Month: August 2012

Just got word of this new story in Slate, about the release of Normam Mailer films. The 9-minute clip embedded in the story is mesmerizing, and I highly recommend you watch with the sound turned up, as it is often muddled. I don’t quite know what to make of it.
Continue reading Norman Mailer, filmmaker

Looking for film suggestions for a Gen Ed course on immigrant literature.  Feature films that are accessible and teachable–I’m thinking of doing 2-3 films in addition to the literature.  This is a new course with a historical span.  Also anything featuring immigrants in the Midwest would be great too.  Thanks!

 

If it is not too hard to believe, Expendables 2 is even better than its predecessor. Sure, it essentially has no plot, and there is something painful about watching Stallone and Dolph Lungren stagger around the place pretending to be young again. But the action sequences are well-choreographed, and it is played for laughs with everyone pretty much winking their way through the scenes. Van Damme is slyly villainous; Chuck Norris has a couple of good turns. And Schwarzenegger has a blast. He and Bruce Willis trade references to each others’ movies. It’s silly, very silly, but it’s my kind of silly. Continue reading Trashy Fun at the Movieplex