ENG 102: Cultural Analysis

(Developing for my students who are researching/writing cultural analysis essays)

Subjects/Themes

Action

Hauka, David. "'Christ That Hurts': Rewriting the Jesus Narrative -- Violence and the Language of Action Cinema in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ Cinephile #2 (March 2006)

Aesthetics

Flanagan, Matthew. "Towards an Aesthetic of Slow in Contemporary Cinema." 16:9 (November 2008)

Animals

Geller, Conrad. "Grizzly Man." Cineaste (Winter 2005): Reprinted in Annual Editions: Film 07/08 158-159 [Available in BCTC Library PN1993 A6285]

North, Dan. "“All a Man Can Do is Look Upon it”: What’s With the Werckmeister Whale?" Spectacular Attractions (December 3, 2009)

Animation

"Animation: Timeline -- From Trick Effects To CGI." Sight and Sound (August 2006)

Barsam, Richard. "Evolution of Animation Techniques." Looking at Movies. 2nd ed. (Student Website: W.W. Norton, 2006)

Bordwell, David. "Coraline, Cornered." Observations on Film Art (February 23, 2009)

Sabo, Lee Weston. "Inimitable Charm: Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox Bright Lights Film Journal #67 (February 2010)

Apocalyptic/Post-Apocalyptic

Pomerance, Murray. "What Ever is Happening to M. Night Shyamalan: Meditation on an 'Infection' Film." Film International 8.1 (2010) [Professor has copy]

Vincent, Jonathan. "Left Behind in America: The Army of One at the End of History." Reframing 9/11: Film, Popular Culture and the "War on Terror." ed. Jeff Birkenstein, et al. NY: Continuum, 2010: 45-56. [Professor has copy]

Body

Cromb, Brenda. "Gorno: Violence, Shock and Comedy." Cinephile #4 (Summer 2008)

Krautheim, Graeme. "Aspiring to the Void: The Collapse of Genre and Erasure of Body in Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible." Cinephile #4 (Summer 2008)

British Media/Culture

Helsby, Wendy, ed. Understanding Representation. London: BFI, 2005.[Available in BCTC Library PN 1995 U4977 2005]

Censorship

Roth, Chris. "Three Decades of Film Censorship ... Right Before Your Eyes." The Humanist (January/February 2000): Reprinted in Annual Editions: Film 07/08 89-91 [Available in BCTC Library PN1993 A6285]

Children

Rapold, Nicolas and Matt Zoller Seitz. "A History of Creepy Kids on Film." L Magazine (August 3, 2009)

Cinematography

American Cinematographer (Magazine)

Crime

Ashbury, Roy. "Prostitution." Understanding Representation. ed. Wendy Helsby. London: BFI, 2005: 115-142. [Available in BCTC Library PN 1995 U4977 2005]

Helsby, Wendy. "Roughs and Respectables: Representing the 'Other.'" Understanding Representation. ed. Wendy Helsby. London: BFI, 2005: 143-164. [Available in BCTC Library PN 1995 U4977 2005]

Documentaries

Geller, Conrad. "Grizzly Man." Cineaste (Winter 2005): Reprinted in Annual Editions: Film 07/08 158-159 [Available in BCTC Library PN1993 A6285]

Lesage, Julie. "Torture Documentaries." Jump Cut #51 (Spring 2009)

Mieszkowski, Katharine. "Did Al Get the Science Right." Salon (June 10, 2006): Reprinted in Annual Editions: Film 07/08 89-91 [Available in BCTC Library PN1993 A6285]

Roth, Chris. "Three Decades of Film Censorship ... Right Before Your Eyes." The Humanist (January/February 2000): Reprinted in Annual Editions: Film 07/08 89-91 [Available in BCTC Library PN1993 A6285]

Dreams

Rose, James. "The Dreaming and The Dreamt: A Lexicon of Neil Jordan’s The Company of Wolves." Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies #2 (March 2007)

Environment

Mieszkowski, Katharine. "Did Al Get the Science Right." Salon (June 10, 2006): Reprinted in Annual Editions: Film 07/08 89-91 [Available in BCTC Library PN1993 A6285]

