Category Archives: Uncategorized
Republic Lands the Punch: Art of the Serial Dust-up
Fisticuffs were an obligatory component of almost every serial, but Republic gained distinction for developing the form into a precise articulation of force and agility. Columbia and Universal serials tended to cede pacing and presentation of fights to casually organized … Continue reading
Pi Eyed
The problem with writing an aesthetic history of the present is that the present has a nasty habit of always changing (even more than the past). Last year I published an essay on 3D in a special issue of Film … Continue reading
Chromo-Drama: Innovation and convention in Douglas Sirk’s Color Designs
The Book is OUT! This is a new anthology based on a terrific conference on Color Cinema held in Bristol England a few years ago. I’m proud to be among the contributors. I’ll say more about my contribution later … Continue reading
Emily Nussbaum on Cliffhangers!
The New Yorker has a terrific piece on Cliffhangers – pointing out the form’s long history and currency on television. Nussbaum traces a pretty clear trajectory from serials to daytime TV to prime-time dramas and thrillers. Her point that … Continue reading
A Moment of Cinema
Last November, Steve Collins, Jeanine Basinger and I presented a WeSeminar to students, parents, and alums entitled “The Cinematic Moment: A Glimpse into the Wesleyan Film Studies Classroom.” The idea was to give a quick and vivid idea of how … Continue reading
Cliffhanging by the Pool
I’m starting to see my topic everywhere. So, it shouldn’t have surprised me that when I took a break from my chapter on cliffhangers to watch the last episode of the BBC’s Sherlock season 1, I found myself face … Continue reading
Looking with Arnheim
Routledge has just published a volume I edited titled ARNHEIM FOR FILM AND MEDIA STUDIES. I’ll admit it seems weird to devote a new volume of media scholarship to the work of Rudolf Arnheim. In our culturalist era, Arnheim seems … Continue reading
Serial Art
Here’s a not too brief discussion of what I’ve been up to, and why. Batman dies at the end of Batman’s Last Chance, chapter 10 of Columbia’s 1949 serial. During his punch-up with a gang of The Wizard’s thugs in … Continue reading
Stallone, Expendables, and Color Today
I have a theory that Stallone films, like Bond films, are excellent indicators of what film style looks like in popular cinema at any particular moment – they tend to be competent, and to show off whatever is thought to … Continue reading