Hollywood: Behind the Screen Season 3: The Twenty-First Century
Daring auteurs, aging stars, and aspiring starlets. Indie films and Netflix originals. Murder mysteries and surrealist nightmares. Blaxploitation biopics and the #MeToo movement. All this and more on Season 3 of Hollywood: Behind the Screen
Hollywood: Behind the Screen Season 2: New Hollywood and the Independent Cinema
Season Two of our podcast Hollywood: Behind the Screen continues with a variety of films from the 1970s to the end of the century. The films we discuss feature B-movie auteurs, bigshot producers, paranoid writers, aspiring starlets, and even porn stars in a series of apocalyptic adaptations, indie dramas, and action hits with big names such as Robert De Niro, Johnny Depp and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Hollywood: Behind the Screen Season 1: “The Dream Factory”
In this first season of “Hollywood: Behind the Screen”, we discuss, analyze, and criticize studio-era films set in and about Hollywood. From rising stars to fallen idols, from glamor and hope to scandal and murder, this so-called Dream Factory has it all.
From The 2020 Oscars
One of the biggest nights for Hollywood was held this past February 9th. The Academy Awards – better known as the Oscars – is a ceremony whose purpose is to decorate, honor, and reward the film-making community for its dedication and prowess to its craft. In the...
2019 University Theme Film Series: “Careers, Conflicts, and Callings”
Winona State’s Film Studies Program announces its 2019 University Theme Film Series: “Careers, Conflicts, and Callings,” Oct. 1-Nov. 7. In support of the “Career Readiness” theme, these ten films explore the complexities of finding, following, undertaking, and even sometimes leaving one’s career path.
The Mark of Zorro (1940): Renouncing Economic Inequality
Like the earlier Adventures of Robin Hood, Rouben Mamoulian’s 1940 The Mark of Zorro’s elaborate production, narrative tropes, cultural politics, and action sequences similarly work to renounce economic inequality.
Captain Kidd (1945): Simplicity for Simplicity’s Sake
1945’s Captain Kidd is an often-overlooked swashbuckler adventure film. With its use of characters, comedy, and action it strives to simply tell a thoroughly fun adventure story for simplicity’s sake.
The Most Dangerous Game (1932): Ironic Misogyny
Despite its apparent criticism of the objectification of women, Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s 1932 film “The Most Dangerous Game” falls prey to the misogyny found so often in action and adventure films, reducing its only female character to a damsel-in-distress archetype as well as implicit affirming its antagonist’s ideology.
From the Oscars: The Lion King (2019)
Being nominated at the 92nd Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, The Lion King (2019) directed by Jon Favreau sought to bring new life to an old Disney classic. And it is a stunningly beautiful movie – too bad the rest of the movie falls short.
From the Oscars: Joker (2019)
Joker is highlighted by a gob-smacking performance from Joaquin Phoenix, thematic and stunning cinematography, and social commentary on mental health on a societal level.
Preview: One Week Job (2010, feat. Sean Aiken)
We’ll be showing One Week Job as the final film in our Careers, Conflicts, and Callings series Nov. 7th, in SLC 120. Sean Aiken himself will be our special guest to introduce the film, answer questions, and discuss his experience.
Preview: The Blair Witch Project (1999, Dir. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez)
Winona State will be showing The Blair Witch Project on October 31st at 7pm in SLC 120. This will be our Halloween addition to the Careers, Callings, and Readiness film series. Directed by Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick, this 1999 mystery/horror film takes you through the lost documentary footage of three aspiring filmmakers and their journey on finding out more about the Blair Witch.
Preview: Finding Home in Boomtown (2019, dir. Matthew Maxwell)
Finding Home in Boomtown’s charismatic characters shape the film and give it voice, balancing its serious tone with a sense of humor and making for an emotionally impactful, raw documentary that will leave audience members with tears in their eyes.
Preview: Sorry to Bother You (2018, dir. Boots Riley)
Sorry to Bother You speaks to one’s career readiness, as well as the conflicts and callings one might face in their career. Its satire drives home the importance of moral integrity, self-knowledge, and–surprisingly–union representation.
Preview: 17 Blocks (2019, dir. Davy Rothbart)
Director Davy Rothbart’s award-winning documentary 17 Blocks shows us four generations of an African-American family struggling through tragedy and looking for hope. Rothbart will visit Winona State with his film Oct. 22, 2019, at 7 pm in Stark 103 Miller Auditorium.
The Professor: A Parody of the Bachelor
In this episode of The Professor, emotions run high as students compete for attention and cope with that most dreaded of tasks: the group project. Who will get the “final A”?
From the Oscars: 1917 (2019, dir. Sam Mendes)
1917 is one of the most talked-about films of the year. But besides for the masterful technical work, how does the war film measure up?
From the Oscars: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
An unpredictable film covering the struggle that aging actors faced in the 1960’s, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood employs many of the era’s techniques and invites its viewers to reminisce while foreshadowing the violence that lurks in Hollywood’s shadows.
At the Movies with Noah and Harrison: Dolemite is My Name
Paying homage to the classic Siskel and Ebert review show: At the Movies, Noah Mruz and Harrison McCormick discuss the latest and greatest Eddie Murphy Film.
Review: Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria, 2019)
Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers (2019) brings together a great team of A-List talents, but ultimately, leaves a lot to be desired both its ideological message and its cinematography. In the end, the only thing Hustlers will be hustling is your time and money.
Review: Tall Girl (Nzingha Stewart, 2019)
This cheesy love story will bring viewers back to their high school days with its awkward relationships and confrontation of bullying.
Child’s Play (2019) Review: The New Creepy Chucky for the Younger Generation
Chucky gets his very own remake 31 years later, one with cool effects and creepy surprises, with talents from Mark Hamill and Aubrey Plaza.
Review of Between Two Ferns: The Movie–Concentrated Comedy and Minimal Character Investment
Between Two Ferns: The Movie is Zach Galfianakis’s latest attempt of translating his online comedy series into a full feature film, doing so with minimal character development but enough jokes to leave any viewer with tears in their eyes.
Ascending Afghanistan (2016, dir. Erik Osterholm): Mountainfilm Review
The Mountainfilm festival’s theme for the 41st year is equity, meaning equal opportunities for everyone. Erik Osterholm’s Ascending Afghanistan focuses on thirteen Afghani women mountaineers pushing through the setbacks women in their country face.
What Now?: A Mountainfilm 2019 Talk with Cheryl Strayed and Tom Shadyac
The 2019 Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, CO, left festival-goers were left with a disorienting sensation: would anything we learned here come with us into our regular lives? Author Cheryl Strayed and director Tom Shadyac responded in their talk titled, What Now?, emphasizing a feeling of great of equanimity amongst all who attended.
Ken Graetz