Casablanca on the Big Screen
In June, The Michigan Theater (in Ann Arbor, MI) kicked off its 2010 Summer Classic Film Series with John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and it ends next week with Fritz Lang’s newly restored Metropolis, which will feature a live organ accompaniment of the 1927 original score. …
Why I Use Tweetdeck (and You Should Too)
Disclaimer: I’m writing this post primarily with my film students in mind, but I would argue the same for non-students.
From what I can tell, most of my film students — who are required to use Twitter this semester — are turning to the Web to tweet. Since this is where …
Teaching 200 Students How to Tweet: The Challenges
For three semesters I have attempted to incorporate Twitter into the college classroom, even once relying on the service to arrange a win-a-free-textbook contest for my Film Noir students. But overall, these attempts have failed miserably as the majority of college students — at this point in time anyway — …
Everybody Loves Raymond and Seinfeld
Regular followers of Unmuzzled Thoughts have heard me blabbing that one day I’m going to publish an essay explaining why those who loved the sitcom Seinfeld should theoretically also love the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. Well, that day has come. I finally gathered my thoughts, supported them with evidence (sifting …
The Thrill of the Long Shot
Over the weekend, The Film Dr. tagged me in a blog meme begun by Stephen Russell-Gebbett who blogs over at (the interestingly titled) Checking on My Sausages and MovieMan0283 who blogs at The Dancing Image. According to the guys, the person tagged is to submit a gallery of images that …
Toledo, Ohio has turned up in the national media at least three times in the last month. First, Toledo-native Crystal Bowersox brought attention to “The Glass City” during her stint on American Idol. [1] Second, major news channels reported on Northwest Ohio after a tornado destroyed 100 homes in the …
When it premiered in September 2009, ABC’s sitcom The Middle received overall positive ratings for its relatable situations, eccentric humor, and down-to-earth tone. More recently, critics have applauded not only Atticus Shaffer’s portrayal of 11-year-old Brick Heck, but also the show’s running commentary on …
A few weeks ago, I came across a blog post from The Guardian entitled “The Film That Changed My Life.” In it, filmmaker Brett Ratner (X-Men, Rush Hour) recounts the ways that Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980) inspired his career path. At only 10 years old, the future director had …
Like most people, the husband and I generally tackle touristy stuff when we take trips. However, we also try to venture out onto the road less traveled. For example, during a 2008 trip to Oklahoma City, we meandered down the old Route 66 where we came across one of the …
Students in my traditional and online Introduction to Film courses take three exams, each of which includes at least four types of questions — clip, multiple choice, short answer, and identification — all designed to target the various learning styles that my 200+ students possess (e.g., visual, aural, kinesthetic, reading-writing). …
I’m not going to lie. I’m having trouble with Lost‘s final image. You know the one: Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) is dying in the jungle (in presumably the same spot where he awoke in Season 1) with Vincent, the dutiful yellow lab, lying alongside him. As the Doc looks over …
