Category: media

Now here’s a good way to celebrate Black History Month: four dozen-and-change movies to revisit or to discover, from all the way back in 1920 (Oscar Micheaux’s Within Our Gates), through the landmarks (Nothing But a Man, Sweet Sweetback, New Jack City, She’s Gotta Have It, Daughters of the Dust) to this decade (Fruitvale Station).

J. Hoberman: “While American Sniper has drawn a large and diverse audience there is no consensus as to what the movie means. Rush Limbaugh hailed it as’an extension of the November elections’ … Jane Fonda saw it as a movie about the psychic cost of war … The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has reported a spike in anti-Arab threats. A French journalist contacted me … to see if I thought the movie’s unexpected popularity was a response to the Charlie Hebdo massacre.”

Richard Brody praises Scott Timberg’s recent book – and then argues that its points don’t quite apply to movies or narrative video and the people who make them.

“It’s a vicious cycle: the confusing scheduling prevents people from finding the shows, so they don’t tune in, so PBS sees no reason to support them.”

“Taxi is Panahi’s third film since he was banned from making films by the Iranian authorities and forbidden from travelling in 2010. It was filmed covertly as the director drove a taxi around Tehran.”

“The hairs are sewn individually into tiny holes — less than a half-millimeter in diameter — of what Hannon calls ‘the finest silk lace you can find.'”

“Ten years ago, the pay channel Showtime broke ground with ‘Weeds,’ about a mom who builds a clandestine pot business. Now more shows are incorporating plots about the pot trade as it evolves in the real-world.”

“In the ‘80s and ‘90s, movies and television shows explored storylines on the fray. They were really weird and strangely lit with cryptic-speaking characters and alternative universes — they weren’t beige and unoffensive.”

“New makeup had to be created because the makeup used in black-and-white films looked artificial.”

“My advice? Don’t teach everyone how to code. Teach them how to identify and understand needs, as well as how to visually express logic. Teach them how technology works, so they can understand the realm of possibility and then envision game-changing innovations. And then create an environment where they don’t even have to think about writing code — where building great apps is as easy as using iTunes. Just drag and drop.”