Film and Media Studies | Open Access Articles

Iconoclastic English film director Ken Russell (1927-2011) made more films about music and musical figures than any other filmmaker. His theatrical films and BBC films from 1959 to 2002 are examined.

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The Alien As Other: Spiritual, Political, And Cultural Representations Of The Alien In Late 20 Th Century Cinema, Benjamin Franz

Publications and Research

Storytellers frame their morals and fables of us through the lens of the 'Others'. When the popular form of storytelling evolved into film, the Other naturally became that which was most fascinating and curious, the Intergalactic Entity, or Alien.

In the film Contact(1997), Dr. Ellie Arroway struggles with a disbelief in things greater than herself, and the desire to see what is out there in the cosmos. In Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), strangers are brought together by the vision of harmony set forth by cosmic visitors. The theme of belief in something greater than oneself echoes …

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Review Of The Furies, Michael Adams

Publications and Research

Review of Anthony Mann's The Furies: http://www.media-party.com/discland/2008/07/the-furies.html

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Documentary On Youtube: The Failure Of The Direct Cinema Of The Slogan, Alexandra Juhasz

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

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Why Not (To) Teach On Youtube, Alexandra Juhasz

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

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The Greatest Cowboy Star You've Never Heard Of, Aaron Barlow

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

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Review Of The Draughtsman's Contract, Michael Adams

Publications and Research

Review of Peter Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract: http://www.media-party.com/discland/2008/07/the-draughtsmans-contract.html

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Review Of Pierrot Le Fou, Michael Adams

Publications and Research

Review of Jean-Luc Godard's Pierrot le fou: http://www.media-party.com/discland/2008/07/pierrot-le-fou.html

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"Whether Beast Or Human": The Cultural Legacies Of Dread, Locks, And Dystopia., Kevin Frank

Publications and Research

Analyzing the ongoing problem of Caribbean racial exploitation, particularly fear signified through one of the most potent Caribbean symbols, dreadlocks, Kevin Frank offers a paradigm shift in arguing that Medusa's alterity is altered by Rastafarians' snake-like hair, but the transformative power of Rasta dreadlocks is contested through certain cinematic depictions of dread.

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New York Placenames In Film Titles, Jay H. Bernstein

Publications and Research

From 1914 to 2006, 396 feature films with titles containing New York place names were released. This pattern emerged during the silent era, peaked from the late 1920s to the early 1940s, and then dropped off steadily before rebounding in the 1970s. This article discusses the cinematic representation of cities and urban life in the movies and the special place of New York as an “imagined city” and a cultural icon. New York’s associations in the popular imagination help explain the frequent occurrence of themes of negativity, violence, nightlife, and grandiosity (royalty or divinity) in these titles. The use of …

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Female Agency And Oppression In Caribbean Bacchanalian Culture: Soca, Carnival, And Dancehall, Kevin Frank

Publications and Research

In this essay Kevin Frank discerningly analyzes agency and gender in public sexual performances emanating out of what Paul Gilroy identifies as part of the compensatory politics of the subordinated within Black Atlantic culture, Jamaican dancehall (dancehall reggae/ dancehall queens).

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