digital cinema

The challenges and opportunities facing a new era of independent and DIY filmmakers have been with us for a while now.  The “first” Mumblecore film, Andrew Bujalski’s Funny Ha Ha, came out in 2002.  The term itself was coined in 2005, at South by Southwest.  Mark Gill famously claimed that “the sky really is falling” for independent cinema back in the summer of 2008. ... read more »

A few years ago, I wrote a post discussing my fascination with the “Netflix Neighbors” phenomenon, a tool on Netflix that showed what films were most popular by zip code.  My Fayetteville neighborhood, as I noted at the time, seemed to favor children’s movies, Tyler Perry films, and to a lesser extent, action movies, all of which seem to conform to a small city with a large African-American population near a military base. ... read more »

Yes, I should be working on my syllabi.  But a few recent news stories keep distracting me (and I’m not even ready to start thinking about that Apple tablet thingie): ... read more »

Although I still haven’t had time to see Avatar yet, thanks to holiday travel and teaching obligations, I’m fascinated by the reception of the film, both as a political artifact and as a box office juggernaut.  There can be little doubt that Avatar is a huge box office success and may, in fact, surpass James Cameron’s other epic success, Titanic, in terms of all-time (non-adjusted) worldwide box office dollars.  Yes, if we adjust dollars or take into account total number of admissions, Gone with the ... read more »

Here are a few of the items I’ve been watching, reading, and thinking about in recent days: ... read more »

Via The Film Doctor’s Twitter feed, I came across this Time Magazine article about indie filmmakers who are offering some version of free access to their movies.  Many of the usual subjects are mentioned, including Nina Paley, who released Sita Sings the Blues to YouTube using a Creative Commons license. ... read more »

A few pointers to videos, blog posts, and other distractions, to celebrate the end of the semester: ... read more »

A few links to celebrate the end of finals week: ... read more »

I’m in the last throes of the semester and ready to start thinking in earnest about spring semester and some writing projects that have been, shall we say, dormant for the last few weeks.   Here are some of the links that have crossed my radar over the last few days: ... read more »

A few links to get you through exam week: ... read more »