Category: Mediaphilism

I recommend Fritz Lang’s Science Fiction adventure because it is such a spectacle for the eyes, with incredible costume designs, massive sets, cast of hundreds, incredible feats of choreography, brilliantly defined characters, all of which continue to rival the greatest films of the modern day. All this from a 1929 silent film with a full…

“The cinema is the most powerful weapon,” Mussolini proclaimed in 1922, but it was Germany’s Third Reich that produced the film with the most influence on modern day cinema. Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of Will cast the mold for fascist style. The influence of her film is recognizable in films as wide and diverse as Charlie…

Here’s my compilation of various resources in which I think writers might be interested. They are in no particular order or categorization. The Literary Market Place Get to your public library first thing in the morning to get your hands on this book. Otherwise all of the other writer’s in your local community will grab…

Born in 1922, Kurt Vonnegut is a representative of the “Greatest Generation,” that group who saved the Earth from evil in WWII; yet, Vonnegut’s writing style speaks best to my own generation “X.” He is funny, edgy, off-color, yet poignant, matching the minds of a Generation skeptical of authority and a tendency to ridicule the…

“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” – T.S. Eliot, “Little Gidding” “Lola Runs” is the literal translation of Tom Tykwer’s energized masterpiece, and I think it far more apropos than the title given…

The Marvel Comics revolution, led by Stan Lee, was so immensely successful because it moved the focus of superhero stories from the purely fantastic nature of these beings into the characters behind them. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman all had alter egos that were difficult for audiences to identify with. They were two-dimensional, cardboard props…

At one point in Frederico Fellini’s 8 1/2 Guido, an idealistic film Director, sits in his car, staring at the towering skeleton of a set for his now abandoned film. Sitting in the passenger seat is a film critic consultant, telling him this is all for the best, that it was better to let the…

Ashitaka, Prince of the Amishi, a small, peacefull village, has detected a demon approaching. The plant life withers under its touch. Ashitaka pleads with the monster, attempting to calm it and turn it away. When that fails, he kills it as a last resort. During the conflict, he is struck and infected with the God’s…

The Seventh Seal Antonius Block has returned from 10 years in Crusades to the shores of Sweden, a country being ravaged by the plague. There, on the beach, he meets Death, and knows that it is his time. Antonius challenges Death to a chess match, if he wins, Death must let him go free. Death…

Seeing the film “Mystic River” in the Regal Cinema multiplex demonstrates the power of the theatrical exhibition over television’s presentation. With its much larger dimensions, the theater’s screen draws the audience into the film’s action to the exclusion of all else. This world creation through the theater’s visual superiority grows even more enhanced with its…

In the films “Devil in a Blue Dress” and “Murder, My Sweet” the Hard-Boiled Detective protagonist encounters a menagerie of characters who are deceptive, dangerous, and powerful, all working either directly or indirectly to complicate his quest for the truth. The Floozy appears to help the Detective, while actually pursuing her own motives. The Mad…

Director Wu Tianming creates a real-life fantasy world as the stage for his film “King of the Masks”. With this backdrop, we follow the story of an eight-year old girl, Liu, as she struggles against tradition, adult authority, and the need to survive in her quest for a family. While her actions are grounded in…