Phlogged Book

In 24 and Philosophy (Blackwell, 2007), editor Jennifer Hart Reed and others explore the philosophical foundations of this popular TV show, addressing issues including loyalty, knowledge, suspicion, torture, terrorism, and warfare. Download and read our exclusive sample chapter, “How the Cell Phone Changed the World and Made 24”, then get your copy today—and support Metaphilm by purchasing from Amazon through this link.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

The Cube

Thanks to reader Mike Campbell for the link, here’s Jim Henson’s (yes, of The Muppets fame) 1969 TV film, The Cube.  You could think of it as the sequel to 1984 or Brave New World, or you could think of it as the precursor to The Wall, Brazil, The Truman Show, The Borg (of Star Trek), or The Matrix.  But if you get through all of it, you’ll never think about strawberry jam the same way again.  My favorite scene is the one in which the Professor, who can only be Marshall McLuhan channeled through Henson’s brain, appears to The Man to explain:  “Well, as I interpret what you’re doing here, this is all a very complex discussion of Reality versus Illusion.  The perfect subject for the television medium.”

Monday, April 14, 2008

Three Films Currently On Shelf

Three films currently waiting to be seen on my shelf are Helvetica, Demographic Winter, and The Cult of Sincerity.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

What Was That Sweet Ride?

Like a car you saw in a movie?  Want to know what make and model it was?  The Internet Movie Cars DataBase satisfies all your vehicular needs. 

Thursday, March 06, 2008

If Saul Bass Intro’d Star Wars

Worthy. 

Friday, February 15, 2008

No Country For Faux Amorality

If you saw No Country For Old Men, well, you know… Maybe I’m just getting old and crotchety, but did it bother you that the theme of the movie is contradicted by the director’s unwillingness to show the death of Carla Jean Moss?  Isn’t that a “tell” of sorts?  Isn’t there a morality in the director’s choice there, even in what is otherwise a nearly perfectly represented amoral universe?  Anyone care to write a feature-length piece on this?  Or just comment?  Anyone?  Bueller? 

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

24 and Philosophy

The new book, 24 and Philosophy: The World According to Jack, now available from Amazon and other booksellers, includes an essay from Metaphilm publisher Read Mercer Schuchardt, who argues that “The television program known as 24 is a documentary of the cell phone’s complete takeover of contemporary life. All else is commentary.”

The book is part of the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series, and Blackwell has allowed us to post Schuchardt’s chapter so that our readers can get a taste for the book. You can download a PDF excerpt with his essay here: “How the Cell Phone Changed the World and Made 24”. 

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Beowulf

S. T. Karnick sees the new Robert Zemeckis adaptation of Beowulf as including commentary on two recent presidential administrations, as well as the original poem’s subtext of the conversion of Europe to Christianity. The Clinton administration: “These changes clearly characterize Hrothgar’s court as analogous to the Clinton administration and point out that a people who indulge themselves and fall asleep to the perils around them are asking for trouble. Several dialogue lines make the point explicit. Just as President Clinton emboldened Muslim haters of America by ignoring or, worse, responding feebly to attacks on Americans and American property, so Hrothgar’s choices bring on disaster.” And GWB: “Beowulf, for his part, declares victory over Grendel’s mother far too soon, and his false claim of ‘mission accomplished’ wins the loyalty of his people but dooms them to future disasters. Here, too, the relation to current events is quite clear.” He ends with noting the way the film implies the possibility of future cultural transformation in the lessons of the past.

(My wife, the English grad student, says that she still can’t help wondering, whenever she hears Beowulf in the original Old English, whether the poem was Jim Henson’s inspiration for the Swedish Chef on the Muppets.)

Friday, November 02, 2007

David Lynch, Psychotic

“Watching a David Lynch film can give the viewer the impression that the director intuitively understands the underlying mechanisms of psychotic experience. Furthermore, in an age where experiential and subjective approaches to understanding mental illness have fallen out of favour, David Lynch may also offer some insight into the feeling of what it is like to suffer from psychosis.” The Psychologist, May 2007.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Shaun of the Dead

’The movie, often referred to as a “rom zom com” (romantic zombie comedy), actually serves as a sort of cinematic relationship guide, comically instructing us about dealing with commitment issues. Look at the order in which the members of Shaun’s party are killed (killed dead, not undead): #1: his stepfather (Bill Nighy); #2: his mum (Penelope Wilton); #3: the other guy who loves his girl (the underrated Dylan Moran, who must be seen in Run Fatboy Run); #4: his roommate (Peter Serafinowicz); and finally, #5: his immature best friend (Nick Frost). These are the people that have to die in order for Shaun (Simon Pegg) to devote his full attention to Liz (Kate Ashfield). In real, non-lethal terms, they are the people Shaun has to let go of before he can fully connect in a relationship.’ Christopher Campbell, Cinematical.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Stardust

Neil Gaiman, on the adaptation of his fairy tale, in an article worth reading: “Still, the people who wanted fairytales found the book, and some of them knew what it was, and liked it for being exactly that. One of those people was film-maker Matthew Vaughn.

A star still falls, a boy still promises to bring it to his true love, there are still wicked witches and ghosts and lords (although the lords have now become princes.) They even gave the story an unabashedly happy ending, which is something people tend to do when they retell fairytales.” ("Happily Ever After”, The Guardian)