First, let me thank you all for your participation in my recent media studies series, especially the one about recent trends in horror movies. That series has been my most successful so far, and I appreciate all the enthusiasm and energy you brought to it. I couldn’t have done it without you. Second, thanks forContinue reading “Horror Film Series Resumes!”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Wrap Up of “Five Feet Apart”
The title of our final teen movie “Five Feet Apart” (2019) in this series works especially well because until you actually see the film, you might think it’s an error. Maybe they should have called it “six feet apart” instead to more accurately reflect the appropriate amount of social distance. During this pandemic we haveContinue reading “Wrap Up of “Five Feet Apart””
Wrap Up of “Us”
From the very title of Jordan Peele’s unsettling film “Us” (2019), we as viewers should already expect to feel implicated in the horrors that follow. After all, don’t we casually think of ourselves as “us” all the time? Maybe we think of ourselves as “us” because we’re Americans. Or, maybe we group ourselves into “us”Continue reading “Wrap Up of “Us””
Read This Before You Watch “Five Feet Apart”
Everyone involved with making“Five Feet Apart” (2019) had to know from the start that this movie would be endlessly compared to “The Fault in Our Stars” (2014), the megahit teen romantic drama with the tragic twist that the female lead has terminal cancer. “Fault” got there first and did it best, so well in factContinue reading “Read This Before You Watch “Five Feet Apart””
“Five Feet Apart” Discussion Questions
Write a paragraph or two in response to each of the following prompts. What the significance of the title “Five Feet Apart”? How does this movie introduce us to its protagonist, Stella Grant? What is she doing when we first see her? What sort of a sister, daughter, and friend is she? What are herContinue reading ““Five Feet Apart” Discussion Questions”
Read This Before You Watch “Us”
Jordan Peele’s second feature film, “Us” (2019) begins as a story about a family of four taking a vacation in Santa Cruz, but the son’s “Jaws” tee shirt and his penchant for wearing a werewolf mask tilted up on top of his head provide early hints that this trip might end up as more thanContinue reading “Read This Before You Watch “Us””
Discussion Questions for “Us”
Please write a paragraph of two in response to each of the following prompts. What is the significance of this film being titled “Us”? How is the idea of “us” complicated by the emergence of uncanny doubles in this film? “Us” has a lot of complicated elements, but sometimes it can be helpful to brieflyContinue reading “Discussion Questions for “Us””
Wrap Up of “The Half of It”
Teen romantic comedy “The Half of It” (2020) draws it title from the ancient Greek notion that humans were once more complete beings but were divided into halves by the jealous gods, with the effect that humans began to spend their lives searching for the other half of themselves. While we may no longer thinkContinue reading “Wrap Up of “The Half of It””
Wrap Up of “A Quiet Place”
The title of “A Quiet Place” (2018) refers to the themes of sound and hearing that are so central to this film. Set in a near-future dystopian world where humans seem to have been mostly eradicated by otherworldly monsters with super-hearing that attack any sound they hear with deadly speed, the narrative follows a singleContinue reading “Wrap Up of “A Quiet Place””
Read This Before You Watch “The Half of It”
This week we’re watching another Netflix original, the clever and charming teen romantic comedy “The Half of It” (2020) written and directed by Alice Wu. The core dramatic narrative is a familiar one, the sort of tale that goes back at least as far as Shakespeare and probably much farther, but these days we wouldContinue reading “Read This Before You Watch “The Half of It””
Professor Chuck 