Family

Cozzalio, Dennis. "Code Unknown and Crash: Collisions, Connections and Catharsis." Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly (February 13, 2006)

Turner, Pauline. "Images of the Family." Understanding Representation. ed. Wendy Helsby. London: BFI, 2005: 33-50. [Available in BCTC library PN1995 U4977 2005]

Fantasy

Snider, John C. and David Driscoll. "The Golden Compass American Freethought (December 15, 2007)

Food

Koresky, Michael. "Raw Meat: Fast Food Nation Reverse Shot #26 (2010)

Stephens, Gregory. "Corn-Fed Culture: Living Large and "Eating Shit" in King Corn and Fast Food Nation." Bright Lights Film Journal #6(May 2010)

French Cinema

Phillips, Craig. "Primers: French New Wave." Green Cine (2005)

Gender

Cherry, Brigid. "Gothics and Grand Guignols: Violence and the gendered Aesthetics of Cinematic Horror." Particip@tions 5.1 (May 2008)

"Gender and Violence." Cinephile #1 (2005)

Genre

Arthur, Paul. "Endgame." Film Comment (November/December 2005)

Eig, Jonathan. "A Beautiful Mind(fuck) -- Hollywood Structures of Identity." Jump Cut #46 (2003)

MacDowell, James. "The 'Quirky' New Wave." Alternate Takes (July 21, 2005)

Moine, Raphaelle. Cinema Genre. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2008. [available in BCTC Library]

"Post-Genre." (Special Issue) Cinephile #4 (Summer 2008)

Sorfa, David. "Uneasy domesticity in the films of
Michael Haneke." Studies in European Cinema 3.2 (2006)

Tait, R. Colin. "The HBO-ification of Genre." Cinephile #4 (Summer 2008)

Tarancon, Juan A. "Genre Matters: Film Criticism and the Social Relevance of Genres." Cineaction #80 (2010) [Available from your teacher]

Ghosts

Jarvis, Brian. "Anamorphic allegory in The Ring, or, seven ways of looking at a horror video." Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies #3 (November 2007)

Kermode, Mark. "Spirit Levels." Sight and Sound (August 2005): Reprinted in Annual Editions: Film 07/08 89-91 [Available in BCTC Library PN1993 A6285]

Nelson, Lindsay. "Ghosts of the Past, Ghosts of the Future: Monsters, Children, and Contemporary Japanese Horror Cinema." Cinemascope #13 (July-December 2009)

Ozawa, Eimi. "Remaking Corporeality and Spatiality: U.S. Adaptations of Japanese Horror Films." 49th Parallel (Autumn 2006)

"Paranormal cinematic activity: ghost film studies." Film Studies for Free (April 27, 2010)

Gypsies/Travelers

Helsby, Wendy. "Roughs and Respectables: Representing the 'Other.'" Understanding Representation. ed. Wendy Helsby. London: BFI, 2005: 143-164. [Available in BCTC Library PN 1995 U4977 2005]

HBO

Tait, R. Colin. "The HBO-ification of Genre." Cinephile #4 (Summer 2008)

History

Burgoyne, Robert. Film Nation: Hollywood Looks at U.S. History. revised ed. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. [BCTC Library: PN1995.9 H5 B87 2010]

Holocaust

Nelson, Anne. "The Obligations of History: Accuracy versus irony in depictions of the Holocaust." Moving Image Source (April 1, 2010)

Horror

Balmain, Colette. "Inside the Well of Loneliness: Towards a Definition of the Japanese Horror Film." Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies (May 2, 2006)

Becker, Matt. "A Point of Little Hope: Hippie Horror Films and the Politics of
Ambivalence." The Velvet Light Trap #57 (Spring 2006): 42-59.

