Ten Years of Film Interpretation

In Metaphilm, and in these books . . .

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Fahrenheit 451 Misinterpreted

“He says the culprit in Fahrenheit 451 is not the state — it is the people. Unlike Orwell’s 1984, in which the government uses television screens to indoctrinate citizens, Bradbury envisioned television as an opiate. In the book, Bradbury refers to televisions as “walls” and its actors as “family,” a truth evident to anyone who has heard a recap of network shows in which a fan refers to the characters by first name, as if they were relatives or friends.” Amy E. Boyle Johnston, LA Weekly

Love Titanic, But in a Rush?

If you’ve already memorized the movie, and just want to feel it all again in under a minute, well here you go:  Film compression for your busy life.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

The Surf Also Rises

“So it’s no surprise that—despite all the clichés about blissed-out surf-stoners—the most serious and ambitious surf movies convey a traditional, indeed heroic ethos. And it’s probably no surprise that they sometimes share a peculiar fate with other films that offer idealized portraits of heroic masculinity, such as this year’s 300—the tendency to have clueless film critics misread them as ‘homoerotic.’” —Matt Feeney, Slate, h/t reader Tim Moran. Also: “The frisson of attraction that abides in the Johnny-Bodhi standoff is erotic, all right. But it isn’t homosexual desire. It’s narcissism, the delight of seeing one’s rare magnificence in someone else.”