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five film finalists So I've been giving some thought, over the last week or so, to next semester's syllabus. It will be a reprise of last spring's "Researching and Writing About Film" course, although I'm giving thought to integrating more group readings into the course. As a result, I started thinking about the BFI Modern Classics series of "succinct and beautifully illustrated paperbacks," in which "distinguished film critics, scholars, and novelists explore the production and reception of their chosen films in the context of an argument about the film's importance." I've read two of the books in this series (Ryan Gilbey's Groundhog Day and S. S. Prawer's Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht) and enjoyed both of them: they each were smart and substantial, and (more importantly for classroom use) they each seemed accessible to a audience of (relatively bright) general readers. They might need to work a little bit, but they wouldn't need to learn a whole body of esoteric film theory (or any other critical theory) in order to get the main points. With that in mind, I've decided to choose two films for next semester that have BFI volumes written about them: it's a good way for me to narrow down the otherwise bewilderingly-large field of potential movies. I put a few other restrictions in place: nothing too violent or disturbing (so Salo or The 120 Days of Sodom is out, although I'm sure Gary Indiana's book on it is worth a read), nothing too sexually explicit (ruling out Eyes Wide Shut), and nothing that's just plain weird or esoteric (bye-bye WR - Mysteries of the Organism). That still leaves a good list of films. Here are the ones I'm leaning towards most heavily... Unforgiven, by Clint Eastwood (a finalist held over from last time) Do the Right Thing, by Spike Lee Amores Perros, by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Pulp Fiction, by Quentin Tarantino and The Terminator, by James Cameron What would you pick? I should make a decision by week's end so as to order the books and start doing the secondary research. Labels: media commentary

Tuesday, December 11, 2007 6:27 PM   Comments: Do The Right Thing, obviously. Not a fan of #1, #4, #5, which I am sure all of your students have already seen, anyway. Havent seen Amores Perros. I'd choose one not on your list but on the BFI list: Trois Coleurs! Only my favorite movie(s) of all time! # posted by  Darren : 12:57 PM   Trois Coleurs... ah, yes, but I can't screen all three, I don't think. # posted by  jpb : 1:24 PM   Do Red. You could do a whole course on that one. # posted by  Darren : 2:30 PM   Yea, I'd say it's a better idea to do some films they aren't likely to have seen before. The Lee film is a great choice, and likely to spark some lively discussion. For others, I might pick Dead Man and Three Colors: Red or Blue in place of some of your more mainstream choices. I know it violates your rules and probably isn't a good choice for class, but I'd really be itching to do Crash too (the Cronenberg one, of course). # posted by  Ed Howard : 8:44 AM   I thought Dead Man and Unforgiven might make a provocative pairing. Have you read Rosenbaum's book on Dead Man? # posted by  jpb : 3:37 PM   Post a Comment