Bloom, Michael. "Reanimating the Living Dead: Uncovering the Zombie Archetype in the Works of George A. Romero." Offscreen (April 30, 2009)

Burris, Gregory A. "Shocked and Awed?: Hostel and the Spectacle of Self-Mutilation." Cine-Action #80 (2010) [Available from your teacher]

Chapman, Mark. "Reconceptualizing the Uncanny Vampire: Claire Denis' Trouble Every Day Bright Lights Film Journal #68 (May 2010)

Cherry, Brigid. "Gothics and Grand Guignols: Violence and the gendered Aesthetics of Cinematic Horror." Particip@tions 5.1 (May 2008)

Cromb, Brenda. "Gorno: Violence, Shock and Comedy." Cinephile #4 (Summer 2008)

Dawson, Mike. "Horror Movies as Modern Day Morality Tales, Pts 1-5." Left Field Cinema (2008/2009)

Hilden, Julie. "Free Speech and the Concept of "Torture Porn": Why are Critics So Hostile to Hostel II?" Find Law (July 16, 2007)

Jarvis, Brian. "Anamorphic allegory in The Ring, or, seven ways of looking at a horror video." Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies #3 (November 2007)

Kermode, Mark. "Spirit Levels." Sight and Sound (August 2005): Reprinted in Annual Editions: Film 07/08 89-91 [Available in BCTC Library PN1993 A6285]

Orange, Michelle. "Taking Back the Knife: Girls Gone Gory." The New York Times (September 3, 2009)

Ozawa, Eimi. "Remaking Corporeality and Spatiality: U.S. Adaptations of Japanese Horror Films." 49th Parallel (Autumn 2006)

"Paranormal cinematic activity: ghost film studies." Film Studies for Free (April 27, 2010)

Identity

Eig, Jonathan. "A Beautiful Mind(fuck) -- Hollywood Structures of Identity." Jump Cut #46 (2003)

Helsby, Wendy. "Beyond Britishness: Identity and Difference." Understanding Representation. ed. Wendy Helsby. London: BFI, 2005: 189-204. [Available in BCTC Library PN 1995 U4977 2005]

Indian Cinema

Khair, Tabish. "The Ironies of Bollywood." 16:9 (April 2009)

Japanese Cinema

Balmain, Colette. "Inside the Well of Loneliness: Towards a Definition of the Japanese Horror Film." Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies (May 2, 2006)

Kermode, Mark. "Spirit Levels." Sight and Sound (August 2005): Reprinted in Annual Editions: Film 07/08 89-91 [Available in BCTC Library PN1993 A6285]

Nelson, Lindsay. "Ghosts of the Past, Ghosts of the Future: Monsters, Children, and Contemporary Japanese Horror Cinema." Cinemascope #13 (July-December 2009)

Ozawa, Eimi. "Remaking Corporeality and Spatiality: U.S. Adaptations of Japanese Horror Films." 49th Parallel (Autumn 2006)

Memory

"On Popular Memory and Third Cinema: The Work of Teshome Gabriel." Film Studies for Free (June 18, 2010)

Mental Illness

Cassey, Joe. "Mental Illness." Understanding Representation. ed. Wendy Helsby. London: BFI, 2005: 99-114. [Available in BCTC Library PN 1995 U4977 2005]

Music

Piechota, Carole Lyn. "Give Me a Second Grace: Music as Absolution in The Royal Tenenbaums." Senses of Cinema (2005)

Nationalism

Fletcher, Phoebe. “Fucking Americans”: Postmodern Nationalisms in the Contemporary Splatter Film #18 (December 2009)

Helsby, Wendy. "Beyond Britishness: Identity and Difference." Understanding Representation. ed. Wendy Helsby. London: BFI, 2005: 189-204. [Available in BCTC Library PN 1995 U4977 2005]

Kleinhans, Chuck. "Imagining Torture." Jump Cut #51 (Spring 2009)

Kleinhans, Chuck, John Hess and Julia Lesage. "The Last Word: Torture and the National Imagination." #50 (Summer 2008)

Ramey, Mark. "Football and Film: Representing Nationality." Understanding Representation. ed. Wendy Helsby. London: BFI, 2005: 169-188. [Warning to Americans--this is about what you call soccer. Available in BCTC Library PN 1995 U4977 2005]

