is filled with symbolism, including the white elephant, a costly and unwanted burden. Consistent with the oblique style of the conversation, Hemingway never explicitly states whether or not the couple will go forward with the unspecified operation.
Hemingway uses what has become known as the Iceberg Theory in which the reader is left to find the meaning beneath the surface. Hemingway was famous for his Iceberg Theory in such classic short stories as Cat in the Rain, Out of Season and The Three Day Blow.
The reader should pay close attention to eye contact in the story. The man and the girl rarely look at each other and look at other objects like the table and the hills. This contributes to the tension that exists between them. She hopes for a more meaningful life. The man, on the other hand, wants to preserve their carefree lifestyle and the baby would be a hindrance to this. He tries to pressure the girl into having an abortion so he is not tied down by the "white elephant", or an expensive burden. And while he seems to care genuinely enough about her health and what she wants, there is nevertheless a constant and underlying sense that this unborn child must go.
Red herring is a metaphor for a diversion or distraction from an original objective. An example can be found in academic examinations, particularly in mathematics and physical sciences. In some questions, information may be provided which is not necessary to solve the given problem. The presence of extraneous data often causes those taking the exam to spend too much time on the question, reducing the time given to other problems and potentially lowering the resulting score. Red herrings are frequently used in literature and cinema mysteries, where a character is presented to make the reader/viewer believe he/she is the perpetrator, when in reality it is someone far less suspicious.
Etymology
The phrase may relate to saving a hunted fox by dragging a smoked herring across its trail. This act would create a diversion through the strong smell of kippers. The Oxford English Dictionary records its first written use occurring in 1686 in this context: "To draw a red herring across the track". Michael Quinion says it is unlikely that any such act ever occured.[1]
The use of a red herring in this way is described by James Rodwell in 1863 book against the rat. Here he describes the red herring as a "kind of witch", which when dragged along the floor to make a scented trail, is a method "commonly used for charming rats" and removing them from certain places (pp 194).