Police

Helsby, Wendy. "Constables, Coppers, Rozzers, the Old Bill--The Police." Understanding Representation. ed. Wendy Helsby. London: BFI, 2005: 75-92. [Available in BCTC Library PN 1995 U4977 2005]

McMillan, Alasdair. "Dramatizing Individuation: Institutions, Assemblages, and The Wire>" #4 (Summer 2008)

Prostitution

Ashbury, Roy. "Prostitution." Understanding Representation. ed. Wendy Helsby. London: BFI, 2005: 115-142. [Available in BCTC Library PN 1995 U4977 2005]

Race

Cozzalio, Dennis. "Code Unknown and Crash: Collisions, Connections and Catharsis." Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly (February 13, 2006)

Religion

Hauka, David. "'Christ That Hurts': Rewriting the Jesus Narrative -- Violence and the Language of Action Cinema in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ Cinephile #2 (March 2006)

Snider, John C. and David Driscoll. "The Golden Compass American Freethought (December 15, 2007)

"Theology and the Political." Cinephile #2 (March 2006)

Vincent, Jonathan. "Left Behind in America: The Army of One at the End of History." Reframing 9/11: Film, Popular Culture and the "War on Terror." ed. Jeff Birkenstein, et al. NY: Continuum, 2010: 45-56.

Watching Theology (Podcast)

Representation

Helsby, Wendy, ed. Understanding Representation. London: BFI, 2005. [Available in BCTC library PN1995 U4977 2005]

Romance

Schneider, Richard, Jr., et al. "Not Quitting Brokeback/Lost in Adaptation/The Hate Crime/Beyond the Mountain." Gay & Lesbian Review (May/June 2006): Reprinted in Annual Editions: Film 07/08 170-174 [Available in BCTC Library PN1993 A6285]

Scene Analysis

"The Scene." (Special Issue) Cinephile 5.1 (2009)

Schools, Students and Teachers

Ashbury, Roy. "Schools and Teachers." Understanding Representation. ed. Wendy Helsby. London: BFI, 2005: 51-74. [Available in BCTC library PN1995 U4977 2005]

Seitz, Matt Zoller. "It Was Ten Years Ago Today: Reliving Freaks and Geeks (September 25, 2009)

Science Fiction

Brin, David. "Star Wars despots vs. Star Trek populists: Why is George Lucas peddling an elitist, anti-democratic agenda under the guise of escapist fun?." Salon (June 15, 1999)

McKitterick, Christopher. "The Literature of Change." World Literature Today (May/June 2010)

Sex and Sexuality

Ashbury, Roy. "Prostitution." Understanding Representation. ed. Wendy Helsby. London: BFI, 2005: 115-142. [Available in BCTC Library PN 1995 U4977 2005]

Benton, Michael. "American Culture: Sex and Sexuality 2.0 Dialogic (May 27, 2010)

Schneider, Richard, Jr., et al. "Not Quitting Brokeback/Lost in Adaptation/The Hate Crime/Beyond the Mountain." Gay & Lesbian Review (May/June 2006): Reprinted in Annual Editions: Film 07/08 170-174 [Available in BCTC Library PN1993 A6285]

Soldiers

Vicari, Justin. "Post-Iraq cinema — veteran heroes in The Jacket and Harsh Times." Jump Cut #51 (Spring, 2009)

Sound

Creekmur, Corey K. "The Sound of the 'War on Terror.'" Reframing 9/11: Film, Popular Culture and the "War on Terror." ed. Jeff Birkenstein, et al. NY: Continuum, 2010: 83-93.

Sports

Ramey, Mark. "Football and Film: Representing Nationality." Understanding Representation. ed. Wendy Helsby. London: BFI, 2005: 169-188. [Warning to Americans--this is about what you call soccer. Available in BCTC Library PN 1995 U4977 2005]

Stereotypes

Helsby, Wendy, ed. Understanding Representation. London: BFI, 2005. [Available in BCTC library PN1995 U4977 2005]

Surveillance Society

McMillan, Alasdair. "Dramatizing Individuation: Institutions, Assemblages, and The Wire>" #4 (Summer 2008)

Teens

Seitz, Matt Zoller. "It Was Ten Years Ago Today: Reliving Freaks and Geeks (September 25, 2009)

Third Cinema

Marzana, Nicola. "The Art of Hunger: Re-Defining Third Cinema." 16:9 (November 2009)

"On Popular Memory and Third Cinema: The Work of Teshome Gabriel." Film Studies for Free (June 18, 2010)

Torture

Burris, Gregory A. "Shocked and Awed?: Hostel and the Spectacle of Self-Mutilation." Cine-Action #80 (2010) [Available from your teacher]

Fletcher, Phoebe. “Fucking Americans”: Postmodern Nationalisms in the Contemporary Splatter Film #18 (December 2009)

Hilden, Julie. "Free Speech and the Concept of "Torture Porn": Why are Critics So Hostile to Hostel II?" Find Law (July 16, 2007)

Kleinhans, Chuck. "Imagining Torture." Jump Cut #51 (Spring 2009)

Kleinhans, Chuck, John Hess and Julia Lesage. "The Last Word: Torture and the National Imagination." #50 (Summer 2008)

Lesage, Julie. "Torture Documentaries." Jump Cut #51 (Spring 2009)

Murray, Gabrielle. "Images of Torture, Images of Terror: Post 9/11 and the Escalation of Screen Violence." Monash University Film and TV Studies (Podcast of a Lecture: March 20, 2008)

Rosler, Martha. "A Simple Case for Torture." Jump Cut #51 (Spring 2009)

Vampires

Chapman, Mark. "Reconceptualizing the Uncanny Vampire: Claire Denis' Trouble Every Day Bright Lights Film Journal #68 (May 2010)

Veterans

Vicari, Justin. "Post-Iraq cinema — veteran heroes in The Jacket and Harsh Times." Jump Cut #51 (Spring 2009)

Violence

Benton, Michael Dean. "Violence in Films." Dialogic (October 8, 2008)

"Gender and Violence." Cinephile #1 (2005)

Hauka, David. "'Christ That Hurts': Rewriting the Jesus Narrative -- Violence and the Language of Action Cinema in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ Cinephile #2 (March 2006)

Murray, Gabrielle. "Images of Torture, Images of Terror: Post 9/11 and the Escalation of Screen Violence." Monash University Film and TV Studies (Podcast of a Lecture: March 20, 2008)

War on Terror

Creekmur, Corey K. "The Sound of the 'War on Terror.'" Reframing 9/11: Film, Popular Culture and the "War on Terror." ed. Jeff Birkenstein, et al. NY: Continuum, 2010: 83-93.

Froula, Anna. "Prolepsis and the 'War on Terror': Zombie Pathology and the Culture of Fear in 28 Days Later...." Reframing 9/11: Film, Popular Culture and the "War on Terror." ed. Jeff Birkenstein, et al. NY: Continuum, 2010: 195-2008.

McSweeney, Terence. "The Land of the Dead and the Home of the Brave: Romero's Vision of a Post-9/11 America." Reframing 9/11: Film, Popular Culture and the "War on Terror." ed. Jeff Birkenstein, et al. NY: Continuum, 2010: 107-116. [Professor has a copy]

Zombie

Bloom, Michael. "Reanimating the Living Dead: Uncovering the Zombie Archetype in the Works of George A. Romero." Offscreen (April 30, 2009)

Froula, Anna. "Prolepsis and the 'War on Terror': Zombie Pathology and the Culture of Fear in 28 Days Later...." Reframing 9/11: Film, Popular Culture and the "War on Terror." ed. Jeff Birkenstein, et al. NY: Continuum, 2010: 195-2008. [Professor has a copy]

McSweeney, Terence. "The Land of the Dead and the Home of the Brave: Romero's Vision of a Post-9/11 America." Reframing 9/11: Film, Popular Culture and the "War on Terror." ed. Jeff Birkenstein, et al. NY: Continuum, 2010: 107-116. [Professor has a copy]

Read, Jason. "Zombie as Critic." Unemployed Negativity (June 11, 2007)

"Understanding the Zombie Mentality, Pt. 3." Dialogic (July 29, 2005)